ILX0RS: JAZZ IS THE TEACHER. YEAH, IT'S A JAZZ THING >> THE ILM JAZZ LISTENING CLUB! [NEW CHOICES EVERY WEDNESDAY!]

would love to, ty!

cool, you can do 21 May

pfunk: 30 April
a hoy hoy: 7 May
local garda: 14 May
ward fowler: 21 May
tannenbaum: 28 May

where's xyzzzzzzzzz he needs to do it too

I remember not liking Birth of the Cool when I first heard it years ago for the reasons mentioned above (recording quality, "corniness"). Now I hear it as a response to both big band swing and bebop, and having that historical context has made it more enjoyable. I think it would have been better with more Gil Evans arrangements.

The ballads on the Ellington/Coltrane are beautiful, but overall it feels kind of under-developed. Some of Money Jungle strikes me the same way. Of the Ellington collaborations I've heard from this period, I'm more likely to put on the one with Louis Armstrong.

listened to Birth of the Cool this morning, and it sounded great -- I take it back! Total masterpiece. (I think it rewards closer listening ... having it on in the background, it sounds ... like background music. But on the headphones this morning it sounded pretty deep and rich.)
What makes Money Jungle way better than the Coltrane/Ellington collab is the *tension*. Mingus sounds like he really doesn't want to let Duke cruise on that recording. On the Coltrane record it sounds like everyone got along and chilled. And made a decent, if not fantastic, record.
(i'd do a week of this too ...)

learn yr dates, jazzxors:

pfunk: 30 April
a hoy hoy: 7 May
local garda: 14 May
ward fowler: 21 May
Cave17Matt: 28 May
Nom Nom Nom Chomsky (WmC): 4 June
tylerw: 11 June
tannenbaum: 18 June

i'll keep bumping myself down if more want to curate a week

I hope my selections aren't too mainstream!

I'm always up for following you Tannenbaum , happy to have as many turns as possible.

Nah, I'm keen to be exposed to other stuff/choices.

Also, would like to ask for just 2 choices per week so I can also take in the funk, brazilian and rap threads going on.

But he gave me permission to do 3!

wtf shitting on birth of the cool

Nom Nom Nom Chomsky (WmC): 4 June

Hey cool, I just meant I'd participate in that I'd listen and post on the records, but I'm excited to curate a week as well. I thought about asking but didn't want to barge in.

I was agnostic on Birth of the Cool for years in basically the same way as stated above. But I listened to it yesterday for this thread and really loved it. "Moon Dreams" is particularly lovely.

Also, thank you MumblestheRevelator: I've been meaning to check out the Coltrane/Hartman album for ages and this prompted me to do it finally.

birth of the cool would scare newcomers to jazz away? really? that's sad. and strange.

i already made fun of the cover, but, man, that ben neil track above is funny because it actually SOUNDS like the cover. i would have thought that impossible. apologies to ben, but my first reaction to his track was: i really wouldn't want anyone to hear me listening to this. so, don't really want to hear the rest.

i wish i had that ellington/coltrane album here right now. i could go for that.

That Monk album of Ellington covers is great, but I'm a sucker for ironic piano standards.

Ben Neill: its certainly of its time with the drum'n'bass thing half way through.

its not my thing

what does Neill's version of "After the Gold Rush" sound like?!

just to clarify - BIRTH OF THE COOL is great! lee konitz is great! gil evans is great! gerry mulligan is great! it's just that, in my experience, the title and cover image are slightly misleading - i think ppl think it will sound much more like KIND OF BLUE...or LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD...or even CHET by chet baker... y'know, smokey moody midnight jazzy - and so they struggle to get to grips w/ a style/sound that is now 60 years old. i prob sold at least a copy a day of BIRTH OF THE COOL, back when i was working in that big jazz rec, and i'd say 50% of the time, ppl brought it straight back. their loss, sure, but it happened enough times to tell me that it's not a gd 'first jazz alb' kinda pick

oh man, we gotta have 3 choices - and i really hope scott schools us one week...

big jazz rec shop

That Monk album of Ellington covers is great

^ co-sign

Big jazz record shop - so jealous. Only ever have been to Mole Jazz. Decent prices (for London).

