Alon Marcus

I love 80/81 but Whichita was a bit boring for me.

Well the best definition is consistent artits and examples for such albums.

Many Blue Note records are featuring teams of superb jazzmen and led by one of them. Reading on a Freddie Hubbard thread about his performances as leader and sideman made me think about the different tasks of performing on an album and creating an album, which is actually a long suite of tunes. You have to make it balanced in tempi, tonalities (major/minor) and moods. Choose or compose the right compositions. Choose the most appropriate sidemen and give them enough space for expression. Some artists (like Miles) have a special talent for creating an album rather than just playing or composing. Blue Note recorded many terific albums led by different people and many mediocre ones almost with the same teams. I think that Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock were the most succesfull in creating a string of albums consistent in their high quality. First I thought I'd start a poll but then I changed my mind. First, I myself can't pick a single artist. I'd rather give examples. Second I don't want to create a superficial poll, forgetting players that I'm not familiar with or disregarding the ones I don't like. I would like to hear your opinions who were the artists the created good albums and what are those albums (and the bad ones too!). My first choices are "Speak no Evil" by Wayne Shorter, "Speak like a child" by Herbie and Lee Morgan's "Search for the new land". Three superb albums IMHO.

Try to listen to a double album of the same trio live. I actually heard them live 4 years ago.

A big for "Prisoner". It's a follow up to "Speak like a child". Now for Hutcherson I think the albums with Mclean and Moncur (if you still don't have 'em) like "Destination out" or "One step beyond". Both of them also on Moncur's Mosaic select.

I think he is an important jazz guitarist. Another link in the long chain that include Christian, Django, Wes, Jim Hall etc. I would say that my favorite Metheny albums are the ones where he plays and improvises a lot, like his trios, the duet with Hall and his sideman contributions to records with Kenny Garrett, Michael Brecker, Ornette Coleman and Joshua Redman. His group is nice too mostly for terific compositions and interesting small group arrangements, but he really stretches out less with the group. What do you think about this guy? What are your favorite Metheny albums? Do you think he is overrated or underrarted when talking about his contribution to jazz guitar and composition? Did you hear his weird projects, among them the double album with Derek Baily?

Third Plane by Ron Carter with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams. This was an emphatic group of equals so the name of the leader is not essential. Two more albums that deserve mention are Charlie Haden's Montreal tapes with Geri Allen and Gonzalo Rubalcaba (both of them have Paul Motian on drums).

Oh yeah and that one too... Listened to it a lot this year. For those of you who can speak the ancient language of Moses, there is a review on my website about all Dizzy related big bands. http://www.geocities.com/ztrauq22/bigband/dizzy/dizzy.htm

LOL Made me laugh. Guess I must have a bad sense of humor

This was a year of rediscovering artists I thought I knew everything about. Mingus with his "Let my children play music" and the wonderful "Ellington suites" are two records that were recommended on an Israeli jazz board and go into that category. Branford Marsalis with his latest release is a favorite of mine. Ron Carter with Pick 'Em/Super strings – guess I'm weak for albums that combine arranged music with improvisations. Also I enjoyed listening to Ornette Coleman. He was an artist whom I was afraid of. Never paid attention to his music but there were few events that made me curious. First my favorite Metheny album has an Ornette tune (Law years on the trio from 1989). Second I heard on a radio a version of Lonely Woman (that was actually almost two years ago but I realized it was the famous Coleman tune long after it). Third I heard his composition Turnaround on Redman's record called Wish. There were more events when I heard Ornette's compositions and really liked it. I decided to explore his music a bit. "Tomorrow is the question" is a favorite of mine and so is "This is our music" which I chose as album of the week. It was a great year of discoveries for me (this board included) but since I was limited to five I'll stop right now.

I like very much the collaborations with Lee Konitz and Brad Mehldau (they recorded twice). All three of them sound inspired and play better than usual. Another album with a very tranquil mood that not many people like is Nocturne. It's a pretty good album though, the beautiful melodies are very appealing to me and Rubalcaba is very elegant and relaxed on most of the tracks. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&t...10:leamqj7qojka

Big Blues with Jim Hall is great. The Jazztet with Golson is one of the best groups I've ever heard.

