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.
Speaking of P.T. Barnum and cabl...I mean, car tires:
Got a 2020 Subaru Outback Onyx eighteen months ago. Needed something for the brutal snow and ice we get on rough roads in upstate NY. Did OK two winters ago with the stock all-season tires; I was a little underwhelmed given the rep. This Winter I put good snow tires on it. Unbelievable difference. Goes through anything. It’s a beast! .......I swear the tires did even better after a few miles of “break in” 😊
Re. tires...have even 'worst' story...back in 2004. I think, Bmw introduced the 'run flat tire', meaning, you could not have puncture. To achive that, they demanded that tire manufacturers make special tires for them, that had very sturdy side profiles, so even with puncture and no air in it you could still drive. Needless to say, that solution is in sharp contrast with their 'ultimate driving machine' slogan. So, for couple times (in days when was young and foolish) I would make some inicial miles with those tires and than would change them for 'ordinary' ones....with a 'catch'.... Bmw had no spare tire (obviously) so I needed to buy a reserve wheel and the tire for it and keep it in trunk which had no designed place for it (again,obviously) The two door cars that I drove at the time had little space in a trunk anyhow, but, what' s a little 'sacrifice' when 'perfromance' is in question?
My local Ford dealer treats all his customers as if they are audiophiles. He charges about 300 dollars extra for filling the tires of his NEW cars with pure Nitrogen. Me, being sort of slow asked, Why? They said the nitrogen molecules were larger, and therefore could not 'seep' out thru the tire over time.
I wanted to ask, what if I have a flat, do you refill it with Nitrogen? I wanted to ask, how do you drain all the air out of your new inventory? I wanted to ask, isn't the air 70% Nitrogen?
Instead, struggling to keep a straight face, I asked, do you want to sell this car, or not. They did, so I got the Nitrogen 'Free'. :) Car dealers and their sales people always assume their customers are audiophiles.
My local Ford dealer treats all his customers as if they are audiophiles. He charges about 300 dollars extra for filling the tires of his NEW cars with pure Nitrogen.
It cost me thirty bucks in Canada to fill my Toyota with nitrogen.... 😁😊
Ok i apologize for my astonishing surprize and post, i will go back to "impressions of a patch of blue" a great Dickerson album indeed...
Don't laugh. Not everyone knows the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. Just like hardly anyone knows the number one greenhouse gas is water vapor. Or that CO2 is a trace element measured in ppm. And even then, less today than at any time in the entire geologic history of the planet. Which includes the Cambrian, when it was 40 times greater, and that era is called the Cambrian Explosion, the greatest period of new species creation ever. Yet look around how many are so ignorant of reality they think we should be afraid of it.
No, I would not be too quick to laugh at the car dealer. He just looks around, sees how gullible and scientifically illiterate the average person is, and does what comes naturally.
Re: Bob Berg. Finally caught up with all the clips posted over the last week. Lots of listening and reading tonight. I'm astounded by two things: his playing and how I've skated through the jazz world for so many years without knowing him. Whew, thanks!
For Pete's sake, I saw Joe Locke in London BEFORE he recorded with Berg, and I'm very familiar with DeFrancesco. It appears neither is anywhere near the giant Berg was. Not to mention he was with Miles for 3 years (and Corea too). This is downright embarrassing, but better late than never.
Especially love "Snakes," "Neptune" and "Bolivia" (the latter with Cedar Walton).
Rather than share other Bob Berg music I found tonight, I'll add this 1998 interview "Five of my Favorite Recordings." Very cool.
Birds update. After spending some time with friendly and smart crows and after unsuccessful attempt to befriend with sea gulls, I met the gang who really appreciated my company. Pigeons.
I spent several days with them and it happened what I was afraid it would happen. I miss them. Most of all, I am afraid that they would miss me, meaning all kinds of seeds that I was bringing to them. Damn, now I will have to visit them more often.
I am not sure that I needed this.
However, if I ignore my emotional issues, I must say that I fully enjoyed taking photos of them, observing them, watching them fighting, talking to each other, seducing (!) by doing love dance, etc, etc...
It’s like entering the whole new little world full of life. Life that happens each day in front of our noses and we barely notice it since we are caught up in our daily duties and worries.
They give so much but ask so little. Animals of all kind.
I watch and listen to birds and squirrels most days. We have several bird baths in our yard. We have a large group of Blue Jays and a sizable number of Cardinals and many many pigeons. At dusk, the pigeons start cooing. They can keep it up for hours.
Of course nature must have balance, so we also have our share of cats. They hang out under the bird baths. Everyone has to eat.
MJ, that's a gorgeous Golson number. Love his tone on that one.
