Evan
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Post by Evan on Jun 27, 2015 4:00:29 GMT
I'm creating this thread as a kind of counterpoint to Rich's thread, Albums You Didn't Love At First But Warmed Up To Over Time.
I've always been of the belief that the best albums, the ones that remain with you the longest and earn the greatest turntable time, regardless of genre, are the ones that don't reveal too much on first listen, and indeed require several listens before fully revealing themselves. Conversely, and perhaps just as often, the albums that grab you immediately can be the ones you lose interest in quickest.
Occasionally, though, an album or a track gets inside you so quickly and to such an extent that not only do you fall in love with it instantly, but you can't rest until you have everything that artist has recorded - at least from that period of their career. You may have had some, or a lot, of his or her records before, but it wasn't until you heard this one that you fell in love, and returned to the previous ones with a fresh set of ears, as they say.
I'm asking this partly for selfish reasons. I think everybody on this forum knows more about jazz than I do, most of you much, much more. But I want to know more and more and more, and if I can find shortcuts into "getting" an artist, I'll take them. Of course, we're all different and a eureka moment for you might not be one for me (or indeed anybody else but you). But I'm still interested in hearing about them.
For what it's worth, here's mine, I can only think of one: Jackie McLean's 'Right Now!'. I already had Swing, Swang, Swingin', Capuchin Swing, and Bluesnik, and had listened to them a few times, before I bought this. From the first few seconds, when Jackie absolutely tears out of the traps, with furious speed, I was hooked. The achingly beautiful ballad that followed, Poor Eric, cemented it. I loved Jackie McLean, and I had to have more albums where he played like this. (My luck was in in that regard, and how.) I've since secured all his later Blue Notes (Let Freedom Ring onwards - originals all, a mix of mono and stereo, which I love with later BNs), except 'Bout Soul and Demon's Dance. And, while I probably rate Let Freedom Ring and Destination... Out! a little higher, Right Now! will always be my favourite, for being my first love.
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Post by alunsevern on Jun 27, 2015 10:07:08 GMT
God, there's almost too many to count. But here's some that I remember. But even here, the attraction wasn't necessarily immediate. In the very late 60s and early 70s some of the jazz I listened to was on such poorly pressed budget records and on such dreadful equipment that on occasions even the broadest intentions of the artist were not apparent. Anyway, here goes:
Kind of Blue, of course, turned me on to Miles - just as soon as I was able to hear a half-way decent copy. Sketches of Spain took longer because I remember the copy I first had - a birthday present from a friend - was on such flimsy vinyl and so quietly pressed that I really was underwhelmed initially.
Blues and the Abstract Truth, Oliver Nelson, was an instantaneous hit.
Oddly enough, given how much I have come to dislike most of his music, Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert was another instant hit, as was Facing You. For years they led me to believe that I loved KJ. It only became apparent that I didn't the more I listened to and the more gargantuan his recordings became.
Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin grabbed me immediately, but its brilliance and grace and charm and sophistication only became apparent over repeated plays - and it is working its magic right at this very moment, on a beautiful MM33 pressing.
Other things hooked me for a certain kind of music as soon as I heard them. Examples of this include Evan Parker in his various configurations; Alexander von Schlippenbach in his. These artists quite suddenly grabbed me and convinced me that European free improv mattered and was one of the most exciting developments in jazz over the past thirty-plus years. I went from not knowing anything about the form, to being hooked in just the space of a few weeks.
Monk grabbed me immediately. I think the first record I heard was either Underground or Dream, I can't recall at this distance of time.
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Post by gregorythefish on Jun 27, 2015 20:59:00 GMT
immediate favorites for me:
-a love supreme, john coltrane -black saint and the sinner lady, charles mingus -karma, pharoah sanders -futuristic sounds of sun ra -spiritual unity, albert ayler -blues walk, lou donaldson -blue haze, miles davis -blase', archie shepp -jazz for playboys, frank wess & kenny burrell -chapter one: latin america, gato barbieri -just about every horace silver blue note i've heard
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Evan
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by Evan on Jun 28, 2015 8:24:27 GMT
Other things hooked me for a certain kind of music as soon as I heard them. Examples of this include Evan Parker in his various configurations; Alexander von Schlippenbach in his. These artists quite suddenly grabbed me and convinced me that European free improv mattered and was one of the most exciting developments in jazz over the past thirty-plus years. I went from not knowing anything about the form, to being hooked in just the space of a few weeks. I've heard you mention Evan Parker enough times now to want to check him out. If you were to recommend a couple of albums to start with? Alexander von Schlippenbach is worth checking out just to be able to drop that name! Other European free improv recommendations would be most welcome too.
