md655321 Posted December 2, 2005 Report Share Posted December 2, 2005 Just posting this to give you guys a heads up for next week's AOTW. As always, do not post until next week (December 4th.) This album is also available for the rock bottom price of 5.99 from http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Jaso...tars-39241.html Recorded in March of 2001 Jason Moran, Piano Tarus Mateen, Bass Nasheet Waits, Drums and VERY special guest: Sam Rivers, Tenor and Soprano Saxophone, Flute, and Piano on Track 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted December 3, 2005 Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 Finally one I don't have to buy! Will give it a spin ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted December 3, 2005 Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 Good excuse to pull this one out again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted December 3, 2005 Report Share Posted December 3, 2005 Yes indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md655321 Posted December 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 I selected this album for various reasons. To give some background on myself, I am a 24 year old recent college graduate who has been into jazz for about seven or eight years. I started off with the usuall suspects (Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew) and I have slowly worked my way through hundreds of albums, and only recently have I begun to feel like I'm not a novice, although occasionally the knowledge and experience of people like Jim Sangrey, Chuck Nessa, and Chris Albertson humble me greatly. I have felt fortunate to be able to participate in boards like this and the dearly departed BNBB. The history of jazz is a mammoth topic to cover. Anyways, for the first few years I found myself working through the amazing amount of phenomenal jazz that is available. I stuck with the 60s and 50s, slowly picking up Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard etc cds. With each of these artists having dozens to hundreds of albums to choose from, I never really listened to current jazz. To me jazz seemed somewhat dead, or atleast on life support compared to the "Golden Age". What compounded this feeling was the fact that while so many legends were universally agreed upon as masters (such as the ones I have mentioned) all the newer guys were considered much more precarious in their status as true jazz innovators and legends. This board has been rife with debates over whether Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Keith Jarrett and the like were really that good. Atleast, good enough to have general consensus over the greatness of their work. As such, it was more difficult for me to delve into what I considered "current" jazz. I knew John Coltrane was bad so I didnt hesitate to pick up his discs. But 13 dollars seemed to be a big investment for a CD of an artist that many jazz afficionados would view as inferior, atleast compared to the "Golden Age." Well, to bring my rant towards the point, I got a chance to hear a bit of this Jason Moran disc. It spoke to me. Very deeply. It was actually the first Sam Rivers I heard, but I also knew that what these younger guys were doing was bad. I had no doubt in my mind that this wasn't just good modern jazz, or just good jazz or great jazz, this was to me a stone cold classic. I was amazed, and I couldn't stop listening to it. I would not hesistate to put this cd along with Saxophone Collossus or Mingus Ah Um or Miles Smiles as a disc of exceeding value and brilliance. It was the first time I realized something like that on my own, especially with an album made in the 00s. But moreso, what this cd did is ignite my belief that jazz is indeed a very much alive art form. Not just alive, but positively thriving. My hesistation at approaching new jazz slowly melted away. I quickly picked up the rest of what Moran had, and moved on to his work with Osby. I now own many wonderful cds that have been made over the last few years, and I am very excited to be a jazz fan today. Obviously I regret never seen Coltrane, and never seeing Miles, or Mingus, but I am very happy to live in the world where I can see Moran, and Vijay Iyer, and Brad Mehldau, and Kenny Garrett and many other wonderful musicians. On to the music quickly. So much of the truly interesting and innovative post-Coltrane jazz that I had listened to seemed about casting off old forms in the pursuit of musical freedom. It was about abandoning tempo and rhythm to make music in the now. And I loved it. But Moran takes it a step further, and reintegrates the history of jazz while still being free and shifting rhythms. The music is all incredibly complex and moving, but you can tell Moran has an amazing understanding of jazz history, and not in a Wynton Marsalis way. Moran gets to true freedom by not abandoning jazz history, but by using all of it. Earl Hines, Cecil Taylor, Coltrane, Sam Rivers (obviously), Monk, Paul Bley, Jaki Byard, Art Tatum, Tony Williams, Sonny Murray, its all there. And its very very beautiful and still wholly original. Sam Rivers is fantastic throughout as well. As Jason Moran once remarked on the topic of innovation in jazz "I aint just making fries here." Amen. /end rant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 I dig this record a lot. In fact, at some point a few months ago I ended up putting it on the iPod after probably a year or two (at least) of not listening to it. And upon hearing it, I thought "wow this guy's music is good". The album loses focus a little near the end, but there's good stuff the whole way through and "Foot Under Foot" has really juicy, unabashed inside/outside playing. I think I've used that phrase about 5 times today but it really fits here. