Milestones

Yes, time to put that other issue to bed. I was trying to steer the thread into Oscar plays "sounds of the season."

I like a fair amount of the Pablo records, especially Live! from 1986. He often had Joe Pass in the band and those two could really rip it up--and often did. But this had the interesting "Bach Suite" (3 parts) with a mellow Andante--and the album closes with the beautiful ballad "If You Only Knew."

The Christmas album is rather good, although there is a needless addition of "strings" on several cuts. Still, this is tasteful and enjoyable music--one of the better Christmas albums from a jazz musician.

What do you think of pianists in the avant garde area--most particularly Cecil Taylor?

At this point, I'm asking for recommendations. Other than the Stratford Festival record, what are the best albums representing the Peterson/Ellis/Brown trio?

It looks like we are still having trouble getting volunteers for the early months of next years. I would be happy to do February or March.

That may be largely true, but then there's the whole issue of over-simplifying--the notion that OP is overwrought in EVERYTHING he plays.

I don't think anything has been proven other than the subjectivity of listeners and the fact that parallels don't stand up. For example, many find Peterson's playing is overwrought. But the parallel might be drawn that many jazz greats are just as overwrought: Bird, Coltrane, Blakey, and many more. But they bring on the virtuosity for other reasons and to other effects. I didn't know that Evans was quite disgusted by Peterson. Yet there are some who would argue that Evans worked within too narrow an emotional range; I might very well say that myself.

For what it's worth, Peterson even said he was "scared" of Tatum. There is a lot of Peterson I enjoy on Pablo. The label really specialized in throwback jazz, basically in the swing mode. Of course, the artists were mainly the original guys, those who had been doing it for decades--Basie, Zoot Sims, Dizzy, Ray Brown, Roy Eldridge, and of course Oscar. There was no innovation on Pablo. But sometimes you just want joyful and swinging jazz.

I find him to be a fine player, often an excellent player. I will never understand the blanket categorization of him as overplaying and lacking subtlety. He was occasionally a good composer, as we see in "Wheatland," "Hymn to Freedom," and others. This is subtle creative, beautiful stuff. He's just a hackneyed, full-bore player? Have you not listened to "If You Only Knew" or "A Child is Born"? Sure, his nature was conservative and he did not create great albums like Miles and Coltrane. But how many can do that? I have long considered Oscar Peterson a jazz great.

So track #9 is "The Moontrane."

The Roach album can be had at IOMOIO.com. It's vinyl converted into mp3 files.

I have to to say I've never even HEARD OF Khan Jamal.

Is "Spartacus" by Maria Schneider? Wow, that tune sounds very close to "Children of the Night."

Track #2 has that Coltrane vibe from the Atlantic days, though obviously it's someone different and newer. Nice solo on the trombone. On #5 I'll make a wild guess and say Stephon Harris. Some fine work on the drums. Number 6 is interesting, like Yusef Lateef meeting Return to Forever. I don't know who it really is. Number 7 is "Love Theme from Spartacus," which has been recorded by many jazz artists. Beautiful piece, and I love this orchestral version. Sounds a bit in the Gil Evans mode. Maybe Bob Belden? I believe #9 is "Children of the Night," although I don'k know this very lengthy version.

I've been a steady customer for a while now, and I should do my second BFT next year. I did poorly on this one.

Thanks, I have listened to over half of this--and it's great. I undervalued Turrentine for quite some time. He and his records seemed to be "typical" Blue Note. I was clearly selling him short, and the same was true for Parlan.

Yeah, good stuff. Concerning Andrew Hill, I definitely regard Passing Ships as a little-known classic. That was recorded in 1969, and incredibly not released until 2003.

I guess it depends on how late in the 60's and how obscure. Jackie McLean had three releases in 1967: Action, Action, Action; New and Old Gospel; Demon's Dance. These all feature good to great playing, and they seem somewhat obscure. I remember trying to track down New and Old Gospel (with Ornette on trumpet) for many years before I finally obtained it. McCoy Tyner's work for Blue Note came mainly after Coltrane's death, and perhaps only The Real McCoy is certifiably famous.

Agreed, but he was not the first and probably not the worst. The trains are very cool!

Well, it was discussed elsewhere before he was actually elected to the hall for fame.

Wayne sounds like one of the few people worth following on Twitter.

I glanced at the current DB to see that Mobley is now in the Hall of Fame. I know many have been calling for his election for quite some time. I came a bit late to full appreciation of Mobely, perhaps in part to Miles' rather disparaging remarks. But I can't see the argument against him as an important figure and one of the central players/composers on Blue Note in the 50s and 60s. Besides your own ears, think about the ears of Max Roach, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham, Herbie Hancock, et al.

#13, Jean Luc Ponty? Just a shot in the dark.

Out of all the countless playlists I have created, I've never done one with a Halloween theme. I've seen some short jazz playlist out there on the Internet, mostly singers, mostly songs like "Witchcraft" and "That Old Black Magic." But I'm looking for instrumentals with spooky title and more importantly spooky sound. I'm not able to come up with much. "Ghost Town" by Jackie McLean "Evolution" by Grachan Moncur (not a spooky title, but it sure sounds eerie) "Witch Hunt" and "Dance Cadaverous" by Wayne Shorter "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"-- Miles Davis There must be a lot more out there...maybe some stuff on ECM...there's sometimes that whispery, tense, even menacing sound.