JAZZ Discussion

[Poisoned Youth]

Back in the days of PEv2, I used to start various jazz threads public and private to varying degrees of success. Jazz is a very large portion of my personal collection even though I really wasn't very into it before 2000. It took me years to catch up with the likes of labels like Blue Note, Impulse, and ECM.

What I'm most impressed about now however is how strong the current jazz scene is. Not unlike Progressive Rock, you have your old guard and a plethora of new material that tries to compete but most of it goes unnoticed. Regardless, it's there. And it's a great time to be a fan of jazz.

So let's start up a discussion with this in mind. Based on my previous experience, this could be a fruitful discussion as there are a lot of closet jazz fans here. But I've also seen things turn the other way. So I have two simple requests:

1) No jazz vs. prog labeling arguments

2) Keep this particular thread free of promotion (don't promote your album, reviews, etc.)


These two principles helped make the "Proggy Indie Recs" a success for several years.

[Poisoned Youth]

I'll get things started with some of my favorite jazz from 2012.

Andy Emler's MegaOctet - E Total

Quirky big-band jazz with lots of depth. He's a Zappa fan, so you might here a little... (hard to find clips)





David Gilmore - Numerology - Live at Jazz Standard

This is right out of Steve Coleman's playbook. I just recently got this as I didn't even know it was released, but it's risen to perhaps my favorite album of the year. Gilmore takes a surprisingly back seat role through much of this recording.





Amit Friedman Sextet - Sunrise

Melodic, majestic, and all around "feel good", this is a very nice debut album that I got enough buzz that I had finally learned about it.






Anyone else?

[NogbadTheBad]

Ok I'm in, not wanting to derail the thread straight away but based on rule one are we ok talking Fusion as that tends to be a lot of what I buy these days.

I've got a relatively small Jazz collection, maybe less than 40 albums. I started from the classics of Coltrane & Miles with so Andy Shepard & Courtney Pine thrown it. My recent rebirth of interest kicked off at Cuneifest where there was a Jazz Day, I knew none of the bands but enjoyed all of them.

Recent favorites:-

Jaga Jazzist



Elephant9



Hiromi

[NogbadTheBad]

Also enjoying

Sao Paulo Underground



Phlox

[walt]

Cecil Taylor was(is) a tough listen for me.The first record i truly dug,after trying and failing to like a few Cecil Taylor records my friend tossed my way many years ago, was Dark To Themselves, a live session on Enja from 1976.This record sounded very together, to me,with a narrative flow that i found(and still find) more welcoming to my ears than quite a few other CT recordings.

I'd say that Dark To Themselves, the two Blue Note records, and Student Studies are the Cecil Taylor cds i reach for when i'm in the mood for Taylor's brand of energy.Here's clip from Dark to Themselves, the first 20 minutes of a 60 minute track from the cd.

[walt]

Truth be told, i haven't checked out too many contemporary jazz bands over the last few years.For some reason, i tend to gravitate to older stuff,archival issues and re-issues and music that fell through the cracks for me over the years.I know i'm missing out on some great music but...it is what it is.Sometimes, my musical interests and predilictions are a puzzle to me.

I have enjoyed French flute player Magic Malik's work, especially his Short Cuts cd,from 2011.Here's a track from Short Cuts.

[Jerjo]

I just got Michael Formanek's Small Places, from a recommendation from PE or NPR, I'm not sure. Regardless, I likes

[N_Singh]

My favorite young musician. Screw it, one of my favorite musicians. Period. 25 years old, what a joy to listen to Julian Lage. Check out the group interaction here, not your usual guitar-(double)bass-drums. Check out the drummer's kit. Then dig how the drummer comps for the bassist during his solo.

Beautiful use of space, intense groove. This is so bad ass. So absolutely joyous and infectious. This is their version of a tune that was in Basie's New Testament book for many years, Neal Hefti's "Li'l Darling"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3QfovGl4Qg

[Reid]

The Andy Emler MegaOctet sounds good! I'll look for some of their music. I hadn't heard of them before.

There's always tons of new stuff happening, but most of it sounds like it's been done before. I'm looking for some unique voices. The only new release I've picked up recently is John Hollenbeck's Songs I Like A Lot, which I like a lot! IMO, Hollenbeck has one of those unique voices. As an arranger, he has his own sound which sets him apart. I started a thread about the new CD a couple weeks ago, and there's a link for a live show if anyone's interested.
http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...ohn+hollenbeck

[100423]

Subscribed to this because I know there will be a lot of inspiring music.

