Make a Jazz Noise Here

[Mirror Image]

Amen. I was just listening to the Brownie box set yesterday, specifically Brownie with Sarah Vaughan. Check him out on the classic Art Blakey Night at Birdland live albums, too.

Well I cherish all of Brownie's recordings with Max Roach. I even like his Blue Note recordings. Clifford Brown was going places.

[Mirror Image]

Karl if you have not already heard it, there is a recording of Monk's music by with the quartet and biggish band arranged by Hall Overton, who literally took Monk's piano parts and transcribed them for the band.  May seem like a futile effort but the results speak from themselves, and bring a certain Mingus-ness to Monk.

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There are two versions of the recording that one which includes more tracks and this one which I had and remember blowing my mind:

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Those are two great recordings, Leon. I wished Monk made more big band recordings. I think he made one last one at the end of his career? I think it was called Monk's Blues or something like that.

[karlhenning]

Yes, I've got both those, honkin' great fun.

[Grazioso]

I think the only thing missing from this thread are more people posting their likes, opinions, etc. since I have found the comments in the posts interesting and would make for a better discussion if only there were more voices contributing to it.  However, I vastly prefer it when the discussion is about the music and not about the discussion or debating styles.

GMG is a rather small forum as it is, and it looks like there are just a handful of us here with any real interest in jazz, sad to say (Not to steer you elsewhere, but there are big jazz forums out there, filled with people who really know their stuff.)

What I'd most like to see here--and throughout this forum--is more detailed discussion of/analysis of the music so we can learn more. We have professional/trained musicians and composers here in a position to offer that. I.e., not just "this is cool, check it out" but "this is cool and here's what makes it cool, here are interesting things to listen for, etc."

[bhodges]

GMG is a rather small forum as it is, and it looks like there are just a handful of us here with any real interest in jazz, sad to say (Not to steer you elsewhere, but there are big jazz forums out there, filled with people who really know their stuff.)

What I'd most like to see here--and throughout this forum--is more detailed discussion of/analysis of the music so we can learn more. We have professional/trained musicians and composers here in a position to offer that. I.e., not just "this is cool, check it out" but "this is cool and here's what makes it cool, here are interesting things to listen for, etc."

I'm a big jazz fan, but unfortunately at the moment have less time to post here and must be content to lurk - at least for the time being. But I'm enjoying the posts from others, especially about the "roads less traveled." 

--Bruce

[Grazioso]

Re: posting here - I usually try to include something, either my own thoughts or a snip from a review that talks about the music and why it is worth checking out.  But, there is a limit to how much one can talk about the music before it gets bogged down in semantics or the inability to capture a quality easily heard in the music but impossible to describe.  This is true of all music not just jazz, though.

I'll grant it's not always easy to render one "language" (music) into another. But it's certainly a rewarding intellectual exercise that can help you hear new things. And shouldn't that be the aim of all criticism: helping people notice and enjoy things more fully?

Problems admittedly arise: confusing personal reactions with the music itself, difficulty in both being cognizant of and then articulating that emotional or poetic side of the experience, deciding what level of technicality to employ when analyzing a piece, etc.

I rather enjoy technical discussions of music. And if I have to struggle to keep up with one that's over my head, that's fine. That's an impetus for me to hurry up and learn more.

[escher]

Karl if you have not already heard it, there is a recording of Monk's music by with the quartet and biggish band arranged by Hall Overton, who literally took Monk's piano parts and transcribed them for the band.  May seem like a futile effort but the results speak from themselves, and bring a certain Mingus-ness to Monk.

[asin]B0000029FF[/asin]

There are two recordings of this group, that one from 1963 which includes more tracks and this one which I had and remember blowing my mind, from an earlier date:

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there's also a very good album made by Bill Holman, Brilliant corners

[Mirror Image]

GMG is a rather small forum as it is, and it looks like there are just a handful of us here with any real interest in jazz, sad to say (Not to steer you elsewhere, but there are big jazz forums out there, filled with people who really know their stuff.)

What I'd most like to see here--and throughout this forum--is more detailed discussion of/analysis of the music so we can learn more. We have professional/trained musicians and composers here in a position to offer that. I.e., not just "this is cool, check it out" but "this is cool and here's what makes it cool, here are interesting things to listen for, etc."

