Jazz?

This topic surely lighted a new fire in me. Since my last post I bought dozens of albums, mostly from the Blue Note label (a lot of them are 5 euro). Also many Coltrane albums, including no_5's recommendation (nice stuff, I like those eastern melodies on the basses!) I also bought the classic "Kind of Blue" and quite enjoyed it. Still, before I continue with Miles Davis I prefer to check out other artists first.

It's almost like plunging into classic cinema. It's about the musicians (actors/directors) and the records (films).
Who is working with who?

To name just a few artists, I am now into McCoy Tyner (piano), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Larry Young (organ), Grant Green (guitar), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxphone), Andrew Hill (piano), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano) and of course the master John Coltrane.... and more..

I especially like to track down quality albums with excellent drummers of the genre, e.g. Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Philly Joe Jones and Roy Haynes. And since last week Art Blakey. This man can play f**king fast!

This will be a long search since there are many releases. Yes, it costs money. But it's worth it!
 
As soon as I'll find some time I'll be back with a more extend post  :)

For the moment try these :
Miles Davis -Birth of the Cool, 1959 (his first personal album and of course a milestone in jazz music)

John Surman -Private City, 1987 -a wonderful recording from the third decade of this great saxophonist,
and an album extremely difficult to be found ...I believe the 80s era of Surman is the best for introduction to his
oeuvre as it's the less experimental and the most melodic -it contains the giga song "Portrait of a Romantic"
really one of the most sentimental and nostalgic songs I know

Victor Wooten -What did he say ?, 1997 -the best living bassist in his second and best personal album
 
I dunno, when I hear jazz I think of Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. It doesn't look like anyone's mentioned Frankie, so maybe there's something you should check out.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
If Frank Sinatra was a jazz singer, that might be relevant.
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Agreed.

Forostar said:
Check out these awesome clips of the legendary drummer Tony Williams (choose HQ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzkZ8Ikr9L4

+

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxyiNopn08w
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Very good indeed  :)

Buddy -the-god-of-drums Rich : that

jazz standard with an excellent drums solo by --->Joe Morello

A mediocre Cher song --->becoming a masterpiece with Buddy Rich and his Big Band (on vocals his 12 years old daughter)

you can find it here --->
160242_1_f.jpg


Fish Fry by Gene Krupa's Drummer Man album

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Well this one is rather Gospel-like* than Jazz, but :

a) we don't have a gospel topic -nor we need to start one
b) I want Forostar to be aware of this incredible 10 minutes opus

Ladies and Gentelmen, voilà gospel's "7th son of a 7th son" -from the biggest voice of the century Her Majesty Nina Simone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_BWNzThJY

here some wiki info for the opus

*Her Majesties proper definition for the song's genre is Pastel Blues -as indicated
in the album title -1965- where this masterpiece belongs
NinaSimone3.jpg
 
@no_5
I have the idea that you are more into the easy listening music while I rather look for more complex/exciting stuff, in which the rhythm (section) plays a dominant role (here I don't mean big band).

Do you know if Rich made more albums without his big band? Thanks in advance!  :)
I will remember the "Krupa and Rich" (1956) recommendation and in the future I'll also check out "Rich Versus Roach" (1959).
 
Forostar said:
@no_5
I have the idea that you are more into the easy listening music while I rather look for more complex/exciting stuff, in which the rhythm (section) plays a dominant role (here I don't mean big band).
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:blink: who said that ??? I'm inside everything that I consider of quality -I stopped separated music long time ago
I give you some more easy listening in order to facilitate your introduction to jazz -but if you want complexity
no problem!!

try Weather Report for start (Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius and many more inside the project) -all their 70s albums are excellent

Forostar said:
Do you know if Rich made more albums without his big band? Thanks in advance!  :)
I will remember the "Krupa and Rich" (1956) recommendation and in the future I'll also check out "Rich Versus Roach" (1959).
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Yeah of course the most of his albums are without his big band

