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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.
orpheus10
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
7,826 posts
 

P.S . I love Upstate NY at least much as Canada .

And as much of Texas as lovely Alberta .

 

Too late.  I have already informed the guys at the CIA.  Sorry.

jim5559
604 posts
 

If you want a Jazz man do  time and improv at the same time you need only to hear Sonny Stitt !

jim5559
604 posts
 

Hard to think  of  a better time than Michel Legrand and  Phill Woods at the Montreal Fest .

jim5559
604 posts
 

 

frogman
7,373 posts
 

 

Some thoughts in the spirit of the thread. Where is our OP, btw?

We all have favorites. They are favorites for a variety of reasons; mostly subjective and not objective The playing style of a favorite resonates with our own aesthetic sense and it is important to remember that this preference often says just as much (maybe more) about oneself than it does about the artist; and, is not some indication that our favorite is the “best” based on any objective set of standards. Of course, the tricky part is that there are, in fact, some basic standards of excellence that have to be met to even consider an artist for being ONE of the best.

I have always disliked “best” designations. Jazz, probably more so than any other genre puts a premium on individuality and, as such, makes the notion of who was “the best” kind of pointless. I think that it can be safely said that if one must indulge in “best” designations that one unavoidable consideration is the question of whether the artist was one of the handful that truly changed the direction of the music in a significant way and made more than relatively minor contributions along the path of its evolution. I think we all know who those have been: Pops, Duke, Prez, Bird, Miles, Trane and a handful of others. So, what to do if one loves bebop, but doesn’t like hard bop and beyond; or, swing and what came before (as much?). Can the “best” bebopper be the best jazz player? I don’t think so.

Sonny Stitt was a fantastic bebopper; certainly one of the very best. Was he THE best? If so, what then does one do with Charlie Parker’s legacy? Parker was a genius bebopper and a game changer. Unless we are going to rewrite all that has been written about the history (evolution) of this music there is little question about this.

We may, but Jazz doesn’t like boxes.

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