[progeezer]

I'll be lurking here as well, and maybe occasionally posting. I have some knowledge of the "old guard", but very little about new jazz artists.

The exception (with a nod to Ian), is Hiromi.

Last year, there was a concert here called "3 Solo Pianos", which featured Cedar Walton, Jacky Terrasson and Hiromi. For once (and perhaps the only time), I was familiar with a jazz artist that Kay (the jazz afficianado in this relationship) hadn't previously heard.

After she finished picking her jaw off the floor, she has since become a huge fan of the trio..

[walt]

The 2007 reunion concert in NYC of the Sam Rivers Trio, with Dave Holland and Barry Altschul has been out on a 2cd set for a while, and it's the real deal.

Here's the only clip i can find from the cd,this has Sam Rivers on flute throughout.Dave Holland sounds great, strong and fleet.As do Sam and Barry.

[Reid]

^^^
Great concert, Walt! Sam Rivers went out at the top of his game. RIP

[mogrooves]

Quirky big-band jazz

Michael Formanek's Small Places

..... as well as the previous The Rub & Spare Change

Steve Lehman is my current fave alto player, exemplary of an "anti-swing"/"up-against-the-time" rhythmic conception common to a lot of the younger cats these days:



...and give the drummer some:

[Scott Bails]

My favorite young musician. Screw it, one of my favorite musicians. Period. 25 years old, what a joy to listen to Julian Lage. Check out the group interaction here, not your usual guitar-(double)bass-drums. Check out the drummer's kit. Then dig how the drummer comps for the bassist during his solo.

Beautiful use of space, intense groove. This is so bad ass. So absolutely joyous and infectious. This is their version of a tune that was in Basie's New Testament book for many years, Neal Hefti's "Li'l Darling"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3QfovGl4Qg

Wow. That was freakin' awesome.

[jkelman]

It's hard for me not to be thinking of my reviews, since most of the jazz I listen to is in the context of preparing to write about it.

But a couple of "discretionary listening" things that have been (re)capturing my ears:

1. Guitarist Joel Harrison: beyond being a fine guitarist, he's a terrific conceptualist, whether writing arrangements of Paul Motian music for a string quintet with two guitars, violin, viola and cello, or larger, more rhythmically driving ensemble works for sextet and septet. A few favorites? The Music of Paul Motian (Sunnyside, 2011), Harbor (HighNote, 2007) and Search (Sunnyside, 2011). Those who want to read reviews can do so here, but regardless, I really recommend checking out this guy's work. He even turned a coy concept (Joel Harrison plays George Harrison on Harrison on Harrison (HighNote, 2005)), but with an ass-kicking group that included two incendiary Dave's (Liebman and Binney) and some imaginative arrangements, it was also another winner.

2. John Abercrombie - Arcade (1979), Abercrombie Quartet (1980) and M (1981), three ECM recordings that, barring a brief, limited edition Japanese CD of Arcade, have yet to see CD issue. Until now. Now, again,admittedly I am writing liners for the forthcoming box set that finally sees these all out on CD, but it's the first time (well, the second actually) that I went to the label and pitched writing the liners. As an aspiring guitarist, these three recordings, also featuring pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Peter Donald, were tremendously important to me at the time of release. And they still sound every bit as fresh, forward-looking and relevant today as they did then. Most writing split between Abercrombie, who really began to find his compositional voice with these records (despite Timeless (ECM, 1975) including two songs that have since become standards of sorts - "Ralph's Piano Waltz" and the title track) and Beirach, who was in high demand at the time, and who has three ECM recordings of his own - Eon, Hubris and ELM that are also screaming for reissue). Bottom line: yeah, I'm writing the liners, but with the Japanese Arcade and vinyl>CDR transfers of the other two, these are three recordings that I have been listening to many times a year, year in and year out, and as a fan, was one of the folks screaming for these to be issues on CD.

3. For Jim Hall fans, it may be expensive, but if you're a fan of his 1975 A&M Live! album with Don Thompson and Terry Clarke, ArtistShare has recently released a 3-CD box with three more hours of music from the same club date, that may actually be better than the original album. housed in a small dimensioned but 150 page book with lots of revealing info and testimonials, it's $75 well-spent (and I bought it, so did not review it).

[Oreb]

There is a thriving jazz scene here in Australia - often by virtue of wonderful Kiwi musicians like Mike Nock.

