Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 Let's share some of our favorite jazz albums here. We don't discuss jazz so much on SSS, so I figured I'd start a jazz appreciation thread. Share your favorite jazz album or song here. Some of you know that I knew Alice Coltrane and went to visit her ashram as a kid, and traveled to India for a month with her son. I miss her terribly. And I figured it's only natural that I begin with her music. And now for your listening pleasure, I present "Journey In Satchidinanda." I hope you love it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eACC7W5xX9I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 Miles Davis, "In a Silent Way." But I also love "Jack Johnson." His band was even hotter than usual... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 This might not be considered jazz by the purists but this is one on my favorite pieces of music of all time. Get chills every time I hear it. I liked Pat Metheny when I was younger but somehow missed this one and didn't discover it until my late thirties: [video=youtube;hpEiCd_OcYs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpEiCd_OcYs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 More Chills: [video=youtube;_eEVHfrrj7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEVHfrrj7o [video=youtube;r94-7nJt-WM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r94-7nJt-WM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 Miles Davis' date=' "In a Silent Way." But I also love "Jack Johnson." His band was even hotter than usual...[/quote'] Miles Davis was going to be my second one when I returned. And, well, it still will be. I have a sort of unusual choice, I think. I love "Big Fun". So much, in fact, that I think it's my favorite Miles Davis release, and that's really saying something, given "In a Silent Way", "Jack Johnson", "Agharta", "Bitches Brew", "Kind of Blue", "Pangaea", and...... And that also means it's one of my favorite jazz releases. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 This might not be considered jazz by the purists but this is one on my favorite pieces of music of all time. Get chills every time I hear it. I liked Pat Metheny when I was younger but somehow missed this one and didn't discover it until my late thirties: Metheny is not my favorite, admittedly, but I listened to him a bit when I was in high school, I think it was, and I remember liking "Bright Size Life" with Jaco Pastorius and Bob Moses. And because of your post, I'm listening to this again right now! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 The twin (sax) poles of my early listening: Stan Getz in his bossa mode (preferably with the Gilbertos) and John Coltrane. The 'Trane was a jump, to be sure, but I was ready, just coming back to rock (I had dropped out when surf instrumentals were replaced by treacly beach pop and then the Brit invasion which I just didn't get at all) and I was looking for adventurous, exploratory stuff. In rock I gravitated straight to the psychedelic stuff and I guess I must have been led to Coltrane and Davis the same way. I actually bought my first Coltrane record, the classic Olé, because I really wanted Miles' Sketches of Spain, having read a glowing review. I saw the 'Trane record in the cut-out bin of the local supermarket (some -- many -- of my very favorite records were bought, often out of the blue, from such bins) and thought, man, I can get this for $1.87 or pay $6 for the Miles... (Yes, it was, indeed, the Spanish title that grabbed my eye.) It was actually many years later that I got Sketches and, you know, it's OK... heh But, really, I love, totally love Olé. With regard to current faves? The giants, of course, in addition to Miles and Trane, Monk, Mingus, Rollins, going back, Dizzy, Bird, and then Ellington, Louis Armstrong. On the guitar front, going the other way, Charlie Christian, of course. I seem to have a thing for guys from a country/country swing background, two who really grabbed me were Herb Ellis and the brilliant but far lesser known (seldom led bands) Jimmy Wyble. Wyble played with the greats from the Texas Playboys to Red Norvo and Benny Goodman and then did a lot of soundtrack work and later became an influential guitar educator, teaching some of the best modern players like Howard Roberts, Steve Lukather, Howard Alden, Larry Koonse and Smokey Hormel. I also have had a soft spot for outliers like Gabor Szabo (I like guys who know how to use the open strings) as well as at the aggressive edge like Nels Cline and Eugene Chadbourne. Speaking of the latter as well as one of the formers: here's a nice write-up on Jimmy Wyble by Eugene Chadbourne: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy...3828/biography