John Berg: I dunno Teo, Bitches Brew? Man with this whole Women's Lib thing in full swing and all the political stuff goin' on? You gotta tell Miles no way. Teo: Yeah? Well then you tell him John. John: Bitches Brew you said? Teo: Yeah. John: Love it! BTW, picked Berg because he (coincidentally) recently passed into the eternal Bitches Brew. Interesting cat: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/a...or-who-made-album-covers-sing-dies-at-83.html
Dave Douglas: Meaning and Mystery Dave Douglas: Trumpet Donny McCaslin: Tenor saxophone Uri Caine: Fender Rhodes James Genus: Bass Clarence Penn: Drums, percussion Reminds me of Douglas' Miles In The Sky or Filles as the Rhodes slots it in a transitory space between post-modal bop and electro-fusion Bop. Always clinging to tradition while kicking it to the side.
Great band - the New Quintet! Wish he would do more with this concept because it is def a sweet spot for me. I was always partial to The Infinite.
Yes! Completely with you on that. I'm actually going to see him on Wednesday. Not this iteration though. It's the Irabagon/Oh/Royston band. Nothing to complain about there though. And re: The Infinite, there's also Potter's Underground.
Gerry Mulligan- The Emarcy Sextet Recordings (Mosaic Records) Giving this one another spin. The ancient art of horn weaving being practiced at a very high level here. This set really swings, love it! Also extremely good SQ.
Just got into Jazz any recommendations? I've been listening to Miles Davis - Kind of blue, Dexter Gordon - Our man in paris and John Coltrane - Blue Train.
Oddly, Brooklyn brews are made in Utica, a ways upstate in NY from Brooklyn. But Brooklyn also has a Utica Avenue!
This is a 1979 reissue of the album released on Dawn Records back in '56. My copy appears to be autographed, but I'm not 100% sure. I was only able to find one example of Al Cohn's signature on the web, and I can't decide if it's a match or not.
Henry Threadgill Sextet - "Just The Facts and Pass The Bucket" (1983) Henry Threadgill (alto and baritone sax, clarinet, flute), Fred Hopkins (bass), Pheeroan Aklaff (drums), John Betsch (drums), Olu Dara (cornet), Graig Harris (trombone), Diedre Murray (cello). (About Time Records, CD)
Joachim Kuhn / Daniel Humair / Jean Francois Jenny-Clark - LIVE IN EUROPE, VOL. 2 (QSCA Japan), recorded on tour in 1992-3. These three have worked together for so long, they move as one. All enjoyable, but the telepathy is on highest display in the 2nd piece "Guylene." The live recording quality is decent, not superb, rather "flat" sounding - but more than good enough.
Yup, I agree with what others have said. Read this thread, hopefully with a streaming subscription and/or youtube handy. I have discovered so much great stuff just by sampling what others are playing. Don't tell anyone, but I often will sample an album someone lists here if I like the cover - and jazz albums always have great covers! PS - I like Dexter Gordon's GO!, if you're enjoying his work.
