What Jazz are you listening to now?

[AnotherSpin]

Charles Mingus The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963, Impulse)

I swear '63 saw the release of some of the best films and the best albums.

This is amazing album. However, 1959 was even better for jazz. Mingus Ah Um, plus add Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Time Out, The Shape of Jazz to Come... 

[Karl Henning]

Charles Mingus The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady (1963, Impulse)

I swear '63 saw the release of some of the best films and the best albums.

Love this album!

[ando]

This is amazing album. However, 1959 was even better for jazz. Mingus Ah Um, plus add Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Time Out, The Shape of Jazz to Come... 

I ain't touching that. I think you can find great jazz in every year. I just mean '63 across the board artistically was kinetic. Hell of a year. Mingus, of course, stayed prolific throughout the 60s, imo.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Here to Stay, Freddie Hubbard.

[San Antone]

I ain't touching that. I think you can find great jazz in every year. I just mean '63 across the board artistically was kinetic. Hell of a year. Mingus, of course, stayed prolific throughout the 60s, imo.

Another Spin is right to pick 1959 out as a great year for jazz.  There have been a number of articles in jazz publications making the same observation.  But you are also right, every year there are great jazz recordings.  However, the reason 1959 is written about is the fact that three albums from 1959 (Kind of Blue, Shape of Jazz to Come, and Time Out) have had a huge impact, besides being great albums.

[ando]

Another Spin is right to pick 1959 out as a great year for jazz.  There have been a number of articles in jazz publications making the same observation.  But you are also right, every year there are great jazz recordings.  However, the reason 1959 is written about is the fact that three albums from 1959 (Kind of Blue, Shape of Jazz to Come, and Time Out) have had a huge impact, besides being great albums.

Yes. 

[SimonNZ]

Black Saint on the HMV label??

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

^ Was wondering if the mono recording sounds better than the stereo.

[AnotherSpin]

I ain't touching that. I think you can find great jazz in every year. I just mean '63 across the board artistically was kinetic. Hell of a year. Mingus, of course, stayed prolific throughout the 60s, imo.

I have a feeling there is less and less jazz every year now, and soon there will be almost none at all.

[ando]

I have a feeling there is less and less jazz every year now, and soon there will be almost none at all.

Huh? Dude, there's a younger generation of great jazz musicians gigging, recording and having a blast. It's just that model of distribution has changed. You certainly can't go looking for jazz in the same places and in the same way as we did yesterday. But as long as there is America there will always be jazz.

For instance, do you ever check out the daily live YouTube feed from Smalls? There's jamming every night from all sorts of young ensembles. They ain't making record deals, necessarily; but they're jamming and people are listening. Last time I stopped by I caught a band led by a young vibes player. It was straight ahead stuff but very spirited -

[San Antone]

Huh? Dude, there's a younger generation of great jazz musicians gigging, recording and having a blast. As long as there is America there will always be jazz.

Right.  And there is a lot of new jazz coming from outside the US.  The ECM catalog alone is putting out consiistently great stuff.  Granted, stylisically very different from the hard bop of decades back. Also, Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO is doing great work, preserving and reintroducing some classic stuff to a new young audience, which inspires a whole generation of musicians to play jazz.

His resurrection of Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige is a landmark achievement of a tragically long neglected work.

[vers la flamme]

I saw Ron Carter's bass-piano-guitar trio at Birdland the other night. I was star struck, what an artist. Chops still razor sharp at 86.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I saw Ron Carter's bass-piano-guitar trio at Birdland the other night. I was star struck, what an artist. Chops still razor sharp at 86.

He was a classical player. He started playing jazz because blacks wouldn't be hired by orchestras. Same for Nina Simone.

[vers la flamme]

He was a classical player. He started playing jazz because blacks wouldn't be hired by orchestras. Same for Nina Simone.

Indeed. He is quite educated too with a master's from the Manhattan School of Music. I believe he started as a cellist before switching to bass. During an extended unaccompanied bass solo the other night he interpolated from the Bach cello suites.

