Guy Berger

I think this is more or less right. You listen to the studio recordings Miles made with Bill just 2 months after Milestones, and a whole new space opens up in the music that wasn't there when Red was in the band. I'm not sure whether this was just a serendipitous discovery or whether Miles knew (at least subconsciously) what he was looking for in a pianist, but it's really hard to imagine Kind of Blue with Red at the keys. Guy

I must have missed this thread the first time. But Jazzgrl3 -- your dad has provided many of us with hours of beautiful music. Thanks for contributing to this thread. I went through my five Kenny CDs (obviously I also have his work with Blakey, Silver, Andrew H and Joe H) this week. I'm still iffy on the Bohemia set, but Whistle Stop -- yowza. A really great album! Kenny's tunes here are phenomenal and it has some of the best playing I've ever heard from Hank. I think I sort of missed this album since I picked it up around the same time as Una Mas but it didn't have quite the same star power. Anyway, nice to rediscover great albums. Guy

Not today, but my recent purchases have been: Andrew Hill, Eternal Spirit Gateway Trio, Gateway 2 Jan Garbarek, Triptykon Duke Ellington, Early Ellington (Thanks to Lon for recommending this... I'm glad I picked it up) Ludwig van Beethoven, Great Pianists of the 20th Century: Alfred Brendel II (includes Hammerklavier & Op. 111 sonatas, Diabelli Variations) Stan Getz, Complete Roost Recordings Charles Lloyd, Dream Weaver (replacing my low quality MP3s) McCoy Tyner, Tender Moments

Since we're sharing personal exam horror stories, the 1st year comprehensive exams here at the Yale econ PhD program were horrendous. For the final month of studying I was studying 14 hours a day, seven days a week. Only breaks were for eating and sleeping. Guy

I actually think it's remarkable how little "shit" he recorded between 1954 and 1975. Guy

Congrats Paul. Guy

Insofar as getting Bitches Brew, it's not a bad idea to think of it as a louder, bigger, messier version of In a Silent Way. There's a lot more to it than that, but I think both albums are coming from the same place. Put the two back to back, and when you listen to BB, think "what am I hearing that I also heard on IaSW? What makes it sound different?" Pay attention to the more conventionally jazzy elements of the album (most obvious on disc 2) -- the brilliant solos by Miles (especially on "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"), Wayne Shorter and John McLaughlin. For the first year or so of owning Bitches Brew, it made absolutely no sense to me. A lot of it sounded like random gibberish. But once I started seeing the trees for the forest, the music blew my mind. The album makes so much sense to me these days that it's hard to believe I didn't understand it once. As far as Sketches -- it isn't my favorite album, but "Solea" is a work of fricking genius. His playing over that snaking groove (with ever changing orchestrations) just blows my mind every time I hear it. (And oddly, I think this piece anticipates some of the stuff on BB. I'm surprised nobody has ever commented on the Gil Evans influence that crept into the later album.) Guy

I'm interested in picking up a collection of Schubert's late piano sonatas. The priorities (judging by what I've read) are the last three: 958, 959, 960. But I'm also interested in the earlier "late sonatas" (784 onward), the Moments Musicaux (sp?), the Impromptus and the Wanderer Fantasy. The best bet at this point seems to be Brendel's Philips Duo containing 958-960 , but I'm open to any other suggestions. Guy

A while back we discussed Beethoven's piano sonatas and someone told me to check out the Diabelli Variations. I picked up Brendel's 1976 live performance on Philips... wow. It's similar in some ways to the final sonatas (particularly in the heavy use of counterpoint) but different in others. My favorite variations thus far (besides the final ones) are #4, #8, #14, #16, #17, #19, #24, #26 and #27. And the last few variations... wow. The Chopin-foreshadowing #31, the crazy fugue in #32, and the enigmatic #33. Verdict: :tup

"Seven" is another jazzy Soft Machine album. If you end up liking National Health, I'd also recommend Hatfield and the North, which has a similar appeal. I like the 1st, self-titled Hatfield album better than the second one (Rotters' Club). How can you go wrong with an album that has song titles like "Gigantic Crabs in Earth Takover Bid". As far as National Health, I prefer the second album Of Queues and Cures. That one tune about the computer ("Squarer for Maud") is totally awesome. Guy

I might need to listen to these albums again, but that really wasn't my impression. #3 and #4 sound like cutting-edge stuff, #5 sounds much more conservative. Guy

