[mrpink44]

LugBug1 - thanks for the feedback and your recommendations!! I hope to have another review completed and uploaded tomorrow night - and I think it's one of the top, if not the top album of 2011.
 
And to all - thanks for the recommendations!!! Some of these are new titles that I will need to checkout. This is exactly the kind of thread that proves that jazz is alive and kicking in the 21st century!
 
Happy Turkey-day to all & happy listening!

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

Paul Bley - Not two Not one

Luvvvv me some Paul Bley…hmmm, now I'm trying to remember if I ever got 'round to recommending him in the "'50s & '60s jazz" thread. I'll go back and look. What folks forget (or that nobody tells you) is that Bley is the biggest influence on Keith Jarrett's early jazz style. He was fantastic in the Jimmy Giuffre 3, and another of his finest performances is the version of "All The Things You Are" on the Sonny Rollins/Coleman Hawkins collaboration Sonny Meets Hawk!

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

LugBug1 - thanks for the feedback and your recommendations!! I hope to have another review completed and uploaded tomorrow night - and I think it's one of the top, if not the top album of 2011.
 
And to all - thanks for the recommendations!!! Some of these are new titles that I will need to checkout. This is exactly the kind of thread that proves that jazz is alive and kicking in the 21st century!
 
Happy Turkey-day to all & happy listening!

Great stuff look forward to reading it, I'm gonna keep checking it out.
 
Must say I'm really enojying jazz again, I think its in an exciting place in the 21st century. Unlike the 60's for e.g, theres nothing to prove, just artists who love playing. I'm finding that where as in the 50's/60's an artist may decide to do a whole African tribal, Latin edged or Blues themed album, artists are now throwing it all into the pot! and I like that. There really are some exciting new voices out there. 

 

[rroseperry]

I'm a big fan of Vandermark 5. It's riding that edge between jazz and modern classical,

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

Luvvvv me some Paul Bley…hmmm, now I'm trying to remember if I ever got 'round to recommending him in the "'50s & '60s jazz" thread. I'll go back and look. What folks forget (or that nobody tells you) is that Bley is the biggest influence on Keith Jarrett's early jazz style. He was fantastic in the Jimmy Giuffre 3, and another of his finest performances is the version of "All The Things You Are" on the Sonny Rollins/Coleman Hawkins collaboration Sonny Meets Hawk!

Didn't know that! In fact didn't even know he was old...! But there's just something about his playing that has kept me going back to that album. Its one of those albums that can easily be forgotton about if you don't give it time. But boy does he get under your skin if you do. Brilliant.
 
I've been saving this one for you's.
 
A fine canadian trumpeter and this is one hell of an album! Great brass and band thats having a great time, but its the rhythms that make this recording special for me. A very good release.
 
Darren Johnston - The Edge of the forest

edit. woops got the title wrong...

 

[mrpink44]

LugBug1 - Yes, you are right on - the boundaries and borders in jazz are coming down and everything is getting mixed together. I just posted my new review (highly recommend checking out Raphael Guallazi's "Reality and Fantasy") and I briefly mention seeing John and Gerald Clayton. John has been in jazz for 40+ years and also writes, composes, and arranges (he received a platinum record for arranging Whitney Houston's National Anthem performance at the Super Bowl). Anyway - he wrote these arrangements that included a 15 piece jazz ensemble with a 50 piece symphony orchestra. I had never heard anything like - it was like part movie score mixed with swinging jazz and it was incredible. His son is a pianist (23 or 24 years old) and did some jazz trio and solo stuff in the piece as well. Breaking boundaries! Gerald is another of those up-and-coming jazz artists I'm excited about - he's the pianist on The Roy Hargrove Quintet "Ear Food" album I recommended.
 
Let me know what you think of the recommendations from this post as you get ahold of them. I'll do the same for the ones you recommended.
 
rroseperry - thanks; after seeing John Clayton, I'm interested to checkout some jazz/classical mixes. Appreciate the suggestion.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

LugBug1 - Yes, you are right on - the boundaries and borders in jazz are coming down and everything is getting mixed together. I just posted my new review (highly recommend checking out Raphael Guallazi's "Reality and Fantasy") and I briefly mention seeing John and Gerald Clayton. John has been in jazz for 40+ years and also writes, composes, and arranges (he received a platinum record for arranging Whitney Houston's National Anthem performance at the Super Bowl). Anyway - he wrote these arrangements that included a 15 piece jazz ensemble with a 50 piece symphony orchestra. I had never heard anything like - it was like part movie score mixed with swinging jazz and it was incredible. His son is a pianist (23 or 24 years old) and did some jazz trio and solo stuff in the piece as well. Breaking boundaries! Gerald is another of those up-and-coming jazz artists I'm excited about - he's the pianist on The Roy Hargrove Quintet "Ear Food" album I recommended.
 
