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Post by sztiv on Jul 25, 2017 12:14:09 GMT
My jazz collection has expanded about 3 fold in the past 12 months. LJC and this forum have helped enormously.
But now I've almost harvested all the low hanging fruit. Unsurprisingly given that my jazz collection was less than 100 LPs, it contained some gaping holes. I've now plugged a lot of those holes with music from artists whose work intrigued me but about which I knew nothing much at all. Mingus, Dolphy, McLean, Sam Rivers, Cecil Taylor, Shorter, Shepp, Ayler etc etc.
It's great to understand (or at least experience) the development of the music through the late 50's and 60's but I keep bumping up against the 1970s and I rather like it. Woody Shaw, Kirk Lightsey, David Murray, Strata East - Tolliver, Cowell. I'm open to free jazz as well, I have Pakistani Pomade and Machine Gun on my wants list.
So I'd like to acquire some music from the last 3 decades of the 20th century and if truth be told I'm not averse to the first two decades of this century either.
A lot of this stuff is quite challenging and so it helps me to try and follow some developmental progression of ideas. So instead of jumping into 2005 and heading backwards, I'd kind of prefer to jump into 1975 and move forwards. Call me old fashioned if you wish.
I have some ideas of things I'd like to hear, Geri Allen for example who I hadn't heard of until I read her obituary. But this place is full of opinionated people and so I hoped you might be willing to share some ideas please.
Currently I have Clifford Jordan - Glass Bead Games and Pharoah Sanders' eponymous release on India Navigation on my list. Given the price of these, my collection is going to grow much more slowly from now on which has to be good.
Which records help define the direction that jazz was going in the later part of the 20th century?
S
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Post by gst on Jul 25, 2017 15:25:53 GMT
Great question Sztiv. I'll be watching the replies. My collection really skips over this time period with the exception of a few albums (Weather Report, The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, as well as the Marsalis brothers). In fact I probably own more albums post 2000 than I do for the 25 years before that.
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Post by gregorythefish on Jul 25, 2017 15:30:10 GMT
I just passed on an NM copy of "glass bead games" this weekend that was a bit over what i would want to pay. perhaps i will regret it. who knows. but i got some other nice strata east titles.
i'm in the same boat as you, actually. i am slowly becoming more aware of later jazz. i am up to about 1988 and wallace roney at the moment.
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Post by sztiv on Jul 25, 2017 15:33:28 GMT
I probably own more albums post 2000 than I do for the 25 years before that. which of these do you enjoy listening to? does anyone own a copy of the Pharoah Sanders LP? It's cruelly expensive even on CD and from what I can see the original pressings are often very poor. Sadly the recent vinyl reissue is also pants. If it's not a rude question how much did you pay and did you get a good clean pressing?
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Post by sztiv on Jul 25, 2017 15:50:42 GMT
I just passed on an NM copy of "glass bead games" this weekend that was a bit over what i would want to pay. perhaps i will regret it. who knows. but i got some other nice strata east titles. i'm in the same boat as you, actually. i am slowly becoming more aware of later jazz. i am up to about 1988 and wallace roney at the moment. I have another 3 or 4 Strata East's on my want list. What do you recommend from your collection? I've really enjoyed a lot of the Muse stuff that you have. A quick google tells me that Wallace Roney was married to Geri Allen so I'm going to jump in and have a proper listen.
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Post by clifford on Jul 25, 2017 16:56:05 GMT
My recommendations for Strata-East:
Pharoah Sanders "Izipho Zam" The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe: "A Spirit Speaks" Mtume Umoja Ensemble: "Alkebu-Lan: Land of the Blacks" Charles Brackeen: "Rhythm X" Shamek Farrah & Sonelius Smith: "The World of the Children" Stanley Cowell: "Regeneration"
The Clifford Jordan records are solid but I think a bit overpriced considering that they aren't rare or truly (in my opinion) exceptional.
All of the Tollivers are good.
