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
acman I really liked that Mike Nock/Laurenz Pike - 'Kindred' clip.

Its like a musical abstract painting. I have a lot of ECM label discs with similar music. Artists seem to flock to ECM to express what they are experimenting on and ECM likes this.

Pink Floyd was to rock as the ECM label musicians are to jazz. I remember my younger days smoking mary jane and hash while listening to Pink Floyd's mesmerizing long psychedelic jams.

Echoes is my favorite Pink Floyd song followed by everything they ever recorded in no particular order. Here is David Gilmour with Richard Wright performing Echoes in Gdansk Poland 2006. Wright passed away 2 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMneCi9F_UQ

The Great Gig In The Sky is another Floyd song I would blast in my bedroom. My mom came in and said it was beautiful. I'll never forget that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVBCE3gaNxc









Fellow inmates, I am an old man, I have been to a lot of places, I have seen a lot of things; but I have never seen anything even remotely like what I saw this morning, the normally busy streets here were deserted, it was like a science fiction movie.

I went to Walmart, and found many empty shelves, no toilet paper. That should be placed under "National Emergency", it can cause more problems than you would believe.


Let us enjoy our quarantine with good music, and stay safe.
ghosthouse, nice clip. Mintzer is one of the most talented musicians around today. Great composer/arranger/ big band leader as well as player.

Bass clarinet: For me the bass clarinet, like all instruments really, is most effective when all its unique qualities are used to their fullest and is played as more than just like another “saxophone” with a different type of tone. Dolphy was, of course, the master and standard bearer. Benny Maupin is a very soulful and underrated player who deserves more coverage here. Funky as hell on saxophones he is one of those who, IMO, also found the bass clarinet’s “soul”. Charter member of Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” he has been involved in many interesting projects including his own:

https://youtu.be/Mad5PBuGrw0

Very different approach to the same tune:

https://youtu.be/0Zlo2mkEo5U

https://youtu.be/Gcqr63Q5mEs

https://youtu.be/WtORTuLJw7o

https://youtu.be/mZy7v_-ss74

Thanks for all those links, Frogman.  Lots to consider.

re Eric Dolphy and the bass clarinet.  I wish I could appreciate him more.  There is something there, no doubt, but he is beyond me at this point in time. 

You might recall, a while back, Rok posted a B&W video of the Chas. Mingus sextet doing take the A-Train live somewhere in Scandinavia.  In addition to a great Jaki Byard solo on piano, ED solo'd at length on bass clarinet (you characterized it as "wonderfully eccentric", which it was).  Mingus walked off stage in the middle of it...to use the restroom I suppose.  That is a fascinating clip that bears repeated watching.

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