neveronfriday

This should be moved to the politics thread!

"We are red, we are white ..." B)

Yeah, there were lots of stories flying around re Thad's, err, private life. -_- Much of it, at least for his DK time, I thought was wildly exaggerated, but he seemed to enjoy (somewhat) the notoriety. Cheers!

I didn't know Thad nearly well enough for him to tell me that kind of stuff, but what I remember is that when we talked about drumming (which we often did ... that was around the time I was doing some studying with Ed Thigpen), he only had positive things to say about Mel. At that time, the Danish jazz scene was smoking and at Thad's concerts one might well run into any of the many (American) musicians who had chosen Copenhagen/Scandinavia as their homebase. Just the other day I was talking to an old friend about the many times we went to see Teddy Wilson at "Slukefter" (that was a really tiny and very smokey jazz club within the premises of Tivoli, the world-famous (and vastly overrated) amusement park in the center of Copenhagen). But the "Montmartre Jazz Club", which was already in its final throws at the time, had so many good concerts that I often had to skip school the next day just to take it all in. A grand time. Cheers!

Deep, Mel Lewis is one of my favorite drummers. It wasn't until the later 70s really, that I caught on to his work. I really discovered him through Thad Jones. Thad Jones I saw every chance I got when I lived in Copenhagen (1976 onwards) and had the chance to talk to him many times. He was full of praise for Mel and that's what got me interested. I was still pretty young at the time and am only now beginning to fully understand how good Mel was. And Thad was just it. A fantastic arranger and both a wonderful musician and man. Seeing him live was just a blast. The man was all music. Cheers!

Mel Lewis. One smart guy. Cheers!

Sleigh Ride. Killer track! Cheers!

I don't really know why, although I suspect it is because of the guitar work, but that album has always been one of my favorite ones ... it just grows on you.

Die grossen Tanz-Orchester: 1930 - 1950 Around August of this year, Germany saw the release of an interesting CD series which will be completed next year, if I understood correctly. This might not be of interest to those of you who zero in on all the fabulous Blue Note et. al. recordings of a later time, but from the posts of quite some people on this board I deduced that there might be enough interest in these. So, here we go. Between 1933 and 1945, Germany saw a virtual explosion of "dance bands" (a term used instead of "big band") that played the music which was, for the earlier part of that phase, illegal and shunned - jazz (or continental jazz, as Americans were apt to call it). The term jazz was avoided at all costs, but the music remained exactly that - jazz, mostly of the swing type. In cooperation with a German TV magazine, Universal Jazz reissued this much sought-after series entitled "Die grossen Tanz-Orchester 1930 - 1950" which had already left quite in impression when the series was released by Polydor in the late 70s. If you still happen to be into vinyl, the original double-LPs fetch quite some prices around the collectors' scene and are virtually impossible to find in a decent condition. Polydor was the first company to focus on this fascinating time of German music history, and until the release of the "Swinging Ballroom Berlin" boxes (2 boxes with 4 CDs each), it also happened to be more or less the only series which covered this ground. The first 10 CDs in the new reissue series focus on some of the best known swing bands and include pretty much the best recordings of the era (I know this can be disputed somewhat in parts, but that is not really the point of this post) and gives the listener an extremely well-researched and expertly compiled overview. The CDs' liner notes are the original ones written by Horst H. Lange (he died in 2001 and did not live to see the reissue of this wonderful series). He was one of Germany's most knowledgable jazz critics with a huge private collection and an impressive list of internationally acclaimed publications. The liner notes (only printed in German) are illustrated with lots of rare photos. The reissues were carefully remastered (compared to the original vinyl release - I have those as well - the sound is excellent) and uniformly packaged, sporting an old radio on each front cover. I might add to this thread later, but suffice it to say that the music included, especially when listened to in sequence (as much as that is possible) offers a fascinating glimpse into the development of big band jazz in Germany right into the 50s. If you have any questions, ask me. Cheers!

My picks: Cheers!

Taken from http://www.wulffmorgenthaler.com/ Cheers!

randissimo, what was it that fascinated you so much about Antonio Sanchez? Care to elaborate? I've never seen the guy live (guess I should have a look at that DVD), but I heard a bit about him. Cheers!

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The wildest thing I ever saw was Dizzy Gillespie (it must have been in the 80s) in a concert broadcast by the now defunct German "Jazz Club" on ZDF. Gillespie did not only parade an outrageous blue leather suit, he also performed a totally wild (scat) vocal improvisation which I viewed so often that my VHS tape simply wore out until it was unplayable. I did once ask ZDF to send me a tape of this concert years ago, but they wanted to have too much money for it. If anyone has a video of this live date (and if you do, you know which one I mean) I'd be more than happy if I could have a copy. As far as I heard (I never saw Dizzy live), he was prone to these kinds of numbers, and if you have ever seen one you know how damn good he was at them as well. Cheers!

Deeply, there's a solution to your problem as implied by your screen name. You're welcome. Cheers!

Why is it so difficult to put this issue to rest? That would be a real olive branch.

I don't really know all that much about Brian Blade and what plans he has for the future in regard to his work as a leader, but, in my opinion, he gave one of the best definitions of what it means, as a drummer, to play with people as opposed to "just playing" drums for someone or in a band. Talking about his recordings with Joni Mitchell and Wayne Shorter, he said: In my eyes it is exactly this kind of approach that separates a good drummer from the rest. The quote is taken from an interview conducted by The Onion A. V. Club in January of 2001 (Volume 37 Issue 02) and is available online. Cheers!

ANTONIO SANCHEZ KEEPS PACE WITH JAZZ GUITAR GREAT PAT METHENY [bio down the page] [bio at end of page] Antonio's webpage ... Cheers!

Cheers!

Thanks Brownie! I'm not even through part of my 75 CD box yet, but because I got that one cheap, the 25 CD box just shot to place two of my Christmas list. Teddy Wilson (Mosaic) still holds first place. Cheers!

Deepissimo sounds like something that follows too many beers.... Yeah, especially American beer. 98% water. Greetings from G rmany.

Interesting topic, Shawn. I've always found that sticking to one type of music is very limiting. Throughout my life I have always listened to different forms/styles of music and have discovered a wealth of really good material. It's just that lately I have turned more intensively to jazz than ever before, although the love for jazz has always been there. I don't really understand the reasons, but I rather suspect that I've simply gotten bored with much of the rock/pop/blues stuff out there. Mind you, I have tons of it and do listen to it, but I get tired of it easily, more so than ever before. The jazz music I have simply gives me more listening pleasure right now. Let's take Bill Evans, for example, or Horace Silver. I have listened to recordings by these two particular artists over and over again this year and I just keep on discovering new things. The music keeps my interest up and my head busy. At the same time, you can also do some pretty good hoovering to Horace Silver. Cheers!

Now reading ... the fine print on my rent contract.

Teddy Wilson!!!!