This latest album by Jonathan Zwartz is lovely. His previous one, The Sea, got a lot of well-deserved attention, but for me it was a little too Miles Davis influenced to be a total success. The new one, however, has the ghost of the Great Charles Mingus in it's digital grooves - and that's always a good thing:



Props too to Joseph Tawadros, who does beautiful work in a jazz context:



Here's his earlier album with John Abercrombie:

[Trane]

Back in the days of PEv2, I used to start various jazz threads public and private to varying degrees of success.

I'm in.... just in case it goes to PM land

Will read this tomorrow (off to bed now)

[polmico]

Recent favorites:-

Jaga Jazzist

Holy shit, that is excellent! I have the album that JJ put out with Motorpsycho, and The Death-Defying Unicorn was my favorite album from last year. That JJ clip sounds like the best of the instrumental moments from that album.

I know I have to check out Elephant 9, too. But that Jaga Jazzist album is now a super must buy.

It's going to take a while to go through all the clips in this thread, and I look forward to it.

I've been listening to a lot of Django lately. I'm eagerly awaiting a Mal Waldron box set (discussed in the "Hate Jazz" thread) and the new album from the Soft Machine Legacy.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Me likely the jazzy things.

I'll admit to much more knowledge/experience about fusion, but even back in the day I really enjoyed jazz...just never really explored it much. Still mainly digging in to the big names, but always love an obscurity...or something from the modern time frame. Favorite jazz artists: Sun Ra, J Coltrane, Peter Brotzmann.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Also, to be the first to ask for knowledge:

I've been trying to find very aggressive (visceral/loud/noisy/fiery) free jazz for quite sometime. The first album I bought in this style was Brotzmann's Machine Gun. It was like being hit with a brick in the face repeatedly. It was magic. Unfortunately, nothing since has quenched my thirst for such things quite like MG. Many things felt so...tame after listening to MG. Either lots of introspective/quiet breaks, or just not as enduringly intense as I hoped for. The closest thing I've found is some live video of Last Exit (which of course features the Brotzs). So, jazz loving populace of PE, I turn a hungry ear to you...what can you recommend for me of this ilk?

(Note: I've heard the following: Coltrane's Ascension [and other wilder bits], Coleman's Free Jazz, Ayler's Spiritual Unity, Last Exit, various Weasel Walter projects (including The Flying Luttenbachers which do come close as well, even if not really jazz) & The Thing [including some other Mats G. stuff]. However, please feel free to recommend anything even if it seems obvious)

Many thanks.

[jkelman]

Holy shit, that is excellent! I have the album that JJ put out with Motorpsycho, and The Death-Defying Unicorn was my favorite album from last year. That JJ clip sounds like the best of the instrumental moments from that album.

I know I have to check out Elephant 9, too. But that Jaga Jazzist album is now a super must buy.

It's going to take a while to go through all the clips in this thread, and I look forward to it.

I've been listening to a lot of Django lately. I'm eagerly awaiting a Mal Waldron box set (discussed in the "Hate Jazz" thread) and the new album from the Soft Machine Legacy.

I was at the JJ show in Oslo where they recorded with Britten. It smoked. Album out in May.

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Review here.

[fictionmusic]

a timely thread as my drummer and I have been exchanging videos today of modern jazz bands we like


been enjoying this guy lately





and this guy





and these guys

[Trane]

thanks for
Andy Emler's MegaOctet
FIGHT THE BIG BULL
Plox is also interesting (my library system doesn't have it, though)

I knew quite a bit of the rest... or didn't care for it...

But it's an excellent first page of a future great thread

[walt]

I know the focus of this thread is on jazz in the present era,but i feel strongly that this music should be brought to the attention of jazz lovers(those who aren't already hip to Krzysztof Komeda).

Krzysztof Komeda was a Polish jazz pianist/composer who led some interesting ensembles in the mid 60's in Poland.This particular session kinda knocked me out a couple of years ago when someone hipped me to it.The record is titled Astigmatic,recorded in Warsaw in 1965.Personnel is Krzysztof Komeda-piano,Tomasz Stanko-trumpet,Zbigniew Namyslowski-alto sax,Gunter Lenz-bass, Rune Carlson-drums.It's more than clear from this(and other) sessions that forward looking,hip music was being played and recorded in Poland in the mid 60s.Music that could hold its own with anything being made on either side of the Atlantic.This is the title track from Astigmatic.The cd is available.Enjoy.