Milestones

It took me a long time to find Blue Moses, even though it was supposedly Weston's bestselling record. Weston, to say the least, had mixed feelings--but I'm glad I have it. The title track is a good one (though not the best version), and I also like the closing "Marrakesh Blues." There are exciting solos from Hubbard, Washington, and Laws (all major figures on CTI).

I don't think I even knew that Creed Taylor founded Impulse, though he left after about a year. I've been looking through his bio, and to say the least he had a hand in some outstanding work by many of the greats. R.I.P.

When was this film made?

Conrad Herwig has done many albums based on single composers--doing it with the "latin side" method: Coltrane, Miles, Shorter, Silver. Maybe Hill and Mingus are on the horizon.

Nothing wrong with "projects." I'd say they often lead to complexity and depths. Jams can be fun, but they tend to be basic; and they are certainly hit-or-miss.

So is it fair to say that Monk is a less complex composer than Mingus? Actually, I think that is probably true.

Deserving of rediscovery, IMO.

As for Mingus, you can find his pieces covered by Pepper Adams, Steve Slagle, Paul Motian, Joe Lovano (at least "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love"), and others--not to mention Mingus Big Band and its variations.

Where do people place Andrew Hill as composer? I would place him up quite high, as I'm sure many others would. But it's curious that his pieces are rarely covered. Other than his very first release, I think all of his albums (with few exceptions) feature strictly his own compositions. The exceptions seem to come on some late solo piano records. Even the greatest composers such as Ellington, Monk, and Mingus did not feature such exclusive usage of their own compostions. Interesting!

I remember seeing this come out over two decades ago; I spotted it at Borders (remember Borders?). I didn't get it then. I have it now, as I have come to appreciate the players. I was already into Abercrombie decades ago, but the others were little known to me. But now I do know Patitucci and Erskine, and I'm coming to know Mintzer. The latter is a virile player with a sound like Brecker's. These guys are serious about the gig--they play very cohesively and they are fired up. All the tunes are originals, divided democratically. Mintzer and Abercrombie provide the most striking tunes, but the others are more than solid. I really slept on this one. Go get it to hear players who work the tradition, with much of that tradition being the richness of their own legacies as players and composers.

Fingerpainting: Music of Herbie Hancock is not bad: Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield. It is rare to hear trumpet in such a small group with no drums. There's also Parker's Mood: McBride, Roy Hargrove, Stephen Scott.

A good one is Spirits in the Field: Arthur Blythe (alto), Bob Stewart (tuba), Cecil Brooks (drums). There's a track on Strange City (Herbie Nichols Project) that I really like: "Blue Shout." This has Ted Nash (tenor), Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Matt Wilson (drums) News for Zulu: Zorrn (alto), George Lewis (trombone), Bill Frisell (guitar) Jimmy Giuffre is the master of this, especially the early trios: clarinet/reeds-guitar-bass & clarinet/reeds-trombone-bass.

As for drummers, Joe recorded and performed with many greats--most notably Elvin Jones, but also Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette, and Al Foster.

I would definitely say that Smiley was better than Rose when doing interviews with musicians (of all sorts).

Wow, Scofield led looking pretty snazzy in suit and tie! I kind of doubt that Charlie Rose is a genuinely big jazz guy, but give him credit for interviewing Joe for 10 minutes. It's unfortunate that Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley went down in disgrace. They were probably the only guys on TV who would interview a jazz player for 10 minutes and allow a performance more than 3 minutes long. Near as I can tell, those days are long gone.

There is much flexibility in matters of intonation and such in jazz, but I (on limited experience) hear Henry as someone sounding, at times, out of tune and struggling for command. The Jackie McLean comparisons are interesting, because I have enjoyed and been moved by virtually everything I've heard by Jackie--and that's a lot records and solos.

Welcome back. Hoping you will be as good as new!

I've turned on several people (most with no interest in jazz) to Benny Golson's "Gypsy Jingle-Jangle."

The Adderleys created some serious earworms!

Really there is so much jazz music that can appeal to just about everyone, either through lovely ballad performances, catchy melodies, or amazing grooves. Who would not like? "Someday My Prince Will Come"--Miles "Central Park West"--Trane "Ask Me Now"--Monk "Strange Meadowlark"--Brubeck How about Sonny performing a calypso? How about the insane catchiness of "Hottentot" (Scofield) or "Cross the Heartland" (Metheny)?

Shades of Pat Martino.

That's interesting. I didn't think Joni was able to perform these days.

Some good solo records, long-running collaborations with Dave Stryker, occasional meetings with Joe Lovano, contributions to Mingus Big Band. I find him to be highly underrated. Much to be enjoyed--just my opinion.

If the group was a "novelty" and "designed to attract attention," did they actually attract much attention?

Why weren't The Leaders bigger? This was the group with Lester Bowie, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, and an impressive rhythm section. They were leaders indeed and should have been a high-caliber collective force. But their albums were on several different and very small labels. Their records have been quite hard to find. Are they still around, with largely different players? Did anyone see the band live in its prime? I have just two albums. One is Mudfoot--recently acquired and it sounds quite good. The other is Slipping and Sliding, which is notable (to my ears) for two ballad-like pieces: "Everything Changed" and "High Summer." But otherwise it just seems average. Was it a group with great potential that wasn't quite achieved?