Let me know what you think of the recommendations from this post as you get ahold of them. I'll do the same for the ones you recommended.
 
rroseperry - thanks; after seeing John Clayton, I'm interested to checkout some jazz/classical mixes. Appreciate the suggestion.

Just read read your review of Raphael Guallazi's "Reality and Fantasy" sounds very nice indeed. Must say you've done two very good, thorough reviews.
 
I'm no Jazz expert by any means, I have a big 50/60's collection of the Monk's, Miles and Mingus's etc But I'm definately a noob to contemporary Jazz thats why I started this thread, I'll certainly do my best to critic anything that I check out from here but take what I say with the preverbial pinch of salt! 
 
Check the new Rahpael one here guys  http://www.jazzjunkie.net/?p=26
 
Cheers!
 
 
 

 

[Chris J]

 
My bad
very bad
very, very bad!

 
I forgot to mention 21th Centry albums from the Two Kings of the Tenor Sax:
 
Wayne Shorter:  Alegria     Wayne is still the man!
 
Wayne Shorter Quartet:  Beyond The Sound Barrier    Brian Blade on drums, 'nuff said
 
Sonny Rollins:  Sonny, Please            Sonny, you are still..........Sonny!
 
and more good 21th century stuff
 
Sophie Milman:  In The Moonlight            great collection of ballads, smooth as silk
 
Sophie Milman:    Make Someone Happy       a personal favourite of mine
 
Wynton Marsalis:  He And She                good synthesis of jazz and Wynton's down home storytelling
 
Jane Monheit:   The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me            what can I say?  I love Jane's voice
 
Joshua Redman:  Beyond            thanks for the tip on "Mood Swings", can anyone recommend any more fine albums from this fine, fine tenor player?
 
and can I cheat and slip in a "new release"?     it was recorded in 1979 but never released in it's entirety:
Trio Of Doom      John McLaughlin And Jaco Pastorius And Tony Williams 
 
Can you dig it!

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I'd have to disagree that there are very few newcomers who see the light of day when it comes to contemporary jazz! I actually believe that jazz has a large number of modern artists who are carrying jazz into an exciting new era. I recently started up a website that's focusing on reviews of contemporary jazz albums - the site is less than a week old, but I'm hoping to do 2-3 reviews a week. I'm no technical expert on jazz - just a fan trying to express what I enjoy or dislike about different recordings and hopefully make the reviews more useful to those of us who want good music and not a short, technical explanation that really doesn't answer the question "will I like it?" I'm not sure I accomplished that with my first review, but it's a learning process and they will improve. Here is the link - again, it's a work in progress and something I do in my freetime:
 
http://www.jazzjunkie.net/
 
As for jazz recordings from this decade, I'd recommend checking out the following, many of which I'll be doing reviews of in the coming weeks:
 
Jason Moran - Ten
Brad Mehldau - Anything Goes or any of The Art of the Trio volumes
Eric Reed - The Dancing Monk
Donny McCaslin - Perpetual Motion
Ray Brown, John Clayton, and Christian McBride - Super Bass and Super Bass 2
Bill Charlap Trio - Live at The Village Vanguard
Joe Lovano - Bird Songs
Jeremy Pelt - The Talented Mr. Pelt
Joshua Redman - Mood Swing
+1 for Christian McBride - Kind of Brown
+1 for Roy Hargrove Quintet - Earfood
 
Happy listening!

www.jazzjunkie.net
thanks man, I'll have to check it out, you dig?
 

 

[mrpink44]

 
Quote:

 
Joshua Redman:  Beyond            can anyone recommend any more fine albums from this fine, fine tenor player?
 

I dig

 ....and from the looks of your recommendations, I think we share some similar tastes. Thanks for checking out the site!!!
 
Although both these are from the mid-to-late 1990s, Redman's "Spirit of the Movment - Live at The Village Vanguard" is an outstanding double-disc set. I also enjoy "Timeless Tales" which is a project he recorded with Brad Mehldau.
 
+1 for almost anything by Shorter!!! 

 

[fatcat28037]

Amazon has some jazz box sets on sale for really good prices.
 
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=jazz+box+set

 

[mrpink44]

 
Quote:

Just read read your review of Raphael Guallazi's "Reality and Fantasy" sounds very nice indeed. Must say you've done two very good, thorough reviews.
 