Since GMG is essentially a classical forum, I don't think discussing jazz to the length that perhaps you're wishing for should be expected. I was a member of the AAJ for a few years and quickly got burned out by the people there. Classical folks are pretty bad, but jazz fans really know how to push my buttons. Some of them were more pompous and all-knowing than many of the classical people that were this way that I've talked to.

People with great knowledge about the music itself also have to be careful not to talk above someone else who doesn't know they're talking about, which is why I think the a brief explanation of the music and your own opinion of is sometimes the best way to go.

[escher]

I think the only thing missing from this thread are more people posting their likes, opinions, etc. since I have found the comments in the posts interesting and would make for a better discussion if only there were more voices contributing to it.  However, I vastly prefer it when the discussion is about the music and not about the discussion or debating styles.

i'd like to see your favorite musicians for every instrument (or at least for the most important ones) for example 

same for grazioso, mirror image, k a rl h e nn i ng, james etc

[karlhenning]

there's also a very good album made by Bill Holman, Brilliant corners

The samples sound like some very nice arranging;  I confess it sounds to me too much of a metamorphosis from the character of Monk's own.  But I'll check out some of the rest of Holman's work . . . I wonder if I've heard any of his arrangements for "Brother Maynard."

[Mirror Image]

Here's a list of my favorite jazz musicians:

Thelonious Monk, Ben Webster, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Bill Frisell, Dizzy Gillespie, Tomasz Stanko, Sonny Clark, Enrico Rava, Paul Desmond, Duke Ellington, Paul Motian, John Coltrane, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rolllins, Dave Holland, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Nicholas Payton, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Art Pepper, Blue Mitchell, Stefon Harris, Ron Carter, Benny Carter, Joe Locke, Paolo Fresu, Hampton Hawes, Ed Bickert, Rob McConnell, David "Fathead" Newman, Bud Powell, Eliane Elias, John Abercrombie, Chet Baker, Gigi Gryce, Nguyen Le, Horace Silver, Marian McPartland, Tommy Flanagan, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Michel Petrucciani, Maria Schneider, Harold Land, Wes Montgomery, Shirley Horn, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, Fred Hersch, Steve Nelson, Woody Herman, Jim Hall, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek, Pat Metheny, Shelly Manne, Kenny Dorham, Jimmy Heath, Johnny Griffin, Stan Kenton, Amina Figarova, Charles Lloyd, Frank Wess, John Hicks, Woody Shaw, Kenny Wheeler, Renee Rosnes, this list could go on forever...

[escher]

Ed Bickert

it's great to see him on your list, a real god of guitar

[escher]

Aaron Goldberg

never heard of him, suggest me an album.

By the way, you're a bassist?

Django Reinhardt (this would start a whole discussion of Gypsy Jazz players, whom are a big favorite of mine)

i confess i don't share the same enthusiasm for Rehinardt (yes, his technique was impressive for a man with two fingers) and gipsy music though i'm not an expert for sure, i do know him and birelì lagrene.

[Mirror Image]

it's great to see him on your list, a real god of guitar

Absolutely and sadly he's not playing anymore. Like Monk, Bickert quit playing almost cold turkey. In a book I have called Voices In Jazz Guitar, Bickert points out that the reason for his quitting is he's still grieving over his wife's death and that he simply didn't feel the need to play anymore.

[escher]

Aaron Goldberg -

These are the newest, and both very good.  The first one is a duo with another very interesting pianist, Guillermo Klein

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And ths is a solo thing

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He's been around for a while and worked a lot as a sideman: Al Foster, Nicholas Payton, Stefon Harris, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Mark Turner, and others. In 1998 he joined the band of Joshua Redman, with whom he toured for 4 years and recorded two albums (Beyond, 2001 and Passage of Time, 2002).  Most recently, in addition to leading his telepathic trio Aaron has been touring and recording with young guitar guru Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2005 he also toured South America with Madeleine Peyroux and spent 6 months performing with Wynton Marsalis in his quartet as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. (this is from the bio on his Amazon.com store)

thank you, reading your list probably i've listened yet to him...

Yes, I used to work professionally as a bassist, but have not played for a while, and haven't even owned a bass for a long time - but a friend has a bass he's not using and has offered it to me.  I am feeling like getting my chops back in shape and playing out some.

my problem with jazz bass is volume, most of the time the bass is too low. If you have to do a list with your favorite albums or songs regarding the bass, what would you put on it?

