Jazz?

Yesterday I bought a couple of LPs and (finally) heard Timeless, the 1974 debut album on the ECM label by guitarist John Abercrombie. With Jack DeJohnette on drums and Jan Hammer on organ, synth and piano. A fantastic album. Check out this energetic track:

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars calling it "Thought-provoking and occasionally exciting music that generally defies categorization". The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars noting "There's more filigree than flash on the early Timeless and it's left to DeJohnette and the underrated Hammer to give the set the propulsion it calls for... this is a session that has grown in stature with familiarity, an altogether tougher and more resilient label debut than anyone remembers"
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I like some jazz, mostly jazz-fusion stuff like Pat Metheney and Allan Holdsworth.. But I can appreciate the old stuff too, Wes Montgomery was the best jazz guitarist ever in my opinion.. Alex Skolnick, the Testament guitarist, has a jazz trio called Alex Skolnick Trio, they play jazz versions of classic hard rock songs, sounds excellent!

And, I can honestly say that I don't venture into 'smooth jazz' too much, that's what I normally like to consider "elevator music", but, being from Philadelphia, I can't help but like a few songs from the legendary Grover Washington Jr, he was a true Philadelphia legend.. I love his song "East River Drive", and "Let it Flow", the song he wrote for Dr. J
 
I hate Testament but the Skolnick Trio is awesome. He should quit metal and do jazz full time. His jazz playing is much better anyway.
 
I'm more referring to the "quit metal" part. He's one of the best lead guitarists in thrash metal ever. Apart from Mustaine and Friedman can't think of anyone as good.
 
I'm not calling him a bad guitarist, but it's hard to enjoy his playing when he's playing in a very bland and boring metal band. And frankly, his leads/solos aren't very special in Testament. His playing is much more interesting to me in a jazz context.
 
50 years ago, A Love Supreme by John Coltrane was released.
cobham-a-love-supreme-630-80.jpg



To me, it's certainly one of his best albums. During this time, the band was such an incredibly strong unit, but also individually every member shines (not that this doesn't happen on other albums, but certainly here as well).

On this album, everything comes together: the blues Coltrane grew up with, the spirituality for which he sought an outlet his whole life, his urge for experimentation and his fabulous technique. All the opther subleme band members get their own solo spot as well, e.g. Jimmy Garrisson plucking his bass for three minutes at the end of Pursuance.

There are dozens of articles and videos about this album, so I can't really judge well what to share here, but I will do an attempt. Watch this space. :)

EDIT:
Here a link to a BBC documentary, plus article (recommended!):
The Story of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, released 50 years ago this month
http://www.openculture.com/2015/02/the-story-of-john-coltranes-a-love-supreme.html

Plus 2 other articles:

John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' is still a masterpiece after 50 years
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/13/...-still-masterpiece-after-50-years-303349.html

The Story of 'A Love Supreme'
http://www.npr.org/2000/10/23/148148986/a-love-supreme
 
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I agree with your take on Love Supreme. After this album he started to dive increasingly further into the avant-garde stuff and while the stuff he was doing was interesting, its really dense and something I have to be in the right mood for. A Love Supreme perfectly strikes that balance between that and the stuff he was doing before. Not my favorite album of his but certainly a huge milestone.
 
Um...has anyone mentioned Brand X yet? That's a brilliant jazz fusion group. I recommend listening to the debut first. Phil Collins plays on it! *squeals in excitement*
 
I know Brand X. Interesting group indeed. From time to time I am still amazed about how productive and active Phil Collins was during his busy Genesis years.

@Mosh, which other albums do you also like? I have several, and would find it hard to make a list but Crescent is certainly one of them. Also, the live album Live at the Half Note: One Down, One Up is up there. So much energy!

edit:
A nice drumsolo by Papa Jo Jones!
 
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A live clip by Brand X, preceded by a short interview with Collins (love that Herman Brood advertisement!). Awesome stuff! That drumming is some of the best I have ever seen by him (and he does those vocals as well) :yes:

And here a link to their full debut album: link to YouTube
 
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I see that people are discussing jazz rock here now. A genre of its own really. I'd like to throw the album Third by Soft Machine into the mix. Check it out!
 
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