Jazz for aficionados

Orpheus, my intention was not to shoot down "Somethin Else"; it's an excellent record. But, when something is referred to as "the best" it better standup to the very highest scrutiny.

I don't think I could pick a "best" jazz record; jazz can be too many different things in too many different styles. Besides, what criteria are we going to use to define "best record"? I am not sure how one would compare (for instance) Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" to Coltrane's "Blue Train" or to Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters". All three are great records that certainly belong in a "greatest" list. Having said all that, if someone put a gun to my head and said I HAD to pick one, I would probably say Mingus "Ah Um" for it's great playing and "time capsule" potential in that if someone with zero knowledge of jazz would be able to get more of a sense of the scope and history of jazz is than from any single record that I can think of.

I love "Bean". He was the first great jazz saxophone player. And what a sound! He could sound huge and robust, and sensual and velvety all at the same time. Eventhough his style could sound a little "dated" depending on the context, he was one of the few players of that era that could more than hold his own with the younger more "progressive" players that he recorded with over his fifty year career.

"Sandra's Blues" is classic blues-ballad playing and showcases his wonderful tone and swagger. "Close Your Eyes" is the winner of the two. The rhythm section really clicks on this cut with a beautifully light touch that still cooks like crazy. Notice Eddie Jones' lithe playing. He really moves the tune forward with lines that cover a wide range on the instrument, as opposed to the monotonous lines within a narrow range (with "thuddy" tone) that Sam Jones plays on "Somethin Else". Connie Kay sounds amazing and there is a much greater sense of interaction within the rhythm section. Great stuff!

The importance of Coleman Hawkins cannot be overstated. His solo on his classic recording of "Body And Soul" is one of those solos (Coltrane's solo on "Giant Steps" is another) that young jazz saxophone players study. It literally changed the landscape of the music. The traditionalists criticized that solo (and Bean's improvising, in general) as having a lot of "wrong notes". He was one of the first players that reached beyond the very "inside" colors of the harmonies. The truth is that most players at the time simply could not navigate the harmonic complexity of a tune like "Body And Soul" and would not make all the changes; instead, they "generalized" the harmonic changes as opposed to clearly outlining each and every harmony as Hawkins did. Houston Person on "Moonlight In Vermont" is an example of this "generalization" and not making all the changes. One thing is being able to play over a blues with a nice comfortable, predictable, and sparse harmonic progression; another is being able to navigate a tune with up to four harmonic changes per measure (one per beat) and still make musical sense. Hawkins was one of the first that could do that.

Article from BBC Music magazine:

Concert Halls of America. Symphony Hall, Boston.

The hall was built in 1900, the architects hired a physics professor from Harvard to perfect the acoustics. The result was a Hall with a reverberation time of 1.9 to 2.1 seconds and a shape that focuses the sound towards the audience.

The article goes on to say, that the hall is one of the best in America and the World.

My questions are, what is reverb, in a concert hall and what is the significance of the reverb times listed? There was no context given. Close to perfection? What is perfection? Can anyone talk about this?

Cheers

Frogman: Great info on, and analysis of, Coleman Hawkins. I have a lot of his stuff, but not him playing Body & Soul. How can that be?

Cheers

Final inquiry of the day.

Who / what determines the size and instrumental makeup of a Jazz group. Big Bands excluded. i.e. Oscar Peterson has a trio, Cannonball a quintet etc.... How and by whom is that determined?

Cheers