His recital from the Maybeck series is really good.

Still listening to the wonderfull compilation: Pick 'Em/Super strings. What I like there the most is 1. Ron's compositions 2. Kenny Barron's playing. ...also here are two previous threads about him http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...indpost&p=42714 http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...indpost&p=54753

Can someone please give me some info about Michael Gibbs? He seems to be an important contributor in the realm of modern big bands. What kind of music he plays and by whom is he influenced? Who is playing with him? Recommendations?

She is a great singer indeed. Listening right now to "Glamoured".

In the midsummer of 1960 Higgins was replaced by Blackwell and the session of "This is our music" was recorded. Also most of "To whom who keeps a record" that was issued originally only in Japan was recorded then. I never heard it but maybe it was reissued as part of Ornette's Atlantic box. Is that what you meant with "chronological confusion"?

This is a philosophical issue. Personally I think that music is a very efficient way of communicating and expression of feelings. You can imagine yourself that people from different countries that don't speak the same language can enjoy each other's music. About Kaleidoscope; that's only my opinion. Probably I don't like it because I couldn't understand it. I'll try to listen to it more and maybe in other versions. Also, I'll be glad if someone could "show me the light" and explain this composition. It's the only piece that I don't dig on that album. By the way, "This is our music" contains beautiful compositions (Humpty Dumpty, Blues connotation, Beauty is a rare thing etc.). Are there other versions for these songs from Ornette or anybody else?

Another great Gruntz. The trumpet section contains Wallace Roney, Randy Brecker and Jon Faddis. Also participating: Bob Mintzer, Ray Anderson, John Scofield. Highly recommended.

Are Paquito D'Rivera's big bands considered ghost bands too? You know... because he inherited Dizzy. Nevermind, I enjoy it very much. Especially this one

"Embraceable you" is a traditional piece that shows Ornette capabilities as melodic and singing improviser. Once again Blackwell does a superb job. The form stretches a bit and Haden creates nice tension in the end of the first chorus. There is a long cadenza by Ornette in the end of the second chorus. The song opens and ends with an orchestrated phrase that was built from the original Gershwin's motifs. Altogether, of all the versions I have heard it's one of the best and probably the most original. Sorry, didn't hear Braxton's "Embraceable you". One of the things I really like in the album is the passage between Ornette's and Don's solos, especially on "Poise". Don picks Coleman's idea and develops it for some time, adding darker colors with Haden chromatic descending line.

Well, why not send a letter? I'll accept it as Canadian humor.

Cannonball, it seems you have started every possible "your favorite" thread there is. In one day!?. Leave something for the future. You have nothing left to ask. Maybe: who is your favorite poster?..

If there is one track that I don't like it must be Kaleidoscope. The melody is not catchy and I can't figure out what is going on in the improvisation. One thing that's essential in free jazz (actually in every kind of music, with free jazz it's just stands out) is communicating with the listener and delivering a message. Sometimes there may be some beauty and logic in the song but only the musicians know about it. They communicate among themselves but not with the audience. That's the case with Kaleidoscope I think.

Let's start the discussion with "Beauty is a rare thing". One of the best pieces by the quartet. Maybe because it is a slow ballad with a catchy melody the ideas shine bright. At first it's just Ornette, Blackwell and Haden. The melody is presented and actually has an AABA form. Then suddenly Cherry announces his solo with a pedal point held by Haden (it happens when the digital clock shows about 2 minutes and 20 seconds). The sustained dominant creates a tension which resolves finally at 3:30. Somehow Haden leads Don to a new pattern in a different key and than the solo spot is delivered to Coleman (about 4:40). Haden and Ornette create a scary pattern which finally resolves to a restatement of the original theme by both Cherry and Coleman. Not to forget Blackwell's wonderful job of orchestrating the solos of both Cherry and Coleman.