What Jazz are you listening to now?

[elmo]

Charlie Parker Quintet " Klaunstance" recorded 21/12/1947 for Savoy

Still sounds amazingly cutting edge, Bird's solo is brilliant even by his standards - one for the Desert Island.

elmo

[Stanfordian]

'Meet Oliver Nelson'
Oliver Nelson with Kenny Gorham, Wendell Marshal, Arthur Taylor & Ray Bryant
New Jazz (1959)

[Braunschlag]

I thought that this evening's Prom concert was extremely interesting even though there were elements which were a bit mixed. I could have done without the Gershwin piece that opening the concert although I would have to add that I am not really bowled over by him as either a composer of "serious" music (which always seems of it's era and a bit twee) and the standards which are not better or worse than a host of other songwriter's efforts. The other pieces which featured the band without the guest soloists included an instrumental by Ernesto Lecuona which did not belong in the programme as well as the arrangement of "Caravan" - smart enough as this arrangement was, this tune surely deserves to be binned as it is just too unfamiliar.

The "jazz" elements provided the highlights. The element with James Morrison tended to reaffirm my opinion of him as a mechanical technician and whilst the trumpet playing had sufficient about it to keep your interest, his work is devoid of character. I find him a strange player and difficult one to reconcile with his "day job" of presenting the Australian equivalent of "Top Gear" on television. I have never seen him perform in person but this was the first chance I had to hear him since he first burst on the scene. Technically he is very clever yet I am not convinced that he is some sort of heir to Dizzy. That said, there are plenty other "technical" trumpet players whose work leaks me cold whether it be Harry James, Clifford Brown or Terence Blanchard even though they all have their adherents.

The elements with Diane Reeves certainly increased the musicality of the evening. If I a honest, although Ella had a fantastic voice and was as technically flawless as it was possible to be in her generation, I find her shooby-dooby scat singing to be execrable and it has probably done more to put people off jazz than anything else - probably even Anthony Braxton! Her song book interpretations are masterful however and I can totally appreciate why they element of her work is held in esteem. Discussing this concert with my Dad this evening, he thought Diane Reeves was awful and I suppose it is a generational thing because , for me, Reeves has taken the Sarah Vaughan approach to singing and applied the kind of post-bop harmonies to her vocals that give her incredible vocal range the effect of being a double-edged sword. I would take Diane Reeves singing over Ella's every time and, in this post-Betty Carter era, she seems to be able to cover both the pop material as well as jazz charts complete with sophisticate ideas like the 5/8 over 4/4 Billy Childs arrangement of "Fascinating Rhythm" tonight. The wordless vocal tango performed towards the end of the concert was the evening's highlight and just about as adventurous as the kind of improvising you could expect to find at the Proms.

The last point of interest was the rare outing of Ellington's "Harlem", described by the conductor as the Duke's greatest musical achievement. I am not sure that I agree with this but would concur that it was one of his most ambitious compositions and exactly the kind of jazz that the Proms should be presenting. This was the musical highlight of the evening and I applaud the BBC for getting the music dusted off and given an airing. Worth more note-worthy than any jazz I have seen on the BBC television for years and maybe indicative of the need to give Ellington's more obscure and ambitious work a regular spot in the Proms. It is a shame that SA decided to give this a miss and "Harlem" was compelling and further accentuated my affection for all things Duke. It may seem odd to make this statement but I keep on discovering hitherto unfamiliar compositions by Ellington that appear to be neglected masterpieces that I feel Ellington and Strayhorn are actually under-rated. There is so much fantastic material written by the two that deserves to be better known that probably pass many jazz fans by.

Interesting comments Ian, well thought out and supported,you have my admiration for that!
However, and this is merely my own observation, I was looking forward to Morrison and he didn't disappoint. He might well be a super-virtuoso of the trumpet but he certainly gets my vote, if just for the wow factor. I suppose he does it because he can and those Scooby Too/Doo albums are very ingenious, overdubbing all the parts himself apart from drums. He doesn't perhaps have that range of inflexion/nuance that, for instance, Marsalis has (he does some marvellous examples of Armstrong on that huge Jazz dvd history, a real listener). But, once in a while, there's a time and place for something spectacular. Morrison has certainly put Australia on the jazz map if nothing else.
I have to say that the Ellington Harlem piece was underwhelming for me. I was simply waiting for it to end, apologies for either not 'getting it', but it was a tedious thing. Caravan was similarly uninteresting, a rather curious attempt at scoring for orchestra.
Fascinating Rhythm had me in metrical knots, a fine example of rhythmic ingenuity, well worth it.
Diana Reeves - I haven't really made my mind up here. I found the voice just too big at times, but no complaints about tuning, diction and the usual suspects.
A curates egg of a concert in some ways but there was much to enjoy. On the strength of it I have a couple of Morrisons discs en route from the jungle website, I wanted to hear what else he has done recently.

