Stanfordian
The Avid album combines "Quiet Kenny ", "This is the moment", "Inta something" and "Matador." The last two are the ones that are worth the money, in my opinion.
SA
It probably seems heretical to say this but I find Clifford Brown to be a bit boring. I don't agree that he was "safe" as his music reflected the state jazz was in at the time and I have no doubt he would have evolved in to a totally different player. Had he lived, I think that he would have developed in an entirely different direction and we would have probably have been talking about a body of "mature" work that centred around the first half of the 1960's. Listening in 2017 I would agree that the cleanliness of his timbre is a big problem and the attack is so relentless as to seem to have too little variety these days. I find it fascinating that certain characteristics in jazz go in and out of fashion and the whole solo-centric approach favoured by Clifford Brown is the anti-thesis of much of what is goin on in jazz these days. The whole, gladiatorial aspect of music that resurfaced in the 1980s is no longer quite some fashionable.
When I first heard Clifford brown as a teenager was very impressed but he was one of those players whose appeal was quickly lost on me and he has never been someone I have returned to with enthusiasm. There is almost a machine-like perfection with his playing that doesn't seem as rewarding as someone like Dorham who was not so brash and really tried to explore his instrument more thoroughly as opposed to Brown's aggressive virtuosity. I don't find that there is sufficient variety to warrant listening to Clifford Brown as a number of other trumpet players. I much prefer Dizzy Gillespie, for example as he had a more sly way of expressing rhythm.
It is interesting listening to jazz from the 1950's as seeing what is dated and what has stood the test of time. I feel that there was a lot in this era which was actually quite conservative and then you return to albums like the Bob Brookmeyer / Jimmy Guiffre / Jim Hall album from 1957 called "Traditionalism Re-visited" and discover a record that purported to look back upon the jazz of the 1920s in a then contemporary-fashion actually anticipates the kind of stuff Bill Frisell was doing in the 1980's. I much prefer this more thoughtful approach to jazz ( and I do not mean introspective) to the more impulsive music of the era like Clifford Brown. It is surprising to hear just how free Brookmeyer, Hall and Guiffre were and how prepared they were to push the harmony to breaking point as opposed to producing great feats of stamina.
Where has Bluesnik been of late, by the way?
The Avid album combines "Quiet Kenny ", "This is the moment", "Inta something" and "Matador." The last two are the ones that are worth the money, in my opinion.
SA
It probably seems heretical to say this but I find Clifford Brown to be a bit boring. I don't agree that he was "safe" as his music reflected the state jazz was in at the time and I have no doubt he would have evolved in to a totally different player. Had he lived, I think that he would have developed in an entirely different direction and we would have probably have been talking about a body of "mature" work that centred around the first half of the 1960's. Listening in 2017 I would agree that the cleanliness of his timbre is a big problem and the attack is so relentless as to seem to have too little variety these days. I find it fascinating that certain characteristics in jazz go in and out of fashion and the whole solo-centric approach favoured by Clifford Brown is the anti-thesis of much of what is goin on in jazz these days. The whole, gladiatorial aspect of music that resurfaced in the 1980s is no longer quite some fashionable.
When I first heard Clifford brown as a teenager was very impressed but he was one of those players whose appeal was quickly lost on me and he has never been someone I have returned to with enthusiasm. There is almost a machine-like perfection with his playing that doesn't seem as rewarding as someone like Dorham who was not so brash and really tried to explore his instrument more thoroughly as opposed to Brown's aggressive virtuosity. I don't find that there is sufficient variety to warrant listening to Clifford Brown as a number of other trumpet players. I much prefer Dizzy Gillespie, for example as he had a more sly way of expressing rhythm.
It is interesting listening to jazz from the 1950's as seeing what is dated and what has stood the test of time. I feel that there was a lot in this era which was actually quite conservative and then you return to albums like the Bob Brookmeyer / Jimmy Guiffre / Jim Hall album from 1957 called "Traditionalism Re-visited" and discover a record that purported to look back upon the jazz of the 1920s in a then contemporary-fashion actually anticipates the kind of stuff Bill Frisell was doing in the 1980's. I much prefer this more thoughtful approach to jazz ( and I do not mean introspective) to the more impulsive music of the era like Clifford Brown. It is surprising to hear just how free Brookmeyer, Hall and Guiffre were and how prepared they were to push the harmony to breaking point as opposed to producing great feats of stamina.
Where has Bluesnik been of late, by the way?
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