The Jazz Thread

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Whatever it is it'll probably be gold. He's yet to make a bad album (although I don't care much for Day Trip, to be honest).

Seeing Orchestrion live though was the most unique concert experience I've ever had. I'll never see anything like it again

[Neurasthenic]

Whatever it is it'll probably be gold. He's yet to make a bad album (although I don't care much for Day Trip, to be honest).

Seeing Orchestrion live though was the most unique concert experience I've ever had. I'll never see anything like it again

I also read that there's going to be an Orchestrion concert DVD released in early 2011, I'm eager to see that.

[darkshade]

Got paid today, and as much as I maybe shouldn't have, I went straight out and bought Free Jazz.

edit: Aaaaaaaand what the fuck, the CD I bought is defective. The whole thing is just muffled static.

that sucks. i dont know how it works with returning CDs, but you should try and get another copy.

[SPNKr]

Beck's Blow By Blow is great. If anyone enjoys jazz funk or jazz fusion you have to hear it.

[jsem]

Beck's Blow By Blow is great. If anyone enjoys jazz funk or jazz fusion you have to hear it.

Tyvm. Epic album

[darkshade]

Beck's Blow By Blow is great. If anyone enjoys jazz funk or jazz fusion you have to hear it.

great album. i got burnt out on that album when i first got it.  the follow-up 'Wired' is also very good, sometimes, i think, even better than BBB

[Fluffy Lothario]

Got paid today, and as much as I maybe shouldn't have, I went straight out and bought Free Jazz.

edit: Aaaaaaaand what the fuck, the CD I bought is defective. The whole thing is just muffled static.

that sucks. i dont know how it works with returning CDs, but you should try and get another copy.

The funny thing is, it doesn't play on iTunes, Windows Media Player, or VLC on my laptop (or it does, but just as static), but it plays on my flatmate's laptop and on a CD player fine. So I'll have to try and import it via her laptop.

[ytserush]

I listened to Miles Davis' In Concert -- Live At The Philharmonic In New York last night.

Whenever I listen to live Miles Davis, I always feel it's over before it should be when the disc is done.

[SPNKr]

Fluffy, you will like Ascension if loud or noisy jazz is one of your thing.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Ascension, but I wanted to give My Favorite Things a bit of time first. Plus, from what I've read, it might be a good idea to get Coleman's Free Jazz and check that out first.

I should've picked up Free Jazz. Damn... Now it's on my mind and I will get it ASAP. (which is like early next week unfortunately)

I'm listening to it right now, Fluff. Earlier today I only had time for the first take of it which is the bonus track off the CD. Great stuff. I can see how Ascension resembles it. Very inventive for 1960, but it was released in 1961.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Just listening to it for the second time. This is my first real free jazz album, so I can't really say if I like it at this point. It's interesting. I think the pure density of it, the way everyone is literally playing off of each other, means that you can only really get a proper sense of what you're listening to if you're listening quite carefully, just like they were when they were playing it. And I know you can say that about all music, but this seems like that times ten.

[Marvellous G]

The more jazz I listen to reinforces the frustrating knowledge I have that most of it goes right over my head. I mean, I love all of the albums Fluffy's recommended me that I've heard so far, but I get the feeling that I'd be hard pressed to tell the great jazz from the good jazz, and the good from the mediocre. Hopefully this is a maturity thing and I'll be a more discerning jazz listener as I get older, but for now free jazz would just go completely over my head.

[Fluffy Lothario]

At the end of the day, it's still a matter of what you personally prefer. For example, Miles Davis' pre-Kind of Blue quintet are considered to have released nothing but classics. Of the albums of theirs I've heard, I'm lukewarm on Round About Midnight, and I found Steamin' really mediocre, so I won't be checking out any more.

[jsem]

At the end of the day, it's still a matter of what you personally prefer. For example, Miles Davis' pre-Kind of Blue quintet are considered to have released nothing but classics. Of the albums of theirs I've heard, I'm lukewarm on Round About Midnight, and I found Steamin' really mediocre, so I won't be checking out any more.

On a slightly different note:

the album Time Out by Dave Brubeck.

Essential. Epic.

[darkshade]

I listened to Miles Davis' In Concert -- Live At The Philharmonic In New York last night.

Whenever I listen to live Miles Davis, I always feel it's over before it should be when the disc is done.

the one from '72? that's probably my least favorite of his 70s output; the band just isnt as tight as they usually are (but still great of course)

[darkshade]

you can only really get a proper sense of what you're listening to if you're listening quite carefully

that's how most non-rock/fusion jazz is, which is why a lot of people can appreciate jazz; they dont listen to the music.

