Jazz/subgenres

[Namahs]

While listening to Junkyard Shaman earlier today and now The Bew Boyfriends I thought to open up a Jazz topic.

Love the dark jazz albums Junkyard Shaman has made and dig dark jazz/jazz noir quite a lot. Headphones on and off for a evening walk.

Of course the "usuals" : Coltrane, Davis, Hancock, Monk etc work well also.

Whats on your jazz plate?

[killhippies]

Huge fan of jazz, especially Art Blakey and Sonny Rollins. Lately I’ve been playing Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah’s Axiom a lot. Really killer stuff

[Chris]

I saw Joe McPhee at an outdoor gig at Rhizome DC in November. He was in fine form with Michael Bisio and Joe Giardullo playing in the trio. McPhee remains an absolutely explosive improviser, and he's only gotten more creative as the years have gone by.

You're missing out if you haven't heard Nation Time.

https://joemcphee.bandcamp.com/album/nation-time-2

[MND]

Love Jazz, mainly the japanease fusion and jazz-funk, things like Masayoshi Takanaka, Takeshi Inomata, Hozan Yamamoto and Akira Ishikawa, I'm not really knowlagble when it comes to Jazz, everything I know such as artists, I know them through various youtube mixes and then look for them on discogs or google.

Also love this kind of Jazz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sI_Ps7JSEk

[Scream & Writhe]

I saw Joe McPhee at an outdoor gig at Rhizome DC in November. He was in fine form with Michael Bisio and Joe Giardullo playing in the trio. McPhee remains an absolutely explosive improviser, and he's only gotten more creative as the years have gone by.

You're missing out if you haven't heard Nation Time.

https://joemcphee.bandcamp.com/album/nation-time-2

I’d love to see Joe McPhee one day, but I know that clock is ticking and the pandemic isn’t helping the matter. Spent a lot of time with his record with the Bill Smith Ensemble, Visitation, last year. His collabs with Lasse Marhaug in recent years have also been excellent.

Lots of Miles Davis gets played around here, particularly that early fusion era. I put In a Silent Way on when I did some mushrooms last year and it was one of the greatest musical moments of my life. Sounds dumb but it made me realize how perfect the musicianship on that record is.

Carlos, you might like Miles Davis’ soundtrack to the film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows).

[Mogao]

Lots of Miles Davis gets played around here, particularly that early fusion era. I put In a Silent Way on when I did some mushrooms last year and it was one of the greatest musical moments of my life. Sounds dumb but it made me realize how perfect the musicianship on that record is.

Best cut-up jazz album ever for sure!

Get up with it has been my most listened Miles Davis album during last years. He loved him madly is the og ambient jazz track. Big fun is also great psychedelia.

[adult human]

Love Jazz, mainly the japanease fusion and jazz-funk, things like Masayoshi Takanaka, Takeshi Inomata, Hozan Yamamoto and Akira Ishikawa, I'm not really knowlagble when it comes to Jazz, everything I know such as artists, I know them through various youtube mixes and then look for them on discogs or google.

The inexplicable algorithmically driven ubiquity of utterly incredible Japanese music on YouTube is surely one of the best things that has ever happened because of that website. Got me turned onto this by the same means https://youtu.be/Um20ePyQGvI

Only just this morning I discovered Arthur Rhames. Fuck John McLaughlin forever after hearing this https://youtu.be/aIbxCW4DsnI

[holy ghost]

I’m really into the wild and free stuff - Albert Ayler, later era Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, and that kind of thing. I also love Miles era fusion, Bitches Brew, Big Fun, On the Corner, etc.

In particular I absolutely adore the later era Coltrane and the Alice l records she made after he died. The live documents like Live in Japan, Live in Seattle, Village Vanguard II - all incredible. I’ve really been getting into his “sheets of sound” era - took me forever to get Giant Steps but I’m really down. Olé is just a scorcher and I’ve really been playing that a lot lately. I love when they get nuts but I really find a lot of value in the classic quartet records. Basically I could talk about John Coltrane all day.

I have a real thing for when it got a little funkier too - Herbie Hancock Headhunters electric stuff, Tony Williams, Joe Henderson….

