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.
@curiousjim Perhaps what I was thinking about was, for lack of a better word, "attitude". He's always struck me as being pretty down-to-earth and unassuming -- there's not a lot of ego or "edge" on display. He doesn't need to brag -- his playing speaks for itself. Rightly or wrongly, I tend to associate such a demeanor with Midwesterners, no offense intended. I have seen my share of shows over the years but there are plenty here who've seen far more, I imagine. I did have the good fortune to live in Santa Barbara from '76 to '82. Many acts would stop there between gigs in LA and the Bay Area. On the other hand, I was born just a few years too late to catch the likes of Cream, Hendrix, Joplin or Bloomfield in his prime. Woodstock is quite close to where I grew up and I read somewhere that around the time of the festival, Hendrix travelled to Middletown to see a doctor whose daughter was a classmate of mine.
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stuartk I have no idea about his Midwest Sensibilities, but with so many albums to choose from, his Musical abilities has given me hours of enjoyment! I am always impressed with how many great shows you have seen over the years. I’m sure that if I lived on the coast we might have sat next to each other.😁 |
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stuartk, Metheny I sort of a hometown boy for me. While he was born Missouri , about 220 miles from me, we lived about 40 miles from Lee’s Summit for 7+ years. Oh and check out https://youtu.be/bLKb9Ms68ME?si=8M7LqbLegxDDiADo he’s playing with Joni Mitchell so is Jaco. There’s only a slight bit of Jazz influence, but I enjoyed watching the video just the same. |
@jafant Have you heard this one?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_BlsY9Xg8&list=PL6O6K_7sr3qFkcg6jYcIOqpwL81b29F28 It doesn’t really sound like Jazz to me (although these are clearly Jazz musicians) but it’s an enjoyable listen. @curiousjim
Have you heard this one?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6epTSAq0s4&list=OLAK5uy_ms-PRDnEUGK1o3ncDcURd0MrMKQRGvJ6A&index=2
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Grant Green "Feelin' The Spirit" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6eECeRBaY8&list=OLAK5uy_mwBHOA6diRZcCU9toTUeKQhKTTQxnaM9c&index=2 |
@curiousjim, it must be the Russians, even the tagging is not working any more. Hope this will help, same songs, but different links. In fact, if you are not buying cd’s but only stream, than I guess its not so important to state which album on which edition exactly is published? https://youtu.be/cIluf1jyMys?feature=shared https://youtu.be/V_av-1BNUVg?feature=shared https://youtu.be/b3IXUFrqdQY?feature=shared
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Also,if you like the sound of Barry Galbraith, this is nice album as well, aldo it might be difficult to find on cd.Its called ’Guitar and the wind’.I am not sure is the whole album going to be posted, but its on ytube, just follow this link (with blue cover)
I’ve got it on Oscar Petitford edition of ’Manhattan Jazz Septette’ as second album. Lone Hill is the label. Will post that one too, but I prefer the first one (g&w) |
@curiousjim , Glad you like it. Here is another album (double cd) that I have, in fact its compliation of work from McKusick Quartet with Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton and Osie Johnson. Informative paperwork inside and it seems that all composition are there. Couple of links from there
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RE: Sonny Rollins, I can’t tell when he’s being humorous and when he’s unabashedly mocking a tune. It often sounds to me as though he holds standards at arm’s length, refusing to get too caught up in their emotional content and co-opting their harmonic structures as launching pads for heady virtuoso improvisations. Of course, there’s nothing "wrong" with this. I just happen to prefer more overtly emotional playing.
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Nice clips! Very good player. He was a very successful player in his heyday with an impressive discography. He was also a fine flutist. A real character whom I had the opportunity to work with on a few occasions in more commercial settings. He would fly his own airplane from his home on Long Island, NY, always with a very attractive young lady at least half his age at his side. With Bill Evans on the original album that “Whisper Not” is from:
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I believe I posted some of his albums previously, but just bought this one. Its Hal Mc Kusick 'Now its time' album which is essentially a compilation of his two albums (All music guide will tell you more) and one of them is possible to find only on vinyl, so aldo I prefer single editions I had to settle on this one. Its still very much recommended. Mc Kusick, not very well known, perhaps these clips might persuade someone to listen to him as well.
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**** Jazz has never been stationary. **** Exactly! It evolves. It builds on what came before and the lineage is always there to be heard. @acman3 describes the Jazz/Rock divide well. Not a put down of Rock music or musicians, but very very few have been able to play Jazz at anywhere near the level of good Jazz players; even when they wanted to. Even the mentioned Ginger Baker was not on the level of good Jazz drummers. Obviously, two very different disciplines. I don’t think that Shorter “sold out” . If one follows his career it is easy to hear how his involvement with Weather Report was a logical step in his evolution as an artist. While WR’s music was not always my cup of tea it certainly was innovative and influential and a logical step toward what Shorter did in more recent years as a solo artist. For me, Shorter is on the short(ish) list of true giants of the music. Fantastic composer as well as player and adherent to one of tenets of Jazz: “say what you have to say without unnecessary notes”. His playing became more and more economical as his career progressed. One of those players who could express so much with few notes. Re Sonny Rollins and the “hoofbeats” on “I’m An Old Cowhand”. Not really that surprising. There was always a certain element of humor in Sonny’s playing. Speaking of humor and Jazz. Cannonball Adderly was another player that could bring an element of humor to his playing. He certainly had a sense of humor as exemplified by this clip that I recently sent a friend who didn’t believe me it existed when I told him about it. Just for chuckles:
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