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

Frogman, I got my information from "Miles Dewey Davis", page 68 of his autobiography. But I didn't need to read his book to know that he couldn't touch Diz when it came to "Be Bop".
Great program on WKCR.  I need this, because, it's hard for me to get a fix on Parker.

When I talk / think about the greats, I have an idea of time, place and personnel.  Famous performances or recordings, record labels, tunes,  supporting players, personal anecdotes etc...

With Bird, all those things are a blank.   In my mind he was like a brilliant nomad.  I don't know if it was the times, a certain era in Jazz, or, is it that I just need to make myself smarter on Bird.

The sound quality of a lot of his records suffer in comparison to later Jazz.  That's part of the problem with me.

But this radio program is great.  Hopefully I will hear some records I can buy.  On CD. :)

Cheers

OP, check it out.  Great music.

https://www.harlemonestop.com/event/29228/wkcr-fmto-air-192-hour-marathon-broadcastincluding-a-120-h


As much as I am into recording quality, I can hear through bad recording quality with "Bird".


When I was a child of maybe 7, there was a candy store a half block from our house, and between our house and the candy store, lived a young man who was an alleged "pot head".

No one had air conditioning, and there was only the screen door between the outside and the occupants of each house. When I passed the house where the "alleged pot head" lived, I heard music like I had never heard before while he was entertaining his friends.

I always "accidentally" dropped a dime in the grass in front of his door, on my way to the candy store, that way I could hear this music while looking for my dime.

Although I didn’t know it at that time, I was getting hooked on "Bird", and I’ve been hooked every since; consequently, "Bird" isn’t exactly new to me.
Rok, glad you are enjoying the show. Amazing stuff. Check in on that station as a regular part of a Jazz regimen 😊. They have great programming.

**** or, is it that I just need to make myself smarter on Bird. ****

We all do. There’s a whole lot to absorb with Bird. A true genius. He really was like “a brilliant nomad”.

Every movement in every art form shares some things. There is a constant push toward something different and new; it’s the nature of the beast. In Jazz, players absorb what came before and weave it into their own personal vision of the music. Occasionally an artist comes along with such a degree of talent that they can make a much more dramatic move in that new direction and is able to establish a fully developed and mature style. In a way, the music itself has an inevitability about where it goes. It’s a never ending process. Bird was a genius, but even he built off what can before. Therein lies the answer to the question about Hawkins and Bebop; what he did with harmony in the music.