Two Legends take stage in Turkish Capital hurriyet.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Jazz Factory kicks off dailystaregypt.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Festival Now Accepting Applications californiachronicle.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The 72-year-old American still keeps a close eye on Japan's military maneuverings. Now, though, he's a historian, scouring the 20th-century political landscape for hints about Japan's often inscrutable underlying goals and motivations.
 by Cynthia |
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 by Capt Neptune |
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 by Peter Lake |
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November 10, 2008
He wasn’t the easiest guy to like. He’d turn his back on the audience. Didn’t bother communicating. Or consider smiling part of his job.
He did all his talking through his horn. That was enough.
In the years when black musicians wouldn't play with "whitey," he didn’t care who he played with. He once said he'd give a guy with green skin a chance as long as they could play sax as well as Lee Konitz, who not only was white, but Jewish.
The album,“Birth of the Cool” was my intro into his world. You remember vinyl.
The group featured Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, and Max Roach, among others. It merely revolutionized jazz. The west coast borrowed it and made it their style.
As soon as they did, he was into something else. His original quintet featured John Coltrane, Red Garland, "Philly Joe" Jones, and Paul Chambers. He later added Cannonball Adderly and replaced Jones and Garland with Jimmy Cobb and Bill Evans.
Listen to "My Funny Valentine" and "Round Midnight." A whisper is always more powerful than a shout. As Miles said, “Don't play what's there, play what's not there.”
A French Jazz Magazine wrote in 1960, “The behavior of Miles Davis is not that of an ordinary star. It is that of a man who has decided to live without hypocrisy.”
Miles and Gil Evans collaborated on "Miles Ahead" backed by an orchestra. I played “My Ship” so often, it was berthing outside my front door.
Other jazz artists had given classical music a new twist. Nobody did it like Miles. In "Sketches of Spain," his tone is so beautiful and clear, one critic said that, “It almost sounds like his trumpet is singing.”
And then one day he stopped playing the music I loved. Just like that. Without even bothering to consult me.
Someone asked him, “Why he didn’t play ballads anymore.”
He said, “Because I love them too much.”
That was Miles.
I’d like to say I followed him on his journey; that I appreciated his new sound, but I can’t. I still had Monk, Bird, Diz, Evans, Trane, MJQ, Art Blakey. And the old Miles.
Miles, you see, hadn’t bother to consider anyone’s feelings but his own. He began to perform with an electronic band: electric guitar, electric bass, bands of electronic keyboards, and even, perish the thought, an electric trumpet.
In "Bitches Brew," recorded in 1969, he brought jazz together with fusion. The album sold over 400,000 copies, making it only the best selling jazz album of all time.
Some jazz critics were aghast, but the Grateful Dead listened. So did Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago. And so, eventually...did I.
“Do not fear mistakes.” he said, “There are none.”
In 1991, just weeks before he died, he played My Ship for the first time in 30 years at Montreux. He didn't have much left but he put everything he had into it. It was enough.
In March 13, 2006, Miles Davis was one of the first non-rock performers inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In Davis’ own words. “It's always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it.”
It's my pleasure to share some of those gifts with you.
Share the Eye:
Louis Armstrong armstronghouse.org Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Charlie Parker cmgworldwide.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Roots of Jazz allaboutjazz.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Hello to all:
I have no opinion about what went before.
I do wish to share some names with ...
Nov. 11, 2008 12:03 AM
Favorite jazz artist?
7% 4% 22% 15% 7% 15% 30%
Why isn't Thelonius on the poll list? My daughter and I listen to Round Midnight with great enthusiasm. Once in great a while, when deciding what music to play, she'll bypass her toddler tunes and say "Let's play some jazz!" Thelonius is always the first CD out of the box.
Dutchman said...
Thanks JP for this post. It's just amazing to her Miles live. Must be some beautiful people on Utube. I love what Chet Baker does with my Funny Valentine. But Miles takes it into another galaxy.
Greetings Thelonius Monk, another talent from North Carolina. My favorite Jazz artist is Paco de Lucia, a Spanish composer and flamenco guitarist.
