Jazz for aficionados
Great record! Cachao was a giant in Cuban music. From a family of bass players! Can you imagine post Xmas dinner chez Lopez? That record goes back to early in this thread. You didn’t post one of my favorite cuts. Some very sexy clarinet playing by Paquito on one the great Ernesto Lequona’s compositions: https://youtu.be/4uooPvBeFbE |
Today’s Listen: Thelonious Monk -- THELONIOUS MONK PLAYS DUKE ELLINGTON with / Oscar Pettiford(bass), Kenny Clarke(drums) Notes are the original ones that appeared on the Riverside LP. Tiny print, but excellent details on the genesis of this album. Also points out that Monk’s audience was growing. :) Recorded 1955. caravan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nMfi6ai0nQ it don’t mean a thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJanxLycKCk black and tan fantasy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRF1taZ8xqY solitude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18Kx6lifjj4 Btw, The cover art is a reproduction of "The Repast of the Lion" by the French "primitive" modernist Henri Rousseau. Not the usual Jazz thing. Cheers |
Today's Listen: Cannonball Adderley Sextet -- DIZZY'S BUSINESS I love how he introduces each tune and says a few words. This man was not only one of the all time greats, he also showed, how much he loved the music, and how much he loved playing it for audiences. Recorded 1962-63. jive samba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifC_Funhz4 this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyL9a29QQd8 autumn leaves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpDfZDLx3os new delhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwOf5Xyp5NA Cheers |
Could anybody recommend any Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers albums they particularly like? So far I favor ones Wayne Shorter plays on, but am open to your suggestions. Those I already have are: Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk Art Blakey Jazz Messengers A Night in Tunisia The Freedom Rider Free for All Buhaina’s Delight I’d like to get a few more, but there are so many to choose from, it’s hard to decide might be the best choices.. Thanks, Mike |
“Moanin’” (of course) “At The Jazz Corner Of The World” Vols. 1&2 Since you are a Shorter fan (I am!), “Big Beat”, the first record he did with Blakey should probably be on your list. Also with Shorter and one of my favorite JM lineups which included Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton: “Mosaic” For something different, “Second Genesis” an interesting record with Blakey as sideman and Shorter as leader. Enjoy! |
@skyscraper Could anybody recommend any Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers albums they particularly like?I second frogman's suggestions. As far as the "Genesis" session on Vee Jay label I have all 3 of Wayne's Vee Jay label recordings. This 3 in 1 remaster I have and the sonics are very good. Wayne Shorter - Wayning Moments / Second Genesis / Introducing - Amazon.com Music Also get the Indestructible session with Wayne on ts. (37) Art Blakey & Lee Morgan - 1964 - Indestructible - 01 The Egyptian - YouTube |
Frogman, I’ll be looking at "Big Beat" ,"Mosaic" , "Moanin" and the others you mention. Thanks. Pjw81563, that Veejay 3-fer has some excellent Shorter as bandleader on it. I got it about a month or so ago and was quite pleased. I’ll look up the "Indestructible" Jazz Messenger recording you mention too. Keegiam, those are some excellent Shorter recordings. I acquired his complete Blue Note recordings set a few months ago and really enjoy the ones you mention. I still have to get the last one he did with Weather Report, "Mr. Gone". Since I’ve almost all his Miles Davis material on Columbia I’m now working on his Jazz Messenger catalog. That’s great too from what I’ve listened to so far. Getting Blakey’s Jazz Messengers for it’s own sake, with or without Shorter is another laudable goal You gotta love this stuff.. Mike |
Wayne Shorter is one of my very favorite Jazz musicians. Not only a great player, but a great composer as well. His compositions are unusual, but always unusually interesting. A true giant who is thankfully still with us: Good list of Wayne Shorter “must haves” by Keegiam. I would also add: “Adam’s Apple” https://youtu.be/LgaIUqH0w6c ”The Soothsayer” https://youtu.be/IbE3jlLhJL8 ”The All Seeing Eye” https://youtu.be/ylc6_wPm6SA |
