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.
nsp, I agree with your descriptions of Bley/Jarrett and their respective styles. Thanks for the recommendations; will check them out.
Roy Clark was indeed a great guitar player. Another fantastic “Country” player was Glen Campbell who was a very in-demand session player, notably as member of the great “The Wrecking Crew” backing band before achieving solo and TV fame; not to mention prolific songwriter.
With all the mention of Japanese piano players, surprised no mention of Makoto Ozone. Absolutely brilliant player:
I generally don’t like naming “best” this or that; particularly in Jazz. However, here is Makoto with, if forced to choose and stylistic preferences aside, probably the greatest saxophone virtuoso to ever live. His “complete control” of the instrument was simply incredible:
frogmanFrom where I sit Paul Bley has great lyricism in his playing which I don't hear from Keith Jarrett when he tries to play in a free jazz style. The most annoying thing about Keith Jarrett is when he vocalises along with his playing. Very annoying.
frogman I pulled out several bley discs from the 60s and also listen to Keith Jarrett inside out disc which I own. Yes I do hear the Bley influence in Keith's playing but Paul had a much different rhythmic sense and was much better at free playing. 2 albums you might want to check out are Closer and Touching.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdf5mQdODjc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuK5n1ek8gc
schubertAnother Japanese artist who was a contemporary of masahiko togashi who had a very unique style on piano. These cuts are from an album he did with Paul motian in 2009 for Ecm. he also had a working group with Motian called Tethered Moon which recorded a number of excellent Trio CDs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_vKxcUYGxI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbCCA1jOC_0
pjwThanks. The Kenny dorham Live 2 CD set is a must buy. I did see another listing which was cheaper but your link was remastered version. Based on several members reviews of the sound and my own experience with remastered Blue Notes versus original issue Blue Notes I'm going with the more expensive set. I also found a 2 Disc set of Monterose dates from the late 50s early 60s including the album The Message which is one of his best.
To those who thought this guy was really just a hillbilly . Saw him on a late night show once , the man asked him why so many jazz players worked in country bands , our hero was easily 3 sheets to the wind and told him like it is . "Because you have to be real good to play so bad all the time " .https://youtu.be/lxDQQDF6j0Y
Thanks all for the great Paul Bley! I truly appreciate it as I am almost embarrassed to admit that I was only marginally familiar with this great player’s music. I have pretty much immersed myself in his recordings over the last couple of days. That “If I Should Lose You” is possibly the most beautiful version of the tune I have heard. Thanks, Alex!
Listening to the clips posted I kept thinking Keith Jarrett, Keith Jarrett. Keith Jarrett, but without the hard to explain annoying quality that causes me to have a love-hate feeling about Jarrett’s playing. VERY similar emphasis and way with motivic development, but without the pretense that I often hear in Jarrett’s playing. I came across these comments in a review of Bley’s “Footloose” by Ethan Iverson (critic and pianist in The Bad Plus trio):
**** Because it was the first album with Bley at full power, it’s possible that Footloose! is Bley’s most influential recording. It certainly made a big impression on certain pianists the time: Most famously, Keith Jarrett has never denied his debt to Bley and Footloose! in particular. This natural progression is somewhat controversial. Insiders commonly snark that Jarrett should give Bley royalties, and perhaps Bley himself is a bit bitter about how Jarrett became such a superstar using some of the tools Bley invented. After hearing Jarrett’s 2000 free jazz release Inside Out, Bley joked to me that “Now, after all these years, Keith has finally figured out how to sound exactly like I did in 1964.” ****
Thanks Alex , I don’t think you could comp better than Bley did on this heart breaker . nsp, you really are hardcore I have 6 .If I was younger would buy more .Japanese are a unique people with a lot to say .
