AllenLowe

Phil Freeman is an absolute idiot. He knows nothing about music, regularly says bizarre things about "inside" jazz performance, and blocked me on Facebook for disagreeing with him. Honestly, I wouldn't spend 2 cents on anything he writes. He just knows nothing about jazz. I would wait for Ben Young's book. Or just listen to the music. read this, and see if you want to spend any money on a big written by this guy; he hasn't a clue about Bird or Bebop (which he things is a music-school thing) - and how can you trust the opinion of ANY contemporary jazz writer he says these kind of things about Bird, that he lacks grit, etc.: "Anyway, listening to this mostly makes me think about why Charlie Parker’s music has never had the impact on me that it has had on so many others. Like, I can hear that he’s a virtuoso player, and I acknowledge his influence — he changed the way players after him approached composition, improvisation, and even their tone on their instruments. But any time I read about Parker being called the greatest saxophonist ever, or whatever, I always think Sure, for one particular value of “great.” "His melodically and harmonically adventurous, chord-flipping style (which he famously described as “playing clean and looking for the pretty notes”) is one way to play jazz. But it’s not the only way, by any means. Personally, I have always been more drawn to players with more rawness and grit to to their sound. And I don’t just mean free jazz. A lot of what Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and others — even more mainstream players like Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson — did in the 1960s was following in the footsteps of players like Illinois Jacquet, Big Jay McNeely, Red Prysock, Arnett Cobb, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and others. And that kind of music has always had a greater appeal to me than the slippery instrumental one-upmanship (Thelonious Monk, easily the greatest composer the movement produced, said, “We’re going to create something they [meaning fellow musicians] can’t steal, because they can’t play it”) of bebop. I think Jimmy Lyons is a hugely important figure, because he was able to take bebop ideas and import them into “free” or “avant-garde” settings. (I put “avant-garde” in quotes there because bebop itself was 100% avant-garde music when it first developed, in the 1940s.) "Charlie Parker was playing publicly as early as the mid-1930s, but didn’t break out on record until 1945, because of a World War II-era recording ban, and he died in 1955. He was hugely influential and inspirational during the roughly ten-year period that he was a major figure, and bebop was a fascinating phenomenon. Almost punk in its speed and aggressiveness, but extraordinarily demanding on a technical level, it was kind of a music-school thing. It’s the kind of music you get when a bunch of young, talented men get together in a room, night after night, and start showing off for each other. “Listen to what I came up with!” “Oh, yeah? Well, how about this?” And on and on, at lightning speed. Which is exactly why it continues to appeal to many young jazz musicians. "The Massey Hall concert was kind of the period at the end of the bebop sentence, though. The style was no longer any kind of revolution by 1953; in fact, all of its key ideas had been established by 1948, and sometimes I feel like its true legacy might be the pervasive attitude among jazz musicians that it’s the audience’s fault if they don’t like what they’re hearing. It was yesterday’s future. Personally, I’d rather listen to a lot of other things by Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, and I just…don’t listen to Charlie Parker very often, and Bud Powell even less. But if you’ve never heard this concert — and there’s no reason why you should have! It’s from 70 years ago! — Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings is worth checking out at least once." And I will add that Bird was on record with McShann before 1945.

you have talked me into it - now I hope they will do Duke's 1920s stuff; or maybe they have. The 1920s remains my favorite, the band is especially deep and loose.

Sorry I tried to post a picture and can't get it to work, also cannot delete this thread. Apologies

shouldn't the title of this thread be: "To What Classical Music Are You Listening?"

really? Oi. Also, btw, the tenor solo is terrific.

I'm with you - also, just before 2:00 he does a little interval jump which is very Dolphy-esque, in embryo. But who are they calling the best big-band drummer ever? Silly; my money is on John Markham for the best big band drummer, not this guy, who is still fine.

look, send me your money and I'll fly out there and pick the order up for you. But you gotta send me cash, small bills. And no dye.

I actually know Ken well and have recorded with him on several CDs; on the last, In the Dark, he does some free improvising, and does it beautifully. He is a much more versatile musician than people realize. Also a great guy.