Keegiam, you’ve got to have me confused with someone else. I purchased my first jazz album some fifty years ago after hearing " A Love Supreme" the first time. I’ve loved jazz ever since, but did take about a thirty year break from collecting when life and marriage created other other priorities for a while. Frogman, those you mentioned are all great recordings, and fortunately in the complete Wayne Shorter Blue Note albums box set which is one of the treasures in my collection. It’s obvious you and keegiam both have excellent taste in jazz. Mike |
@skyscraper My sincere apologies. For some reason I associated you with starting the recent "Jazz Newbie" thread. It was started by member "Krelldog." My warning is, I'm getting old and a little confused so please ignore anything I say that's nonsensical. BTW, the reason I recommended "Nefetiti" on the "Newbie" thread was that it is, to me, one of Wayne Shorter's seminal compositions. I consider is a jazz masterpiece. |
Keegiam, I do understand and forgive you for your indiscretion. Along these lines, I went to the doctor yesterday for my annual physical. She mentioned at the beginning of the session I should remember three words, "apple, penny and watch". I repeated them right back to her and felt good about myself. At the end of the session she again asked what the three words were. By that time I'd forgotten "penny". Even though getting old and failing a short term memory test is nothing to laugh about, it was funny. "Nefertiti is a really nice piece. Now that you mention it, I’ll play it later tonight if I don’t forget. Take care, Mike |
Good morning Mike Getting Blakey’s Jazz Messengers for it’s own sake, with or without Shorter is another laudable goal You gotta love this stuff..I have 60 plus Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers CD’s in my collection. I often go out of my way to find and acquire rare OOP sessions. BTW I saw the Wayne Shorter Quartet which is featured on Wayne's "Without A Net" release of 2013 and is comprised of John Patitucci on bass, Danilo Perez on piano and Brian Blade on drums. The venue was NYC Town Hall June 2013. Here is one video from it: (37) Wayne Shorter 80th birthday at Town Hall 6/28/13 - YouTube And here is Without A Net: (37) wayne shorter without a net full album - YouTube My friends who attended the show with me were expecting more "accessible jazz" but they were all mesmerized by what they witnessed that night. Here is a review of "Without A Net" from All Music and an article on the tour. Without a Net - Wayne Shorter Quartet, Wayne Shorter | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic Wayne Shorter at 80, catching his second wind - The Washington Post I have not purchased Wayne's only release since then titled "Emanon" if you have it what is your thoughts on it? |
Well, my feeling is that to better understand Shorter the composer and his artistic direction, this album is a “must have”; even if one may not entirely like it. What I mean is that it is something completely different from anything he has done previously and I would say that more than anything it is “modern Classical” music with Jazz quintet. From that standpoint, I find it very interesting. Listeners who don’t have a taste for contemporary “Classical” may find it strange. The album features compositions (some from previous records) orchestrated for chamber orchestra (the recently mentioned Orpheus Chamber orchestra) and it is interesting to hear them in this new context. A clear extension of his “composer’s head”. The instrumental playing is great. Recommended, but buyer beware. |
Today’s Listen: McCoy Tyner -- SOLILOQUY The third in a trilogy of Solo recordings by Tyner, ’REVELATIONS’ and ’THINGS AIN’T WHAT THEY USED TO BE’, being the first two. Notes: ".....preserved, as its two predecessors, at Merkin Hall adjacent to Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Coming full circle, McCoy’s again at the Hamburg Steinway Concert Grand, heard entirely on his own as captured by engineer David Baker." Recorded 1991. Btw, the Hamburg Concert Grand has a MSRP of around 175,000 dollars. Almost as much as The OP’s cable lifters. lonnie’s lament https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNHMNpQx6Q4 tribute to lady day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeP6mUqmsrw willow weep for me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jiYjTQTbyY bouncin’ with bud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVYZawrAoFM effendi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuxUNS_vpkk Cheers |
