Do you really listen to all your music? : Lee Morgan - The Cooker
You’re how old? 19! Jeebus, you’re the Sidney Crosby of Jazz, I guess. This album is surprisingly great. Although I would say it’s really the baritone sax of Pepper Adams that makes this album as good as it is. Still, friggin’ 19???? Overall this is a keeper — 4/5 stars
Do you really listen to all your music? : Sun Ra - Blue Delight
What a great album. I think the AMG sums it up best:
Blue Delight is a great late-period Arkestra recording, notable for several reasons: 1. This is a very large, impeccably recorded Arkestra featuring special guests Tommy Turrentine and Don Cherry AND a number of Arkestra alumni returning for the date. 2. Although synthesizers are present, the majority of Ra’s solos are on piano. 3. John Gilmore solos on nearly every cut. 4. The band swings mightily from start to finish. Blue Delight also features a program of a handful of standards mixed with Ra originals that don’t head too far into outer space
He plays his song for one reason /
It’s simply what he loves /
The musician
Chick Corea, ladies & gentlemen, Chick Corea
The Bad Plus combine twelve-tone with dancing girls!
Do you really listen to all your music? : Billy Cobham - Spectrum
It sucks/It rocks. Every song has a slash title, I don’t know why. The first half of the slash sucks (sl)ash but the second part for all six songs are solid fusion. Very enjoyable…as long as you can fast forward through the first half of every song.
Do you really listen to all your music? : Andrew Hill - Time Lines
I’m not sure I can even describe this album properly. It is subdued yet intricate, soft yet hard driving, mellow yet intense. The piano and composition provide a great canvas for the real stars — the bass and drum rhythm section. Andrew does one of my favorite techniques where the piano will provide a soft, mellow main rhythm while the drums and bass add their own, often quite intricate, rhythms to create a challenging polyrhythmic piece. 4/5 stars
Do you really listen to all your music? : Thelonius Monk - At The Blackhawk
I have a lot of Monk albums and sometimes each one doesn’t particularly stand out. This is especially true, I think, of his later work. However, this is a nice exception. The pieces are mostly Monk classics but Charlie Rouse on Tenor Sax and, notably, Charlie Higgins on drums make these stand-out performances. The highlights for me are Epistrophy and Evidence but every track is good. The AMG review is underservedly light. This is a 5 star album in my book
A Sad Day for Smooth Jazz
(via)
Amid the extensive coverage today of Circuit City and its plan to shut down all of its stores, one side of the story has gone underreported: the deletrious impact of this development on the nation’s smooth jazz artists.
Gene Krupa - Young Man With A Beat.
I don’t know how he can do that in that suit.
Advice from Thelonius Monk (via). There are a lot of good ones on there — I think I like the one about white people the best
Do you really listen to all your music? : John Coltrane - Olé Coltrane
Wow, where was this one hiding. This is as good or better than My Favorite Things. The songs are long but not meandering. Freddie Hubbard and Eric Dolphy meld wonderfully into these tunes. And McCoy and Elvin are great as on all their Coltrane outings. I’m just sorry this was buried under my proverbial digital rug for so long. It’s a 5 star recording.
Do you really listen to all your music? : Bill Frisell - Blues Dream
laaaaiiid back. very chill. a great background cd. Bill’s cds are hit and miss for me. this one is a keeper. It is very relaxed but enjoyable. There are some drowsy moments but for the most part is keeps it interesting
