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Post by gregorythefish on Jun 20, 2021 14:06:39 GMT
kevin hart's huge ego is annoying, but that wardrobe director scores major points, at least!
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Post by Doom Girl on Jul 4, 2021 0:57:28 GMT
Early in life I was drawn to Indian classical music, perhaps due to its obvious similarities to American jazz – extended improvisation based on defined sets of notes, be they scales, chords and modes or thaats and ragas, complex rhythmic patterns, even use of “blue” notes, and perhaps more importantly, deep emotional resonance.
FINDING THE RAGA: AN IMPROVISATION ON INDIAN MUSIC by Amit Chaudhuri is a new book published by NYRB (New York Review Books). It has a beautiful cover, a painting by K. G. Subramanyan, reproduced in luminous color. The book provides a wealth of information about Indian music, not in dry textbook style but as natural outgrowths related to incidents in the author’s life, in an impressionistic memoir-like style. Chaudhuri is a very interesting character – a noted writer of seven highly praised novels, and also a life-long musician, who began as a singer/songwriter – the only “Canadian folk musician” (in the style of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young) born in Kolkata and reared in Mumbai. Only later did he become drawn to and enamored of the classical music of his homeland and entered an intense period of training in this complex music.
Music journalist and author Ben Ratliff (author of COLTRANE: THE STORY OF A SOUND and EVERY SONG EVER: TWENTY WAYS TO LISTEN IN AN AGE OF MUSICAL PLENTY) recently conducted an informative interview with Chaudhuri.
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Post by Doom Girl on Jul 4, 2021 1:13:21 GMT
This is a vocal performance bordering on the miraculous – and I love the way she interacts with the musicians, the tabla play in particular.
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Post by gregorythefish on Jul 4, 2021 13:48:59 GMT
thanks for sharing, doom girl. that is indeed awesome. even more amazing is when I realized about halfway through that she is sitting. that is a much harder position to sing from than standing.
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Post by jazzhead on Jul 7, 2021 23:21:05 GMT
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Post by jazzhead on Jul 8, 2021 13:23:14 GMT
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Post by jazzhead on Jul 12, 2021 13:43:01 GMT
I've been digging through Isaiah Collier videos on YouTube since hearing his album, Cosmic Transitions, multiple times. This is something else. Unbelievable vibes!
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Post by alunsevern on Jul 15, 2021 10:36:11 GMT
Morning, all. It isn't Saturday but I have a few minutes spare before a meeting and have been thinking about the new music -- new to me, I mean -- that I have been listening to over recent weeks. I think I may have said a few months back that I finally treated myself to my first new turntable in twenty years -- a Project X1, which I am very pleased with. Recent months have seen something of an increase in buying new LPs as a consequence: One Flight Up: Dexter Gordon (Tone Poet) The Phantom: Duke Pearson (Tone Poet) All Knavery & Collusion: Evan Parker The Source: Tony Allen Tribute to Art Blakey: Tony Allen (10-inch) Sonny Clark Trio Vol. 1 & 2, Japanese pressings A Fickle Sonance: Jackie McLean A Swingin' Affair: Dexter Gordon Afro-Bossa: Duke Ellington The Balance: Abdullah Ibrahim Dream Time: Abdullah Ibrahim (solo piano) African Dawn: Abdullah Ibrahim (solo piano) Ode to Duke Ellington: Abdullah Ibrahim (solo piano) Tender Moments: McCoy Tyner (Tone Poet) Speak No Evil: Wayne Shorter The Kicker: Bobby Hutcherson (Tone Poet) Some of these are new to me and I am hearing them for the first time. The two Blue Note volumes of the Sonny Clark Trio, for example, on very nice Japanese pressings that I had never really expected to find. The latest Evan Parker LP, All Knavery & Collusion, which is terrific if you like European free improv. Some of the Tone Poets are purchases that for some reason I didn't make when first issued (The Kicker, for instance) and thought I had missed. Duke's Afro-Bossa is a record I had never previously come across and I bought a copy for a few quid -- it's terrific, swinging smaller band Duke but with all the texture and transparency of the orchestra and beautifully recorded. Some of the BN 80s and/or Classics replace inferior (usually 80s DMM) pressings that I already owned. Consequently I find myself exposing things like Shorter's Speak No Evil and Tyner's Tender Moments much more closely and more frequently than was the case