Milestones

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.

Miles is the main, the greatest figure in jazz. If you're not into Miles and Duke and Monk and Mingus, then your jazz card must be revoked!

So it's in politics. Let it stay there then. I'm not reading any more posts.

It was a pretty ridiculous thread. It's beyond me why the mere mention of Marsalis (and now Clapton, plus the stuff on jazz roots, or whatever you want to call it) can produce such unhinged ire. Still, the thread (in edited form) should have remained.

I don't find that weird at all. In fact, I'd probably add Herbie Hancock to the list.

If we go with quintessential BN "figure," for a quite a while I said Blakey; but I have long since switched to Silver. This is due in part to Silver's unbelievably long tenure with the label, but even more to his composing. As leader, composer, player...he is a genuine triple threat; and so many followed what he created.

Couldn't you call songs like "Driftin" and "Watermelon Man" (Hubbard pretty prominent) soul-jazz? To be sure, I don't know the precise definition of soul- jazz, if there is one.

To come back to the original notion, I still see Lee and Freddie as the main figures of the 1960s. KD was done halfway through the decade, Byrd's chops slipped (plus I'm still behind on hearing his work), and Mitchell seems most renowned for his work with Silver. Other trumpeters have to be behind for being less-recorded (especially on prominent records) and offering less scope than Lee and Freddie. And certainly these two men, especially Lee, cover the entire decade. But it's been a great discussion; a lot of interesting stuff. Now trying to determine the 3-5 most representative saxophonists on BN in the same decade would be a real challenge (not even going to go there).

Not to be unkind, but if we consider the output of Lee Morgan as metaphorically a whole human body, then Alan Shorter would be a hand (maybe a pinky). I'm not trying to obtain a list of every trumpeter who blew a few notes in the decade, but rather to see how people rate the main trumpet figures on the label in those days. It's all rather subjective, but then what isn't?

Speaking of Miles and Byrd similarities...I have only heard snippets of "Electric Byrd," but these tunes are eerie in their similarity to the tracks on "Bitches Brew."

So Byrd's chops declined that early in his career? I know that "A New Perspective" comes after his presumed peak, but I have to say that his solo on "Cristo Redentor" is as memorable and moving a trumpet solo as I have ever heard.

And what is "afaic"?

I suppose we should add Kenny Dorham--some dates as leader, plus appearances with Joe Henderson and Andrew Hill.

Fair enough, but I did say the 1960s.

This thread will focus on several artists. Trumpeters always seemed under-represented on Blue Note it its glory years--and I'm thinking particularly of the 1960s. There are some great ones. Certainly Lee Morgan's discography is huge, and I'd currently place him first; but I've been exploring his stuff in some depth over the last couple of years. Freddie Hubbard was clearly a star, though his most enduring contributions seemed to come as a sideman. There are exceptions, of course, such as "Breaking Point"--one of the great albums of the decade (IMO). The late Donald Byrd is woefully under-represented in my collection, but I will be changing that. His discography is also huge, and I'm sure there are some real classics. One could make a case for Blue Mitchell also--several records as leader, plus more as part of Horace Silver's quintet. Offhand, I can't think of a fifth trumpeter who recorded frequently for BN during this period. How would you rate the trumpeters? What are favorite records and pieces?