The Jazz - discussion, recommendations, shit, cat

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Thoroughly enjoyed In a Silent Way. Not what I was expecting, in that both halves are quite energetic at times. Really loved the interplay between the horns and the light drumming, the guitar, the bass. I think I'm really gonna enjoy discovering more jazz.

Glad you liked it! The title definitely is a bit of a misnomer, but you can really hear the foundations of ambient music in that album. Eno has said that it was a major inspiration to him. Try Miles in the Sky if you can - that one's a favorite of mine.

I also listened to Aja today, but I think that I need a few more spins to evaluate it properly. It's certainly a unique-sounding album. Wayne shines, as expected.
 
It's weird, in my "bible", 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Cease To Be, the reviewer says "empty silences speak as loudly as the music", "rarely has an album title been so apt", "oceans of silence", so I was expecting pretty much all ambience.

And the other weird thing is... that I am DEFINITELY the only person among my friends listening to jazz. They're probably all downloading the latest podcast from one of the drug-infested Melbourne clubs, and here I am playing Miles Davis. And I feel that that's pretty cool, doesn't bother me at all.
 
Last question. I promise. For now. You all know how I am, I find it hard to shut up sometimes.

Is Joe Zawinul, who played with many of these cats, the man behind the title "Zawinul/Lava" from Another Green World?
 
And the other weird thing is... that I am DEFINITELY the only person among my friends listening to jazz. They're probably all downloading the latest podcast from one of the drug-infested Melbourne clubs, and here I am playing Miles Davis. And I feel that that's pretty cool, doesn't bother me at all.

This made me happy to read.

Good on you.
 
Is Joe Zawinul, who played with many of these cats, the man behind the title "Zawinul/Lava" from Another Green World?

Yeah, that track is a tribute to Zawinul. The thing that I love about In a Silent Way, and many other Miles albums, is the way that they alternate so fluidly between tempos and moods. Some parts are spacious and minimal, while others are variegated and surging. He was a master of forging atmosphere.
 
Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins is a really great record. I was expecting it to be primarily an exercise in saxophone-related virtuosity, but the band interplay is actually incredible. Max Roach's drumming is my favorite part of the album.
 
Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins is a really great record. I was expecting it to be primarily an exercise in saxophone-related virtuosity, but the band interplay is actually incredible. Max Roach's drumming is my favorite part of the album.

Oh yeah - that's one of the all-time classics. Sonny was/is a great bandleader.
 
I just found a great deal today at Permanent Records - thanks, Shouter - on The Inflated Tear by (Rahsaan) Roland Kirk. This thing is a masterpiece. It's got the chaotic energy of Mingus and the virtuosity of Coltrane, all mixed with some eccentric arrangements.
 
A jazz thread, yay! :hug:

In college, even amongst some of my music classmates I got the feeling that people thought I only listened to jazz as some sort of hipster musician status symbol. Silly cynics, I've been into jazz as far back as I have memories thanks to my grandfather. Though he had virtuosic talent I'll never have, I'm much more of a composer than a performer.
 
Just for fun, Iron Yuppie's ten best jazz albums:

1. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. The choice may seem cliched, but after hearing over three-hundred jazz albums, this one still stands atop the pedestal in terms of musicianship, mood, and vision.

2. John Coltrane: Blue Train. Although Coltrane is better known and appreciated for his more avant-garde recordings, this Blue Note album features a plethora of infectious melodies and some of the most accessible soloing 'Trane ever committed to record.

3. Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Mingus Ah Um is the conventional choice for old Charles, but Black Saint is arguably the most cohesive and artistically-adventurous statement in jazz history. Mingus employs an eleven-piece band in order to explore the recesses of his psyche, and the results are challenging but highly rewarding.

4. Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles. A simultaneously catchy and abstruse album, Isles takes many of the lessons of Miles's "Second Great Quintet," of which Herbie was a member, and places a unique stamp on them.

5. Miles Davis: Nefertiti. This is the moment when arguably the most talented jazz band ever assembled, Miles's Second Great Quintet, reached its apex. The volume and tempo are dialed back a bit, but the shifts in mood and the interplay between the rhythm and lead sections are nothing short of astounding.

6. Roland Kirk: The Inflated Tear. This album is brimming with personality. Melodic and soothing in places, it is also eccentric and frenetic in others. Kirk is a master of his instrument.

7. Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1: Monk was always unique, and, despite the many precedents and standard tunes that this album established, no other artist has ever replicated Monk's off-kilter, angular playing and compositional style.

8. Wayne Shorter: Juju. Like Empyrean Isles, this album and its main artist are cut from the cloth of Miles's Second Quintet. Here, Wayne simply presents a cohesive set of impeccably written and performed songs.

9. Andrew Hill: Black Fire. Hill is often overlooked in discussions of jazz greats, but he was one of the most individualistic and gifted composers of his generation. His later work with Blue Note favored mellow, arty arrangements, but Black Fire turns up the tempo and lets its players really cut loose.

10. McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy. Tyner is perhaps best known as John Coltrane's pianist, but on this, one of his first efforts as a bandleader, he allows his piano to step to the front of the arrangements. Like Shorter's Juju, the compositions are stunning throughout.

Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth is a recent acquisition of mine that I suspect will creep onto this list at some point.
 
So the Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra sounds like Hot Rats and In A Silent Way making sweet, sweet love. Why has nobody mentioned this record? I knew John McLaughlin was a guitar genius based on Tribute To Jack Johnson, but this is ridiculous.

I heard brawls went on during the making of the record, which is a good sign in this context.
 
Just for fun, Iron Yuppie's ten best jazz albums:

1. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue. The choice may seem cliched, but after hearing over three-hundred jazz albums, this one still stands atop the pedestal in terms of musicianship, mood, and vision.

2. John Coltrane: Blue Train. Although Coltrane is better known and appreciated for his more avant-garde recordings, this Blue Note album features a plethora of infectious melodies and some of the most accessible soloing 'Trane ever committed to record.

3. Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Mingus Ah Um is the conventional choice for old Charles, but Black Saint is arguably the most cohesive and artistically-adventurous statement in jazz history. Mingus employs an eleven-piece band in order to explore the recesses of his psyche, and the results are challenging but highly rewarding.

4. Herbie Hancock: Empyrean Isles. A simultaneously catchy and abstruse album, Isles takes many of the lessons of Miles's "Second Great Quintet," of which Herbie was a member, and places a unique stamp on them.

5. Miles Davis: Nefertiti. This is the moment when arguably the most talented jazz band ever assembled, Miles's Second Great Quintet, reached its apex. The volume and tempo are dialed back a bit, but the shifts in mood and the interplay between the rhythm and lead sections are nothing short of astounding.

6. Roland Kirk: The Inflated Tear. This album is brimming with personality. Melodic and soothing in places, it is also eccentric and frenetic in others. Kirk is a master of his instrument.

7. Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1: Monk was always unique, and, despite the many precedents and standard tunes that this album established, no other artist has ever replicated Monk's off-kilter, angular playing and compositional style.

8. Wayne Shorter: Juju. Like Empyrean Isles, this album and its main artist are cut from the cloth of Miles's Second Quintet. Here, Wayne simply presents a cohesive set of impeccably written and performed songs.

9. Andrew Hill: Black Fire. Hill is often overlooked in discussions of jazz greats, but he was one of the most individualistic and gifted composers of his generation. His later work with Blue Note favored mellow, arty arrangements, but Black Fire turns up the tempo and lets its players really cut loose.

10. McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy. Tyner is perhaps best known as John Coltrane's pianist, but on this, one of his first efforts as a bandleader, he allows his piano to step to the front of the arrangements. Like Shorter's Juju, the compositions are stunning throughout.

Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth is a recent acquisition of mine that I suspect will creep onto this list at some point.


this is the kind of post i was looking for.
 
That sax riff in Deluge is awesome. Shorter had a great ear for melody.

LM, I have not heard of that Orchestra album, but I will be sure to find it. Anything with McLaughlin is bound to be great.
 
LM, I have not heard of that Orchestra album, but I will be sure to find it. Anything with McLaughlin is bound to be great.

The acclaim for it is ridiculous and I'm surprised I waited so long: AllMusic gave it a 5, Christgau gave it an A, and rateyourmusic has it in the top 500 albums ever.
 
Money Jungle is an exceptional album. Ellington, Mingus, Roach: no bullshit. Great compositions, great performances. The first side is basically perfect, but Solitude nearly tops anything on it.
 
Pharoah Sanders' Karma has to be one of the strangest, sloppiest, most passionate and invigorating records ever. It has such a beautiful, natural flow to it...the main (30+ minute) track's chord progression moves with such ease and swagger that you barely notice it change, yet the performance itself is very soulful and alive. My favorite part is the way that the much-touted avant-garde elements are integrated: as a means of catharsis. I'm not big on free-form jazz as a rule, but when that approach is utilized for out of control crescendos, I'm all about it. The weird part is, in spite of its repetition, in spite of the yodeling, this orgy of love, sleigh bells and spiritual enlightenment is essentially perfect, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in jazz to any degree. Really, it's a very fulfilling experience just to hear such a warm and inviting record, one that still manages to challenge.
 
More than any other album that I have heard, Karma embodies the term "cosmic." Thembi is excellent as well.

Miles (or, more appropriately, Miles's estate) just came out with a four-disc live collection from his Second Quintet, my favorite jazz band. The sound quality is astounding.
 
I thought it worth noting that Sam Rivers has passed away. He played briefly with Miles, but was a talented bandleader and saxophonist in his own right, responsible for such excellent albums as Dimensions & Extensions.
 
I should also mention that the girl I am currently in love with mentioned the album L'ascenseur pour l'échafaud the other day. And she speaks French too.

It took every single ounce of self control I had not to get on my knees and propose to her in a blubbering mess on the spot.
 
I should also mention that the girl I am currently in love with mentioned the album L'ascenseur pour l'échafaud the other day. And she speaks French too.

Nice! Talk about an obscure reference. Now I need to go listen to Generique.
 
Sounds like my kind of girl.

Once I'm done tarnishing the reps of your fellow Perthians visiting here, I'm going to show up in person to conquer the rest of your women, Cobbler.
 
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