.... see that big green tree

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Alyn has graciously posted his playlist the Friederich Gulda and Joe Harriott tracks tickle this palate ...

JLU

Claire Martin is joined by journalist Stephen Graham to explore how the music of the Cool School, a movement with its roots in the 1940s that included players like Miles Davis and Lee Konitz, is making a comeback and inspiring a new generation of jazz musicians. Plus, Kevin Le Gendre interviews American pianist Marc Cary, who has collaborated with many of the jazz greats including Roy Hargrove, Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln.

...excellent stuff and =

Geoffrey covers Duke Ellington's small groups

Jon3

Trish Clowes curates Emulsion Festival: a two-night event in east London fusing jazz with contemporary classical music, while keeping improvisation at the heart of the celebration.
Trish kicks of the festivities with new material written for her own quartet, Tangent. Guitarist Chris Montague, double bass player Calum Gourlay and drummer James Maddren help her interpret some beautifully crafted, melodic chamber-jazz.
They join the members of composer/conductor Luke Styles' Ensemble Amorpha to form the Emulsion Sinfonietta, also featuring Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and British saxophonist Iain Ballamy, whose apple tree inspired the piece Trish composed especially for the Sinfonietta: Apple Boy.
Experimental keyboardist Dan Nicholls brings his band Strobes, featuring the powerful rhythms of drummer Dave Smith and the searing guitar of Chris Sharkey in an exploration of electro-improv and Afrocentric grooves.

.. i heard them talking about this on the Rafferty chat a while back .... i hope the music exceeds my expectations [sometimes music should just be played not puff ball chatted up eh ...]

.. and where is your usually excellent playlist Jon3?

this is a nice bit of West Coast Cool :

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

With the info up am now listening to Geoffrey's take on the small group recordings led by Ellington's sidemen ... gentle stroll through mainstream classics eh

[Serial_Apologist]

With the info up am now listening to Geoffrey's take on the small group recordings led by Ellington's sidemen ... gentle stroll through mainstream classics eh

I switched on too - not knowing this repertoire too well I thought I was listening to some of Wynton's more recent offerings!

[Quarky]

I have never been Claire Martin's greatest fan, but I feel she has hit the nail on the head with the format of this week's JLU. Following on nicely from JRR, and full of interest, let's hope it kept the powers that be happy.

The Wolfgang Muthspiel track was something to savour.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

listening now inspired by your post Oddball; gebnerally in agreement except for the Starchucker Light interpretation of 'cool' and regarding Tristano as challenging ... no, Tristano is pure genius that you must understand ... Chet Baker is marketing coffee shop shite ... OK on a good day OK ... but try Shorty Rogers for an interestingly dry and cool improviser on trumpet! .... or Art Farmer or Jon Eardley

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Jazz in Paris/Chet Plays Standards...1955.

"This was a re-scheduled recording,
as the original pianist (and also
Chet’s best friend and mentor) Dick
Twardzick died in his hotel room
from a drug overdose as Chet and
the rest of the quartet waited for
him at the studio. Chet then fell out
with his drummer, and two little-
known European musicians were
hastily recruited for the re-
scheduled session three days later.
This beautifully crafted recording
reveals a depth of emotion and
character that had not previously
existed in his playing.
The other musicians in the quartet
are Gérard Gustin -piano, Jimmy
Bond -bass and Bert Dahlander-
drums."

STUNNING.

BN.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

[Quarky]

listening now inspired by your post Oddball; gebnerally in agreement except for the Starchucker Light interpretation of 'cool' and regarding Tristano as challenging ... no, Tristano is pure genius that you must understand ... Chet Baker is marketing coffee shop shite ... OK on a good day OK ... but try Shorty Rogers for an interestingly dry and cool improviser on trumpet! .... or Art Farmer or Jon Eardley

Great Shorty Rodgers track - that certainly got the brain cells tingling and asking questions. But Chet Baker is too much - dare I say it - on the "romantic"/ smoochy side for me.

I was unhappy too about the "expert" discussion of Cool. Being used to high level analysis with Alyn Shipton, Jezz, etc, I assumed it was a low level analysis aimed at newcomers to Jazz. But may be it's best not to talk down to an audience. At least it was made clear that "cool" covers a very wide range.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Great Shorty Rodgers track - that certainly got the brain cells tingling and asking questions. But Chet Baker is too much - dare I say it - on the "romantic"/ smoochy side for me.