I have never embraced the hard bop/safer Blue Note era the way I would have liked. I keep thinking I should be buying “the classics” whenever they’re in print but I just don’t have the interest. Huge players but I just cant get into that stuff like I can when Coltrane and Pharoah are blasting away.

I’m really excited by the crossover of jazz and noisecore - the Prismatic Parameter 2CD from Sissy Spacek plus other “big band” records like Duration Groups were just absolutely wild.

The “Jazz Hijokaidan” series is just top notch. The live album is so fantastic and I’m awaiting the Made in Studio one as well - currently on a boat from Hong Kong but I’ve heard it and wow this shit rips.

[adult human]

the classic quartet records.

I don't think it's hyperbole to say they could well be THE greatest collection of musicians ever. I mean it. That footage of them playing in Stockholm so hard that steam is coming off them. What more do you need to say? Damn near changed my life the first time I saw it, only knowing bits and pieces of Blue Train before that.

Obviously it's a later thing but I got into the 'Live At the Vanguard Again!' album a year or two back. Really something. The way that version of Naima presents such a transformed, intense version of an earlier classic comes across as extremely meaningful.

[holy ghost]

What did it for me was the track India on Impressions - another cut from the Live at the Village Vanguard. And of course featuring Eric Dolphy! That song is so hypnotic. Those sessions are so perfect, I really want to buy the complete 5 disc set and immerse myself further.

[Scream & Writhe]

I have never embraced the hard bop/safer Blue Note era the way I would have liked. I keep thinking I should be buying “the classics” whenever they’re in print but I just don’t have the interest. Huge players but I just cant get into that stuff like I can when Coltrane and Pharoah are blasting away.

Kind of the same here. There are some that I dig a lot, like Art Blakey's Moanin' and of course Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, but it's rarely what I pull off the shelves or seek out.

[adult human]

I hear that with Blue Note. I've always been a big fan of the sound and have a lot time for way more polite, straight up Jazz as well as freer stuff so I dunno, maybe I'm biased but I do think there is all kinds of stuff there worthy of investigation. It may not be home to the kind of ecstatic blasting many prefer but no doubt there is some very brooding, deep material to be found within the catalogue which more often I favour over all out wailing. Sometimes it's only a couple of tracks on each but for me they hit hard.

I have very little sense of how to correctly apply or identify different eras in Jazz styles or forms so any recommendations I have are based only on having been released on the label.

Even so, I have gotten a lot out of these:

McCoy Tyner - Real McCoy
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch*
Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land
Joe Henderson - Mode for Joe
Freddie Hubbard - Blue Spirits

* a cool story about getting this one. A few years ago I was out on the way for a pint with a friend and he suggested nipping into a nearby charity shop on the way which I wouldn't normally bother with. A dog rescue place. Fine enough, but not really ever gotten much from that branch. Anyway, ee went in for the records as you do and amidst all the usual pish was about 7 or 8 Blue Note titles. All very recent reissues of course but in perfect, almost certainly unplayed condition and - most importantly - priced at only £1 each. I feverishly gathered as much as I could but was beaten to the punch on a copy of Moanin' and a couple of Miles lps but some absolute old bastard who did nothing but loudly complain about how he hated modern day presses and was unlikely to even bother listening to them. I have never gotten over this really, despite that haul being among my top charity bargains ever. Anyway, Dolphy was in there and I'd never heard it before despite how landmark a record it is. I was pretty surprised at how out and abstract it was for a Blue Note title.

[Chris]

Only just this morning I discovered Arthur Rhames. Fuck John McLaughlin forever after hearing this

Brilliant stuff. I'm so pleased to hear that folks are listening to Rhames. I first heard his work as part of The Dynamic Duo with Rashied Ali, then later found out about his guitar work. He passed away far too young, and I suspect he'd be a much bigger name if he'd had more years to continue playing.

[adult human]

Only just this morning I discovered Arthur Rhames. Fuck John McLaughlin forever after hearing this

Brilliant stuff. I'm so pleased to hear that folks are listening to Rhames. I first heard his work as part of The Dynamic Duo with Rashied Ali, then later found out about his guitar work. He passed away far too young, and I suspect he'd be a much bigger name if he'd had more years to continue playing.

