Ghosthouse, loved it. Yeah, the tuba doesn't always get a lot of love in jazz. Great players in MJTP; amazing how agile they can sound on those big horns. Thanks for that!
Jazz for aficionados
Jazz for aficionados
I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Enjoy the music.
I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Enjoy the music.
31,708 responses Add your response
Wow, thanks for that frog. Your information ties together a few things for me. Remember I've admitted to not having any musical background. I'll blush to say I never heard of that album. But now I've got to find a copy. I know many here would just download it but I'm not into that. So vinyl will me my first choice, then CD if I can't find a new or very clean LP. Yes o10, nothing like Miles. And that's just fine, better to have very different versions. |
You're welcome. Glad you found value in that info. That's the whole point of that kind of information; it ties things together and no musical background is necessary to expand our point of reference for deeper appreciation and enjoyment of the music. I have purchased from this seller a couple of times and found his grading fairly accurate. Might be worth taking a chance: http://www.ebay.com/itm/George-Russell-Sextet-12345-6extet-LP-Vinyl-NM-Eric-Dolphy-Don-Ellis-RS-3043... |
This is a very poor copy of some important music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isuabFSFru4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_One |
This is the music I don't have in my collection; "LA Hard" is what they called it, but I can still hear EL A, and it's pretty, like a West Coast Sunset. I recall when I was out there in the 70's of hearing artists I never heard of who were as good as those in my record collection. "Who wants to leave EL A, I was told at that time, this is where a good musician can make a living without going on the road". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmyV8aY9Um8 "LA "HARD" is a satisfying concoction. |
Check out "I Called Him Morgan" on Netflix streaming. It is a documentary about the the life of the great jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and the circumstances of his death. Great footage of Lee performing and outstanding photographs by Francis Wolf of Blue Note Records. Also, check out "Afraid Of The Dark", a documentary about Nat King Cole...also excellent viewing. |
Nat King Cole and his trio, ’After Midnight’ session from 1956. His last jazz oriented album, joined with several guest soloists... https://youtu.be/vHZJP2pfv6I https://youtu.be/Y8Jhb8dUbxc https://youtu.be/4tTd0HiGIpY |
Fabulous clips, Alex; thanks! Like some of the great arrangers like Oliver Nelson and Thad Jones whose skill and fame as orchestrators causes one to almost forget what wonderful instrumentalists they also were, Nat Cole’s stature as a pianist and stylist is sometimes overlooked because he was such a great singer. Fantastic piano player: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=caVBdHdnnYo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-1PNCak8mAI The great Ray Charles (another great piano player known mainly as a singer) talks about Nat Cole the piano player (at 7:10): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=716GbRD--IU |
Very possibly. He was known, as you suggest, for his wry sense of humor. Great player and great loss. I’ll never forget the first time I heard his playing. I was a sophomore in high school (1975) and just starting to discover jazz and jazz saxophone in particular. In this case it was "fusion". My band director said to me "You got to hear this guy" and played me this record. It was Michael Brecker on Billy Cobham’s "Crosswinds". On that record the guitarist was John Abercrombie: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z2tNB-tQjiE The tune that introduced me to Michael Brecker: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l-b_h8i9eWU |
Interesting about human nature. So many times we hold our own views so tightly that we are not open to appreciate those held by others. I'm not beyond doing that myself. That can be seen here within this post but in many other places as well. I just stumbled across this link to a Patricia Barber performance at Newport. I've been a fan of her music for more than 15 years. If you're not familiar she plays piano and organ as well as vocals, and her quartet is always very tight. She performs standards, her own compositions, and sometimes pop/rock songs, all with her own very personalized approach. What struck me here was among the comments to this video someone bashed it, suggested listening to Bill Evans instead. Now I greatly enjoy Evans, but I don't want to see a contemporary musician come on stage and simply emulate his playing. I'm paying attention to this other artist because I want something different. If I'm in the mood for a taste of Evans then I'll pull out one of his recordings -- no substitutes. (Although I will admit that Barber's posture sometimes looks about the same as Evans' often did!) This Newport performance runs nearly an hour. If you're curious to see what they do with a pop/rock tune but don't have time for the whole thing, just jump to about the 44 minute mark for "Norwegian Wood". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7JtThZN_SY |
Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm trying to improve the soundstage depth performance of my system and would like to have a few great jazz recordings which are known to display significant depth. By having these in my collection I will have a more reliable measuring stick in the future when I make changes to the system or room. I've not been a jazz aficionado in the past but I'm listening more and more and developing a love for it, hence my desire to start with jazz as my primary reference. I'm assuming in many cases that vinyl will be the preferred route but if a cd or even Tidal is known to work well please spell that out for me. The one time I've heard good depth in a system it was a much nicer system and room than mine and the record was Louis Armstrong doing St. James Infirmary. I believe at the time a good copy of the record was about $150 which was a bit pricy for me. I don't have many options to hear other systems so I'm on my own for the most part. Any help is much appreciated. |
kyat, you may be interested to know that Satchmo recording was sourced from an old Audio Fidelity LP released in 1964. It was recently reissued as a full LP, then apparently once the quality of that particular number was realized, a single 45 RPM version of "St. James Infirmary" was released. You can find the LP for much less than $150! https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_21?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=louis+armstr... The point being that recordings need not be new to offer great sonics. However, for newer recordings with great sonics and natural tonalities I need not go any further than LPs by Patricia Barber as I referenced above. |
Kykat, you may try this, Chet Baker ’Candy’ album. It is recorded on dvd as well on cd. Beleive that it will provide the sensation of ’depth’, like looking at it live. Here is the link... https://youtu.be/0mnAVcMqJr8 |
Another good one is Bill Evans' "Waltz For Debbie"/"The Village Vanguard Sessions". A live album(s), it does a remarkable job of capturing the sound and ambience of the famous club; a sound I know well from many visits there. The sense of depth is fantastic; but interesting because the perspective is one from which one gets the feeling of being on stage with the players looking back (way back!) to the audience and the rear of the club instead of looking AT the band. The music is, of course, fantastic. |
pryso, while I would like to think that as concerns music I try to keep an open mind and to always "remain open to others’ views", I confess to sometimes being influenced by a certain bias; specifically, against singers whose recordings get a lot of attention as audiophile favorites. I am not entirely sure why, perhaps it was the association in my mind with the label Mobile Fidelity, but I somehow lumped in Patricia Barber and her recordings with that of several "new" artists who have gotten a lot of attention in audiophile circles and whose music has left me unimpressed and consequently ignored her. "Diana Krall syndrome"? Boy, was that a mistake! That clip of Barber’s Newport Jazz concert is NOTHING like what I expected. Interesting artist. I like her brand of brainy and atmospheric jazz very much. Lovely and sensual alto voice with just the right amount of breathiness and interesting compositions; and, as you say, very individualistic. I can understand to a degree some of the criticism that I have read about a certain "self-conscious hipness" in her style, but that quality (which I wouldn’t describe as such) doesn’t bother me. I’m a little perplexed by the negative comment that you cite about the connection to Bill Evans. I don’t hear it at all. She’s a terrific piano player in a decidedly modern vein, but more assertive and masculine (sorry) than Bill Evans who played with a much more gentle touch, covered tone and brooding quality. Still, she’s no Bill Evans in overall scope; but, who is? Thanks for the clip; I just ordered "Cafe Blue" and will take it from there. |
frog, thanks for your thoughtful comments as always. There may be some misunderstanding about mentioning Evans relative to Barber. I was not suggesting they had the same playing style. Rather, one commenter to the video apparently didn't appreciate her playing and suggested listening to Bill Evans instead. So my point was to admit they are different and one should listen to each for their individualistic styles, but not to suggest no one else should enjoy Barber and all should listen to Evans instead. Still, I couldn't resist a tongue-in-cheek comment about her posture at a couple of points resembling Evans in the way he would bend over with his face so close to the keyboard, almost as if he was whispering secrets to his piano. ;^) Hope you enjoy "Cafe Blue". And I agree completely about the "Diana Krall syndrome". |
This song and the album it is on, Cafe Blue, is often used by hi-fi enthusiasts to test out their sound systems . None of her songs on Youtube are in HD quality, so I'd thought I would upload a true representation of this album using the best song. Musically, it is very good as well! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi3i-HqDNFI&list=RDZi3i-HqDNFI |
