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.
I think we all know that what we look at in our "puter is what we soon get"deals" from . I have a "eye in the sky" live to Frankfort Airport which I look at often and did so today . No snow on ground , temps for next 10 days , high 40’s to 50 . Here in St. Paul foot of snow and single number temps .
Five minutes later I get a deal from Air Canada which has several flights a day from here to Toronto . Really was a deal , 595$ from MPS to FRA econ , both ways, 1, 999 $for Business round trip . What’s a boy to do?
rok , to hear the late Mozart symphony’s with depth is a treat and a half , London’s from Haydn even more so . I stopped buying that 5th , every time I played it to someone I had to give it away . Monster recording !
P.S . The price of my system is I drive a Nissan instead of the Audi I want . I can live with it . A car can only get you from A to B , the right system to a taste of eternity .
Pjw, I'm glad you're back recounting some of your happier experiences.
I visited Cap Haitien when I was in my early 30's. We rode what are called "half asses" up the mountain to the Citadel at the top. What impressed me more than anything was the voodoo rhythms that are fused into the people, not the "dippy" music they're playing on this video.
We reached an open area beside the path to the top, and stopped for beer the guide brought along (can't drink the water) There were about 7 kids playing in this clearing (ages 12 to 8) One of them was beating out voodoo rhythms on the back of a steel shovel that a work crew had left, while the others danced. I drank Heinikens, and became spellbound by the rhythms this kid was getting with a rock in each hand beating on the back of a steel shovel while the other kids danced. They moved like those dolls hung on rear view mirrors, as if their bodies didn't have bones. They were not putting on a show, this is what they did to amuse themselves.
I tried to find the same rhythms at a record store there, but only found some "dippy" island music, it was as if the powers that be were ashamed of the "people's music".
Got four new Coltrane CD's' via Amazon during the past week. Starting to listen to "Both Directions at Once" right now. The first two tracks are spectacular.
Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie Hall was amazingly good too, and much better than expected. I thought they'd be the Monk/Coltane studio releases from a while way back which were more Monk than Coltrane. Night and day on the Carnegie Hall concert. Coltrane shines and steals the show with his inventive playing.. Both albums nicely recorded, the latter taking advantage of Carnegie Hall's excellent acoustics.
"Bahia" an earlier Prestige era recording was lovely to listen to too, More mellow and sweet maybe than the above two. Black Pearls from the same period was good, although not up to the standards of the other three. Others must have commented on these four before, but I couldn't help wanting to share this listening experience.
The various bands that "made the rounds" on the beach for donations all played some beautiful rhythmic African sounding music that was easy to dance too (which we did). I also heard many songs that sounded similar to the song in your original post.
I like adventure and had a great time although Fabiola's younger male cousins and nephews were always getting sick but kept drinking the beer I was buying for the simple reason they could not afford beer so were "drinking it up" since Fabiola and I paid for everything including food, tipping the bands and bottled water as well as the beer.
Many of the ensembles featured a "puppet master" who had a carved wooden puppet that they made dance to the music they played. I purchased 2 large (about 20 inches tall) hand carved wooden statues for 5 dollars each which I still have.
**** and brought the blues. **** Yes they did, O-10; as a major influence. “Brought the blues” is an oversimplification.
**** American slaves lost the African rhythms, **** No, they did not. What you consider “distinctive African rhythms” are also a major influence in what would develop into what we think of as “swing” feel. O-10, there is a tremendous amount of documentation and literature on these very interesting topics. I suggest you read some of it; it’s very interesting and enlightening. With respect, you are thinking about and approaching this stuff in much a too broad and simplistic fashion.
I have just about everything Coltrane ever recorded as a leader and sideman and those albums you mentioned are all very good. Here is one of my favorites:
I am pretty well versed in the Haitian Revolution and the leader Toussaint L’ Ouverture. They were the only slaves in world history to over throw their oppressors in this case the French, and win their independence.
However in the long run I think it was not so good. If France was still running Haiti it would not be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Over 50% of the population have no access to clean drinking water.
Carlos Santana wrote an instrumental piece titled "Toussaint L’ Overture" in which the percussion is rooted in African rythm. I am a big fan of Mr. Santana especially his 70’s output. He wrote some really great songs. Carlos is a big fan of jazz and there are many interviews with him discussing Coltrane, Miles Davis and others.
Toussaint L’ Overture live from the "Lotus" 4 disc set which gets a lot of play over here:
No sense at all in reading any books they are all written by idiotic university graduate historians of which rok knows better. Just like his recent take on General MacArthur the only General since weapons of mass destruction were invented to advocate the use of them and escalate a war with North Korea into a war with China and the Soviets as well. He deserved to be fired but in roks own words
"He was the greatest General this country has produced"
However in the long run I think it was not so good. If France was still running Haiti it would not be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Over 50% of the population have no access to clean drinking water.
In the long run it was not so good to free the slaves; they would still be getting fed by their masters instead of having food stamps cut. When they can't find jobs, they would not go hungry. Now they are homeless and hungry, I bet they long for they good old days of slavery.
With all due respect you cannot compare the homelessness situation here in America which is horrific but compared to Haiti, which I have been to and saw with my own eyes, its not even in the same ballpark.
I suggest you read your previous link which states the following:
"Between 1911 and 1915, Haiti was politically unstable: a series of political assassinations and forced exiles resulted in six presidents holding office during this period. Various revolutionary armies carried out the coups. Each was formed by cacos, or peasant militia from the mountains of the north, or who invaded along the porous Dominican border. They were enlisted by rival political factions under the promises of money, which would be paid after a successful revolution, and the opportunity to plunder."
