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

I had never really gotten into Ornette until a few years ago (got to see him play at the Masonic Hall too, which was amazing) but yeah in a weird way I was taken aback by how straightforward a lot of the early stuff is. I didn't immediately understand why this was seen as such a big break - it certainly doesn't sound as "free" as, say, Ascension or Free Jazz. a lot of it is really quite restrained and pretty. and he DOES almost invariably stick to the format of head-improvised section-head, whereas originally I was expecting stuff that didn't even have that kind of rudimentary structure.

very inventive though, have come to love this stuff. it really grabs yr attention.

no! my head sorta hurts just seeing the words "Derrida interviews Coleman" xpost

my favorite part of ornette's thing is the melodies

Been looking up some of you guys' recommendations. Looks like this one may be a bit hard to come across on CD...

World Galaxy by Alice Coltrane (Audio CD - 2004) - Import

4 new from $89.97
2 used from $171.40

O_O

Just counted... I have 160 distinct album recommendations from this thread. Mind = blown. Thanks everyone!!

Now, excuse me while I post a PayPal "Donate to ilxor's jazz buying fund" button. ;)

mm I can upload World Galaxy somewhere for you

my favorite part of ornette's thing is the melodies

― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, January 28, 2011 1:52 PM Bookmark

Mine too. (1) they are really pretty and (2) they contain all these little 'jokes' about jazz imo. I mean his music is very, very funny if you've listened to enough jazz, because he kind of punctures cliches.

The simplest way to explain Ornette (and it's super-reductive but basically true) is that he improvises based on the melody, not based on the chords. So his solos often sound like a little kid singing a song to himself that he's making up on the spot. (I think this is a major reason why little kids tend to like Ornette's music.)

yeah, that makes sense to me. (btw coleman even got his 10 year old to be his drummer at some point in the 60s/70s)
http://www.orbitrecords.com/product/IMG_1127_edited.jpg

Denardo is still drumming for his dad (and managing him, now, too).

One of the biggest things that stands out about this album is the interplay between Ornette’s sax and Don Cherry’s trumpet playing (had to check out the liners to get his name)

Yeah definitely! And though you're not short of recommendations, most of Don Cherry's own records are excellent in their own right if you see any of them going cheap. Mu is awesome, so is Brown Rice.

xpost yeah! does he/has he ever made recordings with other people? some of the early stuff he's on is pretty ehhh, but he's definitely a killer drummer. he might be my favorite part of that recent sound grammar record.

My favorite Don Cherry record is Eternal Rhythm, with a bunch of European players and Sonny Sharrock. Awesome.

Haven't heard that one, thanks for the tip!

i have to say, i don't really care for 80s skronky ornette.

one goal of mine for this year is to check out the keith jarrett quartet with dewey redman, charlie haden, and paul motian. i've been meaning to get to that stuff for ages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls1ddrT7HPc

^ ilxor, I swear to god, this will 100% totally appeal to your Can-loving self

also there's a ton of contemporary jazz i like that i think would go down well on rock ears (the bad plus, the inbetweens), but if i was going to toss only one more recommendation on to the pile it would be something by the brian blade fellowship. probably "season of changes". such a great mix of serious playing with great melody, folk influences, etc.

NickB, I just started the video you linked but I'd be tempted to buy it for the artwork, regardless.

yes Denardo is still his drummer and he's amazing

seconding Mu and Brown Rice, definitely. Ed Blackwell! unfuckwithable

Brown Rice was one of those things I heard and was like "people call this a JAZZ record?"

also, here's a repository of totally amazing interviews & jazz writing by ethan iverson (pianist for the bad plus):

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/contents.html

Been looking up some of you guys' recommendations. Looks like this one may be a bit hard to come across on CD...

World Galaxy by Alice Coltrane (Audio CD - 2004) - Import

4 new from $89.97
2 used from $171.40

O_O

World Galaxy has only been reissued on CD in Japan, hence the prize. Anyway, in my opinion you should get Alice's "Universal Consciousness", which is much cheaper. "Universal Consciousness" has a similar sound to "World Galaxy", but it's better. And it's more "jazz" too, if jazz means improvisation - World Galaxy mostly has just pre-written strings. It's not a bad album (the version of "A Love Supreme" on it is pretty great), but not worth the high prize you have to pay for it.

Aaaaand (surprise!) the music's fantastic, too.

xp to NickB

i'm sure a quick google search would reveal a galaxy of download options. xpost

Tumoas is right that Universal Consciousness is the better of the two (and I prefer Journey in Satchidananda to both)

journey's definitely the one to start with

Soliciting opinions on a few others I've seen in used bins lately:

Derek Bailey - Music and Dance (Is this even jazz? I believe it's on Fahey's Revenant label...)
Peter Brotzmann - Machine Gun
Andrew Hill - Point of Departure
Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser
Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
Cecil Taylor - Jazz Advance

Machine Gun is a MUST HAVE.

What's it like?

It is one of the sacred texts of European Free Improv. You might not like it, but it will teach you about that whole scene.

eter Brotzmann - Machine Gun
Andrew Hill - Point of Departure
Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser

go buy NOW

machine gun will blow your head off

would definitely rep for Machine Gun - it's awesome and "highly influential" on a bunch of music that came later that fused jazz with punk and noise.

Derek Bailey would loudly insist that his music was not jazz.

I wrote about all eight of the Jarrett quartet's Impulse! albums on my blog in '09; you can read that stuff here:

http://runningthevoodoodown.blogspot.com/search?q=keith+jarrett

xp - derek bailey is dead

Also saw:

Peter Brotzmann & Bill Laswell - Low Life

Derek Bailey would loudly insist that his music was not jazz.

― hey boys, suppers on me, our video just went bacterial (Hurting 2), Friday, January 28, 2011 3:09 PM (27 seconds ago)

xp - derek bailey is dead

― sarahel, Friday, January 28, 2011 3:10 PM (3 seconds ago)

Quietly, then.

I know that's why I said "would" and "was"

(xp)

machine gun will blow your head off
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/John_Zorn-Naked_City_%28album_cover%29.jpg

Machine Gun: Noisy, harsh, brief sketches of themes, but mostly eight guys blowing at the same time until the veins stand out on their necks. I think it's beautiful and cathartic, myself.

xp - Low Life is excellent, found that one for $1, chaching!

I think Low Life was $4.99, I may wait to see if it comes around at a lower price...

xp - well, it would be more accurate to say that he insisted - past tense - and that would get us into EFI vs. EAI history

though there's a funny story involving the Derek Bailey memorial concert that John Zorn organized.

I wrote about all eight of the Jarrett quartet's Impulse! albums on my blog in '09; you can read that stuff here:

awesome!

especially since the '73 - '90 essay on Do the Math (who are huge champions of those records) basically says "they're all great"

i have a friend who calls them "the double plus bad"

yeah those are cool essays on the impulse years -- i'm pretty unschooled when it comes to that period (and a lot of jarrett actually).

emil.y thanks for the link to the derrida/ornette text, think i'm going to enjoy reading that.