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sale has ended. To the landfill.

I loved John R.T., nicest guy ever - and he was able to transfer music in the best possible way - and the key, other than his expertise, was the sources he had. He and Brian Rust were able to acquire test pressings and metal masters from sometimes mysterious sources (meaning someone spirited them out of certain places), clean sources in mint shape. The tragedy of American music is the loss of masters, from Victor, Okeh, Columbia - though some still exist, clueless engineers have no idea how to handle them (and also, note, that Davies, by the time of the above transfers, was using CEDAR digital noise reduction; he was no Luddite).

I would tend to ignore anything recorded after, maybe 1955, in order to get an accurate aural picture of the times. Don't forget Kid Rena, one of the first to record in the revival. Tons of Bunk Johnson, inconsistent but some moments of real beauty; I would pick up the Decca sessions for a start. Some else mentioned American Music, Bill Russell's label, I think, and almost everything on that is worthwhile. Tom Brown (trombonist, not so known, but may have even been playing jazz in Chicago and elsewhere even before the ODJB). He recorded in the 1950s Johnny Wiggs, fine trumpeter, distinctive player and even more distinctive for being an active supporter of MLK; also had a clear Bix influence. Sharkey Bonnano Paul Barbarin, great drummer. Lizzie Miles, a singer who, at her peak, was, IMHO, the equal of Bessie Smith. Ann Cook, singer, who recorded in the 1920s with Louis Dumaine, and then later on for American Music after, IIRC, she got out of prison for stabbing someone. She became a church lady. Big Eye Nelson. Geroge Lewis. JELLY MORTON - get the General Recordings of his solo piano, amazing, brilliant stuff reissued on Commodore. Made just before the revival, as, sadly, Morton died too soon, but gives you a clear picture of what a more progressive New Orleans player was thinking about. Louis Prima - few people realize what a terrific trumpeter he was before he became a star. Irving Fazola - beautiful clarinetist. One of the best. Died young. I am sure there is lots more; I would avoid Al Hirt and Pete Fountain. That's really tourist music, though both were excellent musicians.

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thanks, I will check it out.

I am interested to see the interest in Matlock. He lives around here and we have worked together, but I have yet to hear him do anything that really moved me. Can you guys give me some recommendations?

well, then they should leave it, or not complain that they don't get hired. In both instances I cited, the problem wasn't bad business practices but musicians who could not get their shi* together. In Walrath's case he was ignoring 2 major, high visibillity gigs that paid well.

Jack is a good guy and a great player, but certain events lead me to believe that his complaints about lack of recognition are pointed in the wrong direction. He does not respond to queries, and not just from me. Reminds me of what Roswell Rudd told me about Herbie Nichols; Ros thought Herbie's inability to get work was purely his own fault, for not taking care of business.

it was Doc Cheatham who told me how Percy died; quite awful.

what a tragic story. I never knew how he died, and was hoping it was not the usual musician's drug trajectory story. Now he's out there with Eddie Costa and Dave Lambert and Clifford Brown, just for starters.

it may be time for me to revisit Ran. I just never warmed to his playing, I tended to admire it without liking it. When I listen I always find myself waiting for something to happen. But I am an impatient listener, so I cannot say that is my final verdict.

it's probably not a popular opinion, but non jazz musicians do not realize how much of the music they admire in the creative/free music scene is simple to play or re-create. I think this is an aspect of simplification which we don't talk about much. I was able to play in that style when I was 16, and play in it sometimes now, but am shocked at how lazy and repetitive so much of it is as supposedly "composed" and performed today. It is the path of lease resistance.

but if the pond is huge - really an ocean - the Scum Also Rises.

well, you cannot avoid the stagnancy; if you are a musician, or any other kind of artist, the stagnancy becomes the standard, and makes it harder to function except as a rebel, and rebels are often rejected and prevented from working.

well, from the way this guy responded to me, I would still wonder; chances are that what they are doing is converting their back catalog to CDR,

I like the label, but for a while, and maybe now, they were/are using CDRs and not informing anyone. When I sent an email complaining politely the guy who answered got pretty nasty.