Jazz Music

Yes, jazz thread!!
I'm hardly an expert- I'd love a place to share artists.
I'm into the heavies- Miles, Mingus, Monk, Coltrane...Cecil Taylor, Roach going bananas, where do I even start?
I've been on a Miles kick lately- track 5, "Teo", on Someday My Prince Will Come. My mind is thoroughly blown by this.

I teach high school ceramics, jazz is a staple in my studio. I got into jazz through a ceramics professor always playing KLON (now KJAZ out of California State University Long Beach) in the studio. Clay and jazz are now inseperable for me.

The other day a student walks in after school while I'm blaring Miles...
He says "Some easy listening, huh?"
I yell back "Easy listening!?! This is Miles Davis you knucklehead!"
He was a little confused...

Maybe we could start bouncing around a Favorite (insert name here) Album/Track thread?

Originally posted by xnomanx
Yes, jazz thread!!
I'm hardly an expert- I'd love a place to share artists.
I'm into the heavies- Miles, Mingus, Monk, Coltrane...Cecil Taylor, Roach going bananas, where do I even start?
I've been on a Miles kick lately- track 5, "Teo", on Someday My Prince Will Come. My mind is thoroughly blown by this.

I teach high school ceramics, jazz is a staple aybe we could start bouncing around a Favorite (insert name here) Album/Track thread?

Let's talk about Cecil Taylor since you brought him up. Unless they've really changed, I can see KLON perhaps playing '50s Taylor, but certainly nothing after the '60s. What period are you talking about? Any favorite albums?

I'm not real educated on Cecil, but I love the percussion he brings to the piano. I know Unit Structures, much of the rest of what I have by him is on compilations made for by a friend- I'd have to get back to you on track names. One of my favorites is a piano, drum, and bass piece- I forget the name/album- I know it was the only Cecil Taylor included in the Ken Burns boxed set- on disc four I believe- great piece. I'll take suggestions from you as far as stuff to look at- I definently like avant-garde, would like to get more.
You're right, I don't think the free jazz/avant-garde 60's and on stuff would have had much of a place on KLON (or now KJAZ). I definently think they stick a bit too much to what's "safe", but then they do serve a very mainstream crowd.
I was recently amazed at how much live stuff there is on him on youtube...check it out.

Originally posted by xnomanx
Yes, jazz thread!!
I'm hardly an expert- I'd love a place to share artists.
I'm into the heavies- Miles, Mingus, Monk, Coltrane...Cecil Taylor, Roach going bananas, where do I even start?
I've been on a Miles kick lately- track 5, "Teo", on Someday My Prince Will Come. My mind is thoroughly blown by this.

I teach high school ceramics, jazz is a staple aybe we could start bouncing around a Favorite (insert name here) Album/Track thread?

Miles Davis is great. A few years ago I bought the album 'kind of blue'. The interesting point, apart from great music overall, is that 'flamenco sketches' is recorded twice, from two different takes.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Curious to see if there's sufficient interest to keep a jazz thread going.

As for myself, my interests are as follows: some swing, some bebop and quite a bit from free, creative improvised, avant-garde, etc. I also have in interest in EAI though it probably doesn't really fit here.

Chet Baker. I love his stuff.

has anyone seen/heard a recording of the Keith Jarrett/Chick Corea Mozart double piano concerto?

Originally posted by xnomanx
I'm not real educated on Cecil, but I love the percussion he brings to the piano. I know Unit Structures, much of the rest of what I have by him is on compilations made for by a friend- I'd have to get back to you on track names. One of my favorites is a piano, drum, and bass piece- I forget the name/album- I know it was the only Cecil Taylor included in ...[text shortened]... I was recently amazed at how much live stuff there is on him on youtube...check it out.

I found a track listing for the Burns box. It has "Rick Kick Shaw" which is from "Jazz Advance" which was Taylor's first released album. "Unit Structures" is from the mid-'60s which I don't have, though I do have "Conquistador" from the same period with largely the same personnel. Taylor has a lot of titles available. I have a couple dozen or so, but there's so much more that I don't have.

