Milestones

Is that the book by Art Taylor? Interviews with a lot of great figures in jazz.

Alzheimer's/dementia is horrible indeed. My late mother suffered from it for about 3 years--in a major way ('m sure it had set in before then). Many others get bad cases that can last as long as a decade.

God, there are so many great live recordings...this could certainly be another topic altogether. For starters, here is some stuff that I just find essential: Miles Davis in Europe (plus much else by Miles) Great Concert of Mingus Coltrane at Vanguard Monk at Town Hall Blakey at Birdland Duke at Carnegie Hall VSOP quintet En Route--Scofield Jazz at Massey hall Randy Weston at Monterey Playing--Old and New Dreams Rabo de Nube--Charles Lloyd Full House--Wes Montgomery ...it could go on endlessly...

Yeah, clearly control and being able to capture better sound is something you will get by working in the studio. Some of those early live albums are pretty dismal in audio quality (yet others are fairly good). But then there is the flip side of the coin--capturing a fantastic band in concert. I wasn't around during the great years of Blue Note--at least not as a mature listener aware of jazz and with the means and money to see these artists (born in 1960; didn't own a jazz record until I was 21). As Mark Stryker points out, it would be great to have live documents of those bands.

I'm still trying to see if there is an answer to the basic question. Why did Blakey have so many live releases, when everyone else seemed to have, at best, one?

Really? When did the Hancock get released? Oh, I was thinking of Night of the Cookers for the Morgan/Hubbard tandem, though I don't directly know that record either.

True. Doesn't that have Hubbard on it as well? But it's not a record I ever owned or heard.

I find it interesting that there are so many live recordings of Blakey's Jazz Messengers. While there are classic studio records like The Big Beat and Moanin', I imagine most of us think of the live records on Blue Note as his main legacy. By comparison, other barely did any live recordings. I think Horace Silver did just one (then a second about 3 decades after the fact). I can't think of any live recordings (on Blue Note) by Hubbard, Morgan, McLean, Henderson (prior to State of the Tenor in the 80s), Hancock, Shorter, etc. Anyone know why this was the case?

One of the greats for sure. I think many of us wonder what else he would have done, given that 33 is indeed a young age. But he sure recorded at a young age, and his body of recordings is massive.

Clearly there is something about Mobley's sound. I was listening to Pandora and a track came on from a Sonny Clark album. Mobley was on it, though I didn't know that. But as the tenor solo started up, I thought, "That's sound like Mobley." Sure enough, it was!

1) Sit back or lay back and listen with full concentration to a CD on a good traditional stereo system. This is how I developed as a listener, especially a jazz listener. Total focus, hearing all the details...the advantages are obvious. Like most people (I suspect) I don't do this very much anymore. 2) Listen on the computer. This one makes sense in an age where you can put 1,000 hours of music on your computer and it barely dents the hard drive. I love to do it, but when I'm listening I am often writing, paying bills, browsing the Net for work or fun. I do it a lot, and I should get better speakers. 3) Listen in the car. I do it almost all the time, especially when it's just me in the vehicle. A good way to listen, as I can focus pretty well on the music, and my trips are short enough that my attention rarely wanes. Not the best sonically, especially while on the highway. 4) Radio. I don't listen to much radio, whether the real thing or on the Net. It was important when I was a jazz novice, though the hours for genuine jazz were always limited in the Cleveland area. How do you listen? Where do you listen most?

How about "quintessential"? But there were some mighty fine sax players on Blue Note in those days, including Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Stanley Turrentine, Lou Donaldson, Wayne Shorter (and I have just scratched the surface).

I guess I'm really missing out--only 1 leader album by Mr. Mobley in over 30 years of jazz listening.

As for searching past forums, I didn't find much other than this thread I just created. Otherwise, I'm sure Mobley has all the attention and respect you say he has received here. Whether he is THE GUY here and the penultimate Blue Note jazz musician....not sure that isn't more Reynolds hyperbole.

He was clearly a huge figure on Blue Note. Like label mates Lee Morgan and Grant Green, he died young yet left behind a very large body of work as both leader and sideman. I feel like I still have not come to appreciate him enough, despite hearing him in many settings--with Blakey, Silver, Morgan, and of course Miles (his tenure was short, but there's a lot to be heard on the complete Black Hawk session). I have listened to just one album under his own name, the quintet album with Farmer, Silver, and Blakey. Like Donald Byrd, whom I have come to appreciate a good deal, I get the feeling I will like his work as leader best. As I said, I have not heard much; so I need to check out some stuff.

I'm sure Hank Mobley has been discussed here before, but I'm interested in getting some thoughts about this great, or at least near-great, figure.

"Guitars" is a fine record. A good assortment of guitarists (along with Bela Fleck on banjo). Perhaps most memorable is a scorching "Mr. P.C." with Scofield.

What's up with McCoy Tyner these days? He apparently still plays concerts, but there have been no recordings for 4 or 5 years. He is certainly a legend, and I would like to keep up on his work. Tyner is certainly an artist who can sound great in any format: solo, trio, quartet, quintet, mid-size group, big band.

I'll echo the sentiments that the changes are awkward and stupid and that the whole thing made me feel like an idiot at first. But I just did my persistent best, and within 24 hours had figured out a lot of stuff.

To get back to my specific situation, I'm in good shape now, except I can't find the stuff I downloaded from "e-music"--and that may have to do with it being in an odd spot on the external hard drive.

As far as I'm concerned, Dylan deserves every honor.

I still like CDs as well, and in fact I put most of my playlists or compilations on CD. Despite some problems I've had, digital music is a wonderful thing.

The dissatisfaction is running rampant! I am making some progress, though. I've been able to set up a more traditional Windows Media Player at the bottom of my screen. I can click on that and things work about the same as they used to. That beats going through the file manager, which takes 5 or 6 steps and uses some stupid ass media player that sucks up the whole computer screen and may play only one song at a time. But bringing back the playlists is problematic.

Who else is using this crap? I had a 7-year old computer and decided to upgrade. My new computer is probably fine, but Microsoft 8 is the most godawful thing I've ever come across. At this point I barely feel as if I know the first thing ion how to use the computer--or rather the program. The music arrangement is especially bad. My hundreds of playlists are probably a waste; god knows how long it will take me to re-create them. I have not found a sure way of brining in my backed up music files, which probably total over 10,000. I can't even find a good way to PLAY music on this program.

I was also at the Tri-C show. Fantastic Frisell concert--the third time I have seen him in person. So far these have been small groups, usually a trio. This one does have a special and unique quality. The last number, "Old Man River," just killed me, made me positively weepy. Frisell will do that to me sometimes, though this time is was more Kang's playing.