Is there anybody who likes jazz?

john eden

male pale and stale
I supposed it was some kind of in-joke or po-mo thing so I steered clear of commenting. I would have thought a serious upgrade on Kenny G would be Jan Gabarek.

Because I am completely pretentious, I picked up his "I Took Up The Runes" album in Crocojazz in Paris last year. Definitely more of an ambient album than a jazz album, but pretty good from what I recall.

Played some Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman last night.
 

luka

Well-known member
I think I've only heard one completely duff Blue Note album. Hard to go wrong with 50s and 60s stuff.

which is part of the reason it doesnt tug at me, this project. its there, and theres lots of it, and its all equally good.
 

jenks

thread death
I came to jazz knowing nothing and I totally agree with John about Blue Note - I started with Herbie Hancock just because I knew him from Miles Davis stuff and then picked other Blue Note albums based on musicians that were also on Herbie's stuff, from there it just exploded.
The other person I followed was Bill Evans for much the same reason - that really opened up the late 50s and 60s for me and led to some utterly amazing stuff.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Top 12 would be (in no particular order):

The Horace Silver Quintet - Song For My Father
Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music Volume One
Freddie Hubbard - Hub Cap
Thelonious Monk Quartet* With John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall
Dexter Gordon - Go!
Larry Young - Unity
Andrew Hill - Compulsion!!!!!
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - At The Café Bohemia, Volume One
Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder
Hank Mobley - The Turnaround
The Ornette Coleman Trio - At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm - Volume One
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch!

It is literally just worth going into FOPP and randomly buying CDs for 4 quid though, or just randomly going through youtube or whatever hip kids get up to today.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
I get what Luka is saying though. I think it might have been jazz that stopped me being a complete music geek.

The quantity of it and the already extensive documentation of it meant that really all there was for me to do was to enjoy it. This has been quite liberating.
 

luka

Well-known member
its not completely unfamiliar to me. of your list ive heard and enjoyed to one degree or another

The Horace Silver Quintet - Song For My Father (the title track was/is a gilles peterson favourite. the album maybe suffers from having such a monster on it in that it makes the remainder sound dull in comparison)

Thelonious Monk - Genius Of Modern Music Volume One (this is something my dad used to play a lot. i dont mind saying i dont get monk. id very much like to but i dont. maybe one day)

Dexter Gordon - Go! - (theres a wistful smiling sadness and gentleness in dexter gordon that i like very much. i used to listen to him as a teen)

Lee Morgan - The Sidewinder (this i guess is kind of definitive blue note hard bop which can either strike me as perfect or perfectly generic depending on mood. through no real fault of its own it can conjure up visions of 60s sitcom depictions of hep cats and daddy os and grooving suburbanites)

Hank Mobley - The Turnaround (see above)

The Ornette Coleman Trio - At The "Golden Circle" Stockholm - Volume One (i havent heard this one but ive owned various ornette albums over the years without it ever really clicking for me.)

Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch! - i remember giving this various trys as a youngster becasue it was always described as 'out' and weird but i never could quite grasp what was so mental about it and so i felt a bit underwhelmed as a result
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Well it's interesting to read all that. I don't think Blue Note ever went that far "out" but what I like about their Ornette and Andrew Hill stuff is that it has a structure to it and then gets crazy around the edges.

Completely agree about The Turnaround - there are times when nothing else will do but there are also times when it's the last thing I'd want to hear.

I always hated jazz as a teen and the people who liked it. So it's only really something that's struck me properly in my 40s.

(Vague plans to get into classical music in my 50s and then opera in my 60s, lol).
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
my personal gateway into jazz. Love the modal stuff.

That Pharaoh Sanders gig, celebrating the Coltranes, sounds unmissable, despite being at the bloody Barbican. Thanks for the heads up
 
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