[escher]

Once you get used to listening for the bass, it becomes easier to hear it. 

the problem is that tough in a amateurish way i have and play an electric bass (and i prefer to listen to bassists like James Jamerson because i hear everything he does though i prefer the acoustic bass sound to that of the electric).

[Grazioso]

Since GMG is essentially a classical forum, I don't think discussing jazz to the length that perhaps you're wishing for should be expected. I was a member of the AAJ for a few years and quickly got burned out by the people there. Classical folks are pretty bad, but jazz fans really know how to push my buttons. Some of them were more pompous and all-knowing than many of the classical people that were this way that I've talked to.

Nature of the Internet, I suppose. Forums were tailor made for button-pushing since you lack the give-and-take and accountability of a real face-to-face interaction. Someone can act like a prick and conveniently disappear into the ether. In the real world they get ostracized or hit.

People with great knowledge about the music itself also have to be careful not to talk above someone else who doesn't know they're talking about, which is why I think the a brief explanation of the music and your own opinion of is sometimes the best way to go.

I don't think someone who knows a lot should hide it or dumb down their statements. If they use it to act superior, that's a problem, but if they discuss things on a sophisticated level for the sake of deeper discussion, great. Those who don't understand should ignore it or work hard to learn more so they can participate on the same level. Learning more is a good thing.

And I don't know that opinions are always worth much, as much fun as it is to express them Few people can articulate them in a way that's both literate and insightful. Where music writing is concerned, Michael Steinberg was a great example of someone who had that rare combination of elegance and thoughtfulness and could perfectly balance detail with accessibility to non-musicians:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-07-27/bay-area/17218871_1_mr-steinberg-san-francisco-symphony-symphony-hall

[SonicMan46]

Well, continuing to go through my 'modest' jazz collection - still at the beginning so  ways to go - yesterday, some Cannonball Adderley, Henry Allen (World on a String), and Ron Affif (Solotude - do others like that solo guitar album?).

Today, a little Gene Ammons (1925-1974) (son of the boogie woogie pianist Albert Ammons) on the tenor saxophone (one of my favorite jazz instruments) - listening to the two 'Gentle Jug' albums - really a compilation of over 2 hrs of music - often beautifully slow, many classic ballads - lovely and relaxing!  OH BOY - Louis Armstrong is up next (that will take me a while!) -

 

[Grazioso]

i'd like to see your favorite musicians for every instrument (or at least for the most important ones) for example 

same for grazioso, mirror image, k a rl h e nn i ng, james etc

Oh, man, where to begin? Off the top of my head:

Piano
Monk
Silver
Evans
Brubeck
Hancock
Tyner
Wasilewski
Jason Moran
Sun Ra

Bass
Carter
Haden
Reid Anderson (Bad Plus) --what I've heard of him

Drums
Blakey
Roach
Higgins
Williams
Jeff Watts

Vibes
Jackson
Hutcherson
Hampton

Trumpet
Morgan
Brownie
Hubbard
Byrd
Diz
Miles (more as a bandleader and catalyst)
Stanko
Tom Harrell
Dave Douglas

Sax (lumping them together, shame on me)
Henderson
Shorter
Gordon
Kirk
Rollins
Trane
Adderley
O. Coleman
Desmond
Getz
Ayler

Trombone
Johnson
Fuller

Guitar
Burrell
Green
Montgomery
Hall

As you can see, my main area of interest is mid 50's through mid 60's small-combo jazz.

[Grazioso]

This is exactly what I was saying before when the writing becomes too much of a priority in jazz, it can move jazz out of its home territory and into a light classical area - which is neither here not there.

Great review. A related danger (though not specifically from Branford, one hopes): "smooth" jazz, i.e. composed elevator music with jazz instrumentation.

Hearing this I can only be thankful that Charlie Parker did not actually follow through with his rumored plans to incorporate classical elements into his recordings.  But that is not fair, since we will never know just how he might have approached it.   One can only hope it would be different from the manner Marsalis and Calderazzo, two excellent and very talented musicians - really, at the top of the jazz scene today, have.

Did you see the great documentary about Brubeck In His Own Sweet Way, where he relates how he and other American jazz musicians were adamantly counseled by their composition teacher Milhaud to stick with jazz?