Interesting find, perhaps posted here before I joined, not sure. A 3.5 hour biography on The Bird done by the Norwegian Broadcasting Company in 1989. Quite a mix of music, anecdotes, interviews and discussions about the personal interplay of the band members over 20 years. A bit disjointed, but not enough to make it inaccessible. I'm going to watch it in bits over the next couple weeks. "The Bird: Charlie 'Bird' Parker, 1920-1955" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlS_c2kXQOI |
Pjw81563, that’s an impressive collection of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers you have. I’ve been a bit leery about more seriously collecting him just because of the sheer volume of recordings he’s made. I’ve not acquired Shorter’s Emanon yet although it was well reviewed on Allmusic and the clips you can listen to there sound interesting. You’re lucky to have seen him live. Appreciate your links. Mike |
Frogman (and others too) would you call this a jazz music? Music for a While - Improvisations on Purcell https://youtu.be/Q3ZZ1wTytYk Recently I have started to buy albums from Enrico Pieranunzi. Heard him long time ago with Chet Baker, has a big and wide opus. Same question as above: https://youtu.be/GvLBc9uPkBY https://youtu.be/_Rpld9y1ASA https://youtu.be/EGtMDNGgqKM https://youtu.be/Xo8bJToO8Es |
Alex, I have been a Marc Johnson fan forever, but never heard the collaborations with Enrico Pieranunzi. All good music and thanks for that. Quite a mix of Jazz and Classical. It usually doesn't work for me, but I will be listening to some of these interesting recordings. On a lot of the songs they settle into a duo setting and it sounds like Jazz. I'm just waiting on the Captain of the Jazz Police to weigh in. :0) |
Alex, first of all, I like the “Improvisations on Purcell”... a lot. It’s really quite beautiful. A beautiful blend of genres. Is it Jazz? That’s a loaded question around here. Personally, it ultimately doesn’t matter and I have a pretty good idea of what the “Captain of the Jazz Police” will have to say about it 😊 No, it’s not Jazz, but definitely has a Jazz component. What I find interesting is how in that piece they manage to keep two styles completely separate and still make it work in combination. What I mean is that the countertenor vocals remain in a strict Baroque style and the horn plays with a decidedly Jazz feel. (Btw, a bass clarinet, even though several different horns appear in the video, but no bass clarinet) . I have always been a fan of Pieranunzi’s music. I would definitely call his style Jazz. Jazz, rooted in Italian Romanticism instead of the (American) Blues. For some that is a deal breaker right there, but not for me. It checks off enough of the requirements for me. I think that an argument can be made that every cultures has its “Blues”. Like acman3, I am a fan of Marc Johnson and often wonder why his name doesn’t come up more often. Wonderful bass player who I heard play with Bill Evans a couple of times at the Village Vanguard years ago. Once with Joe LaBarbera on drums and another time with Bob Moses on drums...another name that doesn’t come up too often. Thanks for the beautiful clips. Good stuff! |
Speaking of Bill Evans, Marc Johnson, Pat La Barbera and Italian Romanticism (“My Romance” in Rome): https://youtu.be/uegDATOwHPU https://youtu.be/uZ_VkNtd26w https://youtu.be/G-DC_-6QuFc |
I keep a CD player loaded and on standby, just in case of noise attack. I just push PLAY. Like a vaccine to a virus, holy water to the devil, music to a noise maker. Anyone hear those noise making devils sizzling? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9W0g3NGSj4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWpxLihgVwk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPCBieSESI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZcU4SniIc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfNIVdnz1FQ Cheers |
For the Queen. Today, Divas only. I would rather go blind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9sq3ME0JHQ misty blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUDub7m3cU thrill is gone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j1dH7fZVDg I don't wanna fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj3WhcGoSA4 what's love got to do with it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGpFcHTxjZs end of the road melody https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Tx9SUe-v8 Cheers |
