Milestones

Much as I love Lennon and McCartney, they added nothing truly truly great to the Christmas canon.

Yeah, "Twelve Days" is somewhat annoying, though nearly as bad as many others. I also must add "Feliz Navidad," although there is a version by Michel Camilo that is not bad.

Jazz to the World is pretty good as jazz collections go, most especially John McLaughlin's rendition of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and Chick Corea's "What Child is This?"

Good choices. I suspect we'll have a lot of pop songs from the last 60-70 years. There are a lot of bad ones and a few good ones: "The Christmas Song," some of Vince Guaraldi's stuff.

Thought it would be interesting to see what people say on this one. By and large I enjoy Christmas music, and I also like a fair amount of the jazz stuff (and, to be fair, jazz is not all that suited). I do mean songs that always sound irritating/annoying. We all know that a good song can be butchered by various singers/musicians. Here are some I really can't stand anymore (pretty much always could not stand them): "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" "Jingle Bell Rock" "Grandma got Run over by a Reindeer" "Santa Baby"

The Knicks somehow manage to play the Cavs very well. I thought they would win their second against the Cavs last night (and only fifth overall). The Cavaliers did manage to squeak by and win in the end. Cavs won't win many games when they score 90, but I doubt they will have many more games where they score only 90.

Nature Boy is probably the Jackie McLean record I spin most often.

IMHO one of the greatest guitarists--one of the greatest figures--in jazz.

"A Ballad for Doll"

I have to say that "A House is Not a Home" and "Nature Boy" are just great Jackie McLean performances and stand right beside his greatest work.

I'm sure the discussion has been had here, but it is interesting that so many jazz fans resent artists who become commercially successful. Not that this unheard of in so many other spheres, but is seems particularly common in jazz. I should say "successful" even to a modest extent, and in some fashion--like just getting your life together, as noted above. Sometimes it seems nothing beats a jazz artist who is hungry, desperate, and suicidal.

I think we can say that most great musicians are questing, and once they achieve a measure of success then that feeling of the quest largely vanishes. That explains for me why there is very little Bruce Springsteen of the past 30 years that appeals to me--he usually sounds like a parody of himself. It's no easy thing for artists like Bob Dylan and Sonny Rollins to continue to operate at peak energy and creativity (arguably Dylan has done it better than Sonny). Yet most latter-day Van Morrison is fantastic. But bottom line, never cross a great artist off your list. And I have to say that I personally find McLean's Nature Boy a fabulous swan song.

Thanks for the link to the Giddins piece. It's very well-written and totally on point about the greatness of Jimmy Heath.

It is, of course, really tough to get a good movie on jazz out of Hollywood. Even Bird was pretty much slammed (sometimes for good reasons), even with Clint Eastwood being the biggest jazz fan of any major Hollywood player.

Throwing out some names...I won't swear they have not been mentioned already (I skimmed): Emily Remler Tony Purrone Mark Whitfield Ted Dunbar

To digress a bit, we appear to have two upcoming jazz biopics--one on Miles (Don Cheadle), the other on Chet Baker (Ethan Hawke). Who else would be a good subject for a jazz biopic? This could include Bill Evans (or not). I would like to see Charles Mingus and Art Pepper

Bill didn't look all that dorky in his later years. Maybe Matt Damon as BE...adopt a look something like that in The Talented Mr. Ripley.

I don't think I knew just how messed-up Bill Evans was. He would make a good subject for a film biopic--drugs, racial issues, suicide, early death, connection to greats like Miles Davis. I keep hearing there is supposed to be a film in the works on Chet Baker. But why not Bill Evans? I give the man credit for not having extended time off the scene (like Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Joe Pass, Frank Morgan, and several others) and that the quality of his work rarely suffered.

Is Thad the soloist on the first version of "A Child is Born"?

Of recent losses, I have been most saddened by Jim Hall, Charlie Haden, Horace Silver, and Dave Brubeck. On the plus side, I'm still getting to see people like Randy Weston and Roy Haynes.

A little surprised to see quite a bit of negativity toward Bill Evans. In contrast, there was a thread here (or maybe it was elsewhere) which offered virtually nothing but glowing comments. I would say Sunday at the Village Vanguard is an excellent record, though probably not a desert island pick. For this trio, I think my first choice is Portrait in Jazz.

Cool stuff. I'd venture to say that Out to Lunch, Smokestack, Harold in the Land of Jazz, and Lenox Avenue Breakdown are among the greatest jazz LP covers ever.

Bear in mind I don't really know the work of the Jones/Lewis orchestra at all.

One wonders if it was in the nature of the Jones brothers to be sideman. Very talented one and all, but Thad worked a lot in the bands of others and seemed to enjoy composing and arranging at least as much as playing; Hank didn't get a serious solo career going until late in life; and one wonders if Elvin would have been Elvin (a legend) had he not been Coltrane's drummer.

I would like some suggestions on Thad Jones. As I noted in the thread on Monk's big band record, Thad is under-represented in my collection. I do enjoy 5 by Monk by 5, and it's a shame Monk didn't stick with this particular quintet a bit longer. After Hours is nice jam session with Wess, Burell, and Waldron. I don't really have anything by the Jones/Lewis Orchestra, but I imagine he's often lost in this big ensemble. In fact, Thad Jones seemed to show a major affinity to playing in medium and large ensemble--such as the long stint in the Basie band. I even find he's lost on the relatively small ensemble on Hancock's Speak Like a Child. I would appreciate recommendations of both albums and particular pieces.