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

Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One

I would not have recommended this as a starting point. I prefer Other Planes of There, which seems to be working around some of the same material or ideas, but isn't so modern classical stiff about it. Anyway, there are lots of worse entry points.

Oh, I missed the Sun Ra overkill that already happened. Never mind.

Just read the Sun Ra thread where everyone disagrees with everyone else about what the best albums are.

Quick question: Am I the only one who prefers Thelonious Monk's Columbia albums to everything that came before? I know the compositions were frequently rehashes of stuff he'd written and/or recorded in the 1950s and even the '40s, but there's something about the organicness of the band, especially his rapport with saxophonist Charlie Rouse, that really gives me more pure pleasure than any of his earlier recordings, even the ones with "all-star" personnel like the stuff with Coltrane or Rollins.

yeah i kinda feel like the columbia stuff gets a bad rap -- some people really seem to hate Rouse for some reason. But there are some great records during that era, no doubt about it, and it's nice to hear Monk in a really good studio, too -- the early blue note/riverside recordings are obviously classic, but I like the higher fi sound of the columbia stuff, his piano just sounds magical on those records.

i've always dug his Prestige work best myself. can't really say why; that stuff seemed to capture everything about his work i like best as he moved into the "album" era, i guess. plus, having Sonny Rollins and Max Roach play on his shit certainly didn't hurt.

I know everyone always talks about Herbie Hancock's 70s albums, but please dont dismiss his excellent 60s hard bop albums. Infact dont dismiss hard bop at all. There's shitloads of awesome hard bop/ hard bop-avant garde albums on Blue Note in the 60s that you got to hear.

re: monk's columbia stuff, this one is classic
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JMY4JvVgL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

^ my fave of his

& yeah, my favorite herbie stuff is probably his 60s blue note records. love the electric records, too, but ...

There's shitloads of awesome hard bop/ hard bop-avant garde albums on Blue Note in the 60s that you got to hear.

This is absolutely true. Blue Note was pretty much unimpeachable from about '62-66.

that era is really interesting for blue note -- a nice mix of the classic hard bop sound, but edging towards more "out" ideas. check wayne shorter's records from that period.

its what I like about it. classic hard bop then HB with some avant garde then avant garde albums with the hard bop influence which equals so many wonderful albums.

Ken Vandermark needs to get mentioned in this thread. Heir to (and combiner/synthesizer of) 60s hard bop and the European free improv crowd (Parker, Brotzmann, Bennink, Kowald, etc).

oh yesh!! love KV (Target or Flag would be my entry point rec. there)

those Columbia monk releases are all wonderful, but Johnny Griffin, who replaced Trane (and plays on Misterio and a couple other Monk/Riverside releases) is the most underrated sax player i know of

xpost

yeah i kinda feel like the columbia stuff gets a bad rap -- some people really seem to hate Rouse for some reason. But there are some great records during that era, no doubt about it, and it's nice to hear Monk in a really good studio, too -- the early blue note/riverside recordings are obviously classic, but I like the higher fi sound of the columbia stuff, his piano just sounds magical on those records.

― tylerw, Sunday, 23 January 2011 21:11 (11 minutes ago)

The Columbia stuff with Frankie Dunlop on drums is great (Monk's Dream, etc.). The stuff where Ben Riley takes over is a little bit lackluster imo.

ust read the Sun Ra thread where everyone disagrees with everyone else about what the best albums are.

― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, January 23, 2011 3:28 PM Bookmark

It's hard to agree on which one of a bunch of not very impressive albums riding primarily on mystique is the best.

ilxor make sure you check out the likes of Lee Morgan,Andrew Hill,Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter,Lou Donaldson, McCoy Tyner,Hank Mobley, Grant Green, Cecil Taylor, Bobby Hutcherson, Big John Patton, Don Wilkerson, Jimmy Smith and that's all i can think of off the top of my head.

oh and Eric Dolphy.
And please do check out Archie Shepp. FIRE MUSIC!!

ilxor make sure you check out the likes of Lee Morgan,Andrew Hill,Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter,Lou Donaldson, McCoy Tyner,Hank Mobley, Grant Green, Cecil Taylor, Bobby Hutcherson, Big John Patton, Don Wilkerson, Jimmy Smith and that's all i can think of off the top of my head.