Yes, I read every word about the pigeons. The ones that show up for you are there because they eat just fine every day. Don't fret. Despite all of our destruction, mankind has created a very nice habitat for urban/suburban birds. Lots of food, very few predators.
I do appreciate your intense observation of them - very Thoreau.
Keegiam, I did catch the Berg interview. In fact, I had written a response with clips and the iPad gremlins struck again. It lost it before posting. Let me try again.
Great interview. One of the striking things about it for me was his comments showing how wide and varied his tastes in music are. Most musicians don’t dwell much on what genre the music is and more on the ways that all genres are intertwined. Berg loved Barton’s harmonic language and Sinatra’s phrasing. Thanks for the clip.
Another great tenor player and who was the father of the post-Coltrane style of tenor playing that would influence players like Berg was Steve Grossman. Played with Miles at age 18 (!) and had a troubled personal life with a career long drug addiction. He spent many years in Europe and his records seem to stay under the radar. His sound a lot changed over the years, going from a Trane inspired sound to a softer more traditional one. It wasn’t as fully developed a sound as Berg’s, but had ideas that were, arguably, even more interesting than Berg’s.
Frogman, fantastic Grossman clips, thanks! At least I’ve known about him for ages,
unlike Berg. I appreciate your
never-ending willingness to share great stuff with members here. I would say the “educational” balance is: gain
for JFA members +95%, gain for Frogman +5%.
Two different reactions:
In all five clips, Grossman’s playing is
seductive and frenetic at the same time.
Not an easy feat. It begs the
question as to the balance between drugs and sheer creativity. How many music giants were deeply into drugs? What is in there? We’ll never really know.
Because Grossman stays in the lower octaves (and
“husky”), I find him more listenable than Coltrane when he went on his screeching
journeys. Love JC of course, but I can’t
listen to some of it. My aversion to frenzied
soprano or alto (and preference for rich tenor) has/have become more pronounced
as I’ve aged. Then again, I’ve always
been turned off by ear-piercing upper-fret electric guitar “noodling.” I figured my sensitivity to high frequencies
would wane as I got older. Not yet.
Great stuff acman3, thanks. One of my favorite piano-less bands. This one with the great Dave Liebman. One more with Liebman and Gorssman. With piano this time, but one of my favorite Elvin Jones records from that era. Liebman on soprano and Grossman on tenor:
Keegiam, thanks, but no need to compare. I have been exposed to a lot of great stuff and learn a lot from you guys/lady. As in acman3’s clips, Elvin Jones’ was one of my favorite piano-less bands. Not too many horn players that can play credibly without a harmony instrument behind them. One more with both Grossman and the great Dave Liebman. With piano this time, but one of my favorite Elvin Jones records from that era. Liebman on soprano and Grossman on tenor:
I have Elvin Jones "Live at the Lighthouse" Volumes 1 and 2.
Personnel:
E Jones drums Steve Grossman tenor and soprano saxophone Dave Liebman tenor and soprano saxophone Gene Perla bass
NO PIANO.
I got it a few months back when frogman suggested I listen to Bob Berg, Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman. I have listened to it quite often as I bought a Japanese remaster in UHQCD format and the sonics are superb.
rok I have been gradually collecting all of Dexter Gordon's releases on the Steeple Chase label which he recorded while living in Copenhagen and Paris for 14 years.
I don't have "Biting the Apple" yet but plan on getting it. No Dexter collection is complete without his many sessions, live and studio, recorded in Europe.
In catch up mode again. Lots of music posted this week.
As some of you know, the OP turned me on to Oscar Pettiford. Does anyone own this on vinyl (1957)? How is the SQ? Seems like something's off with the recording of the bass solo on Track 3, "Not so Sleepy," but I'm listening with free YouTube.
Great playing, good selection of tunes. Gigi Gryce on alto again. Mint LPs and reissues are out there, but I'm looking forward to adding more Pettiford going forward.
rok I have been gradually collecting all of Dexter Gordon's releases on the Steeple Chase label which he recorded while living in Copenhagen and Paris for 14 years.
His output on the Black Lion label and Blue Note is very good also. "Biting the Apple" is the only SteepleChase I have.
As some of you know, the OP turned me on to Oscar Pettiford.
Our OP is MIA for nearly a month now.
I hope his health is well and he is OK.
Thanks for sharing the Oscar Pettiford Orchestra album. I recognize a lot of the bands members except
French Horn – David Amram, Julius Watkins and
Harp – Janet Putnam
Speaking of women jazz musicians Melba Liston was a really good trombone player.
Funny thing is that I don’t seem to have any indication of what is for Premium Members and what’s not. Let’s try this one. Same tune different version (quite a bit slower):
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