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Evan
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by Evan on Jun 28, 2015 9:23:08 GMT
immediate favorites for me: -a love supreme, john coltrane -black saint and the sinner lady, charles mingus -karma, pharoah sanders -futuristic sounds of sun ra -spiritual unity, albert ayler -blues walk, lou donaldson -blue haze, miles davis -blase', archie shepp -jazz for playboys, frank wess & kenny burrell -chapter one: latin america, gato barbieri -just about every horace silver blue note i've heard Fully agreed on all of the Horace Silver Blue Notes. He never made a bad one. (Although there's a couple of his later ones missing from my collection, and the covers are on the dodgy side...) Isn't it nice, too, to have a Blue Note artist whose originals are affordable? Not that I have originals of all his albums, I wish... Blues Walk is such a great record. If a friend asked you to make them a list of albums to help them get into jazz, this would go straight onto it. I have to admit, I never got into Blue Haze. It's one of the first jazz albums I ever bought, and I got it at the same time as Walkin' and Bags Groove, both of which I adore. I'm going to blame the pressing - a shitty OJC - for not having the oomph... Gato Barbieri is someone I just heard for the first time very recently in a jazz bar here. Even my brother, who was visiting from Ireland and isn't into jazz at all, was into it. The album was Bolivia and it went straight onto my wantlist, along with several others after a browse of a few reviews on allmusic, including Chapter One!
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Post by alunsevern on Jun 28, 2015 10:47:59 GMT
Other things hooked me for a certain kind of music as soon as I heard them. Examples of this include Evan Parker in his various configurations; Alexander von Schlippenbach in his. These artists quite suddenly grabbed me and convinced me that European free improv mattered and was one of the most exciting developments in jazz over the past thirty-plus years. I went from not knowing anything about the form, to being hooked in just the space of a few weeks. I've heard you mention Evan Parker enough times now to want to check him out. If you were to recommend a couple of albums to start with? Alexander von Schlippenbach is worth checking out just to be able to drop that name! Other European free improv recommendations would be most welcome too. Interesting question, and almost exactly the same that I asked an informed jazz dealer/friend/jazz promoter recently (in fact, he has recently done a live trio recording of Evan Parker). I'll try and tell you from memory what he told me. Evan Parker has recorded prolifically, both on his own label Psi and others too numerous to count. He is known primarily for his often huge solo sax performances (usually soprano, but occasionally tenor) and his recordings with either his own trio (Parker; Barry Guy bass; Paul Lytton drums), a quartet augmented with von Schlippenbach on piano, and the von Schlippenbach trio, which usually has Paul Lovens on drums. And then he plays in a bewildering variety of configurations with luminaries from the free jazz scene around the world. Parker's first record of real significance as a leader was TOPOGRAPHY OF THE LUNGS, which has the free improv guitarist Derek Bailey, who died quite recently. This is hard to find. It. Can be downloaded, I imagine, but the even the CD is long out of print, I think. strangely enough it has recently been reissued on vinyl by Cafe Oto, a trendy East London cafe/arts venue that has become synonymous with free improv and experimental music performances. I can't wholeheartedly recommend this record because although I have ordered the LP I'm still waiting for a sign of life from Cafe Oto which indicates that it is indeed going to send me the record... Parker's solo work is frankly not the best place to start. I would recommend the following. He made two lovely records with the great Stan Tracey on piano: Crevulations, and SUspensions & Anticipations. Parker plays gorgeous tenor on both and I love his tenor playing. It is utterly idiomatic and quite unlike anyone else's playing, but also wonderfully listenable. I also like an ECM recording with Paul Bley on piano on ECM called Sankt Gerold. That's CD only but easy to find secondhand copies cheap. I also love Narives and Aliens which unites Parker with Barry Guy, Paul Lytton, the great improv pianist Marilyn Crispell. A terrific record. Another fine set from t he same line up - but harder to find - is After Appleby. Appleby is a jazz festival with a tradition of sort of post-festival/fringe events of free improv and some of Parker's best live recordings come from these. In fact, some of Parker's best work is live, and he has been marvellously well served by his live recording engineers. One of Parker's most highly acclaimed recordings is his 50th Birthday Concert, which has him doing some solo stuff plus quartet recordings