― Algerian Goalkeeper, Sunday, January 23, 2011 4:27 PM Bookmark

Seconded.

It's hard to agree on which one of a bunch of not very impressive albums riding primarily on mystique is the best.

One thing deej forgot to account for is the fact that so many jazz heads fail to appreciate Sun Ra.

without taking genre names into account, i was a big Ra fan 15 years ago, before i knew much Ornette or Monk. tried Ra again the other day just to confirm and i think he's kind of phony and he definitely bores me these days

i'd look to pre-60s stuff if i were you, ilxor.

I like some Sun_Ra ok, e.g. Solar Myth Approach, but I don't really see him as a way into jazz.

^^^

and dance bands too. fletcher henderson, tommy dorsey, benny goodman, artie shaw, and glenn miller of course.

benny goodman's sextet, with charlie christian on guitar.

Love this thread, it's had me digging out some favourites over the weekend and it's been great. My getting into jazz coincided with my first proper job after university back in about 2004 - for a couple of years every HMV/Virgin sale seemed to have a big selection of Columbia Legacy/Blue Note CDs so I went through phases of picking up anything that looked or sounded interesting. Mingus Ah Um was the first album that really clicked with me I think and lots of other things I'd recommend to ilxor have been mentioned already... My knowledge is still fairly sketchy. I'd add Art Blakey's Indestructible and Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder as good Blue Note ones to try though. I've perhaps neglected jazz recently but I'm definitely taking some notes from here - also on Friday night I read through some of the older jazz threads and wound up listening to Let My Children Hear Music for the first time... Wow, what an album that is.

You have Spotify? shitloads of stuff on there

Yeah, you're not wrong there. Spotify's my main source for jazz at the moment.

You have Spotify? shitloads of stuff on there

be careful out there.

just finished listening to kenny g/louis armstrong on 'what a wonderful world'.

it wasn't wonderful.

serves you right for listening to kenny g

srsly though ilxor, i'd also recommend post bop stuff like art pepper, lee konitz.

dave brubeck.

it was you that said spotify was good for jazz, algerian goalkeeper...

as a side note, what does the g in kenny g stand for?

Great?

gettofuck

i was thinking 'god'

you're a weird dude, hermann g neuname xp

cos if you were called kenny god you probably wouldn't want to draw attention to your surname.

well whenever i hear kenny g i think get tae fuck and turn it off

xp

ilxor you should have a read at http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=79981

one specific recommendation for ilxor, knowing your taste:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vw6OpGtF1Ps/TA4Maea5dII/AAAAAAAAAMQ/srtVGML4YPk/s320/Africanasia.jpg
Also features much of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, whose work both solo and as a group is probably worth exploring for you.

max roach - percussion bitter sweet

huh never even heard of Claude Delcloo, much less that particular record. but I am a huge fan of Actuel's vinyl reissues of that era of stuff (AEC, Shepp, etc.)

Kenny G = Kenny Gorelick.

You can see why he went with just "G"

Hey, I think I heard that Claude Decloo on the radio once and missed what it was, and I've been trying to figure it out since then. It's pretty great.

in 2009/2010 i picked up more jazz than anything else.

predominantly this involved the miles davis legacy reissues, and a lot of RVG reissues as they were cheap-n-cheerful in my local fopp.
while i have read the comments elsewhere re the RVG reissues the simple fact of the matter is that they are readily available, and for newcomers like me, are an easy way-in to discovering what area of jazz suits my requirements the best.
as for recommendations ?

well, i fell hard for the in a silent way > on the corner era of davis, which basically provides an album for every mood.
not ventured too much into the pre IASW stuff other than a kind of blue of course.

but my faves seems to all hang off donald byrd; from his groovy funk of royal flush and the cat walk, to the experimental but sublime beauty of a new perspective, before he delved into the more fusion styled electric byrd, these albums are never far from the stereo.

and to think i had decided that in 2011 i was going to try and get back into the modern world, as this stuff can become very addictive once you tune in, so threads like this can become very dangerous !

true!

mark u need to hear the second quintet stiff just prior to in a silent way. Best. Music. Ever

i actually forgot, i have gone back from IASW : filles de .. & miles in the sky

clearly i need to spend more time with them.