Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeno
Today I purchased Blue Train by John Coltrane (on the blue note label) -Excellent and beautiful flowing Jazz work. Complimentary and solo work by an ensemble of trumpet, trombone, piano, bass, and of course percussion, with the ethereal tones of John Coltrane’s tenor sax. Listening to this album rekindle my interest in Jazz – American’s Music. It reminded me of the Ken Burns documentary on Jazz that premiered on PBS in 2001 (which also inspired a CD set and a single CD, The Best of Ken Burns Jazz, that I have). But I digress. My collection of Jazz music is small but I would like to enhance it so best recommendations on that would be welcome and helpful to everybody else as well.
Good LORD,
Blue Train is a good album. You hit it right on the head, too; Coltrane's playing elevates anything he's on, even as a sideman, but
Blue Train is the first to really highlight his skills as a composer and bandleader.
I'd move on to
Giant Steps, then on to the amazing but sometimes more experimental quartet recordings on the Impulse label. Particularly
Crescent and the justifiably acclaimed
A Love Supreme
.
Crescent is very underrated, I think, worthy for how far he can take his band before they start getting into the more "Out" sounds of his final works. It is a microcosmic distillation of not just his work, but the history of jazz itself.
And it's just my opinion...but a copy of
A Love Supreme belongs in every household, right between the Bible and the shotgun.
If you are so inclined, I recommend (and just reread, myself)
Ascension/John Coltrane and his Quest by Eric Nisenson. It's about a decade old, but I read a lot of music literature, particularly biographies, and it is one of the best and most informative. One of the blurbs on the back of the jacket (from the NYT Book review) refers to it as "part biography, part jazz history, and partlistener's guide", which well describes it's utility. I used to recommend it to anyone who was just getting into the genre. Also, the
AllMusic Guide and
All About Jazz are helpful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeno
Additionally this post is for just a general discussion of Jazz. Below is a list of the Jazz artists that are mentioned in the context of The Best of Ken Burns Jazz CD set. It is not intended as an inclusive list by any means and is made in alphabetical order, although the first person should be place number one on the list anyway. This jazz list does not include newer artists, Diana Krall just for an example. So it needs brought up to date, which I hope others will do.
Louis Armstrong
Count Basie
Sidney Bechet
Art Blakey
Dave Brubeck
Omette Coleman
John Coltrane
Miles Davis
Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
Dizzy Gillesepe
Benny Goodman
Herbie Hannock
Coleman Hawkins
Fletcher Henderson
Billie Holiday
Charles Mingus
Theionious Monk
Charlie Parker
Sonny Rollins
Sarah Vaughn
Lester Young
As Max H alluded to earlier, there is a lifetime of listening. This list alone could keep you occupied for years, and it's just a good
start.
At the risk of sounding like a pretentious tool (aaah, what the hell...I'm not fooling anybody at this point any way), I'm going to give you five personal favorites that I think should be in any jazz library. Some of the artists listed above (Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louie Armstrong, Charlie Parker) will be missing, as the period they recorded dictated less emphasis on the album as a stand alone entity. As such, their music, which is indeed indispensable, is best heard in anthologized form. The artists below can also be heard in such fashion, and that may not be a bad idea. That Ken Burns CD series is a great place to start. But the albums in my top 5 list have an expressive power that is best revealed ni the context in which they were initially released.
1) Miles Davis-
Kind of Blue
Still my vote for the single greatest recorded entity in the short history of recorded music. It dictated the cliches and defined post bop jazz. It's consistently revelatory without diluting the sheer emotion that the sounds and structure convey. As I mentioned earlier, Trane's presence here elevates without lapsing into vulgar dominance. The interplay and complementary melodic creativity between the three horns (In addition to Miles on trumpet and Trane on tenor, the amazing Cannonball Adderley provides the perfect funky counterpoint to both Mile's relaxed but raw emotional expression, and Trane's harder intensity. And the word "gorgeous" was invented for Bill Evan's piano work on "Blue in Green". And Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums are simply perfect; they don't just build a foundation that the soloists can build on, they subtly add sonic dimensions that enhance the richness of the music being made. Chambers, in particular, shines, partly due to his role; as this was an album of modal experimentation, he could veer off from the more restrictive "chord defining" functions he was normally asked to fulfill, and so had more of a say in the music's progree and impact. But it is not a stretch to say that
Kind of Blue would have been far less musically successful had a bassist of lesser empathy and expression been involved. Plus, one of the more under rated jazz pianists, Wynton Kelly, takes over for Evans on one cut, and swings mightily. Everything on this set fits perfectly. A friend of mine, a guitar player not normally given to jazz, once told me he loved
Kind of Blue because it was "five guys making music...not just playing, or doing a song...they're making music".