Haiti has been a corrupt, unstable, oppressive country for centuries and it sure was not the fault of the American occupation. Remember Papa Doc....err…...François Duvalier?
BTW, Wiki is a quick way to explore and share a subject matter but the best sources are always scholarly books written by respected and proven historians using the best source material available.
Again - Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Its not the same as "living below the poverty level" in our nation America. I have to agree with rok on this one. The opportunities are there you just have to go get them.
"Between 1911 and 1915, Haiti was politically unstable"
In February 1915, Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, son of a former Haitian president, established a dictatorship. Five months later, facing a new anti-American revolt, he ordered the massacre of 167 political prisoners. All of the victims were from prominent families, mostly members of the better educated and wealthier mixed-race population with German connections. "President" Sam was lynched by an enraged mob in Port-au-Prince as soon as they learned of the executions.
It seems that "President" Sam was a dictator for the USA, which is why;
The United States regarded the anti-American revolt against Sam as a threat to American business interests in the country, especially the Haitian American Sugar Company (HASCO). When the caco-supported anti-American Rosalvo Bobo emerged as the next president of Haiti, the United States government decided to act quickly to preserve its economic dominance.
Every since Black slaves took over Haiti, the US has been involved to the detriment of those people. That fact is very well documented.
My concern is right here, I do not wish to debate Haiti.
"The opportunities are there you just have to go get them." That sounds good to me; maybe all those homeless people would rather sleep on the sidewalk without "running water" than go get those opportunities.
**** Two agendas are in play here: Not the agenda of The Frogman, but the people who write the stuff he reads. ****
Well, gee, thanks so much for explaining to me why I make the comments that I do. I really had no idea until you enlightened me.
Rok, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. The only agenda in play here is the one that you and our OP obviously have as concerns this topic. The only obsession in play here is the obsessive need to demean any formal research, analysis or education on this topic and others. Then, to use this as a smokescreen to hide your resistance to learning something new or to even consider a different viewpoint.
There is no agenda to take any credit away from American blacks. Quite the contrary. The only agenda is your insistence on not giving any credit to blacks in Africa; a place that you have often gone out of your way to demean and trivialize.
The criticism of “agenda driven elite institutions” of higher learning is an old and lame argument here. As concerns this topic your fallback position is always to delegitimize their value as an excuse for your myopic viewpoints on this topic.
What you miss is that the viewpoint I expressed is not agenda driven or the result of agenda driven textbooks, but that it is all there to be heard. Of course, this assumes that the listener is capable of hearing it, or open to hearing it. You dismiss the evidence driven viewpoint on the subject of the Blues while asking for explanations of some of the very things that define it.
I have pointed this out several times previously. Just about everyone who is considered to be authoritative on the subject and just about every Jazz musician past and present supports the idea that the Blues as we know it have a very important African component. By extension, Jazz does a well. (Remember, “no Blues, no Jazz”?). But, yours is the lone voice out there with the real truth.....right.....
Rok, a peace offering. Live a little, will ya 😊. (Only thing that could have made this better is if the accompanist had been playing on Schubert’s favorite piano)
"Music soothes the savage beast"; music also soothes me 24 hours a day; my computer "play list" is piping out music in my bedroom even when I'm sleep. This morning I awoke to Mr. Dave Brubeck, "Calcutta Blues", from his album "Jazz Impressions of Eurasia" which was inspired by his tour of 14 countries, including Turkey, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in 1958.
Track listing
"Nomad" (Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck) – 7:23 "Brandenburg Gate" – 6:55 "The Golden Horn" – 5:02 "Thank You (Dziekuje)" – 3:35 "Marble Arch" – 6:59 "Calcutta Blues" – 9:53
Personnel Dave Brubeck – piano Paul Desmond – alto saxophone Joe Benjamin – double bass Joe Morello – drums
*****
Impressions of Eurasia" which was inspired by his tour of 14 countries, including Turkey, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in 1958.*****
Interesting. Duke Ellington made a similar tour looking for inspiration. He cut it short and canceled the project. Said it, the local music, all had a 'sameness' to it.
Rok, glad you liked it. You are correct, the modern double bass has four strings. In that clip he is playing a period three string double bass. It was not until the late 1800’s or so that the four string bass became “standard”. Before then three, four and five string double basses were used.
Memory is extremely important to a musician. Whether it is to remember the chord changes of a Jazz tune or complex passages in a Classical work. The goal is to remember to the point when the “remembering” process becomes subconscious and the musician is not “working” at remembering. A good musician doesn’t want to be completely preoccupied with remembering the changes of a tune or to be glued to the notes on the page when performing. When the subconscious takes over is when the musician is freed to interact musically with the other musicians and to take the music to a higher level with inspired and creative phrasing in an improvised Jazz solo or a Classical work.
"Myers was born in Laurel, Mississippi. He acquired juvenile cataracts at age seven and was left legally blind for the rest of his life, despite corrective surgery. He could make out shapes and shadows, but could not read print at all; he was taught Braille.
He acquired an interest in music while a schoolboy in Jackson, Mississippi, and became skilled enough at playing the trumpet and drums that he received a non-degree scholarship from the American Conservatory of Music (formerly the American Conservatory School of Music) in Chicago. Myers attended school by day and at night frequented the nightclubs of the South Side." ~ source Wiki
How easy was that?
I have a neighbor who got blind at very young age. Today he is an adult, very modest and highly educated man. Plays accordion, guitar, piano. Got degree on history of art and music.
Runs few women's choirs. Travelling the world with a band. Got married with beautiful painter. Got two lovely kids.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
