Pop - Rock - Punk - Rock - Jazz - Classical - Electronic. That's pretty much the path I've taken (in general terms.) Punk was the key thing, because its legacy for me was that "noise" can sometimes be great, just for its own sake. Not everything had to have a melody, guitars didn't have to sound like guitars, and singers didn't have to sing like singers. Punk as a movement went by-the-by, but it had opened many doors in my musical mind. By the time I got to Jazz I was all out rebellious, and non-conforming. I don't mean that in saber-rattling way, I didn't have a social or musical agenda, just that my musical ear had been turned inside out. I was waaaaay open to new things that weren't pretty. As such, all the pop/rock music that followed punk was not for me. The New Romantics made me barf, the 80's and 90's in popular music was a graveyard for the most part. Fortunately I discovered Jazz somewhere in there. Given my proclivities, my pathway in was never going to be Miles Davis, Blue Note, or New Orleans Jazz - I wanted fire, energy, chaos. So I spent a good couple years listening to Tim Berne, Marilyn Crispell, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Peter Brotzmann, late Coltrane, and a host of other "Avant Garde" acts. I did dip my toes into Kind of Blue and some Blue Notes, but really they didn't resonate at all. Yes they were pretty, well played, and they swung. But I came from a rock background, and a steady beat or rhythm was nothing new. I recognized it as being good stuff - and goodness knows just about everything I read critically was practically lecturing me to sit down, shut up, and just accept the greats were great - but it didn't accrue real value in my musical lexicon. Now when talking Jazz I often find myself on the outside of the conversation. So much still seems to revolve around the Be Bop classics. The idea that "if it ain't got that swing it don't mean a thing" is still prevalent. I like it, without loving it. Jazz for me is about adventure. It's challenging, fiery, it's experimental, it's an examination of chaos, it takes you right to very edges and teeters over looking down into the abyss. And a funny thing happens over time. For me it can be a day, a week, a month, or even years. But one time I'll be listening to something and it'll all click into place, and what was once chaos is now intricate interplay, and swells of noise is carefully crafted swirls. I get it. That's a great moment. I like some more traditional stuff - Charlie Hunter, Jacky Terrasson, Brad Mehldau, and Dave Douglas to name a few. I can enjoy Dave Holland playing the bass in just about anything, early Garbarek is cool, Paul Bley was a genius, Marty Ehrlich's version of Bliund Willy McTell is the BEST version! By following some of the out-there guys I've been led to other things. For example, by buying up every John Zorn CD I could find I was led into Klezmer. So the path isn't a closed one. I keep trying on the classics. On a mad spree I bought all (but one) of the metal spine Miles Davis box sets, AND the Complete Columbia set. I'm convinced he's terrific, I just can't plug into it. Despite all that, the only Miles I really found interesting was On the Corner (the 6-CD set is outstanding). Most of the Complete box set remains unplayed. But I have it sitting there, collecting dust. Because I just know that one day it'll click.
