What Jazz are you listening to now?

[king ubu]

I am glad you are enjoying it.  I love what he's been doing.

Well, yes! The discussion we had a few weeks back triggered my recent buying spree (Matka Joanna, Green Hill, Lontano, Dark Eyes and this one) - never really stopped enjoying his stuff, rather just somehow stopped listening at some point around 10 years ago. He was with the Globe Unity gang that reunited at the 2016 Berlin Jazz Festival though, and as I mentioned I picked up "Wislawa" somewhere along the line.

First spin now:



Excellent!

[San Antone]

First spin now:



Excellent!

That looks really good; will have to hunt it down.  Love all those players.

[Spineur]

I've been listening to the Stefano Battaglia Trio's latest ECM recording, In The Morning, which focuses on the music of Alec Wilder. It is excellent and then I went back and have been listening to the other five records he's released on ECM.



Here's my blog overview of all of them.

After reading with interest your article on Stefano Battaglia, I got this CD, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I still need to get some Enrico Rava, to have a bare bone sample of contempory italian jazzmen.

[king ubu]

That looks really good; will have to hunt it down.  Love all those players.

It's brand new ... the same trio has a 2014 release on Tzadik, and based on the strength of this new one, I've got to get that one, methinks!

[SimonNZ]

Hands : Dave Holland and Pepe Habichuela

Combines two things I really like: Flamenco guitar by Pepe Habichuela and Dave Holland's bass playing.

I was really impressed by that one.

today:



Cuong Vu and Pat Metheny - Cuong Vu Trio Meets Pat Metheny (2016)

[Karl Henning]

http://www.youtube.com/v/vofbnkQcW_Q

[Mirror Image]

http://www.youtube.com/v/vofbnkQcW_Q

LOVE that piece!

A rather amusing video for your pleasure, Karl:

https://www.youtube.com/v/In16H9J72HY

[SimonNZ]

Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon - The Chase and The Steeplechase (1952)

[Alek Hidell]

The forum was down last night (at least for me it was), so I have some catching up to do.

First, a bunch of Dons:

     

This was actually my first encounter with all of these men (even Byrd), and I enjoyed all of them. Grolnick's music is very interesting indeed, unpredictable, almost sui generis (though I'm sure others more adept than I can point to his influences).

I've always thought of Donald Byrd as a rather minor figure, and I suppose compared to some of his contemporaries he is. So I just never got around to checking him out. But this album was most enjoyable (look at that lineup: how could it not be?): a pretty typical Blue Note album of the era, but that's not really a pejorative considering what consistently high quality their recordings were then. I'll be investigating him more.

Pullen is interesting too: the first album there (Evidence of Things Unseen, a solo outing) begins in a straight-ahead, romantic vein, which surprised me as I thought he was closer to the avant-garde. But soon enough he's headed into Cecil Taylor-ish territory, in the same piece. The mix of styles here is very intriguing and impressive. The latter Pullen album was less impressive to me but only relatively so, still quite nice. I believe "El Matador" was my fave here.

Today:

   

Three very different albums, to be sure.

[Karl Henning]

A rather amusing video for your pleasure, Karl:

https://www.youtube.com/v/In16H9J72HY

Thanks; love this.

[SimonNZ]

I've always thought of Donald Byrd as a rather minor figure, and I suppose compared to some of his contemporaries he is. So I just never got around to checking him out. But this album was most enjoyable (look at that lineup: how could it not be?): a pretty typical Blue Note album of the era, but that's not really a pejorative considering what consistently high quality their recordings were then. I'll be investigating him more.

Byrd's discography is remarkably varied and has many unexpected surprises. He deserves more attention than he's had.

now:



George Wallington - At The Bohemia (1955)

(coincidentally with Donald Byrd)




Sal Nistico - Comin On Up (1962)

[Spineur]

The spirit of Memphis quartet



From the jazz en vogue box.  Old but good !

[Mirror Image]

Thanks; love this.

My pleasure, Karl. If you ever have chance, do check out this DVD documentary on Monk (this is where this footage of him rehearsing came from):

[asin]B000053VC9[/asin]

[Tom 1960]

The forum was down last night (at least for me it was), so I have some catching up to do.

First, a bunch of Dons:

     

This was actually my first encounter with all of these men (even Byrd), and I enjoyed all of them. Grolnick's music is very interesting indeed, unpredictable, almost sui generis (though I'm sure others more adept than I can point to his influences).

I've always thought of Donald Byrd as a rather minor figure, and I suppose compared to some of his contemporaries he is. So I just never got around to checking him out. But this album was most enjoyable (look at that lineup: how could it not be?): a pretty typical Blue Note album of the era, but that's not really a pejorative considering what consistently high quality their recordings were then. I'll be investigating him more.

   

Three very different albums, to be sure.

Just my opinion, but all of Byrd's releases from which include Pepper Adams are prime stuff. Can't go wrong there.

[George]

[Alek Hidell]

Just my opinion, but all of Byrd's releases from which include Pepper Adams are prime stuff. Can't go wrong there.

You know, that was one of the things I really liked about the Byrd in Hand album: the presence of the baritone sax. It's an instrument whose sound I've really come to enjoy, whether in the hands of a mainstream artist like Adams or someone more on the cutting edge like Vandermark.

Thanks for the recommendation, Tom. The Byrd/Adams collaborations may be where I start exploring.

TD - this is only tangentially "jazz," perhaps, but I'll report it here anyway.

[Spineur]

Gregory Porter: Water

[asin]B003D5X3VM[/asin]

[Tom 1960]

[king ubu]

Love Frank Wess ... but I'm afraid I totally cannot cope with Gregory Porter (nor with Cécile McLorin Salvant, either).

Agree on Donald Byrd with Pepper Adams (that includes the live material "At the Half Note Cafe - Jazz at the Waterfront", the Bethlehem "Motor City Scene" and the Warwick album, too, but the Blue Note studio albums are the finest I guess) ... also like the two albums made in Paris with Bobby Jaspar, Walter Davis, Doug Watkins and Art Taylor (both were reissued in the Jazz in Paris series), and I really like "Free Form" (with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren, Billy Higgins), have a soft spot for "A New Perspective" (it's corny, sure, but it's GOOD!), and I also like the mid/late sixties sessions with Sonny Red quite some (Mustang, Black Jack, Slow Drag, The Creeper). The later Blue Notes so far don't really work for me, but "Kofi" was pretty good (it's been ages since I played it though ... the line-up includes Frank Foster, who kind of went mildly soul jazz at that time, too ... his "Loud Minority" on Mainstream is a winner).

Thread duty: giving this recent acquisition its first spin, and ten minutes in, I think it was a good idea to get this instead of the missing ECM disc by the same band (I have "One Is the Other" and think it's not much better than so-so):

[Tom 1960]

The Franks Wess date was one of the few Savoy titles still on my wish list. Should have gotten this one sooner, but better later than never. I t really swings.

It's funny you should make mention of Donald Byrd's later releases for Blue Note. It has only been recently I started listening to those. For whatever reason I thought they weren't that good. Boy, I was wrong. While I wont compare those with the early dates with Pepper Adams, it still is some pretty good stuff. Also Free Form is a real good one! I think our friend is going to be quite happy with those recordings.