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Monthly Archives: January 2008

Travelin Tunes

A little out of character probably, but that college rock stuff is certainly catchy. There was a stretch of time that gas prices were low enough that road tripping was affordable enough — I just dusted off an old CD by Jack Johnson called On And On. Listening to it now puts me back in my old Subaru chasing eighteen wheelers on I-25 in Colorado. It’s the kind of music anyone can sing out loud and out of tune.

There’s gold in them var bins …

I recently overheard a conversation on the subway that a local record shop just scored an estate collection of about 200 jazz records. I had to break the strange-silence protocol and inquire about the location of the shop. Knowing the place, I finally had an excuse to drop by, and I hit it up the next day in hopes of scoring a cache of potentially unfingered gems.

I dropped in and did a canvas of the place, started in jazz and flipped through blues, soul, and rap. I found a few things that looked good, and I picked out a Miles Davis (Tutu), a couple of obscure Herbie albums, and a Whodini record that had “Friends” on it.

The whole time I’m digging through these bins, I can’t help but thinking whether or not this shop happens to have an impossibly used copy of the new Mosaic Quincy Jones release, but I knew better than to ask. Mosaic re-releases in grand fashion some of the best jazz ever set to wax, and this Quincy box is the newest in a long tradition of excellence from the company. It is increasingly difficult to find many of the long out of print boxes, even on the world wide web that’s pretty narrow for these purposes.

As I approached the counter satisfied and smilin’ about the $12 worth of gems I found, I looked up behind the register to see a handsome row of what looked to be nearly untouched black boxes that resembled the very same garb in which Mosaic released its most treasured finds. I scanned the metallic silver titles quickly sideways, in anticipation of possibly having stumbled upon the most perfect find.

Each week seems to bring a new musical obsession in the minds of music lovers, and possibly more so for collectors. For the timing of fantasy and reality to coincide in this manner would be truly serendipitous.

And so it went, that as my eyes strained to read these set titles, a few big ones caught my eye. First, no Monk box, long out of print and hard to find. Yet there lay a Mingus Complete Candid Recordings box, along with the Ike Quebec Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions, both also out of print and quite limited (Only 7500 of each were ever made). I asked the shop guys what their price was — they hadn’t even set it. We talked it through and decided on a mutually agreeable price, which I think was a deal considering the rarity and absolutely beautiful condition of both of these sets.

I can speak of the Ike Quebec, which I spent the evening with. The sound is incredible, and I think I like that Quebec seems truly cognizant of his notes at a unique among jazz saxophonists. He seems to think before he speaks, something my father instilled in me, to varying degrees of success! But Quebec clearly has mastered that art, as his long, poignant tones waste no words.

In a jazz universe in which everyone sounds the same on sax, Quebec stands out with subtle phrasing and a particularly beautiful tone.

Aggregate of Experts

The Village Voice publishes an annual jazz polling result that pools from a nice collection of jazz writers. I only recognize about a third of the new releases (by name, not even the albums), though the reissues are much more familiar, since I snagged several of them this year as well. The state of jazz as a mainstream music is long over, but it is certainly alive and kicking; you just have to dig a bit to find the gems.

This is the first year for me to really try and get into contemporary going-ons of present-day jazz folks. I finally caught up to those golden years and thought I’d try something new. It was largely disappointing, aside from finding a few female voices like Sophie Milman and Grace Kelly (sax) that I’m pleased with.

Jazz Pianist Rundown

I love the piano. It’s the perfect combination of the percussive with the melodic. Add in individuality of various pianists and the improvisational qualities in jazz, (stir), and you’ve got a rich variety of virtuosity. Here are some of my favorites.

Thelonious Monk – actually not a great place to start, but a place to end up. Amazingly unique, within jazz and all of music. Prepare for dissonance in its most musical form. One friend commented to me, “it just sounds like he’s playing the wrong notes!” But the beauty is that he means to. Additionally, in the words of Dave Chappelle, his timing was ill.

Herbie Hancock – innovating since the beginning of his career. His sound is Miles ahead, so what you choose to hear varies wildly. Any of the 60s Miles sessions on which he is pianist are good places to start for a “classical” look at Herbie. His contributions to electronic music are undeniable – see Headhunters (1973) and Future Shock (1982) for the most well known examples. He’s still doing it though, with River: The Joni Letters his most recent (and successful) effort.

Duke Ellington – though the most popular big band oriented Duke is not my favorite, his small combo stuff (which is more to my liking in general) ranks among my favorite ever, specifically Money Jungle.

Oscar Peterson – recently passed away, monumental pianist.

Bud Powell – according to everyone, he influenced everyone, though I’m not exactly sure how, since I’m just listening to echoes.

Jimmy Smith – Kind of the king of jazz organists. My personal favorite of his so far is Groovin’ at Smalls Paradise. But I haven’t heard Chicken Shack yet!

Neal Evans – speaking of organists, Neal is a contemporary keyboardist with Soulive. Greasy gravy!

Art Tatum – homage to one whose musical sensibilities might as well were heightened in absence of his sight. A master organizer – fits more notes comfortably into a small space than Ikea could.

Airto Moreira, Chucho Valdes, Sergio Mendes – latin jazz turned out to be a perfect marriage of cultural and musical heritage, and these are some of the purveyors on the keys.

Diana Krall – mentioned here because it’s quite pleasurable to watch her play, though she’s known for her singing. Contemporary.

There are a ton more, but these are among my favorites. I’m sure I’m missing someone. Others off the top of my head worth mentioning are Jaki Byard (a la Mingus), McCoy Tyner, Benny Green, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, and dozens more ….

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