pryso, sorry for not being clear. I didn’t think it was you that suggested they had similar styles; rather, the commentator you cited. I didn’t see nor hear the point of his comparison. And, yes, her playing posture is like Evans’; and much more animated overall than Evans who hardly moved when he played. Thanks again. O-10, thanks for that clip. Nice. |
Please all forgive me for my next comment, as I tend to speak only about the music that I like and not to discuss the other people different taste, but P.Barber gives me a such impression of 'unease',it is almost a physical feeling. I hear no 'flow' or 'spontaneity' in her music, its like her music is robbed of music itself. Again, please dont take it wrong, its just my impression, not a call for any confrotation |
No comparison intended nor appropriate, but Patricia Barber’s concert video caused me to think of this record. A bit of an acquired taste with her manipulation of pitch and deliberate alteration of the melody of a song, Betty Carter was a true original. SOTA rhythm section. I love this record: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr6i6H4_tzQUyV0NoxP1RT0m4cN9y9Nqn |
Well now, if you might enjoy watching as well as listening (while withholding comments on audio & video quality) here is Betty's group in concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD36b5lq_Vg |
Couldn't resist - here's one more Barber, this from her pop/rock side. I don't have this album so never heard it before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95E3tKTnfQI |
That is the beauty of art, Alex, it touches us all in different ways and some of us not at all. Perhaps you are reacting to a quality in her style which I previously referred to as "brainy". I'm curious, and no "confrontation" intended, do you have that reaction when you watch videos of her, audio clips, or both? |
Studio version of her song "If I Were Blue" that is on pryso' live concert clip. I find the sound of her voice extremely sensual on this; works for me 😉: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3xxZKbGTcuU |
Frogman, unti I saw P:B.here on Audiogon, I never saw her performing live (had no wish,obviously). Anyway, now when we are talking... she reminds me of this singer. Norma Winstone, from Azimuth. Here is the link https://youtu.be/yIzs92WTtNU Bought that album, when it got out, more than 20 years ago, again, the music that I do not listen any more, it feels 'artificial' to me. Pryso, glad that you had no offense, we had ugly debates here, just because of 'different taste'. About Diana Krall, I have no albums of her either, she seems like a great pop singer. Pity that 'pop' has very different face today. Is it just me getting old, but music and its 'definitions' has really shifted for the worse? |
Getting old....same as I....since you asked ☺️ Unless, of course, one is prepared to also say that life in general and humanity as a whole is in a worse state today than in the past. I don't subscribe to that notion. As always, good art is a reflection of the time of its creation and what determines its worth is how well it reflects that time; whether we like it or not and the reasons why is a separate matter. It is always a challenge to go outside our own comfort zones, which are a product of the time of OUR creation and life experiences, and to look at art through a less biased lens. I fail miserably sometimes. |
Frogman, I'm glad you're happy in your world of trick mirrors and illusions. When politicians can illegally rob us and our treasury blind with impunity, (endless wars, and commodity market manipulation) incredibly so during the Bush Administration. Genocide! That's what you watched for 3 days on national television, when you watched the Katrina Aftermath. That was the case of "one" depraved politician who put "chinks" in the way of anyone trying to help people at the Dome, as well as African Americans drowning all over the place. The military and foreign governments were prevented from helping; you can look this up on the internet. That depraved politician became "Your Government". I've written about this so much, that now I'm the victim; one foot on a banana peel, and the other over eternity. All of our cities are "hell holes", where the rich live in isolation. Deprived people become depraved people; let Cardi B tell you how she did it; meaning to escape poverty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEGccV-NOm8 When our cities switch places from being murder capitals of the world; St. Louis today, Detroit tomorrow, "Nola" the next day; not exactly an environment for most arts. |
On my way home from this very concert hall and it caused me to think of this recording. A great record and one which has gotten scant attention here (if any?) especially considering it’s greatness and the story behind it; one of the most interesting in all of jazz lore. In case anyone doesn’t know the story, the tapes were accidentally found in the Library Of Congress archives. Coltrane had been in Monk’s band for some time and it shows; unlike his "At The Five Spot" sessions when he wasn’t yet entirely comfortable with Monk’s knotty and obtuse compositions. Brilliant stuff: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEoPXZd4xaeuEiAPX_2pBUoGrp8eQL8Kx |
