Top Ten from the 70s

[paul secor]

10 favorite Black Saint records from the 70s (since I didn't list any Black Saints in my 70s favorites list - tho I could have):

Muhal Richard Abrams/Malachi Favors: Sightsong

Andrew Cyrille/Jeanne Lee/Jimmy Lyons: Nuba

Julius Hemphill: Raw Materials and Residuals

Leroy Jenkins: The Legend of Ai Glatson

Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd/Kent Carter/Beaver Harris: Trickles

George Lewis: Homage to Charlie Parker

Marcello Melis: New Village on the Left

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre: Peace and Blessings

Old and New Dreams

Max Roach/Anthony Braxton: Birth and Rebirth

This stuff is getting to be fun, even if I am starting to feel like a Nick Hornby character.

[Hot Ptah]

Interesting to see how far from most people's taste mine is; of all the albums posted in this thread so far, I've only actually got 15 (though a few have been mentioned more than once).

MG

MG, I have certainly learned a lot from your posts about soul jazz, and have picked up some great albums based on your recommendations--maybe we can all return the favor here.

[Hot Ptah]

This stuff is getting to be fun, even if I am starting to feel like a Nick Hornby character.

But Nick seems to have no knowledge of jazz--or no interest in it.

[Guy Berger]

My collection is pretty small, but here are my ten favorite jazz albums recorded in the 70s:

Miles Davis, It's About That Time: Live at the Fillmore East

Weather Report, Live in Tokyo

Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Inner Mounting Flame

Herbie Hancock, Sextant

Paul Motian, Tribute

Dave Holland, Conference of the Birds

Chick Corea, Return to Forever

Abercrombie/Holland/DeJohnette, Gateway

Keith Jarrett, Fort Yawuh

Joe Henderson, In Japan

Edited September 27, 2006 by Guy

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Interesting to see how far from most people's taste mine is; of all the albums posted in this thread so far, I've only actually got 15 (though a few have been mentioned more than once).

MG

MG, I have certainly learned a lot from your posts about soul jazz, and have picked up some great albums based on your recommendations--maybe we can all return the favor here.

Already doing it Bought lots more Bebop & Hard Bop this year than usual.

MG

[NIS]

To GA Russell,

Your listing of the two If albums in the first post really brought back some memories. I played the living crap out of these two LPs in college. I still have them but unfortunately they sound like they have been rode hard and put up wet as well.

For my taste this was the best of the so called "jazz-rock" music and maybe had some influence on my looking into jazz itself.

[GA Russell]

NIS, I saw If on two consecutive nights in suburban Washington, DC, in the fall of '70. I had the plasure of interviewing Dick Morrisey for my college radio station. They put on a great show both times, in terms of music. I was really impressed by John Mealing on the organ after that. He later played on Passport's second album, and really made it IMO.

Actually, I was only nominating If's second album, which was called If Squared, except that I don't know how to raise the 2 on this computer. I thought that their first album was their best, but it was recorded in 1969 I think. Some years later, maybe 1977, I spent the night in a motel in Toronto, and heard over the cable TV (on the weather page) the song What Did I Say About the Box, Jack?!!! Talk about an obscure song! I figured I was probably the only guy in Toronto who recognized the song as it was playing.

My favorite jazz-rock band at that time was Manfred Mann Chapter III, but If was my second favorite. I probably should have put Manfred Mann Chapter III Volume Two on my list. I don't believe that all four of If's albums have been released on CD, but I think that the first two have, as well as a Best of compilation. I think all of the CDs were British, none US.

Although jazz was starting to get sort of tired at that point, it was a magical time for a few musicians who were experimenting with adding a rock beat to jazz music. Morrisey later led two rock bands called If, but it wasn't the same. I read on AAJ that he passed away in 2002. Nice guy.

[NIS]

NIS, I saw If on two consecutive nights in suburban Washington, DC, in the fall of '70. I had the plasure of interviewing Dick Morrisey for my college radio station. They put on a great show both times, in terms of music. I was really impressed by John Mealing on the organ after that. He later played on Passport's second album, and really made it IMO.