Some albums I would recommend without his big band are :

1955 : Buddy and Sweets  (with Harry Edison)
1957 : Buddy Rich Just Sings (jeah just sings, I like that one)
1959 : Rich Versus Roach, as you already mentioned, get it quickly  ;)
1961 : Blues Caravan ---> you gonna like this one, and of course there is a cover of this jazz standard inside -very good one
1962 : Burnin' Beat --> again with Gene Kruppa, after the success of their first collaboration
1968 : Buddy Rich and Alla Rakha ----> early world fusion
BRich_Rakha_front.jpg


these are the most classic non-big band recordings, maybe skip Just Sings for the moment
when you get some I'll recommend you some of his 70s as well
 
Thanks, that's quite a list!

I am curious, how many albums do you own of the 1964-1969 pre-fusion period?

Post-bob might be what I mean  -->
..Generally, the term post-bop is taken to mean jazz from the mid-sixties onward that assimilates influence from hard bop, modal jazz, the avant-garde, and free jazz, without necessarily being immediately identifiable as any of the above...

Most artists that I like are in this list (check it out), and I noticed you hardly mentioned any of them. I am proud to say I discovered them myself, but no wonder: I know a recordstore that sells a lot of those albums for 5 euro only!! I have the idea that most stuff from esp. 1964 and 1965 is really fresh and good. There was some new wave going on, making Miles look old fashioned for a couple of years. Of course that changed with his Bitches Brew but that's a different story.

edit: I do not categorize on purpose, it simply goes by it self. I can hear there was a new wave going on in that period, just like with NWOBHM. And taste defines what we like, quality is not an absolute thing.
 
Forostar said:
Thanks, that's quite a list!

I am curious, how many albums do you own of the 1964-1969 pre-fusion period?
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I own all those mentioned albums, plus his first two (not mentioned on the list) plus 3 with his big band

But 'own' is a relative term ; I have /have heard all of these in my computer -I rarely buy music since CD era
I don't even have a appropriate audio player-
so the only two albums that I really have in CD format are Buddy and Sweets & Krupa & Rich
I'm considering to purchase a vinyl player in next 6 months, and when this is done I'll start to buy records (vinyl) again

Forostar said:
Post-bob might be what I mean  -->
..Generally, the term post-bop is taken to mean jazz from the mid-sixties onward that assimilates influence from hard bop, modal jazz, the avant-garde, and free jazz, without necessarily being immediately identifiable as any of the above...

Most artists that I like are in this list (check it out), and I noticed you hardly mentioned any of them. I am proud to say I discovered them myself, but no wonder: I know a recordstore that sells a lot of those albums for 5 euro only!! I have the idea that most stuff from esp. 1964 and 1965 is really fresh and good. There was some new wave going on, making Miles look old fashioned for a couple of years. Of course that changed with his Bitches Brew but that's a different story.

edit: I do not categorize on purpose, it simply goes by it self. I can hear there was a new wave going on in that period, just like with NWOBHM. And taste defines what we like, quality is not an absolute thing.
Click to expand...

yeah post-bop is my fav era as well I like as well the old swing era -and yes Bitches Brew changed everything
The result of Bitches Brew is fusion jazz, which is represented by big Joe Zawinul's Weather Report
-already recommended to you through my previous post  ;)

Joe Zawinul was playing keys in Bitches Brew, he wrote the best album track, Pharaoh's Dance
and he took his own way after, by creating the best fusion concept of 70s ;
the best bassist ever, legendary Jaco Pastirious made his first major recording in Weather Report's Black Market

Weather_Report_-_Black_Market.jpg
 
Fusion jazz was a surely a big thing back then. I have already heard some early 70's albums by Freddie Hubbard. I certainly will listen more, but first I'll go deeper in the forementioned era.

By the way, I'm seriously thinking of going to the North Sea Jazz Festival in July. :)
McCoy Tyner (with Gary Bartz, Bill Frisell & John Scofield), Herbie Hancock and Roy Haynes are the ones I am most interested in.

