Jazz for aficionados

Stravinsky??? That's like comparing apples to apples. I asssumed the answer would be classical since you barred The Learsfool, but, STRAVINSKY??

Stravinsky is known as the Ornette Coleman of the Classical world. Or is Coleman known as the Stravinsky of Jazz. I get them confused.

I have a few of his LPs. Nothing on CD. I always enjoyed his album cover art, and at that time LPs cost $2.50, so what the hell. Can't recall listening to any of his stuff more than once.

Congrads to Acman3.

Cheers

We have a winner. The latest recipient of the "Labotomy Award" is Acman3. Congratulations!

Today's other Gem:

Willis Jackson -- BAR WARS

Jackson(ts), Charles Earland(o), Pat Martino(g), Idris Muhammad(d), Buddy Caldwell(congas)

WOW! Honking Tenor and Screaming B-3, with Pat Martino with them every note of the way. This is just great happy music fit for a good happin' bar. Reminds me of a group I used to listen to in Binghamton, NY.

If you are not up and dancing around on 'The Goose Is Loose', Check your pulse, you may be deceased! I thought we were about to have a 'hog calling blues' event. or at least a Gonsalves 'interval' thingy.

Pat Martino is the real deal.

I would say you gotta have it, but the only one on Amazon is from 'these sellers' and they are asking $230!!

This could be the most valuable CD I own!! :)

Cheers

Today's Gems:

Ella Fitzgerald -- ELLA IN ROME - THE BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Recorded in Rome on Ella's 40th birthday.April 25 1958.
All standards. 18 tunes. No filler, but how can anything by Ella be considered filler.

The Italians are very enthusiastic and appreciative. Some great singing here. 'Midnight Sun', which she owns, the best 'that old black magic' since Louie Prima and Keely Smith, and a great 'Carvan'.

I have concluded that this woman does not sing, she 'plays voice'.

The last tune was 'stompin' at the savoy'. She was backed by Oscar Peterson and his group on this one. Great tune to close with.

She verbally 'introduced' Oscar's solo, while singing the song. Never missed a beat! She just made the words part of the song. Amazing.

It's Ella in her prime. Enough said. If you don't know what that means, Git outta Jazz!!!

Cheers

O-10:

Glad you are enjoying the '100 greatest' set. I keep mine handy on the desk, because I listen to at least one disc everyday. I like the element of surprise as to what's next.

I saw Lou Rawls live in Baltimore, back in the day. I read where he had the third most recognizable voice on the planet. After Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali. How do they determine this stuff? :)

Cheers

The Frogman:

**Can you name the composition that is quoted in this performance?**

I tried. I really tried. This is like a musical version of the Rorschach Inkblot Test. Everyone hears what they hear. I heard noithing that I could recognize as melody or a theme. But I do admire their audacity.

On a more positive note. They performed at Ansbach Castle. I have visited Ansbach many times. Great place to eat and shop during the Christmas season. Great old world European ambience.

The U.S. 1st Armoured Division was / is headquatered there.

BS?? Yep!

Cheers

This is the second installment of the "Labotomy Award" contest. The title says it all; and, no, I don't think that this is an example of "bullshit".....maybe.

Can you name the composition that is quoted in this performance? As usual, being the gentlemen that we all are, no cheating!
Hint: Learsfool, you are automatically disqualified from participation ;-)

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d0HB8ybKJzo

As usual, thanks to Rok2id for the inspiration :-)

Shame indeed, thanks for your impressions.

Rok, I just found time to give Lou Rawls the serious consideration he deserves; review coming tomorrow.

Frogman - I was actually pleasantly surprised at Teagarden's technical ability. Over this three album set (48 tunes in all!) he didn't do that much that was very technically difficult, however there were several times when he suddenly, though unobtrusively and nicely within the context, did something that was actually quite difficult (the sort of thing perhaps only another brass player would even notice). So he could definitely play. Based on this limited exposure to him and certain other famous jazz trombonists I have heard, I would put his technical ability above that of say Curtis Fuller, who I have heard live. That said, quite a bit of the time he wasn't playing trombone at all, just leading the band, I guess. His singing was actually pretty good, I was reading that some people liked him better than Frank as a singer!! But I would have liked to hear him play the trombone more than he does on this set. He was certainly an impressive musician. After hearing him, I found myself wondering why I had never heard anyone even mention his name before - I think he is mostly forgotten now, which is a shame.

