Jazz, c. 1950-1970: Recommendations (and jazz in general)

[longears]

Ah--for immediate post 1970:

[Heather Harrison]

Here are the last of the ones I got at the store.  I'm still waiting for that small group of old-fashioned stuff from Amazon.

Charles Mingus - Complete Atlantic Recordings 1956-1961, CDs 4 and 5.  CD No. 4 is the "Mingus at Antibes" album.  It is a good mix of the styles of his earlier albums, ranging from relatively straightforward to more experimental.  The excitement of the concert is palpable; it would have been great to have been in that audience.  CD No. 5 is the album "Oh Yeah" and some tracks from that session that were unused at the time, but later released on the album "Tonight at Noon".  This one also has a great variety.  It ranges from fun and humorous ("Eat That Chicken") to highly experimental ("Passions of a Man"), and it includes blues-influenced music reminiscent of the material on CD No. 3 and some gospel-influenced vocals by Mingus.  Overall, this is a great box set, and I didn't find anything on it that was boring or unintelligible.  The performances are top notch, and the music (most of it composed by Mingus) is rich and interesting.  (CD No. 6 is an interview; I haven't listened to that yet.)



Duke Ellington - Far East Suite.  This is the latest work I have heard so far of Duke Ellington, dating from 1966.  He hasn't lost any of his energy or creative spirit.  Even this late in his career, he was breaking new ground.  In this case, he brought some Asian influences into the music, and he created something unique.



Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century.  Another great album by Ornette Coleman.  This is very much like "Shape of Jazz to Come"; there is a great deal of free improvisation, but despite this the music is strangely melodic and accessible.  This is controlled chaos at its best, as are the other Ornette Coleman albums I have heard so far.



Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else.  This is easy to appreciate and very enjoyable.  Adderley led a great combo here - Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey; everyone is in top form.  This is a good complement to that other great album featuring Davis and Adderley - "Kind of Blue".



John Coltrane - A Love Supreme.  This is a four-part suite that invites comparison to four-movement classical pieces.  The intense finale especially invites such comparisons; it is so intensely personal and emotional that, while the musical language is totally different, it makes me think of Mahler's symphonies.  This piece is complex, intense, and beautiful, and the performances are great.  It definitely deserves its status as a classic.

This is it for now; I'll probably wait a week or two before my next shopping trip so that I can get to know these better and so that I can decide what to get next.  Thanks again for all the recommendations.  I will keep watching this thread.

Heather

[Grazioso]

This is it for now; I'll probably wait a week or two before my next shopping trip so that I can get to know these better and so that I can decide what to get next.  Thanks again for all the recommendations.  I will keep watching this thread.

Heather

Enjoy listening and exploring! Jazz will provide a lifetime of pleasure and stimulation. And don't forget to explore contemporary jazz sometime. It's still very much a vibrant, exciting art form.

[Bogey]

Wanted to keep this thread going Heather.  (Is it possible to turn it into our "jazz go to" thread if you do not mind and have be an outlet for all things dealing with jazz?)  Well anyway, saw this short clip of Charlie Watts (The Rolling Stones drummer and a jazz musician in his on right) on jazz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3s8JqStYVE&mode=related&search=

[KevinP]

Duke Ellington - Far East Suite.  This is the latest work I have heard so far of Duke Ellington, dating from 1966.  He hasn't lost any of his energy or creative spirit.  Even this late in his career, he was breaking new ground.  In this case, he brought some Asian influences into the music, and he created something unique.

Some of the stuff he did in the early 50s for Capitol sounds pretty banal to me, so rather than 'hasn't lost any of his energy or creative spirit,' perhaps he found them again in the late 50s. Somewhat coincidentally, it coincided with the LP era. (And I'm not sure how much of this can be attributed to coincidence, but the other most important big band of the pre-war era, Count Basie's, also reinvented itself in  a major way about the same time.)

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else.  This is easy to appreciate and very enjoyable.  Adderley led a great combo here - Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones, and Art Blakey; everyone is in top form. 

