Pim

As a 32 year old I really sometimes have the feeling I missed all of the fun in the world of jazz. My absolute lifelong idol John Coltrane feels like some kind of saint who lived a long time ago. He died in 1967 and I was born 23 years later. I even missed my dearest Mal Waldron who played in 2002 at the Bimhuis only 28 kilometres from my home. I must have been playing soccer or catching bugs outside not even knowing about Mals existence let alone realize this was the last opportunity to catch him alive. From the age of 16 I started listening to jazz more seriously (my dad lay the foundations) and also started visiting concerts. I did manage to see quite some people: Sonny Rollins, Benny Golson, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Peter Brötzmann, Charles Gayle, Cecil Taylor, Chico Freeman, David Murray and Kenny Garrett. One of the things I enjoy most here on the board are the personal stories from the people who did see all of these legends live. The personal anecdotes like recently @Mark Stryker smoking a joint at the Village Vanguard at a Arthur Blythe concert or @bresna and @sidewinder almost getting a serious punch from JJ Johnsons trombone slide. So maybe in this thread people could exchange some of those great memories. I would love to hear those stories. They don't have to be good memories necissarily as I know some of those jazz artists weren't the nicest of people. But just interesting stuff people will always remember. And are there any people around here who have seen Coltrane perform live? I think my most memorable performance was Pharaoh Sanders at the Bimhuis. I was entering the restaurant when I saw him sitting and eating there with his band. Every cell in my body wanted to go up to him and ask for his autograph. I had a cd copy of Village of the Pharoah's in my pocket for that opportunity. Then he looked up from his table with that very serious look in his eyes (he had a very expressive face with those big grey eyebrows and beard) and I suddenly didnt had the guts anymore to approach him. I still regret it everyday. From what i know of stories he was a very friendly and warm personality. I also loved the interview I did with David Friesen about Mal Waldron. He shared some wonderful personal stories about his time with Mal.

Thanks Gheorghe I felt inspired by your personal stories I don't think it's a strange combination of preferences. Both bebop as freejazz have something in common though they sound very different. I always felt they are the subgenres of jazz that are less focused on music as entertainment and more on music as an artform which would also explain that they are both experienced as harder to listen to. But that's just my observation. Eardrums still intact?

I remember spinning this one the first time. I was still living with my parents on the attic room of their house and had a pretty nice stereo set up that my brother left to me when he left the house. I was 17 years old and just getting into the more free kind of jazz. I put on disc one sat down and was stunned for the coming 50 minutes. I had never heard something like that before. The version of Afro Blue remains the best with the Classic Quartet IMO. The interruption remains very annoying.

Mine is ‘held in customs’. I know from experience that could take ages. I definitely will let the complete series collected in Albuquerque and shipped as one. Gonna be a long wait but save myself a lot of import duties and shipping costs.

so I owned this masterpiece on Fontana pressing which looked good but didn’t sound good. So bought this original 1964 club pressing instead and yes, this sounds much better. So incredibly happy with it.

A record I just keep getting back to. With the recent Tapscott Flying Dutchman release in mind I wonder if there’s also unreleased stuff on the vaults by these guys.

The Pure Pleasure goes from 28 euros… they mostly bring out good quality

Up till now, not everything is necessarily what I was looking for but there's really nothing I don't like. Up till now I like Billy Valentine and Terry Callier best. Great stuff, thanks guy. I'll continue exploring.

Great compilation indeed. Sounds very good as well!

A nickel and a nail.

First encounter with OV Wright now and liking it

Not necessarily. The Billy Valentine I enjoyed is a 2023 release. I also like Michael Kiwanuka for example. I find it hard to describe what I am looking for. The Syl Johnson from the first post was an example of what I like. I would call it dark, moody, deep and emotional kind of soul. The political message isn’t necessary but sometimes give it that extra power. I have less feeling with the smooth kind of soul and the one that cross over with disco. Spotify just recommended me this one: I like it. Seems to be a rather obscure musician/session

Thats Craig Taborn with Christian McBride and Tyshawn Sorey.

Yeah thats one I know. Great track!

This was my first spin this morning and I like it very much. Very much in the style of Scott-Heron who of course also recorded for Flying Dutchman. What's the story with this guy? He looks and sounds like a veteran but can't find any more leader dates by him.

Both very, very good records! Now spinning:

Thanks guys! Not familiar with any of the names so lots to explore. Added some of this stuff to my Spotify playlists. Looking forward to listen to them

Recent years. I was born in 1990 so I missed those golden years. Generally I missed a lot jazz wise unfortunately.

I've always enjoyed soul music a lot. I know all of those classics and own quite some of them: Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke etc. Curtis Mayfield is one I really like too. He has that voice and his music has a certain power. Last year I stumbled across Syl Johson who I did not knew. I really love this album: This really is the soul music that I am looking for but I have a hard time describing it. It's powerful, deep, full of emotion and lots of time a little political. I hope the soul experts here might know what I mean when they listen to this Syl Johnson. Anyone here around to help me further exploring that world of soul?

I always give it a go but give up after ten minutes of going trough what really mostly is garbage. The endless row of cheap compilations and musicians you'd wish they never made a record, all unorganized an put down on the floor so you're doing you're daily squat exercises without getting a reward for it. I never picked anything up from it. As I also have limited storing space I try not to buy any 'let's give that one a try' records but only stuff that's on my wishlist. The chance of them being in one of those bins is nihil. But I'm always tempted when I see them. Thursday is a national holiday here: Kings day. Lot's of flea markets with hundreds of bins filled with these guys:

This shouldn't be much of a problem. Like the others say: make sure you have a good back-up and take some time for it. Itunes has some nice options to organize your music.

a modern classic. Pharoah really proved he still had it on this session 🤗

it supposed to be spring here but feels like winter. School holidays and thought I would spend it mainly outside but this kind of weather made me decide to give this beautiful boxed set a complete spin the coming days.

@romualdoTapscott with Steve Lacy??? Oh my…. 😍