Lou Rawls had a long and very successful career; he's well represented in my collection.

I just received "The 100 best jazz tunes of the 50's", and I only quit listening to go to bed. This compilation is the perfect compliment to the book "Three Wishes". Bird's photo does not appear in the book, I believe the thought of Bird and the way he died in her apartment was too painful for Nica; but all of the other musicians in this compilation, also have photos in the book.

While I already have 90% of this compilation, I still find it a great asset; my record collection is totally unorganized since I primarily rely on CD's for my listening pleasure, that makes finding an LP a really big job. At this time I'm in a jazz aficionado's heaven.

Enjoy the music.

Learsfool, his musical style aside, how did you feel about Jack Teagarden as an instrumentalist; as a brass player? Thanks.

Rok, my feelings about "free" jazz have not changed for quite some time. I seem to recall a couple of earlier discussions about it. But, to be clear, I don't consider ALL free jazz to be bullshit; quite the contrary. If I am not mistaken, one of those discussions was about Coltrane's "free" period. I would never consider that to be bullshit. My comments were about some players who jumped on the "free" bandwagon without having any mastery of the traditional. Occasionally, a genius comes along whose innate musical vocabulary is so different that he has something to say even without any substantive roots in the traditional vocabulary, so there is real value. Many others...; well, I think I have used up my quota of that word for a while. IMO, of course, and I am sure some more "open minded" consider that opinion to be....

Frogman, love your BS comment. I agree wholeheartedly that there is too much PC going on in the music world, especially in jazz, but also in classical.

Today's Listen:

Lou Rawls with Les McCann Ltd. -- STORMY MONDAY

Rawls(v), Les McCann(p), LeRoy Vinnegar(b), Ron Jefferson(d)

Lou Rawls' first recording. Recorded in 1962 on BlueNote.
13 tunes. Mostly blues. The Count Basie, Joe Williams type of blues numbers.

This is a young Lou Rawls. You can hear it in his voice. It would get better as he aged.

The Les McCann Trio provide good backing. No weak tracks. Most are well known tunes like: 'God Bless the Child', 'See See Rider' etc... My favorite is "I'd rather drink muddy water"

Willie Dixon said "blues is the truth", if that is true, and it is, then they recorded this session with one hand on the Bible, swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Lou Rawls -- AT LAST

This is Rawls 27 years later. Still on Blue Note. Sort of like a complilation. Lou is joined by Dianne Reeves, Ray Charles, Stanley Turrentine,David 'fathead' Newman and Bobby Hutcherson.

A more sophisticated outing. Better arrangements and much larger band in support. I like the singing on this one best. He seems to be into the songs to a degree he was not in the first disc. Experience? This is the mature Lou Rawls that we all know.

11 Tracks. All good. He does a duet with Ray on, 'That's Where It's At' and with Dianne on 'At Last'. Great stuff.

For Rawls fans, both are must haves.. His first, and close to His last.

Cheers

BTW,
The avant-garde,and Free Jazz, Bullshit!?!?!! Why I never heard of such a thing!!! You can add Southwest Pakistani folk Jazz etc... to the list also.

Where were you two, when I was saying the same thing? All I got for my trouble were attacks from all sides.

You just can't keep the truth down, you just can't do it! :) Welcome to the light, and the fight.

Frogman, "Many so-called "free" or "avant-garde" players have been shown to be nothing more than imposters since "musical political correctness" has been reluctant to call their playing what it is: bullshit."

I mistakenly bought some of that "bullshit", and sold it the next day. I wont mention who the artist was, but someone commented that he sounded like someone was stepping on his feet.



After you pointed it out, I took note of how "Idle Moments" relaxed toward the end. During that recording session, Rudy was supposed to stop Joe after 7 minutes, but every one was entranced with his solo, and Rudy decided to let him blow, consequently they had to drop another intended cut.

Enjoy the music.

Grant Green seems to be one of the artists I'm in resonance with; that's when sympathetic vibrations occur, and the music reaches you consistently. I think we're on the same fundamental wave length. I rate musicians by how much I like their version of "Round Midnight". If they don't have one, that excludes them from the top echelon of musicians. I like Grants version of "Round Midnight".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIrYlh_oq14

Enjoy the music.

