What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Ian Thumwood]

Playing the Dave Douglas record, it is this track which really grabs me. Bill Frisell's intro plays around with the key signatures and then sets up an intermittent loop which then manifests itself in the theme. This is almost like a pastoral re-working of Miles' recording of "Nefertiti" in that the theme gets played over and over again with no chorus based solos. Throughout this track Bill Frisell continues to choose notes that suggest other keys and jar against Uri Caine's fender Rhodes as well as playing rhythms which are opposed to the theme played by the horns. Without the guitar, music would almost be too pretty, yet, in the confines of this arrangement, the whole combination is a total master-stoke. It would be fascinating to see a transcription of this chart.

[Ian Thumwood]

Steve Lacy - "The Door."

I love the "outside" stuff on this disc and the rip up of the Bud Powell tune but the album is dominated by this track which, for my money, is one of the great ballad performances of all time in jazz. Strange how Steve Lacy's stock has fallen since his death whereas during the latter part of his career his music was a by-word for exemplary avant garde jazz. Listening to his music in 2015, it seems even better that it did at the time. Would that there were more musicians of his ilk around these days.

I would suggest that this track will bowl Bluesnik over - it left a very deep impression on me.

[charles t]

Ian: You might consider this nearly 300-page opus published in 2006 by Duke University Press.

Steve Lacy speaks in the manner of a jazz sage...like no other.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Beef Oven!]

Mingus At Carnegie Hall

[Stanfordian]

Kenny Drew with Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Sam Jones & Louis Hayes
'Undercurrent'
Blue Note (rec. 1960)

[Stanfordian]

Blue Mitchell with Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones & Philly Joe Jones
‘Blue’s Moods’
Riverside (rec. 1960)

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Bill Evans - "Interplay" 1962. Evans with Hubbard, Jim Hall, Percy Heath, Philly JJ.

Usually put down to Evans needing urgent money, his dealers etc were threatening to smash his hands, its an unusual (quintet) setting for him at this time. Mostly 30s standards which it is claimed Freddie was unfamiliar with, its a very nice if somewhat subdued session. Not one with a lot of critical kudos but a grower. German Riverside reissue.

BN.

[burning dog]

[

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5h4ue5r5mo

[Quarky]

with apologies in advance to Ian, Señor Blues/ Silver: Wynton Marsalis - Blue Note Jazz - Lincoln Center 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BC3vErvpc

[Ian Thumwood]

It is weird how Riverside records seem to get a bit over-looked. I don't think the darted covers help in comparison with the snazzier Blue Notes but it is quite intriguing to see that artists like Mitchell and Hubbard performed for both labels. I think Blue Note were more dedicated to producing a quality product whereas you find that the other labels were less fussed about out of tune pianos or albums composed entirely of standards. Reading the Jimmy Heath autobiography it is amazing to see that he chose Riverside over Blue Note precisely because they allowed him to focus on his writing and arranging - he effectively became a house arranger for some of the larger ensembles who recorded for Riverside. I think Riverside is a bit under-rated, to be honest.

I dipped in to a book about Norman Granz on Tuesday night and didn't realise just how his taste and propensity to prefer jam sessions seemed to put some musicians off. He wanted Miles Davis and Coltrane to jam on some of his tours but he was limited to hiring the first quintet with Coltrane being hired at what Granz considered to be a premium. It was amazing to see how many musicians Granz actually fell foul of and even mainstays like Oscar Peterson had an up and down relationship with him. For me, Peterson is a real negative and combined with the propensity to favour loosely organised jam sessions, I find Verve and Pablo a bit of a turn off. The Pablo stuff is increasingly erratic and I always associate if with a rear-guard action whilst jazz was on the decline in the 1970's. There are some good records with Milt Jackson but I feel Pablo was probably trumped in the mainstream department by the more adventurous Concord label who seemed to mix young and older players together. The best stuff on Verve tends to be larger ensembles (some excellent Herman and the best Krupa album where he plays Mulligan arrangements) and the Ellington / Hodges "Back to back." The Ella stuff Verve recorded is pretty essential too if that is your bag. For me, Granz is often associated with the least inspiring kind of jazz musicians such as Getz, Peterson, Pass, etc - great musicians from a technical point of view but much too polite in the context of Riverside and Blue note.

Interestingly, Granz approach repelled as many musicians as it attracted. There seems to have been an increasingly diminishing roster. I was amazed to read that Benny Goodman was particularly hostile and there is a quote from about 1960 with him praising the likes of Miles, Coltrane and Ornette for pursuing their own agenda with jazz as opposed to Granz's approach which Goodman criticised as old fashioned. I think Granz was respected for sticking up for musicians but this seems limited to those who fitted his taste. I haven't read the whole of the book but went through the glossary picking out names that interested me. The book seemed to reinforce Granz' quest for spontaneity in jazz whilst acknowledging that the idea of jazz seemed less interesting for musicians after 1960 as they preferred to write and release albums of original material. I feel that time has tended to bear this out. Jam session records tend to be ones that I avowedly avoid unless recorded pre-bebop. Strange that Granz never latched on to Buck Clayton whose music was the apogee of jam sessions albeit I think there was a fair bit of writing in the recording sessions. There seems more "quality control" with the Clayton jams than the rather rambling Verve stuff but , for my money, Buck Clayton is probably a far more significant musician in jazz from the mid thirties than most people would give him credit for. This would be both as a soloist and the craftsmanship of his writing. Basically , Clayton did for swing what Heath did for modern jazz. Had Granz had either on the roster, his records would likely to have been far better.

NP: "Mike Gibbs plays a Bill Frisell set list " - not the best by either, in my opinion, but there are still some great moments including the re-working of Charlie Christian's "Benny's Bugle."

[Tenor Freak]

I picked this up on vinyl for 50p along with a bunch of von Karajan's Beethoven symphonies released by teh Deutsche Gramofon Gesellschaft:

https://youtu.be/fRFB_sH0960

[Quarky]

Here's one for Lat-Literal. Shades of World Routes and Lucy Duran!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huGNcM0XCkY

Wynton Marsalis seems to have made a vast number of Albums in 2015, with highly professional videos. And mostly free!

Curiouser and curiouser!

[Bryn]

The DVD from:



Currently watching/listening to the basic trio of Parker, Edwards and Prevost, soon to joined by Schlippenbach.

For some strange reason Eddie thought it would not be my cup of tea. O.k., I am more into AMM, but hey, as jazz goes, it does not get much better than this, for me.

[Beef Oven!]

The DVD from:



Currently watching/listening to the basic trio of Parker, Edwards and Prevost, soon to joined by Schlippenbach.

For some strange reason Eddie thought it would not be my cup of tea. O.k., I am more into AMM, but hey, as jazz goes, it does not get much better than this, for me.

Bryn,

When was that? 2013?

[Bryn]

Bryn,

When was that? 2013?

That's right. May 27th, 28th and 29th. Couldn't make any of them, so perhaps Eddie assumed from my absence that it was not my bag. Getting to and from Café OTO gigs is no easy matter for me. Just glad I could make AMM's last Saturday night.

The CDs themselves will have to wait. The 2011 BFI Blu-ray/DVD cleaned up high definition transfers of The Bed Sitting Room have just dropped onto the doormat. It's too many years since I last watched it.