Hello all! Am safe at home now, returing from a sailing trip in the Northern West Indies with my lovely wife and the two boys. The best part was seeing the since of wonder and reactions to the sights, people, food and kindness from the eyes of my boys (age 8/11). The weather was perfect and the boat behaved nicely. The kids picked and ate coconuts, bananas, caught lobsters, chased goats and snorkled with the Fishes. Logged about 200 miles. For school activities we read Treasure Island, wrote current events from local news stories (mostly told to us by locals), learned how to calculate time/distance/speed and chart a course with parallel rules and dividers. Lots and lots of star gazing and awarness of high and low presure systems and their effect on wind speed and direction.
I used to make this trip quite regularly before the years BC (before children). Now they are at the perfect age for such a trip and the since of wonder is truly a joy to witness. I am sure we will return this spring or fall at the latest. I am truly blessed as I am able to spend constant time with them both when they are not in school.
By the way, I missed ya'll.
Hey Captain! Welcome back! What a great story. I must make a note to do that sort of thing when Viv is older. And I love that you guys read Treasure Island when you were at sea. Did you read it aloud to each other?
Capt Neptune
Welcome home matey. Sounds like you had the perfect crew and they had a great Captain. We missed ya too. . . . that'd be me and me parrot dontcha know.
Dutchman said...
Welcome back aboard, Neptune. You've been missed too. It all sounds quite idyllic. And the country elected a president without you, even carrying your home state.
My Pirate Friend: I took Treasure Island, Classic Starts. It is an abridged version. Patterson, my oldest, read by himself and I would read to the family at night. I got to add inflections to make it more dramatic. My wife thought it was hilarious. We visited Norman Island in the BVI. The story goes, this is where RL Stevenson got his inspiration to write the story. On the Island there is a popular snorkling spot called The Caves. You can dingy in and swim into these caves until it's completly dark and very cold. Very spooky. My youngest is sure that this is where the treasure is. He says all we need is more flashlights or torches. When we left the caves, there was a sea Turtle ((3'X5')) that we followed back to the boat. They kept talking about Pirates of the Caribbean. It was very funny.
I know, I know....it's sense, not since. It's late.
Welcome back, Cap! Sounds like a great trip and a lucky family. Nothing better for kids than travel.
Oh, the jazz? Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Basie and Ellington. I'm soooo old-fashioned, I know...okay, Trane and Bird and Dexter Gordon float my boat too, and the Sonnys, Stitt and Rollins. Bill Evans and Thelonius and Mingus. Miles had his moments, difficult man that he was. Right now I'm listening to Astral Project. There's more, but it's late.
Welcome home Neptune,
WRITE IN MARIAN McPARTLAND.
Gia said...
And don't forget Stan Getz and Ben Webster. Jobim. So many. Thanks for the Monday concert, JP.
Top of the morning to ya all:
My votes are for Boney James and Wayman Tisdale. Very talented men. Fine listening!!
Wow Captain Neptune! You sure do make my boring life seem even more boring. Thanks. So I will just live vicariously through your adventures. Hope you don't mind me tagging along. I would love to be able to do something just like that with my 3 grandsons. But... not possible. I am grateful for the time I get to spend watching them play sports and since the holiday season is upon us we will be making a few trips to Louisville and Cincinatti to attend several plays, museums, and concerts. Am looking forward to them.
Catch ya later Mateys!
Dutchman said...
I remember hearing Miles in an interview a long time ago, but it stuck with me. He didn't go for any labels on his music. Not even jazz. He said it was all social music. I didn't like the new direction of his music was taking him either. i think he just didn't want to get left behind. Chet Baker still holds up for me. Disturbed soul that he was. i even like his singing.
Music comes from the soul and speaks to your heart. Capable of twisting moods, it has direct access to our inner emotions; its essence knows no color or race. Music is constantly changing and evolving. It's not content with staying the same any more than musicians are or, for that matter, any more than we are.
How impossible is it to pick one favorite song or artist? So much depends upon the mood of the moment, what you want the music to do for you, and who possesses the ability to give you what you need. Whether it is to distract, uplift, entertain, provide solace, or what have you, there is a musician that can provide you with your heart's desire. Such is the real beauty of music.
Personally, I enjoyed Miles Davis more during his earlier years, rather than his latter. I didn't really care for Bitches Brew. The two of us seemed to evolve differently. My beloved vinyl album of Birth of the Cool still has the sticker price on it of $2.75, but it is getting more difficult to find needles for the phonograph. I'm of the in-between generation that knows how to place a coin on a tonearm to prevent skipping and also knows how to download mp3 music files from the Internet (legally, of course)! Many classic recordings have been remastered and are available today, but alas not all. For example, I can't find Stanley Turrentine's album Have You Ever Seen the Rain on a CD.
