I have a great liking for I ain't gonna give no one none of my jellyroll, but my all-time favourite is the Shorty Rogers recording featuring Bob Cooper and John Graas: Coop de Graas. Sheer brilliance!
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Spread a Little Happiness as Time Goes By. -
The Melodic Version of The Second Dream of The High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer from The Four Dreams of ChinaComment
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
[Edit: I've always admired the title, but turns out to be a pretty lousy song! And Country: sorry, Jazz Boarders]Last edited by kernelbogey; 31-08-16, 09:42.Comment
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Mallets a Fore Thought - Victor FeldmanComment
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Although he was a bit erratic as a composer, Hank Mobley's "This I dig of you" and "No room for squares" seems to sum up the coolness ylu associate with jazz more than any other titles. Oliver Nelson's "The blues and the abstract truth" is probably the best album title. As a whole, I think Monk's titles seem really appropriate (even if they don't always make sense) but Herbie Nichols must have been the most creative composer when it came to ascribing names to his many compositions.
It is a shame that the post-Coltrane era seemed to encourage one word titles consisting of adjectives and I always think that a lot of recent ECM albums are littered with atmospheric titles that immediately turn me off wanting to explore the music. You almost feel that you know what the music is going to sound likebefore you have heard it! Kenny Wheeler's titles based on word play aren't as good as some other that jazz musicians have used yet "Everybody's song but my own" is not only a great melody but has the kind of title that the music deserves. I am not too enthused by composers whose titles don't make sense even if in the case of composers like Hentry Threagill this detracts from some brilliant and essential music. I wonder just how much this puts off potential listeners wanting to explore the music and Anthony Braxton's love of numbers and symbols is probably a prime example - making the music appeal to an esoteric minority but probably acting as a barrier to anytone wishing to get in to his music for the first time. My pet hate is anything that involves other-worldliness or reference to "the ancients". Faux mysticism is a bit off-putting.
When it comes to listening to a lot of vintage records, a lot of the appeal stems from discovering the story behind the title which often allude to old clubs, towns that the bands may have toured and individuals encountered whether it is "Jack the bear", "King Porter Stomp" or "Piney Brown Blues." It is a shame that this romantic element apparent in song titles prior to the advent of Be-bop is no longer around or at least the mystique is totally missing. Granted that there also some pretty stupid song titles in those days, there is also an element of social history encompassed within them and I suppose it is the only time that jazz was capable of matching blues musicians in this respect.Comment
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'Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer' as requested by Bessie Smith, for example.
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The Big Turtle Fanfare from the South China Sea by Gyorgy LigetiComment
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I always thought the evolution of Monk's "Evidence" was hip. From the chords of Just You, Just Me, becoming Just Us, to Justice, to....Evidence. Well worth the effort! And in my much younger days I used to sip only Bells (not very good) whiskey in a Charlie Parker pose, thinking of "Sippin' at Bells" - only much later finding out that it was just a bar in Harlem. And so it goes...
BN.Comment
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Because it appeals to my liking for surrealism I really go for Fats Navarro' s "Ice freezes Red" - love Fats trumpet playing also.
What about Archie Shepp's "Rufus - swung his face to the wind and his neck snapped"
elmoLast edited by elmo; 30-08-16, 22:30.Comment
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'The Honeydripper' - 1961 Blue Note album played by 'Brother' Jack McDuff with Jimmy Forrest, Grant Green & Ben Dixon.Comment
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