schubertFor many years the only LP By Masahiko Togashi that I owned was Spiritual Nature. I was captivated by his ability to write for a large group and the Asian influence he brought to the music. Then I came across the piano trio album Jazz Spirits Trio and continue to purchase music by him until I have close to 50 albums and CDs of his in my collection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8FPMz_cl5Q
pjw thanks for posting J. R.Monterose. as a jazz critic said he is the best sax player you have never heard. This guy really flew under the radar for his career from what I read. He said he was influenced by Coltrane and Rollins but he is not derivative. He has a voice all his own and his solos are always interesting.I think I only have two albums with him one as the leader he recorded for Blue Note and the other when he was in Charles Mingus group. I need to search out some of his available music to add to my collection. If you have any ideas let me know.
schubertI have that Bley Duo cd with togashi. it gets a lot of play on my stereo system. I really like Bley he was an original thinker carved -out his own style in the late 50s and 60s. he did not go the way of Bill Evans Style. his approach to playing was quite original as he did not go down that well worn path that other Jazz pianists followed.But he could and did play inside as well as anybody when he wanted to.A true original and marvelous Talent.
Thank you so much for that little jewel shining in the summer sun acman3 !Made my day, no my week . Teared me up
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Bley could play anything and though he was respected in jazz circles IMO he never really"caught on" with public not because he was SO original, but because he was nothing but original . He had a huge historical knowledge of all forms of music and drank heavily from that well with a glass that was all his own .
nsp, here is a entire album of Togashi with one of the" modern" American piano artists Paul Bley , the only jazz master I knew personally . Nice guy , may he RIP . No video but I think you can tell who is whom . https://youtu.be/ZatzCyZibMg?list=RDZatzCyZibMg
Jazz is alive and well in Japan and has been for quite some time. Some jazz fttom one if my favorite japanese artists Masahiko Togashi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbXDNowLhbU
pjwThanks for the clarification i didn't mean to merge two artists into one. Lonnie Liston Smith playing acoustic piano on that first Lonnie Liston Smith playing acoustic piano on that first cut Sun Beams was great. I found another Trio album led by Pat Metheny this time with Billy Higgins on drums: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol33IdtDL4Y
nsp, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Lonnie Liston Smith are two people. Both play the Hammond B 3 but the Dr. is the more well known of the two.
The Dr. playing a My Favorite Things live .I have the studio disc Afro Blue but I could not find any of the songs off the studio version on You Tube either.
schubert thanks for posting thanks for posting Trish clowes. I listened to the entire album and liked everything except for one vocal cut. Unique approach to the music neither inside or outside but walking a fine line between both. I like her approach to the group concept and her soloing. each song seems to have an air of mystery to it. I cannot I cannot find any WDR big band recordings on CD with Karolina Strassmeyer in the band. Damn would like something in my collection. Love her sound on sax.
pjw I found another dr. Lonnie Liston Smith trio CD with John Abercrombie which I had overlooked. It's called afro blue and all of the songs were either written by John Coltrane or associated with him except for one original by dr. Lonnie Liston Smith. It's a really good jam session with great solos especially from dr. Smith. The sound is also excellent as well as the Sound StageSearched on YouTube several times for ciips to post but could not find anything
81563, well known fact that the most insightful people in the world are born between Utica and Syracuse . An Onondaga Sachem told me the power line of the world runs under that 50 mile strip .
Japanese think in terms of the group . Only need to know that other Japanese will be there and they are happy Not a bad thing ,just makes them love Jazz even more than just for the music .
alex those are great links. All the songs are from the United Notions LP so it seems. I might pick up that disc. Thanks
The history of Japan is so complex I have read many books from the shogunate/Tokogawa Shogunate era through to the "westernization" of Japan then onto their aggressive military based expansionism society of 1920 - 1945. And after their countries devastating destruction after WW2 their extraordinary accomplishments that followed and their adoption of America’s game - baseball, and America’s music - Jazz.
Almost every jazz show I attend in NYC, 1/3 of the audience are Japanese
Well, I guess it will be hard for anybody to post an album more ’international’ than this....
