Short Album Reviews

[rikhav]

Thanks a lot everyone who is contributing the thread.
And i also agree the genre does not matter. You all are opening gates to new sounds for someone like me and i really appreciate it.
Infact, i am taken aback by the knowledge you have. 95 percent of the names of solo artists and bands, i have never heard in my life
So it sort of becomes difficult for me to follow this thread. I hope you understand what i mean.
I will keep reading the posts and following this thread and try to listen to albums and gaining information about the artists one by one.
Thanks again

 

[Hiten]

Hi all,
The discussion about vibraphone in jazz got me thinking which indian instrument will blend in Jazz I thought of santoor and Googled it, found following pieces. They are amazing specially first one by an Iranian artist...
(1)
Santoor - Jazz Fusion? Iranian Video Sharing - Vidoosh TV

(2)
YouTube - Jazz santur: Oriental Jazz Gol-e Gandom original 1960s and 70s TV

Music videos which are most viewed in you tube and music which is marketed with high quality audio are generally good pieces of work. Also found following pieces interesting out of too many which I searched...
YouTube - Ramsey Lewis Trio
YouTube - Lester Young - Lester Leaps In
YouTube - Bill Evans - "Peace Piece"
Hope you enjoy it too...
@ coaltrain : liked cantelope and teen town
Sorry all, for all youtube videos they take too much space in the thread

 

[sameer kumar]

cool idea for a thread, ranojoy. i'm looking forward to people posting stuff i've never heard before, so that i can part with my hard earned cash more readily

regarding your and rikhav's query on jazz:

i wouldn't call myself a 'jazz guru', but i'm definitely a major fan who's been listening to the genre for over 30 years now. lots of friends have asked me for advice on where to begin, as there's so much variety and good music to explore. given below is the gyan i normally dish out i hope you find it useful.

since hardcore jazz is a totally new experience for most, i usually ask people what they listen to currently. then, i recommend a 'fusion' album that combines jazz with the kind of music they like.

for eg, if you're a rock fan, i'd point you towards:

great electric guitar and bass, powerhouse drumming and amazing compositions.

in this way, you can get a taste of jazz while still listening to something you're used to. if you like what you hear, you can progress to albums that are more jazz oriented, and discover a whole new world of music out there.

i know this is a pretty simplistic answer to a complex question! but if you guys can give me more info on your likes/dislikes, i'll try and provide a more detailed answer.

happy listening

Romantic Warrior -Return to forever...SUPERB. Album.. Got it today from Oceanic sound n vision PUNE. (Good store for Jazz)

Thanks a ton coaltrain. Few more suggestions please...

 

[coaltrain]

Romantic Warrior -Return to forever...SUPERB. Album.. Got it today from Oceanic sound n vision PUNE. (Good store for Jazz)

Thanks a ton coaltrain. Few more suggestions please...

that's great news sameer! looks like you're really into it now

here are a few more in the same space:

- herbie hancock: headhunters
- weather report: heavy weather
- al di meola: kiss my axe
- jeff back: wired
- pat metheny: still life (talking)
- trilok gurtu: bad habits die hard

 

[doors666]

Thank you

I have Dead's..American beauty and Allman bros Band...Greatest Hits.Try to get the remaining titles.

Actually, grateful dead is one of those bands that became what they are due to their live shows. Most of their studio albums are not that great, its their live shows that rock. Try to get your hands on Europe 72 or dicks picks etc. BTW, dead is an 'open source' band, meaning their live shows can be copied/downloaded legally. Try archive.org, they used to have like 3000 live shows (each 2-4 cds) in lossless, mp3 and streaming formats. Search on google too to get some more dead sites like dead net etc.

For similar bands, search for jam bands, there are tons of them, mostly freely downloadable shows.

 

[moktan]

after a long self inflicted sojourn in the sparse sonic landscape of Herbie Hancock's jazz (Empyrean Isle, My Point of View and Speak Like a Child)...i am for a change enjoying the chaotic frenzy of Miles Davis -Live at Fillmore East (march 7, 1970) It's about that time...listening to this masterpiece of open-ended jazz has been an education and a revelation ..i have no hesitation in recommending it to all aficionados of jazz, rock, fusion and music in general.. besides the obviously inspirational performances of the individual cats (wayne shorter, chick corea, holland and the man himself) this album also underlines the fact that the whole is indeed more than the sum of the parts...especially if the center is being held by a genius like Miles .absolutely mind blowing stuff...

 

[moktan]

had a jazz guitarist friend over for tea..spent many hours listening to music...realized that a musician isn't very fussed up about listening gear...but even he could appreciate the AUDIRE speakers with jazz (while with a Dave Matthews album he found my Mordaunt Shorts more appealing..somehow the single drivers don't do enough justice to electric guitars i don't know why)...anyway the lesson i have learned so far is to predetermine ones listening preference and spend money on the gear that would do justice to that choice..
so i haven't really regretted going for the particular speakers that i have...
any way we really enjoyed, besides other music,..
(i) TRIO IN TOKYO ..Michel Petrucciani (Piano) Steve Gadd (Drums) Anthony Jackson (Bass)..Petrucciani who unfortunately died in the nineties was a virtuoso performer with the piano and pieces such as Home in this album provide a 'microcosm of his prodigious technique'...folks just wading into jazz may dive headlong into this album for the sheer musical brilliance, the lyricism, the elements of spontaneity in the sound created by the trio and the restrained wizardry on the key board ...
(ii) Chano Dominguez NEW FLAMENCO SOUND (NFS) ..i am not sure if i should label this album with the pejorative of a 'fusion'..suffice to say it is great, adventurous (at least for my listening preferences) music...

 

[moktan]

the selfsame jazz guitarist friend shared this mail about an imagined conversation between a jazz guru (Yogi) and an interviewer
needless to mention that their topic of discussion was WHAT IS JAZZ....



Interviewer: Can you explain jazz?

Yogi: I can't, but I will. Ninety per cent of all jazz is half
improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are
playing something they never played with anyone who played that part.
So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it
might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's
wrong.

Interviewer: I don't understand.

Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it.
It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.

Interviewer: Do you understand it?

Yogi: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't
know anything about it.

Interviewer: Are there any great jazz players alive today?

Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the
ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones
that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead.

Interviewer: What is syncopation?

Yogi: That's when the note that you should hear now happens either
before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they happen
because that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something different from those other
kinds.

Interviewer: Now I really don't understand.

Yogi: I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that well.