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't heard any of Jason's other work, though he might be playing synths (?) on a Steve Coleman album that I have. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 So would this then be a good place to start with Moran? I've been curious but afraid of being underwhelmed also. Nasheet is a great drummer, at least with Peter Brotzmann, where I've seen him several times, and with Andrew Hill, where I saw him once several years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md655321 Posted December 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 This is definitely his most fully realized effort, imo. Facing Left is also quite good. His newest, Same Mother, has more of a blue bent ot it with a guitar added to the trio. I enjoy that immensely as well. the only ones I dont whole heartedly reccommend are Sountrack to Human Motion, which is good but not near the same league as the others, and Modernistic, which is solo piano. Some great stuff on there, but no his best work. Its good if you love solo piano though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 So would this then be a good place to start with Moran? I've been curious but afraid of being underwhelmed also. Nasheet is a great drummer, at least with Peter Brotzmann, where I've seen him several times, and with Andrew Hill, where I saw him once several years ago. Do you have the Von Freeman on Premontion called "The Improvisor" from 2-3 years ago? There are a couple of cuts with Moran on piano and he really shines in this setting. I like him a lot--never had the chance to hear him live but I'm sure I will one day. And ANY record with Sam Rivers on it is worth buying, dontcha think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 No, I don't have that Von record. Add it to the list, I guess... For whatever reason, I am not a huge fan of Sam Rivers, though I do like him all right. It's strange, because I like a number of people who are out of a similar bag - and in theory, anyone who is a bridge between Wayne Shorter and Frank Lowe should be up my alley. Whatever, again another thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I was able to see Jason Moran at the Village Vanguard on two consecutive nights a month or so ago, with the Same Mother group. It was outstanding. He played quite a lot from the Same Mother CD (I had to wait to the second night for I'll Play the Blues for You, but it was worth the wait). He still plays Body and Soul, which I would have thought could not be made fresh, but he does so. He's certainly among my preferred current jazz musicians. (Modernistic, a solo disc, is another good place to start). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalo Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 ....but you can tell Moran has an amazing understanding of jazz history, and not in a Wynton Marsalis way. Moran gets to true freedom by not abandoning jazz history, but by using all of it. Earl Hines, Cecil Taylor, Coltrane, Sam Rivers (obviously), Monk, Paul Bley, Jaki Byard, Art Tatum, Tony Williams, Sonny Murray, its all there. And its very very beautiful and still wholly original. I dig your take on Moran, md655321! You're a damn sight further along in your jazz appreciation than I was at your age, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to delving back into Black Stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 What amazed me most about this disc besides Moran's undisputed grasp of jazz history and styles, is Sam Rivers' timeless modernity - he sounds fresher and less inhibited and more creative and fearless than pretty much any other saxist that came after him. The prototype modernist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 One apect of this fine album not yet commented upon is the sound quality. Not that I fixate upon sound engineering technicalities when I'm listening to this or anything else; on the contrary, however they did it, what I like about this is that it doesn't call attention to itself as a recording but allows me to hear through the process to the music - what i'm hearing is not the recording but instruments in a room, or as coase as a recording can get. 'Recording studio as an instrument' may be OK for pop, but for jazz I prefer a more documentary approach, even if that may involve some trickery to get there... as for the m,usic itself, I dig, even if none of the tunes are quite as strong as "Beatrice", etc. Which may be an unfair comparison, but any BN with someone from back in the day on it invites exactly that sort of invidious comparison. Thanx muchly for making this AOTW, hadn't listened to it in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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