Milestones

Yes, influence can be measured in several ways; and one can make the case for Les Paul. All the same, I don't have a single Les Paul recording in my collection.

It's intriguing to me that so many guitarists with rock in their backgrounds (and not afraid to display it) have been directed influenced by Hall. That's everyone I named in my first post.

He was not in my top 5 favorites either, but the appreciation has certainly been growing over the years. I think now he would be in my top 10.

To me, it seems like he is. You of course have to put Charlie Christian, Django, and Wes at the top. After that? I'd have no trouble placing Hall in the 4th spot. The man made his mark early--legendary meetings with Giuffre, Rollins, Evans. As a leader, he perhaps lagged for awhile, but I think few musicians can claim such a fine run of music near the end: the Telarc records, Something Special, These Rooms, Magic Meeting. The likes of Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, John Abercrombie, and many more have expressed tremendous admiration and cited direct influence. He taught and mentored all of them--and many more. Even Nels Cline is showing the strong debt to Hall on Lovers. He was a special and important man and musician.

Quite a few names I've never heard. I do also like Michael Moore. I have one of his Dylan records, on which he probably plays more alto sax than clarinet--but he sounds very good on both.

Recently I caught Eddie Daniels at Oberlin College, and I really liked the show. I'd never been much into Daniels. I had just one of his albums on vinyl, with nothing on CD or digital download. Maybe it was the GRP thing in the 80s. The tune selection at the concert was generally not imaginative, though there was a lovely piece from Sweeney Todd. The man can play (and has a very pleasant stage presence), and it's hard to believe he is nearly 75. Otherwise, I have one record by Don Byron (though also some prominent sideman appearances), one by Anat Cohen, and a handful by Ken Peplowski. They are all fine players, and I'm feeling I need to explore all of them--plus, I am sure, several more. Despite some attempts to revitalize it, the clarinet still has very low visibility in jazz. I suppose that's not likely to change. But it's worthwhile to seek out the players (most of whom, I've noticed, double or triple on other instruments).

I love Bob Dylan, but 36 discs of live music from one year???

Are there likely to be several of these?

That is a cool photo!

More stuff here than I had expected!

By small I generally mean a string quartet. It's a more feasible thing, since most jazz artists don't have a lot of money to lay out. But I sometimes feel overwhelmed by a string orchestra, or that it leads to an "easy listening" quality. Plus a string quartet is more likely to have the flexibility to improvise. Here are some that come to mind: Max Roach Double Quartet (many sessions) Rhyme & Reason--Ted Nash Paradise--Tom Harrell Andrew Hill--some tracks from Mosaic box Symbols of Light--Greg Osby I'm sure there are more.

Randy Weston: African Rhythms

Definitely some cool stuff from Bill Stewart on several of these records. He is certainly one of the top guys on drums, and has been for more than two decades now. Of course, there have been other fine drummers--DeJohnette on Time on My Hands, Al Foster on Oh! Grace Under Pressure has also been mentioned in this golden period of Sco's in the early 90's. Who was drummer on that one? Joey Baron?

This has to be considered a very notable partnership. I find the first album, Time on My Hands, to still be the best. Two others followed pretty quickly, then later there was Oh!, which is unusual for the entire band contributing compositions. I have been pleased by the recent Past Present, especially the opening track: "Slinky." Scofield and Lovano also appear together on albums by Peter Erskine and Marc Johnson. It's some of my favorite Scofield, and it's pretty remarkable how much he has written for this quartet.

Not to mention that we have here yet another magical meeting between Hutcherson and McCoy Tyner.

That scared the hell out of me!

I'm sampling tracks from Solo & Quartet; it sounds like a fine record.

R.I.P., Mister Hutcherson. Lots of great music from this man. Without his contributions, the Blue Note 1960s period would be so different. He provided much brilliant work as a leader and sideman. Of course, there is much to value in the decades after that. I like the recent Enjoy the View and Acoustic Masters II--among many others.

Not familiar with this artist.

I'm curious to know what people like in this area. I have recently been checking out the two big band by records by Christine Jensen. There is some really nice stuff--interesting arrangements, strong soloing (especially by sister Ingrid Jensen). Otherwise...well, Gerald Wilson is now deceased and Carla Bley does't seem to do big band records anymore. I have not been able to catch the fever on Maria Schneider. Maybe I should keep trying.

The Jessica Williams record is good stuff. I have that one.

I love the Newton record as well. I even saw a group similar to the one from the record performing Duke's music at the Tri-C JazzFest. That must have been 15 years ago or more. I would like to see Newton still doing something in the jazz field. He seems to be more into modern classical and education.

So much good stuff. Just a couple that are very special to me are the Ellington is Forever sets by Burrell and the MJQ album. There are quite a few I've never heard of or run across. The sheer number is staggering.

I would think Ellington has been covered more than Monk, if only because there are a lot more compositions to choose from. Even though Monk's career spanned barely more than two decades, it's surprising he wrote only about 70 pieces. I'd like to find that Blythe album. I remember buying it on used vinyl about a decade after it came out. It seems hard to come by.

Monk played by a true big band. I have not heard this one. I will be checking out Griffin and Lockjaw.