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

Picked up a few of those Impulse! Story compilations the other day. Found 'em cheap for John and Alice Coltrane (each individually) as well as Archie Shepp. Pretty basic, single-disc overview of each.

i like black codes. have you read that Do the Math interview with Wynton where they break down some of the playing on Live at Blues Alley?

btw that reminds me ilxor, you should hear my favorite jazz record of the '90s (and all-time classic), kenny garrett's songbook. great, accessible melodies with amazing playing by kenny kirkland, eric revis, and jeff "tain" watts (all musicians associated with branford and wynton at one time).

ive been meaning to check that out can u hook me up J?

yeah, i'll try and rip it this weekend

Ashley Kahn's book on Impulse! is currently $2.94 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/House-That-Trane-Built-Impulse/dp/0393330710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300222272&sr=1-1

What a steal! I'm reading his book on A Love Supreme right now and it's excellent.

Picked up today the following slabs of vinyl today:
Pharoah Sanders "Jewels Of Thought" (my first Pharoah solo!)
Freddie Hubbard "The Artistry Of..."
Sonny Rollins "...On Impulse!"

I can't resist those lovely black and orange spines...

Oh man, I totally scan for black and orange spines in the used CD bins now...

Ashley Kahn's book on Impulse! is currently $2.94 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/House-That-Trane-Built-Impulse/dp/0393330710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300222272&sr=1-1

I won that book in a WKCR call-in. I think it was because I knew that Impulse had put out a Genesis record.

It's interesting how much more jazz labels are "brands" than their rock counterpart. I totally associate the big jazz labels with certain approaches and sounds (especially because they tended to use the same studio and the same producers) and the label plays a big role in my decision to buy certain records.

I had to google; had no idea "Trespass" was originally issued on Impulse!

xp - Lots of rock labels function as "brands" in the way you suggest though maybe not the biggest ones (which aren't really rock labels in any interesting sense).

Alright folks, I'll admit my jazz listening has been on the back-burner lately. But I've amassed a few dozen albums (mostly touched on in this thread) and am working my way through them all. Lots of great stuff, most recently Cecil Taylor's Conquistador! -- unsure where this album has been all my life, as it's completely amazing.

Anyway, a fuck-ton of Sun Ra just appeared in the used bins this week at a local shop. Remind me again what's best, please. These are all priced $9 apiece or so, and I can't afford all of them... maybe three or so, for now.

I'm tempted to just go chronologically. Should I skip ahead? Are there more definitive reissues of any of these, or are the Evidence CD issues the best thing out there? Also, are any of these particularly tough to find and I should buy immediately, lest I never see them again?

Album Title (Label; Original Issue Year/Reissue Year)

Super-Sonic Jazz (Evidence; 1957/1992)
Jazz in Silhouette (Evidence; 1959/1992)
Angels and Demons at Play / The Nubians of Plutonia (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Fate in a Pleasant Mood / When Sun Comes Out (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Other Planes of There (Evidence; 1966/1992)
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy / Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (Evidence; 1967/1992)
We Travel the Spaceways / Bad and Beautiful (Evidence; 1967/1992)
Nothing Is... (ESP-Disk; 1970/2005)
My Brother the Wind Volume II (Evidence; 1971/1992)
Hours After (Black Saint; 1990)
At the Village Vanguard (Rounder; 1993)

Really tempted to just buy all the Evidence reissues. But my wallet would suffer.

Definitely go for Jazz in Silhouette (best earlyish example of his big-band composition/arranging), Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy (LOTS of fun with tape delay), and Other Planes Of There (the father of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick plays a devastating baritone solo on "Pleasure")

Thanks. I do love me some tape delay.

Are any of those Evidence discs just not very good, by Sun Ra standards, or should I get 'em all eventually?

been meaning to ask on this thread: I have some Monk stuff, know his standards, have seen Straight No Chaser, I "get" his style, etc. - but I am at a loss as to what are considered canonical albums by him. his catalog seems like a bit of jumble, with no real standout as THE peak or whatever. any thoughts?

Are any of those Evidence discs just not very good, by Sun Ra standards, or should I get 'em all eventually?

All the Evidences are ace, but there is a little repetition/overlap. For instance, "Aicient Aiethiopia" on Silhouette is on one other Evidence, but I forget which one. My Brother The Wind II has lots of Moogness, but two of the best-ever Evidences are When Angels Speak Of Love (more tape delay, but this time with a screaming bass clarinet) and The Magic City. The latter in particular has some incredible large-group playing, pretty much the standard for all such work he'd do later.

