Listenin' to Jazz and Conversation

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lonson, Sep 1, 2016.

  1. hyde park

    hyde park Forum Resident

    Location:
    IL, USA
    Since moving out to the burbs about 5 years ago, I don't venture in the city (Chicago) to catch shows nearly as much - missed this one back in 14.

    Ken Vandermark's Audio One: The Midwest School. Also, finally gotten around to order Vandermark's Stone box set - should be getting it next week.

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  2. Aura

    Aura Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    I have the 2004 SACD. Adding it to this weekend's queue. It has been a while...

    Two excellent titles. I never tire of Bags' Groove.

    Y'all are playing some excellent titles these past several days. I need to emerge from my indie / rock / psychedelic rut, where I have been stuck for a couple weeks.
     
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  3. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I have that Bags' Groove on my wantlist, and I realized, after seeing your post, that I got that particular Horace Silver album several months ago in a stack of nine Music Matters 45s that I was able to procure for a nice price, but I have yet to play it, so... now I'm playing it too.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
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  4. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I was starting to wonder what happened to you. As you have probably gleaned from my recent posts, personally, I've been in a Grateful Dead phase for the last, coming up on, two months. It's nice to get in a different phase for a while for a change of pace. When I stick my head out from my GD cave for a jazz record, it feels extra nice.
     
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  5. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Haven't played this sweet piece of music in a little while:

    Herbie Hancock - Speak Like a Child (Music Matters 45)

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  6. alamo54us

    alamo54us Forum Resident

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    NP. I always enjoy Bill Frisell.
     
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  7. Stu02

    Stu02 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    whats your take on this one (Jason? Right) . I see it in the bins occasionally.
     
  8. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I like all of these Freddie Hubbard on CTI that I've heard (about 5 of them). This one may be a little mellower than the others. If you like the 70s sort of sound, you'd probably like it.

    -Jason
     
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  9. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    I put a new platter on my turntable--an acrylic one--and am surprised at how much quieter it is than the old steel platter w/Herbie's mat. I think the steel platter, which rung like a bell when the mat wasn't on, was actually resonating the motor noise and delivering it to the stylus. With the much less resonant acrylic, my turntable sounds about as silent as I suspect it ever will. I'm so happy with the upgrade, I'm listening again to my jazz vinyl collection in order of recording date.

    Now playing:

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    Hank Mobley Quartet - Blue Note 5066 (Music Matters 45)
     
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  10. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Cool! I bought a new turntable back in January with an acrylic platter. Actually, looking at your profile, I see we have very similar TTs, I have the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Espirit SB. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the Debut Carbon is the successor to the Debut III? Anyway, it was a huge upgrade in sound from the Audio-Technica PL50 that I had before since way back when I was in college. Enjoy!!!
     
  11. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Yep, definitely. I bought the Debut III years ago and have slowly upgraded it over time. Just comparing apples to apples and not counting various cartridges/styli I've tried, upgrading my Debut III to what comes standard on the Carbon DC Esprit SB put me at $120 over the purchase price of the newer table, and left me without the upgraded tonearm, motor, and replaceable RCA cables. So if I could start over again, I would definitely jump in with the Debut Carbon DC Esprit SB. It's the best bargain, and possibly the best sounding table, at the entry level, in my opinion. My next table, assuming there is one, will have to be a big jump up.
     
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  12. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Likewise. I plan on waiting quite a while until my kids are more grown up so I don't go grey worrying about it getting messed up.
     
  13. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Bingo! My young son already ruined one of those styli I mentioned above, when he suddenly reached for the platter and his sleeve got caught on the stylus and yanked it sideways.

    Next up:

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    Kenny Dorham - Afro-Cuban (Music Matters 45)

    The latter session on this set was recorded just two days after Hank Mobley Quartet 5066, and includes many of the same players: Mobley, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey. Not coincidentally, the same early Jazz Messengers as on the Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers album I posted earlier, which of course included Dorham and Doug Watkins, the latter also playing on the Mobley record but not this Dorham. Many of my earliest jazz records are various combinations of these men on Blue Note from the 1500 series, at the birth of post-Bird hard bop. Though I respect and greatly admire the earlier sub-genres of jazz, I don't own or listen to much of it, but there's (knock on wood) time to change yet.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2017
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  14. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I was very impressed earlier by the sound on that Horace Silver & the JM. Compared to some of the other early 1500 Blue Notes it was really stellar, but even just in general. Although, I'm thinking of the two early 1500 ones titled as, simply, Jazz Messengers vol 1 & 2, and I believe those were recorded live in a club, IIRC, so maybe that has something to do with the lower sound equality. Actually, the Music Matters reissues of those still sound really good, but I streamed one of them via Apple Music and the sound is what I usually refer to as being pixelated (i.e. What I think of as the audio equivalent of being pixelated).

