HutchFan

Hampton Hawes At the Piano (Contemporary)

That looks interesting! NP: David Friedman - Of the Wind's Eye (Enja) with Jane Ira Bloom, Harvie Swartz & Daniel Humair

One of the many superb Lacy/Waldron collaborations. NP: Paul Gonsalves - Tell It the Way It Is! [with Cleopatra -- Feelin' Jazzy] (Impulse CD)

Duke Jordan Quartet - Duke's Artistry (SteepleChase)

Andy LaVerne Trio - Another World (SteepleChase) with Mike Richmond & Billy Hart

YES. I couldn't agree more!

Ray Charles Terry Silverlight Sun Ra

Prompted by some Carmen Leggio talk elsewhere on the board: Carmen Leggio Quartet - Smile (Progressive)

Agreed. In this case, the LPs are CLEARLY superior to the CDs.

Larry Goldings - Quartet (Palmetto) with John Sneider (tr, cor); Ben Allison (b); Matt Wilson (d); Madeleine Peyroux (vo, 1 track only) Instead of his usual B3, Goldings mostly sticks to piano on this one.

Probably my favorite McCoy record. Last night: John Coates, Jr. - In the Open Space (Omnisound, 2 LPs) This gentle music is so subtle that it's easy to let it glide by without really hearing it. Even so, I find that it's wriggling its way into my consciousness and I keep coming back to it. ...The pastoral album cover photographs align with the music perfectly.

Larry Willis Sextet - A Tribute to Someone (Audioquest) with John Stubblefield (ts, ss); Tom Williams (tr); Curtis Fuller (tb); David Williams (b); Ben Riley (d)

HP, you make an interesting point. On the flip side, I think one of the challenges with jazz as it relates to streaming is that jazz often requires many listens before it begins to "sink in" and make sense. Often, the listener has to make an investment -- in time, in psychological "energy" -- before the Ah-ha! moment comes. And I think this is especially true for listeners who are relatively new to the music. Unfortunately, for beginners, I don't think streaming is conducive to this sort listening -- repeated listening, intent listening. Streaming is wonderful for exploring new music -- especially if you have some context and background for what you're hearing. But, in the case of the beginner, I think the volume of available music can be almost overwhelming. Speaking for myself, I know that I had to hear Kind of Blue about 20 times before it "suddenly" opened up and blew my mind. I had to hear A Love Supreme many, many times before I got a foothold on the music. For me, Ellington's music took even longer. Years. No joke. But I'd made literal financial investments in recordings, so I kept coming back to them. I sensed that something was there that I wasn't quite getting. So I kept coming back. And then, after a period of time, I'd get the payoff. ...Of course, now that I've been listening for years, making my way into the music is much easier -- usually. But that process of discovery, of unlocking, is still part of the enjoyment. I wonder if I would have made those initial investments if I were a young person today. Streaming makes it so easy to "surf." Would I have focused on one thing over-and-over again -- enough to get me over those initial hurdles? I don't know. That's a bummer. And it's probably no different than the English teacher who's trying to help the students to realize that the novels and poems and stories they're reading could actually be interesting and have personal meaning -- if they would really engage with the texts. But, in today's world, that's a tough challenge -- for both the student and the teacher. There are so many barriers to that particular type of enjoyment.

Al Haig - Piano Interpretation (Seabreeze LP)

Michel Petrucciani - 100 Hearts (Concord)

Una Mae Carlisle John Dos Passos Quartette Trés Bien

Lou Levy - Tempus Fugue-It (Interplay LP)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 / Karl Böhm, VPO (DG) A cycle that I've enjoyed for years.

Disc 2

Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944 Disc 3

Jerry Lee Lewis - Killer Country (Mercury Nashville)

Along with Jaki Byard, here's another musician who's on my Mount Rushmore of jazz pianists: Sir Roland Hanna - Time for the Dancers (Progressive) with George Mraz & Richard Pratt

More Jaki Byard: This CD intermingles tracks from two different LPs: Solo Piano and Jaki Byard with Strings. Usually I don't like it when reissuers "shuffle the deck" like that, but -- IMHO -- it works beautifully here. Then again, my first exposure to this music was on this CD. I imagine if I knew the music from the original LPs, I'd be disappointed that it was resequenced. ...In any case, this is some magnificent music. By the way, the cuts with strings aren't like the Charlie Parker with Strings record. In this case, "strings" refers to George Benson's guitar, Ray Nance's violin, and Richard Davis' & Ron Carter's basses.

Thanks, soulpope. It was fun putting the site together. Good excuse to buy lots of recordings.