Per your previous request, O-10, no sympathy intended; but I wish you well and a full recovery. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rO2UQn32z70 |
It seems to me that now is precisely the time to ramp up activity here in order to show our appreciation to O-10 for starting this thread which, differences of opinion and all, has been a very positive and educational addition to these forums. With that in mind: Sleepy rainy day here in NYC. Caused me to think of this record. Interesting in that it combines some of Evans' most interesting and at times complex compositions with an incredibly relaxed feeling. As far as I know the only time that Evans and Zoot Sims, a very swinging and relaxed player, recorded together. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X23sKMIRnjM |
Thanks for this frog. I have a number of Evans' albums but never even heard of this one. I've not noted many male vocals suggested here since I've been following o10's post. Here's one I enjoy, a nice matching of talent and approach, even if Tony is more of a crooner than jazz stylist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAxGfEaUoXE |
Hear, hear ! Here is another link, with Evans, I guess the same text could be written underneath, except Harold Land is in the place of the Zoot from album Quintessence, recorded 1976. https://youtu.be/qBp1WESsOTU |
pryso and alex, great clips both! Evans/Bennett is one of my very favorite records and a classic. How can one not like Tony Bennett? The man drips love of singing. This is from their "Together Again" album. If anyone ever doubted what an incredible genius Evans was, this cut should set the record straight: https://youtu.be/2bDFDYhXqPM Alex, very appropriate choice as Harold Land is one of O's favorites. Has always been an interesting player to me with a more modern harmonic sense than Zoot and similar relaxed attitude. Unique dry tone; like a good IPA. Little known and interesting record: https://youtu.be/pSm1pnyki1s https://youtu.be/NT9LGsVmUnU |
While I've been enjoying your musical posts, there is nothing more that I need in this horrible stage of my life than HUMOR! Me and Frogman discussed Grant Greens soundtrack to "The Final Comedown" and I liked the music. He said it was from a "BlackSploitation" movie; a genre I didn't care for because of the worst dialogue and script I've ever heard in any movie; "The Final Comedown" was no different, it ranked among the worst. I decided to see if I could find the funniest movie ever made, it was a "satire" on "Black Sploitation movies"; "The Holly Wood Shuffle". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXvTyk9kPsQ |
Toots Theileman said this was the best album he ever did; to think this album led by Bill Evans was the best that a musician as great as Toot's Thieleman ever did is about as high an honor as one musician could pay to another. (hope it's still in vinyl, mine is worn out) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ESLJebaWyU Every cut on this album is fantastic. |
http://www.jazzinpopculture.com/assets/img/coltrane-chicken-supreme.png +++ A couple goes to see a marriage counselor. They say their marriage is on the rocks because they never speak to each other. The counselor tries to get them to talk, but they just sit there with their arms folded and their mouths closed. So he pulls out his upright bass and starts taking a solo. Instantly, the couple turns to each other and starts conversing for the first time in months. Shocked by this, the couple asks the counselor: “How did you know that would work?” “Simple,” he says, “Everyone always talks during the bass solo.” +++ +++ PIANIST: “OK, I’ll Remember April. First six bars in Ab. Bar 7 modulate down to F. Bar 12, back up to Ab but in 7/8.” SINGER: “That’s crazy! I couldn’t possibly do that!” PIANIST: “You did last night . . . “ +++ +++ What’s the difference between a dead squirrel on the side of the road and a dead trombone player? The squirrel was on his way to a gig. +++ https://www.allaboutjazz.com/paul-desmond-isms-paul-desmond-by-aaj-staff.php?width=375 |
I didn't know that Paul had a sense of humor, and he could really crack up the house once he got going. I read that just after listening to the album "Desmond Blue". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0wolSozfM |
o10, I think that video is mis-labeled. I was expecting something by the Blue String Orchestra! ;^) More correctly it is -- Paul Desmond, "Desmond Blue" with string orchestra. I know, not your doing. Aside from that anal reaction, I just never get into jazz albums when featured artists are backed by string orchestras. That seems counter to jazz in my mind. Just yesterday my favored local jazz FM station featured the Charlie Parker album with strings!?! Anyway, to step down off my soapbox, frogman's suggestion for the Monk/Coltrane concert at Carnegie Hall reminded me to pull it out to enjoy it again. In addition to the music, the liner notes show a copy of the billing for the concert. Just imagine if you could hear Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Chet Baker with Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins, and Thelonious with Coltrane, ALL for only $2.00 to $3.95 PER TICKET!!! Of course that was in November, 1957! But still, what a bargain! |