    As far as early jazz, not sure if you're referring to not having much of pre-Bird or Bird. As far as Bird, I went through a huge Bird phase that coincides with my a huge Monk phase, starting probably around '02 and lasting for several years. I don't have a ton of stuff pre-Bird, but one of my favorites that I do have is this collection of Lester Young with the Kansas City Six.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2017
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  15. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Yeah, the Jazz Messengers At the Café Bohemia is awesome. I think those sound fantastic on Music Matters. I do think the studio recordings from 1955-56 aren't so great, but that Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers is a standout. It sounds much better to my ears than Hank Mobley Quartet (5066).

    And yeah, I don't have much Bird, really. Nothing on vinyl and very little on digital. I know I should correct that, but his ghost is on everything I listen to. It would be kind of like watching The Matrix 20 years later for the first time and wondering what the fuss was about, I think. Y'know, at the risk of being glib and insulting and overly praising Bird's imitators at the expense of a true original via a bad analogy.
     
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  16. vanhooserd

    vanhooserd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville,TN
    I have recently had to spend more time in my car on short trips around town & I managed to listen to all of the Miles Davis boxes 'The Cellar Door Sessions 1970' & 'Miles At The Fillmore', both from the public library. Not my favorite Miles, but very interesting & good driving music.
     
  17. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    That reminds me that I haven't even started to delve into the Cellar Door sessions yet and I love this period of Miles... the future's so bright :cool:
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2017
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  18. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Well, if you ever feel like trying some more Bird, this set will get you pretty much covered:

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    I have this and one other anthology of his Verve recordings, but the one above is what I really wore out. Birds' tunes can put a smile on my face like no other. More than anyone else I can think of, it feels like he is speaking through his horn in words, phrases & paragraphs that build up to stories. Tunes like Moose the Mooch, Dewey Square, Yardbird Suite, Red Cross, Billie's Bounce, Relaxin' at the Camarillo, Scrapple from the Apple... I feel kinda giddy when I listen to them they're so good.
     
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  19. Erik B.

    Erik B. Fight the Power

    Which Dead CDs ?
     
  20. Crispy Rob

    Crispy Rob Cat Juggler

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    That period is great. I'd highly recommend the complete Cellar Door sessions release, but I think it would be an even better idea (and a mistake not to do so) to get really familiar with Live/Evil first, which is such a great distillation of those shows (plus a couple short studio tracks). As I know you are getting big into the Dead, I remember a couple different interviews where Phil Lesh and/or Garcia mentioned Live/Evil as a big influence on them. Anyway, when I heard those interviews, Live/Dead was out of print and I didn't hear it until it was reissued sometime in the mid-90s. I really enjoyed it and got to know it well, and it probably made me appreciate the Complete Cellar Door set more when it came out 10-15 years later. Or you could ignore this and just dive deep into the Cellar Door set and be perfectly fine, but approaching things from a historical perspective might be interesting.
     
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  21. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I picked up both Live-Evil and Cellar Door several months ago, and I've prettt much been doing just that. I've listened to Live-Evil a couple of times but have been waiting for the right moment to bust in to Cellar. Live-evil is cool for its collage aspect of creating new pieces working with the raw Cellar material, but the edits often cut away from something just when I'm really starting to get in the zone on a particular thing, so I'm stoked to get into the unedited performances at some point.

    Note: it was really difficult to keep myself from typing Live/Dead instead of Live-evil above.
     
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  22. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    The other day I picked up, on CD:
    Dick's Picks nos. 8, 16, 33 and 36

    And vinyl (MFSL):
    Wake of the Flood
    In the Dark
     
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  23. jlrchrds

    jlrchrds Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    Yes and unless you are REALLY dedicated to hearing every single start and stop, I would stop with the master takes. I have all the complete Bird sets. I ended up ripping them so I could listen to only master takes in the end. For me, there's just too much good music to focus on ever false start and stop. I love mosaic sets, but have come to the same conclusion. My two cents. Jeff

    Btw, those Master takes are musical nirvana. More so the dial and savoy than verve. Unfortunately bird's overall health was in serious decline by the time he moved to verve.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2017
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  24. hockman

    hockman Forum Resident

    Yes, I agree. When I was younger (& more naive!), more was better - all the alternates, false starts, discarded takes, breakdowns etc. They are just tedious to listen to. More often than not, the master takes were chosen for good reason although some times the alternate takes were different enough to merit consideration.

    These days I just want the master takes. I tend to avoid boxes or sets that contain multiple takes or studio conversations. These things are fine for the serious musician/student but not for me.

    With box sets, the completist/collector in me desires them. But truth be told, I think I enjoy listening to the original albums more.
     
  25. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I was considering getting the Miles Freedom Jazz Dance Bootleg Series with all the session reels, but I figured I'd probably only listen to the outtakes once just to see what it was like and decided not to. It's on Apple Music so, it's perfect, if I ever feel so inclined, I can check it out to satisfy my curiosity and I'll be set.

    I definitely listened mostly to the Dial and Savoy; there was some good stuff on the Verve, but other than Charlie Parker with Strings (which I don't mind jazz with strings, btw) I can't recall the titles of anything... I think maybe Segment was one tune in particular on Verve I listened to a lot.
     
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