[AnotherSpin]

Huh? Dude, there's a younger generation of great jazz musicians gigging, recording and having a blast. It's just that model of distribution has changed. You certainly can't go looking for jazz in the same places and in the same way as we did yesterday. But as long as there is America there will always be jazz.

For instance, do you ever check out the daily live YouTube feed from Smalls? There's jamming every night from all sorts of young ensembles. They ain't making record deals, necessarily; but they're jamming and people are listening. Last time I stopped by I caught a band led by a young vibes player. It was straight ahead stuff but very spirited -

Your argument about other distribution models is most likely valid. But I live in a place where I can only judge the state of affairs from the records available online. I open up the new jazz releases at Qobuz every Friday, and see virtually nothing that can compare to the recordings of the giants of the middle of the last century. I don't mean reissues, of course. New recordings today it's mostly crossover, mixed with ethnic, hip-hop, etc. Yes, I heard Smalls recordings. Just couple of days it was new Dave Liebman at Smalls album. Not bad, but I heard it all many times before. Again, there are some interesting new names, but it will not stand comparison with what happened back in last century.

[AnotherSpin]

Right.  And there is a lot of new jazz coming from outside the US.  The ECM catalog alone is putting out consiistently great stuff.  Granted, stylisically very different from the hard bop of decades back. Also, Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO is doing great work, preserving and reintroducing some classic stuff to a new young audience, which inspires a whole generation of musicians to play jazz.

His resurrection of Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige is a landmark achievement of a tragically long neglected work.

I grew up on ECM LPs in 70's and 80's. What the company releases today is a pale shadow, at best a rehash of clichés worked over and over again.

I have no interest in what Marsalis is doing today. He had some good jazz albums in the early 80s.

I fully realise that my opinion is subjective and I don't expect agreement  

[San Antone]

I saw Ron Carter's bass-piano-guitar trio at Birdland the other night. I was star struck, what an artist. Chops still razor sharp at 86.

He was a classical player. He started playing jazz because blacks wouldn't be hired by orchestras. Same for Nina Simone.

Indeed. He is quite educated too with a master's from the Manhattan School of Music. I believe he started as a cellist before switching to bass. During an extended unaccompanied bass solo the other night he interpolated from the Bach cello suites.

There was an excellent mini-series documentary about Ron Carter released this year on PBS, Finding the Right Notes. I think it is still available to stream if you subscribe to PBS Passport. Or clips might be on YouTube.

Highly recommended.

[ando]

Your argument about other distribution models is most likely valid. But I live in a place where I can only judge the state of affairs from the records available online. I open up the new jazz releases at Qobuz every Friday, and see virtually nothing that can compare to the recordings of the giants of the middle of the last century. I don't mean reissues, of course. New recordings today it's mostly crossover, mixed with ethnic, hip-hop, etc. Yes, I heard Smalls recordings. Just couple of days it was new Dave Liebman at Smalls album. Not bad, but I heard it all many times before. Again, there are some interesting new names, but it will not stand comparison with what happened back in last century.

Happy listening. 

[ando]

There was an excellent mini-series documentary about Ron Carter released this year on PBS, Finding the Right Notes. I think it is still available to stream if you subscribe to PBS Passport. Or clips might be on YouTube.

Highly recommended.

Yeah, I saw that Carter will headline Birdland for a few weeks this month. Thanks for the reminder.

[ando]

Also, Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO is doing great work, preserving and reintroducing some classic stuff to a new young audience, which inspires a whole generation of musicians to play jazz.

His resurrection of Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige is a landmark achievement of a tragically long neglected work.

You reminded me to burn into iTunes (yep, I still use it) a recent great Ellington acquisition -


Duke Ellington The Complete Orchestral Suites

It's embarrasingly the only Ellington in my physical media collection, but a very welcome one. The quality of tracks on the 5 disc set vary from poor to stunning, as you might expect from such a wide time frame, but not entirely excusable given today's technology. None of the major platforms are streaming it, which is a shame - and is bound to be corrected. But it's a must have for any serious Ellington fan.