O-10, "Idle Moments" has been on my list of "to buy" for literally years ever since a friend played that cut for me. It was of particular interest because it was, as you said, one of Joe Henderson's earliest things on record. Thanks for the reminder. That recording is absolutely incredible with a beautifully relaxed feeling. As you said, all the solos are great, but Joe.....wow! There is a saying among jazz players that "you can't play outside until you know how to play inside". What they mean by that is that a player has to master improvising "inside" the tune's harmony in a traditional (easily recognized by the listener) way before he can leave that harmony for more "adventurous" note choices "outside" those traditional harmonic constraints. This has been an area of considerable controversy. Many so-called "free" or "avant-garde" players have been shown to be nothing more than imposters since "musical political correctness" has been reluctant to call their playing what it is: bullshit. Joe Henderson is a master at leaving the traditional harmony in a beautiful, organized and CONTROLLED way as a way of EXTENDING the harmony, and not simply destroying it in the spirit of being "free". Two moments in his solo that demonstrate this harmonic mastery are 8:35 and 9:45; it's a kind of harmonic spiciness.

If all that wasn't "geeky" enough: Joe Henderson plays with a very distinctive and uniquely warm sound. Part of the reason for this is his choice of mouthpiece. One will notice that tenor saxophone players play either a metal or rubber (plastic) mouthpiece. During the "swing" and early "bop" eras most players played rubber mouthpieces. As players developed more aggressive styles in the "hard-bop" eras and beyond, they sought the louder and brighter sounds that a metal mouthpiece gives the player. Joe Henderson is a notable exception to this trend. Not only did he choose to play a rubber mouthpiece, but it is a mouthpiece normally used by classical saxophonists who require an even more rounded and less edgy sound.

Another interesting thing about this recording is how the tempo relaxes even more from beginning to end. Sometimes this is intentional; it usually isn't and is just something that happens in the performance. In this case things start to relax a lot during Hutcherson's solo. Notice how much slower the tempo is by the time the melody returns at the end (13:12); it's not a subtle difference.

The day after the night before of frivolity, is when everyone has the blues in Maude's flat. Grant Green captures this mood on "Blues In Maude's Flat"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuJKFQ-OqPo

Enjoy the music.

O-10:
Once again you bring to my attention music I already own. Great clip. I will listen to the entire CD tonight.

My CDs always seem to sound just a little better if blessed by O-10.

Monk is Monk! hahahhah

Cheers

Here's one of my favorites by Grant. While all the solo's are beautiful, Joe Henderson's solo on tenor, put him on the map. This particular cut went overtime because Joe was sounding so good, that Rudy Van Gelder, the engineer, didn't want to stop him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwaFDFP7m_E

Enjoy the music.

Nica asked Monk, "If you were given three wishes, what would they be?"

He was pacing back and forth, and he paused for a moment to gaze out across the river at the New York skyline. Then he gave her an answer.

And she said, "But, Thelonious! you have those already!"

He just smiled and began pacing again.

1. "To be successful musically."

2. "To have a happy family."

3. "To have a crazy friend like you."

Enjoy the music.

Today's Listen:

Big John Patton -- GOT A GOOD THING GOIN'

Patton(organ), Grant Green(g), Hugh Walker(d), Richard Landrum(conga)

Soul-Jazz at it's best. Patton and Green made several records together. This is one of their best.

The music and playing rises to a level above just covers of pop/R&B. Two Pop covers 'ain't that peculiar' and 'shake'. There is some serious playing here from both Green and Patton.

Blue Note label, recorded in 1966. Check it out.

Cheers

I suspect, Nellie 'didn't play that'!

Cheers

Thanks Rok, that was quite an article. Rumors about her and Monk, were just that, "Rumors", unless Monk's wife Nellie was in on the affair; but you can never stop "animalistic" people from having such thoughts. She was a very special lady.

Enjoy the music.

Interesting woman. Born a Rothschild. This article tells of her relationships with various Jazz players.

http://www.icrates.org/baroness-nica-the-musical-legacy-of-pannonica-de-koenigswarter/

Cheers

Rok, I was inspired by the book "Three Wishes", to find songs written in honor of "Pannonica De Koenigswarter" . Although there are twenty songs written in her honor, and I'm sure everyone has many different versions of "Nica's Dream" written by Horace Silver, I could find only one other tune that I liked. Maybe you or Frogman can find other songs written in her honor that you like.

"Pannonica" by Monk captures the essence of a beautiful fluttering butterfly, which is what the lady of jazz was named after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSHkPCW8dN4

Enjoy the music.