On the vocal front, so many great singers. It cracks me up that I once eschewed jazz singers as 'cornball.' WTF was I thinking? Ella, Billie, Sarah... before that, probably one of the hippest outfits to come out of the south, The Boswell Sisters, three white girls from New Orleans whose lead singer, Connie, wrote their complex, time-shifting, style-shifting, highly postmodern arrangements, seeming to effortlessly weave African-American blues and jazz sensibilities into a super-sophisticated style. (A postmodern style that was perfect for radio, where they were arguably among the new medium's biggest early stars, but poorly suited to the big band swing dance craze that would take hold in the mid 30s; two sisters got married and retired; Connie, who was disabled by childhood polio stayed in the music biz, even though she really couldn't tour and could onlyl stand with heavy braces on her legs. Later vocalists who would move me: Eckstine, Johnny Hartman, Blossom Dearie, the brilliant and searing Nina Simone, Mose Allison. (Drifting a bit out of jazz, perhaps here.) More recently, I'm quite a fan of Kat Edmonson, even Melody Gardot. (I don't hold her glamour against her. Though... she's pretty glamorous.) PS... right on, Folder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 Herbie Hancock "Sextant". This is more spacey than a lot of his other outings, more like some of his "Crossings" work or similar stuff. A lot of this is also referred to as "kozmigroov" and encapsulates all the stuff I've posted here so far as well as many other things, such as Weather Report's first album. Whatever you want to call it, I'm enthralled by it. But I'll post some more traditional stuff here too, like Brubeck's Take 5 stuff and other things, which I absolutely love. And I'll try and dig up some Latin Jazz stuff too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 More Chills: [video=youtube;_eEVHfrrj7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEVHfrrj7o [video=youtube;r94-7nJt-WM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r94-7nJt-WM These were great listens this morning! Love it! I listened to both, and then that led me to some Bessie Smith stuff and some other Louis Armstrong stuff! Excellent!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 13, 2015 Moderators Share Posted February 13, 2015 Bird and DIz. 1950. There aren't a lot of real good recordings of Bird. This is one. They needed a drummer for the date. The producer calls a "cat who swings". Unknown Buddy Rich. Not part of the circle. He does swing. And... MONK! on piano. You don't hear him too often in this type of setting. When people ask "what exactly IS bebop", you play them this. Freaking GREAT solos from all. The bestest of the better than anybodies. [video=youtube;1MCGweQ8Oso] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted February 13, 2015 Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 [VIDEO=youtube;MsQYzpOHpik][/VIDEO] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 13, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 13, 2015 Bird and DIz. 1950. There aren't a lot of real good recordings of Bird. This is one. They needed a drummer for the date. The producer calls a "cat who swings". Unknown Buddy Rich. Not part of the circle. He does swing. And... MONK! on piano. You don't hear him too often in this type of setting. When people ask "what exactly IS bebop", you play them this. Freaking GREAT solos from all. The bestest of the better than anybodies. [video=youtube;1MCGweQ8Oso] Jeeeeeeeez, this is so effin' groovy. Wow, this is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 14, 2015 Moderators Share Posted February 14, 2015 Yeah! The whole album is great. That cut... I swear I put it on repeat for a week of commutes to and fro. Such... spirit! Dizzy's solo is so musical. Buddy's, I love to try and hear him hear the head figure as he plays. He's playing that melody, man. Monk, sheesh. So prefunk funky. Harmonically. And Bird. Wow. A joy to zoom in on his brilliance. I love the way Diz fades in and out behind Bird on the head figures. Such soul. yeah, this really smokes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goober(s) Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 Miles Davis' date=' "In a Silent Way." But I also love "Jack Johnson." His band was even hotter than usual...