The most identifiable jazz composer

[Shrdlu]

Horace Silver, Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter are usually very identifiable.

A similar topic would be artists whose albums are identifiable, let's say in the 1960s.

[Hardbopjazz]

Horace Silver, Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter are usually very identifiable.

A similar topic would be artists whose albums are identifiable, let's say in the 1960s.

I can also see Horace Silver as being identifiable, I can't say the same for Mobley and Shorter. Silver always had that funk in his melodies right from the beginning. He's the true Funkateer. He's the funkmister.

Now Monk was hearing shit in his melodies that only pure geniuses understand. The same can be said of Coltrane’s compositions. They're still trying to figure out Coltrane’s musical theories.

Monk was about 30 years ahead of his time. Today his music doesn't sound so unconventional, it sound just right.

Edited March 24, 2004 by Hardbopjazz

[bertrand]

I'm in the process of making a CD-R collection of each one of Monk's compositions as played by him, so I can listen to it in the car and finally get the titles straight.

Of course, I will be missing '52nd Street Theme', 'Five Will Get You Ten' (aka 'Two Timer') and 'A Merrier Christmas'.

Bertrand.

[Jazzmoose]

I'd have to go with Monk for sure. I could spot a Monk tune even as a neophyte. There's just something so...odd! Nowadays, I think Shorter stands out as easily, but at first Monk stood alone.

[mikeweil]

Yeah, Monk easily tops my list.

Ellington comes next, but I doubt anyone could safely tell an unkknown Strayhorn tune from an unknown Ellington tune.

Ornette is another abovious choice, and perhaps Silver.

I think I could identify Geoff Keezer's tunes.

[SGUD missile]

Monk, Shorter, and Silver ..in a photo finish !!!

[Dave James]

For me, it's Gil Evans. No one uses instruments like he does.

Up over and out.

[EKE BBB]

Yeah, Monk easily tops my list.

Ellington comes next, but I doubt anyone could safely tell an unkknown Strayhorn tune from an unknown Ellington tune.

Same for me, Mike:

-I can usually say, by hearing a few notes, "Hey, this is a Monk tune".... but with the exception of a bunch of songs ("Well you needn´t" and a few more) I NEVER can put a name to it!!!

-And then comes the Duke. His legacy is so astonishing that I wouldn´t dare to say every song in every era casts in the same mold or every arrangement has the same flavour. But (maybe because Duke´s always on the top of my rotation) I normally can recognize his tunes and give a name (at least for a couple of hundreds ). And, except for the "jungle era" compositions -hey, Strayhorn wasn´t there, he joined the Ellington organization in 1939 - I can´t either recognize if an unidentified song is composed by Strayhorn or by Ellington.

[JohnS]

As well as Monk I think I'd agree with George Russell.

[medjuck]

Gotta go with Monk. As to my many gil Evans-- he didn't actually compose very much. And he had enough influence that there are some new arrangers who can sound a bit like him.

[Brad]

Monk is not only the most identifiable composer but also the most identifiable pianist. When you hear him, you instantly know who it is.

After that it's Ellington/Strayhorn and then Tad Dameron. Tad has created some of the greatest songs ever written, IMHO.

[marcoliv]

Monk, Silver, Ellington/Strayhorn

[EKE BBB]

Anyone Sonny Rollins? I find some of his compositions have a very "distinguishable" flavor: St. Thomas, Airegin, Valse hot, Oleo, Doxy....

Or maybe it´s just that I have listened to this bunch of songs too many times?

[MartyJazz]

Perhaps because I've grown so familiar with their compositions over the years, I would add:

Kenny Dorham

Benny Golson

Gigi Gryce

Andrew Hill

[Rooster_Ties]

For me, it's Gil Evans.  No one uses instruments like he does.

Except Herbie on "Speak Like a Child" and "The Prisoner".

And speaking of Herbie...

...how about Wayne for this thread?? The tunes he wrote for Miles sure are incredibly distinctive, as as nearly all of his other tunes (at least in the 60's - I'm less familiar with his tunes after about 1970). Same with Herbie, for that matter.

[mikeweil]

I can´t either recognize if an unidentified song is composed by Strayhorn or by Ellington.

It's been told told that they themselves couldn't either - at least a while after finishing the tunes.

Edited April 18, 2004 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

And speaking of Herbie...

...how about Wayne for this thread?? The tunes he wrote for Miles sure are incredibly distinctive, as as nearly all of his other tunes (at least in the 60's - I'm less familiar with his tunes after about 1970). Same with Herbie, for that matter.

As great as Wayne Shorter's tunes are, at least those from the 1960's, they are also very diversified, that would make it difficult.

Herbie I love, he's one of my favourite jazz musicians, but the question here is about identifying a composition I never heard, and I doubt that.

Our Blindfold Tests would be the appropriate testing ground!

[B. Goren.]

For me the most identifiable jazz composers are Monk and of course M I N G U S!!!

[Hardbopjazz]

Wanted to bring this up from the dead and see what newer members think.

[Rosco]

Most of the ones that spring immediately to mind have already been mentioned- Monk, Mingus, Horace, Wayne, Trane, Ellington/ Strayhorn and I'd second the mentions for Benny Golson and Kenny Wheeler.

Here's a couple more I'd throw into the ring-

John Scofield. His compostions get discussed less than his playing, which is a pity. I think he mixes his various influences (bebop, modal, rock, Meters-ish funk) and comes up with something uniquely his own. Ok, not many covers of his tunes by others (no one plays contemporary compositions anymore) but I think I could spot a Sco tune when I hear it.

Not sure if everyone would consider him a jazz composer per se although there's certainly been many jazz versions of his tunes- Antonio Carlos Jobim. A supreme melodicist with a distinctive approach to harmony.

[johnagrandy]

John Scofield. His compostions get discussed less than his playing, which is a pity. I think he mixes his various influences (bebop, modal, rock, Meters-ish funk) and comes up with something uniquely his own. Ok, not many covers of his tunes by others (no one plays contemporary compositions anymore) but I think I could spot a Sco tune when I hear it.

I don't see how one of the hard-bop greats could be the most distinguishable composer. There was so much cross-pollination.

Monk is probably the answer, but I gotta vote for Sco in the modern era. He puts a distinctive stamp on every groove, vibe, style, genre, etc. he composes for. I've walked into cafes, restaurants ... "that's Sco !" ...

BTW, wanna get unique, what about Woody Shaw ? If he had even 1% the popularity of Monk he'd be up there as an unmistakable composer at the same level.

Also: You can never miss a Charlie Hunter tune ... but that's the sound and the groove, more than the composition.

Edited January 26, 2006 by johnagrandy

[Spontooneous]

Cedar Walton's tunes are very consistent in their motor habits.

[.:.impossible]

I'd say Monk was the first person that sprung to mind, then Bird. Even the tunes he didn't write, I still associate with him.

Scofield is a great thought! Andrew Hill too. Wayne Shorter's compositions also stand out. I think I'd also be able to blindly identify a tune as being written by Jason Moran.

[Kalo]

M O N K!

[WD45]

Four pages and no one has mentioned Albert Ayler.