Jazz for someone who doesn't like jazz.

Follow up from the OP (me). It has been nearly a year since my last post in this thread.

During the following months I had pretty much given up on jazz. Just wasn't going back to it much other than Branford Marsalis' album "Eternal" on Sunday mornings from time to time.

I still don't listen to a lot of jazz and when I do it is not a wide variety. But in the last few months I do find myself going back to Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme (still challenging) and Art Blakey's Moanin'.


Kind of Blue makes sense to me now and I'm listening to it fairly often.

One of the reasons that I'm still hanging on could be that I'm learning to play drums (slowly, painfully) and jazz drumming interests me. It is way beyond me and I don't see me becoming proficient but it is intriguing and I'll probably continue to study it. (I can play through Blakey's Moanin' but it is very simple).

Anyway, just thought I'd provide the update. Can't say I'm hooked on jazz but it hasn't let me go yet either.

If Kind of Blue "makes sense " to you, now, perhaps you might explore other late 50's recordings by Cannonball, Coltrane, Miles and B. Evans.

Just bear in mind that Kind of Blue is an unusual album-- not only because it emerged at a point when improvisation based upon show tunes and chord-changes was about to shift over to a greater focus upon  more open-ended structures and scalar improvisation but also because of its incredibly broad and enduring appeal. It's fairly unique as an art-work.

In order to make suggestions, it would be helpful to know what aspects of K. of B. you most enjoy... after all, there's quite a stylistic distance from,  say, "Freddie Freeloader" to "Flamenco Sketches". Are you drawn more to the more brash, earthy, Bluesy side of the spectrum or the more introspective, mellow, ethereal, side? ? ? 

op

kenny burrell's guitar forms would be worth consideration as well, if kind of blue is clicking

stuartk, I am branching out with the artists you mentioned. I think I'm drawn now to the late bop and early modal stuff.

As for your question, I'm not sure.  I think it will take some more thought since I like all of the songs. Probably not sophisticated enough to appreciate the breadth of the stylistic range you refer to yet.  But, I think I'd rank Freddie Freeloader last and Flamenco Sketches and So What at the top. Probably less drawn to the brash side of things (in jazz). More drawn to the ethereal and introspective side but not sure if that excludes the bluesy stuff because I like slow blues which I find can be introspective and even mellow. I really like Blue in Green.

However, if I tried to do the same thing with a Zeppelin album, for instance, it still might be difficult even though I'm very tuned into the nuances there and appreciate the stylistic variations within many of their albums since I like a quiet acoustic folk song like Bron-Yr-Aur and a rocking blues epic like In My Time of Dying all on the same album.

But, its good to think about it and to learn to appreciate the differences so I'll continue to think about it.

Great-- you're making progress, getting clearer!  Jazz is a huge genre-- like an ocean, with so much to explore. It may take some time to discover what really turns you on... I've found the journey well worth it.   

Check this out this version of Flamenco Sketches:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG67qTPYfMw&list=OLAK5uy_n8lL4wMUxDhzrUjKU7D4LLlpX-gLO2bec&i...

If you like it, here's a link to the full album:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joe+henderson+so+near+so+far+full+album

You can always PM me if you'd like more suggestions...