I discovered Jim Hall through all the nice words from Nels Cline, Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. Also, the ECM album "Within a Song" from John Abercrombie has multiple tunes from Hall, it is really good.
This interview, done by Bill Frisell is a classic.
― EvR, Thursday, 19 September 2019 19:03 (four years ago) link
yeah, i'm reading the absolute fuck out of that.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 19 September 2019 19:12 (four years ago) link
sorry, i'm geeking out at this conversation!
jim: how did you get so weird?bill: i don't know. i stole most of it from you.
bill: i don't know. i stole most of it from you.
looooollll
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 19 September 2019 19:22 (four years ago) link
then I heard Charlie Christian, and that was a big thing. I went out and got, on 78s, an album of that music. I don’t even think I had a record player; I would take it to people’s houses. I remember on the cover it said “Benny Goodman Sextet,” and I was on a streetcar or something, and the way my arm was, it just said “Sex,” so I said I better adjust the arm so it said “Sextet.”
he was as pure and nice as his playing makes him sound!
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 19 September 2019 19:38 (four years ago) link
wow, his thoughts on bill evans are pretty surprising!
Bill Evans, of course, is not a bad player, and I got a kick out of what he did. “My Funny Valentine” was usually done as a slow ballad, and so Bill decided that he and I should do it as an uptempo thing. He would mess with tempos until he got it to work. Too bad he wasn’t a better player. That was a lost man, that guy, Jesus.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Thursday, 19 September 2019 19:52 (four years ago) link
Bill Evans' "Interplay" album with a larger group (including Jim Hall) is very nice too.
― EvR, Friday, 20 September 2019 12:40 (four years ago) link
I think when Hall says "Too bad he wasn't a better player" he means the opposite ... the interview is almost 30 years after Evans' death and it sounds like Hall is still mourning him
― Brad C., Friday, 20 September 2019 14:00 (four years ago) link
Yeah, I think it might be a slightly wonky transcription and that Hall is really talking about Evans not being good at playing the game of life - "that was a lost man"
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 20 September 2019 14:08 (four years ago) link
I hear it as sarcasm: too bad DiMaggio wasn't a better player
― Brad C., Friday, 20 September 2019 15:05 (four years ago) link
yeah, i didn't take it in the way that jim meant bill needed to practice more. i understood it as him thinking bill got lost in himself to the point of maybe sacrificing his playing.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 20 September 2019 17:35 (four years ago) link
by every account I've read Evans was an amiable mess his entire life
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Friday, 20 September 2019 20:09 (four years ago) link
he was. he joked about his own destructive drug dependency constantly =(
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 20 September 2019 20:15 (four years ago) link
hey, thank you everyone who mentioned sonny rollins' the bridge. my rollins collection and knowledge is admittedly lacking, so i picked up that album yesterday and yeah: that shit jams hard. especially the ballads \m/
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Sunday, 22 September 2019 14:57 (four years ago) link
the bossa nova influenced What's New album with Sony Rollins/Jim Hall is worth checking out as well imo.
― calzino, Sunday, 22 September 2019 15:29 (four years ago) link
Both "What's New" and "The Bridge" are in this box set:
https://images.app.goo.gl/h7qaNGto7GNwXj5e7
― EvR, Monday, 23 September 2019 07:29 (four years ago) link
https://s.s-bol.com/imgbase0/imagebase3/large/FC/4/9/1/7/9200000063827194.jpg
― EvR, Monday, 23 September 2019 07:31 (four years ago) link
see that's my problem right there: EIGHTTEEN FLIPPIN` ALBUMS????
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 23 September 2019 20:58 (four years ago) link
this one's a more manageable set with the Hall / Rollins stuff (plus a lot more): https://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Classics-Sonny-Rollins/dp/B003JA5MKQ
― tylerw, Monday, 23 September 2019 21:33 (four years ago) link
yeah, that's more my speed. thank you for the link!
