The problem with "current" jazz is that somebody defined what jazz had to sound like in order for it to be "jazz", and that's what shot the horse in the leg. "You know what they do to horses don't ya". Who might I ask gave anyone the authority to define jazz.
When I was restricted to FM radio, and current jazz for 3 days, it sounded good the first day, not too bad the second day, by the third day I wanted to throw the radio out the window; that's because the 3rd day sounded too much like the first day. Maybe the guy who defined jazz does not have the required originality to come up with something new that sounds good himself.
While I stated one problem with current jazz, it suffers from the same problem as the entire globe has "not enough money". I also find that when an individual's personal financial situation is secure, he can't understand other financial situations that are not secure. More people are on wobbly financial ground than at any time in my life, and that's because each successive administration plays with the numbers to make himself look good, and that's been going on for 30 years.
No, No, No, I absolutely do not want to go into a debate about these things, it's just that my mind went from one thing to another; kind of like "Dis, Dat, and De udder"
In regard to your current picks, while Oscar Peterson is Mr. piano, he always played too many notes for me, besides that, I'm in the "Hard Bop" camp; never the less I'm also a a big "Clean Head" fan, saw him live, and that was when people went to a night club to see one of his favorite jazz musician.
Duke Ellington and Count Basie were just too much for words. Although I was never a big band fan, I got to have that; it's on order. For me, it captured a time gone by when I was too young to go to night clubs, and when I heard something like this on the radio, I wanted to speed time up, now I want to reverse it.
Enjoy the music.