before. (Although I still find myself not entirely convinced by Tender Moments -- I still find the larger ensemble a bit congested at times.) The most recent Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya LP, The Balance, on Gearbox records is highly recommended -- both a lovely, late addition to the great man's work and an all analogue recording that does the music justice. I was also surprised to find how much I like the two Tony Allen recordings, Tribute to Art Blakey (a 10-inch done for RSD I think) and The Source, his first release on Blue Note -- interesting;y another all analogue issue by the label. It genuinely is a meeting of jazz and Afro-beat, long, loping grooves, Allen's wonderful percussion and a great band. There's nothing very complex or ground-breaking about the record but it is truly enjoyable. But speaking of new music, what do folks here make of Tyshawn Sorey, particularly VERISIMILITUDE? I have been sampling the tracks that are available on Bandcamp repeatedly, trying to make up my mind. He seems -- at least on this record -- to be exploring a genuinely new improv language that is neither free jazz nor what we have come to understand as European Free Improv. But I can't quite decide whether in and of itself this is quite interesting enough when compared to, say, Evan Parker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Tony Oxley and so on -- what we might call the old guard of free improv. Anyone know this record and have a view?
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Post by bassman on Jul 15, 2021 15:55:28 GMT
Alun, what makes you think Afro-Bossa is "smaller band Duke"? It's the full orchestra. The title track is one of my favourites, but it sounds even better in its live version from the "Great Paris Concert", where - mysteriously, for copyright or other reasons - it is called "Bula". A "kind of gut bucket bolero", in Duke's words. I am sure you know the Paris Concert. It's a miracle, both as a performance and sound-wise. www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k7OTdFG0D8GbAFJJeoiCJE2zSQxW3Itx4
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Post by alunsevern on Jul 15, 2021 16:34:57 GMT
My mistake, bassman — I was mixing up Afro-Bossa and another Duke I had been listening to.
Also, thanks for the nudge — I don’t know the Paris Concert and will investigate.
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Post by bassman on Aug 12, 2021 18:45:25 GMT
Here's a hugely enjoyable album recorded in 1958 and released in the "watershed year", 1959 (Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, Time Out ... know what I mean?): Donald Byrd's "Off To The Races". www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMAB89BlQ_blr_RSFZP6-8nIGztwEcFKuThe band includes Jackie McLean (alto sax), Wynton Kelly (piano), Pepper Adams (bari sax), Sam Jones (bass), Art Taylor (drums). The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 4 stars and stated "There's nothing surprising about Off to the Races; it's simply a set of well-performed, enjoyable hard bop, but sometimes that's enough". Man, I love that rhythm section! Compared to Paul Chambers, Sam Jones has always struck me as the "younger", crisper, more versatile bass player. In fact, he was eleven years older!
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Post by doom girl on Aug 13, 2021 14:31:10 GMT
Compared to Paul Chambers, Sam Jones has always struck me as the "younger", crisper, more versatile bass player. couldn't disagree more
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Post by gregorythefish on Aug 13, 2021 14:40:29 GMT
I think both Jones and Chambers are to be revered. I dare not compare them.
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Post by bassman on Aug 13, 2021 15:55:49 GMT
I think both Jones and Chambers are to be revered. I dare not compare them. Paul Chambers was, of course, the right person at the right time in a perfect surrounding like the Miles Davis quintet. Nothing can match those recordings. I'm not particularly fond of his arco contributions, though.
Sam Jones sounds best on Riverside. RVG had a way of recording the bass that is not always to my taste. EDIT: I mean RVG in "Blue Note mode", just to be clear about that.
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Post by jazzhead on Aug 19, 2021 7:07:13 GMT
A couple of tunes I've been listening to: East Axis - Matthew Shipp, tenor saxophonist Allen Lowe, bassist Kevin Ray, and drummer Gerald Cleaver ( www.allaboutjazz.com/the-tao-of-matthew-shipp?width=768 ) Alexander Hawkins Trio. Alexander Hawkins is the piainist that played with Anthony Braxton on the Quartet (Standards) 2020 recordings. This album is pretty good:
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