Actually, I was only nominating If's second album, which was called If Squared, except that I don't know how to raise the 2 on this computer. I thought that their first album was their best, but it was recorded in 1969 I think. Some years later, maybe 1977, I spent the night in a motel in Toronto, and heard over the cable TV (on the weather page) the song What Did I Say About the Box, Jack?!!! Talk about an obscure song! I figured I was probably the only guy in Toronto who recognized the song as it was playing.

My favorite jazz-rock band at that time was Manfred Mann Chapter III, but If was my second favorite. I probably should have put Manfred Mann Chapter III Volume Two on my list. I don't believe that all four of If's albums have been released on CD, but I think that the first two have, as well as a Best of compilation. I think all of the CDs were British, none US.

Although jazz was starting to get sort of tired at that point, it was a magical time for a few musicians who were experimenting with adding a rock beat to jazz music. Morrisey later led two rock bands called If, but it wasn't the same. I read on AAJ that he passed away in 2002. Nice guy.

[NIS]

NIS, I saw If on two consecutive nights in suburban Washington, DC, in the fall of '70. I had the plasure of interviewing Dick Morrisey for my college radio station. They put on a great show both times, in terms of music. I was really impressed by John Mealing on the organ after that. He later played on Passport's second album, and really made it IMO.

Actually, I was only nominating If's second album, which was called If Squared, except that I don't know how to raise the 2 on this computer. I thought that their first album was their best, but it was recorded in 1969 I think. Some years later, maybe 1977, I spent the night in a motel in Toronto, and heard over the cable TV (on the weather page) the song What Did I Say About the Box, Jack?!!! Talk about an obscure song! I figured I was probably the only guy in Toronto who recognized the song as it was playing.

My favorite jazz-rock band at that time was Manfred Mann Chapter III, but If was my second favorite. I probably should have put Manfred Mann Chapter III Volume Two on my list. I don't believe that all four of If's albums have been released on CD, but I think that the first two have, as well as a Best of compilation. I think all of the CDs were British, none US.

Although jazz was starting to get sort of tired at that point, it was a magical time for a few musicians who were experimenting with adding a rock beat to jazz music. Morrisey later led two rock bands called If, but it wasn't the same. I read on AAJ that he passed away in 2002. Nice guy.

GA,

Sorry for the double post and thanks for the background info.

Nick

[ep1str0phy]

Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd/Kent Carter/Beaver Harris: Trickles

I don't know why more people don't love this album.

[NIS]

This topic has been fun for me because the 70s was when I started buying music from the jazz section. The albums that I am listing are ones that I still listen to quite often.

AEC, Fanfare For The Warriors

Ralph Towner, Solstice

Bennie Maupin, The Jewel In The Lotus

Weather Report, Mysterious Traveller

MJQ, The Last Concert

Walt Dickerson, Peace

Bobby Naughton, The Haunt

John Abercrombie/Dave Holland/Jack DeJohnette, Gateway

Collin Walcott, Grazing Dreams

Walt Dickerson, Tenderness

[Hot Ptah]

This topic is also fun for me because I started buying jazz then too. I am struck by the many excellent albums that came out in that decade, especially toward the end of the decade. The media and certain jazz artists sometimes refer to the 1970s as a bleak period for jazz, a down time, etc.--but there was actually more exciting music being released than in the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s, in my humble opinion. The 1970s music did not have the benefit of high priced, high powered PR spin behind it, though.

The lists on this thread seem to me to underrepresent the swing and mainstream bop releases of that decade, and the most popular fusion releases as well.

[GA Russell]

I don't believe that all four of If's albums have been released on CD, but I think that the first two have, as well as a Best of compilation.

I should have looked them up before I said anything. Yesterday I was at CD Universe and did look them up, and I saw that all four are available on CD, as well as the album by the first subsequent If group.

[Jazz Kat]

Pat Martino Consciousness. Pretty much all of Martino's 70 albums.

[Jazz Kat]

[Jazz Kat]

Return to Forever: Light As A Feather

Return to Forever: Hym of the Seventh Galaxy

Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life

Stanley Turrentine: Sugar

George Benson: Bad Benson

Chuck Mangione Quartet: Alive

Modern Jazz Quartet: Last Concert

There's much more, I just can't think of any right now.

