Alon Marcus

For all those who wanted the liner notes you can find it here let my children hear music liner notes

I'm to much of a Davis' fan to be objective. Also I like fusion and jazz rock not less than traditional mainstreem and general bop (the "be", the "hard" and the "post"). This is why my opinion usualy clashes with most jazz fans. Miles' recordings from "Bitches Brew" are thought as inferior. His eightys stuff beeing seen as comercial and a sell out to the bones. I can't agree with this. His quintets are great and so are the works with later groups. There are always plenty of great solos. The cast at different times included people like: Al Foster Mike Stern John Scofield Marcus Miller Bill Evans Kenny Garret "Star people" from 1982 is one of my favourite recordings. Although it contains a lot of blues I certainly don't think it's easy listening. Some parts sound really avaunt gard – ish. Miles plays well, maybe not as well as in the sixties but he is still quite powerfull. I recommend warmly this cd.

I certainly like his playing very much. After I started the thread I recalled an article by Gene Lees that I read few years ago (about Bill Evans of course). The interesting fact is that they both had an admiration for each other (another interesting trivia is that they were born almost on the same day: Oscar – August 15th, Bill – August 16th). So I guess there were many greats that liked Peterson either.

I remember reading somewhere that Miles didn't like Oscar's playing. In his famous downbeat blindfold test Thelonious asks the way to the toilet when Leonard Feather puts Oscar on. blindfold test by monk My question is why? Do you agree with the giants in this case? Personally I like Peterson very much. Every recording he did before his stroke is a gem. It's true that his playing is flashy but he is fast and brilliant. So why Miles and Monk didn't like him? Have you heard other opinions about him (positive and negative)?

Bentsy, I must agree with you. I don't have nor the "Blue note" neither the "Riverside" boxes, but from the albums Monk made for these labels (Especially the three riversides I mentioned earlier and "Thelonious himself"), you must be right. The prestige box still contains surprises not obvious in first listens. One thing is the quintet with Blakey, Curley Russell, Ray Copeland and Frank Foster. What strikes me the most is the supreme bass by Russell. When the melodies are played he always contributes a kind of a complimentary counterpoint. He's walking lines are pretty ambiguous when combined with Thelonious' harmonies on the piano. This kind of bass playing is very forward looking into the styles of guys like La Farro and Haden.

First of all I think it's time to put the lyrics of "The chill of death" in the thread. Are there any volunteers? I couldn't find it on the net. This is probably Mingus' most artistic piece, compared even to his other narrated works. As the liner notes show Charles intended to find an organic synthesis of the symphonic/orchestral with the improvised. One of his inspirations was actually Bird that called him someday and played with Stravinsky's record. Mingus wanted to create something "jazzical". Adagio ma no troppo takes these concepts farther. I must admit that I never heard "Mingus plays piano" and it is really hard for me to believe that this is an orchestration of his improvisation. The piece is totally written out. Don't be afraid the clowns are afraid too – an extension of Charles' small group polyphonic concepts. The basic melody stated and afterwards more layers are being laid above it until the "b" section reached with its typical burlesque like motifs in 3/4. There are many moments of group free interplay. Some players are payin' dues to their bebop influences inside this orgy of sound. I managed to catch someone playing Parker's "Now is the time" and Dameron's "Hot house". The interplay is quite intriguing and fascinating.

I would like to start a thread on Thelonious' box on prestige but discussion and comparison to any other of his sets is welcomed too. The box includes 3 discs and I have for more than a year. Purchased it on the same day with another 3 classic riversides (Brilliant corners, Misterioso and Monk's music) and it took some time till its true musical value was clear to me. The most important and interesting session is probably the one with Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke. The playing is great by each one of the participants although the relationship between Miles and Thelonious were really bad. Apparently Miles didn't like his comping. For me the best tune out of this session is the challenging Gershwin's "The man I love". The set includes other surprises like the early recordings with Coleman Hawkins. These show that Monk was essentially a stride pianist and had little to do with bebop. Of course – he was the most advanced and original stride pianist ever! The "Bye – Ya" track on the first disc is astonishing. Probably by accident, Art Blakey builds not less but rock rhythms that historically were to be invented only some years later. For those who like his teaming with Rollins there are plenty of them on the first and second cd's. Another interesting appearance is by a Count Basie alumni – Frank Foster. What do you think about this set when compared to his other boxes?