[/quote'] I was all set to agree with your choice of Jack Johnson even though he's not at all jazz (the surfer turned singer / songwriter), until I realized you were talking about a Miles Davis record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just a bit more about Metheny from my perspective. He's probably mostly associated in the US with his early fusion sound as in the tunes posted above. This creates it seems a big divide between many Metheny lovers and haters - most of the haters in my experience hate the fusion scene in general. As soon as that particular fusiony mix of instruments - the chorused electric, the fretless bass, the "modern" pitched-up snares, electric piano, or worst of all, DX7 schmoozoschmalt chords - no further listening required. (not that there's a DX7 on any Metheny material, and actually he hates chorused electric, too - but his early stuff still has that marked fusion overall sound.) But the jist of Metheny is in his wide-ranging experiments in all sorts of styles and instrumental combos. He lists a lot of the usual suspects as his influences - Wes Montgomery, Miles, Coltrane - some slightly lesser known names like Clifford Brown, Gary Burton, Ornette Coleman. He even cites The Beatles and Nirvana among major influences. But I suspect it's Jim Hall that in some ways is his greatest influence, in that Jim Hall never stops experimenting with very new sounds, combos, and styles. It's something of a philosophy of life with Hall - he's one fascinating guy to learn about. Metheny's guitar style is immediately recognizable, although he plays a big variety of guitars and his go-to list of rigs has to be a good dozen setups. So - four tracks just to show his range and how far he's adventured beyond his early fusiony material - with Roy Haynes and Dave Holland - album Question and Answer, tune "Three Flights Up" - this album is up in my top three of Metheny's output[video=youtube_share;UkWJ98zMZGQ] covering Keith Jarret's "My Song" solo acoustic[video=youtube_share;0AIPCx2ve1I] from his Brazilian period - Minuano[video=youtube_share;lT3w-tOaaCc]http://youtu.be/lT3w-tOaaCc with Brad Mehldau - Towards The Light. Metheny's horn-like phrasing really comes out in this one[video=youtube_share;ZvlEQUWJ9TI] I could post a bunch more, all very different. But where Jim Hall can be hard to spot listening period to period, Metheny has more of an evolving style and carries all he's done before to synthesize with new influences as he goes on. In fact, he has one album in which it feels to me like he's revisiting all his prior phases, trying to make a big retrospective statement that is also new in some ways - The Way Up. One last track....excerpt from Part II of The Way Up [video=youtube_share;W8Gr3Xkeig8] nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 Love all the Metheny love here! I think the haters mostly thought he crossed over into New Age a bit too much, but I loved him for his variety of material. When I saw this thread I was to post of clip of "James" from Offramp, which I think is an amazing melody. But there's so many Metheny clips here, I'm not going to bother. As Falls Witchita, So Falls Witchita Falls is another piece I think is amazing, the Travels live album is on Desert Island Disc list. outside of Metheny---I love the "8:30" live album by Weather Report. "Bitches Brew" by Miles. "Kind of Blue", of course. "Jazz at the College of the Pacific" by Brubeck is one of the reasons I wanted to play piano. and let's not forget the great vocalists of the Great American Songbook era. Ella, Sarah Vaughan. and I've been digging on this track today. Not too jazzy as it comes more from her pop chanteuse era, but no one could put so much longing and yearning into a light pop melody the way Billie Holiday did... [video=youtube_share;4P0hG3sD0-E]http://youtu.be/4P0hG3sD0-E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just a bit more about Metheny from my perspective. He's probably mostly associated in the US with his early fusion sound as in the tunes posted above. This creates it seems a big divide between many Metheny lovers and haters - most of the haters in my experience hate the fusion scene in general. As soon as that particular fusiony mix of instruments - the chorused electric, the fretless bass, the "modern" pitched-up snares, electric piano, or worst of all, DX7 schmoozoschmalt chords - no further listening required. (not that there's a DX7 on any Metheny material, and actually he hates chorused electric, too - but his early stuff still has that marked fusion overall sound.) I have friends who hate Pat Metheny. Hate him. To them he is the essence of cheesiness. The schmoozoschmalt I guess. Some of them can't even stand to look at him. The striped shirts and the hair just puts them over the edge I think. I once showed a friend who's a big Eric Clapton fan an article where Clapton said he liked Metheny thinking he might give Metheny another listen but his mind was already made up. Not gonna do it. I can kind of see where they are coming from though. I have a low tolerance for what I consider to be cheesiness myself