[Chuck Nessa]

Return to Forever: Light As A Feather

Return to Forever: Hym of the Seventh Galaxy

Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life

Stanley Turrentine: Sugar

George Benson: Bad Benson

Chuck Mangione Quartet: Alive

Modern Jazz Quartet: Last Concert

There's much more, I just can't think of any right now.

Don't own any of 'em. Not a value judgment, just a fact.

[connoisseur series500]

Return to Forever: Light As A Feather

Return to Forever: Hym of the Seventh Galaxy

Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life

Stanley Turrentine: Sugar

George Benson: Bad Benson

Chuck Mangione Quartet: Alive

Modern Jazz Quartet: Last Concert

There's much more, I just can't think of any right now.

Don't own any of 'em. Not a value judgment, just a fact.

I remember the first time I met Chuck, we discussed a lot of stuff about jazz. I think I mentioned something about the so-called decline of jazz in the 70s. Chuck vigorously denied that any such decline took place. I don't recall his exact words, but it had something to do with how jazz was marketed at the time. I think I was making the point that rock and roll had taken over a lot of the popularity of jazz, but I've always loved 70s jazz and subsequently from the talk with Chuck have discovered even many more great titles.

Damn, I hate to admit it: Chuck was right!!!

[Chuck Nessa]

Damn, I hate to admit it: Chuck was right!!!

[Jazz Kat]

What about the eighties though...?

[Guest akanalog]

can we keep the eighties in another thread.

peoples responses here are interesting. no reason to kill the thread by having it veer in another direction.

sorry if i sound weird for saying that but i am enjoying this thread a lot.

[Quincy]

can we keep the eighties in another thread.

Right you are. '80s post deleted.

Tough to pick just 10, as I'm leaving off Woody Shaw & Charles Tolliver to name a couple, but here's today's list semi-chronologically.

Art Ensemble of Chicago - People of Sorrow

Miles Davis - Jack Johnson, Get Up With It

Herbie Hancock - Mwandishi

Thelonious Monk - London Collection 1 (the solo one)

Dave Holland - Conference of Birds

Shakti w/ John McLaughlin

Warne Marsh - All Music

Air - Air Time

Fred Anderson - The Missing Link

Shakti was a "gateway drug" so it has to be included!

The Missing Link probably has been played more in the past 2 years than any of the above, but I've had the Herbie Warner stuff stay in the player for days too. And the Monk is a great one.

A great decade.

Edited October 17, 2006 by Quincy

[clifford_thornton]

There was SO much going on musically in the '70s, it's very hard to pick ten.

Nessa, India Navigation, FMP, Incus, ECM/Japo, ALM, Trio, Saravah, Virgin, Freedom and Black Saint were just a few of the labels documenting great music from the period.

[mandrill]

In no particular order:

Jan Garbarek- Afric Pepperbird

Paul Bley- Open To Love

Keith Jarrett- Bremen/Lousanne Solo Concerts

Vinny Golia- Spirits in Fellowship

Abdullah Ibrahim- Children Of Africa

Billy Harper- Black Saint

Charles Tyler- Voyage From Jericho

Dave Holland- Conference Of The Birds

Ganelin Trio- Catalogue (though most of their output is 80's legacy).

John Klemmer- Nexus (knowing Klemmer's kinda lame reputation of late this one is gotta be heard to be believed, but it's a killer).

[B. Clugston]

Ones that come to mind:

Anthony Braxton/The Berlin/Montreux Concerts (and pretty much any of the other quartet-dominated albums)

Woody Shaw Concert Ensemble/Live at the Berliner Jazztage

Woody Shaw/The Song of Songs

Miles Davis/Pangaea

Sam Rivers/Trio Live Perugia

Herbie Hancock/Mwandishi

Ganelin/Tarasov/Chekasin/Catalogue: Live in East Berlin

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath

Willem Breuker/Live in Berlin

Honourable mentions:

Clifford Thornton/The Panther and the Lash

Roscoe Mitchell/Duets with Anthony Braxton

Dave Holland/The Conference of the Birds

Stuff recorded in the 1970s, but released later:

Anthony Braxton/Creative Orchestra (Koln) 1978

Brotherhood of Breath/Bremen to Bridgewater

Miles Davis/Complete Live-Evil