Even the best Jazz musicians playing Classical music typically sound just as out of place playing Classical as do Classical musicians trying to play Jazz.
Well said.
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.
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Check out Esperanza’s custom electric bass. The frets are sunk/recessed into the guitar neck face and sides to work as both a fretless bass and a bass with frets. Outstanding creativity, resourcefulness and craftsmanship. That above post was supposed to say: What!?! As I said, pick up the (electric) bass and play hell (out) of it.
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I agree with @tyray . Moreover, it is a mistake to somehow attach superiority of expressiveness, swagger, whatever, to Jazz musicians as compared to Classical musicians. Two different genres with very different sensibilities which are what define expressiveness or swagger in each genre. Great Classicical musicians play with every bit as much “swagger” as great Jazz musicians. It’s just a different type of swagger. Even the best Jazz musicians playing Classical music typically sound just as out of place playing Classical as do Classical musicians trying to play Jazz. And the difference is a lot more than just tone. |
I don’t know if I can agree with you on that, as so many jazz musicians, including flutists have classical training. And that’s the very reason why I posted this André Previn post earlier on this and another thread: André Previn was a well respected concert musician as well a well respected jazz musician. Did some folks from both camps hold it against him for crossing (over) into both genres, yep and thank goodness he didn’t listen. There are many classically trained musicians that play jazz we can think of even the most recently discussed artist here on this thread including but not limited to Esperanza Spalding, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, Hubert Laws, Chick Corea were classically trained....
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@audio-b-dog , @tyray : Here’s a sample of Lew Tabackin on flute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfyT25pJmOU&list=RDqfyT25pJmOU&index=1
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@tyray, @stuartk, I found an album of Yusef Lateef playing flute. I like Yusef as a jazz musician, but I realized that when he began playing the flute I would be comparing him to one of the best flutists in the world in regards to technique. I go to the L.A. Phil every season and their first flutest undoubtedly has developed superb technique or else he wouldn't be there. (It used to be a she.) I'll have to pull out your flute suggestions to compare. I do understand that very often jazz musicians do not have the perfect tone of classical musicians, but they have a swagger and understanding of earthy rhythms that classical musicians lack. I can especially hear this in opera singers who try to sing popular music. Their tone is fantastic but they can't deliver the emotion. I have a Billie Holiday album made when her voice was going, but there is a sorrow to her sound that can only be duplicated by living a hard life (and of course having her talent). I do have to applaud Yo-Yo Ma, though, he's game for anything. I have a record of him playing with some bluegrass musicians. |
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i am here to be educated in jazz... I did not always answer but i take note... Each story is a novel...
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@tyray, @frogman, @stuartk I used to love the flute. I had a wooden flute I played on the road while hitch-hiking half way across the world. (Got from Berkeley to Afghanistan.) I know I have many jazz flutists in my collection but haven't listened to them for many, many years. I'll pull some out and reevaluate. I know I have a few Hubert Laws albums. Love songs pulled at the strings of my heart in middle school. In high school I used to wear a Beethoven sweatshirt. In college I liked to party, so whatever people partied to I liked. Now I like just about everything but rap. It was the misogynistic lyrics that drove me away. I do like a number of hip-hop artists, though. And jazz, of course. |
What? Sure you could’ve. You didn’t get your heart broken when you were a freshman in highschool like so many of us did? It was and is a part of growing up and life. The love songs I listened to in highschool and tugged at my heart then are still some of my favorite love songs to this day. |
Thanks for your comments on Farrell vs.Tabackin and Jazz flute. I’ve seen Tabackin just once, with the T. Akioshi - L.Tabackin Big Band in the mid 70’s at U.C.S.B. I asked because never really enjoyed Jazz flute until I heard Tabackin, whose tone, as you undoubtedly know, is often described as "Orientalized". I wasn’t aware of "Inferno (Live)". I’ll have to try to track that one down.
You must be quite an expert! The Blues was the first genre I really connected with as an adolescent, albeit indirectly, through Stones, Cream. Hendrix, J. Joplin. I didn’t hear any authentic Blues until Iate in high school. One of the highlights of my junior year was seeing Freddie King. Interesting. I never would’ve imagined that particular rhythm section paired with Petrucciani.
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Growing up, all I had was the radio and top 40 music. I’d sleep with it on and before long, I knew every tune, every word. It wasn’t until the seventies that I was able to explore Jazz, Blues, Classical. And my window into Jazz was mostly Weather Report, The Yellow Jackets and The Rippingtons. My first five Jazz records that I bought with my own money those three groups and Herbie Hancock. My knowledge of all the people we talk about here is all within the 2000’s, so I’m still catching up.☺️ |
I grew with sacred Choral music and folklore songs since birth... Then i had gone my younger years with classical choral before Bach.... Anything else was like inferior to me... He takes me decade to go further than Bach (thanks to Bruckner and Scriabin at thirty ) Then i came to like Jazz long after ... But after discovering Persian-Iranian music and Indian music with the cd invention ... Being poor was also a luck: I learned acoustics instead of buying gear... But being poor to buy albums and books was hard...I bought a house later in life because of my investment in books mainly... Anyway i will stop here ...
