[tru blu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PB&J /img/forum/go_quote.gif Brilliant playing all around, but his stage presence freaked my girlfriend out.

Well, Harrell's been clinically diagnosed as a schizophrenic, so no, he might not necessarily be the guy you wanna watch play trumpet.

 

[PB&J]

I play trumpet, so I definitely wanted to watch him play. I simply... forgot to tell her that he is a bit weird on stage.

 

[jsaliga]

Duke Ellington - Piano in the Foreground

Duke Ellington's skill as a composer and bandleader often overshadowed his brilliance as an instrumentalist on the piano. In his orchestra he often downplayed his role on the piano and described himself as simply "the piano player." He was too busy taking care of his featured soloists...such as Johnny Hodges...to think of himself. If you want to discover how truly great Ellington was as a pianist then get this CD. This album features Ellington on piano in a jazz trio, with Aaron Bell and Jimmy Woode taking turns on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums. You will simply be spellbound by this music.

--Jerome

 

[Spyro]

Anybody care for Brian Patneaude?

I'm a rookie jazzer and have trouble expanding upon what I mainly listen to. Would appreciate any help. Main stuff I listen to is....

Pat Metheny/Group
Dave Weckl Band
Brian Blade Fellowship
Aaron Parks
Mike Moreno
Al Dimeola
Mike Stern
Michael Brecker
Spyro Gyra
Yellowjackets (w/Bob Mintzer) NOT smooth jazz by any stretch..
Brian Blade
Christian Scott
Christian McBride
Bella Fleck
Tribal Tech
Diana Krall
Claire Martin
Brad Mehldau
Carribean Jazz Project
Chris Potter
Jean Luc Ponty

I don't mind complex music but I need a little melody and harmony with it. Pat Metheny Group is probably my top rotation. His trio work is undeniably jazz and I know some don't really consider the rest of his library "jazz" but I think he has made tremendous contributions to music and NEVER made any music based on what a label told him to do. I guess I am kind of all over the map which is good.

[ Don't mean to jack or disrupt this thread but there are very few jazzers on Head-Fi]

 

[musicmind]

Spyro, on the audiophile vocal jazz side, if you enjoy Krall and Martin, you might like to check out Stacey Kent's albums. Dreamsville and Brazilian Sketches with Jim Tomlinson on tenor sax are two I have listened to. Tomlinson tone and phrasing is a carbon copy of Getz.

 

[jsaliga]

Stacey Kent is excellent and has a number of very enjoyable albums to her credit. Among my favorites is her Fred Astaire tribute album:

--Jerome

 

[jsaliga]

Stepping into the wayback machine for a minute, I can't say enough good things about Proper Records in the UK. If you are interested in building a library of historical jazz recordings they can help you get it done on a budget. Their boxed sets include a 4 CD retrospective of the artist and a well-written booklet.

Chick Webb - Stomping at the Savoy

There are a number of things that make Chick Webb special, not the least of which is that he was the bandleader responsible for giving Ella Fitzgerald her big break as a 17 year old aspiring singer in 1934. There are some early cuts of tunes in this set that Fitzgerald would later turn into standards. Chick Web was also a great bandleader and entertainer in his own right. This 4-disc set can be had for as little as $16. An amazing bargain.

--Jerome

 

[jsaliga]

This thread seems to have petered out, but I want to toss one last entry onto the dying embers before the fire quietly burns out.

The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions

I feel that Norman Granz and Alfred Lion were two of the most important and influential people in jazz. Certainly the two most important non-musicians and equally if not more influential than many musicians.

Norman Granz was not only a record label founder/owner (Clef/Norgran/Verve) and a great producer, but he was also a huge fan of the music and the musicians. Going back to the 1940s he took his stable of great talent on the road with Jazz at the Philharmonic. This series of recordings has been issued on CD in a 10 disc boxed set. As a historical and musical document it is a valued treasure in my library.