Certainly it was one of these out of the blue discoveries. This article by Melvin Gibbs came to my attention yesterday https://brooklynrail.org/2022/02/music/ ... Had-a-King

I thought, like so often these things are, it would be one of these 'best musician you've never heard of with a new 2xlp reissue collection coming out next week' grift jobs but no, it actually was about a total undiscovered genius who will immediately blow your head to pieces. Do you know if there is much out there in the way of recordings? I'm aware of what's on Discogs but I wonder if there is more. It does sound like he mostly operated as a live performer and the idea situation was being able to see the guy.

[Chris]

Only just this morning I discovered Arthur Rhames. Fuck John McLaughlin forever after hearing this

Brilliant stuff. I'm so pleased to hear that folks are listening to Rhames. I first heard his work as part of The Dynamic Duo with Rashied Ali, then later found out about his guitar work. He passed away far too young, and I suspect he'd be a much bigger name if he'd had more years to continue playing.

Certainly it was one of these out of the blue discoveries. This article by Melvin Gibbs came to my attention yesterday https://brooklynrail.org/2022/02/music/ ... Had-a-King

I thought, like so often these things are, it would be one of these 'best musician you've never heard of with a new 2xlp reissue collection coming out next week' grift jobs but no, it actually was about a total undiscovered genius who will immediately blow your head to pieces. Do you know if there is much out there in the way of recordings? I'm aware of what's on Discogs but I wonder if there is more. It does sound like he mostly operated as a live performer and the idea situation was being able to see the guy.

Sadly I don't know of much more in terms of recordings beyond what's on Discogs. Ayler Records has done a nice job of issuing some of his stuff, and he's got credits on some Larry Coryell and Steve Arrington records, but it sounds like he was primarily a live player. I'd imagine there's some more tapes of him languishing in someone's basement. Whether that stuff will ever see the light of day is a different question altogether.

The footage of him with his early trio Eternity is just mind-blowing. How they remained unsigned is beyond me.

[holy ghost]

I’ve never heard of this guy before! Thanks for sharing. I don’t really jive with the Larry Coryell LPs I’ve heard but I’m interested in those collabs with Rashied Ali.

Speaking of John McLachlan, I really abhor the use of violin in rock/jazz for the most part and realized I’m never going to click with Mahavishnu Orchestra despite multiple attempts but I really dig that collab LP he did with Carlos Santana in tribute to John Coltrane. That shit is WILD.

[raato]

even parker/derek bailey/han bennink: the topography of the lungs is definitely jazz for the more noiseheads out there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZfwQg47Rdc

arythmic free improv bangin' and clangin'. doesn't get much better, imo.

[Tarkamt]

SUN RA!

Jazz (and specifically Sun Ra) was my gateway to noise, somehow.

[adult human]

SUN RA!

Jazz (and specifically Sun Ra) was my gateway to noise, somehow.

Makes total sense. I'm sure many people found their way in via the weirder edges of Jazz.

Since I first became aware of Sun Ra it was ALWAYS something I saw held up as essential listening among many different groups of music lovers. Straight up jazz fiends, eclectic collectors of all and everything as well as dedicated fans of the weird and wonderful. I've got criminally little myself but expect to be periodically beating my head against that back catalogue for the rest of my life!

[Tarkamt]

SUN RA!

Jazz (and specifically Sun Ra) was my gateway to noise, somehow.

Makes total sense. I'm sure many people found their way in via the weirder edges of Jazz.

Since I first became aware of Sun Ra it was ALWAYS something I saw held up as essential listening among many different groups of music lovers. Straight up jazz fiends, eclectic collectors of all and everything as well as dedicated fans of the weird and wonderful. I've got criminally little myself but expect to be periodically beating my head against that back catalogue for the rest of my life!

That's such a great and comforting thought, no matter what fucked up shit life throws at you, there are probably some Sun Ra albums you've yet to hear.

[adult human]

SUN RA!

