Peter Nolan's rather dismissive attitude to jazz music, as evinced by his comment to the post below, has spurred me to compile a list of jazz tracks that I hope would be sufficient to demonstrate that "jazz" and "self-indulgent noodling" are not coterminous. This is just a semi-random collection, in no particular order, of records I like (which leans towards jazz-dance and jazz-funk) and isn't intended to be in any way definitive.
Miles, Miles Davis, The Columbia Years 1955-1985Selim, Johnny Lyttle (different take on above), The Best of Bgp
Gibraltar, Freddie Hubbard, Anthology
See You Later, Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton, Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton
Curtain Call, Cal Tjader, Last Bolero in Berkeley
Soul Sauce, Cal Tjader, Soul Sauce
Tombu in 7/4, Airto Moreira, Fingers
You Gotta Have Freedom, Pharaoh Sanders, Journey to the One
Theme De Yo Yo, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Les Stances a Sophie
Mother of the Future, Norman Connors, The Best of Norman Connors
Blues for Brother George Jackson, Archie Shepp, Attica Blues
Space Lady, Lonnie Liston Smith, Renaissance
Sunbeams, Lonnie Liston Smith, Reflections of a Golden Dream
The Creator Has a Masterplan, Leon Thomas & Louis Armstrong, Flying Dutchman Anthology
The Third Eye, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Frank, excellent choices all. I recently bought a "Best of Miles Davis" double CD and have been driving my missus nuts ever since.
From the Samizdata posse,
JP
Posted by: Johnathan Pearce | January 14, 2005 at 12:50 PM
You've missed Wes Montgomery - one of the finest proponents of jazz guitar ever. A fantastically talented natural musician. You might have added Django Reinhardt as well.
Posted by: Michael Turley | January 14, 2005 at 03:21 PM
..or Gabor Szabo while we're talking about jazz guitar.
No, I left out way more than just those guys, off the top of my head I can see several more grevious omissions: No Mizzell brothers productions, no (solo) female artists (Vicky Hamilton is part of a duet), no Bossa Nova, no John Coltrane...
But, I did say it wasn't definitive, just a small sampling of tracks which sprung to mind.
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 14, 2005 at 05:05 PM
I should clarify that Curtain Call, You Gotta Have Freedom, Theme de Yo Yo and Mother of the Future all feature female vocals. In referring to the omission of female artists, I had in mind great solo jazz singers such as Lorez Alexandria or Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 14, 2005 at 05:12 PM
Jazz? Niiiiiiiiice!!! Grrrrrrrrrrreat!!!!!!
Sorry, I just needed to get that out of my system. Any slap bass on those tracks?
Posted by: J.Cassian | January 14, 2005 at 05:49 PM
I think I'm correct in stating that Mark-King-from-Level42-style slap bass is absent from all tracks!
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 14, 2005 at 05:55 PM
Grrrrroooovvvvyyyy!
I suspect that jazz is for those who possess a more mellow or less uptight temprament than I do, which would explain why I prefer metal or electronic music or some of the classical composers like Strauss, Wagner or Bach. Maybe, in the words of the old quip about the Germans, I don't like music, I just love the noise it makes.
Posted by: Peter Nolan | January 14, 2005 at 08:22 PM
I suspect that your suspicion is wrong!
Seriously, what I'm trying to demonstrate is that jazz isn't just "smooth jazz". Listen to a few of the tracks, you mightn't like any, but jazz isn't just for "mellow" people. Jazz-dance, in particular, can be frantic: Theme de Yo Yo for example.
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 14, 2005 at 08:50 PM
Is this just some desperate effort to sell CDs so you can buy the new Harry Potter book on Amazon?
Posted by: Peter Nolan | January 14, 2005 at 11:38 PM
know little about it other than Grappelli (and F Zappa who remarked that "jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny"); but seems to me there are two broad types:
wank-jazz: posers doing the jazz equivalent of half-hour guitar solos
jazz with soul: jazz often pilloried as lacking soul, but some of it is in fact the kind of great music that follows traumatic events, instead of being a live commentary on them. so you get this ironic, reflective, knowing quality mixed in, which is every bit as intense as anything that you'll find in the classical idion, just without the latter's occasional bombast
Posted by: Seán Mac Cann | January 15, 2005 at 12:00 PM
You forgot squonk-jazz, to wit, the sound of a bag of trombones being thrown down the stairs. 'New Forms' by Arif Mardin being a key example of this.
Posted by: Neil | January 17, 2005 at 04:58 PM
I suppose that definition might cover Dick Hyman's bonkers cover version of James Brown's "Give It Up, Turn It Loose"...
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 17, 2005 at 05:07 PM
Neil, I tried to email you but your mailbox is full..
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 17, 2005 at 05:45 PM
Sorry, Frank, the O2 email is used for registration purposes only. The only 'working' email address I have just now is my work one. Is there any way of passing this along to you discreetly?
Posted by: Neil | January 18, 2005 at 01:58 PM
You could try emailing me at [email protected]...
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 18, 2005 at 04:58 PM
Will do, daddy-o, out of sight etc.
Fans and foes of fusion - and lo, they are numerous - should check out the strange BBC3 comedy show 'The Mighty Boosh'. Slap bass, body popping and fear of jazz play a central role.
Posted by: Neil | January 18, 2005 at 07:04 PM
That's where I got the slap bass reference (I prefer Gary Numan myself...)
Posted by: J.Cassian | January 18, 2005 at 11:37 PM
For a bit more of a contemporary East Coast edge to your jazz, Guru, formerly of Gang Starr, rocks left and right...
For some old skool pee-an-o, Keith Jarrett is yer only man.
Posted by: paul | January 19, 2005 at 02:26 PM
Worry not, Paolo, I've been all over the GURU for years...Jazzmatazz 2: A New Reality is probably a career high for him, but all those, ah, 'joints' are good.
Posted by: Neil | January 19, 2005 at 03:05 PM
Frank, what about some male vocalists like Kurt Elling.
Posted by: tinwhisle | January 20, 2005 at 09:49 AM
Again, it's not meant to be definitive just a few pieces, but you're right, I do have Leon Thomas there but not many great male solo vocalists, there's no Jon Lucien or Andy Bey. As it happens I'm not familiar with Kurt Elling
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 20, 2005 at 11:41 AM
You are right about there not being many male solo vocalists. Kevin Mahogany and Mark Murphy are also worth a mention.
I like the jazz connection here!!
Posted by: tinwhistle | January 20, 2005 at 12:17 PM
You should be able to listen to Kurt Elling here: Live concert at the Kennedy Center
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=ELLINGKURT
Posted by: tinwhistle | January 20, 2005 at 12:24 PM
Mark Murphy is what is known in borstal parlance as 'the daddy'...because of the length and varied nature of his career, it's all but impossible to acquire a definitive collection but 'Who Can I Turn To?' is a great album of pop standards that he recorded for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label in the mid-1960s.
Posted by: Neil | January 20, 2005 at 01:21 PM
Neil I agree Mark Murphy is certainly in good form there on 'Who Can I Turn To?' but the songs are a bit too tacky for me.
My two favourites are:
Mark Murphy Sings (1975)
Bop for Kerouac (1981)
Posted by: tinwhistle | January 20, 2005 at 11:09 PM