Just keeping in touch folks! And maybe spreading a word to the Piano Trio fans from Prom 54.
Benny Goodman Trio - Oh, Lady Be Good - YouTube
Benny Goodman Trio - Oh, Lady Be Good - YouTube
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Miles Davis & Lester Young with Rene Urtreger, Pierre Michelot & Christian Garros playing ‘Lady Be Good’ in Paris, 1956:
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We went to see Angela Hewitt in Southampton play a programme of Scarlatti sonatas, Bach's first partita and Brahm's 3rd Sonata. The first set of baroque composition was amazing but the Scarlatti was a revelation. Bach,s influence in jazz is very well known and the Partita was played with such verve that it recalled Bud Powell. However, I felt that Hewitt was sensational in playing Scarlatti. One of the best classical performances I have heard.
I have to say that I hate Brahms and the performance may have been brilliant but I just found the music unsufferable. In my opinion there are some interesting approaches to music yet the harmonic language together with lack of strong melodies makes Brahms unlistenable in my opinion. I was surprised Lovem loved the pyrotechnics of the music and whilst Hewitt was exceptional but discussing the music we concurred the the Scarlatti and Bach were terrific. It is intriguing to hear her opinion as this music is unknown to her. She was more positive about the Brahms whilst this was not the first time I had been to a recital where his music was programmed. I am afraid that I cannot abide his music and repeated attempts to get into him simply underscore the fact that I find him unlistenable.
I always despair when jazz musicians cite Brahms as an influence as his music is so colourless and dour. Not sure what anyone gets out of Brahms. I can appreciate that he was not a fraud as you could level at the likes of someone like Mompou but I would struggle to name any other music quite so unappealing. Maybe only Scheonberg matches Brahms for being quote so off putting. I find Brahms repellent.Comment
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I used to find Brahms equally off putting & uninteresting and my then partner was a huge admirer. And she was the ex wife of a leading classical violinist so what did i know. Not much.
But much more recently I've listened again to the First symphony and I'm OK with that now. And the Sextet for Strings No1 which was used by Louis Malle in the 1958 film "Les Amants". Particularly when Jeanne Moreau has sex in a rowing boat on the lake. Rising to crescendo. I bet Billy Brahms never planned for that special effect.Comment
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It is wierd how Brahm's reputation has endured especially when you consider that there are composers like Enescu who are considered to have been influenced by him but who I would hold to be superior.
Been playing James Brandon Lewis.'s Jessica Wagon. I think this is one of the best jazz albums of the last 5 years. It takes it's cues from Albert Ayler but I think is more musical and certainly better played. The group includes William Parker and Kirk Knuffke on cornet.Comment
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Following on from Alyn's part JRR tribute to Bud Powell yesterday, and did I hear there'll be an upcoming CoW with Bud? Interesting (to me) are other pianist's album tributes to Bud. I can think of Chick Corea, Rene Urtreger, Bill Cunliffe and Claude Williamson, and there are probably more.
Here's Claude Williamson (trio) with "Hallucinations". He was a heck of a pianist who today seems almost forgotten - a JRR sometime?
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Maybe too much in Bud's footsteps to merit one - I dunno?Originally posted by BLUESNIK'S REVOX View Post
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Could well be. I've just bought the Rene Urtreger tribute as I've developed a thing for French jazz. It was recorded in 1955 and is very close to Bud but with just enough personality to make it worthwhile. The Bill Cunliffe I've had for years and it's a fine differentiated set. I imagine it's difficult to make a tribute which isn't simple emulation but doesn't lose the core style and appeal.
Claude Williamson I think is a great pianist anyway.Comment
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Chick Corea’s tribute to Bud Powell at Newport, 1996 with Joshua Redman, Wallace Roney, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes:
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I think Claude Williamson was quite respected in his time but I just feel that he was just one of many pianists from the late 1940s who seem to have been forgotten due to the speed with which jazz piano developed in the mid fifties onwards.
I was really surprised that Chick Corea looked back towards Bud Powell in the 1990s and had no idea at the time that he was such a Bud Powell fan. At the time it seemed very retrospective but my opinion is different now. IComment
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These days I am fascinated by Bud Powell and am much more appreciative of Corea's efforts. Bud Powell is almost like Ground Zero for jazz piano and I wish his output had been more extensive so that there was more material to mine.
I have been giving his records a spin of late and I just wish he had recorded more. I love his compositions especially 'Celia.'
Ethan Iveson's recent reworking of Bud Powell's music with an Italian big band is pretty decent but I suppose the reworking of Glass Enclosure on Steve Lehman's exceptional 'Mis en abime' is demonstrative of how radical it is possible to be with Powell's music.Comment
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Lucky Thompson - "Lucky in Paris" 1959. Which I see is reviewed on Amazon by JR👍
"We'll be together again" Great tenor rendition from a superb album, excellent group with Martial Solal an added attraction.
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Up coming...
"OCTOBER 1, 2024
Blue Note Records has announced the November 22 release of Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs’, a never-before-issued live recording of jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson leading a stellar quartet with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the hallowed lost NYC jazz shrine, Slugs’ Saloon, in 1966. The release was produced by Zev Feldman,Jack DeJohnette, and Lydia DeJohnette, and is available for pre-order now as a 2-LP set, 2-CD set, and digital download...
A SAMPLE..."ISOTOPE"
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