Rolling 2011 thread where I buy and listen to jazz albums for the first time ever

Other favourite albums that haven't been mentioned yet:

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Albert Ayler - Live in Greenwich Village
Ornette Coleman - Chappaqua Suite
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Natural Black Inventions: Root Strata
The Mike Westbrook Concert Band - Marching Song

Maybe not essential, but if you're into 70s spiritual electronic jazz I'm very fond of Roland P. Young - Isophonic Boogie Woogie.

I'm looking forward to keeping up with this thread; my jazz knowledge is kind of patchy even within my favourite eras/styles and I've never really listened to much John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Art Ensemble of Chicago or Cecil Taylor for example, even though what I've heard has been fantastic. Also, some musicians have just never clicked with me and I'd like to try again, e.g. Eric Dolphy, Anthony Braxton.

Nice -- appreciate the recommendations! I used to have Bitches Brew on vinyl in college days, I actually brought it over to my wife's place one night, early 2006, one of our first dates -- we played it while we cooked dinner together. I sold off all my vinyl at some point that year (only about 40-50 records, probably) since CDs were cheaper, easier to find, portable, etc., but always meant to buy Bitches Brew again at some point. So, I'll do that.

I've never been sold on vinyl as an ideal format, needless to say. Sounds like a CD with an array of pops, skips and static depending on the age/condition of the record, and often at a higher price tag given the vinyl resurgence in the '00s. That's another discussion of course...

Miles Davis - On the Corner (1972)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G5tDzTJ3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

This is very dissimilar to what I think of as "jazz" (very broadly speaking) but doesn't come to me as a huge shock, given what I've heard anecdotally about this era's Miles Davis albums drawing from funk and similar touchstones. Before I heard this record, I could've be told this was an extended jam session from, say, Funkadelic or Can, and I wouldn't really bat an eye. Perhaps this record wouldn't be of interest to someone invested in more traditional/classic jazz styles, but it's served as a gentle (if not entirely representative) entry point to jazz given my background and interests in other genres.

On the Corner doesn't blow me away on first listen, but it sounds like a record that'll grow on me over time. There's a lot going on simultaneously in the mix (my daughter was OTM in saying "everyone's going crazy all at once") and my impression is that this record's all about the underlying groove, the repetitions that the rhythm section locks into immediately as the record starts, staying with these patterns for 10-15 minutes at a time, and accordingly letting Miles do his thing on the horn (I presume that's him!), which sounds scattershot and randomly deployed at times while the rhythm stays locked in, providing structure.

I've been able to get lost in this album not unlike a krautrock record (Can strikes me as a fair reference point). Once playing, the pieces don't drag or seem too long, instead tending to fly by quickly; yesterday I looked at the playing time thinking I was a couple minutes into "Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X" and instead it was halfway over, double digit running time by then.

I take it this record is not a commonplace sound in the Miles catalogue, or within jazz in general, but I do enjoy this record a lot on initial spins. There's a groove to it all the way through, a swagger in its rhythmic step that keeps it engaging and lively for me, the novice jazz listener. I'm sure there's a method to the madness of Miles' horn playing that I'm not familiar with that I'll understand more fully at some point.

Rating: ✰✰✰✰ (out of possible 5 stars)

You should listen to "Rated X" by Miles Davis off Get Up With It (which I think was On the Corner outtakes). It's incredible. Unfortunately all the versions on Youtube are weird remix things.

^^^glad we're finally getting around to discussion of some specific albums

the jazz community really hated OTC in general, Stanley Crouch still hates it

On the Corner doesn't blow me away on first listen, but it sounds like a record that'll grow on me over time.

I don't wanna go into it to the degree I could (I wrote a whole book on '70s Miles and OTC had its own chapter), but yeah, this is definitely true. I've been listening to it for about 20 years at this point and I still feel like I hear something new every time. And yeah, it's unique in Davis's catalog - nothing else he ever did, in the '70s or at any other point, sounds anything like it. Most of his other funk stuff is more trancey and relaxed (in the studio, anyway; live, the band was basically instrumental Westbound-era Funkadelic gone even more metal, plus horns). None of it is as twitchy or as ridiculously studio-manipulated as On the Corner.

nowadays OTC is the canonical favorite of Miles' electric/funk period - which also includes Get Up With It, Big Fun, Agharta, Pangea, Tribute to Jack Johnson, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew (I may have even forgot one or two there). THere are some amazing youtube clips of the OTC era band (Pete Cosey!) floating around

unperson's right that OTC stands out from the other albums of the period though - it's more chopped up, more aggressive, without any of the real spacey/trancey stuff that would come to the fore on the other records

as ridiculously studio-manipulated as On the Corner

it's more chopped up

Sounds like it's time I read up a bit on how this album was actually created, then.

