Jazz for aficionados

My journey with Nina Simone, began after I listened to the first record I bought by her in 1960; that's still my favorite record by her.

While everyone else was most impressed by her singing, I was most impressed by her piano playing. She's a gifted piano player, and I'm a gifted piano listener; I knew I was hearing something different when I first heard her piano; a natural blend of classics, gospel, and jazz that can never be duplicated.

I only saw Nina live once, that was in a huge auditorium in Chicago. Our seats were the highest I had ever been inside a building, I almost got airsick looking at the tiny people at ground floor level. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the perspective; they had the worst storm ever in Chicago, and many people who had good seats in front of the stage didn't show. Not wanting those seats to go to waste, we went down and occupied them.

This was a show with Nina, Herbie  Mann, and Miles Davis; Miles was first, and he was on when we were sky high, but when it came time for Nina, we were front and center. I hope everyone gets a chance to see their favorite artist up close and personal, there's nothing like it; these people would not be famous if they did not project an "Aura" of greatness, and you experience it when you're up close and personal. I'll call that time "The Aura of Nina".


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoWaOT7Rvc0

When it comes to late night music that a person can get lost in, it's hard to beat this.


      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hqgJGVMEk&list=OLAK5uy_lMohm_r1yg0OQ7yheNkTCEtZTscCkn6Qo&i...

     

 

This is one of the best jazz albums ever recorded, and like so many of the best jazz albums recorded in this time period, Curtis Fuller is on the playlist.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6s00_OIzHE

I go on with this suggested album, which is indeed very well recorded and very good...Thanks very much for this great album....

I love Curtis Fuller singin’g and voicin’g his trombone...

I particularly like musician able to make their instrument speak intimately more than making even magnificent sounds sessions  together....

They are great musicians that plays witthout making their instrument speak like a human voice...My point is not to make some superior and other inferiors...Not at all.... But i prefer an intimate inner speaking coming from jazzmen especially....Anyway i can appreciate any great musicians for what they truly are: souls in the making and coming together...

Coming back to this intimate speech, like the one of Chet Baker or Bill evans, or Curtis Fuller, when they forget to make only music with other musicians but spoke spontaneously for themselves, i discovered this magnificent album of Grant Green with Sonny Clark....

Grant Green spoke with a guitar sound characteristical of those years imbued then for me with some nostalgia....

The style of Clark pianist and Green wed well together....They speak more than plays...They succeed speaking with one another here....


One thing is sure Grant Green is a very great musician....Not only a  very great guitar player and not mostly just that...His tone extreme sensibility and his sticking to his internal speech make him an artist living in his own world....

It is less jazz then, when we listen to him, than Grant Green music....

Grant Green
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDDQsIu9FFE

mahgister, in these stressful times, music is our drug of choice to relieve that stress; not just any music, but the best music for us.

Back in the old days before "you tube", no matter how carefully we selected our records, occasionally we bought records we could live without. Now we can review the music on "you tube" before we buy, and it's a good idea to do just that.

Another important item is to do what you're doing right now, taking note of the records you like that you heard here, and might consider for future purchases.

As of today, I'm going to keep a notebook by the computer, and write down the records each day that I have selected from here to purchase. I haven't done this in the past, and when I tried to go back, somehow I couldn't find the record.

I hope these tips help in making your musical selections.

Enjoy the music.

rok2id:

"I wish I could like the current stuff. The technology is better. That should result in better recordings. But what's missing is the essence of Jazz music. They improvise, but they are not improvising over the blues. They are trying to be too 'cerebral' or 'intellectual' too 'deep'. It's a happy party time music. Played is speak easys and cat houses. It's about women and love and sex. The boys from New Orleans would not even recognize this current day stuff as Jazz"

I assume this is meant to be tonque-in-cheek. . .