In addition to some of the other musicians mentioned, I would like to add: Herbie Hancock and Wynton Kelly on piano, Stanley Turrentine and Billy Mitchell on tenor sax, Wes Montgomery on guitar, Freddie Hubbard on cornet, Al Grey on trombone, and Clark Terry on trumpet - or flugelhorn, as with Thelonious Monk In Orbit. There are so many, many others. I'd like to thank all of them for following their hearts, no matter the obstacles, to allow us to hear the music flowing from their souls.
Capt Neptune,
Welcome back from your adventure. I think it's wonderful that you took advantage of the opportunity to explore some of our fascinating world and go on this quest with your family.
I love Miles Davis' album "Kind of Blue", its perfect for a rainy autumn day...like today. Tonight I may have to commandeer my dad's portable record player and some of his old jazz/blues albums. Now if I could only get a fireplace built in my living room I'd be all set.
WB Neptune, glad you had a safe trip.
Gia said...
I just clicked on My Ship. Wow. It's goose bump time when Miles Davis comes on. He looked completely gone, but what came out of that horn was beautiful.
I didn't see any news reports of major riots in Chicago...I guess that means that Missive and her motley crew were semi-well behaved on their adventure.
Missive, you can't drop something like stealing a guy's rototiller on your blog and not fill us in on the WHOLE trip. Spill it sister.
...Jimmy Cobb and Jack DeJohnette on drums, Ron Carter on bass...one could be at this all day. I'd better stop now, surreptitiously put in my ear buds, and lose myself in some infinitely pleasing harmonical tones.
A jazz musician is a juggler who uses harmonies instead of oranges. ~Benny Green
I've always felt like an oddball when it comes to music. I don't really bother to find out who or what I'm listening to (unless it is some of my favorites), I just know if I like or don't like something. I take it on a song by song basis, and that seems to annoy some people. They'll be talking about how a particular part of one particular song really resonates with the socio-political movement of Outer Mongolia, via the use of Scandanavian herring-flutes, and all I can say is that I like it. I don't really bother to question why I like something.
Coyotemike,
Can't say I see anything wrong with listening to what you like, when you like, without all the psychoanalysis.
Coyotemike,
I'm pretty much the same way with music as I am with all the various art forms. It's how I am with food and probably clothing too. "I yam what I yam" and I likes what I likes. If I hear something that I like, I'll turn it up and listen more intently. If I don't like it, I'll turn down the volume.
If I like it a lot, I'll probably buy it and end up listening to it a lot; at least for a while. When it comes to music, it often depends on what kind of mood I'm in when I hear it, or, how receptive I am to changing my mood because of it. Some music helps me focus. Some music lets me forget and just woolgather.
It's really nice now that we are able to buy a particular song now instead of the whole album.
I'm pretty sure that deep down inside, most folks are like that. . . . or at least a few others for sure . . I hope
Olivia ~ I'm with you on Ellington, Thats one of my G-ma's CD that I grabbed out of the GW pile when we cleaned out her house. I can put that CD in & relax.... I do like Miles & Holiday's singing, & Armstrong. It's not a Genre I know a lot about we don't seem to have a local station that fits that particular format, which is too bad...
Nachista ~ I could spill but it would be under penalty of death, so My lips are Sealed.......
Rings now I'm curious...SPILL!!! I'll send SB and his fire team to protect you from Missive, I promise ;)
JillyBean said...
This posts reminds me how much I love jazz! It's been too long since I've listened to those moody, soulful sounds while preparing dinner and sipping a glass of red.
Yeah, I'm gonna do that tonight.
JillyBean said...
...and that Bitches Brew video is really trippy, in a really good way...
Guess I'm around too many music snobs :P
Coyotemike you can sit with me...I even have an ashlee simpson song on my ipod, I don't know any snobs with Ashlee Simpson on their playlist, well snobs over that age of 16 that is.
Its cool to like what you like and not have to apologize or be an expert about it. Life is too complicated as it is, don't worry about what anyone else thinks. If they criticize your music choice or lack of "speak" on the subject...they have WAY too much time on their hands.