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Thanks frogman for Joe Farrel recommendation... A new player for me ... I trust all your recommendation...
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He does not moves me at all... But later i recognized the blues element present in the Stones music for sure... I did not knew blues at 14 ... When i discovered it it was with John Lee Hooker who moves me at 17 way more than the Stones... |
@stuartk , for me, yes. An argument can be made that Tabackin is the better flute player, but for me (and others) Farrel is the better Jazz player. Tabackin is a more “impressive” player in that he plays with a huge sound and has a more aggressive approach same as with his tenor playing, but Farrel’s improvisations have a more sophisticated compositional approach. Both great players with different styles. Btw, Farrel was Tabackin’s mentor and helped him get established as a player and would have Farrel sub for him on gigs: https://youtu.be/1BPV1yrcsuQ?si=wQxUu9_c4Qif6YZ1
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Farrell in a bluesy Mingus bag: Solo kicks off around the 3:15 mark, following R. Brecker... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL1bnw6dLS4&list=RDmL1bnw6dLS4&start_radio=1
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@stuartk, thank you for that concert of Flora Purim. It is so very, very cool. For me, that is jazz at its best. I love to hear Flora Purim scatting, and those Brazilian rhythms are so very difficult. I saw her many, many years ago and have no memory of it. I think I'd heard her record "Angels" in which she sang. I wasn't prepared for the abstract scatting then. Now I love it, and I loved watching her do it. Thanks again. |
Glad to see the great Joe Farrel get some love. Fabulous player. One of my very favorite saxophone players and arguably the best Jazz flutist of all time. Left us way too soon. Check your audiophile hats at the door and check out this amazing bootleg of Joe’s quintet with Tom Harrel. Probably my favorite Tom Harrel on any recording. |
@maghister, I didn't have a lot of money growing up either. I would work odd jobs and use the money to buy records. All of the records I bought in high school were classical. I couldn't stand the bubble-gum music on the radio. When I got to college friends introduced me to jazz and some of the better pop. I was very lucky to go to Berkeley in the mid-sixties. I saw Sunny Terry and Brownie McGhee several times, once at a party where I was sitting at their feet. Big Mama Thorton sang on the bar in a joint I went to. I went to San Francisco to hear Pharoah Sanders in person. I went to the Fillmore Auditorium to hear Mary Wells and Otis Redding. Plus other interesting rock groups like The Dead. I met a girl and she introduced me to the Beatles. I would have danced with her to anything. I introduced her to Stravinsky. Music has been woven through my life since I can remember. |
Just curious, when you said "no moving jazz element" re: the Stones, did you mean it didn’t "move you" emotionally, or did you mean something else? I’d never heard of Leo Ferré, so I typed his name into Google and this was the first result: In 1970, when this song was first released, I was 14. I don’t think I could’ve related to the sentiment or handled the emotional intensity at that age.
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Then i understand you... I moved to Leo Ferré.... If i had known him i would have bought a Marvin Gaye album instead of Rolling Stone... I did not want to disparage Rolling Stone they were talented but with no moving "jazz" element for me nor "poetry" for me....
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I was 14 when i bought my only one Rolling Stone album... Good showmanship, great musical talents...I listened to it perhaps 2 times from one song to the last... I regretted buying this perfect album designed for a certain crowd ( wanted to be rebels) No musical interest for me even at 14... I was from a very poor family and paid for it a high price for me by the way ... I learned to differentiate music from perfect musical show... I apologize i confuse this answer in my haste about Rolling Stone with another thread not this jazz thread... Anyway, what is said is said...
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Ahh...I missed 1other album I have. George Benson & Joe Farrell – Benson & Farrell CTI 1976 |
Thanks for the RTF link! ... and for those who like me, prefer RTF with Bill Connors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ-5FebS7Qc&list=PLvzqeclTHZ5ch8HxJOYoFY2h-VOaXanLH&index=5
Yes , I know. I posted it above ! ;o)
Joe Farrell discography:
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This here, is a live Jam Session.
Thank you, tyray
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@tyray, Angelique Kidjo is a massive world star. I've seen her live twice and she's a force to be reckoned with. She's won a lot of awards, including 5 grammies. I have several of her CDs, including Djin Djin. I also have one of her singing her most known hits prior to Djin Djin. She's a delight to behold. Here she is singing one of her famous hits along with a full symphony orchestra: |
@tyray , @audio-b-dog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uou2Xb703U Wish I could’ve seen this group live!
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@tyray, stuartk, @acman3 Flora Purim's last name reminded me of the Jewish holiday Purim. I went onto chatgbt and asked what religion she is. She's a Sephardic Jew like me. Well, she has no religious affiliation, so she's really like me. But she was born into a Sephardic household. I wonder if that has anything to do with her spelling. I lean a lot into the African "commercial" music like Angelique Kido and King Sunny Ade. I'm just pretty much a world music guy. |