Re: recent jazz recommendations, I've had many great experiences with the music of William Parker, Matthew Shipp, Hamid Drake, Cooper-Moore, Rob Brown, Steve Swell, Joe Morris, Joel Futterman, Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson, Rob Mazurek, Charles Gayle, Damon Smith, Aram Shelton, Nicole Mitchell, Mats Gustafsson, Rodrigo Amado, Ken Vandermark, Jason Adasiewicz, Marco Eneidi, Vinny Golia, Fred Anderson, Kidd Jordan, Tomeka Reid, Jaimie Branch, Karl A.D. Evangelista, Alexander Hawkins, Olie Brice, Thomas Heberer, Peter Evans, Kirk Knuffke, Craig Taborn, Ivo Perelman, Michael Bisio, Joe McPhee, Joelle Leandre, Dennis Gonzalez, Jeff Parker, Mike Reed, Wally Shoup, Masayoshi Urabe, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, Raphe Malik, Jemeel Moondoc, Matt Lavelle, Mat Maneri, Kris Davis, Tom Rainey, Fred Hersch, Oliver Lake, Kristin Slipp, Henry Fraser, Shayna Dulberger, Allison Miller, Chris Speed, Gary Versace...
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Post by gst on Jul 26, 2017 15:04:06 GMT
I probably own more albums post 2000 than I do for the 25 years before that. which of these do you enjoy listening to? Clifford named a lot of good folks (and as always a bunch I need to familiarize myself with), but I'll add Matthew Halsall, Vijay Iyer Trio, Kamasi Washington (for you Kendrick Lamar fans on the board), Yazz Ahmed.
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Post by dottorjazz on Jul 26, 2017 15:28:13 GMT
maybe I don't understand Music nor Jazz, maybe I have too little time, maybe I've become slack. I don't find enough motivation to move my interests in after Free Jazz period. 40's to 60's are all I believe to need, still listening and studying, still stimulated enough. I won't move over.
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Post by bassman on Jul 26, 2017 16:55:40 GMT
maybe I don't understand Music nor Jazz, maybe I have too little time, maybe I've become slack. I don't find enough motivation to move my interests in after Free Jazz period. 40's to 60's are all I believe to need, still listening and studying, still stimulated enough. I won't move over. Nor would I, Doc. Out of the sixty plus names listed by Clifford the other day, I know some ten or eleven. A score which I'm very proud of, to be honest. And I'm sure there are some real treasures hidden in that list! But looking the other way - I wonder if they can equal the treasures of the pre-1940 period, for that matter.
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Post by gst on Jul 26, 2017 17:32:00 GMT
Ah, but you can't see those old masters in concert. I don't get to go out often, but I do enjoy jazz live (unlike most other types of music which I find too loud and distorted).
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Post by gregorythefish on Jul 26, 2017 17:46:03 GMT
i will pretty much echo clifford's suggestions about strata east. on the money, they are.
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Post by bopmodalfree on Jul 26, 2017 21:05:30 GMT
Hi sztiv and everyone,
Very interesting suggestions and I must admit I haven't heard of many of Clifford's suggestions, so much to look into. Let me make some more mainstream recommendations as I've started to get interested in this same post-hey day time period.
Phil Woods Tom Harrell (who was in Phil Woods's band) Steve Lacy Joe Henderson (especially trio recordings, such as the live Blue Note sessions) Chet Baker Cecil Taylor Benny Greene (the pianist, I recommend That's Right!) Shirley Horn Warne Marsh Thad Jones big band stuff Dave Douglas
I find it interesting how much I like the "old folks" music of Baker, Horn, Lacy, and Marsh, I mean that they were really strong as they got into their 40's and beyond. Even though Cecil Taylor was so well known early on, he didn't really start cranking out the albums until the mid-70's and he has just a ton of material. Finally I should say that i'm throwing these out not because I know all their material but because I'm actively exploring their music during this time period. I'm struck at how stupid I was to write off Phil Woods because he wasn't edgy enough. He may not be super edgy, but I'm finding i love his music nonetheless.
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Post by clifford on Jul 27, 2017 1:56:56 GMT
Hard to make music of the 40s and 60s in the 2010s if you are a currently working musician.
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Post by bassman on Jul 27, 2017 6:24:43 GMT
Hard to make music of the 40s and 60s in the 2010s if you are a currently working musician. Hi Clifford,
We play R&B and Swing for young (and not so young) lindy hop dancers. It's not necessarily the music I listen to on a regular basis.
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Post by sztiv on Jul 27, 2017 10:10:22 GMT
Two strata east LPs were reissued earlier this week on the Everland Jazz label, manufactured by Presch Media GmbH in the furthest western reaches of Austria close to Lichstenstein.
Pharoah Sanders – Izipho Zam (My Gifts) and The Heath Brothers - Marchin' On both of which are on their way here from Honest Jon's in the Portobello Road.
They're both licensed officially from Strata East and I think they've been produced from original tapes.
Anyhow at £20 each I decided to save my money and go for some original Tollivers.
Many thanks for the long list of contemporary artists to explore. That should keep me busy for quite a while.
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