Jazz for aficionados
Jazz for aficionados
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.
Enjoy the music.
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.
Enjoy the music.
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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:
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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. |
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. |
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 ? The heartbeat for sure....
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The human spirit is one.... Nevermind geography.... 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
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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? For me it is... Jazz is improvising from the heart...
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Music played by some musicians is a language that time nor context can make meaningless or destroy... Soul dont age....Heart did not die.... Brain disapear but who need a brain anyway ? It is only an antenna and a filter... Music remind us of that in alzheimer case... How great are Miles Davis and his friends here? Miraculously enthralling!
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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...
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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....
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Sorry ,I put in my clip . I just meet a lot who don’t mahgiester . Could you tell me when I could expect the 50’s F in your part of the world . Doc and I decided not wise to fly atlantic, but YUL and Hotel St. Paul would be OK. 2 years of self watching self is enough and no sweat for current what must be in Canada now !. |
Many would say that it, Jazz as we know it today, really all began with Satchmo. pryso, what I wouldn’t give to have heard and seen Satchmo live. Lucky you! Great clip! mahgister, and they both also sang…interesting (and so did Teagarden). On a related note (😉) many Jazz instrumentalists make a point of learning the lyrics to a song before playing it as an instrumental. Speaking of Dexter, he was one of the very best examples of this approach to a tune. He would often begin a live performance of a tune by reciting part of the lyrics:
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Satchmo dont play the trumpet, he spoke with it... It is even possible to translate the "words" in English or French... Satchmo most of the time spoke about hope and joy most of the times .... For me Chet Baker dont play trumpet most of the times like satchmo, especially the years before his death... He spoke with the trumpet but he spoke about sadness, solitude and despair most of the times...And we can also translate what he spoke about in words... And the intonation related to their words or tone and chords are impossible for any other trumpet master to imitate even approach it for me... i love them vey much...Because i love poetry and poetry is made with "words"...
Who dont like Louis Armstrong anyway? Too big a giant to be invisible or forgotten....
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Spell checker strikes again! That should have read Stafford, not “Stanford” James. Btw, funny how the mind works, yesterday I couldn’t remember who the bass player was with Dexter and when I woke up this morning one of the first things I thought of was “Rufus Reid, that’s it!” 😊 More Dexter with Stafford James:
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I graduated HS in 1981 so, froggy you are not much older than I am. Louis Hayes is a great drummer that has appeared on hundreds of studio recording sessions with all of the great jazz musicians of lore. From Sonny Stitt to Vincent Herring. George Cables is a great pianist and has hundreds of studio recording sessions as well. Besides his own catalog as a leader, he played with Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper (a lot), and Frank Morgan to name a few. Both Hayes, 84, and Cables, 74 are still alive and making music!! Ronnie Mathews and Eddie Gladden are no slouches but Stanford James is drawing a blank with me.
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“over four decades ago”!!!! I’m showing my age ☺️. I was fresh out of HS when I went to see Dexter for the first time at the suggestion of a saxophone teacher that I had at the time. I didn’t quite understand the significance of those performances at the time and it wasn’t until years later that I bought and listened to the “Homecoming” recording made from those dates. That recording was made over a couple of days at The Vanguard. The personnel when I was there was as the record states: Dexter, Shaw, Ronnie Mathews, Stanford James and Louis Hayes. I heard Dexter twice more at The Vanguard a few years later. These times it was just a quarter; no Shaw, George Cables, Eddie Gladden and I’m blanking on who the bass player was. |
Here is the writer and composer of Gingerbread Boy Jimmy Heath god rest his soul. Excellent young musicians big band following Heath's direction!
UNT One O'Clock Lab Band: Jimmy Heath - Gingerbread Boy (1964) - YouTube |
Froggy that must have been an incredible show! Did you take any photos of LTD and Woody? Do you remember the 3 musicians in the rhythm section? I know it was over 4 decades ago but I bet you know!!
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