The Jazz Corner

Love this thread! I've got Kenny Dorham Trompeta Toccata and the Getz/Gilberto Verve reissue in the mail right now, hopefully be here by the weekend. My record store is also holding me a copy of Lee Morgan-Sidewinder and McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy when they come out in December from that new Bluenote Classic series.

Any recommendations on highlights from the Tone Poet series are welcomed! I have limited knowledge on anything other than Coltrane/Davis. No idea what the standouts are????

brianlux said:

One thing I'm particularly curious about is, What is going on in the world of jazz today?   This is a music that's been around for a long time and gone through many phases*- from ragtime, Dixieland, swing/big band, bop, cool, hard bop, free/avant garde, fusion/jazz rock, eclecticism... but what about lately?  

*An interesting side note is a quote I read recently in Nat Hentoff's book, At the Jazz Band Ball and within it, a quote from Duke Ellington:

"Of all the interviews with musicians I've done, there is one with Duke Ellington that has been a guide for me, not only in writing about music but, in everything else I write and do.  Ellington taught me to avoid categorizing everything."

[And then he quote Ellington:]

"The other night I heard a cat on the radio and he was talking about 'modern' jazz.  So he played a record to illustrate his point, and there were devices in that music I heard cats using in the 1920's.  These large words like 'modern' don't mean anything.  Everybody who's had anything to say in this music- all the way back- has been an individualist... I listen for those individualists.  Like Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and like Charlie Parker was." 

Contemporary jazz is thriving. My favorites right now are the LA, NYC, UK, Japan and Norway/Sweden scenes.

LA pulls from mostly American influences: post bop, hip hop, fusion, r&b, soul and funk.
Some of the big names from LA are: Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Terrence Martin, Cameron Graves, Ryan Porter.

NYC is fucking nuts. John Zorn is a lunatic that does every single genre. check out his projects and the all the folks that work with him... it is a rabbit hole that will consume you for months... everything from jazz/death metal, full on orchestral arrangements and every thing in-between.

The UK has a more traditional feel with elements of world music. Shabaka Hutchings has multiple projects including Sons of Kemet and Comet is Coming, I'm also partial to Mammal Hands, GoGo Penguin and Get the Blessing.

Japan gets a lot of influence from electronica and mathrock... I dig: Mouse on the Keys, Lite, Indigo Jam Unit, Tri4th, Fox Capture Plan

but my obsession lately is the Sweden/Norway scene. Upbeat progressive avant-garde fusion with electronic world music and hip hop beats.
Elephant9, Goat, Jaga Jazzist, Scorch Trio, Fire, Krokofant, Mumbeak, Moster! and all of the side projects associated with these groups are phenomenal... but anything on the Rune Grammofon or  Hubro record labels is worth checking out.

hope that helps

I just learned that the song Cantaloop by US3 is the sample of Herby Hancocks Cantaloupe Island.

Now I am getting more into jazz this excited me as I LOVED the US3 version back in the day.

Mrfixit said:

brianlux said:

One thing I'm particularly curious about is, What is going on in the world of jazz today?   This is a music that's been around for a long time and gone through many phases*- from ragtime, Dixieland, swing/big band, bop, cool, hard bop, free/avant garde, fusion/jazz rock, eclecticism... but what about lately?  

*An interesting side note is a quote I read recently in Nat Hentoff's book, At the Jazz Band Ball and within it, a quote from Duke Ellington:

"Of all the interviews with musicians I've done, there is one with Duke Ellington that has been a guide for me, not only in writing about music but, in everything else I write and do.  Ellington taught me to avoid categorizing everything."

[And then he quote Ellington:]

"The other night I heard a cat on the radio and he was talking about 'modern' jazz.  So he played a record to illustrate his point, and there were devices in that music I heard cats using in the 1920's.  These large words like 'modern' don't mean anything.  Everybody who's had anything to say in this music- all the way back- has been an individualist... I listen for those individualists.  Like Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and like Charlie Parker was." 

Contemporary jazz is thriving. My favorites right now are the LA, NYC, UK, Japan and Norway/Sweden scenes.

LA pulls from mostly American influences: post bop, hip hop, fusion, r&b, soul and funk.
Some of the big names from LA are: Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Terrence Martin, Cameron Graves, Ryan Porter.

NYC is fucking nuts. John Zorn is a lunatic that does every single genre. check out his projects and the all the folks that work with him... it is a rabbit hole that will consume you for months... everything from jazz/death metal, full on orchestral arrangements and every thing in-between.

The UK has a more traditional feel with elements of world music. Shabaka Hutchings has multiple projects including Sons of Kemet and Comet is Coming, I'm also partial to Mammal Hands, GoGo Penguin and Get the Blessing.

Japan gets a lot of influence from electronica and mathrock... I dig: Mouse on the Keys, Lite, Indigo Jam Unit, Tri4th, Fox Capture Plan

but my obsession lately is the Sweden/Norway scene. Upbeat progressive avant-garde fusion with electronic world music and hip hop beats.
Elephant9, Goat, Jaga Jazzist, Scorch Trio, Fire, Krokofant, Mumbeak, Moster! and all of the side projects associated with these groups are phenomenal... but anything on the Rune Grammofon or  Hubro record labels is worth checking out.

hope that helps

There goes my weekend.

Rediscovery of my old friend Miles.

The other evening, I lit some candles, got nice n high, and blasted Kind of Blue while I took a long hot shower.  Such a perfect mix of mood and sound and sensuality.  The man had some chops.

The Marsalis family's pretty amazing too.

HBO's Treme turned me on to a lot of jazz - I guess that's what you'd call it?  Some form of it, anyway.

The arms of one genre always tickle, maybe even give birth to, another.

brianlux said:

mschostok said:

Just picked up Coltrane's Both Directions at Once, the Lost Album - really good. Elvin Jones is a monster on the kit. 

I remember hearing about that record and then somehow it fell off my radar.  My understanding is that it's in that transitional, exploratory period leading up to A Love Supreme.  I must remember to check it out.  Thanks for the reminder!

You’re exactly right. Really cool tunes on there, definitely worth the purchase if you’re a Trane fan, especially the classic quartet.