but a lot of Metheny's music is very emotional to me and can move me in ways that I can't even explain. The guitar solo in the song I posted "It's for You" is one of my favorite guitar solo's but it is very unlike the kind of guitar I play myself or even usually listen to. When I was kid some older guys who went to school with Metheny introduced me to him. They played in band called the Dixie Dregs and they got me on the guest list to see him when the first Pat Metheny Group album had just come out. I was a rocker and I looked up to the Dregs so if it had not been for that I may have ended up dismissing him the way some of my friends do today. About two or three years ago somebody on this forum posted a live video of Metheny. It was probably from the late nineties or early two thousands. I watched it dozens of times but I've now lost the link and I can't find it on YouTube. Maybe somebody on here remembers posting it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 My favorite pianist for almost 40 years now is Keith Jarrett. Back in the early 70's he had a quartet with Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Paul Motian. Charlie Haden and Dewey Redman were veterans of Ornette Coleman's band.This quartet of Jarrett's is now called his "American Quartet" because he had a quartet with some Scandinavians (Jan Garbarek and others) at about the same time. The album is "Treasure Island".I often wish he'd revisit this eclectic style and ethos. This song is called "Le Mistral" [video=youtube_share;rc_U0IH1oXk] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 I have friends who hate Pat Metheny. Hate him. To them he is the essence of cheesiness. The schmoozoschmalt I guess. Some of them can't even stand to look at him. The striped shirts and the hair just puts them over the edge I think. I once showed a friend who's a big Eric Clapton fan an article where Clapton said he liked Metheny thinking he might give Metheny another listen but his mind was already made up. Not gonna do it. I can kind of see where they are coming from though. I have a low tolerance for what I consider to be cheesiness myself but a lot of Metheny's music is very emotional to me and can move me in ways that I can't even explain. The guitar solo in the song I posted "It's for You" is one of my favorite guitar solo's but it is very unlike the kind of guitar I play myself or even usually listen to. When I was kid some older guys who went to school with Metheny introduced me to him. They played in band called the Dixie Dregs and they got me on the guest list to see him when the first Pat Metheny Group album had just come out. I was a rocker and I looked up to the Dregs so if it had not been for that I may have ended up dismissing him the way some of my friends do today. About two or three years ago somebody on this forum posted a live video of Metheny. It was probably from the late nineties or early two thousands. I watched it dozens of times but I've now lost the link and I can't find it on YouTube. Maybe somebody on here remembers posting it? I've posted about Metheny a number of times. We had a thread about songs that give you chills a while back and I posted this live version of The Roots of Coincidence from the PMG - maybe this was what you remember? [video=youtube_share;rMnRyJvuMbE]http://youtu.be/rMnRyJvuMbE Yeah, I can see why he rubs some people the wrong way - at the simple visual level, if you care about what people look like, their pose/posture/wardrobe/hairstyle and so on, he's totally stuck in some odd nook of the 80s. And his facial contortions drive people nuts - so much facial drama over that softish jazz guitar sound. He does not work the bluesy side of jazz much at all, in spite of his citing Kenny Burrell as a big influence. So right off the bat, for me I have Metheny moods, but if I'm needing some blues in my soul or soul in my blues, he's not on that day's playlist. His vibe is overwhelmingly positive, even joyful and ecstatic - which for so many music fans in recent decades, scratches exactly the place where they don't itch. He does share those moods with the New Agers I guess - although jeez, he's such a refreshing voice to me in this dismal age of contention and resentment and music-as-smacktalk. And his sophistication and chops are light-years beyond any New Ager I've ever heard. I have mixed feelings about his contribution to jazz in terms of the Big Tradition. (Although I also have mixed feelings about the Big Tradition, too) He is far more a compositional guy, like say Ellington, than he is a bona fide jazz improvisationalist in the ideal sense (I'm sure me saying this would piss him off totally.) Oh, he does improvise, but he recycles, recycles, recycles very familiar Metheny