Great post Bobby! Agreed Bud was certainly extraordinary. Incredibly many of his contemporaries felt that he was already past his prime (due to his "problems") by the time he recorded those excellent Blue Notes . I can only try and imagine the impact of seeing him live in the early 1940s (almost 20 years earlier), experiencing it as it was happening. I love this clip of Bud with Mingus in 1960. Well past his prime I guess but enjoyable nonetheless, plus Booker Ervin and Eric Dolphy...Oh yeah
I started listening to jazz on my own in the early 'seventies, first with electric Miles and then further into Miles back catalog and other albums by other artists I'd come across and digest. (I did listen to jazz as a kid as my Mom and Dad had a few albums in their collection from Brubeck and Ellington et al, and a Peace Corps volunteer my father directed in Swaziland gave me three Atlantic jazz LPs he got in a care package: Leo Wright's "Blues Shout," Charles Bell's "Another Dimension," and Slide Hampton's "Sister Salvation." I still have those, mono copies, I still love them, they definitely set the stage for what was to come. That's a long time ago! I didn't live in places where it was easy to see major jazz artists. I've seen Count Basie Orchestra (first jazz show, in a church), Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, the Mingus Big Band, the Duke Ellington Orchestra conducted by his grandson, and a few others. Seeing artists live was not a big priority for me, I preferred to spend the dollars on recordings etc. This century I've realized that I view jazz as a continuum that had chronicled growth from the '20s up to the '70s and I focus on that material. Much of the growth of jazz after that has moved it further away from the traditions, incorporating more newer forms and instrumentation etc.--and I am less inclined to explore that or reach for it. Maybe it's just being older (I can't believe I turned 61 last month) and/or it's simply preferring to visit and revisit my own archive and upgrade what I have (I will freely confess to liking the presence of an excellent stereo system and buying the material I love to hear in improved sound often). The last decade time management has shown itself to be the paramount management issue to wrangle with, and I allocate time to what I most want to do. That seems to mean listening to music of the past much more than that of the near present and present. I've accepted that about me. I love the music. My late first wife used to joke with me that I was addicted to compact discs. When we first lived together I quit smoking. Part of what drove me to continue being smokeless was that I would set aside all the money I would spend on cigarettes during the week and on the weekends I would go out and buy compact discs. She says I transferred my addiction to these shiny silver objects. She may be right. If I can't buy music I do get cranky and irritable . . .
No, not a convertible. I have a motorcycle, and I need a car for the winter months here and I learned some time ago when I first lived in Geauga County, Ohio that convertibles are a real nuisance in the winter. My wife has had a Nissan Juke for three years and I learned to love it. The second of two All Wheel Drive functions is phenomenal in the winter. So I bought a Nissan Juke NISMO, the sport model, and I honestly can say I love it.
When I joined The Jazz Beat sometimes ago, you were the first member I connected to because of your love of the music. All your posts transpire that passion. When most members were discussing the sound of each record, you were writing most of the time about the music and the musicians that plays it and how it moves you. Thanks for sharing that.
You're welcome Dennis. I recognize that passion in your posting as well. Passion and fascination have always made my world go round, and though when I was younger I might have wished for a different methodology, now I'm quite happy with this way and means. What would we do without music? Some go through their lives quite well without it, we can't.
The thing that makes that long "My Favorite Things" special is the opportunity to hear Coltrane at length on alto. He also plays alto on one of the versions of "Peace on Earth," but this is definitely his longest feature on the instrument. I believe he didn't much like the Yamaha alto because it had intonation problems, but he seems to have a total mastery of it here, and it's magnificent.
I've never thought about that, but it's true! They look about the gauge of the average set of acoustic strings (11s). I used to play 11s or even 12s when I played electric -- they broke less easily! -- when I had an electric that is, but the fluidity of Grant's playing on that gauge of strings is amazing to me. Come to think of it, it might explain some aspect of that characteristic fullness of Grant's sound compared to Wes Montgomery, for example (who seemed to play relatively light strings).
I have two guitars that I use these strings on, one a '59 Jazzmaster Thinskin Reissue, the other a guitar built by luthier Troy Post, a Jerry Garcia/Doug Irwin "Wolf" Tribute in black walnut with humbuckers in place that are conducent to a jazzier sound than the Duncan SD-1s that were in the Wolf. Black Diamond Pure Jazz Electric Guitar, .013 - .056, N200M » These are like little bass strings! They are hard on the fingers and hard to play when you are used to lighter gauge (I run .10s on most of my other guitars) but man they sound fantastic to me on my favorite amp (Fender Bassman TV Fifteen). Playing these has given me a new respect for anyone playing heavy gauge strings!
Wow, 13s! I've never even tried those (I tend to play 12s on my acoustic) let alone bought a package. I topped out at 12s on my old Korean strat clone -- which was clearly not built for the tension and eventually fell apart. (The friends I played with all used 9s and thought I was nuts!). That heavy gauge and a thumb stroke (I use a thumb pick) does give you, I've long thought, a semblance of the Grant Green sound.
