Looking for modern jazz recommendations.

[wab]

I have a few MP3's by artists like John Zorn, Matthew Shipp, Isotope 217 and Markus Stockhausen that I enjoy a lot. I'm not at home in this new jazz at all so I'm looking for some specific suggestions for modern (say from the 90's till now) jazz CD's.
I'm not much into super-unstructured free jazz but I like experimenting.

 

[Magic77]

wab,

I'm a big fan of Matthew Shipp and have many of his CD's. He is the executive producer of Thirsty Ear Records' "Blue Series",which started in 2000 and all of the releases are excellent. I think there are about 10 as of now and more to come. These releases feature some of the best Jazz musicians in the Avant-Garde and Improvised music scene. Here are my recomendations:

William Parker Trio-"Painter's Spring"
Matthew Shipp Quartet-"Pastoral Composure"
Matthew Shipp Quartet-"Nu Bop"
Tim Berne-"The Shell Game"
Mat Maneri Quartet-"Blue Decco"

Also,check out Tenor Sax player; David S. Ware

David S. Ware-"Go See the World"- with M.Shipp & W.Parker
David S. Ware-"Surrendered"- also with M.Shipp & W.Parker

 

[Cherokee Mist]

I'm not sure if you are into fusion or not, but if you are here are some suggestions:

VINNIE COLAIUTA, ROBBEN FORD, JIMMY HASLIP * JING CHI

ALEX MACHACEK * THE NEXT GENERATION OF SOUND
* FEATURING OURSELVES

KEITH HOWLAND * THE HOWLAND/IMBODEN PROJECT

BILL EVANS * LET THE JUICE LOOSE LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE TOKYO

MICHEL CUSSON AND THE WILD UNIT * MICHEL CUSSON AND THE WILD UNIT

Just to name a few...

You should check out audiophileimports.com for a HUGE selection of jazz and fusion. Most of their stuff has sound samples too!

Regards

 

[wab]

Magic77, the Blue Series seem to be exactly what I was looking for! I downloaded some more samples, this stuff is awesome. Let's see if I have some money to order a few of those CD's. Thanks!

 

[Magic77]

wab,

Yes,the Blue Series is excellent. You will notice that certain musicians on these CD's, like Bassist William Parker, Matthew Shipp, Drummer Gerald Cleaver and many others play on most or all of them as well.

I discovered some great new musicians from these CD's.

 

[Milestones]

Magic 77s recommendations are right on the money.

Anything with William Parker on it is probably going to be great. Another great cd by William Parker that I like even more than "Painter's Spring" is called "O'Neal's Porch" and is on the Aum Fidelity label. This cd can be hard to find - but it is well worth the search.

Another artist that you might like is Ken Vandermark. He has a trio called the DKV Trio that has an excellent two disc live cd called "Live at Wels and Chicago" on the Okka Disk label (http://www.okkadisk.com).

Vandermark also has a group called the Ken Vandermark 5 - their best albums are "Simpatico" and "Acoustic Machine" on the Atavistic label.

The jazz of the 90's and forward that I tend to like is music that is based in modern mainstream jazz (bop) but with a progressive or adventerous bent to it - my other recommendations would include:

Joe Lovano - "Trio Fascination" (Blue Note)

Scott Colley - "Magic Line" (Arabesque)

Ben Allison - "Third Eye" or "Riding the Nuclear Tiger" (Palmetto)

Dave Douglas - "Magic Triangle" or "Leap of Faith" (Arabesque)

Marty Ehrlich - "Can You Hear a Motion" (Enja)

Dave Holland - "Prime Directive" or "Not for Nothin'" (ECM)

Keith Jarrett Trio - "Whisper Not" (ECM)

Masada (Zorn's more mainstream quartet) - "Live in Sevilla" or "Live at Tonic" (Tzadik)

Branford Marsalis - "Requiem" or "Contemporary Jazz" (Columbia)

Myra Melford - "Above Blue" (Arabesque)

Jason Moran - "Facing Left" or "Black Stars" (Blue Note)

Greg Osby - "Banned in New York" or "Invisible Hand" (Blue Note)

You can't go wrong with any of these IMHO.

 

[stuartr]

Wab, you should check out the Chicago Underground Quartet, and its sparser manifestions -- The Chicago Underground Trio and Duo. They are on Thrill Jockey with Isotope 217 and share several members. I like them both. I am intersted in this Blue Series thing though, as this is an area in my catalog that I would like to fill out.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by wab I have a few MP3's by artists like John Zorn...I'm not much into super-unstructured free jazz...

Are you trying to say Zorn is something you like, or don't, or what?

 

[beowulf]

I keep recommending this amazing album... Dave's True Story's "Sex without bodies". (On Chesky)

 

[stuartr]

there you go having sex without bodies again....

 

[BenG]

Of the mainstream, progressive artists Milestones recommends, I think Dave Douglas, Dave Holland, Jason Moran, and Greg Osby lead the pack when they're on.

Dave Holland - Prime Directive, Not for Nothin'
Jason Moran - Black Stars
Greg Osby - Banned in NY
Dave Douglas - Soul on Soul

"Sex without Bodies" I prefer bodies.

 

[wab]

Quote:

Originally posted by Dusty Chalk Are you trying to say Zorn is something you like, or don't, or what?

Is that a contradiction? I dunno, the tracks I have are quite structured. Even a bit klezmer-like.

Stuartr, I've wanted to get my hands (ears) onIsotope 217 and Chicago Underground for some time. Problem is I can't find it over here or only at ridiculus prices.

The rest of you, thanks for your recommendations, I will try to listen to as many of those CD's as possible. Problem with music like this is, I can't really skim throug a CD and see if I like it (unless it immediately sounds like a lake full of ducks) so this might take a long time. Thanks again.

 

[stuartr]

Wab, if you want I can burn you a cd with some samples and send it, but it will probably take awhile to get to you. If you are interested, pm me with your address. I cannot promise it will get to you soon, or at all -- the Russian postal system is a gamble, but it would not be a big deal to try. I would do it for free for a brother Thrill Jockey lover....there are not enough of us around...

 

[wab]

stuartr, that would be nice! I sent you a PM.

 

[LarryS]

Beowulf,

I hope this makes your day

On your recommendation, and a little audition from the clips on amazon, I bought "Sex without bodies" and I consider it probably one of the best albums I have now.

The lyrics are first rate, I love Kelly Flint's voice and the sound quality is great.

Thank you!

Larry in Dallas