Lots of different ways to move forward. But what worked for me when I got seriously into the music back in around 1994 was this: 1) Read THE BLACKWELL GUIDE TO RECORDED JAZZ (edited by Barry Kernfeld). I had the first edition and it was very helpful in providing an overview of the main eras and styles/sub-genres and, most importantly, recommended/classic examples of recordings in each - a fairly short list. I know not everyone is this way but when I get into anything with as rich a tradition as jazz, I like to have a sense of the history and scope, even though it is not necessarily "necessary" to be able to enjoy the music - for me personally, it enriches the experience. Anyway I started by checking out as many of those "recommended" recordings in this book as I could find and quickly got a sense of which styles appealed most initially (over the years I've pretty much become a fan of all of them), and which artists. There's since been a second edition of this book, can't vouch for that one but suspect it'd be good too. 2) You might also check out at least some of the editions of the PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ (Richard Cook and Brian Morton). These were too overwhelmingly large and free-form for me initially to get the lay of the land but you could do a lot worse than to spend hours flipping through some of these and discovering stuff that looks promising/interesting - and then check it out and decide for yourself whether you like it or not. I often found and still find that I disagree with the authors' assessments of what is good/not good but over time I have learned that for some styles of jazz I can more or less trust their judgment because we seem to have quite similar tastes (European avant garde), whereas for other styles (like classic 1950s/60s hard bop) I find they tend to GREALY under-value stuff I adore or give it at best faint praise (so many Blue Note classics of the era they give 2.5-3 star ratings and lukewarm reviews - like, a good proportion of trumpter Lee Morgan's catalog -I mean COME ON, guys, get over yourselves, this is THE ****!). But even when I think they are being asinine, they are highly entertaining writers. 3) I also found subscribing to at least one of the trade magazines - I prefer Downbeat - helps keep you up on new stuff and emerging artists to check out. 4) Then as you start picking up recordings based on these recs, or any you get in this thread, you'll start to quickly discover certain artists who catch your ear and you can then check out more of their recordings. I found often it was a particular sideman on a date who grabbed me, leading me to find other stuff they were on or had lead, and then that opens up new artists/vistas and so it goes. For example I remember picking up guitarist Grant Green's fabulous recording SOLID (Blue Note), and was blown away by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's playing on that one and so picked up his amazing IN 'N' OUT recording for the same label, which then hipped me to trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and so on and so forth... 5) As soon as you start developing your own likes/dislikes, going to see the artists you enjoy LIVE is wonderful, and you will often discover new musicians that way as well, since in many cases they are playing with different folks than were on the albums. I can't tell you how many of my favorite musicians I had never heard of or only heard vaguely about until seeing them live and being blown away. Trumpeter and musician extraordinaire Avishai Cohen is probably the most notable example. The only down side is that I find often the recorded spots by the artists who really impress me live just don't match the high quality of their live work, but sometimes they do! As big a recording nut as I am, jazz is really first and foremost a live experience. With all that, quickly, you'll be on your way. Anyway that worked for me but I would never presume to say anyone else should do it the same way - again, lots of ways to find more to explore. Whatever you do, just start doing it, you really can't go wrong I think if you have open ears and put in the time.
@DrJ -- your post reminds of when I was a college kid in the mid-90s and exploring Blues. I had the Allmusic Guide to Blues, and I used to read that thing for hours. Obviously, we have the website now, but I kind of miss that book. The Blackwell book sounds like a good one, and the second edition can be had pretty cheap. It's out of date, of course, but it looks like it might be a great reference to have on hand. Might pick it up. Thanks.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: "The Big Beat", Blue Note AudioWave xrcd24 One word to describe that album...Groove.
This thread is amazingly good for people like you and me searching for new jazz records to discover. Start reading and enjoy !
Yes, the Blackwell book was even kind out of date back in 1994 when I read it! But many of the recommended (or really more "classic examples of sub-genre X") recordings were and still are widely available, and I found them to be quite well-chosen - so it works, mostly. In 1994 I was stuck living in a new place where I didn't know anyone, 3000 miles from my long-time home, and from my wife (who was finishing up a Master's program) for about 6 months before she joined me. I was bored and lonely as hell. So in all the down time alone, I decided to follow through on my long time dabbling in jazz and really dive in and learn about it. No exaggeration to say that it was a life changing experience in the most positive way, and certainly helped me maintain my sanity during that period!
Great story! One real plus these days for those of us exploring new music is the availability of streaming subscriptions. (or just youtube, if you're cheap or broke) Back when I was exploring blues, I had to go: "Hmm, Otis Rush sounds pretty cool. I'll try this Cobra Recordings." And then drive to Sound Warehouse and buy the CD - if they had it - for $15 or whatever. And only then hope that I might like it. Heck today even if you only want to buy CDs, so much essential jazz can be had for well under $10 new. I bought that Cool Struttin CD the other day for $6.99 new on amazon - I don't buy a lot of CDs, but it was cheaper that actually buying the mp3s.
