Peter Friedman

Uh...if the experienced listeners like the music, why on earth would they be scared off? Come on now Peter, explain this strange comment to us, since you think you understand it. 7/4, it is not the scared off part that strikes me as most significant. It is the moral mandate aspect. I am a season ticket holder to a chamber music series . The leadership of the society that organizes the series tries very hard to make sure that a very "modern" piece is scheduled at each concert. There are typically 3 pieces performed at each concert. The"modern" piece is ALWAYS performed between the two other pieces that have the highest appeal to the audience.If the "modern" piece was at the end I would, in most cases leave as would many others with whom I have spoken.By placing the "modern" piece, that I usually don't enjoy, between the two pieces I have actually come to hear , they have created a "captive audience". When I spoke to a member of the governing board about why the concerts are programmed this way, the concept of the "moral mandate" came through loud and clear. The Board believes it is their obligation to expose people to "new' music, and are well aware that unless they programmed that music between the two other pieces they would lose a good number of the audience.

There is one significant difference I hear in the the Lou Levy -Kenny Drew comparison. Drew is a much more blues oriented player than Levy. Drew and Hampton Hawes share that strong blues focus which has elements of Horace Silver's approach. Lou Levy has an RCA recording, available on CD, titled "Solo Scene" which is very nice. Two trio CDs well worth consideration are "My Old Flame" on Fresh Sound, and "Countdown" on Interplay(Japanese). The two Verve CDs "By Myself" and "Ya Know" are sessions I enjoy. The EmArcy quartet date with Pete Christlieb - mentioned before, "Lunarcy" is simply (in my opinion) wonderful.

In today's New York Times, Bernard Hollander made this comment in a review he wrote. "It is a shame that experienced listeners have been scared off from liking what they like, but understandable, given 20th-century music's moral mandate to instruct rather than to please." I am sure some will not find this statement to their liking. It is though something I generally find quite accurate.

Personally, my least favorite recordings by Oscar are when he is playing solo piano. (Though the few recordings where he sings also were not to my taste.) It was when playing solo that his technique struck me as overwhelming the musical content. When playing in a trio setting, or as a sideman, Peterson sounded more relaxed and swinging. I have received much pleasure from listening to Oscar over the years. His playing (for me) has an optimistic joyful quality. It is very different from the enjoyment I get from the more introspective impressionistic playing of Bill Evans, or the hard core bebop style of Barry Harris. Jazz and the listeners are the beneficiary of that wonderful diversity.

I know that Oscar Peterson received a lot of negative comments here on Organissimo. Personally I have enjoyed his playing since I first heard one of his recordings over 50 years ago. Oscar had a major impact on the jazz scene over the course of his lengthy career. Peterson had an identifiable style that is something only true for a relatively small number of jazz piano players. R.I.P. Oscar

These are probably my favorite Christmas jazz CDs: An Uptown Christmas - Uptown (Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Charlie Rouse, Carl Fontana, Al Cohn, Kenny Barron, Johnny Coles, Frank Wess, Sahib Shihab, Jack Sheldon, Richard Wyands, etc.) Niels Jorgen Steen Quintet - Bebop Christmas - Storyville (with Bob Rockwell on tenor sax) Dave McKenna - Christmas Ivory - Concord Jazz Jim Galloway & Jay McShann - Jim And Jay's Christmas - Sackville Rob McConnell and The Boss Brass - Big Band Christmas - Concord Jazz

Bob Florence Limited Edition plays his arrangement of Claire De Lune by Debussy on his most recent CD titled "Eternal Licks & Grooves" on MAMA.

Vladimir Shafranov Trio - Prelude No.20 Chopin on KIDS ARE PRETTY PEOPLE - Altier Sawano

I was greatly saddened when I heard the news. Frank Morgan was one of my favorite alto sax players of the past dozen years or so. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see him live a number of times. Thankfully, I have an extensive collection of Morgan's CDs so can listen to him often.

These two haven't been mentioned. I like them both quite a bit. Harry "Sweets" Edison - Edison's Lights - Pablo with: Lockjaw, Count Basie or Dolo Coker, John Heard, Jimmie Smith Harry Edison And Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - Simply Sweets - Pablo with: Dolo Coker, Harvey newmark, Jimmie Smith

Too tough a question. Imagine trying to list ones top 5 favorite jazz selections. It would be tough to have to even limit myself to 25 or 50 favorites.

ding! & while edc takes the suggestion of Mr. Marcello quite seriously there's one hell of a difference between making a nice bed for x/y/z & being able build the fucker from scratch from your own design. again, Tommy Flanagan at best is a high level technician capable of pleasantry. If Stan Getz himself had just stuck to that... we wouldn't give a shit what he had to say, about anything. *** (& Tommy Flanagan composed... what?) edc, I don't understand your harping on the question of what did Flanagan compose? All excellent jazz players are not necessarily great composers. You indicated that one of your favorites is Phineas Newborn,Jr., who is certainly not known for his composing skills. Nonetheless, Flanagan did compose quite a few tunes. Some of them quite good ones. Eclypso, Beyond The Bluebird, Minor Mishap, Mean Streets, Something Borrowed,Something Blue, Sea Changes, Verdandi, Beat's Up, Blue Twenty.

I vote for this as well. I have four versions of the Cello Suites, and the Janos Starker is my favorite. I bought the Starker version on SACD some time ago. I recommend it highly.

