Rolling Jazz Thread 2022

Without having read that essay, I'd say that it would be easy to slip into the popism-as-rockism imitative fallacy of Authenticity, ignoring the subjective complexities of the actual listening experience.

thanks for that perfect sound link, stoked on the cyrille / parker / rava trio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKLT0KwpeXI

In my dives through Youtube, I came across a good one. This documentary "All You Need Is Jazz" from 1977 is well worth a watch. Lots of people show up and there is some excellent playing on the film. Worth a few if you have never seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM-q09ujllU

I really dug the George Shearing band clip. I guess put him on the list to check out. The lady jazz singer segment was pretty cool too, no idea who that might be. I was wondering if she was a UK singer.

smooth jazz as a form of radical Black art, arguing that screechy avant-garde jazz is actually a somewhat reactionary style that plays into white bourgeois/middlebrow tastes while smooth jazz represents aspiration.

Is the article readable online anywhere? Because this sounds like complete horseshit but I should probably read the original source first.

It's not, but here's a sample paragraph which kind of gets at the author's thesis:

No music involved with the record industry is free from commercialization, but the critical dismissal of smooth as overly commercial is revealing. Love is a revolutionary value. And against the backdrop of Black history in America, the desire for and celebration of Black material security is neither trivial nor necessarily reactionary. Jazz music which had seemed to encode or express Black political struggle, Black economic deprivation, or any kind of austere or esoteric spiritual doctrine had seemed acceptable to orthodox jazz critics and audiences. White listeners were willing to assimilate any amount of Black pain, historical suffering and political fury as entertainment, edification or both. But the turn toward Black love, optimism and worldly happiness was unpalatable and unassimilable to the hip, intellectual tastes of the jazz connoisseurs.

That last sentence, especially, goes rong, if you think of white heads among the loyal fans of, say, Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, Kamasi Washington, Archie Shepp, Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Andy Bey, or are these artists not Black (love, optimism, and [cosmic theatrical-poetic stylized idealist expression as a sensual-sensuous replenishment of] worldly happiness) for the doctrinaire (as anti-doctrinaire) author? This is what I suspected re popist-as-rockist fallacy etc.

And I've known plenty of whites who like smooth jazz, though the author may consider that they can't really get it/like it for bad reasons.

Yeah, almost every part of that sounds dubious to me. "White listeners" (or listeners of any race tbh) were not in significant numbers willing to assimilate any amount of challenging avant-garde jazz, fairly obviously, and were not averse to smooth jazz - it did not achieve mainstream commercial success without appealing to white listeners. If the Peter Brotzmanns of the world could assimilate the ideas in free jazz, surely artists from Steely Dan to Kenny G to whoever does the music for the Weather Channel have been able to assimilate smoother sounds for plenty of white listeners? Aspiring to material security is perfectly valid and respectable but was not some radical new idea for a popular, or even jazz, musician. And seeking respect from the intelligentsia, I'd that's even what free artists were doing, is no less aspirational. And like dow notes, identifying free jazz with struggle and strife and smooth jazz with love and optimism seems far too broad. Maybe there are some more compelling arguments and examples given on the article?

*if that's even what free artists were doing

I don't hate smooth jazz btw, nor do I unequivocally love free jazz.

even though i've been meaning to acquire that issue of the We Jazz zine, i have to admit that the quoted smooth jazz article sounds fucking dreadful

the champion of Nas said he had more street cred because he was more commercial, like his real people had to be

Other way around surely?

The article is more nuanced than smooth good, free bad - I don't think the writer thinks that at all - and it's much more substantial than that clickbait Jacobin article with its populist championing of Kenny G et al. Behind the provocative thesis is a deep dive into the strange world of obscure and private press smooth jazz which is where the real interest lies. I've yet to follow up the recommendations, but there's some stuff on there that definitely appeals along the lines of wonky homemade takes on slick commercial forms.

Caught both the Tord Gustavsen Trio and François Houle 4 (w Gordon Gdina, Gerry Hemingway, Mark Helias) Saturday night. Both really good. Gustavsen's group manages to really stretch out the tunes with a lot of sonic exploration while always keeping things ear-pleasing and relatively chill. Included takes on Bach's "Jesu meine freude" harmonization and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne". Houle's group was a needed wake-up afterwards, really energetic modern creative music with a good balance between notated material and out improv. Gdina's playing is reminiscent of Sonny Sharrock at times. Kamasi Washington last night. Not quite as thrilling for me but a really fun time.

Looks amazing Sund4r. also definitely appeals along the lines of wonky homemade takes on slick commercial forms. Definitely!

Cool, Stew. I'm not at all averse to hearing an indie slant on smooth jazz.

Although I imagine that would make it less smooth.

The new Anna Butterss album is excellent: https://annabutterss.bandcamp.com/album/activities

Wow just heard title track (chess date piano trio groove ballad) of this new alb on radio:
https://armendonelian.bandcamp.com/album/fresh-start"> https://armendonelian.bandcamp.com/album/fresh-start

Flora Purim bootleg @ Terminal Island 1975, which “Purim persuaded the prison authorities to let her stage.” Feat. Airto, Cannonball Adderley, George Duke, Miroslaw Vitous, Raoul de Souza, & Ndugu Chanclerhttps://t.co/Ur2xHc41CG

— jeff (@jazyjef) July 12, 2022

wiki:

Purim was imprisoned at Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California in August 1974 for cocaine possession; she was given the inmate number 2775. During her year and a half imprisonment from 1974 to 1976, she organized a concert on March 3, 1976, which brought in some famous musicians from the outside: Cannonball Adderley, George Duke, Airto Moreira, Miroslav Vitouš, Raul de Souza and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler. Purim usually performed these concerts with little or no rehearsal time, for about an hour. One performance was broadcast on KBCA FM (105.1), an L.A.-based jazz station. Among the tunes they performed were Chick Corea's "Light as a Feather", "500 Miles High", and "Celebration Suite". This was the first time such a co-operation between civilians and inmates had ever taken place.[15]

Damn. Whole angle I did not realize.

