papsrus

Wow! This looks great. I'm on this one. Yeah. A guilty pleasure. I'm sure it will lead to further explorations. On the way: Lester Young -- "The Jazz Giants 56"

And to you and yours as well. And to everyone here at Organissimo.

Interestingly enough, it was Coltrane's "One Down, One Up, Live at the Half Note" that kicked the doors open for me again. That incredible recording shot me like a cannon through all things Coltrane, to Dolphy, Mingus, Monk, then a semi-obsession with Braxton before moving pretty directly to more contemporary artists like Melford, Douglas and pretty much the whole New York downtown thing, Berne, Friedlander, etc. As you can see, that trajectory ignored almost all of what I've been listening to this year. And I enjoy toggling between older and newer music and discovering those common threads I referred to. I thought of mentioning live music, but it has sadly been a tiny part of my listening this year. Part of that is my own fault, because I've not ventured out into nearby metropolitan areas that do have at least some jazz clubs, although with mostly local bands. Nonetheless, there is a scene and I need to make the effort, and intend to this coming year. But part of it is because there's just not a lot of opportunity to listen to good, live music here. I did catch Branford Marsalis earlier this year in duet with his piano player (forget the name). The rest of the band got snowed in in Atlanta, so that was kind of a bust. ... Speaking of which, Atlanta shut down its music festival, so there are really no regional summer festivals worth a damn that I can get to easily now. I was lucky enough to attend the last big one two years ago and see Tolliver, Mahanthappa, Bobby Hutherson, Bad Plus, among others.

As for Romo, I only was able to watch the highlights but it looked like he was under a lot of pressure from that defense. I saw him get chased around and pounded more than a couple of times. That points to the O line, maybe? Or blocking schemes (coaching). And the Ravens ripped off a couple of huge runs. (maybe points to defensive schemes and coaching again). Eliminate those and it could be a different game. Comes down to coaching, me thinks. Dallas certainly has the athletes. Their playoff chances were wounded badly with that loss though.

As Bev and some others may know, my musical journey is probably a bit different from most members here. The short version is that I've been rediscovering music since about 2005 after ignoring it for decades. This year has largely been about discovering music from roughly the middle part of the last century back toward the early part of the century, and is decidedly tilted toward what Bev I think affectionately referred to as "dead Americans." I joined in drinking from the fountain of Ellington, everything from early small group recordings to his later suites, all of it wonderful. Then Basie, of course, and the various sidemen who worked with each. Lots of tributaries flowed toward the likes of Rex Stewart, Paul Gonsalves, Hodges of course, Lester Young, Ben Webster. And before too long the whole early part of the last century began opening up. While I had certainly listened to many of these artists before, I'm listening to them now with very different ears. Highlights in this regard: Allen Lowe's wonderful History of Jazz set; Ellington small groups Mosaic; Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens; and more recently vocalists Sinatra and Holiday; and the Lester Young-Basie Mosaic. Lately I'm listening to some early Goodman -- both big band and small group -- and Fletcher Henderson. I'm just now getting around to Coleman Hawkins' early period, and some players like Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone. In a slightly different vein, I've also focused this year a little bit on Charlie Parker, particularly his live recordings of the late 40s; and Dizzy; and Mary Lou Williams. Don Byas was another gem who emerged for me this year. And I began to discover or more thoroughly explore the likes of Lee Morgan, Gene Ammons, Turrentine, Hubbard, Lou Donaldson. A good dose of Blue Note and some Prestige, I guess. A final area of interest for me this year has been the (mostly) contemporary Chicago new music scene, via Delmark and Nessa, but I've barely scratched the surface there. Matana Roberts (whom I first became aware of last year); Chicago Underground Trio; Chicago Luzern Exchange with Keefe Jackson; Jason Ajemian. And Chuck Nessa's reissue of Roscoe Mitchell's "Nonaah." Powerful, challenging and beautiful. It's been a great year musically, but the music I'm listening to now, by and large, is quite different from what I was listening to even as recently as a year ago. Yet common threads run through all of it, and as the journey moves on, they become clearer and clearer. Kinda like life in general.

Coleman Hawkins -- "The Essential Sides - 1929 - 1939" jsp

Yes, there is, thank the Lord. But how is any of this "maybe even partly because of -- Marsalis and JALC"? None of that creative music IMO is related to anything Marsalis and JALC have done in musical terms. Or do you mean that in the face of the b.s. "success" of Marsalis and JALC, some people decided that they had to take care of the business of the business part of their relatively small but at best musically genuine scenes much more assiduously than they would have done before? Maybe so, but by that token you can justify almost anything -- like maybe Grendel was the best thing that ever happened to place where Beowulf hung out. I suppose I was thinking both in a broad sense of those people who are first introduced to jazz through Marsalis and who are bound to venture beyond the confines of neoclassicism to eventually support more creative musics, as well as those networks of musicians and listeners and clubs that arise out of necessity precisely because they are excluded from JALC. The organic response to institutional suppression. A loose train of thought, admittedly.