[ytserush]

I listened to Miles Davis' In Concert -- Live At The Philharmonic In New York last night.

Whenever I listen to live Miles Davis, I always feel it's over before it should be when the disc is done.

the one from '72? that's probably my least favorite of his 70s output; the band just isnt as tight as they usually are (but still great of course)

Yup, that's the one. Not quite as on as you have said, but there are always good things to enjoy.  (I can't keep listening to Bitches Brew all of the time. Must fight the impulse!)

 I've always had a soft spot for the post 1964-65 stuff and I tend to gravitate toward that more and try to listen to as much as I can from that era. I also try to balance that with more "popular" pre-65 stuff, but that doesn't quite work out sometimes.

[SPNKr]

Just listening to it for the second time. This is my first real free jazz album, so I can't really say if I like it at this point. It's interesting. I think the pure density of it, the way everyone is literally playing off of each other, means that you can only really get a proper sense of what you're listening to if you're listening quite carefully, just like they were when they were playing it. And I know you can say that about all music, but this seems like that times ten.

It has grown on me so far. I listened to it more closely yesterday and it's one of those jazz albums where you have to pay more attention than usual to actually understand what's going on, what its purpose, so on. It's very good basically lol.

[darkshade]

I listened to Miles Davis' In Concert -- Live At The Philharmonic In New York last night.

Whenever I listen to live Miles Davis, I always feel it's over before it should be when the disc is done.

the one from '72? that's probably my least favorite of his 70s output; the band just isnt as tight as they usually are (but still great of course)

Yup, that's the one. Not quite as on as you have said, but there are always good things to enjoy.  (I can't keep listening to Bitches Brew all of the time. Must fight the impulse!)

 I've always had a soft spot for the post 1964-65 stuff and I tend to gravitate toward that more and try to listen to as much as I can from that era. I also try to balance that with more "popular" pre-65 stuff, but that doesn't quite work out sometimes.

Dark Magus and Live-Evil are where it's at when it comes to that era of early 70s Miles. (and Agartha and Pangea for mid-70s)

as far as pre-fusion Miles, I am keen to the 60s albums prior In A Silent Way, because the music is a little abstract, but also because every album from E.S.P. onwards, slowly leads up to the birth of jazz-rock/fusion only Miles could create. I also enjoy Kind of Blue (who doesnt) and certain 1st Great Quintet albums. Otherwise i am not totally familiar with his pre-59 albums.

[SPNKr]

Speaking of In A Silent Way, I just listened to it. I've heard Bitches Brew and that one today, it was awesome!

It's funny. When I first got Silent Way, I didn't know who John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul were. It made it better for me once I knew who was on sax and guitar.

[darkshade]

see, i got into all the sidemen and their bands first. RTF, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham solo, Herbie Hancock, etc, before i listened to any Miles Davis. So when i started checking out his albums, i was blown away with almost every 1967-1975 album, since they play so different on his albums than they did after they branched out on their own.

[ytserush]

I listened to Miles Davis' In Concert -- Live At The Philharmonic In New York last night.

Whenever I listen to live Miles Davis, I always feel it's over before it should be when the disc is done.

the one from '72? that's probably my least favorite of his 70s output; the band just isnt as tight as they usually are (but still great of course)

Yup, that's the one. Not quite as on as you have said, but there are always good things to enjoy.  (I can't keep listening to Bitches Brew all of the time. Must fight the impulse!)

 I've always had a soft spot for the post 1964-65 stuff and I tend to gravitate toward that more and try to listen to as much as I can from that era. I also try to balance that with more "popular" pre-65 stuff, but that doesn't quite work out sometimes.

Dark Magus and Live-Evil are where it's at when it comes to that era of early 70s Miles. (and Agartha and Pangea for mid-70s)

as far as pre-fusion Miles, I am keen to the 60s albums prior In A Silent Way, because the music is a little abstract, but also because every album from E.S.P. onwards, slowly leads up to the birth of jazz-rock/fusion only Miles could create. I also enjoy Kind of Blue (who doesnt) and certain 1st Great Quintet albums. Otherwise i am not totally familiar with his pre-59 albums.

I love dark Magus and Live-Evil too.

Pre-59 (Other than the obvious Kind Of Blue), I've only got The Birth Of Cool compilation, which I should really play again one of these days to refamiliarize myself with it. There's a bunch of other stuff out there that's pretty easy to get, but I don't know enough about what is considered to be official from back then. I may get there one day, but there is still so much to learn from what I already have.

