You got to show me something more!

No, I've not heard of Scriabin or Messiaen. Thanks, I'll do some investigating. Any specific suggestions of recordings to start with?

You saw Evans live at the Vanguard!? Man...What I'd have given to have had that opportunity! There's a story going round...can't recall when I heard it exactly. Evans was appearing in a NY venue one night, and on this particular visit to NY, his hands were very swollen because of his habit. Legend has it that his right hand was so swollen it was beyond use to him, therefore he played the gig with only the use of his left hand. Musicians jammed the place after word quickly spread on the street about Evans performance. Evans whoa'd the crowd with one hand behind his back...literally.

Evans was greatly influenced by Ravel, and others. He's undoubtedly one of the all time greats in my book. Another voice in jazz that's easily recognizable from the first few bars.

On Kind Of Blue, IMHO, it was Evans' comping, soloing, that really complemented that album more than any other particular player. Each of those cats were stars in their own right, but for me, it is Evans playing that molds these players together.

Enjoy!
Coltrane1

"I'd say that any modern composer of 'classical' (is this the not most abused vocabulary word in musicdom?) music must be extremely familiar with the compositional ideas which were formulated in this century."

Hmmm...I wonder what use a classical composer would have for an upper structure chord in the traditional harmony of classical music. I'd be most interested in hearing about any suggestions of classical composers freely using a dominant 7th chord with a +11 and 13th extension. That would really show me something!

Enjoy!
Coltrane1

"At some point in their evolution as players, musicians time and time again point to one of their most important milestones (no pun intended, if you know what I mean):

Good 1! "Embracing all worthy music as fully equal in worth and worthy of their respect without condescension nor sense of superiority."

Hmmm...Truer words have never, ever been spoken. And no other comment made by anyone to this thread, more than reflect my personal feelings. It is the reason that prompted me to initiate this thread. That being, that Jazz is far more than "Jerky music." Jazz has made a major contribution to both our society, and the world at large. Unfortunately, not enough people invest the time to aquaint themselves with it. Why is it, on average, Jazz has to travel to Japan and Europe before locating an audience that receives it with open arms/ears? Does that suggest Europeans and Japanese are more sophisticated listeners than Americans? Or, does that suggest our societies musical tastes are dictated, and overwhelmed by the economics and advertising of the music industry? Heck, even Classical music has a respectable, loyal sized following in this country.

"Good luck with your playing and growth as a musician."

Very kind of you. Thanks. I'm having fun. It's a journey, and not a destination.

Enjoy!
Coltrane1

'Trane - regarding compositional use of Jazz structures... I had a friend in HS who went on to study composition in college and one of the major ideas he was trying to bring in was using these newer structures into his composition. There's some really far out stuff that's being composed these days which fails in certain ways to fit classification. I stumble into contemporary composers from time to time and am always impressed, but I have no idea where I can read or hear about this stuff. So far I've had the most luck by picking up random ECM recordings.

Someone's got to take carl's place! It's looking like Coltrane. If you don't agree with him, he's flaming. Hey, Coltrane, opinions are like a------, we all have em and some of us are them.... ducking for cover