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.
This song always moved me...It is the FIRST life changing jazz music event that make me forgot separating dividing line between superior music and inferior genre... I realized music is a way musician take to reach our heart...Music dont need to be written by a genius but may be played by a genius or by any gifted musician in some magical moment... I was 15 years old listening to it at the radio.... It takes me some time after that to understand very deeply that musicians are music, not written score...I am not a musician myself and not gifted at all for music....
Like satchmo and Baker , Bechet spoke with his instrument and forgot to only play it or remember how to speak to the soul in this song ....I dont know....
I need soothing of the soul for me and the world....
And i dont think even an angel could play it better than this imperfect human being who was Sydney Bechet ...
Then perhaps even angels wait for us as imperfect as we are....
Many american Jazz players was more known in France and in some other countries around the world than in America when they were living and need money to pay the rent...
Now they are the soul of America....
The soul of Louis Armstrong is irrresistible medecine...
I think even Buddha and Christ will love him...
And Bach will borrow something from him like he did from Vivaldi mysterious spontaneous melodical gift...
Now listen to this and compare with all my other posts about Bechet, Baker, Davis, Armstrong, Green, they all spoke with their instrument and dont play only...
This man also spoke....
Listen to him...
Is it not " jazz" from someone coming from an old history some thousand years ago?
All souls sing the same divine song hidden behind all voices....
This divine call is what we long for....
Music is an algebric gesture mimicking God love but we think that we own it and called it our own possession....This only the superficial history of music....
There is many souls but one spirit....Deep music history is the history of the only one consciousness....
«God is a jazzman»-Groucho Marx 🤓
«Did you think he listen Bach but play jazz?» - Harpo Marx
I will finish my rant with this instrument which was created to reproduce the human voice, the duduk, and which will remind us the way Sydney Bechet was able to "spoke" "petite fleur" on an another instrument my first post above...
life is mysterious like is love...No other mysteries can surpass them save the mystery of the infinite which is only love forgetting himself and reminding itself .... Is it not music this forgetting and this reminding, this waving ?
First, a quick comment about an earlier comment about Pat Metheney. Metheney is an extremely eclectic composer. I love many of his records, while some just don't appeal to me at all. In terms of more, what I might call "conventional" perspectives on jazz, I think the early ECM albums make a strong case for themselves: Watercolours, Bright Size Life - and taking some liberties with the term "conventional" - American Garage.
Separately, as a guitarist, I've always found the Concord Jazz recordings to be very well engineered, so I'll mention Emily Remler's East to Wes and Jim Hall's Circles.
Not on Concord, while he can veer into smooth jazz territory a lot, an exception is Lee Ritenour's Wes Bound - top quality musicianship and an excellent recording.
BTW, I'll listen to anything by Wes Montgomery - even the CTI recordings.
frog, interesting point about instrumentalists studying or reciting lyrics. I never gave that much consideration before, but it makes sense. Simply playing the musical lines of a song can allow improvisation. But knowing the lyrics should allow more insight into the intent of the composer, and thus suggest more essence in the interpretation.
mahgister, I'd say you are more on a roll than on a rant. I agree that my most favored musicians are those who can "speak" with their instruments. Regardless of the type of music -- jazz, blues, classical, world music, etc. -- it is the performer's ability to express their emotion that really speaks to me.
In his “rant”….I mean, “roll” (😊) mahgister reminds of the importance of an instrumentalist’s ability to “speak” instrumentally. When speaking with other musicians about musicians, players often refer to an instrumentalist’s ability (or not) to “tell a story”; either playing the melody of a song simply but with artful phrasing, or when crafting a great improvised solo. When a genius composer chooses players that not only speak the same language of his compositions, but do so with the same (musical) accent the results can be amazing:
Astounding choices illustrating this front matter about spoken "idiom", especially about Mingus who i know because he is a great legend but not so much in listening....
I will go for these two.... This is jazz to my liking for the reasons explained well by frogman... Thanks...
This is why this jazz thread is more than about taste when a musician like frogman explained why we must listen before confiding only in our first preferences or biases... We must educated our taste gestures so to speak....
...’Scandinavian kind of blues that places intensity, tone, space and meaning ahead of virtuosic athleticism. Taking ages old Swedish folk melodies from Svenska Låtar and then interpreting them from a jazz perspective, Johansson’s carefully nuanced sound, the gradation of his touch, the exquisite detail of every note revealed by the meticulous recording quality captured a unique approach to jazz’...from 1962.-64.
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