If you can let me know what tracks you have on that compilation noting those you really like and those you aren't overly fond of, I can make some recommendations.

Not surprising that you like avant-garde music. I looked at the Hawkinson link you provided on your "Artists" thread. It's been my experience that those who have found a way into the avant-garde in other media, such as modern dance, painting, etc. generally have little trouble with the music. Those who don't often struggle with it. They just don't have the background to deal with it. It's like they've been placed in a completely alien world that is incomprehensible. By the way, I really liked the Hawkinson stuff.

Originally posted by Mephisto2
Miles Davis is great. A few years ago I bought the album 'kind of blue'. The interesting point, apart from great music overall, is that 'flamenco sketches' is recorded twice, from two different takes.

Many of the older jazz albums include alternate takes. Most of the time the takes are quite similar, however sometimes they are radically different. One good example is Davis' "Live at the Plugged Nickel" box set, which covers 7 sets recorded over two days. Many of the titles are repeated 3 or more times. It's amazing how radically different most of them are. Though I should warn you that the music is from a VERY different sound world than anything else I know of from Davis.

Originally posted by Seitse
Chet Baker. I love his stuff.

Baker is an interesting figure. I really like his vocals as well as his trumpet playing though some people I know can't stand them.

Here's a favorite story about him. During the '50s Baker was something of a "pretty boy". Drug abuse and getting his face caved in in a drug deal gone bad really took a toll. He looked DECADES older than his actual age. He developed extremely deep creases in his face. Fellow trumpeter Jack Sheldon hadn't seen him in a while and commented on his appearance. Baker told him that they were "laugh lines." Sheldon responded, "Nothing's that funny." 🙂

I prefer Will Riker's trombone playing

Originally posted by Steinberg
I'll be honest when I say my understanding of the sub-genres of jazz is limited at best, I'm mainly interested in piano trios or quartets rather than big-band so: Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett (I also like his solo recordings), and of course Bill Evans.
-S

Edit: forgot about Oscar Peterson

Good taste, my friend (or at least similar to mine 😀)

Finally saw Mehldau live last year (in London, playing with Pat Metheny) ... superb!

I really like Mehldau's recording of Blackbird on his Art of trio vol. 1 cd
I think the bass line at the end is just exquisite.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Isn't "Exclusively for My Friends" a box set? Is it all solo and how many discs? Peterson is someone I like, but somehow I've never really fallen in love with him. With him as leader, I only have "Night Train", "Very Tall", and "Porgy and Bess". Is "Exclusively" a cut above those?

You guys inspired me to order two Oscar Peterson CDs today.

Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson and Oscar Peterson Plus One With Clark Terry

I'm going to enjoy this thread.

I'll be seeing The Dirty Dozen Brass Band soon. They're doing a free concert at a local jazz festival. I can't wait. They have a 2006 CD called What's Going On - yes it remakes the Marvin Gaye tunes but it has a really hard funky back beat with some real swing. I listen to it over and over.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
Potter is an interesting figure. I had him as a sideman on a couple of recordings, but he didn't really make me sit up and take notice. Then about 10 years ago I saw him with the Dave Douglas quartet and I definitely went "hmmm...". He's "sneaky good" 🙂 Are you familiar with him as a leader or perhaps Dave Holland?

I have to admit that I'm probably e ...[text shortened]... et me better know what you've heard and liked and I can recommend stuff to you.

I have Conference of the Birds. Holland never lets me down. How many can match him? The Potter CD I recently bought (Ok, I burned a copy from the library) is called Gratitude.

Originally posted by badmoon
I have Conference of the Birds. Holland never lets me down. How many can match him? The Potter CD I recently bought (Ok, I burned a copy from the library) is called Gratitude.

I haven't heart "Gratitude". What do you think of it?

For that matter, what do you think of "Conference of the Birds"? With Braxton, Rivers and Alschul this explores quite a different space from what he's been doing the last 20 or so years.