Monk stuff you need:

Genius Of Modern Music Vols. 1 & 2, Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music, and 5 By Monk By 5 are all essential from the early years. Lots of people think his Columbia albums of the 1960s are less essential, but I disagree, so from that period you should hear Monk's Dream, Criss-Cross, Monk., It's Monk's Time, Underground and Straight No Chaser (note: not the movie soundtrack, the album itself).

Note: all of the above are studio recordings. Once you're done with that, dig through the live records - I recommend Misterioso, Thelonious In Action, Monk In Tokyo and Live At The Jazz Workshop.

Angels and Demons at Play / The Nubians of Plutonia (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Fate in a Pleasant Mood / When Sun Comes Out (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy / Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (Evidence; 1967/1992)
We Travel the Spaceways / Bad and Beautiful (Evidence; 1967/1992)
Nothing Is... (ESP-Disk; 1970/2005)

I have these on LP, they're all great

My pick of those Sun Ra CDs would be:

Angels and Demons at Play / The Nubians of Plutonia (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Fate in a Pleasant Mood / When Sun Comes Out (Evidence; 1965/1993)
Other Planes of There (Evidence; 1966/1992)
Nothing Is... (ESP-Disk; 1970/2005) [Although keep in mind that this live recording was reissued recently in more complete form, so if you are paying $9 for this and find you like it, you may regret not holding out for the more recent College Tour Recordings or whatever the title of the more extensive version is.]

Others I like but not as much:

Super-Sonic Jazz (Evidence; 1957/1992)[These two are just a little too early/hard bop for me]
Jazz in Silhouette (Evidence; 1959/1992)
Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy / Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (Evidence; 1967/1992) [This is worth hearing, but I honestly haven't found myself going back to it much over the years]
My Brother the Wind Volume II (Evidence; 1971/1992) [Some cool stuff, but kind of a skimpy set overall]

I always forget what this sounds like, but I think it's non-essential:

We Travel the Spaceways / Bad and Beautiful (Evidence; 1967/1992)

And lol I had stopped paying attention to this thread but I clicked on it only to find you are talking Sun Ra again.

I've been meaning to update this thread so badly but have been banned for the past month. Anyway, been playing the heck outta some jazz lately, mostly the following, all of which are absolutely killer and 100% essential listening:

Albert Ayler - New Grass
Ornette Coleman - Change of the Century
John Coltrane - Living Space
Joe Henderson - Joe Henderson in Japan
Pharoah Sanders - Thembi
Cecil Taylor - Conquistador!

surprised you think so highly of joe in japan!

never heard that one, though i do dig some 70s henderson.

Yeah Joe in Japan is good in terms of energy but it's a little choppy at times.

this is my fave 70s henderson (and not just because of the excellent cover)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v627/Flabbergast/hendersoncover.jpg

might i suggest some anthony braxton?
very rarely does it "swing" but you get some super mathy mentalism ( at least on the early stuff before he started plying his "ghost trance music" ethos). also lots of large bass sarrusophones / contrabass clarinet / sax as large as your house business. he hasn't demonstrated "fire" to me very often but nearly always tickles the synapses to a state of delight & has comedy arsequake raspberry noises.
you can get "this time" & "anthony braxton" (or "B-X2NOI47A"as it's sort of otherwise known)on CD for pennies right now, & also "time zones" w/ richard teitelbaum which is him w/ teitelbaum's radiophonic electronics - amazing. "3 compositions of new jazz" is definitely also worth a shot, but after that you're taking your life into your own hands. "donna lee" does swing, but tends to be pricey. Also henry threadgill is worth a shot, particularly "too much sugar for a dime" & "making a move" which employ a 2xtuba bass section with widdly guitars. also "rag bush & all" which you can pick up cheapish on vinyl - kinda new orleans funeral band which to my ears sounds texturally like a zappa dance jam without the widdle. it's what i imagine "harmolodic" things should sound like.

I've never run across Anthony Braxton in the shops here. I have his live collaboration with Wolf Eyes (which is basically a Wolf Eyes set featuring Braxton as a side player). I'll poke around as I shop for the ones you mentioned, though. Thanks!

HOOS: I haven't heard any other Henderson yet, maybe that's why In Japan is so great... I've nothing to compare it to!

I've been meaning to update this thread so badly but have been banned for the past mont

?! ilxor gets banned, but geir does not. the mind boggles.

Whoops... self-banned, I should have clarified.

A little time away does me some good once in a while!

Came across and bought the following this week:

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin'
John Coltrane - Sun Ship
Weather Report - Sweetnighter
Weather Report - Heavy Weather

I have one other Blakey album that I like (from '59, forget the name), and I'm deep into Coltrane—haven't found a Coltrane album on Impulse that isn't somewhere between "pretty damn good" and "fucking fantastic."