think mole left their premises in kings x and moved into a classical rec shop in soho (the name of which escapes me for the moment), but are prob out of business now - as you say, it was a gd place to crate dig. rays jazz are still hanging on in foyles.

i've got the ellington/monk disc on this great cheapo set

http://www.avidgroup.co.uk/acatalog/info_AMSC964.html

but haven't spun it yet - this thread is encouraging me to do so, so it's paying of already hurrah

I think I've finally decided my picks for next week, man it was so hard trying to pick only 3!

that ben neill track upthread does not sound like jazz to me. more like some dj job of kruder & dorfmeister with a dash of fusion in it or something. it is not bad but definitely not a classic jazz album. i never got into birth of the cool neither. have to give it another try. i don't know that ellington/coltrane cooperation at all.

[Hey cool, I just meant I'd participate in that I'd listen and post on the records, but I'm excited to curate a week as well. I thought about asking but didn't want to barge in.

This was me too, but as I said if my choices aren't too mainstream I'm totally up for curating a week!

Wouldn't worry as to whether its too mainstream or not. Jazz has gone to all sorts of places so it will be good to hear what people are going to come up with.

think mole left their premises in kings x and moved into a classical rec shop in soho (the name of which escapes me for the moment), but are prob out of business now - as you say, it was a gd place to crate dig. rays jazz are still hanging on in foyles.

Harold Moores - and yes Mole moved out of there a long while back. Scored a second hand copy of Cecil Taylor's Jazz Composers Orchestra LP on my last visit. Really sad.

this coltrane/duke is v. pretty

as with all of Coltrane's Impulse stuff, the recording quality is gorgeous ... perfect sound.

Spotify really is brilliant for jazz

that ben neill track upthread does not sound like jazz to me. more like some dj job of kruder & dorfmeister with a dash of fusion in it or something. it is not bad but definitely not a classic jazz album. i never got into birth of the cool neither. have to give it another try. i don't know that ellington/coltrane cooperation at all.

― alex in mainhattan, Saturday, 24 April 2010 06:50 (10 hours ago) Bookmark

Do Cab Calloway singing "Minnie The Moocher" and Mile Davis' On The Corner LP really both count as Jazz? On The Corner is essentially a weird funk album played by an amazing Jazz man. Minnie The Moocher was some song from a cartoon with a catchy call and response chorus.

Ben Neill will never be considered a classic jazz album, because it simply isn't (strong enough). Its more a mutation or (I don't want to use this word but I've seen it labelled as) future-jazz.

I wanted to see how it would resound with jazzxors

Wouldn't worry as to whether its too mainstream or not. Jazz has gone to all sorts of places so it will be good to hear what people are going to come up with.

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 24 April 2010 09:39 (7 hours ago) Bookmark

Ben Neill's roots are notably Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, but he’s staked out his own terrain in the sonic landscape, mixing fractured jungle loops under his free-form improvisations. So how Jazz is it?

Perhaps we can - in later weeks - talk about what counts as "Jazz" since the mid 1980s (post jazz-funk, fusion, disco and following the emergence of hip-hop and house music as the dominant non-rock genres for the next 15 years).

And is the genre still evolving or do permutations that utilise only a fraction of more recognised Jazz signifers get side-lined as fusion or something else? What are the essential, amazing, classic Jazz recordings since 1985 for example? Again hopefully we can cover some of this in later weeks.

-----

I chose Ellington/Coltrane chosen for this week because, whilst it wouldn't again doesn't feature in most Top 50 jazz albums you must have lists, it has a great mood throughout and is an intro to 2 giants. And I love this recording of In A Sentimental Mood so very much.

Plus I like how Coltrane's solos are concise, but you can sense he wants to do more. Hopefully in coming weeks we'll get some avant/free Impulse label Coltrane - shit that's ear splitting / mind melting and complex. (Recordings that noise fans will find much favour with).

BIRTH OF THE COOL is this week's CLASSIC JAZZ recording.