[Braunschlag]

Currently playing - John McLaughlin, Black Light.
Gary Husband on keyboards and drums, Etienne Mbappe's electric bass, drums -Ranjit Barot.

[Stanfordian]

'Today and Now'
Coleman Hawkins with Tommy Flanagan, Major Holley & Eddie Locke
Impulse (1962)

[Quarky]

Currently playing - John McLaughlin, Black Light.
Gary Husband on keyboards and drums, Etienne Mbappe's electric bass, drums -Ranjit Barot.

This morphed into Jimi Hendrix as I played it on You Tube "through the night". Which is no bad thing. While I sometimes feel this Board is run by the Bebop Preservation society, I can see the point. Vast oceans of popular music can dilute a few drops of real jazz to the point where it becomes non-existent.

Ah well - let's see what Moon Hooch have got to say for themselves tonight.

[cloughie]

Vast oceans of popular music can dilute a few drops of real jazz to the point where it becomes non-existent.

Begging the question - what is real jazz?

[Quarky]

.................. a really good question..................

[Braunschlag]

Begging the question - what is real jazz?

That'll get tongues wagging! I have a similar problem with 'what is light music', that's a hard one to define.

[Braunschlag]

This morphed into Jimi Hendrix as I played it on You Tube "through the night". Which is no bad thing. While I sometimes feel this Board is run by the Bebop Preservation society, I can see the point. Vast oceans of popular music can dilute a few drops of real jazz to the point where it becomes non-existent.

Ah well - let's see what Moon Hooch have got to say for themselves tonight.

There's a few rumours that this might be McLaughlin's last album. If so I was pleased he went back to his electric roots. The Boston Concert is a great live set with similar material.

[Serial_Apologist]

Begging the question - what is real jazz?

For a start, music in which tunes, if needed, are less important than what is done with them.

But someone said that that is what does not define "light music".

After that you get into more complex questions of the whys and wherefores of the music's origination, continuation and evolution, like, is it Afro-American in its purest forms, or has it (as I think) become a universal means of musical expression and performance? and to be jazz, does it have to "swing"?

[Ian Thumwood]

Begging the question - what is real jazz?

I am inclined to suggest that jazz is something played by white music students but this is just a bit too glib even though I think that even a cursory look through websites like All About jazz shows that there is an increasing balance towards white musicians and a hardening on the "European" influence.

To be honest, I think that that the question is best asked by turning it on it's head and asking what isn't jazz. I would concur that it is something that need not to limited to something that swings as noted by SA but it is surprising how many artists "in jazz" now seem to protest that their music is not jazz. Sometimes I feel that Sonny Rollin's comment that jazz is "the sound of surprise" is something of a curse as the obsession these days is to produce something that is different from the last flavour of the month whereas I think Sonny's quotation was originally to do with the unpredictability of improvisation as opposed to the Emperor's new clothes syndrome that affects so much "jazz" these days.

There is a very interesting clip on YouTube where Mtumbe destroys Stanley Crouch in a debate as to what is or isn't jazz although unwittingly thr argument that Mtumbe puts forward is that t stems from the acoustic v electric debate has been overtaken by technology. Mtumbe is right about musicians embracing technology and that this has always been the case especially if you take the use of a "new" instrument like the saxophone. Jazz musicians were much quicker on the uptake than their Classical counterparts. However, it is really fascinating to take Mtumbe's comments in connection with the last concert I went to where his "argument" was reflected in Herbie Hancock's group whereas the solution Donny McCaslin offered was pretty clunky and square albeit probably more in line with the current trends that HH's re-appraisal of his work which has already entered the mainstream.

[Quarky]

‘Here to Stay’
Freddie Hubbard with Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman & Philly Joe Jones
Blue Note (1962)

Your posts much appreciated, Stanfordian - despite my comments above.

[Stanfordian]

Your posts much appreciated, Stanfordian - despite my comments above.

No need to worry. I don't read them!

[Stanfordian]

'Mode for Joe'
Joe Henderson with Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter & Joe Chambers
Blue Note (1966)