This music sounds SO ALIVE on the Never No Lament reissue (Bluebird). The surface noise is the worst on the first few tracks ("Jack the Bear" in particular), gets much better quickly. Anybody who can't handle the noise is a pansy. Guy

Dolphy's Prestige dates are much more closer to bebop than Out to Lunch. Some really great stuff on them (my fave is Far Cry) though IMHO little of it reaches the visionary genius of Out to Lunch. I think before you tackle that stuff you should look for his stuff with Coltrane and Mingus. With Coltrane start with the Village Vanguard Sessions; there are also a bunch of boots from the '61 European tour, and Ole. With Mingus, there's Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus, Mingus at Antibes, Mingusx5 (Dolphy only plays one solo here, but it's smokin'), and various recordings from the '64 tour (Town Hall Concert and the recent reissue on Verve are probably the most readily available). Guy

Have you heard the album Gateway? It's a trio with DeJohnette and John Abercrombie. Most of the compositions are by Holland. One of the best ECMs I've heard (out of a few dozen) -- it's awesome. The trio recorded three other albums but I don't think any of them are quite at the same level. Guy

From last week's issue of the Economist:

Will do. Unless anybody strenuously objects, I'm going to claim the week of Dec 19-25 for these two albums. Guy

She played (uncredited) on the first WR album. Guy

Alan Shorter plays his only solo on (the extremely creepy) "Mephistopheles", but he plays in all the other ensembles, right? Guy

I've been listening to some of Booker Little's playing recently and it sounds like a bridge between more conventional hard bop trumpet playing and Miles's mid-late 60s playing. Any thoughts on whether Miles was listening to Booker (and Don Cherry) in the 60s and this influenced his style? Or maybe Booker had been incorporating Miles's sound with more advanced ideas that Miles ended up adopting, and that's where the similarity comes from? Guy

I'll be glad to volunteer too sometime in the next few weeks, if it makes easier for someone my choice will be "This is our music" by Ornette Coleman. I don't want to be greedy since I did an AOTW earlier this year, but can someone (not necessarily me) nominate "Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants" for the week of Christmas Eve? It's the 50th anniversary of the Monk & Miles session and it would be cool to discuss it. Guy

By the way, I've heard this group, and they're nothing special. Guy

It was quick. I walked to a local high school, no line, I was able to vote 6 or 7 times in just 10 minutes. Seriously, though, it was quick. One of the few things I like about Connecticut (level voting) is that there aren't any ridiculous propositions on the ballot like in California. Six quick choices. I voted Democrat down the line except for the House seat. The incumbent is safe and she could use a little moderate-Republican competition. Guy

OOPS! Well spotted Mike.Well, I don't like Coltrane's stuff recorded after 1963 except 'Love Supreme' Not even the relatively conservative Crescent? Guy

OK, I listened to most of this album earlier this evening so my thoughts... There's some really lovely playing on this album, particularly by Mehldau and Lloyd. The three long tracks near the middle of the album are the meat of it. The Lloyd-Mehldau duet "The Monk and the Mermaid" is IMHO the best thing on the album, and one of the best things I’ve heard from Lloyd, period. (By the way, anybody have ideas about which guy is the monk and which is the mermaid? and are we talking about the clerical type, or the loneliest type?) I like the exchange around 2:30, Mehldau’s solo afterward, and Lloyd’s anguished playing around 7:30. "Song of Her" and "Lady Day" have some profound playing by both of them; Lloyd’s second solo on “Lady Day” is pretty special, I think. As far as the rest of the album, I like it a lot. The two Duke tunes are really nice. “Georgia” is wonderful, and Mehldau’s solo is great on it. Lloyd’s tone is a little thin on this album (and Hyperion with Higgins) in comparison to the earlier ECM albums. I’m not sure why. But there isn’t a lot of the powerful playing you can hear on Canto (which is my favorite CL) or All My Relations. Still, I'd think that after Canto this album comes a close 2nd. I don't think of this album as having anything to do with what people stereotype as "the ECM sound" -- lots of boomy reverb, evoking northern landscapes, etc. Some of Lloyd's other albums do sound more ECMish (Canto for instance), this one doesn't. It could have comfortably shown up on another label as sort of a "ballads" release.

Wow, that was interesting. Thanks! Guy