I grew up in a house where Miller, Goodman, Basie, Ellington, Armstrong, Fitzgerald, and Holiday were played...that is when my dad wasn't playing opera records or dixieland records, or showtunes, etc. Dad was a drummer in local pick-up bands in the late 30s before the war and during the war when he was stationed in Oklahoma, he and a friend got a chance to play a show with Tex Beneke. I don't know much about Jazz but I play what I like and that suits me just fine.
Coyotemike,
There's music in the sighing of a reed;
There's music in the gushing of a rill;
There's music in all things, if men had ears:
Their earth is but an echo of the spheres.
~Lord Byron
Taste in anything and everything is very personal, music being no exception; no right or wrong, good or bad. We each partake in whatever gives us pleasure and no one person’s likes or dislikes are better or worse than anyone else’s.
You enjoy your music; I enjoy mine - live and let live!
Think how dull life would be if we were all the same!
That's it, Kindlee, you just became my new love interest. I've already asked both Missive and Olivia to run away with me (I'll let them discuss their answers) but you just took the cake. Anyone who quotes Lord Byron on an internet chat is a darling of mine.
I used to work as a reservationist at the Iridium Jazz Club back when it was across the street from Lincoln Center (it's since relocated to the heart of the Broadway Theatre District). With its 600 variety wine list and its regular roster of major stars of jazz, I learned more about both of those pleasures while on that job than I ever have before or since.
At the Iridium, Les Paul (now 92 years old) plays his guitar every Monday night. When I was working there, I met DeeDee Bridgewater and Joe Henderson. It was there that I learned about Wynton Marsalis, the only jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize in music and now the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. And it was there that I encountered the Jazz Messengers. The late great Art Blakey founded the quintet that since advanced the careers of Benny Golson and especially Terence Blanchard.
Terence Blanchard (now, most famous for writing the scores to most of Spike Lee's movies) was playing at the Iridium one night when I was working there. I had finished my day shift of working the phones and was having dinner in the empty club as it was being prepared for opening. Blanchard walked in with a lady (I assume his wife but I admit I don't know), acknowledged me with a quick nod, and sat down at the piano. Now, anyone up on these matters knows Blanchard is famous as a trumpeter. But he fixed his eyes on that lady and started to play some of the most romantic, beautiful, sexy chords I've ever heard in my life. When he finished, I was too stunned to applaud and so was she. To this day, I've never heard him play the trumpet live. But I'm one of two people who got to hear him play the piano that evening and I'll never forget it.
DPR, Perhaps you mean
a secret chord that David used to praise the Lord...
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Sorry, I just had to bring in Leonard Cohen and his amazing Hallelujah.
I'm listening to Loreena McKennit at the moment. The Highwayman. Most of the songs on this album, she performed at the Istanbul Jazz Festival, by invitation. Imagine that...
Here's another dude that knew a bit about jammin...
Olivia,
I love McKinnett's rendition of The Highwayman but I still prefer it in its original spoken form. It's musical enough already, so to speak. If you get the chance, look up more of Alfred Noyes' works. Nothing else he wrote ever achieved The Highwayman's fame but he did a lot of quality verses, some of which was quite philosophical and glorious.
belleball said...
Well of course I could listen to Ella all day - her pitch, elegance, scatting, creativity, every nuance covered - and Joe Williams always makes me rermember my wonderful David (who could almost but not quite sing like Billy Eckstein - about like Billy could almost but not quite play golf like Davie. And Ella's former/late husband Ray Brown whose bass is the stuff of which dreams are made. When Ray convinced Gene Harris to come out of Boise ID where he had long held sway at the hotel, they formed a quartet that kept me entertained on many a cross-country trip to Washington DC where I worked one week of each month. My reward was to go to Sam Goody's at Pentagon City and pick out the latest Gene Harris album and those are truly treasures.
Gene Harris did for the piano's left hand what Oscar Peterson did for the treble notes Just before he died in 2000, Gene, who had excelled in jazz and blues since the 1950s began his gospel years with his daughter Nikki (former backup singer for Madonna) and the few albums they made here in the late 1990s are a tribute to where he could take those next steps. Jack McDuff joined them - and always Luther Hughes on bass, Ron Eschete on Guitar and the incredible Paul Humphries on drums. Paul was a long-time drummer for Lawrence Welk until Welk died, and then he joined Gene. I still hear him on other CDs these days as we have a 24 hour Jazz radio station - KMHD - located at Mt. Hood Community College, just outside Portland. Live streams as well. KMHD.FM - listener supported and has been for the past 25 years.