I probably don't spin those early '60s albums nearly enough either.





My path to Jazz (and Fusion) started with Romantic Warrior in 1986 or so and then Chick Corea and Dave Weckl. Then Jeff Berlin, Jaco and Mahavishnu. It just kind of went on from there.

Strangely, I'm not that fond of a lot of Weather Report, though I seem to be more into the individual musicians that made up the band.

[Fluffy Lothario]

I've found over time that I kind of under-estimated quite how 'cool' Miles' pre-60s albums were. I dunno why, but before I heard the albums, I always pictured Kind of Blue as this stand-alone softer album, which isn't the case at all. Almost all of the albums he was making, even as far back as Birth of the Cool, seem fairly chilled out. The only ones I've heard or sampled so far which more consistently get a bit louder or have more bounce in them are Milestones and Walkin'.

[ytserush]

I've found over time that I kind of under-estimated quite how 'cool' Miles' pre-60s albums were. I dunno why, but before I heard the albums, I always pictured Kind of Blue as this stand-alone softer album, which isn't the case at all. Almost all of the albums he was making, even as far back as Birth of the Cool, seem fairly chilled out. The only ones I've heard or sampled so far which more consistently get a bit louder or have more bounce in them are Milestones and Walkin'.

I put the Birth Of Cool on a few weeks back (I'm going to force myself to dig into the earlier recordings a little more frequently -- first impulse when I'm thinking Miles is to quickly reach for the fusion) and it was just really great to just chill with it.

Very enjoyable, but for a different reason, especially the live recordings. It's hard to believe it was recorded so long ago, but it doesn't sound as dated as some of the other recordings from that time are. That just amazes me.

[SPNKr]

Just bumping to make a few notes:
I've started learning jazz guitar in recent weeks. My teacher started teaching me So What and we got to jam that with our drummer on Friday. The audience loved it. One of the best, well my favourite, vocalist in my class talked to me about that and jazz and she was very wowed and enlightened as to how jazz can sound if it's played right in front of you, you know.. We talked a fair bit about jazz and she doesn't know much about it, just knows it's hard to describe how it feels than other standards of music.

I've been working on a simple arrangement of my own. The Dm7 chord played in swing beat, I think, in the key of Bb. I learnt that chord off So What.

I'm going to be collecting the rest of Coltrane's discography, I feel like I should and want to because he's essential. The genre is of even more relevance to me than it was before because I'm now learning it on my instrument. It's very cool now.

If this thread will bumped regularly, expect it to be bumped by me too.

At the end of the day, it's still a matter of what you personally prefer. For example, Miles Davis' pre-Kind of Blue quintet are considered to have released nothing but classics. Of the albums of theirs I've heard, I'm lukewarm on Round About Midnight, and I found Steamin' really mediocre, so I won't be checking out any more.

On a slightly different note:

the album Time Out by Dave Brubeck.

Essential. Epic.

Incidentally, I put this album on before I looked back into this thread . It sounds very nice. Brubeck has a nice groove.

[Fluffy Lothario]

My recent jazz listens, in order of least to most recently first listened:

Miles Davis - Milestones - One of the best non-fusion Miles albums I've heard so far. Dr Jackle and Billy Boy are both awesome tracks.
Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz - Really warmed to this now, great piece overall.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - A Night in Tunisia - really nice tuneful hard bop album.
Miles Davis - 1958 Miles - the live tracks are forgettable, as many recordings of live jazz are, IMO, but the studio tracks are nice.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World - now here's a live jazz album. Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons and Art Blakey = holy shit.
John Coltrane - Ascension - incredible album, and will definitely become one of my favourites by Coltrane. Pharoah Sanders' solo is one of the eeriest things I've ever heard done with an instrument.
Herbie Hancock - Mwandishi - have only given this a few listens so far, but it sounds like the sort of album which would get a lot better after quite a few listens, due to it being very spaced out and hard to get your head around early on.
Miles Davis - Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess - I'm gonna give these albums another listen or two, but I really didn't like either of them on first listen. Both feel far too formulaic, pretty much every track is Miles soloing alone while a big band backs him up.
Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson – As I said in the first listens thread, “Considering that this is the studio followup to Bitches Brew, it was a real surprise. Simultaneously in the same vein and yet a completely different album. Whereas BB is very dense and spacey, JJ is much more direct and stripped back. Needs tons more listening before I make a judgment call on it.”

