Rabshakeh

Thanks. From the bizarre Wikipedia page it looks.... divisive.

Never actually listened to this one. Is it recommended? Wikipedia is a bit weird about it.

Miles Mosely - Uprising (Verve, 2017) First and probably last listen to this. Mosley is a bassist from the "West Coast Get Down" collective (Kamasi and co). To my ears it sounds like Bruno Mars. Vaguely 70s soul / Rastafarian themes with rugged but handsome cover art with revolutionary aesthetic. It has everything that your cool aunt could want. Can't believe I wasted my time on it.

Some examples of what I'm talking about for anyone not familiar:

I'm sure that's a consideration for collectors, but I think that they're also just not that desirable to less committed jazz listeners. Blue Note and Impulse! are in coffee table book territory, with an aesthetic that is immediately recognisable by people who have never listened to music, and musicians who have become household names. That's reflected in the price of even the worst reissues of their catalogues. The Prestige / Muse / Cobblestone look isn't and nor are their artists.

I'm a big fan of the photography / text that is used on the covers of many of the later Prestige records and then on Cobblestone and Muse records. Many of these were produced by Don Schlitten. They have a great combination of often quite raw / flawed photograph with clashing fonts and colours. The effect is gripping and rough, and far away from the well known too-cool-for-school "Reid Miles aesthetic" that gets associated with Prestige's main rival. I pick these records up whenever I see them - luckily they are still often reasonably priced - and I get a thrill every time I handle them. Does anyone know who was the art team behind these releases? I assume not Schlitten himself but did he have a team who followed him.

Jeremy Danneman and Sophia Nzayisenga - Honey Wine (Ropeadope, 2016) I've really been enjoying Danneman's records recently. I wish jazz and non-American musics could always fit together as well as they do on this record.

Thanks

Which Mack Av would you start with?

There's a short thread from a while back:

Thanks!

My younger cousin is mad for him. He is one of those musicians who makes me feel old, simply because there has clearly been some sort of generational shift that makes his music seem valuable to younger listeners. In the same way as my baby boomer parents couldn’t understand rock music what was “alternative” (in the marketing sense) like Nirvana or Sonic Youth at all, because it had nothing to do with what they thought was good or interesting, I find myself really struggling to see why anyone wants to listen to Washington. To my ears it sounds like a Disneyfied/K-pop simulation of jazz by a competent studio musician, with targets set for an epic, cinematic sound; my cousin (17) thinks he’s one of the greats, an older statesman with infinite range. I should add that I also think his presence is a definite Good Thing: the fact that I have a 17 year old family member who is getting into jazz off the back of Washington is part of his achievement.

“Sex Tape: in British English NOUN a recording of a sexual encounter, esp one involving a celebrity” What do you call it on your side of the ocean?

Shame RIP Syl’s music has been a staple of every mixtape or playlist I have made in the last 20 years.

I don’t know Gerald Wilson at all. Are the 80s records the ones to begin with?

What was Ayler Sr like?

I’d missed this! An excellent record that I will definitely get.

Thanks.

Leaving aside the trio personnel, has Sorey ever said anything about his personal style being influenced by Motian? I’d be interested to know who he regards as being his influences.

Anthony Braxton / Gunter Hampel / Jeanne Lee - Familie (Birth, 1972) Just finished washing up after a toddler “play date” (hangover incoming), and this one sounds just great.

Amaro Freitas - Sankofa (2021) This is very popular on Reddit r/jazz at the moment. I'm not sure why, other than the fantastic cover. I'm sorry, but this is a hilarious name and graphics for a record.

Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory - Song For My Sister (Pi, 2002) First listen to this. So good. No idea why I waited until now.

Agrippa's 3 Books by Edmund Welles (2005) Where do you go after the WSQ?

Great stuff on here.

Kenny Burrell - All Night Long (Prestige, 1957) Underrated as a great jazz flute record. Jerome Richardson really on top form in my opinion. Nice afternoon. Currently enjoying a beer, toasting the momentarily benevolent football gods and getting ready for Maria Schneider.