Never heard that one, but I bought a Japanese Riverside reissue of Drew and Ware playing Jerome Kern tunes, and I remember it being much like your description of the Warren/Arlen recordings. I didn't keep the Kern record for long - sounded like something that might have been made for use as muzak. But why Drew and Ware? Very strange. The two Drew/Ware albums on Judson were 'A Harry Warren Showcase' and 'A Harold Arlen Showcase'. Judson was one of Riverside's subsidiary labels. It specialized in easy-to-listen music. Other albums on the label included 'Dance Time' (Chauncey Grey and his Orchestra play Gershwin, 'Dancing in the Dark' by Lenny Herman, 'An Evening with Offenbach', 'Chansons Populaires Françaises' by Françoise Prévost, 'Folk Music for People Who Hate Folk Music' by Herb Strauss, accompanied by Mundell Lowe and his Friends, etc... Nice offbeat covers by Paul Weller/Paul Bacon. Don't think these two Drew albums ever passed for strict jazz sessions. I had one of these on LP decades ago and didn't care for it so sold it. More recently I tried another one in that series on CD. I should have learned my lesson, but took a chance as Drew and Ware are such good players. Disliked it and sold that one too. Think I have finally learned to pass these by.

Thanks Jim. I was looking for the thread on "what classical music you are listening to now", and couldn't find it. So I put the classical CDs I heard this morning on the general list instead. Now that I have found this new location, I know where to put things in the future.

While it is by no means the only factor, I wonder what such outstanding players as Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins, Benny Carter, Wes Montgomery, and Kenny Dorham would say about edc's opinion of Tommy and Hank? While we will never know for sure, I have a strong suspicion they would consider his views peculiar at best.

All of a sudden this thread has become a comparison of Ellington and Tommy Flanagan. That strikes me as absurd. Jazz has a large enough tent to include a broad range of musicians and styles. Why should a player be downrated because he/she is not the greatest innovator or MOST creative improvisor. Taste is the utimate factor for those who have some experience in listening to jazz. edc prefers Harold Mabern to Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones. To my ears there is no comparison. Mabern is a solid journeyman piano player who at times I find tedious, but Flanagan and Hank are far more creative and interesting players in my opinion. I find Flanagan's solos to be among the brightest sparkling parts of almost every recording on which he appears.

edc, You seem to put very narrow limits on what is acceptable jazz. You are entitled to do so if that floats your boat, but I view things quite differently. One of the great pleasures of jazz for me is the great diversity of styles, genres, etc. Being able to dig Jelly Roll, Hines, Teddy Wilson, Tatum, Duke, Horace Silver, Hank Jones, Barry Harris, Cedar Walton, Bud Powell, Sonny Clark, John Lewis, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Barron, Thelonious Monk, Al Haig, and Basie (along with many other pianists) is one of my great pleasures. Given your comments, it would seem logical that you consider Teddy Wilson to be a cocktail pianist too? If you are unable to distinguish between Tommy Flanagan and Debussy, things are worse than I suspected. Pardon me while I go look to see if I can locate that wonderful Debussy CD where he plays "Relaxin' At Camerillo", "Confirmation", and "Oleo". Wonder who Claude has in the rhythm section on that CD?

Clementine, To each his own, taste is a personal thing, but if you are unable to appreciate Tommy Flanagan and Hank Jones, you have my sympathy.

I have a couple of CDs on Fresh Sound by Eddie Bert that I believe have not been mentioned. Eddie Bert - The Human Factor - FSR 5005 with Jerry Dodgion, Carmen Leggio, Duke Jordan, Ray Drummond & Mel Lewis Recorded in November 1987 Eddie Bert & J.R. Monterose - Live At Birdland - FSR 198 with Ben Aronov,Bill Crow, & Eddie Locke Recorded in September 1991 Both these CDs are worth getting if you like these musicians.

Kenny Dorham is without doubt, one of my favorite trumpet players. There is a beauty and great depth in his playing that reaches me in a special way. I only remember seeing him live once back when I was living in Detroit.

In my view, the best Jerome Richardson CD is this one: Jerome Richardson - Jazz Station Runaway - TCB 97402 with Russell Malone, David Hazeltine, George Mraz, and Lewis Nash Richardson's playing sounds more mature to me, and this CD swings more than the two earlier ones. As for Richard Wyands, there are many trio CDs that have been issued. I have 7 in my collection. They may not all be currently available, but I suspect that you should be able to find at least a few of them. Richard Wyands Trio CDs Reunited - Criss Cross Half And Half - Criss Cross The Arrival - DIW As Long As There's Music - Savant Get Out Of Town - Steeplechase Then, Here And Now - Storyville Lady Of The Lavender Night

Tom Harrell plays as a sideman on many small group CDs that I like. Here are just some of them. Rein de Graff Quintet - New York Jazz - Timeless Bill Mays Quintet - Tha's Delight - Trend Hod O'Brien Quintet - Opalessence - Criss Cross Mike LeDonne Quintet - 'Bout Time - Criss Cross Ted Rosenthal - New Tunes, New Traditions - Ken Mike LeDonne - The Feeling Of Jazz - Criss Cross Ralph Lalama Quintet - Feelin' And Dealin' - Criss Cross John Swana And Friends - Criss Cross and of course on quite a number of Phil Woods CDs.

Is it worth getting? I think so. If you like Cecil Payne, Bennie Green(tb), Clark Terry, Duke Jordan,Ron Carter and Charlie Persip you will enjoy this one.

Pianist Kenny Drew played a classical piece on many of his trio albums. Here are some of them. Evergreen - Alfa Jazz - Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata The Lullaby - Baystate - Brahms - Wiegenlied Tippin' - Baystate - Rodrigo - Concerto De Aranjuez Dreams - Baystate - Schubert - Traumerei