I was unhappy too about the "expert" discussion of Cool. Being used to high level analysis with Alyn Shipton, Jezz, etc, I assumed it was a low level analysis aimed at newcomers to Jazz. But may be it's best not to talk down to an audience. At least it was made clear that "cool" covers a very wide range.

"Like its cool man, you dig? Like I got Birds horn man, like I got it from Bird's old lady...and this monkey on my back, he was Bird's too..." ~ Lenny Bruce as "Shorty".

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

Great Shorty Rodgers track - that certainly got the brain cells tingling and asking questions. But Chet Baker is too much - dare I say it - on the "romantic"/ smoochy side for me.

I was unhappy too about the "expert" discussion of Cool. Being used to high level analysis with Alyn Shipton, Jezz, etc, I assumed it was a low level analysis aimed at newcomers to Jazz. But may be it's best not to talk down to an audience. At least it was made clear that "cool" covers a very wide range.

I didn't understand the points being made in that "discussion" about "Cool": it was awash with generalities.

[Ian Thumwood]

The best thing about Chet Baker's recording's was Dick Twardzik but there is a duet with Paul Bley which I've heard selections from and been impressed by. Other than that, I'm with Calum and think that Baker was pretty much a non-event in jazz and, at worse, could drift towards the kind of music you might hear played alongside a test card. Never been impressed by his playing which I've always felt sounded superficial - Miles was famously dismissive of Baker. I certainly wouldn't rate him as much as Art Farmer or even a contemporary equivalent like Tom Harrell.

The whole Cool Jazz element is a bit over-rated. There were some amazingly inventive musicians like Tristano and Konitz who really thought about the mechanics of the music and deserve the wide praise. However, there was also a tendency for a lot of mediocre players to get too much recognition in this era because of their cool, aloof approach to music. Musicians like Richie Kamuca, Allen Eager, etc may have been lauded at the time but they have tended to become forgotten at the music moved on. For me, Cool Jazz works when there is genuine intelligence at work in the music whereas, at it's worse, it is a classic example of style over substance. The worst aberrations of Cool are little better than some of the Trad Jazz of the 1950's / 60's. The great recordings of Miles BofC band, Shorty Roger's stylish writing or the Tristano adherents are rightly celebrated yet so much of the jazz from the first half of 1950's sounded dated and uninspired to me. I really dislike a lot of the jazz of this period as it is so dull and caught between the excitement of so much great jazz from the 20's - be-bop and the more intelligent and creative styles of jazz that arrived in the late 1950's. You have to be judicious about the better jazz recordings in the early 50's and the cooler styles that were in vogue, especially on the West Coast, now seem as dated as Cab Calloway's work. It is so redolent of it's era and doesn't transcend it in the way the true greats like Tristano and Miles continue to do so.

Funny about how "cool" is alleged to have enjoyed a rival .Granted the Dave Holland Quintet is alleged to hve been a "cool" band and this was one of the greatest of all jazz groups of the 2000's, but I think "Cool" is largely out unless you include some ECM stuff. Soloists like Martin Speake for have followed in this mould leave me a bit cold by their clinical approach with only Mark Turner and David Binney making intelligent and incisive jazz these days which I feel could be described as cool.

[Quarky]

Jon3..... i heard them talking about this on the Rafferty chat a while back .... i hope the music exceeds my expectations [sometimes music should just be played not puff ball chatted up eh ...]

.. and where is your usually excellent playlist Jon3?

Well you lucky people, just in case you missed Jon3 this week, there is another two hour pot of Emulsified Jazz on Hear and Now this Saturday. Plenty of time to Gell and hopefully avoid colloidsions with the Jazz purists.

I must admit this type of music is up my street - and plenty of Brownian motion going on in there.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well you lucky people, just in case you missed Jon3 this week, there is another two hour pot of Emulsified Jazz on Hear and Now this Saturday. Plenty of time to Gell and hopefully avoid colloidsions with the Jazz purists.

I must admit this type of music is up my street - and plenty of Brownian motion going on in there.

Too much gloss.....