Your favorite sounding jazz records

[???????]

Monk can play his 10 songs like nobody's business.

I don't understand this statement about one of the most prolific composers in jazz.

[shedshrine]

Hi Brad,

Enjoyed your kitchen music and your posts. Amazed anyone would take anything I post seriously, but on this one I understand.

I have maybe 8 of Monk's albums, and the guys at work have a few too. They get rotated all the time at work. My comment was a lighthearted poke at the appearance of many of the same tunes on many of them, many different performances. Probably because we have too many compilations, "epistrophy" comes to mind. Anyway, point taken. I don't mean to denigrate the man's work, output, influence or frigging greatness in any way! He's on my short list of gotta have music for god's sake. While I'm on the grill, let me recant my Cassandra Wilson coffee comment. I obviously don't get it, and the woman can sing me under the table and down the block. Jazz is powerful "get something new out of it each time" stuff that never ceases to inspire and amaze. Straight, no chaser.

Mike

[???????]

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[heylow]

I hope it's not lame to pick live records because my 2 favorite headphone jazz records are easily...

Coltrane: Complete Village Vanguard

and

Monk: Live at the IT Club.

I love a lot of other records but these are just something special to listen to for me.



heylow

[percussion boy]

Some more aural gems -- none by RVG, although he's great:

1. Miles, MILESTONES -- As a kid, I remember really tripping on the way they used echo chamber on the drums. (Or is it the room?)

2. Weather Report, HEAVY WEATHER -- Nice mix, in the modern multi-track sense. You can hear each element distinctly, yet they all blend into one big juicy whole. The piano sound is unusual, kind of brittle, but it works in this context. Maybe Joe Zawinul just made the instrument sound like that with his hands?

3. Art Ensemble of Chicago, PEOPLE IN SORROW -- Done at some studio in France. Very strange music, lots of trumpet, weird noises, and mallet instruments, all impeccably recorded.

4. Miles again -- "Theme from Jack Johnson," from AGHARTA -- amazing live performance, a little like Miles-meets-Band-of-Gypsies. Maybe a case of good-ENOUGH engineering, like good-enough parenting.

5. Andrew Hill -ANDREW! -- Oops, I think that's Rudy. Rudy rules.

[percussion boy]

Often so many of Monk's tunes that were not in this 'rotation' and did not become as 'standard' as other ones were some of the most interesting stuff (again like Stevie Wonder!)

+1

Of the "non-singles," I especially like "Jackie-ing," "Ugly Beauty," "Monk's Mood," "Ask Me Now," and "Brilliant Corners."

It's worth grabbing the Monk songbook (which has everything he ever wrote), and playing the tunes for yourself; they work in different moods and tempos, and get deeper with greater exposure.

[0xeneye]

What's that story again about Thelonius trying out for Miles Davis' band, and they thought he was retarded because he just sat at the piano mumbling and playing little thingies with one hand

Miles himself said this story was "rumors and bullshit".

[Mankinda]

I can't get enough of George Benson's album White Rabbit... With Ron Carter and Billy Cobham (sp?)?its dynamic and lush? Don?t fear the Benson: this record happened before his tiger-striped rayon shirt era.

The title track IS the "White Rabbit" you're thinking of, but you?ll forget all about Grace Slick after listening? great rhythm beds for really thoughtful musical compositions/arrangements.

[kdarr]

Billy Cobham - Spectrum (!)

The production is so 70's, I bet the waveforms look like paisley.

Lee Sklar and Tommy Bolin just KILL on that record. Cobham's no slouch either.

[<|>]

[centurymantra]

I can't get enough of George Benson's album White Rabbit... With Ron Carter and Billy Cobham (sp?)?its dynamic and lush? Don?t fear the Benson: this record happened before his tiger-striped rayon shirt era.

The title track IS the "White Rabbit" you're thinking of, but you?ll forget all about Grace Slick after listening? great rhythm beds for really thoughtful musical compositions/arrangements.

I think some of those pop-tune interpretations the jazz guys recorded are actually quite nice. That being said, the thought of purchasing a George Benson record does allow a little corner of dread to creep into my head...

Gabor Szabo was a master of the re-interpreted pop tune and actually fits nicely into the thread of 'great sounding jazz records'. He put out some great stuff and it does tend to get overlooked. I think all the records of his that I own have a handful of cover tunes on them, and these are always unique revisions and sometimes highlights of the record. One of his records is called Jazz Raga and it has one of the greatest '60's kitsch album covers ever...displayed on that glorious Impulse gatefold. I mean, you gotta give props to a guy with an album sporting a pic of himself jamming on a sitar while riding a Vespa scooter...complete with the adoring uber-swank mod chick. He was ahead of the curve on the sitar-exploitation and the music is pretty great...I'm going to make a point of digging this one out over the weekend



BTW...the Airplane version of White Rabbit prob. never needs to be aired again at this point, but the orig. version that was recorded by Grace Slick and the Great Society is surprisingly ace. The instrumental build up of the theme that leads into the tune is primo West Coast psych and there's a much heavier 'vibe' in this version of the song. Gave me new-found respect for this song.

[Trick Fall]

Not that I know anything about jazz now, but about ten years ago I bought my first two jazz records and they were Thelonious Himself and Monk's Music and man do I still dig them. Even the hiss adds to the whole thing. I don't know, I often put these two records on to get lost in music and just go somewhere else.

On another note I recently had to call Creed Taylor for a work thing and wound up bs'ing with him for a little while which was very cool. Definitely an interesting guy.

[honkyjonk]

Ornette Coleman's "The shape of jazz to come" is about as good as it gets in my opinion.

[LeedyGuy]

Ornette Coleman's "The shape of jazz to come" is about as good as it gets in my opinion.

No kiddin...forgot about that one.

[jjblair]

Here's two:


I admit, I'm a little biased about the second one.

[NewAndImprov]

Here's two:


I admit, I'm a little biased about the second one.

Wow, just ordered Kind of Black based on the CDBaby samples, thanks for the tip.

I just started a Hammond-based trio, so I've been obsessively listening that kind of stuff lately. Some faves:

Any of the Blue Note Larry Young or Big John Patton discs from the 60's. RVG recorded the B3 like no one else.

Dr. Lonnie Smith: Boogaloo to Beck. An organ trio tribute to Beck that works surprisingly well, and I generally can't stand Beck. The Dr. is just such a casually virtuoso player, you get the feeling that he knocked this one out in an afternoon having never heard the original versions of the tunes, and his playing on this is just brilliant. Superbly recorded, and the Hammond he's playing sounds like it's on its last legs, soo much character.

Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Larry Goldings, Trio Beyond: Saudades. A tribute to Tony Williams' Emergency, only much better recorded, ECM stylee. I was not familiar with Goldings before this, he's amazing. His Sweet Science disc is also very nice.