with Schlippenbach. Again, even CDs of this are expensive and I don't have it. If if I was going to start with just one from the titles mentioned above it would probably be Natives and Aliens - because it is a great record, beautifully recorded and I think gives a very good idea of what this type of music is about and how riveting it can be when you hear it played well by musicians who have immersed themselves in the form (and in each other's interpretation of it) for decades. For von Schlippenbach I would recommend Pakistani Pomade, the 1972 recording with Parker and Lovens. Again, even the 90s reissue CD is out of print and secondhand copies absurdly expensive. It can be downloaded, though. This is a stunning record but not an easy listen. In a sense it is of its time - louder, more aggressive, more impassioned, if you like, but it's interesting to compare it with more current work by these players and hear how European free improv has mellowed over the years without fundamentally compromising. i think I've got three other more recent von Schlippenbach trio sets: Bauhaus Desau; gold is where You Find It; and the latest, Features. I really enjoy GOLD IS WHERE (Parker plays some terrific tenor on it) and the latest FEATURES is lovely record, quite relaxed (by their standards) and contemplative. PM me if you like for more info / suggestions...
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Evan
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by Evan on Jun 28, 2015 13:15:45 GMT
Ridiculously good information, Alun, thank you. I'll set about trying to download the CD-only stuff (none of the record shops I frequent here have more than a handful or two of CDs) and keep a look out for the LPs. Cheers.
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Post by alunsevern on Jun 28, 2015 16:04:44 GMT
You're welcome - enjoy exploring.
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Post by Martin on Jun 29, 2015 6:53:18 GMT
A few examples spring to mind...
The first time I heard Jimmy Smith's The Sermon made a lasting impression. It was a cut down version on a compilation but I'd only ever heard Booker T style organ playing at that point, so Jimmy was a revelation back then.
The second example is also an organist: many years ago I heard Lonnie Smith's Son of Icebag played by a club DJ and I couldn't get the tune out of my head for weeks. I remember going into a local music shop, rummaging through the CDs and asking the the man at the counter to play all the tracks on Think! so that I could check I had the right CD.
And now for something completely different from my early days of collecting original pressings: the late lamented London jazz record shop Mole Jazz used to do postal auctions and I remember winning two Bobby Hutcherson LPs in the same auction: Stick Up! and Components. Wow, what an introduction to an artist! That was the start of my love of Hutcherson's music that has lasted to this day.
And one final example which shows that the journey of discovery never ends. At the start of this year I bought my first ever Booker Ervin record, The Freedom Book. How did I go so long without hearing Ervin? I'm trying to make up for lost time now and I've since got two more records that feature this terrific tenor.
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Post by gregorythefish on Jun 29, 2015 13:30:10 GMT
Fully agreed on all of the Horace Silver Blue Notes. He never made a bad one. (Although there's a couple of his later ones missing from my collection, and the covers are on the dodgy side...) Isn't it nice, too, to have a Blue Note artist whose originals are affordable? Not that I have originals of all his albums, I wish... Gato Barbieri is someone I just heard for the first time very recently in a jazz bar here. Even my brother, who was visiting from Ireland and isn't into jazz at all, was into it. The album was Bolivia and it went straight onto my wantlist, along with several others after a browse of a few reviews on allmusic, including Chapter One! I have 1539 (no cover), 1562, 4008 (second press), 4017, 4042, 4110, and 4185. all other than 4008 are clean and fabulous originals. a few of the covers are only VG or so, but still, what a treat! and they are increasing in value, I've noticed. i got my 1562 for $30 from a local shop that knows their jazz only a year or so ago, and it has sold for over $100 on eBay lately! as for gato, you're in luck. all four chapters of his impulse albums can probably be gotten for under $20 total in nice condition. I did it for $14 (can you beat it?). not expensive or sought after by many. but they are so, so good. get chapter one especially. it will really shift your opinions about what jazz can be. most of my friends who aren't super into jazz will ask me to "put on that weird latin one" when they are visiting.
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Post by gst on Jul 1, 2015 14:15:44 GMT
Moanin' - both Blakey's and Mingus' version. The two artist that got me into jazz.