Schedule
 
By the way, I'm seriously thinking of going to the North Sea Jazz Festival in July.
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Great !! I would like to come -especially that it is in my beloved Rotterdam -I'll surely try to make it possible

My most 'dreamed' festival is the legendary Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland ---> http://www.montreuxjazz.com/
Practically every jazz /prog rock legend has played there the last 42 years -it's a monster of festival
but I don't see it likely to can go this year
 
To anyone who cares a dime about jazz, I am interested to learn which artists and albums you own, and at the same time I'd like to make posts about the artists I own. Please react, or come up with another artist if you like.
It's all free (jazz ;-) ).

Perhaps, at this very second, only _____no5 might react, so if this topic will only consist out of posts by two people, I hope you guys don't mind that much.

But I'll try to make it a bit broader. From now on I will also try to post audio links, so that people who are new to a certain artist, album or song will have a chance to hear what we're talking about.

I'll start with the first artist from my collection, I'll do this in alphabet and try to select one of my favourite songs (from the ones I've heard).

Artist no 1: John Abercrombie

This guy is a guitar player, active since the 1970s. One of the people he worked with is Jan Hammer, famous also outside jazz. One of my favourite songs is the song "Ethereggae" from the album Night (1984).

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musicians:
John Abercrombie Guitar
Michael Brecker Sax (Tenor)
Jack DeJohnette Drums
Jan Hammer Keyboards

The song indeed sounds like reggae, but it starts with very atmospherical keyboards (plus Abercrombie's synchronic guitar lines). It gave me a chill the first time I heard it. Later on, the song gets really interesting when Abercrombie starts his long solo, and when the dynamic drums push the whole band to a higher level. It reminds me of Rush. Stunning. Unfortunately I can't find this song on YouTube, but the allmusic site has a sample of the intro, which should give an idea of the sound.

Another recommendable albums is his first solo album Timeless, also with DeJohnette and Hammer (I don't own it yet, but I know it from mp3, and there are links on YouTube)

From allmusic.com:
Abercrombie's style draws upon all manner of contemporary improvised music; his style is essentially jazz-based, but he also displays a more-than-passing familiarity with forms that range from folk and rock to Eastern and Western art musics.
 
I react :)
I couldn't resist to post, even if it's a bit late and I should be in bed.

John Surman -The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon, in 9 parts.

From the second period of this wonderful saxophonist, here with Jack DeJohnette in percussions. Contains the huge -->Nestor's Saga, which some of you have it already ;)

1 Part I. Nestor's Saga (The Tale Of The Ancient)
    Composed By - Surman*
2   Part II. The Buccaneers
    Composed By - Surman*
3   Part III. Kentish Hunting (Lady Margaret's Air)
    Arranged By - Surman*
  Composed By - Traditional
4   Part IV. The Pilgrim's Way (To The Seventeen Walls)
    Composed By - DeJohnette* , Surman*
5   Part V. Within The Halls Of Neptune
    Composed By - Surman*
6   Part VI. Phoenix And The Fire
    Composed By - DeJohnette* , Surman*
7   Part VII. Fide Et Amore (By Faith And Love)
    Composed By - Surman*
8   Part VIII. Merry Pranks (The Jester's Song)
    Composed By - DeJohnette* , Surman*
9   Part IX. A Fitting Epitaph
    Composed By - Surman*


albumcoverJohnSurman-TheAmazingAdventuresOfSimonSimon.jpg
 
Cool. My local record store has some Surman albums but not this one, I think. Anyway, playing this again now, this very second. :)

ECM is such an awesome label. Very daring, sophisticated label with great productions and many beautiful artworks.
 
I love Take Five.


Now really, Some Bossa Nova songs are always great, and some classic Louis Armstrong songs that everybody know.
I'd like to get into Jazz, but it seems too... douchy.

And I need to listen to that Dave Brubeck album, I really do love Take Five.
 
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