Just listened to this for the first time in a few years the other day. It is indeed good. Am awaiting delivery of the HDAD version which got rave reviews soundwise.

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme.  {....} while the musical language is totally different, it makes me think of Mahler's symphonies. 

Very interesting analogy. I never thought about that.

[sidoze]

Cecil Taylor

Along with Ornette Coleman, one of the two founding fathers of free jazz.  His music is somewhat more abstract, atonal, and less obviously tied to the jazz tradition than Ornette's.  He's also one of the greatest piano virtuosos jazz has ever produced.  His debut disc Jazz Advance might be the most accessible entree into his music.  My favourite record is probably Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come
(though poor sound and a terrible piano).  Also not to miss are Unit Structures, Conquistador and the solo album Silent Tongues


Albert Ayler

Probably the most intense and visceral of the early avant-gardists. The trio album Spritual Unity is essential.

Two bad ass mofos. Awesome talent. Thanks for the Holland mention. Hadn't heard of this and will pick it up later on. Samples sound great!

[Heather Harrison]

Wanted to keep this thread going Heather.  (Is it possible to turn it into our "jazz go to" thread if you do not mind and have be an outlet for all things dealing with jazz?)

Good idea.  I just modified the title of the thread to reflect this.

Anyway, I bought a few more classic jazz CDs.



Getz/Gilberto.  Mingus Ah Um.  Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce.  All three of these are very good.  Getz and Gilberto come together in some mellow Brazilian-influenced jazz.  The Charles Mingus CD is a great addition to the Atlantic box set that I bought earlier; it is from the same time period (but recorded for Columbia), and it is as innovative as the best of his Atlantic material and certainly deserves its status as a classic.  Tjader's "Soul Sauce" is energetic and exciting Latin jazz.

I haven't bought very many CDs lately because I have been busy and I want to get to know the ones I have better, but I can't seem to keep out of the stores entirely.  I'm sure there will be more.

Heather

[Bogey]

Good idea.  I just modified the title of the thread to reflect this.

Anyway, I bought a few more classic jazz CDs.



Heather

Do not know about the third one there as I have not heard it, but the first two are fantastic.  Love anything I have heard from Getz, but I have only begun to discover Mingus.

[sidoze]

but I have only begun to discover Mingus.

Your next Mingus album:



The first track, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, is my top feel-good piece of music (even before Blakey's Moanin', which admittedly has a much friendlier, less in-your-face feel to it). The Dolphy solo is breathtaking but I only mention that in passing because all of the musicians here combine to give what I can only describe as an overwhelming concert experience (well, except for Bud Powell and his endless--and endlesly boring--solo on one track -- and thankfully only one track!). No wonder this was voted #4 on All About Jazz's Top 10 live jazz recordings: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/library/livejazz4.htm

by the way, avatar changed. thanks

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Your next Mingus album:

She has it already. It's included in the complete Atlantic box...

[Dancing Divertimentian]

The Charles Mingus CD is a great addition to the Atlantic box set that I bought earlier; it is from the same time period (but recorded for Columbia), and it is as innovative as the best of his Atlantic material and certainly deserves its status as a classic. 

That Mingus is hard to resist, isn't he? Such innovation with creativity to burn. His passion is palpable!

[sidoze]

She has it already. It's included in the complete Atlantic box...

But I quoted Bogey

[sidoze]

If you like Dolphy's brand of jazz, Prestige Records released a nine disc set of his sessions with the label.

I haven't' bothered to acquire this because it dates from '95 and several recordings in it--Five Spot, Out There, probably others--have been remastered in 20 or 24bit since. Do you know if there's anything included which is not available separately?

[Dancing Divertimentian]

But I quoted Bogey

Bogey, listen to Sid!!

[Bogey]

Have the Mingus flagged gentlemen.  Thanks for the tip.  (Very nice avatars by the way.)

