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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.
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.
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frogman, I know that Buddy Rich was very opinionated and critical of other genres of music or just of music he thought "stunk" and he did not care who might have distanced themselves from him or, as another way of putting it - drove people away. And as nsp pointed out did indeed have a black belt in Karate. As for his curse filled rantings I believe Buddy’s mistake was not choosing the best players to begin with. And then he would chastise them when they screwed up which only makes it worse. I think that is why a lot of his "Buddy Rich Big Band" output is mediocre. Although there are a lot of gems too. His small band sessions are better - maybe because it was easier for Buddy to get everyone on the "same page" His leadership skills were nowhere close to a Duke Ellington or Count Basie when it came to big bands. I love Buddy Rich but I think his best recordings are as a sideman whether in a big band or quartet/septet. I wonder how Buddy would have handled himself in a trio recording with accompanying bass and piano. I was thinking of buying this disc: https://www.amazon.com/Tatum-Hampton-Rich-Lionel-Hampton-Buddy-Tatum/dp/B000M08CA8/ref=sr_1_7?keywor... Here is a song from the above disc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk33s6RDIk4 Here is another I found. Man o Man that Lester Young was smooth..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87f6g-yimHg |
Beautiful Lester Young, pjw; thanks. Re Buddy: You make an interesting point about Buddy Rich as a sideman and you may be right that those are his best recordings. However, I’m not sure that I agree that he didn’t hire great players. I know a lot of the players who played in his bands post around 1978 or so. Great players. Although I did not know him, his featured tenor soloist Steve Marcus is a great player as were many others. I see it as the other way around. Buddy was an ego maniac and often abusive. As a sideman, he would never get away with that kind of behavior. As a leader, he could and did. Musicians will not give of their best under those conditions. Even so, I think that the main reason a lot of his later big band stuff is not particularly great is the same reason that later Maynard Ferguson stuff wasn’t either. The focus was not great big band playing, it became “The Buddy Rich Show”. The style became this extremely aggressive, bombastic “always balls to the wall” style of playing that I personally can’t stand. Still, amazing drummer. Great posts. |
"Drummer Buddy Rich, whose quicksilver, frenetic technique earned him the accolade “fastest hands in the world,” died Thursday after suffering a seizure at a Bel-Air residence where he was recuperating from brain surgery. He was 69." Maybe he was born with a tiny brain tumor that grew; his behavior was always erratic. |
- 31533 posts total