Totally new to Weather Report. All I know is Shorter's in the band, more or less. Played the first couple tracks on Sweetnighter and it sounds like these guys are generally on a post-Bitches Brew trip, is that somewhat right or am I off the mark? And what are their best records?

moanin deserves its classic status -- top 10 hard bop records of the 50s, not a bad note on it. weather report is more composed/much less improv-y than bitches brew (at least heavy weather is, haven't heard the other one). i dunno, beyond the first couple weather report records, i haven't gotten too much into them.

I like Heavy Weather okay, but Mysterious Traveller is my favorite of their mid-70s highly composed period. If you want to hear their weirdest shit, pick up the 2CD set Live in Tokyo.

top 10 hard bop records of the 50s, not a bad note on it.

What are the other nine...?

JAZZ IS LIKE HEROIN TO ME ! ! ! ~~~~ ILM POST-1945 JAZZ ALBUMS POLL - THE RESULTS COUNTDOWN ~~~~

hmm i think that one links to an actual post
this one should link you to the thread
JAZZ IS LIKE HEROIN TO ME ! ! ! ~~~~ ILM POST-1945 JAZZ ALBUMS POLL - THE RESULTS COUNTDOWN ~~~~

Total # of jazz albums bought in 2011.... 130.

Here's the count:

26 - John Coltrane
22 - Miles Davis
10 - Sun Ra
7 - Thelonious Monk
6 - Albert Ayler
5 - Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus
4 - Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders
3 - Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, Mats Gustafsson, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor
2 - Derek Bailey, Art Blakey, Peter Brötzmann, Eric Dolphy, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter
1 - Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Oliver Nelson, Sonny Sharrock, McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams

Pretty much picking up anything I see on Blue Note in the '60s at this point, and anything Blue Note or Impulse! related. But I wonder if I'm not pigeonholing myself.... I'm not listening or aiming much for pre '60s jazz as a general rule (with exceptions being Blakey and Monk and maybe a couple others) and most of this stuff falls into 60s or early 70s jazz, leaning toward free jazz (Sun Ra, Ayler, Cherry, Ornette) and spacey stuff (Pharoah, Alice, Hancock fusion era).

What else am I missing? I have a pretty good idea of my "tastes" at this point but still of course desire to (A) step outside the box to some degree, now that the box has formed, and (B) continue to find tons of really great albums within the box.

did you get mccoy tyner's "enlightenment"?

If you dig both the 1960s Blue Note hard bop and free/avant garde, you should definitely check out Charles Mingus. He did both some cool avant garde stuff and groovy-as-hell bluesy numbers. Blues & Roots, Tijuana Moods, or Mingus Ah Um are good places to start, though pretty much all of the official albums he released between 1956 and 1963 are great.

Um, it says right there he bought five Mingus records

A band I just discovered last year was David Murray's Octet. A great mix of hard-swinging bluesy bop and outbursts of free blowing. Their five albums have been reissued in a budget-priced box that's totally worth getting. Killer stuff.

Ellery Eskelin - The Sun Died
Mihaly Dresch - Egyenes Zene
William Parker - Double Sunrise over Neptune
Jenny Scheinman - 12 Songs
Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams
Charlie Parker - Dial Masters
Max Roach - Deeds Not Words
Horace Silver - Song for my Father
Cannonball Adderley - In San Francisco

Oh, and Henry Threadgill too: "Everybody's Mouth a Book" and "Up Popped the Two Lips" are both recommended.

did you get mccoy tyner's "enlightenment"?

"The Real McCoy"—only one i've found so far.

Um, it says right there he bought five Mingus records

mingus ah um, mingus x5, mingus plays piano, oh yeah, black saint :)

thanks for the rec's o. nate!!

David Murray's Octet

yess Ming is a classic album

I like o. nate's eclectic approach

just bought -

Art Blakey - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk
Grant Green - Idle Moments
Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots
Thelonious Monk - Monk.
Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer

really getting into the Atavistic reissues on their Unheard Music Series, i've picked up all of the following recently:

Peter Brotzmann Sextet - Fuck de Boere
Globe Unity Orchestra - ??? (forget the name of this one)
Haazz & Company - Unlawful Noise
Mount Everest Trio - Waves from Albert Ayler
Luther Thomas & Human Arts Ensemble - Funky Donkey
Luther Thomas & Human Arts Ensemble - Banana

other recent stuff i've picked up:

Albert Ayler - Holy Ghost (box set... fucking amazing)
Ornette Coleman - Town Hall 1962
John Coltrane - Live in Seattle (double disc edition)
Art Blakey - A Night in Tunisia
Peter Brotzmann & Bill Laswell - Low Life