Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Crystal Ilusions (A&M) tan stereo label. Now that I'm experiencing reasonable summer weather, I'll celebrate the passing of summer into fall as I prepare to prep the garden soil with some compost. Hoping for a wet winter.
I think The Moontrane is now out of print, but it's included in the currently available Mosaic Records Woody Shaw Complete Muse Sessions
Miles Davis has hung over me like a cloud since day one of getting into Jazz. He covered a lot of ground in is career, so there's bound to be lots I enjoy. The steel book releases are so beautiful, and the prices were only going up, so I bought most of them while I could. The Complete Columbia was just too easy to get. But yeah, you do get more Miles than you need (probably). Truth be told, even getting all that in, I've stalled on listening to it. If it turns out miles is not for me, then I'm in trouble.
This is kind of true of me as well, it's not something I'm proud of or am necessarily prepared to defend, it's just what I'm into. One of the things that turned me off the Jazz Beat thread was the fact that it was almost 100% consumed with old Blue Notes, on the one hand, and ECM-style stuff on the other. Now, I like the old Blue Notes (although I probably like old Prestiges more). But I find the whole ECM tradition of improvised music kind of uninvolving. As far as 70s and 80s jazz goes, give me Milestone, CTI, Columbia. I'll take the cheese if it comes with a dose of bluesy feeling. Don't get me wrong, I love free screeching too, but that doesn't seem to be what the freer wings of jazz since the '70s have been about, especially in Europe (where free music really flourished). It's all too "old church in the Nordic woods" for me. Not putting it down or those who love that music, but it's not what I listen to jazz to hear. And since that stuff is so big in jazz programs, it's had a huge impact on the sound of contemporary jazz. It's funny, in a way: the guitarists coming out of jazz programs in the US and Canada all seem to sound like either Jim Hall or Ralph Towner. The tenors all sound like Joe Henderson...the compositions all sound like Wayne Shorter...it's good stuff, and I'm astonished at the talent and I like it when I hear it. But I'm not too motivated to seek it out...
Ah, ECM. On the one hand, their slavish desire to produce great sounding music is to be applauded. I mean anyone who thinks red book somehow is a limitation of quality need to seriously buy any ECM title..... On the other a lot of warmth is sucked out of the music. Of course, I'm generalizing, since the ECM catalog is large, and they've covered most bases. Overall though ECM tends - to my ears - to make everyone sound pretty much the same. This has particularly been a problem for me with piano trio's, when pianists I know and love elsewhere just come out with these albums that sound, mostly, like an "ECM Album". Take Marilyn Crispell. She can be a firebrand, always stretching, challenging. I was excited she was going to record for ECM. But when the discs came they were.... well the same old same old as far as ECM trio albums go. Very disappointed. Basically, if you're in the mood they're a fantastic label, but as the years go by I find I'm in the mood less and less. ECM discs are so damn perfect it actually has started to bother me. Give me some rough edge, some drama. You can't make a pearl without at least one grain of sand.......
I'm not sure of the availability but it is definitely worth hunting down. It may be more than you are willing to entertain at the moment but Mosaic did a nice box set that is worthy of your attention. His music is pretty consistent imo. He did two albums on the Musician/Elektra label with Steve Turre, Bobby Hutcherson and others that are very satisfying. I'm not sure what label they are under now but one of the the titles is The Artistry of Woody Shaw. They were recorded after a European tour so the band was tight and knew the material well at that point.
There are some good sounding recent ECM discs - the last 2 Tim Berne Snakeoil discs sound great. Most of the others I've heard sound washed out
The freeish wings of post 70's jazz is certainly not all or even very much about the Nordic woods stuff. The Dutch (ICP, Bik Bent Braam, Etc.), Brits / Dunmall, Evan Parker, etc - then all the second & third generation free improvisors from Steve Beresford, Mark Sanders through Jason Yarde or John Butcher & countless others) are involved in exciting and demanding crunchy stuff of all sorts. Then the American musicians - Chicago, Bay Area, and especially NYC has a vast array of scintillating brilliant musicians playing all sorts of jazz/free jazz/free improvisation based on compositions or not - all generations - all influences. The wide array is mind-boggling and admittedly intimidating. Fwiw - I find samples of this more abstract music self defeating - often does more harm than good. The brilliance is often discovered well into a piece or after repeated listens. Some of the greatest live performances I've ever heard were excruciating even 30 minutes in!!! Especially with my guy Malaby. Sometimes he is going for something that doesn't exist. Sometimes he finds nothing. Usually it happens - sometimes only in the second set.