Charles Mingus – Let my children hear music; for me this album certainly ranks as one of the best. It has the perfect balance of spontaneity (the band launches sometimes even into free improvisations) and organization. I know that nothing is perfect and there must be some flaws in this recording, but I must admit that I just can't see them. Maybe it is the "blinding effect" of the colorful orchestrations. The intensity and vigor that are typical for Mingus present through out the recording. Each musical piece is so deep that the discussion can take months and not become exhausted. Shoes of the fisherman's wife – this track is actually full of classical (or better to say: academic) influences. It is built in the form of a sonata. The introduction contains two distinctive musical themes (the slow beautiful melody which begins the work and the 3/4 theme that appears afterwards), the section of the classical development is replaced of course by improvisations and the finale is built like a reprise with slight changes. The slow melody stated simply at first with a two voiced counterpoint (melody and bass line) and all the instruments play these lines in unison (or different octaves). With each new phrase new instruments are being added to double the bass and the melody. Aside from adding color the band just sounds louder, firmer and stronger with every addition. The next time that this theme is stated the harmonization and voice leading are much richer. Group improvisations are found in many tracks of the album, but in "Shoes" there are echoes of Coleman's "Free Jazz" and Bach/Handel like concerti grosso. Taurus in the arena of life – the name of the piece is symbolic for Mingus. Born on April 22nd he astrologically was a Taurus and surely viewed his life as an eternal fight (against whoever was around). I can't understand the purpose of the short quasi classical piano introduction, but it still sounds o.k. to me. The center of the song is surely the tenor + trumpet improvisation, which appears with two different backgrounds: Spanish (the inevitable association with bulls and arenas) and Gospel. Hobo Ho – the piece begins with an ostinato motive played by the bass and later doubled by tuba. The rhythmic pattern is also doubled by the drums. In the start the band "shouts" chords that are built note by note from different instruments. The song is a show off for the mind blowing tenor sax solo. There are some beautiful things being played behind the solo, sometimes improvised and sometimes written counterpoint. The vamp builds slowly until it reaches the climax of intensity. I will post later additional thoughts on the disc if there will be any.

Happy birthday Wayne ! Speak No Evil - was an enlightning discovery for me after which i started looking for everything he did as sideman and leader. There are many aspects of this wonderfull artist to discuss about but the one of the biggest interest to me is his "forbidden albums". I mean all the stuff he did just before entering weather report and in the eighties. Most jazz fans I know become sick when these mentioned but in my opinion they are just as great as his blue note classics. The "soprano albums" beginning from late sixties are true masterpieces in improvisation. Capricorn and Water Babies sound to me much better than the Miles Davis version. The eighties albums are less spontaneous but the compositions surely not worse, and sometimes better, than the blue note compositions. Electronics - that's what probably makes this discs undigestable to most of us but listen to the arrangments. They are like a maze (with lots of logic) for the listener.

Personally he is far away from being a favourite of mine. With all the respect to his tremendous contribution to violin in jazz, just couldn't enjoy his improvisations to much. But since my early days I was a Joe Pass fan and that is why I bought the next cd http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=9884 Joe was an emphatic player and a specialist in special settings like this "drumless" one. Pedersen is mind blowing and together they make a great team.

This is a GREAT choice ! After listening to David Murray's latest big band album my interest in arrangments and extended bands has grown and I went back to Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus. I'll give this one a few more listens though before posting my opinion.

Recently I heard his album Obsession and was very impressed. It seems that the classical guitar poses some serious difficulties and few improvisers used it. Ralph Towner, Charlie Byrd and Laurindo Almeida are probably the full list of jazzmen that constantly used and expanded the possibilities of this instrument. Ferenc is a good musician; his improvising language is rich and tasteful. Has anyone heard of him and maybe some more of his works as leader or sideman?

I will surely recognize one pianist from a single sound he makes and he is Keith Jarrett ...because of the sounds he produces to accompany the note. No hard feelings Keith fans, I'm a fan myself.

Thanks for the info, Les Paul is a guy I heard of but never heard him ! I know that he made contributions to jazz guitar development and interested in recommendations for some of his albums as leader or sideman.

No He is better I didn't like for a long time cause when I first heard him I was saturated with the virtuoso stuff from Mclaughlin/Di Meola gangs. Recently I heard his CD Cedars of Avalon - the material is mainly standarts and tunes composed be jazzmen, the band is great: Cedar Walton, Billy Drummond, Buster Williams. Larry sounds like a refined mixture of Pat Martino and Wes, more relaxed and logical than in his fusion days.

Well I must raise my hand cause the opening calypso from Global Warming is quite catchy and actually I was whistling it while reading the thread.

I think that a part of the answer is in the question itself ! They were great cause Duke kept them.

I think it depends very much on the instrument - you need to hear pianists and drumers "speak" a few phrases before recognizing. With wind istruments it's much easier for me : Coltrane, Miles, Steve Lacy, Stan Getz Also guitarists have very distinctive tones because it depends on many unrelated factors: Playing with a pick/thumb/fingerstyle, the place where they produce the sound with the right hand (close or far to the neck), use of legato, type of guitar (electric acoustic), use of effects and etc. Metheny, Scofield, Wes, Jim Hall all have very personal sound.

I must disagree with that statement - the only thing common to both of them is their thorough knowledge of the instrument and technical versatility. There is a great diffrence in approach:Lovano's God is Logic and Trane's - Intuition. About the album I have Joe's Sinatra and Scolohofo albums and like his playing there very much, but ballads ?... I have bad memories from Stanley Turrentine, Archie Shepp and Mark Whitfield ballad disks. They all serve nicely as collections of songs but can't make a listen of more than 2 songs in a row. Lovano is much more succesfull (or maybe I should relisten to the previous discs) and not boring at all.