Jazz (and specifically Sun Ra) was my gateway to noise, somehow.

Makes total sense. I'm sure many people found their way in via the weirder edges of Jazz.

Since I first became aware of Sun Ra it was ALWAYS something I saw held up as essential listening among many different groups of music lovers. Straight up jazz fiends, eclectic collectors of all and everything as well as dedicated fans of the weird and wonderful. I've got criminally little myself but expect to be periodically beating my head against that back catalogue for the rest of my life!

That's such a great and comforting thought, no matter what fucked up shit life throws at you, there are probably some Sun Ra albums you've yet to hear.

I would like to hear of any favourites you have and would recommend. There's so much out there that checking out the ones friends and acquaintances enjoy is as good a way to get through it as any. I think the only albums I know in any depth are probably quite well known and obvious ones.

[Tarkamt]

Makes total sense. I'm sure many people found their way in via the weirder edges of Jazz.

Since I first became aware of Sun Ra it was ALWAYS something I saw held up as essential listening among many different groups of music lovers. Straight up jazz fiends, eclectic collectors of all and everything as well as dedicated fans of the weird and wonderful. I've got criminally little myself but expect to be periodically beating my head against that back catalogue for the rest of my life!

That's such a great and comforting thought, no matter what fucked up shit life throws at you, there are probably some Sun Ra albums you've yet to hear.

I would like to hear of any favourites you have and would recommend. There's so much out there that checking out the ones friends and acquaintances enjoy is as good a way to get through it as any. I think the only albums I know in any depth are probably quite well known and obvious ones.

As much as I love his truly far out albums (The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol. 1 & 2, Disco 3000, Strange Strings, Media Dreams, Other Planes of There, Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy, Astro Black, The Solar-Myth Approach Vol. 1 & 2, etc. ), The ones I find myself regularly returning to are the more traditional albums: Jazz in Silhouette, Angels & Demons at Play, The Nubians of Plutonia, Atlantis, Sun Song, The Bad and the Beautiful, and the live in Cairo album Horizon, which is just an epic ride and has a really special atmosphere about it.

Oh, and The Magic City.
That one is just merciless.

[JuntaCadre]

Jazz makes up a good amount of what I listen to, but my jazz tastes are almost opposite of my noise/PE tastes. When it comes to that stuff I like the harshest and most unhinged stuff possible, but for jazz things like bossa nova pretty much dominate my interests, I have a very hard time tolerating any wandering orcacophonous and prefer it to be light and relaxing.

Stan Getz, João Donato, Antônio Jobim, Sergio Mendes, João Gilberto, all the names you’d expect associated with the classic Brazilian scene. Outside of Brazil there’s not a whole lot I often throw on. I like some of the more psychy but still relaxing Japanese stuff, but am a lot less knowledgeable in that whole area.

Matthew Halsall is a name that comes to mind as far as some modern interests go

[MND]

Carlos, you might like Miles Davis’ soundtrack to the film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows).

Thanks a lot for the recommendation Taylor, I really enjoy the OST, I was also during the past week checking out more of Miles Davis, he has an impressive discography, one work I really enjoyed was his "In A Silent Way" found it more close to the fusion artists I mentioned on my previous post.

Here a link if anyone wants to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHesqaMhh34

Other of his work that seems it's more recent that I enjoyed is "The Lost Septet" more like Avant-garde Jazz Rock, as of what I listened to, this one I found it on Spotify if you want to listen to it.

[MND]

The inexplicable algorithmically driven ubiquity of utterly incredible Japanese music on YouTube is surely one of the best things that has ever happened because of that website. Got me turned onto this by the same means https://youtu.be/Um20ePyQGvI

Agreed, YouTube recommends some really good music and when it comes to Japanese stuff they really recommend some hidden gems, wish it was the same for all the Japanoise haha. While I'm answering I'm listening this "Kiyoshi Sugimoto - Babylonia Wind" really liking it, thanks for sharing.

Only just this morning I discovered Arthur Rhames. Fuck John McLaughlin forever after hearing this https://youtu.be/aIbxCW4DsnI

Later I will check this, thanks for the recommendation.