What I didn't know was that Granz took his stable of artists, recording stars all, into the studio for jam sessions at various times between 1952 and 1954. In 2004 these sessions were issued in the Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions in a 5 CD boxed set. The musicians featured on these extended jams are a who's who of Clef/Verve: Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Benny Carter, Flip Phillips, Stan Getz, Charlie Shavers, Wardell Gray, Illnios Jacquet, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Buddy Rich, J.C. Herd, and many others. The interesting thing about these sessions is that Granz threw together a mix of swingers and boppers, gave them a few themes to work with, and then cut these cats loose to see what would happen. Pure magic...that's what happened. This music is supremely satisfying on so many levels. There is some brilliant interplay and improvisation among the various players, who come from different schools of jazz. It is well recorded and sounds fantastic. Unlike many of the JATP shows, which were recorded live, these recordings are nice and clean and there are no distractions to stand in the way of the music.

List price on Amazon is $59.95 but I bought mine for $40 (easily worth it) from the Amazon Marketplace. This is beyond essential jazz listening.

--Jerome

 

[TwoFiveOne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsaliga /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stacey Kent is excellent and has a number of very enjoyable albums to her credit. Among my favorites is her Fred Astaire tribute album: --Jerome

I was taken by Ms. Kent at first but she has failed to hold my interest. Her extreme vibrato/tremolo became too much for me.

One of the things I did like was how her voice made me think of and long for this recording by Joanie Sommers. To the best of my knowledge, this was never released on CD, so I sent one of my worn LPs off to be professionally restored. The result was outstanding and I've played it again and again. From the early 60s, I think it was the best release of her career. "Too Late Now" is superb and "Girl Talk" is equally wonderful, outdated lyrics and all...

Jerome, I've really gotten into Big T and now have both Mosaic boxes and listen just about every day. Really great stuff.

-Jim

 

[jsaliga]

The only Joanie Sommers title that I have on CD is Positively the Most, and that was a Japanese import:

I think you're right, Come Alive! has never been issued on CD. It's a pretty rare record too as I have been trying to get a copy for a while. I have most of her early 1960s titles on vinyl but I'm missing a few later entries in her discography.

I've been listening to a lot of Kay Starr lately. Not so much the pop material she recorded for Capitol in the 1950s, but the serious jazz sides she did in the 1940s.

--Jerome

 

[jsaliga]

I'm wondering why there isn't more enthusiasm for historical jazz recordings. I don't know if sound quality is a factor, but I suspect it is. There is a pretty huge difference in sound quality when you compare discs cut in the 1930s and 40s and tape (which replaced discs) in the 1950s. Microphones improved over time as well.

I love high quality sound as much the next person. But I can't imagine being without Charlie Parker's Savoy and Dial recordings, for example, simply because the sound quality isn't quite up to snuff relative to studio recordings of the 1950s and 1960s. To me the music comes first.

--Jerome

 

[Pangaea]

"To me the music comes first."

It should, but it is a tall tree to bark up around here.

By the way, I couldn't agree more on the recommendation for Norman Granz. I too have the 5 disc collection and it is an incredible jam session.

 

[jsaliga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pangaea /img/forum/go_quote.gif It should, but it is a tall tree to bark up around here.

No doubt that's true. But it's difficult to see how someone could truly understand and appreciate, say, John Coltrane if they never really listen to Charlie Parker. Trane wasn't the first cat out there doing fast arpeggio runs on his horn.

--Jerome

 

[tru blu]

One other thing about Granz's sessions: Considering the harsh racial realities of the time—many of which played out on the jazz scene—he was a true crusader for colorblindness. It was that same spirit that allowed him to turn Ella Fitzgerald, an African-American woman from Harlem, into the "First Lady of Song."

One other thing: A few years before he died, Pablo Records started putting out unreleased live stuff from Granz's European "Jazz At The Philharmonic" tours. Most are from the '60s, and every one I've heard is excellent—musically as well as fidelity-wise.

Cannonball Adderley Quintet - Paris, 1960

Ray Charles - Berlin, 1962 (I think this has become my go-to Charles disc; all his hits with an unbelievable big band)

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Berlin '65, Paris '67

 

[priest]

Since I have no intention of letting tru blu's jazz thread die, I'll post this for all you jazz men to weigh in on: I have recently been exploring Miles Davis' second quintet and have shelved E.S.P. and Miles Smiles. Do I need Nefertiti and/or Sorcerer to round out my collection, or am I free to stop now?