Just filled in two gaping holes tonight with a trip to the used shop:

 

[Robert]

Have the Mingus flagged gentlemen.  Thanks for the tip.  (Very nice avatars by the way.)

Just filled in two gaping holes tonight with a trip to the used shop:

 

nice pick-up... both very necessary....

[Bogey]

nice pick-up... both very necessary....

Almost finished with the first listen of the Miles disc....how many "phases" did this guy have?  Simply incredible Robert.

[bwv 1080]

These are classic and worth noting with Joe Zawinul's recent passing (even if some are post-1970)






Sweetnighter, was a transitional album - some interesting background from JZ-
"I wanted the band to get stronger rhythmically," Zawinul said in describing the band's new direction. "Even stronger than Cannonball and Miles and all those. But there was just one thing, I just didn't like the backbeat, that two and four backbeat, it destroys any sensibility of rhythm because it is not rhythm, it is time, and time and rhythm in music are two different things. A groove is a groove, but time doesn't give you a groove, time gives you a certain exactness. '125th Street Congress' is a groove and that is what I wanted--I come from Cannonball, I come from Dinah Washington, everything I ever grew up with and liked about jazz is in there. That beat we use there, and on 'Boogie Woogie Waltz', I taught the two drummers, sitting with them for hours and taught them how to play it and those very recordings are sampled on rap and hip-hop records now--it was the first hip-hop beat ever recorded!" [JR, p. 170]

In order to realize his musical vision, Zawinul brought in a different bass player and drummer. "Miroslav, being a great bass player in one way, was not the bass player for other things we wanted to do. I had written a few pieces like 'Boogie Woogie Waltz' and '125th Street Congress' for the third album [Sweetnighter] which required a little more versatility. Eric Gravatt was not the drummer on these tunes; not that he couldn't have done it, but with him it was a mental thing. He just didn't have his heart in it. As a plain jazz drummer, I think he's the greatest we have ever had, with perhaps the exception of Peter Erskine or Omar Hakim. So we had to hire a drummer and a bassist to play the grooves we wanted. it was an awkward situation. Here we had a band and we had to hire outside musicians to play instruments which were already supposed to be played by the members of the band--it started getting weird." [KB84]

In fact, it was the beginning of the end of Gravatt's tenure with the band. "Miroslav accepted that he couldn't play funk," Zawinul recalled in 1978, "but it really hurt Gravatt. I wasn't getting a chance to solo because I had to play so much bottom to make the music come out--it wasn't decisive enough rhythmically. Gravatt was a great jazz drummer, but you can't play 4/4 all the time." [DB78b] "I think Eric Gravatt was a genius," Zawinul reminisced years later, "but he had such a small little bass drum, we couldn't play the things I wanted to play. That's what broke that up. It wasn't that he didn't play good enough. He was a bad dude, man. From the jazz side, Eric Gravatt was my favorite of them all." [DB01]

Expanding on that thought, Zawinul added, "He couldn't remain in the band because when we went into the studio to do the third album, I wanted to have what's today called the hip-hop beat. You hear it on '125th Street Congress.' And 'Boogie Woogie Waltz' was a hip-hop in 3. But I needed a low bass drum. Eric had one of those long small little things, that went 'boop'. That didn't make it, so I had to hire another guy who had that bass drum sound. When Eric saw this guy in the studio, he kind of freaked out and his spirit was not there anymore. That, unfortunately, changed a lot of things." [DB01]

http://www.binkie.net/wrdisc/Sweetnighter.html

[Shrunk]

Almost finished with the first listen of the Miles disc....how many "phases" did this guy have?  Simply incredible Robert.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF MILES DAVIS' CAREER

1.  Early Bebopper

Davis appeared on some of Charlie Parker's most important sessions.  There's some controversy over his appearances here.  He's still in his teens, and often seems to be struggling.  Yet even here you can start to discern elements of his mature style, and at times he already seems to be pointing towards directions beyond bebop.

