Jazz Recommendations

OK, dinner's over and I'll finish the last posting I made. The question was the "young lions", and who do I recommend? Tough one -- truthfully, there aren't very many young players on the scene who fire me up. Many of them have great technical proficiency, but there music lacks "soul". Stanley Crouch once defined jazz as "the sound of surprise", and very little that's being done by young artists has that quality. A quick scan of the Downbeat Reader's Poll in the December edition reveals very few players who haven't been at their craft for some time (many for decades). The "newer" group (on the scene for 10-15 years) that's worthy of mention would include artists such as Wynton Marsalis (tr), Branford Marsalis (sax), Terence Blanchard (tr), Greg Osby (sax), Donald Harrison (sax), Joshua Redman (sax), Kenny Garrett (sax), Brad Mehldau and Gonzalo Rubalcaba (p), Christian McBride (bass), and Mark Whitfield (gtr). I realize that's a pretty short list of "young lions", but the truth is that jazz, in my opinion, isn't very creative right now. It's either bland, or repetitive, or derivative, or all three. A lot of reasons have been offered, but the reason that seems most logical to me is that most young musicians are learning jazz in the conservatories, and not by playing in clubs and being challenged by other musicians (as did jazz musicians for the first to years of the art form). So, in short, I don't have much to offer on jazz from the mid-1990's until now. If anyone has some suggestions for me, I'd really welcome it. Before I close, however, I want to go back to our discussion on Miles Davis and his great groups of the 1950's. Columbia has recently released a boxed set of Miles and John Coltrane's work, "The Complete Columbia Recordings". If your favorite Santa isn't astute enough to buy this set for you, give yourself a gift -- it's great!!

Well, I thought I was done, but I did forget to mention one other fine recording which is ABOUT jazz. In the mid-1950's, Leonard Bernstein (himself a great jazz fan) hosted a show about jazz on the television series "Omnibus" (back in the days when TV was live and actually had real content). Bernstein does a great job illustrating both the musical foundations on which jazz is built, and how the art of improvisation works. I have used this recording many times in my jazz class, and it is always well received. The title, as I recall, is simply "Jazz", and has been released in various formats by Columbia's Special Products division. This tape is definitely worth tracking down if you want an informative and entertaining way to learn about jazz -- it also features Miles Davis and other jazz stars of the 1950's. I apologize for dominating this thread, but I hope I've given you some useful ideas. Jazz is such a wonderful art form, and will give you a lifetime of enjoyment and intellectual growth.

I swear this will be my last post - I have one last suggestion for those wanting to explore jazz. Ken Burns new public 18-hour TV series on jazz will soon be broadcast, and is said to be his best piece of work (not bad for the guy who started his career with "The Civil War"). There is a book to accompany the program, a set of 5 CD's, and a complete set of 24 CD's by featured artists that are also available. There is some controversy in the jazz community about artists he neglected to mention, but that was inevitable. Again, a great gift to suggest to your Santa Claus, or to buy for yourself. Please -- STOP ME BEFORE I POST AGAIN!!

Charlie Brown Christmas -- Good one, Musikdok! Kadlec, you should have that for the holidays. A tasty and original job by Guaraldi. Gifted young pianist Cyrus Chestnut (saw him play with Betty Carter) has a new CD out -- A Charlie Brown Christmas, believe it or not! Saw it the other day but stupidly did not pick it up.

Excellent historical list posted by sdcampbell. Pioneer jazz pianist Art Tatum certainly deserves his place there, but I have to admit his virtuosity awed me but never warmed my heart much. My own pick for piano virtuoso with roots in swing: Earl Hines. ........ Not sure early jazz guitarists Django Reinhardt (stuff with violinist Stephane Grappelli in Quintet of Hot Club of France is good place to start) and Charlie Christian (good stuff with Count Basie and Benny Goodman) have received mention yet. There.