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GOD.... I LOVE JAZZ


Bilbo

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I'm all confused. I didn't think that I really liked jazz. But lo and behold I was listening to Jools Holland last night and who comes on but Jimmy Cobb with his 'So What Band'. Now that was some very nice music. I'm going to have to rethink and consider that I might be getting drawn in! :)

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A VERY defining moment for me many years ago now was one night in our first flat. Back before we had CDs, I had a collection of LPs, and one night I put 'Kind Of Blue' on the deck, and cranked it up nice and loud, turned the lights down, sat back and just shut my eyes. I ended up in a kind of trance, it kind of felt like the band were in the room with me, and that's how I imagined it. I could hear every click of the drum sticks, every breath into the horns, it was pure magic. I could feel the bass in my chest, every note.

I've NEVER heard that kind of sound from a CD. The LP seemed to have some kind of soul that CDs don't.

I was into jazz from that point onwards.

Edited by Rayman
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I'm just getting into and expanding my knowledge (and CD collection :rolleyes: ) of jazz. I started out a few years back with [i]Kind of Blue[/i] (wow), [i]Brilliant Corners[/i] (double-wow, but piano was my first instrument), [i]Mingus Ah Um[/i] (er... wowee!) and plenty of Django Reinhardt/Stephane Grappelli (different kettle of fish, but still incredible). Now I've looked over loads of "best of" lists and I've expanded the collection a little, and I'm loving it. So here are a few comments and questions for all you jazzers...
[list=1]
[*]I love the obvious immediacy and incredible efficiency of these 50s/60s recordings -- loads of these albums ([i]Moanin'[/i], [i]Saxophone Colossus[/i], [i]Somethin' Else[/i], [i]Blue Train[/i], etc.) were recorded in a day. You just don't get that these days, what with all the studio tinkering and stuff. Awesome.
[*]A lot of the CD reissues come with "alternate takes" as extra tracks. I tend to listen to these once or twice, and if they don't particularly grab me, they don't really get listened to again -- I just play the album as it was originally released. [i]Giant Steps[/i] is a prime example -- my CD's got 4 versions of the title track on it. 2 of them have slightly different versions of the head (slightly awkward little piano fills in one, which completely ruin it for me), and one's just another take of the album version. Do you guys regularly listen to these alternate takes?
[*]Benny Golson on [i]Moanin'[/i] is simply superb.
[*]Er... I'm sure I had more to say when I came upstairs to type this. If it comes back to me, I'll add more! :)
[/list]In summary: JAZZ <-- :wub:

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[quote name='BottomEndian' post='603447' date='Sep 20 2009, 11:39 AM']Er... I'm sure I had more to say when I came upstairs to type this.[/quote]
Oh, yeah: Dave Brubeck's [i]Time Out[/i]. What a crushing disappointment. I'm a real sucker for odd time signatures, so I wanted to love that album. But I found it [b]so[/b] dull. Quite a few tracks (not least "Take Five" :) ) seemed to be: head, vamp, drum solo, head, finish. Seemed very contrived, and it didn't give the listener any credit -- for example, "Take Five". I don't find 5/4 difficult to follow, so you don't need to bash out the same vamp over and over [i]and over[/i] again...

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Playing in 5:4 was an innovation in 1959 but, like all innovations, has become pretty mundane. At the time, it was revolutionary. Bill Bruford's 5:4 playing is one of my favourite grooves.

The release of alternate takes is controversial. Some think it is the opportunity ot hear alternative solos on the same classic forms, others think it is just an excuse to defend the re-release of old material. Gary Giddins, one of the top jazz critics in the US, is very anti but others are less polarised. Personally, I am not a huge fan and, when listening to them, find that I am mostly of the opinion that the decision to release the original is almost always defensible. There are exceptions but they are few and seldom definitive.

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Just came across this on Amazon - Fantastic value for money - its got lots of the great Prestige recordings (Workin, Relaxin, Steamin and Cookin) and Miles' 'Miles Ahead' stuff. The second box set is Porgy and Bess, Milestone and others. All for less than £4 each. If you haven't got these (all have Paul Chambers on bass), you have to get them. Its the law....

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/dp/B001F6YZTA/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_127"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/d...d_ys_ir_all_127[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/B001PA7OYO/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_157"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/...d_ys_ir_all_157[/url]

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='606568' date='Sep 23 2009, 12:05 PM']Just came across this on Amazon - Fantastic value for money - its got lots of the great Prestige recordings (Workin, Relaxin, Steamin and Cookin) and Miles' 'Miles Ahead' stuff. The second box set is Porgy and Bess, Milestone and others. All for less than £4 each. If you haven't got these (all have Paul Chambers on bass), you have to get them. Its the law....

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/dp/B001F6YZTA/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_127"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/d...d_ys_ir_all_127[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/B001PA7OYO/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_157"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/...d_ys_ir_all_157[/url][/quote]
OK. I got them.

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='606568' date='Sep 23 2009, 11:05 AM']Just came across this on Amazon - Fantastic value for money - its got lots of the great Prestige recordings (Workin, Relaxin, Steamin and Cookin) and Miles' 'Miles Ahead' stuff. The second box set is Porgy and Bess, Milestone and others. All for less than £4 each. If you haven't got these (all have Paul Chambers on bass), you have to get them. Its the law....