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Evan
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by Evan on Jul 2, 2015 5:58:34 GMT
...many years ago I heard Lonnie Smith's Son of Icebag played by a club DJ and I couldn't get the tune out of my head for weeks. I remember going into a local music shop, rummaging through the CDs and asking the the man at the counter to play all the tracks on Think! so that I could check I had the right CD. And now for something completely different from my early days of collecting original pressings: the late lamented London jazz record shop Mole Jazz used to do postal auctions and I remember winning two Bobby Hutcherson LPs in the same auction: Stick Up! and Components. Wow, what an introduction to an artist! That was the start of my love of Hutcherson's music that has lasted to this day. There's nothing better than a protracted hunt that ends in success! Many's the time I've heard a DJ play this track or that and not rested till it was mine. I don't know if it's for better or for worse that you can nowadays do it in moments with Shazam and Spotify, but the romance is gone out of it, that's for sure. I admit to having the opposite reaction to my first Bobby Hutcherson LP (Stick-Up!). I just wasn't ready for the more modal stuff back then. Dialogue is probably my favourite now. 'Catta' is such an outstanding track.
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Evan
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by Evan on Jul 2, 2015 6:09:26 GMT
Fully agreed on all of the Horace Silver Blue Notes. He never made a bad one. (Although there's a couple of his later ones missing from my collection, and the covers are on the dodgy side...) Isn't it nice, too, to have a Blue Note artist whose originals are affordable? Not that I have originals of all his albums, I wish... Gato Barbieri is someone I just heard for the first time very recently in a jazz bar here. Even my brother, who was visiting from Ireland and isn't into jazz at all, was into it. The album was Bolivia and it went straight onto my wantlist, along with several others after a browse of a few reviews on allmusic, including Chapter One! I have 1539 (no cover), 1562, 4008 (second press), 4017, 4042, 4110, and 4185. all other than 4008 are clean and fabulous originals. a few of the covers are only VG or so, but still, what a treat! and they are increasing in value, I've noticed. i got my 1562 for $30 from a local shop that knows their jazz only a year or so ago, and it has sold for over $100 on eBay lately! as for gato, you're in luck. all four chapters of his impulse albums can probably be gotten for under $20 total in nice condition. I did it for $14 (can you beat it?). not expensive or sought after by many. but they are so, so good. get chapter one especially. it will really shift your opinions about what jazz can be. most of my friends who aren't super into jazz will ask me to "put on that weird latin one" when they are visiting. Very jealous of the Horace records. I want to do another record shopping trip to the U.S. so, so badly... You got all four for $14 or paid $14 each? Even if the latter, that's crazy cheap! I picked up three Impulse! originals in Tokyo recently for around Y2,800 ($24) each and I thought that was really good. They're usually around the Y5,000 mark where I live... "Put on that weird latin one" - I love it!
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Post by gregorythefish on Jul 2, 2015 14:57:35 GMT
You got all four for $14 or paid $14 each? Even if the latter, that's crazy cheap! I picked up three Impulse! originals in Tokyo recently for around Y2,800 ($24) each and I thought that was really good. They're usually around the Y5,000 mark where I live... "Put on that weird latin one" - I love it! Here's the thing: Impulse prices vary wildly from over 400 for promo copies of the early orange-label classics like Blues and the Abstract Truth, Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, a Love Supreme, all the way down to 3 or 4 dollars for the less-valued titles. Gato's albums came out toward the end of the Impulse catalog, and are easily all in the top ten releases of the last 100 if you ask me. In any case, yes, I got them all for $14 total over the course of a year. It is not difficult for Gato. There are usually one or two of them in used bins for a few bucks, and they also pop up on eBay for 3 or 4 dollars from time to time (intermixed with people who think $20 is a reasonable price for a non-Trane, non-Ra neon label Impulse for some reason). People assume that because they came out alongside the schlock like Blue Mitchell (on Impulse, mind you), Les McCann, etc, that they are as crappy. So wrong!
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Post by jazzhead on Jan 8, 2016 18:45:25 GMT
This has happened a few times to me. The one time that stands out the most though is when I was listening to the album Monk's Dream by Thelonious Monk. I'd listened to that album a few times before, but something just clicked in my head I think on this particular day when I heard Bolivar Blues. I can tell you at what point in that track it happened too. It's when he's playing all those notes around 4:20. Since then I've bought about 30 of his albums.
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