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.
orpheus10
Indeed it was, nsp; sorry about that.  Hard to keep track of everyone’s posts sometimes.  
You’re right, I like the Mark Murphy “Maiden Voyage” a lot.  Always have and ever since I bought the record back in college.  Thanks for that!  I was responding to O-10’s post, and I didn’t think he would like it as much as the other two that I posted.  Maybe I was wrong and would like his thoughts on this.  O-10? 
A relatively minor detail, but that Mark Murphy record is from a period when Michael Brecker’s tone, which went through changes during his career in part because of equipment choices, was my favorite; the subject of much debate among saxophone geeks 😀. 
This is a favorite track from the record:

https://youtu.be/XdF0AcklZNs


Sorry folks, "Maiden Voyage" is definitely best without words, just like I heard it for the first time in 66.

I picture me, and I'm sailing across the sunny sea for the first time (maiden voyage) in my small craft. The music depicts the rise and fall of the waves as the wind picks up, and I feel the exhilaration of being on the ocean for the first time; I might even sail all the way to Tahiti.

"The Look of Love"; Dusty Springfield is the beginning, all there is in between and the end.

Words don't belong on some songs; "Round Midnight" is one of them. This song portrays the mood of the city "Round Midnight", leave that drippy love out of it.

No matter which city, skyscrapers are intoxicating when you look at them "Round Midnight"; since I was a child, seeing the skyscrapers of New York was always exciting, they held so many dreams and fantasies.

Now, each "Round Midnight" has a different mood; Miles begins a little spooky, but Coltrane welcomes you into this city for all the allure that cities hold at night; beautiful ladies seeking company for example.


                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIgLt7LAZF0


This is my favorite, it's altogether different from the last one; it's so beautiful, there's nothing mysterious about it; alluring maybe, it holds the promise of a new and beautiful experience on this starlit night around the bewitching hour.


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Xozvcf0FA


               


Thelonious Monk was 27 when he wrote "Round Midnight". Does anybody think he was thinking about the "drippy" lyrics that are now attached to the song? Girl type lyrics at that.

If you're an aficionado, you got to think like a hip jazz musician. Jazz is about mood and feeling, but you also have to think like the artist who wrote it.

When you think like a 27 year old hip jazz musician in New York, you will get a different picture than those "drippy" lyrics; what you get is a mood, and the feeling of the city "Round Midnight".

nsp, I ordered "The Best of Jacintha" yesterday, it has "The Look of Love" on it.