Rabshakeh

Just read it. A good article, although points lost for smug self satisfaction.

Dave Liebman – Homage To John Coltrane (Owl, 1987)

This is a good one.

These are all great! Some good ideas. By "dumb" I just mean, not particularly seriously, "not music for intellectuals / sophisticates", which is definitely how I think 99% of the human race perceives jazz. I mean music that would get the average person's hips moving. Rump shakers for normies. Class A bangers. I don't know this comp. Is it stuff like Graham Bond, and mod stuff? I'm into that.

Most people these days are introduced to jazz as music for intellectuals. Polo neck shirt wearing sophisticate nods head subtly to Miles Davis' Second Quintet in smokey jazz club. I'm try to create a playlist of tunes from after the post world war collapse of jazz' popular appeal, which are (i) completely awesome, whilst at the same time (ii) viscerally satisfying - rump shakers and tear jerkers - specifically for a non jazz or blues fan. However, (iii) the songs must not be so overplayed that they are recognisable to the average listener (e.g. The Sidewinder or Watermelon Man). Examples so far: Listen Here by Eddie Harris (from the Electrifying) Gibraltar by Stanley Turrentine (from Salt Song) Take Me To The Mardi Gras by Bob James (from Two) Winelight by Grover Washington Jr (from Winelight) Pezulu by Dudu Pukwana (Dudu Phukwana And The Spears) I've Just Seen A Face by Hank Crawford (from Tico Rico) I have played each of these tunes time and time again, and they always get killer responses from non-jazz fans. What are other some examples that could be included?

I had not clocked that record before. I listened to volume 1 last night and it is really exactly what you'd hope for. It is also nice to heard Whalum getting a chance to really wail, which you don't always on the more cuddly records designed for radio play. Are the other volumes as strong?

Anteloper – Pink Dolphins (International Anthem, 2022) I liked Anteloper's first record better than this, and Jaimie Branch's own stuff more. Feels like International Anthem is putting out too many weak or mediocre records nowadays, after such a strong start. It doesn't help that I have just been listening to this classic: Ray Bryant – Alone With The Blues (New Jazz, 1959) Now on to this recent release: Moor Mother - Jazz Codes (Anti, 2022) I think this one was summed up in my eyes by the review in the Guardian, which called it "essential", before going on to give it a generous, but not very "essential"-looking, four stars out of five. Nothing here that wasn't already making the rounds among smug grad student hip hop listeners back in the early 00s, and not even really up to that low bar. It seems squarely aimed at desperate relevance-hungry middle aged critics, rather than any demographic of listeners.

Kirk Whalum – The Gospel According To Jazz - Chapter I (Warner Gospel, 1998)

Thanks both!

Don Ellis – Tears Of Joy (Columbia, 2011) Still exploring 60s/70s big band records (Jones/Lewis, Gerald Wilson, Maynard Ferguson, CBBB, etc), which, as noted elsewhere, was not an area I really had explored before. This is a fun one.

Thanks. I read that. It was a little hard to identify what is actually good from the descriptions though. Most of the shops look like they're out of the centre and I am nervous of showing up after a 40 minute detour to find that the shop I have picked only sells achingly cool white label techno singles and house plants.

Once back in 2014, which was lovely although I suspect that it has changed a bit since then. I don't recall any record shops either, but then I was in the centre of town.

... Lisbon in Portugal! I'm going to be there this weekend and hoping to slink off and have a look about. Does anyone have any recommendations for second hand jazz vinyl?

David Murray Octet – Octet Plays Trane (Justin Time 2000)

Thank you

Milt Raskin – Kapu (Forbidden) (Crown, 1959)

Thanks. What Jamael Dean would you go for?

I used to just buy anything I could find on that label. Currently listening to that record Shipp did with Anti-Pop Consortium. That's aged less well, I think. Possibly that sort of early 00s 'alternative' Hip Hop only made sense at the time as an alternative in the era of 50 Cent's dominance. In post-Kanye post-Trap retrospect, the whole CloudDead / Mike Ladd / Anti-Pop Consortium bunch just seem to me to have been a smug and talentless road to nowhere. Edit: Not sure why this record is riling me up so much this morning. No one likes to be confronted with their younger self.

Do any of these stand out?

Isotope 217° – The Unstable Molecule (Thrill Jockey, 1997)

I'm not sure whether this was posted here before, but there are companies that run music themed cruises. They are very specific. For example there is a cruise dedicated to the in-no-way-missed 90s rap metal genre. There is a specific jazz one, which, despite an incredible line up, looks pretty dire: the attendees are precisely the sort of pale, thin lipped, straw hat wearing retirees that give jazz a bad name. Pretty much the only one that looks fun is the smooth jazz one! The audience looks great. Everyone is smiling and having a fantastic time. https://thesmoothjazzcruise.com/experience/photos/

She was a Bride of Funkenstein!

Khan Jamal's presence really makes it.

The recent discussion on Smooth Jazz made me realize that we have no Windham Hill thread. I've scanned through the mentions of the label on this forum and most of them are... less than complementary. On the other hand, some members do occasionally post WH records on the Listening To... page. So... Any favourites? Windham Hill or adjacent.

I have just found this old thread and am filled with nostalgia. Equilibrium and The Sublime And... were probably the two first modern jazz records I bought. I spun them so hard that I can still remember every note. It was a bad era for music in general but a strong era for forward thinking modern jazz.