And someone asked about needing to have 3 albums per week. Yeah go for it.

if you ask me, on the corner is STILL "future jazz". i don't know what that ben neill track is. a bad idea?

"Perhaps we can - in later weeks - talk about what counts as "Jazz" since the mid 1980s"

jazz does. count as jazz since the mid 80's. there's still lots of it around.

I'd like to do a week sometime. I like this listening club idea.

Sparkle Motion, your choices due as per:

pfunk: 30 April
a hoy hoy: 7 May
local garda: 14 May
ward fowler: 21 May
Cave17Matt: 28 May
Nom Nom Nom Chomsky (WmC): 4 June
tylerw: 11 June
Sparkle Motion: 18 June
tannenbaum: 25 June

Scott, I'd like to get schooled in what Jazz is worth listening to since mid-80s. I know there's lots of it still around 'cos I see it live and its great: Ken Vandermark, Sun Ra Arkestra, Matthew Shipp, Steve Reid, even Portico Quartet and Seb Roachford/Polar Bear/Fulbourn Teversham (the last 3 I still need to check out) but any pointers to albums would be greatly appreciated.

yeah, i'm kinda trad though. you'd probably be bored. i was raised trad. my dad was so excited to get the new tom harrell album that just came out. he might not have bought it the DAY it came out, but pretty close.

now playing: chico freeman - tradition in transition (elektra - 1982)

my kinda 80's album, i guess. i love chico. and he's got wallace roney, cecil mcbee, jack dejohnette, and billy hart playing with him. but, again, i was raised on this stuff. it's really only been in the last decade that i have started getting down with the experimental/out/free guys. well, jazz guys. in other genres, i have been getting down with them forever.

Cool. I'm looking forward to it. I hate to say it, but I'm also looking forward to the end of this Ben Neill album. I'll have some actual commentary a bit later, but for now, add me to the camp that calls this Not Jazz.

now i'm listening to this though. man does it sound good. it's a jazz "classic". 1968. one serious power trio. if anyone has never heard it, they should, um, hear it! i don't actually listen to too much chick corea, but he was all fired up when he made this.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_S8onHUlmhfg/SS2aPs4N3mI/AAAAAAAAAcU/8FbILFlg2Tw/s320/ChickCorea-NowHeSingsNowHeSobs.jpg

haha! Sparkle, you don't have to force yourself to the end, if you don't like it!

Scott will check out that Chick Corea album. I love Return To Forever. Haven't heard it in ages, so looking forward to listening again in the next hour!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61KIiT3fKgL._SS500_.jpg

Most CD versions of Now He Sings... have a bunch of material that documents the pre-Circle Corea/Holland/Altschul combo. All is worth at least a listen. As far as listening all the way through is concerned--I can't bear to see the assignment half completed.

i've always wanted to live in that apartment pictured on the front of NOW HE SINGS, NOW HE SOBS! prob my fave chick corea alb after CRYSTAL SILENCE - and right now it's available for £3 in most branches of FOPP, UK jazzbos!

Coltrane/Ellington is lovely, deeply satisfying (especially after listening to Fates Warning and Cradle of Filth, ha). Will keep this in my life for sure.

I'm keen to be educated on the classic side of things (I had never even heard Birth of the Cool before). Coltrane/Ellington has grabbed me more than Miles so far, which surprised me because I love Miles' later stuff.

I'm a little embarrassed that I've never listened to all of Birth of the Cool before, although I've heard this version of "Boplicity" many times. Really impressive and enjoyable, of course. Love Evans' arrangements.

Not too thought out impressions typed up while listing to the Duke Ellington & John Coltrane disc slightly distractedly at work (but it's the best I have time for, sorry)...

In a Sentimental Mood
This is the style of Coltrane I think I enjoy listening to the most, masterful and fantastically restrained. The opening sections really set a kind of blue mood. Ellington feels like a bit of an afterthought, which is weird (always thought of this more of a Coltrane album though).

Take the Coltrane
I don't really enjoy the shift of mood between the first track and this. The faster tempo and higher sound kind of loses me. I don't know if it's the tune or the sequencing that turns me off.

Big Nick
Better, but kinda light?

Stevie
Fine.