2.  Birth of the Cool

It didn't take long before he started to pursue some of those directions.  These large group sessions, collected on The Complete Birth of the Cool, document a group that utilized the harmonic innovations of bebop, but in a context more concerned with musical structure and atmosphere than with virtuoso soloing.  Again, some controversy over the degree of credit Davis should take for this music, with the contributions of Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans perhaps being undervalued at the time.  Nonetheless, it cannot be ignored that Davis was intimately involved in most of the major innovations in jazz in the two decades following the birth of bebop (with the exception of free jazz).

3.  Hitting His Stride

After a fallow period of a few years, Davis seemed to finally achieve maturity in around 1954.  This is best demonstrated on the classic recording Walkin', which is arguably the first hard bop session.

4.  The First Classic Quintet

In 1955 , he formed one of the great small groups in jazz:  John Coltrane on tenor, Red Garland piano, Paul Chambers bass, Philly Joe Jones drums.  A series of recording for Prestige (ironically made to fulfill a contract before moving on to Columbia) are all esssntial: Relaxin', Workin', Steamin', and Cookin'.  To some extent, five decades later, these recordings continue to define the mainstream of jazz.

5.  Kind of Blue

A recording so famous and of such significance, it deserves a category of its own.  I presume most people with any interest in jazz already know about this one, but to briefly describe its importance:  This was the first recording to use modal harmony in jazz, where solos are based on a series of scales rather than diatonic harmonic progressions.  I don't think that description really captures what makes this recording special, however.  You just have to hear it.

6.  Gil Evans

Between 1957 and 1968 he produced a number of sessions with his Birth of the Cool collaborator that featured Davis' trumpet as a solo voice in a lush, harmonically and timbrally adventurous orchestral setting.  Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess are classics from this period.

7.  The Second Great Quintet

By the 1960's free jazz was clearly established.  Although Davis at times expressed antipathy towards this music, it is clear he was also responding to the challenges posed to the traditional harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings of jazz by figures such as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Tayor.  He formed a formidable group comprising Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and the teenaged phenom Tony Williams on drums.  At times this group seemed to be experimenting with how far the structures of jazz could be pushed without completely going over into free.  The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel  may be my single favourite jazz recordings, but it's a 7 disc set and I'm not sure it's even available anymore.  Miles Smiles and ESP are also essential.

8.  Electric

Miles was starting to pay attention to what was going on in rock music at this time.  He was particularly intrigued by artists like Sly Stone and Jimmy Hendrix (there are reports of an attempted collaboration between Davis and Hendrix) and began to integrate electric instruments and rock/funk rhythms into his music, while maintaining the innovations in harmony and structure uncovered by the previous group.  The early recordings in this period, such as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, still retain vestiges of earlier jazz, but later recordings such as Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, Agharta and Pangaea become increasingly rock-oriented.  Nonetheless, this is still innovative and at times abrasive music, a far cry from the soporifics that often passed for "jazz-rock" at this time.  The other important development was the change in the very method of making records from Silent Way on.  Recording sessions became loose jam sessions, with little pre-written material.  The tape would be kept running, and afterwards the resulting hours of music would be edited into a coherent whole.  His producer, Teo Macero, was a key collaborator at this point.

9.  Later career

I think you can safely stop here secure in the knowledge that you have all of his essential music.  He continued to record and perform up to his death in 1991, but was often impaired by addiction and other health issues.  There are still some interesting records, however.  I like Star People and some admire Tutu, though I'm not crazy about it (It might be worth picking up just for the cover shot, however).

Anyway, I hope that's not way more information than you asked for!

[Bogey]

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF MILES DAVIS' CAREER

1.  Early Bebopper

Davis appeared on some of Charlie Parker's most important sessions.  There's some controversy over his appearances here.  He's still in his teens, and often seems to be struggling.  Yet even here you can start to discern elements of his mature style, and at times he already seems to be pointing towards directions beyond bebop.