And my upcoming albums:
Miles Davis - Pangaea
Pharoah Sanders - Karma
Pharoah Sanders - Black Unity
Herbie Hancock - Crossings
Shakti - A Handful of Beauty

[jsem]

My recent listens include:

Trane - A Love Supreme
Trane - My Favorite Things (title track got many spins )
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool

[Iarwain]

Lately, I've been listening to Pharoah Sander. Got Jewels of Thought and Summun Bukmun Umyun ealier this year and they're already among my favorite albums ever.

Also got Coltrane's Interstellar Space, which is amazing as well.

[jsem]

Oh, I also got to play with Nils Landgren this weekend. He's off the Nils Landgren Funk Unit.

It was epic.

[SPNKr]

My recent jazz listens, in order of least to most recently first listened:

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz - Really warmed to this now, great piece overall.
John Coltrane - Ascension - incredible album, and will definitely become one of my favourites by Coltrane. Pharoah Sanders' solo is one of the eeriest things I've ever heard done with an instrument.

And my upcoming albums:
Pharoah Sanders - Karma

Fantastic albums there! The ones I cut out in the quote I don't have, or haven't heard of the name yet. I've only heard Karma once but it was really nice and different.

My recent listens include:

Trane - A Love Supreme
Trane - My Favorite Things (title track got many spins )
Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool

Fantastic albums, obviously.

---
I just got the debut Coltrane album, Coltrane (aka: First Trane) and that will be on soon. I'm gonna hear Thelonius Monk With John Coltrane first though. Quite excited!

[Fluffy Lothario]

Trane - My Favorite Things (title track got many spins )

I like this album, but I can't really get into the title track. I guess I associate it too strongly with the regular song, which I'm not a fan of. My favourite on that album is his version of Summertime.

Lately, I've been listening to Pharoah Sander. Got Jewels of Thought and Summun Bukmun Umyun ealier this year and they're already among my favorite albums ever.

Also got Coltrane's Interstellar Space, which is amazing as well.

Those will pretty much be the next albums I buy if I like Karma and Black Unity, since I've seen them both for very cheap recently.

And I've heard very good things about Interstellar Space.

I just got the debut Coltrane album, Coltrane (aka: First Trane) and that will be on soon. I'm gonna hear Thelonius Monk With John Coltrane first though. Quite excited!

At this point, I've more or less completely avoided Monk. I bought one of his albums some years ago and it was one of the few jazz albums I've gotten that I didn't like. (This is it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_(1964_album) ) Haven't looked into him since. I will do eventually though.

[The Degenerate]

I'm starting to really get into jazz, but my knowledge of it is pretty limited. Charles Mingus is likely my favorite in the genre so far. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of my favorite albums, and Mingus Ah Um isn't far behind. I also have some work by Bill Evans, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Art Blakey, and I love all of it.

Any recommendations?

[dongringo]

Just getting in on this thread. Been a big jazz fan for the last 20 years, seen many a show, been to many a club. The last show was Al Di Meola World Sinfonia a couple weeks ago. He has a fantastic new album out today called Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody. It's one of the most complex, melodic, and cohesive albums he's recorded in years. And he's been playing with this particular World Sinfonia band for years and they are super tight. Those familiar with his World Sinfonia stuff will know that he plays mostly acoustic in this context, but on this album he also uses the electric guitar tastefully. Anyway, needless to say, this was one of the best shows I've seen by him. They simply smoked it. And during the second half of the show, he broke out his prism guitar, which was sitting on the edge of the stage like a trophy, and tore up some oldies off Kiss My Axe, Elegant Gipsy, etc. He's on a major U.S. tour at the moment. If you like Al Di Meola, don't miss him on this tour.

[SPNKr]

I just got the debut Coltrane album, Coltrane (aka: First Trane) and that will be on soon. I'm gonna hear Thelonius Monk With John Coltrane first though. Quite excited!

At this point, I've more or less completely avoided Monk. I bought one of his albums some years ago and it was one of the few jazz albums I've gotten that I didn't like. (This is it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_(1964_album) ) Haven't looked into him since. I will do eventually though.

You must try out Straight, No Chaser. I had it on while I was writing one day, I felt like I was in a movie. It was just the mood and the moment I was in that made me really enjoy it.

On previous topic - I listened to Ascension last night. Oh man, what an album! This time I can really take how noisy it gets and understand fully what they were going for there. Sanders solo, as you said, very eerie indeed, but very cool too!

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Anyone who doesn't look into Pat Metheny is a heretic

[SPNKr]

Pharoah Sanders' solo is one of the eeriest things I've ever heard done with an instrument.

You MUST MUST MUUUUST hear his solo at the halfway mark of The Father And The Son And The Holy Ghost off Coltrane's Meditations. Holy fucking SHIT!!!