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.

orpheus1002-24-2013 4:12pm

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mahgister Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 13,183 posts 11-26-2023 at 04:59am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I must say that i am not a musician... I cannot evaluate jazz players as well and as precisely and historically as erudite as frogman ... As he said there is no rule... Most geniuses are known in all human fields ... But unrecognized geniuses by all save a few who knows them exist ... Roger Boscovitch is no less genius than Newton but he was very less known... Gesualdo in music is a genius on par with many more well known others ... his genius is more visible today ... Only Monteverdi can exceed him with his creativity ... And only Bach can rival Monteverdi in genius anyway...But if we forgot who is the better, Gesualdo is unique in all musical history ... And in the short history of jazz which is now an earth global affair, many names deserve to be more well known who are not so well known in North America... One thing is sure, music moves us and the way music moves us at the end obey no rules and sometimes some music moves us more than it moves many others ... Music at the end is a personal affair more than a cultural race to win a prize... We cannot love all musical geniuses at the same level for each one of them ...We obey our heart and our heart is unjust or unwise he does not need any reason to love ... I discovered long time ago that i love musicians more than the musical language because each musician give its interpretation in its own unique way ... Understanding each musician is an ideal position , i am not qualified nor able to do it ... I love too much some to be fair and balanced ... It is why i appreciate frogman judgment so much ...
pjw81563 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,829 posts 11-26-2023 at 12:02pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I can’t imagine ever being “bored” with the existing supply of great recordings by great players. I can definitely agree with this statement. And before I started to use Spotify to give a "test listen" I purchased a lot of CDs that I wished I had not. If an artist is relatively new, or an older/obscure artist that for whatever reason I was not aware of, I can listen to them first and then spend my hard earned money if I like the artist and his or her artistry. Been listening to the great Julian Edwin Adderley a lot lately, and "Cannonball" fits into @frogman the category of great recordings by great players in the quote. These 3 albums should be in every jazz aficionados library. Cannonball was "canonized" by the time he played on all three. And the rest of the personnel on all three, Canonized: treat or regard as being above reproach or of great significance: "he has been canonized by his fans"
pjw81563 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,829 posts 11-26-2023 at 12:34pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete The drummers on all three albums I presented, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Cobb, and Art Blakey represent three of the greatest drummers in jazz history. The same could be said about the bass players, Paul Chambers on the Miles Davis sessions, and Sam Jones on Cannaonball’s. All four pianists as well represent the greatest in jazz, Red Garland on Milestones, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly (1 track, Freddie Freeloader ) on KOB, and Hank Jones on Somethin’ Else. This song, from the album Milestones, features just the rhythm section as Miles and Cannonball "laid out" making this 1 track a trio recording. IMHO, it is one of the greatest trio recordings ever made. I love the exchanges between pianist Red Garland and bassist Paul Chambers starting at the 2:50 mark, followed by Garland and drummer Philly Joe exchanges for the remainder of the song.
pjw81563 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,829 posts 11-26-2023 at 02:20pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Lastly, as time marched on many of the supposedly “obscure” players posted weren’t that obscure at all. This drummer fits into this quoted category. A drummer, Louis Hayes, 86 years old and still with us, that is obscure to most but not us jazz aficionados. Hayes played on many of the great Cannonball Adderley session throughout the 60s. From a Cannonball 1960 live recording titled The Cannonball Adderley Quintet Live in San Francisco we can hear how talented Hayes, then just 23 years old, was on the kit. Cannonball’s intro announcement for the song Bohemia After Dark, "Now we’re gonna give our drummer, Louis Hayes, a spotlight in a tune by Oscar Pettiford called Bohemia After Dark" lets us know the treat we’re going to get by Louis Hayes’s drum exchanges and solo in the tune. From the album and also 2 awesome live videos of the same tune.
pjw81563 Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 1,829 posts 11-26-2023 at 02:33pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I have been enjoying my "jazz on Sunday mornings" for over 3 hours now. Louis Hayes also plays drums on this great Horace Silver album, of which the 9th edition of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings places the album among its suggested "Core Collection" of essential recordings, saying that it exemplifies Silver’s "virtues as pianist, composer and leader".