riffs. Luckily there are a zillion lovely, interesting Metheny riffs he works with. But he is not interested in that Miles-like goal of never repeating anything twice if possible. He's okay with all the recycling of familiar moves, adding to them incrementally and adjusting them a bit on the fly. And the live performances with PMG are, as far as 90% of what the rest of the band does, are note-for-note right off the album tracks. Which, in an era where we have everything captured for replay and jazz is overwhelmingly listened to in recorded form rather than live, makes him actually in tune with the times. He and Jim Hall had a pleasant disagreement over this you can pick up on in some interviews. But I've been so sold on his stuff for so long, I forgive all these things without a thought. He's an odd duck in a lot of ways - that's part of his appeal to me, actually. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted February 14, 2015 Members Share Posted February 14, 2015 I've posted about Metheny a number of times. We had a thread about songs that give you chills a while back and I posted this live version of The Roots of Coincidence from the PMG - maybe this was what you remember? That's it !!! Thanks. Yeah and it does give me chills. I had never seen this before you posted it. This is nothing like the early Pat Metheny that I remember. It's like punk fusion or something. I'll admit I haven't kept up with everything he's done over his career (I'm more of a pop/rock guy) but I've always liked most of what I've heard. Except maybe the Zero Tolerance for Silence CD. Just didn't get that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted February 15, 2015 Members Share Posted February 15, 2015 I really didn't care about Jazz at all until fusion hit, truthfully until Jeff Beck's "Blow by Blow". I guess my favorite fusion album would that one and "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" by Return to Forever.Stanley Clarke's "School Days" is another favorite. Mavishnu Orchestra's "Birds of Fire". Allan Holdsworth's "I.O.U". Jaco's self titled first album..."Portrait of Tracy" is still one of the best bass tracks ever layed down.Guess that rounds it out for me. Wish I had a more diverse palette, jazz wise...But just so I'd seem more musically sopisticated. It's always been rock for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted February 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2015 I have friends who hate Pat Metheny. Hate him. To them he is the essence of cheesiness. The schmoozoschmalt I guess. I have a lot of friends who really can't stand the guy. I don't have a huge issue with him, but really, I haven't heard that much that I've liked after "Offramp" either. I remember liking "Bright Size Life" (with Moses and Pastorius). I did think his work with the orchestrion (the "robot" orchestra) was very very very interesting, though, and a really cool idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted February 17, 2015 Members Share Posted February 17, 2015 Betcha didn't know that John McLaughlin did a solo, acoustic tribute album of all Bill Evans covers. What!! Ruining Bill Evans with those machine-gunned notes of McLaughlin's blasting away and destroying any groove in his path? No worries - this is lovely stuff. Made me see McLaughlin in a new light. McLaughlin's treatment is not as warm and intimate as Evans himself (why even try to match Evans on that score?), but it's a sort of cool, sparkly light of day vibe which I like a lot on it's own terms. This YT is the whole album, 40+ minutes. Why not just leave it going, says I? [video=youtube_share;E6nZNdP5sfk] nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted February 28, 2015 Members Share Posted February 28, 2015 Back when I was a rocker, the jazz I liked was fusion stuff, such as Return To Forever with Chick Corea. Nowadays I like bebop - Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck. I'm also very fond of Bela Fleck's jazz stuff. Can't name any particular albums though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted March 1, 2015 Members Share Posted March 1, 2015 Ralph Towner - contemporary of Metheny with a very distinct vibe. Classically trained - you'll hear that right away. But there's mix of classical, blues, flamenco, jazz, all sorts of whiffs of influences from the vast guitar repertoire. Not as flashy as flamenco, not as simple as blues, not as structured as classical - it's that extra legroom and ruminative quality I guess that allows this to be called jazz - I love this stuff. [video=youtube_share;JRmP3dwVwDE]http://youtu.be/JRmP3dwVwDE nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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