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 23 September 2019 21:44 (four years ago) link
these rooms feat. tom harrell, from 1988, sounds like the loveliest record in the world, featuring naked city's joey baron on brushed drums
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Saturday, 15 January 2022 19:16 (two years ago) link
everyone listen to this record now holy shit
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Saturday, 15 January 2022 19:18 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLisDURVowU
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Saturday, 15 January 2022 19:19 (two years ago) link
Whoa, definitely will! Admittedly I've never much liked Joey Baron, but so far the brushes on this track are v nice.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 15 January 2022 20:54 (two years ago) link
I feel like there's a transition in Hall's sound somewhere along the way where his tone starts to sound fatter and a little bit more acoustic-like. This one definitely leans more in that direction. I wonder where it started.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 15 January 2022 20:55 (two years ago) link
It gets that very slightly spanky acoustic-ish thing
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 15 January 2022 20:56 (two years ago) link
Wow, Steve LaSpina absolutely crushing it on bass
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 15 January 2022 20:57 (two years ago) link
I heard Jay Leonhart was originally offered that gig but turned it down because he didn’t want to be away from his kids too long.
― Presenting the Fabulous Redettes Featuring James (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 15 January 2022 22:35 (two years ago) link
That version of "With a Song in My Heart" is really nice. I like how Hall's soloing feels like it grows organically and comfortably out of the tune, never rushed, and the sense of dialogue between guitar and trumpet.
― The sensual shock (Sund4r), Monday, 17 January 2022 04:04 (two years ago) link
one I've been enjoying lately is the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall bossa nova album Take Ten, really nice and also it features one of Warhol's less famous album cover commissions.
― calzino, Monday, 24 January 2022 11:06 (two years ago) link
Today I'm enjoying 'Jim Hall & Basses', a record of duets and trios with different bass players (Dave Holland, Christian McBride, George Mraz, Scott Colley), after listening to an interview with Scott Colley.
― Random Restaurateur (Jordan), Thursday, 24 August 2023 15:51 (nine months ago) link
how have i never posted here? i love jim hall.
have lost track of how many dozens of times I've played Jimmy Giuffre's 'Western Suite' and it's largely for Jim Hall.
otm
― budo jeru, Thursday, 24 August 2023 16:22 (nine months ago) link
It's sweater & Jim Hall season.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 10 October 2023 18:17 (seven months ago) link
I was lucky to find a copy of Jim Hall's Live Vol.2-4 some time ago. There are 2 books of sheet music out too, one has more writing from Hall about music, composing and constructing solos than it has actual sheet music but it reads almost like a diary, just great stuff.
― EvR, Wednesday, 11 October 2023 14:00 (seven months ago) link
oh, what's the diary-like one called?
― budo jeru, Thursday, 12 October 2023 00:19 (seven months ago) link
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, October 10, 2023 1:17 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Oh my gawd, pumpkin spice jim hawl
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 12 October 2023 01:01 (seven months ago) link
The book is called 'Exploring Jazz Guitar'. This Marciac 2000 concert is also highly recommended (it used to be on YouTube, but someone saved it and republished it on FB).
― EvR, Thursday, 12 October 2023 08:54 (seven months ago) link
His duet album with Joey Baron is really really nice (although oddly enough the drums are the louder element in the mix, which I like but you know Joey Baron can be one of the softest drummers in the biz).
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 12 October 2023 17:58 (seven months ago) link
Also "Where Would I Be?" ('71) is new to me, probably old hat to you Jim Hall stans. Airto on percussion and drums, with some really cool & contemporary sounding minimal arrangements.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 12 October 2023 18:05 (seven months ago) link
look at this king
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6af2eed2-e5bb-4730-9c54-9fc5b8d2136f_749x499.jpeg
― tylerw, Thursday, 12 October 2023 18:07 (seven months ago) link
I assume this one is called Conversations? "Something Special" is also recommended as is the Trio album with Tom Harrell.
― EvR, Tuesday, 17 October 2023 16:14 (seven months ago) link
i put this cd on without looking at it and i wondered who he was playing with and it was just overdubs he had done. still think he should have called it Jim Hall Plays With Himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lemu5HwjLRk
― scott seward, Wednesday, 18 October 2023 03:50 (seven months ago) link
Uniquities is a collection of never before released live performances by Jim, Scott Colley and Joey Baron. It has been carefully curated to demonstrate how incredibly innovative Jim was and to reflect his unrelenting search for that combination of stunning beauty and an ever-evolving modern approach to music.
More info here.
― EvR, Thursday, 7 December 2023 11:05 (five months ago) link
Thank you, putting this on now. I love his duos with Colley & Baron so I'm sure this will be great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQeB8rCUHcE
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 7 December 2023 16:38 (five months ago) link