Jazz for aficionados

@frogman 

Just watched the Liebman interview. Wow -- what a refreshingly down to earth and "real" statement that manages to point out aspects of Free playing that make it both appealing and difficult.  This makes me want to seek out more interviews by Liebman. Very cool!    

@pjw81563 

I can empathize with your difficulty. One aspect of Post Bop I enjoy is its use of  certain techniques also used in Free playing but in "limited doses" within a generally melodic context. I can handle a certain amount of dissonance if it’s used as "seasoning", but when it becomes the "main course", not so much. 

Thanks frogman for the response. Short but very informative Leibman interview.

Leibman talks about a few of the classical composers who have written scores with a lot of dissonance and I have sampled a lot of it this past year when I expanded my musical boundaries into the realm's of Mahler, Dvorak, Bruckner, Sibelius, Nielsen, Grieg, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Korsakov, Borodin, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky  (basically all of the great classical composers from 1800 - 1950) along with the dissonance of Schoenberg and others of those mentioned by Leibman.

That said, I still have trouble with enjoying dissonant music whether it is classical or jazz but it is not for a lack of trying.

I would much rather listen to Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov's Sheherazade then Arnold Schoenberg's Suite, Op.29.

I would much rather listen to Coltrane's Giant Steps then Ascension.

Changing the subject but still on topic (jazz not classical), this is a great 12 minute video of musician Rick Beato sharing his short but very interesting and insightful relationship with Michael Brecker. (Elvin Jones as well). The way in which Beato emphasizes the greatness of Brecker reminded me of a few of your Brecker posts.

https://youtu.be/bUFdzxcZhwg?si=Q7xvP85pnay6Ly5f

Hi Stuart 

Limited doses of atonal/dissonance works for me as well. 

This is a live version (sounds nothing like the studio release) of Coltrane's Crescent with Pharoah Sanders alternating with Trane.

The first 3 minutes you think its a melodic song unfolding nicely and then the dogs are let off the chains!

https://youtu.be/XE51tYi2iI8?si=Vf7K1zIjDg__bmQg

@pjw81563 

Wow -- that's a pretty intense example! I cannot handle that. 

David Murray is an example of an artist whose recordings span a spectrum. I don't enjoy the more severe albums but I enjoy the more mellow ones, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBNXS7C-5So&list=OLAK5uy_nd0zv3V5YsbQ_wdk4MyFkij5UKnMKHhjQ&index=2

He did 3 or 4 albums with the same group, perhaps all recorded in one session. 

Ming's Samba is another I like. Could only find one tune on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDECyUGsU8Y

"The main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe. That's what music is to me—it's just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live in, that's been given to us, and here's an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That's what I would like to do. I think that's one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. The musician's is through his music.

Coltrane and Eric Dolphy interviewed by Don DeMichael, as cited in "John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy Answer the Jazz Critic DownBeat