Robert Middleton

I really liked this stripped down band. It’s very loose and spontaneous. But this band didn’t last long in this configuration without any keyboards. Favorite songs - Fat Time and My Man’s Gone Now. Yeah, I’ve really been getting into these four recordings. This was Miles at his most free and abstract, mostly due to Chick Corea’s playing. But then it really evolved into something else when Shorter left and Grossman and Jarret joined. Live at Fillmore less than a year later was a whole different animal.

Oh, one more comment, as many are commenting on all post-1980 Miles. We Want Miles is simply one of my favorite Miles albums. Who knows why? I just dig it and never get tired of it. All the other albums I bought when they came out and liked them all to a certain degree, but listen to them very, very rarely now. My favorite Tracks of that era include: Star People from Star People. A wonderful blues. Ms. Morrisine, Katia and Time After Time from YUA. Tutu and Don't Lose Your Mind from Tutu. Decoy and Amanda never really hit me between the eyes. Aura, I kind find of challenging. It's like nothing else he's done. It's very heady. But I revisit it once in a while and try to fathom it. Over and out.

I just downloaded this today. And I'm kinda surprised by how much I don't hate it. Well, I do hate the four vocal tracks. With a burning passion. Yuck. I deleted them immediately. So that gives me a trimmed-down, 40-minute album, which is not bad. And the best of it is very much like Tutu-Amadala-era MIles. Several of these tunes were played by Miles live and can found in abundance on the MIles at Montreux set from 1985 on - Maze, Carnival Time, and Wrinkle. I know this will never be in my top-tier MIles albums - by a long shot, but I know I'll listen to it a lot more than On The Corner, Dark Magus and Live at the Philharmonic. It's funky, it's fun and MIles's trumpet is wonderful, as always. Long Live Miles!

Did anyone ever listen to this damn thing? It's not available as Mp3 on Amazon or on Apple Music. And I haven't seen a review. The intriguing aspect is the presence of Stan Getz.

Jagger has lived a fuller life than a hundred people put together. I wish him well. According to CNN: Jagger welcomed his eighth child in 2016, with his girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick. He is also a grandfather and became a great grandfather in 2014.

This is the best Redman album I've heard in some time. It really sings. Like it quite a bit better than last year's Still dreaming.

Allison Miller may be my favorite living jazz musician. Her first album, Boom Tic Boom, blew me away and it remains one of my very favorite albums of all time. Her subsequent albums, No Morphine, No Lilies, and Otis Was a Polar Bear I also enjoyed immensely. I have seen them play live here in Santa Cruz, CA 4 times. All wonderful shows. But this new album, Glitter Wolf, just slays me. It is so varied, multi-textured, exuberant, joyful and just plain wacky. Favorite song is Glitter Wolf. Kills me every time. So, I consider this a modern jazz masterpiece, with few equals. I just love the SHIT out of it. The combination of violin, cornet, and clarinet creates a wonderful soundscape that never quite sounds the same from song to song. And Myra Melford plays better in this band than any of her other great ensembles. Todd Sickafoose is a monster on the bass. I have wide tastes with over 5,000 albums in my collection. But Miller just smokes about everyone out there right now, in my humble opinion. Of course, your tastes vary....

So far 2019 has been a wonderful year for releases by several sax masters. All very solid albums from sax masters who have been at it for 30+ to 20+ years. Chris Potter - Circuit Joe Lovano - Trio Tapestry Branford Marsalis - The Secret Between The Shadow And The Soul Joshua Redman - Come What May Seamus Blake - Guardians of the Heart Machine Joe Martin (Featuring Mark Turner) - Étoilée And also some excellent albums by newer sax players. Shauli Einav - Animi Patrick Cornelius - This Should Be Fun Allison Au - Wander Wonder Greg Ward - Stomping Off from Greenwood Jasper Blom - Polyphony Quinsin Nachoff - Path of Totality And we're only 1/4 through the year! I live for great saxophone albums. And these are some of the best I've heard in a few years.