Today's Listen: Harry "Sweets" Edison -- JAWBREAKERS with / Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis(tenor sax), Hugh Lawson(piano), Ike Issacs(Bass), Clarence Johnston(drums). One of several albums by "Sweets" and "Lockjaw" playing together. Excellent booklet with pictures. Issued as part of a twofer on the American Jazz Classics label, the other album being "The Inventive Mr. Edison". Recorded 1962. jawbreakers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JaRdAS1-yI four https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml9o2F4j4io broadway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyPvi7idqyE a gal in calico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrYSF37gWW8 Cheers |
Hey rok that JAWBREAKERS, based on the 4 tunes you posted, is really good. I will add that to my collection. I have all of the Lockjaw/Johnny Griffin "duel" sessions like "Battle Stations", Live at Mintons", "The Tenor Scene" and the recently released "Ow" Live at the Penthouse and they are all very good recordings. I think the tone of Lockjaws tenor playing sounds great alongside Sweets’ muted trumpet. |
pjw, the graphics of Wayne’s graphic novel are fantastic; the novel, pretty ordinary IMO and not much of it. The art work is really great. An interesting companion to the music, but his writing skills are nowhere near the level of his musical skills. Lockjaw: Love that tone; one of my favorite tenor sounds. Pjw, those tenor battles with Griff are epic. Great stuff! |
Today's listen: Kathleen Battle -- SO MANY STARS with / Grover Washington Jr, Cyrus Chestnut, Christian McBride, James carter, Antonio Hart, Tom Harrell and others. I received a CD in the mail the other day with a cracked case. I went to my "come back in a few years" shelf to exchange the cracked case, and the first one I pulled out was this CD. I cannot believe, that I felt I had to 'come back later' for Frau Battle and this lineup. What was I thinking!! Excellent fold out insert with many great photos of the musicians and Battle. Also, lyrics to all the songs. Sony 1995. hush (somebody's calling my name) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXSkEITI-ZQ going home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIv8oti-c_o para ninar (go to sleep) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdS-QGgbQk0 steal away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLA8-QVonDk ninghe, ninghe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItyRi2KWmEc angels watching over me (all night, all day) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqPURtf6U5k Cheers |
From my "I haven't played this in ages" category, Milt Jackson's "BeBop." No ground-breaking here, just light-hearted straight-ahead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STnZnnSTyI&list=OLAK5uy_mo6Q8Y4lESqnkKoLFTiK-CQOv8gXpqo_0 |
Christian McBride shows how bass ain't always a rhythm role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V39lXlaj830 |
McBride trio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ci7oJIkP2Q |
Frogman, I admit, my question was somewhat rhetorical, but on other hand I am always curious to learn something new. Concerning those few clips I would not call them as jazz per se, but my reason for that to say sounds controversial for me as I write it. In my conception of jazz (I am very aware of fact that is very limited one) I want to believe that for some music to be called jazz it has to have some sort of spontaneus creativity in performance which I dont hear in any of those pieces. To me they sound like very thoughtful and elaborated compositions, played with great care and precision. However, I could say the same for any number of 'jazz' pieces that I consider to be 'true' jazz. So, I am very aware that my 'reason' stands on shaky ground and I usually try to stay away from such discussions as I do not think that I have enough education to state my opinion as a fact. Also, its true that I conect the meaning of 'jazz' with certain sounds and ways of playing, but than again I know that is something that I have learned to recognise as such and would not 'hide' behind it, if not for any other reason, than just of fear that I might miss something important (music wise) that might come later on. The fact that I am not a fan of some music today it may not mean that I might not like it...ok, not tommorow, but later on... |
Yusef Lateef "Ringo Oiwake" (some far eastern music transformed for Western ears): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETDSOugNrqU&list=RDETDSOugNrqU&index=1 |