2.  Birth of the Cool

It didn't take long before he started to pursue some of those directions.  These large group sessions, collected on The Complete Birth of the Cool, document a group that utilized the harmonic innovations of bebop, but in a context more concerned with musical structure and atmosphere than with virtuoso soloing.  Again, some controversy over the degree of credit Davis should take for this music, with the contributions of Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans perhaps being undervalued at the time.  Nonetheless, it cannot be ignored that Davis was intimately involved in most of the major innovations in jazz in the two decades following the birth of bebop (with the exception of free jazz).

3.  Hitting His Stride

After a fallow period of a few years, Davis seemed to finally achieve maturity in around 1954.  This is best demonstrated on the classic recording Walkin', which is arguably the first hard bop session.

4.  The First Classic Quintet

In 1955 , he formed one of the great small groups in jazz:  John Coltrane on tenor, Red Garland piano, Paul Chambers bass, Philly Joe Jones drums.  A series of recording for Prestige (ironically made to fulfill a contract before moving on to Columbia) are all esssntial: Relaxin', Workin', Steamin', and Cookin'.  To some extent, five decades later, these recordings continue to define the mainstream of jazz.

5.  Kind of Blue

A recording so famous and of such significance, it deserves a category of its own.  I presume most people with any interest in jazz already know about this one, but to briefly describe its importance:  This was the first recording to use modal harmony in jazz, where solos are based on a series of scales rather than diatonic harmonic progressions.  I don't think that description really captures what makes this recording special, however.  You just have to hear it.

6.  Gil Evans

Between 1957 and 1968 he produced a number of sessions with his Birth of the Cool collaborator that featured Davis' trumpet as a solo voice in a lush, harmonically and timbrally adventurous orchestral setting.  Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess are classics from this period.

7.  The Second Great Quintet

By the 1960's free jazz was clearly established.  Although Davis at times expressed antipathy towards this music, it is clear he was also responding to the challenges posed to the traditional harmonic and rhythmic underpinnings of jazz by figures such as Ornette Coleman and Cecil Tayor.  He formed a formidable group comprising Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and the teenaged phenom Tony Williams on drums.  At times this group seemed to be experimenting with how far the structures of jazz could be pushed without completely going over into free.  The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel  may be my single favourite jazz recordings, but it's a 7 disc set and I'm not sure it's even available anymore.  Miles Smiles and ESP are also essential.

8.  Electric

Miles was starting to pay attention to what was going on in rock music at this time.  He was particularly intrigued by artists like Sly Stone and Jimmy Hendrix (there are reports of an attempted collaboration between Davis and Hendrix) and began to integrate electric instruments and rock/funk rhythms into his music, while maintaining the innovations in harmony and structure uncovered by the previous group.  The early recordings in this period, such as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, still retain vestiges of earlier jazz, but later recordings such as Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, Agharta and Pangaea become increasingly rock-oriented.  Nonetheless, this is still innovative and at times abrasive music, a far cry from the soporifics that often passed for "jazz-rock" at this time.  The other important development was the change in the very method of making records from Silent Way on.  Recording sessions became loose jam sessions, with little pre-written material.  The tape would be kept running, and afterwards the resulting hours of music would be edited into a coherent whole.  His producer, Teo Macero, was a key collaborator at this point.

9.  Later career

I think you can safely stop here secure in the knowledge that you have all of his essential music.  He continued to record and perform up to his death in 1991, but was often impaired by addiction and other health issues.  There are still some interesting records, however.  I like Star People and some admire Tutu, though I'm not crazy about it (It might be worth picking up just for the cover shot, however).

Anyway, I hope that's not way more information than you asked for!

  Thanks Shrunk!  I am actually fairly familiar with his periods, but very cool that you put them together under one roof here.  My question was mainly rhetorical in nature, as my thinking, which was unclear in my post, was that Sketches of Spain seems even fairly removed from Miles Ahead with Gil Evans.....this album is almost a "phase" within a phase IMO.  Anyone else sense this as well?