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"Commercial" Albums by "Serious" Jazz Musicians


sonnyhill

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Arthur Blythe's death prompted me to listen to his Put Sunshine In it for the first time on You Tube.  I had avoided it previously because it had received unfavorable reviews.  Upon listening to it, I find that I appreciate it for what it is and that I like it -- a lot.  Not too long ago, I would have scoffed at the "commercial" nature of the recording and probably not listened to much of it after the first few notes.  Arthur's great tone on his instrument and musicianship might have something to do with it, but I also hear precursors to elements used by Stereolab in several of their recordings and Wayne Shorter in High Life.  Are there any other examples of "serious" jazz musicians releasing albums in a similar style -  e.g.  using pop elements with original compositions, synthesizers, and drum machines?

R.I.P. Arthur Blythe

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I'm a huge Garrett fan and a word on "Simply Said" since it was mentioned.  Aside from the title track which is really a short sweet pop tune (which gets a bit cheesy) and "Sounds Like Winter", it's not really a smooth jazz album at all, it's worth it to me for "GTDS", "Charlie Brown Goes to South Africa", "Third Quadrant" and "Organized Colors".  "Prisoner of Love" is a way worse offender, but it shows that from the beginning how wide Garrett's interests are and that's a good thing. I say this while listening to Jason Miles: "To Grover with Love" which has players I don't even normally have interest in like Eric Darius playing their butts off aannd it largely avoids the flush of getting too smooth with a heavy dose offf funk, and hey it's Ralph McDonald's last recording.

Since I recently bought and been through the Herbie Columbia box,  I think "Feets Don't Fail Me Now" (which is just bad), "Monster" (even worse) "Magic Windows" and "Lite Me Up" are the most commercial, to me "Magic Windows" and "Lite Me Up" aren't half bad for what they are.  Because I like electonic music, my views on "Future Shock", "Sound System" and "Perfect Machine" as being the worst Herbie have changed, does it rank with my favorite BN or Columbia's of his? no, but the willingness for something at the time fresh, was great, and there's some pretty good electro on them.

Dizzy's "Closer to the Source" besides "Dizzy's Party" and "Free Ride" are probably the most commercial things he ever made, and "Source" just sucks. 

 

 

 

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