I thought exactly the same! By the way, this is of my fave albums ever, and one of the very first I got on CD when I started my CD collection.
I have not personally found that it is. What I have found is that people seem to vary greatly in their sensitivity to requests from fellow posters to reign in extensive and frequent digressions into highly personal discussions unrelated to music. That's a very different thing than tight/excessive control of the thread, from where I sit. Clearly others will disagree. Cool. Anyway, I personally see this development as great for all concerned. Vive la difference and all that. Plenty of room on the Forums for these two different threads with different approaches. I suspect both threads will thrive, and certainly wish the best for this one. Myself, I'll be spending my time on the Jazz Beat.
So it's Duke Ellington in a Nissan Juke! Loving this new thread of yours, I do like Jazz Beat, but Iam finding this one more in depth Jazz Beat just had me spending money I shouldn't have.
Yes, a Nissan Juke NISMO. The NISMO is important as it's both subtly and significantly better than the non-NISMO Juke. Seems to handle a bit better, and has seats which are much much better! As far as the two threads, obviously this one is where I will be. I like to breathe and not have to worry about someone sending messages off to moderators. And I'm really enjoying the conversations here far more than those in the Jazz Beat. As Tony says, they're both here. They'll both thrive.
Wow, I'm surprised to see the pricing for the 32Jazz release of The Moontrane, Woody Shaw's third lp on Muse. Maybe I shouldn't have given mine away when I bought the Mosaic! I'm also surprised to see none offered on ebay. I personally like all the Muse Shaw releases so would recommend the Mosaic set. Some of these present some of the best music of their time.
Feeding my love for Airto. This man, and his wife, were part of my second wave of listening expansion, where I started to follow Brazilian artists, and he and Flora were the catalysts that initiated the search in that direction. He is such a master of anything rhythmic, and his spirit is so moving and present in his leader and sideman appearances. I owe his work a lot--many hours of enjoyment with his work and within the works I found because of his inspiration.
Yeah, LOVE Identity! Truth be told, I dig all the 70s Airto that I own. He's such a stellar musician and reminds me in some ways of Mtume... both of them have the ability to elevate whatever session they play on into something special. He really needs more recognition!!
Yep. I will probably do the same sometime soon, and will try to really focus on the alto playing on those tracks this time around.
Here's the track that got me hooked on Sun Ra and his Arkestra. This one is in 5; Ronnie Boykins changes up his bass line at 1:35:
I first learned about Airto and Flora through their guest appearance during the Drums sequences with the Grateful Dead, and then through the Live-Evil period Miles band. Saw them at Yoshi's in Oakland in the mid- to late-1990s and it was a great show. That was before Yoshi's had stubs (which I would have saved) so I'm fuzzy about exactly when. I saw a ton of shows at Yoshi's back in those days of a 9 to 5 (rather than longer) job and no kids. If you went to the early show they'd usually let you back in for the late show for free (if it wasn't sold out)… no babysitters to worry about back then, so I took advantage of that every time the opportunity knocked.
I identify with much of what you said. I am a musical theory illiterate, I just like to listen. My story now is that I listened to Oscar Petersons' Canadian Suite recently, for maybe the 15 th time that I have tried, and am finally start to enjoy his finger work. But in nearly all the pieces, I still find myself saying, what has this to do with the Maritimes, or the Rockies. Hogtown sounds a little like my imagination sees Toronto. I revert to my theory that many music piece titles are irrelevant to enjoyment.
Now on to some good old good ones. I just love Jack Teagarden and his music. Such joy in the early stuff, such mixed feelings from the later stuff, in that time period he could express longing and melancholy so well. Such a technically excellent player who plays with such feeling. That's not always the case. . . . Lil Armstrong appears on this one as well. I need to listen to more Lil.
New cd from Japan. Never knew about this session until I saw someone post it on Jazz Beat and looked it up on cdjapan. I would have mixed this differently, but the music is great.
Ok, i'm into this. Can we talk about Nat Birchall? Cause it seems that Coltrane is alive again, fellas!