I'm interested in that smooth vs free jazz article because I love both and don't really understand why people have to pit sounds against one another, but oh well.

I mean, I'm from Philadelphia, I grew up listening to both Sun Ra and Grover Washington Jr....like the techno producers who call all electronic dance music techno, all jazz is jazz to me. Some of it I like, some of it I don't, but I've never really said, "I dislike this type of jazz."

That's good, but you may be an exception. Ken Barnes, a media consultant as well as music writer, once said that there are enough fans to make jazz radio a commercially viable format, but many are too intolerant of different subgenres, also of some artists within the subgenre they do favor.

It's not really a new thing, I suppose Wes Montgomery's last studio records fall into a 'smooth' category and were both very popular with the public.

'Charlie Parker with Strings'

EKU's station does quite a bit of jazz programming along side news and classical music. I like Jazz Night in a America, that show always has some good stuff. I rarely know of any of the music, but it is all pretty well done.

Oh yeah, college/Public Radio do a lot, but far as I know, it's still rare to find a commercial station with a consistently jazz-related format, one that lasts very long, anyway. (NPR itself used to originate/distribute more jazz, judging by dead links.)

Like they had a live performance of Kamasi Washington's The Epic, with just the right interview clips: posted for a while, but it's long gone----they do still have a little collection of KW performances from various stations' live-in-the-studio sessions.

Aye, I love my skronk, but I also love my tunes and my grooves, and I'm quite fond of some smooth jazz through hip-hop samples and the like. Certainly object to smooth less than I do tasteful designer coffee table stuff, whether its ECM at its reverb drenched fjord evoking/orientalist worst or Floating Points style ambient guff.

You and I may be the only ones who can't float with FP: always put me right to sleep, literally, like I never want music to do---though if I did, would be great, admittedly (rec to insomniacs, no lie).

I don't like FP.

But I also love a lot of ECM stuff, more on the Tibbetts and Eberhard Weber end of things than the orientalist stuff tho.

I find the Nordic ambient jazz stuff on ECM to be soporific too. But so much of that label is great, including the classical.

Don't get me wrong, some amazing music on ECM, but when it's bad...

My fave ECM is Conference of the Birds, also dig some by DeJohnette, among others.

Speak of the xpost devils:

Doom & Gloom guest post! @AtBestIsKorny takes a deep dive into the Hermeto Pascoal / Airto Moreira / Flora Purim universe via a bunch of great live rarities. https://t.co/Qg7EgroyuK pic.twitter.com/qziFdd5h1w

— Tyler Wilcox (@tywilc) July 12, 2022

My interest level is increased by degrees of Hermeto.

The new Anna Butterss album is excellent: https://annabutterss.bandcamp.com/album/activities

― rob, Sunday, 10 July 2022 14:00 (one week ago)

Seconded! Has that chunky technicolour mid-90s-Money-Mark vibe that's so pleasurable - similar to last year's Ben LaMar Gay album.

Sounding great this morning. This is the kind of thing I read ILM for.

My first thought on hearing Jeff Parker's The New Breed was "Money Mark!", and yes, this has a similar feel.

Ha that's interesting, I only vaguely recall what Money Mark sounds like, but Activities definitely wouldn't sound out of place on Intl Anthem (while being v distinct in its own right imo—I need to relisten to it, but iirc it's more notably more spare than LaMar Gay's & Parker's albums). I was impressed by how much of it is entirely solo.

New Chloe Jackson-Reynolds coming out this week.

― And liberty she pirouette (Sund4r), Tuesday, April 26, 2022 8:42 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

just getting to this. awesome. i love her work.

https://sr3323.bandcamp.com/album/the-spring-concert

Yeah, it's really good!

I woke up Saturday thinking of Money Mark's Keyboard Repair, will have to check this out, thanks!

"waves crash" sounds like ... terry riley. except instead of a reed organ it's somebody actually overdubbing herself with various recorders, flutes, and saxophones. very awesome.

Good comparison!

Late last night Archie Shepp was talking about how he and Herbie Nichols used to play sessions together in the downtown loft that Shepp and Baraka shared. Shepp begged Nichols to start a group, didn’t happen. Now I am sharing the Nichols intv with Shepp.https://t.co/7Rp8FjgDcP

— Jason Moran (@morethan88) July 15, 2022

My latest Stereogum column is out. I interviewed Moor Mother about her new album, Woody Shaw, Amina Claudine Myers, and much more, and reviewed new records by Tyshawn Sorey, Tarbaby, Tumi Mogorosi, Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity, Thandi Ntuli, Theo Croker and more.

Thought for a second that said you interviewed Woody Shaw and did a double take.

New Bennie Maupin/Adam Rudolph thing on Strut is killer: https://adamrudolph.bandcamp.com/album/symphonic-tone-poem-for-brother-yusef

(where killer = meditative, spacious, full of weird clatter)

two thumbs up