My Little Brown Book
Back to that really great feeling of In A Sentimental Mood. I guess I love the sad blues tracks so much, I have a harder time getting into the other stuff.

Angelica
Fine.

The Feeling of Jazz
A nice enough way to close out the album.

Overall, listening to this album again for the first time in a long while, I was honestly surprised to find myself a bit bored by it (in my memory I rated it higher - first heard it about twenty years ago). The only tracks I really loved were In A Sentimental Mood and to a slightly lesser extent My Little Brown Book. For the most part, I don't feel like the pairing of Coltrane and Ellington yields anything especially interesting or valuable, though I do feel like it's a pretty solid album overall. Solid could be part of the problem, as it doesn't reach the heights of the best Coltrane and for the most part, Ellington just seems to be there, could be anybody - not a lot of feeling that I was noticing, really.

Re: BOTC

In general my first reaction to the angularity of bebop themes is "lol that was a LOT of marijuana." Mellowing the themes out with buttery nonet arrangements was a smart move. I feel that among the arrangers, Evans and Mulligan definitely took more advantage of the expanded palette than John Lewis -- on "Budo," Lewis kind of threw a blanket over the french horns and tuba, or told them to go to the bar for an hour or something.

One thing I noticed was that after a couple of Miles' skittering, skirling solos, he didn't have any business calling Ornette Coleman out for weirdness ten years later, unless that was all about the writing and the concept of harmolodics, not the weirdness of the soloing.

A couple of lines in my notes: "Lewis' solo on 'Boplicity' - weird, tentative."
"Gil Evans REALLY knew what to do with a tuba player. esp on 'Moon Dreams.'"

BOTC really is the start of Miles Davis' stardom.

There's an excellent and detailed track-by-track run down here: http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-the-birth-of-the-cool

messed up the image link somehow, let's try again

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3602/218/1600/alke_front.jpg

Recorded August 29, 1971 at The East, New York. According to Jim Flannery of the Kozmigroove Mailing List, it's "Pretty damn wild...AACM goes to Africa... but I guess I'd have to add 'Pharoahs go to Saturn' to get the picture complete. Starts out with a four-minute speech describing the role of 'these jams' in the service of Black Nationalism... and then backs it up. Cover is black with white line-drawing of a sorta Egyptian-meets-subSaharan figure (Pharoanic beard, pyramids for eyes, goat amulet), back side has an eye-in-pyramid drawing with photo of Mtume leaning against it." Having finally heard this record finally, I love it. While it's certainly dated, it's a fascinating glimpse of the marriage of early 1970s Afro-centric music, politics and spirituality, plus it really grooves. To me reminiscent of Bartz' Ntu Group work, it's more energetic and colorful than those records. A treasure: Strata-East was an extraordinary label.

-Ian Scott Horst: Jazz Supreme

looks like img tags ain't working for me

Awfully quiet here of late. My turn?

Let's go with the record I am listening to for the first time, right now:
Pharoah Sanders Tauhid(1966)
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c486/c486189tn40.jpg

Tauhid marks the 1966 Impulse debut of tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, who had already gained fame as a flame-throwing saxophonist of the "new thing" playing with John Coltrane. However, Sanders' tenor appearance doesn't saturate the atmosphere on this session; far from it. Sanders is content to patiently let the moods of these three pieces develop, whether it be through the percussion of Roger Blank and Nat Bettis, guitarist Sonny Sharrock, or his own piccolo. For those looking for Sanders' patented screeching tenor throughout, Tauhid will disappoint.

I see Pharoah is getting some play on another thread at the moment. I am loving Karma, Jewels of Thought and Thembi. Excited to let this one weave its hypnotic spell.

Did I mention I am seeing the man play the first weekend in May? Beyond excited.

nice, I've latched onto this record and Karma pretty heavily. also be sure to check out Black Unity (the other i've heard; it's also fantastic)

Black Unity is on its way to me as we speak! Also picked up a nice vinyl copy of Live At The East. Not sure if this one ever made it to cd or not?

get elevation too guys...amazing record.

just properly reading back over this thread, the mtume sounds well up my street. checking it out now.