Today's Listen:

Various -- THE SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION OF CLASSIC JAZZ

This is the 'Revised' remastered edition, released in 1987. The original was released in 1973 on LP. The sound quality on this set is much improved.

This is a 5 CD set. Starts with Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton, and ends with Ornette Coleman and The World Saxophone Quartet.

The sound quality on the early stuff is AMAZINGLY good. The later stuff is good also.

The package is typical Smithsonian. Well done with many nice touches. Great detail on all the tracks. Includes the soloists, and the order of their solos. Date and place recorded and personnel.

A 102 page booklet. Repeats the liner notes of each disc and includes great pictures. The historical information is priceless in itself.

They didn't miss many of the greats. Below is a link to the tune list.

http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Smithsonian-Collection-Of-Classic-Jazz/release/457754

The sound on the 1973 release was not good. The Scorr Joplin tune 'maple leaf rag' is a recording of a piano roll made before electric recording. Sounds just fine here.

No filler. All great tunes. Even includes two(2) versions of O-10's favorite, 'East St. Louis Toddle-Oo' by Duke Ellington! :)

All Jazz people should have this.

I am becoming a fan of these complilations. Like the '50 Greatest Jazz Tunes' I posted about earlier. Sometimes you just don't feel like an entire CD of Coltrane, or anyone else.

Cheers

O-10:

Alice Coltrane:

I liked the "Blue Nile' the best. Probably because of the guys playing on the set. Both cuts were easy on the ears.

I have noticed that if you use the mouse to skip ahead on the music, you find that one point sounds the same as any other point. Like you are not missing anything.

No Beginning, middle, or end.

Her harp is nice. I like it.

Cheers

Hey guys - I finally got a chance to listen to half of the box set I had picked up of Jack Teagarden. It is a really fun set - great lyrics to the songs, great dixieland style band.

Acman3, you really tied it together. Trane was on a spiritual journey that he was beginning to express through his music. I believe Alice Coltrane, his wife, exemplified the destination Trane was trying to reach. Her music is filled with Trane's spirituality just before he died. Here we can hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2HwbFLh5j0



Since leaving the music we've been into, and going to Alice Coltrane is like stepping out of hot water, and then getting into cold; you have to listen to more music in that groove in order to absorb it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smisXZ7KVpo

Like it or not Rok, this is where Trane was headed, he took some way out trips on live sets; that's where he played music that was totally unfamiliar to fans of the "old Trane", that music was a preview of things to come.

Enjoy the music.

One of my favorite modern trumpeters, Dave Douglas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpK69hHcfKw&list=PLA989DAB13E7299B7

Acman3:

There was a tuba on the Mingus Big Band CD I posted. I meant to mention it, but forgot.

Guess they are more common than I thought. Now all we need is a full CD of solo Tuba! I could put it right next to my CDs of solo Harp and solo Bassoon!

Thanks for post. I have that CD by Coltrane. Now I will listen to it.

Cheers

HeHeHe,Talk about tying it all together, Coltrane, Africa, and for ROK, 4 French horns and a tuba. Conducted by Eric Dolphy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J4YZwFa_1w

Great tune, classic Trane; thanks. There's a beauty about much of Trane's playing, a certain sense of melancholy that is hard to describe. This is a personal reaction, but its a certain happy/sad quality that I find beautiful.

Rok, I'm a Mingus fan from way back, but I never bothered with anyone else's interpretation of Mingus; now I see that was a mistake, because under the direction of "Sue Mingus", this has to be fantastic. The CD is on order.

Enjoy the music.

Frogman, here again we agree on "Trane". When I saw him live, he even lost McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones. Miles said that Trane played for Trane on live sets; while that was true, talk about the pot calling the kettle black; when I saw Miles I didn't know what he was playing; but when Trane was with Miles was the time I liked both of them best. Jazz musicians used live sets for experimentation, and that made a lot of sense when you think about it. Those were gigs at small clubs, and not like Carnegie hall, what better places to experiment?

This is "classic" Trane on a tune I like a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt0D40JTCBY



Enjoy the music.

Today's Listen:

Mingus Big band -- QUE VIVA MINGUS

Too many players to list.

This CD is a tribute to Mingus' love of, and use of, Latin rhythms in his music.. 10 tunes. All by Mingus. The tunes' Latin rhythms range from Columbia to Mexico To Cuba.