These Black Diamond strings (I like all their strings I've used) are really something. I can play bass lines rather convincingly on these if I roll the treble completely down. They help to make a solid body sound like a bigger jazz box to me, especially aided by the unique bridge the Jazzmaster has and the great setup Shawn (progrocker71) did for me, and the great brass nut and bridge and excellent setup the Troy Post guitar has (I call it "Loco"--I have another he built in a Wolf format, though bolt on neck and with the pickups Garica used I call "Lobo").
It would be a very sad life for me. My wife doesn't understand I really need to listen to music every day. If I don't, I feel I'm not complete
Black Diamond strings, there's a blast from the past. I used them back in the early 70s I think. I haven't thought of that brand in a very long time. Carla Bley - Andando El Tiempo (ECM) German lp This album really draws me in with its somber mood.
I'd say that that the low E is close to an 0.070 and that high E is an 0.015 or more. We're talkin' cables, not wires here folks. Given all the Grant Green talk, here he is with Sonny Clark as well as Art Blakey exhortations:
I could be wrong, but I think there's a bit of motion blur on the Idle Moments cover that makes the strings look heavier than they are. I believe the image is an alternate of the one on the Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark cover (Grant is wearing the same outfit) and there the strings seem like they're a more normal size! By the way, it didn't occur to me that the images might be from the same shoot until today. Does that mean the picture was taken in '63 at the Idle Moments session and was anachronistic for the Clark dates, or did they use an old photo for Idle Moments? edit: ah @Archtop, I see you edited your posted to add the great "It Ain't Necessarily So" from these sessions!
Post #3 here is one theory: The ideal sound i have in my head » So, you may be onto something regarding some photo distortion. For the record, I've got these on my D'Angelico jazz box: 013 017 021 028 039 053 but I'd like more tension on the low end. Bass players don't suffer wobbly strings well on guit-fiddle, don't you know. I was 100% R&R for a long time. Give this a try. It's sometimes pretty, sometimes ugly, but it swings like mad:
I know you are not in favor of posting images or clips, Six String, but this album cover deserves it, in my humble opinion. And a great album it is indeed. Also, I've been a D'Addario strings fan forever.
I think the objection was to JUST posting images without comment. Here you can comment and about more than just the jazz aspects.
Where did you get the idea I didn't care for images being posted? As far as videos, I believe I just said that I personally didn't play them much if at all although I may go back later well after the post and listen if I'm interested. My only real criticism is that if someone is expecting me to listen to it at the time they post it, it's probably not going to happen because I'm playing an album too at the same time and most likely won't break that mood/rhythm. If no one expects me to play it then it's no different than posting an image of an album cover. I'm not one of those authoritarian types on the board. You have me mixed up with someone else. That is a lovely cover and thanks for posting it. I used to post lps when it didn't require a third party but I have tried a few of those and found them irritating for one reason or the other. Maybe some day I'll find one that works for me and I'll post images again. WP Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (Argo) silver on blue mono pressing NP Anthony Braxton - Duets 1976 (Arista/Freedom) p.s. Nice to see you again. I hope you find this thread more to your taste.
One that is still in print and has Hawk's finest playing- Coleman Hawkins » I have a bunch of favorites, vast majority are OOP The blind Sonny Rollins sample I posted several pages ago, sample A was the AP SACD. Sample B the old TOCJ disc.
I always try to avoid buying too much by the same artist in one shot. It all becomes one blurry mess. Although I'm a longtime fusion fan, I've only been getting into jazz very recently. I only had a few Miles Davis CDs which I only visited occasionally until I really got into them and had the need to buy a few more. Now I'm into Miles big time, but it took patience and time. Well worth the wait though...
I am listening to a favorite today. Larry Young -Unity. I have a question for fans of this album. I like Woody Shaw and am a fan of "The Moontrane". I thought Shaw also titled an album with this cut ? Is this OOP ? This may be some of the first Jazz I ever got into in the eighties.