I'm no Jazz expert by any means, I have a big 50/60's collection of the Monk's, Miles and Mingus's etc But I'm definately a noob to contemporary Jazz thats why I started this thread, I'll certainly do my best to critic anything that I check out from here but take what I say with the preverbial pinch of salt! 
 
Check the new Rahpael one here guys  http://www.jazzjunkie.net/?p=26
 
Cheers!
 
 
 

Thanks again!! It's funny - each review I write, I learn something I'd like to do differently or better. I just started reading a lot more of the well known jazz critics so I can incorporate the best of what they do, but keep my own "voice." I graduated with a history degree and wrote a lot in that field - part of the reason I started my site was because I missed the process of writing. But, writing criticism is a lot different than arguing - so I'm starting to immerse myself in the new style.
 
Monk, Miles, and Mingus - all great stuff!! Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song" is one of my all-time favorite tracks - I love the Eastern feel and how it builds and explodes, but then drops back into a swinging melody.
 
Well, I'll be interested to hear what you like or don't like - even if it's just a few words or "I liked this album......, but didn't care for this one...." In the end, all it boils down to is if YOU like it - it's like walking out of a movie with a friend and one of you loves it, the other hates it - neither is wrong; one just found value in it and the other didn't.
 
Happy listening and thanks again for the feedback!
 
 

 

[mrpink44]

 
Quote:

Amazon has some jazz box sets on sale for really good prices.
 
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=jazz+box+set

Anyone interested in contemporary jazz and piano trios should consider the following. Brad Mehldau is really an innovative artist and Larry Grenadier is one of the top bass players most people have never heard of. Mehldau deconstructs songs in a great way - at times with a classical influence. I also enjoy how he takes modern and pop artists and re-envisions their songs (Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Radiohead).
 
7 CDs for $38 is a steal!!!
 

 

 

[eric0531]

I'm more of a jazz fusion guy myself, so some of these suggestions may or may not appeal to others based on their tolerance for less 'purity" in their jazz.
 
 
Mark Egan - As We Speak - a great trio recording with John Abercrombie on guitar and Egan's fellow Metheny Group alum Dan Gottleib on bass.
 
Charles Lloyd continues to make beautiful music.  His last two releases, Rabu de Nube and Mirror are both very, very good.
 
Chick Corea & John Mclaughlin - Five Peace Band: an excellent live double CD.
 
Miles from India - a truly inspired collaboration between Western and Indian musicians playing the music of Miles Davis. 
 
Mike Mainieri - Northern Lights.  Mainieri traveled to Oslo to record with some of the region's top "nu jazz" artists including trumpeter Nils Petter Movaer and guitarist Eivind Aarset.
 
Speaking of Molvaer and Aarset, I'm a big fan of both of those guys and their fusion of jazz with electronica and rock textures.  Aarset's last studio album "Sonic Codex" was brilliant.  Molvaer's just released "Baboon Moon" is really good too, heavy on atmospherics.

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

I'm more of a jazz fusion guy myself, so some of these suggestions may or may not appeal to others based on their tolerance for less 'purity" in their jazz.
 
 
Mark Egan - As We Speak - a great trio recording with John Abercrombie on guitar and Egan's fellow Metheny Group alum Dan Gottleib on bass.
 
Charles Lloyd continues to make beautiful music.  His last two releases, Rabu de Nube and Mirror are both very, very good.
 
Chick Corea & John Mclaughlin - Five Peace Band: an excellent live double CD.
 
Miles from India - a truly inspired collaboration between Western and Indian musicians playing the music of Miles Davis. 
 
Mike Mainieri - Northern Lights.  Mainieri traveled to Oslo to record with some of the region's top "nu jazz" artists including trumpeter Nils Petter Movaer and guitarist Eivind Aarset.
 
Speaking of Molvaer and Aarset, I'm a big fan of both of those guys and their fusion of jazz with electronica and rock textures.  Aarset's last studio album "Sonic Codex" was brilliant.  Molvaer's just released "Baboon Moon" is really good too, heavy on atmospherics.

Thanks for these, Charles Lloyd's Rabu de Nube is one beautiful album -really quite faultless considering that it's a live album. Some of his other earlier releases on ECM have been a bit nice and safe for my tastes though. Love his 60's stuff, he was a nice alternative to Coltrane.
 
I appreciate Jazz fusion, but I think Miles took it as far as it could go before its started to sound a bit samey. Must say however, that the dance music/electrionica we have now would not be the same without it's early influence.