A few tunes were 'latinized' such as 'eat that chicken'. very nice although the vocals were better on the orginal. But the tune works!

There is nothing I could possibly add to the liner notes. Excellent and very detailed review of each tune. Among the best liner notes I have ever read. Written by Sue Mingus. I wish I could do that.

She did use this quote from Composer/historian Gunther Schuller speaking of Mingus' compositions.

"there is nothing quite like them in the avant-garde or European Classical music. Mingus himself considered his music to be outside category, neither Jazz nor Classical. "It's 'American Music'," he once said. "Or better yet, just call it Mungus."

Relates to our previous discussions.

The entire brass section shines on this CD. Esp Randy Brecker. As a bonus, a photo of the entire group with names to ID them.

You know you want it!

Cheers

O-10:

I will check out the 'three wishes' book. I just love to read tidbits like that. I am also going to break down and finally buy a book of Jazz photos. Both of the players and the LP covers.

The Ike Quebec tune was great.

Cheers

Here is my favorite cut from "Sonny's Crib". The artists are: Donald Byrd, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; John Coltrane, tenor sax; Sonny Clark, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Taylor, drums.

I believe all of these artists have photographs, and appear in the book "Three Wishes", Pannonica De Koenigswarter. Sonny Clark's three wishes were:
1. "Money"
2. "All the bitches in the world"
3. "All the Steinways in the world"

This is one of the most beautiful versions of "Speak Low" I've ever heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prHxoFepR0A

Enjoy the music.

Agree, classic Blue Note. And my favorite period for Coltrane, just a couple of years before "Giant Steps"; his sound was not yet quite as "edgy" as it would soon get. Great record.

In my opinion "Sonny's Crib" is one of the best albums of all time, what more can I say.

Enjoy the music.

Rok, even Sonny Clark Knew about voodoo; but on a more serious note, "Deep In A Dream" is my favorite cut on that CD.

"Ike Quebec respects the beauty inherent in the song, at the same time investing it with his own personality. This perfect balance really brings the message across".
I repeat "Respects the beauty inherent in the song".

Here's my favorite tune by Ike, "Heavy Soul"; he was dying from terminal cancer when he recorded this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwc1bTn7Fd8

Enjoy the music.

I meant to write this 'review' last night, but I had this terrific headache. I NEVER have headaches! Then I thought, maybe The O-10 is messing with those Voodoo dolls of his. In the future, I will be more prudent when addressing The O-10. A hint to the wise!

Today's Listen:

Sonny Clark -- LEAPIN' AND LOPIN'

Clarke(p), Ike Quebec & Charlie Rouse (ts), Tommy Turrentine(t), Butch Warren(b), Billy Higgins(d)

Clark's last session as leader. Some feel his best effort.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable CD. The playing and the the tunes are just spot on.

Tommy Turrentine, older brother of Saxman stanley, is a find for me. Excellent trumpet playing and tone. Had not heard him before. And We all know about Rouse with Monk, but there is a lot more to him than that, as his soloing on this CD demonstrates.

I think Clarke died when he was 31/32. What a waste. I love his playing. When you think of all the greats we lost in their 20's and 30's, it's just a shame. What could have been.

Ike just sits in on the tune 'deep in a dream'. The only ballard and maybe the highlight of the CD. That and 'voodoo' were my favorites.

This is one of the better hard bop Blue Note sessions. Everything was just 'right'. Absolutely no irritants.

If you are a Sonny Clark fan, then you must have this. It is for sure him at the top of his game.

If you just like Jazz, then you ought to have it. Along with his, 'Sonny's Crib' and 'Cool struttin'

Cheers

*****Well, it's pretty obvious to me****

Me also. I just thought the 'high-end' would have made a better showing.

Actually I didn't think that. It's just that, given the results, why ask the question and/or do the 'test' in the first place. Given that they 'published' the results, I thought it would demonstrate how close the two were. As you said, no contest.

Cheers

Well, it's pretty obvious to me; the winner is the live ensemble. First of all, the recording is slightly softer in volume so that will affect our perception. The recording sounds slightly muted in the highs, and has less rhythmic "verve". No brainier, even over an IPad.

Just a short break from the usual.

And the Winner is ???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lmXi1y1fzs

Cheers

Thanks Frogman, those nightclubs were as incredible as the movie sets; so they did exist.