Jazz for aficionados

KIND OF BLUE

Again we have Julian and Miles, but this time with better backing. The rhythm section was much better and more involved.

The addition of a Tenor sax was good. And a tenor sax played by John Coltrane was ever better.

Much stronger piano playing from Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. The Bass player, Paul Chambers, was involved also.

I also felt the song selection was better than on "somethin' Else".

Again no real cooking numbers. 'All Blues' was the best tune IMO. More dynamic range on all the numbers than those on "somethin' Else'. The tenor helped.

Best Jazz album ever? No. Again, not even close.

With some much great music by so many great artists it's way too soon to give that honor to one of these two. Hell, we have not even talked about Mingus, Monk, Coltrane, Ella or Armstrong etc..... You get my drift, there is just too much / many still to be heard.

The search goes on.
But at least we now know at least two records that are not the best ever. That's a start.

Let me quickly add, IMHO. That'll stop those Sabre Tooths in their tracks!!

Cheers

********I think that we sometimes like to think that playing jazz, being a vehicle for free expression, is free of any constraints. While it is obviously true that improvisation offers the player a lot more creative freedom than, say, a classical performance (duh!), there are still fairly strict guidelines*********

Frogman, I agree with all you said, but, you are preaching to the choir. Now, if you could only, have had a word with Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton, and all the other 'Free' Jazzers of this world. Think of all the aural pain you could have prevented! :)

Cheers

Frogman, casting "Moonlight in Vermont" aside, I really liked Houston Person and Joey D. Instead of picturing a snow covered Vermont, I could picture a table close to Joey D's organ; man that would be ever so mellow, and Houston's tenor has such a golden tone that I could enjoy it all night long, right there live on the set.

Rok's just fooling with us, he got it a long time ago.

Enjoy the music.

"Somethin Else" has never been a favorite record. Being a Cannonball junkie, I have owned this record for many years and have always had mixed feelings about it; it should be great, but comes up short of me.

I agree with Rok's overall take. Clearly, this is excellent jazz playing. How could it not be? But still......

For me, there are some problems with this date that keep it out of the "great" category. The biggest one is the rhythm section. I agree with Rok on this point, but disagree that the main culprit is Hank Jones. I think the main problem is Sam Jones; I can't believe how monotonous his playing is on most of the cuts. His walking lines usually stay within a narrow range, and his intonation is questionable. A close second is Art Blakey, IMO. I confess that, eventhough I have been a fan of his bands, I have never been a huge fan of Art Blakey's playing. I find it is not rhythmically incisive enough at times, and a little sloppy. I think that the rhythm section limits the soloists and the recording, overall, lacks the fire that Cannonball is known for. Listen to "One For Daddy-O", the rhythm section actually starts to slow down a little bit about 3/4 of the way through the tune. Notice how when they return to the melody, it doesn't have as much pep as in the very beginning of the tune. In general, there is a sense that the rhythm section is not reacting to the soloists as they improvise and are not contributing to changing the landscape.

Rok brought up the issue of the producer. A couple of thoughts:

First of all the, influence of Miles should not be underestimated. It could be argued that this is a Miles date; he picked almost all the tunes on the record. BTW, the voice heard saying "is that what you want Alfred?" is that of Miles, not Cannonball. Two observations: it was Miles asking the question, not Cannonball, the supposed leader of the date. This supports my point about Miles' influence. Then, why is Miles asking that at all? Because the producer does, in fact, have a lot of power over the goings on. It would not be surprising if the issue was that the producer wanted the tune a little faster or slower, different groove etc., and they finally got it on that particular take.

Still, a lot of great moments

Rok, since neither one of those albums was the best ever, what was the best jazz album ever? Put up or shut up, nothing in between.

Enjoy the music.