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Welcome to another issue of Jazz Views.
"What?s vinyl Dad?" A nostalgic look at the way things used to be, or another resource to be exploited in the quest for new music? Musician?s Play List Saxophonist Ken Stubbs reveals 10 of his all time favourite albums. Also visit CD Reviews to read our recent additions.
This was the question asked by my two young daughters, as I ploughed through piles of LP?s at a local car boot sale. ?Well?? I reminisced, ?in the days before CD?s, we used to spin large black plastic discs at thirty three and a third rpm?? Strangely enough, they lost interest, and wandered off to see what other treasures were waiting to be discovered. This left me to continue my search, and delighting in some interesting finds, eventually making my way home clutching half a dozen LP?s and a couple of EP?s (we used to spin ?em at 45rpm as well), wondering what strange allure that this seemingly dated medium still had. In the end, I decided it was just greed, or in polite society, an insatiable appetite. To continue the quest to hear as much music possible irrespective of format. I think also, if truth were known, that price (as with many of us) was a contributing factor. Where else could I hear so much music for ?10.00? And that, I think, is where I hit the nail on the head. As I said in last months ?Jazz Views?, there is so much music out there to discover, that to gamble a ?1.00 on an old LP to hear an artist or group that one is unfamiliar with, is better than throwing away ?15.00 on what could turn out to be an unwanted or disliked CD. On the other hand, if the LP turns out to be a gem (although not in perfect condition), it is odds on that a little research will reveal that the material is indeed readily available on the silver disc, to be ordered from your local stockist. And if this sounds like nothing more than an excuse to acquire more jazz to add my collection, well then I?ll hold my hands up and plead guilty as charged. Looking again through my recent purchases, ?10 was a real bargain for the opportunity to reacquaint myself with some vintage Louis Armstrong from the late Twenties, a Columbia ?I Love Jazz? album of Armstrong?s Greatest Hits from the All-stars Band of the mid-late Fifties, an album of ?Rare? Benny Goodman V-discs recordings made for the Armed Forces in 1943/44, the Basie Band ?Jumping At The Woodside? featuring the two Franks (Wess and Foster) on saxes, trumpeters Joe Newman, ?Snooky? Young and Thad Jones. Top that off with some Ellington, Cannonball Adderley, an album of trombonist Vic Dickenson, and two EP?s featuring Benny Goodman Quartet and Big Band and the Errol Garner Trio live at Carmel, California in 1955. Not bad for a morning?s browsing. Top of Page
This is this the first, of what I hope, will be a regular feature, whereby some of our leading musicians give an insight into their influences and Top 10 all time favourite albums. The series kicks off with altoist Ken Stubbs, whose ?Ballads? album was reviewed last month, and as becomes readily apparent, Ken has ?cheated? slightly by including box sets where he felt unable to select a single recording by a particular artist. Ken writes? .......cheating slightly, I thought I might include box sets of particular artists where it is difficult to single-out one particular album, when they are all equally good. 1 - John Coltrane w/McCoy, Elvin and Garrison - The complete IMPULSE Studio Recordings. For influential recordings and me the most inspiring. I always come back to these and have done since I was 15. Dark, bleak and straight from the soul - sums up the spirit of the time. 2 - Miles Davis w/Herbie, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter etc. - Columbia Box Set '63 - '68 (?) Same as above. More cheeky and optimistic than the above but filled with the essence of the jazz groove. The feel that everyone still aims for. 3 - Ornette Coleman w/Haden, Higgins, Cherry, Blackwell, La Faro, Garrison - The Complete ATLANTIC Recordings My fave Drum & Bass sound. New Orleans meets Punk Jazz. I'm always amazed how few people have heard this stuff. 4 - Sonny Rollins - The Bridge (RCA) Catalogue No:0902 668518-2 Master of rubbery sound with lisp - ballad master - How to improvise uniquely which is the essence of jazz for me. Jim Hall, master of sound and few notes. 5 - Keith Jarrett 2 Box Set Recordings of the IMPULSE years w/ Haden, Motian, Redman etc. Like the 'standards' trio with a much dirtier and nasty edge plus Redman. Raw and risky Jarrett. Great tunes. Under rated music. 6 - Any Dave Holland on ECM since 1983. Includes some of the great players alive today - Steve Coleman, Steve Wilson, Chris Potter, Billy Kilson etc. 7 - Jerry Bergonzi w/Adam Nussbaum and Dan Wall ,2 albums .....Lost in the Shuffle and ? both on Jamey Aebersold's label called ....? (cannot locate current catalogue no?s) Fantastic trio. Bergonzi carries the flame, saxophone mastery as good as it gets (ever). Under rated. 8 - Esbjorn Svensson - All of the trio recordings since '95. Beautiful ballads, great originals, a true band sound. 9 - Bobo Stenson Trio - War Orphans (ECM) catalogue no 1604 All 3 have a fantastic sound and touch. Lots of space. Big improvement to the ECM sound (less reverb). 10 - Wynton Marsalis - Standard Time (catalogue no Columbia 468713) Since seeing the Marsalis Bros at Ronnie's in the early '80's (dozens of times) I've been into a lot of their music. I particularly like this quartet recording. Overly underated or visa versa because of all of the hype and gripe surrounding WM. To try and clarify the above, here is where you will find some of the recordings: 1 ? ?The Classic Quartet: The Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings (GRP 280 8 CD) 2 ? Miles Davis: cannot find catalogue number for box set, but the material can be found on the original Columbia albums, ?ESP? (Columbia 467899), ?Miles Smiles? (CK 65683), ?Sorcerer? (CK 65680), ?Nefertiti? (CK 65681), ?Miles In The Sky? (CK 65684), and ?Filles De Kilimanjaro? (CK 46116) 3 ? Ornette Coleman: again cannot find the box set, but material can be found on following Atlantic releases, ?The Shape Of Jazz Come? (8122 72398-2), ?Change Of The Century? (781341), ?Free Jazz? (8122 72397-2). All indispensable. 5 ? Keith Jarrett: again check out the following Impulse! Releases.. ?Fort Yawah? (547 966-2), ?Silence? (Impulse! GRP 11172), Mysteries: The Impulse Years 1975-1976 (IMPD 41494 4CD) 6 ? Dave Holland: All in print and readily available; ?Jumpin? In?, (817437-2), ?Seeds Of Time? (825322-2), ?The Razor?s Edge? (833048-2), ?Triplicate? (837113-2), ?Extensions? (941778-2) ?Dream Of The Elders? (529084-2), ?Points Of View? (557020-2) ?Prime Directive? (547950-2), and ?Not For Nothin?? (014004-2) 8 ? Esbjorn Svensson: check out ?Streams? on Dragon DRCD 291. And as the ?Forgotten man of British Jazz?? Also thought you might be interested to know that w/ regard to the Forgotten Man of British Jazz............I took time out in the early '90s to study orchestration and recording techniques. 3 years turned into 9 years and then the Ballads album. I found it much more fruitful to work as a sound engineer and teacher - for my own progress as a musician - than when I was playing live. I've amassed a great deal of my own recordings with a variety of UK jazz musicians and it is these that I intend to release over the coming years. I think that I am hooked into the idea of recording and the lifestyle is a lot easier than trying to be 'on the road'. However I do intend to play live again at some point depending on the outcome of my releases. Also I live half the year in the sub-tropical rainforest in Eastern Australia where I am involved in forest regeneration on my own land. This is a great environment for developing my music. |
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