Duly noted re: "Rated X" and various notes on electric Miles, btw, I'll keep an eye out for that stuff. Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxSFSdcGPLM&feature=related

same basic era not an OTC track btw (this popped up on Agharta/Pangea/Dark Magus iirc?)

Sounds like it's time I read up a bit on how this album was actually created, then.

Teo Macero, master of editing

Can we have a quick discussion on fidelity/sound quality and jazz CD reissues?

So, full disclosure, I picked up the Columbia Jazz Masterpieces CD version of On the Corner (the one that says "Digitally Remastered From The Original Analog Masters" across the top, has a blue border around the edges) and while I enjoyed it, the trumpet was very low in the mix and the sound seemed a bit muddy or flat. Now, I'd seen the newer reissues floating around before, so swung by another record shop a couple days later and grabbed the Columbia/Legacy reissue -- suddenly the mix seemed to take on new dimensions, the horns were brought up in the mix and I could close my eyes and actually hear the band playing in front of me, so to speak. It was a very noticeable difference!

I've already been told to avoid RVG reissues (saw a couple of these this week, didn't buy...) but what other reissues and/or labels should I keep an eye out for, or avoid?

A couple examples -- I've seen Coltrane stuff on Atlantic (Giant Steps and My Favorite Things, maybe?) in an original CD issue as well as a Rhino reissue in a cardboard-looking sleeve. I've seen Pharaoh Sanders and Alice Coltrane discs on Impulse in jewel cases, and in digipaks (I take it the digipaks are remastered versions, not just repackaged). And of course there's the Miles CD reissues I mentioned a second ago.

What's the best rule of thumb to follow here?

Also seen Mingus and Monk original CD issues vs. reissues with bonus tracks. Seems like Columbia/Legacy does a good # of these?

And the Teo Macero insane chopping/editing thing is what makes "Rated X" so great. Definitely check it out.

omg there are so many reissues of Miles' material, sorting through them all is a total clusterfuck

best rule of thumb for me re: jazz recs is to buy high quality vinyl reissues

think it's relevant to emphasize that what makes Macero's editing so amazing a lot of the time is how seamless it is - the juxtaposition of different takes/different material being cut together in a way that is not immediately apparent/jarring to the listener. really pretty revolutionary

in general, the miles legacy CDs are better than the "jazz masterpieces" i think. not just soundwise, but packaging, liners, etc.

The "RVG Editions" of Blue Note titles were all done a few years ago, and sound really good to me. In recent years, though, Rudy Van Gelder (the original producer/engineer back in the 50s, and the source of the "RVG" title) has begun to suffer hearing loss, so his more recent remasters for the Prestige/Fantasy label are not as good as his earlier work. Fortunately, there's not actually that much you can do to or with what were originally two- or four-track recordings, so it's mostly just a matter of them being pushed through the louderizing machine, not making instruments disappear or anything.

The most recent batch of Miles Davis remasters (the ones in the clear plastic jewel cases as opposed to the 80s ones with the blue border, or the 90s ones with the brown border) have been done (or supervised) by Bob Belden, and they sound fantastic across the board. The 60s/70s stuff has been the most improved, to my ear. A lot of stuff pops out that was once buried in mud.

Hey unperson, what was that Miles book you wrote?

best rule of thumb for me re: jazz recs is to buy high quality vinyl reissues

I'm a CD guy for convenience reasons. I listen to music mainly in four settings -- in the car (CD only); at work (CD only); while I'm running for 1+ hours at a time, longer runs (iPod, imported to iTunes from CDs); and at home in the evenings (vinyl, CD, or from my laptop in iTunes). Only the last of these four settings allows me to play vinyl, so I've always figured I'm best off sticking to CDs given how music fits into my lifestyle.

Figure I'll stick with the Columbia/Legacy Miles reissues as they seem common to find as well as good quality, but I'd welcome any thoughts on other reissued labels or big artists' catalogs.

Thanks for yr thoughts, unperson, very helpful. I've seen the RVG issue and the Blue Note issue of, say, that Eric Dolphy disc that somebody mentioned upthread. Is there a rule of thumb as to which is best?

The book's called Running The Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis. Amazon link.

