Rabshakeh

I don't know. Jazz seems to be popular at the moment. I know lots of young people who like jazz. It isn't always quite my definition of jazz, but it is theirs.

There was a leaked industry release requesting submissions back when they initially fired people, which suggested that was the future direction.

I'm thinking 2023 Iyer and Iverson in particular. Both musicians who I certainly have enjoyed in the past, at points.

Are we not missing the point? Jazz Times has fired all of its staff and is not proposing to take on new permanent staff, as far as I know. Instead I thought that the model was going to be paid for advertorials plus near-unpaid fan submissions, probably on a level with the universally lauded Wayne Shorter obit. I have no objection to an entirely African-American staffed jazz magazine, and in fact think it is a perfectly good idea, but Jazz Times' recent direction is not that. This is all just marketing led trolling in the wake of the backlash, surely?

Moran is not the only piano-playing jazz educator that I think sells this sort of socially edifying (nice way to describe it) but rather arid stuff. I like this record quite a lot more than other socially edifying recent albums by some of Moran's piano-playing jazz educator peers, where the music comes packed with some sort of Albert Murray-meets-academic lecture but wouldn't be able to locate a sense of swing if it was in a playground. At least I remember it.

This reflected half of my view, but I found the record greatly improved in the second half, when there was more Moran. In the first half it had a very academic stiffness, which felt pedagogical. It reminded me of some of the dreaded later era Wynton Marsalis records, where he is doing little more than re-enact early jazz as an educational tool.

Thanks!

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - XXL The long 1990s.

Is this or any of their other records something you'd recommend?

I thought I had read somewhere that it was not going to have permanent writing staff anymore. Is this just a fig leaf covering that?

I'm not a huge 70s big band guy but that one is a classic

Gave it a listen. Pleasant enough but it misses the original by quite a way. It is anything but innovative.

East German trombone quartet. Slightly jazz funk and slightly free jazz. Very gritty. I really enjoyed it on my first listen. Easily streamed. I'm the same with Amiga.

An excellent record. Surprised that noone has mentioned Budd Johnson so far, as I love his solos on this one.

Thanks. I may will give it a taster.

Fez - Fez (Amiga, 1978)

What is it?

Larry Grenadier - The Gleaners (ECM, 2019)

This is really sad. So many great records.

John Carter Quintet – Variations

Morris Goldberg's Urban Jazz Band (Atlantic, 1975)

Gregg Karukas – Looking Up

Percy Faith Strings – Bouquet

It does seem like the answer to the question of whether there is was a Jamaican jazz scene is basically "no", subject to the proviso that many of the early instrumentalists had jazz training of sone sort. I went down a rabbit hole of Francophone Caribbean music last night. There's a whole lot of jazz in there.