2)
A Love Supreme -John Coltrane
Less "number 2" than "1B", this four section suite is more meditation than swinging affair. The swing is there (albeit more graceful than manic), but not for it's own sake.
I know of no piece (with the possible exception of Beethoven's Ninth) that reveals with successive listenings as much as
A Love Supreme does. In fact, it may take a few listenings to even
begin to "get" it, or at least to see how this is more than just a set of nice sounds.
It is also, I think, drummer Elvin Jones' finest hour. The idea of breaking from single-minded time keeping, and adding to the overall texture, was nothing new. And Elvin had long been known as a "busy" and powerful drummer. But here, he uses the drums as a melodic embellishment in a much subtler fashion, emphasizing underlying themes and melodies, rather than simply accenting the main (and most obvious ) ones, which adds a depth and richness that enhances it's revelatory nature.
3)
Mingus Ah Um - Charles Mingus
Bassist/composer Minus faced accusations early in his career that his music didn't "swing". Must have stuck in his craw a bit, because nothing has the uniquely fierce swing he coaxed out of his bands around this time, and especially on this album.
Without losing any of the coloring or texture he was known for. His septet, a bigger band than most were willing to work with at the time, gave him the voices he needed, while keeping the fluidity agility of a much smaller grouping.
Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is another Mingus set that achieves that very difficult result, and some would say that for sheer musical inventiveness, it belongs on the list. But
Ah Um is equally inventive, if less complex, while more vividly displaying both Mingus' playfulness and his anger. Sometimes within the same song. Indeed, he often turns one into the other.
4)
Time Out-Dave Brubeck Quartet
With their willingness to use odd time signatures and their precise delivery, "funky" would not be a very accurate description. Their swing was organic, but mannered, and their delivery could seem more formal statement than joyful expression. Still, in Altoist Paul Desmond, they had one of jazz's true originals, a soloist for whom the word "lyrical" has probably been used trillions of times, and is devastatingly accurate.
Tangentially associated with "third stream" music, an ill-defined and self-conscious attempt to meld equal parts jazz and western classical influences, they (along with artists such as Bill Evans and The Modern Jazz Quarter) were able to transcend such goofy labeling and develop a natural and unique sound.
Time Out is not a revolutionary album (except, perhaps, in a commercial sense), but it is unusually stocked with musical ideas and subtle expression.
5) Out to Lunch!-Eric Dolphy
This is the most "Out" thing on the list, with staggering rhythms, unusual and even abrasive phrasing, and dissonant touches. The musicians at time seem to ramble amongst themselves. Plus, the extensive and jarring use of Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone lends a chaotic and almost satirical air to the proceedings. If it's not really "free jazz", in the Ornette Coleman vein, it's still far more chaotic than the mainstream listener will probably allow for. Definitely not for every taste, and not an "easy" listen. Still, if you're willing to step outside of conventional notions, such participatory listening will be rewarded.
If you want to hew a little close to the mainstream, substitute
Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins, or split the difference with the tricky and complex, but not-quite-as-harsh-as-the Dolphy
Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk. That
Brilliant Corners is a Hall of Fame caliber album, yet does not represent Monk as well as an anthology of his work would illustrate, is a testament to his genius.
Once again, someone has asked me the time, and I have spent an inordinate amount of time telling them how to make a watch. I apologize for such long windedness, but I look forward to seeing what other have to say, as well.