Re Dolphy, the 1999 remaster sounds great.

holy shit had no idea that was you. great book!

was always kinda annoyed how Miles' bios/autobios tended to really gloss over the period

Cheers on that book mention, I'll keep an eye out for that one.

Money Jungle was the record that made jazz make sense for me; but any number of Mingus/Miles/Monk/Sun Ra records can work for ears trained to art rock, and I cant imagine going wrong with any recommendations.

I'll stick in one more from the funk era, 'cause it serves as such a great bridge to earlier jazz: Ellington's Afro-Eurasain Eclipse. It's orchestral swing, but with some serious rhythmic craziness.

yeah unperson, that book is great

oh, unperson is phil!

~~~GRAND REVEAL~~~

one of the interesting things about Miles' electric period is how well it exemplifies that weird split in jazz over whether not swing was essential to the genre. Miles (along with a lot of other people already mentioned in this thread) identified improvisation - and specifically collective improvisation - as the essential foundation of his music, swing was just a sort of formalized style that eventually lost its attraction. but for other hardcore "purists" (like Crouch) pretty much anything that didn't swing could not be acceptably classified as "jazz".

wars over genre conventions are fascinating sometimes

The most recent batch of Miles Davis remasters (the ones in the clear plastic jewel cases as opposed to the 80s ones with the blue border, or the 90s ones with the brown border) have been done (or supervised) by Bob Belden, and they sound fantastic across the board.

agree completely. i recently replaced all the 70s miles with these (to the extent that i could find them), and they sound fantastic. speaking of "rated x", get up with it is one of my favorite records period, and i'm glad someone thought to mention it. if i understand correctly, it's basically a clean-up collection of unused tracks, but that gives it an amazing looseness and wtf experimental variety. think that on "rated x" miles just plays sun ra organ chords. anyway, here's a tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOldheykk3Q

and now wanna read yr book, unperson. have heard good things about it.

Scribbled down the names of a few interesting-looking albums I saw yesterday. Any thoughts on these?

John Coltrane - Ascension
John Coltrane - Meditations
Miles Davis - Milestones
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
Herbie Hancock - Man-Child
Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk w/ John Coltrane
Sun Ra - The Singles (double-CD set...)

all great

Ascension is my fave coltrane but it's not something you would jump straight into unless you really like free jazz.
Man-Child is Herbie's funkiest album and is absolutely wonderful in every way.

would get the carnegie hall monk/coltrane disc rather than Thelonious Monk w/ John Coltrane first

Ascension - not a good thing to listen to until you're deep into Coltrane. Meditations, on the other hand, is glorious. I've never been a big Sun Ra fan; the only stuff I like by him is from the early 70s, when he was big into synths. The 2CD set The Solar-Myth Approach is good, and there are some live bootlegs like Outer Space Employment Agency that are good, too.

Meditations is sometimes the greatest album ever by anyone, but it may take years for this to hit you.....it did me.

Milestones has the great modal title track, Miles Smiles is maybe his great cubist record (but possibly not a 'starter' record)

I don't own the Sun Ra but have heard most of it and it's great.

I don't have much to add re: those specific titles

I am a huge Sun Ra fan but I'm not sure what's on that Singles box. The very concept of a Sun Ra single is kinda hilarious as he's got to be one of the most non-single-oriented artists ever. but that doesn't mean there isn't good stuff on there.

Man-Child is more like an electro-funk record, great stuff

agree that Ascension is insane. a very bracing listen.

in fact I think I will listen to it now

Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

very posssibly my favorite miles album, and definitely my fave 2nd quintet one

I am a huge Sun Ra fan but I'm not sure what's on that Singles box.

Pretty sure this is the Sun Ra track listing:

http://www.amazon.com/Singles-Sun-Ra/dp/tracks/B0000014N7/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

i agree w unperson, the RVG blue note editions sound perfectly fine for home listening.

i dunno what its like in the usa, but in europe so much classic jazz is now out of copyright - up to 1961 - you can pick up hundreds of stone classic albs for little more pennies. i esp like the sets issued by this bunch:

http://www.avidgroup.co.uk/acatalog/jazz.htm

Is there an essential series of Herbie Hancock CD reissues, or are these '90s issues with borders on the CD covers fine?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WDK9mrtLL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

again, the legacy reissues are probably the way to go

Ah okay, I hadn't seen Hancock reissues on Legacy yet. Thanks!

btw i haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, so i will mention it (because it completely blew my mind in high school):

john coltrane - live at birdland

also, doesn't seem to have been mentioned too much in this thread, but duke ellington duke ellington duke ellington