Rabshakeh

I could swear that we had a VSOP thread around here more recently than this but I might have imagined. Anyway, a recent substack on the "Stadium Jazz" phenomenon. https://burningambulance.substack.com/p/stadium-jazz

I was wondering recently whether that’s the end of this project. Sorey seems to be moving back into the jazz world recently. (Unless I’ve missed anything.)

I AM – Beyond (Division 81, 2022) I know that other people have raved about it, but I wasn't prepared for how good this one is. I have seen Collier live and heard him on record and thought that he was fine but a bit of a spiritual jazz hipster. I was clearly completely wrong. Ode is very good too. Really impressive.

That's great news!

Still on the Horn Bands, what about early Mothers of Invention? They had introduced horns by 1967. I often think you can hear their influence in the likes of Dave Pike and the early German and British fusion guys.

A joke at the expense of 1964. The record is hilarious enough on its own.

Thank you.

The Swingle Singers – Going Baroque (Philips, 1964) I'm not sure whether it is too early to make this call, but I think that this record is the future of jazz.

The Night Blooming Jazzmen – The Night Blooming Jazzmen (Mainstream, 1971) I find this one interesting. When I started listening to it I did not expect the organ to start up. Cooking soul jazz is not something that I really associate with Leonard Feather.

I'd never heard of this series, which seemingly put out split LPs with contrasting groups. Examples include: Dixieland Vs Birdland Hot Vs. Cool Cats vs. Chicks West Coast Vs. East Coast An example cover: The whole concept seems wacky - high off genre infighting. But the artists were legit. I suppose Feather had enough clout to get whoever he wanted on these things. Did people buy these?

Sorry to ask, but what were these? I find this long vanished music really interesting. Which of his records would you have found in the neglected jazz collection, next to Time Out and We Do Requests?

I was going to make the Brubeck comparison upthread too. Was Shearing in that category?

Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie – Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie (Pablo, 1975)

This is a good one. One of the few Shipp records that accurately captures how he plays live. Bob Reid – Africa Is Calling Me (Kwela, 1975) Currently streaming this weird one. Oliver Lake very strong on it.

That's a great first jazz record. The big dubby pound of it.

I think part of the dislike of Peterson may stem from the fact that, because of his success, he represents a certain image of jazz as music for (from a late boomer perspective) the older and more conservative generation. The kind of thing your parents would buy on a whim as their one record purchase every couple of years. If you want an image of jazz that is more nightclub shades and cigarette smoke, or dashiki and conscious politics, then Oscar Peterson is sort of in your way. In contrast, younger jazz fans I interact with, who are too young to have parents who listened to Peterson, often have no opinion on Peterson at all. He's fading from fame/notoriety fast.

Whenever I play any jazz at family gatherings, my Dad always asks me “Is this Oscar Peterson?”. It could be literally anything. I'm pretty sure it's a goad.

It's not the album Charlie Parker with Strings, but it does have some strings. It's a big band record with Parker as more than featured soloist. Very Clef / Verve in style.

I wonder whether the OP's question should perhaps be put the other way around. Why was he so popular? For decades, Oscar Peterson was one of the world's most beloved jazz musicians. What's more, he was pure jazz. There's no argument about that (unlike the Sinatras, etc). Why did people, and not just casual jazz fans, connect so much with his music? Personally, I do not really enjoy his music. But there is clearly something there. I've enjoyed the Milt Jackson duo recommended upthread, and I definitely like the +1 album a lot. The Teddy Wilson comparisons probably aren't in Peterson's favour, but he's still solid, even as an accompanist.

This group's records are all good. My personal, perhaps subjective, fav is Fort Yawuh. I love this record. Shame about the back cover. Where do you spin these? What room are we seeing here? I think you have a kid just a little younger than mine (2+4 in my case). All my vinyl records are spun only en famille. I am finding that as they get older I am increasingly having to accept they that they have stronger views on what they'll listen to.

Interested to know what you think. I found it a little slow. I've enjoyed his other stuff more, I think.

Pleased you said this. I am with you too, particularly on the Cole Porter. Rodgers and Hart's compositions have a light show-tunesey quality that I think works better. It helps that Fitzgerald's voice fits their songs too. I don't think arrangements affect it so much. Actually, my view is that the records as a whole stand out as singer vs composer, with the band and the arrangements for once being a little less important. I think that the record I have enjoyed most has been the Irving Berlin - comparatively underrepresented when it comes to the post-1945 songbook - but so dark and deep when handled in a double album form.

I've been listening to the Songbook records recently. Interesting how strongly the personalities of the different composers comes through. The way standards are talked about sometimes makes them seem like a mass of traditional material.

Nate Wooley and Columbia Icefield – Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (Pyroclastic, 2021)

George Duke – Night After Night (Elektra, 1989)