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Jazz for aficionados

Jazz for aficionados

I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.

Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".

"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.

While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.

Enjoy the music.
orpheus10
peterbj's avatar
peterbj
29 posts
 
"Jazz is not dead it just smells funny",No!
Let's not forget that Jazz music is still very much alive,and it is not true that it just smells funny.
but to make sure that it stays that way, we do have to keep updating our listening experiences.Let's not forget the old Masters but encourage new Masters as well.
Check out these three audiophile albums on the small dutch label Sound Liaison.
Carmen Gomes inc. 'Torn'..best Blues ballad album ever.
Poul Berner Band 'Road to Memphis'.. beautifully told Elvis Presley "saga"
and Carmen Gomes inc. 'Thousand Shades of Blue'..intimacy, the band is so well recorded that you can practically reach out and touch them,and there's an absolutely haunting version of Bruce Springsteen's I'm on Fire.
http://www.soundliaison.com
orpheus10 OP
8,668 posts
 

Erroll Garners "Concert By the Sea" appeared in more aficionado's collection than any other LP I can recall, maybe the beautiful cover also had something to do with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH_GF4nw3JI&list=AL94UKMTqg-9Bp5HendeturB7B3gAH6W7J

Enjoy the music.
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
7,859 posts
 
Why is everyone trying to bury Jazz? Sure a lot of the greats have passed on, but the same can be said of classical. And they have been dead for centuries!

I would suggest that the 'new masters' get a little more creative. They seem to be more intent on changing Jazz than playing it.

The Cds you recommended were great! Outstanding recordings. But, I did not think the music was Jazz or blues. I thought it was all sort of, Baez / Saint Marie- ish. Which is not a bad thing. The problem is, they will not attract the Jazz / Blues crowd.

for example, listen to 'don't let me be misunderstood', then listen to Nina Simone do it.

same with 'the thrill is gone' listen to B.B. King

'I just wanna make love to you' -- try Etta James.

A person would not think the tunes are from the same genre.

Supporting new Jazz artist is important, but they have a responsibility, to us the customers / fans, to play Jazz.

Cheers
pehare's avatar
pehare
835 posts
 
Hank Garland, Jazz Winds from a Different Direction. The 1st jazz album (1961) by a Nashville session guitarist (patsy cline, everly bros, etc) recorded in Nashville w/a 17 yr old Gary Burton, Joe Morello & Joe Benjamin. A tragic life story but the incredible music lives on Forever.
acman3
4,275 posts
 
People have been saying Jazz was dead since that delinquent Benny Goodman came along. Then it was really dead when Bird and those crazy boppers started going nuts. Then Coltrane planted jazz six feet under?Jazz is dead in the water? It just mutates to the next phase, but it will not sound the same as it did, until the keepers of tradition try to drag it back to where they want it to stay. Real Jazz.

Look where Lee Morgan had progressed to at the time of his death. He wasn't playing straight ahead soul jazz, but was challenging and stretching in new directions. His music on "Live at the Lighthouse" would be to radical for some on this forum to even be called Jazz. Sound familiar? Jazz will always move forward and challenge the artist and the listener. Btw, some these innovations will flop and some will be wonderful. I hear composers today and I think, that sounds like where Mingus or Monk would be today.

Sorry for the rant, but it strikes a nerve.
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