Fascinating reading. But there's a little gnawing voice in the back of my head as I read all this though that says, "Has jazz -- creative music -- really been suppressed to such an extent by neoclassicism?" I see how the nuts-and-bolts funding issues can be a big problem, but beyond that (admittedly very important) aspect, we have the music itself as a guide. And it seems to me that the music is flourishing in many quarters, despite -- and maybe even partly because of -- Marsalis and JALC. Some of that flourishing may have to do with changes in technology that allow less well-known (and less well-funded) artists to publish and perform their music on their own terms. A creative music scene has taken root in Brooklyn in part as a reaction not against JALC and neoclassicism, but as an offshoot of the more progressive downtown scene, which itself may be becoming somewhat staid and predictable. (I could be completely off the rails on that, but this is my sense of things). In any case, I simply wonder if there is sometimes too much being laid at the feet of Marsalis and the whole traditionalist movement. I'm not immersed in the real-world mechanics of it all, but as a listener, my ears (and my wallet) tell me there is plenty of creative music being made today.

Ordered these three tonight. Not expecting them until after Christmas. Charlie Barnet -- "Drop Me Off In Harlem" Johnny Dodds -- "Blue Clarinet Stomp" Jimmy Noone -- "Apex Blues"

Thank you. Thank you very much. Ah, the rest of my thought, which I didn't complete, was ... "much more than the music I've heard lately coming out of New York, which seems too often to be predictable." (that was the "I hesitate" part). A good thread to keep an eye on.

I don't know about top 5, but I've really been diggin' Sinatra recently -- "A Voice In Time" box. Also, "Lady Day, That Master Takes and Singles." Somebody mentioned Ella. "The Complete Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong" box is very nice as well.

That's rough. Sorry. You did the right thing, and it sounds like he was very happy to be near y'all. Quality time counts!

Thanks for posting that. His comment about King Oliver and Armstrong coming north and moving to extended improvisation is interesting. He's certainly crystal clear in his views on Marsalis. And it just reinforces how absurd it is that someone in WM's position would fail to even entertain the idea that blues and swing might be insufficient on their own to define black music. It serves the power structure he's a big part of, I guess, but does not really move the ball forward as far as a collective understanding the music. And I suppose that's the crux of the biscuit.

You can change the thread title by using the edit button of the first post. Ahh thank ya!

That's fantastic. Thanks.

How do I change the topic header? I feel like it would better read: "Bill Evans with Hubbard and Zoot, and other non-trio settings" ... or something like that.

... any discussion not specifically set up to address the specific issue, is pretty much doomed to be perceived as talking about the "benefits of segregation to African-Americans" or some such. Yeah, you can have the discussion, but not anywhere, not at any time, and definitely not with just anybody. It requires a nuance of perception, depth of knowledge, and perhaps most importantly, a consensual clearness/cleanness of conscience that just ain't gonna be found in a random sampling of Americans, if you know what I mean. While I'm guessing you are right here, Jim, and understand I am speaking as someone who is very much on the low end of the learning curve on all this, I might err on the side of assuming that the topic was approached thoughtfully. Furthermore, one might hope WM's awareness of the topic would rise above that of a random sampling. But your larger point is well taken. There might be some difficulty in keeping the bad connotations and restoring ambiguity. One doesn't easily facilitate the other -- which might point toward the heart of the matter. Dunno. (heading out now to buy a Brad Pitt mask, knowing full well this will alienate Anniston forever more. )

Yeah, that would probably be good.

I enjoyed it, and will for quite some time (I hope).

Honest mistake. It happens. On to good thoughts for Mr. Hubbard.

I hear you on that! Those three-way mirrors can be a humbling experience.

So race is emerging as a major hangup here, not surprisingly, I guess. That both WM and the Wesleyan professor would shut down a discussion of music using basically the same kind of retort (you're white and, therefore, don't know what you're talking about) is ... I don't know what it is -- confounding, but hopefully not an insurmountable pattern. It's astonishing to me that highly intelligent people can be unwilling to discuss their differing views about music and its history. It seems to me the more intransigent someone is, the more suspect their positions, right? It almost comes off as though both WM and the professor are trying to hide something from view. Like the Wizard of Oz.

Yes. I very much agree. I hesitate to say this, because it's just a feeling I have based on a small sample, but it seems to me that the music I've listened to coming out of Chicago recently is exciting, forward-leaning, fresh, unafraid.

Sad news. His long stay in an ICU didn't seem like a good indication. RIP

Man, you could throw a dart and not miss with that list, seems like. But I went with the JJ Johnson, only because I'm looking at it myself.