Live Jazz in Portland is wonderful - and after Katrina, several NOLA denizens moved here to stay. We were also lucky to have LeRoy Vinegar in his retirement - Walk that Bass - we are so spoiled! We have Jazz services at Augustana Lutheran Church every Sunday evening thanks to Ron Steen and Marilyn Keller also - just before Ron's weekly gig at Clyde's Prime Rib on NE Sandy Blvd. The biggest paradox is that Clyde's (and Clyde is Black) was once known as the infamous "Coon Chicken Inn" in the 1950s and we did not go there then!
DPR and Olivia,
You may want to check out "on the road to Fairfax County" sung on youtube by the Roches, but written by my almost kinsman David Massengill.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yK8UK-v3bc
Sorry, I can't even light up a link these days, just google
Roches You tube Road to Fairfax County
worse still, lit up, but wrong just the same. Sorry. Do check it out though, svp.
Joan Baez said it was a traditional folk song- it is long and somebody dies
wt
DPR,
"Thou art not false, but thou art fickle"
Talk about fickle! I see Thelonius was added to the poll list after my first post!
The only pure "jazz" album I ever purchased was The Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Time Out" This album featured their classic number "Take Five". It was Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond playing sax, and the immortal Joe Morello on drums.
This was one of the albums I played over and over again when I was in school. I remember that after one of Morello's very innovative and intricate drum solos that you could hear his breathless laughter in the background.
Ohhh Pam-you made me LOL!!
jcgreg said...
Hello to all:
I have no opinion about what went before.
I do wish to share some names with new jazz listeners, if they are interested in hearing what to me are some of the best jazz players who ever drew breath.
I am lucky enough to have been raised during the Swing era. I've been enjoying jazz in many of its various forms since then. I listen mainly to jazz from the late 'twenties to the mid-'sixties, omitting "free"-jazz and the hybrid jazz-rock forms since, but following the careers of my favorite musicians. Most of them are now gone. I thank my lucky stars that they can still be with us in recordings.
My favorite jazz musician?--thanks for asking--it is:
--Lester Young: Swing tenor saxophone player.
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Some of the jazz musicians whose work I particularly enjoy:
--Bix Beiderbecke: cornet
--Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Chet Baker: trumpet
--Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey, Bill Harris, JJ Johnson, Bob Brookmeyer: trombone
-- Benny Goodman, Pee Wee Russell, Artie Shaw: clarinet
--Steve Lacy, Zoot Sims: soprano saxophone
--Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Lee Konitz, Paul Desmond, Phil Woods: alto saxophone
--Frank Trumbauer, C-melody saxophone
--Lester Young, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane: tenor saxophone
--Harry Carney, Leo Parker, Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams, Lars Gullin, Claire Daly: baritone saxophone
--Adrian Rollini, bass saxophone
--James P Johnson, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, George Shearing, Eddie Costa: piano
--Eddie Lang, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney, Tal Farlow: guitar
--Red Norvo, Terry Gibbs, Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader: vibraphone
--Walter Page, Jimmy Blanton, Ray Brown, Bill Crow, Wilbur Ware, Percy Heath, Red Mitchell: bass
--Jo Jones, Gene Krupa, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones: drums
--Bill Challis, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Neal Hefti, Ralph Burns, Gil Evans: arranger &/or composer
--Mildred Bailey, Billie Holiday, Jo Stafford, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Chris Connor: singer
--(Early) Bing Crosby, (early) Frank Sinatra, (early) Nat Cole, Billy Eckstine: singer
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--Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman: leader
Now you know answers to questions you never asked.
Best wishes,
more on the honor rollJC Greg
-------------------------------------------------------
Olivia,
My intent was to illicit laughter and I'm glad to read it worked, with you at least. Whew! Sometimes, after I've hit the enter key, I suddenly realize that my words might insult rather than convey the intended humor or compliment. I forget that no one can see the twinkle in my eyes. Cyberspace can be an uncertain place without benefit of facial expressions or vocal inflections. I would be mortified if I hurt someone's feelings.
Pam
jcgreg,
Welcome! What a great collection of musicians you named. Thank you. Best wishes to you, also.