’United Notions’ album by Toshiko Akiyoshi from 1958.
The pianist is joined by an all-star group that includes either cornetist Nat Adderley or trumpeter Doc Severinson, clarinetist/alto saxophonist Rolf Kühn, flutist/tenor saxophonist/baritone saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, guitarist Rene Thomas, bassist John Drew, and drummer Bert Dahlander.
"""""""""My personal opinion is the more you play with others from other countries with other languages and cultures the better you get .And vice-versa """"""""""""".
Check out the last J.R. Monterose link for a great international session
81563, one of the best posts ever .All praise to Wynton for doing it and you for bringing it to us ! Nothing but good can come of things like this both for the world and guys playing .
Great info frogman ! So much help . The only woodwind guy alive I can think of offhand in Daniels class ,which is really knowing what beauty is , is Heinz Holliger . I’ve heard live great players like Martin Frost ,Richard Stolzman and SabineMeyer but I don’t think even they have opened the curtain of sheer beauty that Daniels has . The last thing he is is calculated , those saying so are projecting what they do .
My personal opinion is the more you play with others from other countries with other languages and cultures the better you get .And vice-versa .
**** Daniels is elegance itself , magnificent player ! ****
Perfect description, Schubert. Karolina sounds great as well with a beautifully constructed solo over a difficult harmonic progression and with a lovely modern sound.
The art of woodwind doubling places very unique and difficult demands on players and few have been able to do it at a level that is equally high on all the instruments. Eddie Daniels took it to a level probably higher than anyone else. He has been a legend among woodwind players for decades and since he was just a kid from Brooklyn. He was the idol of countless woodwind players on the NYC scene before gaining international fame. Amazing virtuoso on saxophones, clarinets and flutes. A style as an improviser that some have described as a little calculated and sterile. I disagree. As an instrumentalist and particularly on clarinet he is incredible. Elegant, beautifully refined and distinctive sound with mind boggling technique on an instrument that many saxophone players jokingly refer to as “the misery stick” because of its difficulty. Eddie on tenor:
Wynton’s quintet with the Sachal Jazz Ensemble which is comprised of Pakistani players. The flutist puts on a dazzling display on this percussion heavy song written by Duke Ellington.
And one never would mention my friend "Sweet Papa" Lou Donaldson as a composer arranger on the level of the Duke or Dave Brubeck but their version of Lou's "Blues Walk" is outstanding
All of the above was at the jazz in Marciac 2013. American musicians and Pakistani musicians playing together while young men from both countries were killing each other in the Middle East.
Great clip nsp , Karolina plays flute and clarinet as well and just about as well as saxophone . I couldn’t find any WDR records myself .Daniels is elegance itself , magnificent player !
As to free , US was never in danger of being invaded and if you mean speech, all people in developed countries say what ever they please whenever they please . Most Europeans are far more outspoken than most Americans .
The cost of all wars and Defence bills like this years 700 billion$$$ is a far greater danger to us than any "enemy " .
schubertThis clip features Eddie Daniels on clarinet and karolinaS. , the saxophonist you previously posted with the WDR band.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2q2GFjhGaw
schubertThanks for posting "Hymn to the Fallen" on Memorial Day. I always like to spend a little time on that day reflecting on those who have participated in wars to keep this country free. I wish after having so many wars and conflicts there we could have a world more at peace but I don't believe this will happen.Sorry about being a little behind in response posting but I've been a little busy.
The guy who made this passed in 2016 at 67 .As one the Greatest American Standards everybody and his brother has done this piece , I would not even guess who did the best etc . However the rhythm of this is really nice to my hears .https://youtu.be/xpYibfCLYWU
If Jazz ever does die , perish the thought , the last concert will be in Tokyo .
What a great Big Band outing acman 3 .! A pure joy to see those olderAmerican artists backed by those German Radio Bands and what a fine arrangement of Hart's tune . Still a wonderful drummer as well !
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