Looked up this film on Wikipedia and saw that a soundtrack with other music by Duke Jordan and Art Blakey was previously released: "No Problem (1st Version)" – 7:23 "No Hay Problema" – 4:35 "Prelude In Blue (À "L' Esquinade")" – 6:59 "Valmontana (1st Version)"- 4:46 "Miguel's Party" – 4:23 "Prelude In Blue (Chez Miguel)" – 5:54 "No Problem (2nd Version)" – 6:00 "Weehawken Mad Pad" – 1:50 "Valmontana (2nd Version)" – 4:33 "No Hay Problema (2nd Version)" – 3:53 Bonus track on CD reissue It's available on Amazon in a couple of versions. Cheers, RM

I have all of Mahanthappa's recordings, including those with Vijay Iyer and others (22 in all). He has a unique style and sound that makes him stand out. Every one of his releases is worthwhile. I enjoy his previous album, Bird Calls, the most, but his duet with Iyer, Raw Materials, is also an extraordinary album. Cheers, RM

I got this set this week. I remember when I first got these albums when they came out in the 80s and early 90's. I went apeshit over Tutu. And I Iiked the rest enough to give every album several listens. I noticed that the sound was markedly superior on the new Master of Tutu. The other albums sound about the same but haven't listed quite as closely. The live Nice album is the only new material and it's as good or better than any of his live performances of the time - comparable to Live at Montreux. No, I don't like this era of Miles as much as most of his earlier stuff, just like everyone else, but I don't disdain it by any means. My first jazz album ever was Bitches Brew when it came out in 1970 and I was 18. And it's still probably my favorite piece of music ever. So I have no problem overall with electrified Miles. My favorite of the 80's era is We Want Miles which I've listened to a whole lot over the years but nothing after that quite blew my socks off. On the other hand, if you compare MIles stuff to the rest of jazz that came out at the time, Miles definitely holds his own. What other killer jazz albums do you own from the 80's? I have about 340 albums from the 80's and only one comes to mind that really killed it - Bass Desires by Marc Johnson with John Scofield and Bill Frisell. Remember, this is when Marsalis was coming into his own. Jazz was going back to basics and lot of stuff was old and stodgy. The Keith Jarret Standards Trio had just launched. Carla Bely had some good stuff. Herbie Hancock was rehashing 60's MIles. Jazz really started getting more adventurous in the mid 90's. Think Masada (18 albums), Medeski Martin and Wood (9 albums), Bill Frisell (16 albums) and Thomas Chapin (23 albums). Would they have existed without 80's MIles? (I dunno!) I also saw Miles live 6 or 7 times in the 80's and I've never seen a live show that held a candle to Miles. Not even close. He was a master showman that held the audience in the palm of his hand. I think for maximum impact you need to listen to these albums at quite a high volume to grasp the real impact. He delivers the goods. It's just different.

I've had all of the Blue Notes for years but just found and downloaded one that was recorded in three sessions in 1961 and 1962 called "Landslide." It's excellent. You can find details on Discogs.com. Also located all the Black Lion releases on eMusic for $1.99 to $2.99 each at 320 Mbps. And there are a whole lot of his Steeplechase sides there as well, however, a number of them are listed under Various Artists, so yo need to dig through them by searching on "Steeplechase." This includes the duets with Jackie McLean. In any case, they are all bargain priced and the sound is excellent. Reading this thread has been fun!

I'm a little Late to the party on this, but you can find pretty good discographies of most jazz artists, including band members, at Discogs.com - Here's the link for Kenny's Discography which features all his main albums plus a lot of albums as a sideman: https://www.discogs.com/artist/142047-Kenny-Wheeler - Also, he has a p[retty god discography on Wikipedia. I'm still discovering new ones where he plays as a sideman. He elevated every date that he played on, so it's rare to find a "just average" album with Kenny on it. Man, do I miss him.

Sonny's Dream is absolutely one of the best jazz albums of all time. The title song is off the hook and Sonny plays unlike anyone else, a true master, sadly underappreciated.

Very sad to hear this evening that John had passed away. He was one of my all-time favorite jazz musicians and I always anticipated his next album. I own 55 albums that feature John as a leader, collaborator, or as a sideman. My very favorite song of his is from Open Land. "Gimmie Five." I may have played that more than any other song in my life! I once cut a CD with nothing but that song on it! But my very favorite album with John is by Mark Egan (electric bass) - "As We Speak." Also with Dan Gottlieb on drums. The serpentine lines John and Mark spin out on this album are wondrous to behold. A true masterpiece. Check it out if you haven't heard it. R.I.P. John, you will be missed immensely.