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/dp/B001F6YZTA/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_127"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Away-Davis/d...d_ys_ir_all_127[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/B001PA7OYO/ref=pd_ys_ir_all_157"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-58-Davis/dp/...d_ys_ir_all_157[/url][/quote]
Got them already Bilbo , i dont have to buy them again do i ? :)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to draw people's attention to a Steve Swallow Cd called 'So There' which features the poetry of Robert Creely. Its a lovely recording and the poetry element is very subtle (Creeley's poems are usually very short so, for those of you who struggle with poetry (like me), it is not as pretentious as you may think) and the music is lovely. If you have ever seen it and thought 'oops, not for me', then give it a go, you will enjoy it. I recommend it.

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-There-Steve-Swallow/dp/B000J104M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257439958&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-There-Steve-Swa...9958&sr=1-1[/url]

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  • 2 months later...

Some great new stuff I have picked up recently:

Empirical - a British small group with something fresh to say

Pianist Andrew Hill - Timelines - a true original, sadly silenced two years ago.

Maria Schneider - Sky Blue - great large group arranger and protege of Gil Evans

David Sanchez - The Departure & Melaza - great Latin influenced jazz from a Puerto Rican saxophonist. Both really strong cds.

Kenny Garrett - Pursuance - Coltrane tunes perfromed by Garrett with Pat Metheny, Brian Blade and Rodney Whitaker.

Moutin Reunion Quartet - Sharp Turns - great duo led by Moutin brothers. Francois, the bass player, is the stand out musician (David Sanchez is on this one too)

Chick Corea - Return To Forever (1st) - I had forgotten how good Stanley Clarke was on these records.

Anyone else recommend some new stuff they have found?

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[quote name='bilbo230763' post='720138' date='Jan 21 2010, 02:21 PM']Anyone else recommend some new stuff they have found?[/quote]


Hey Bilbo

Just a quickie - the new Dan Berglund (bassist who was in EST until the pianist died) album 'Tonbruket' is gorgeous - kind of a cross between Eberhard Weber and Pink Floyd with a whole load of other stuff in there - very tasteful, melodic and atmospheric - that's released in March. The new Brad Mehldau album is pretty cool as well - Mike Janisch's Purpose Bult is a good album, love Emperical as well and Troyka's debut album on Edition Records is a corker.

Check them out!

Mike

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I saw Micael Janisch's band at Stoke By Nayland last year (Clarence Penn was on drums but I didn't know who he was until afterwards). I did a review for that Jazz Services writers course at the London Jazz festival. I got on the course but had to pull out because the dates were all over the place. Hopefully they will do it again next year and I will have more notice. My Paul Chambers book will be finsihed then as well so I'll get a better run at it.

I will look up Berglund, Mehldau and Troyka up when I get a chance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='734737' date='Feb 4 2010, 08:36 AM']Not heard that one. Who is on it? Russell Malone and Mulgrew Miller?[/quote]
From amazon .

For nearly 40 years, Ron Carter has been jazz's most in-demand and well-traveled bassist: from Miles Davis's Someday My Prince Will Come to A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory. Along the way, Carter has recorded several projects featuring Brazilian music. On this recording, Carter, along with pianist Stephen Scott, tenor saxophonist Houston Person, guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Payton Crossley, and percussionist Steve Kroon apply jazz forms to Afro-Brazilian samba rhythms. As a frequent visitor to Brazil and as a devoted student of that country's music traditions, Carter and his crew deliver a subtle, laid-back CD that combines the best of both worlds. Carter's "Saudade," which roughly translates from Portuguese as "longing," highlights the Iberian character with its mournful melody. His other tunes "Por-do-sol," "Samba De Orfeu," and "Obrigado" make the Rio De Janeiro/Bahia-born rhythms swing with their festival-parade soul intact. On Jobim's "Manha De Carnaval," from the motion picture Black Orpheus, Person's broad and breathy tenor solo echoes Stan Getz's floating melodies. Carter's "1:17 Special," dedicated to the African-American "underground railroad" and Dvorak's "Goin' Home," ring with the spirituals and the blues, peppered by the percussive percolations brewed by Carter's buttery bass tones and the rhythmic relations from Brazil.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A new one to me. Pianist Eugene Maslov is a fiery player but the record is astonishing. Boris Koslov is the bass player and he is so on the money - I have never heard of him but WOW!!!!!. Think Michel Camilo and Anthony Jackson and then some!! Highly recommended.


[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuse-Lit-Eugene-Maslov/dp/B00006DTZS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1267183244&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuse-Lit-Eugene-Ma...3244&sr=1-1[/url]

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[quote name='Bilbo' post='758020' date='Feb 26 2010, 11:23 AM']A new one to me. Pianist Eugene Maslov is a fiery player but the record is astonishing. Boris Koslov is the bass player and he is so on the money - I have never heard of him but WOW!!!!!. Think Michel Camilo and Anthony Jackson and then some!! Highly recommended.[/quote]


Boris Koslov is a serious player....
Eugene Maslov aint arf bad himself. :)
Great stuff..




Garry

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  • 2 weeks later...

Could anyone reccomend me some albums of jazz greats (bassists), playing famous standards/bossa nova's?

I've got some Ron Carter stuff, but I ain't sure, if there are any [i]pure [/i]bossas.

Why I'm asking, is that I need to transcribe some lines, because I feel that my bossa playing is very poor in terms of note choices and rhythmic variety..


Cheers,
faith.

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