Yo cats! (…yo yo) What jazz or jazz-adjacent music are you listening to? This is also a place for broader discussion regarding the genre. Let’s share recommendations, ask questions, talk jazz-related literature and film, and generally have a hip, swingin’ time.
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It’s a rainy Sunday morning and Shirley Scott’s The Great Live Sessions is hitting the spot. This is essentially an expanded reissue of Queen of the Organ (Impulse!, 1964) and was released in the late 70s. Some great music for reading, dining, or just putting your feet up. Nothing too “out there” or in-your-face. Just Shirley hitting some sick organ licks and the always-friendly Stanley Turrentine (her husband, I just learned) bubbling away on tenor.
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I dig jazz but not a scholar of the genre. More of a casual fan. I think Herbie Hancock’s fusion stuff is probably my favorite.
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Been getting into some of the older stuff lately too though. Found this the other day, the part where Blakey gets up & talks is hilarious. Dude’s fucking loaded. I love it.
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Nice! Man-Child is such a slick Herbie record. Headhunters and Thrust gets lots of love when it comes to the fusion stuff. Man-Child seems overlooked. Great going-home-after-a-show music.
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Getting into some MMW - It’s a Jungle in Here this afternoon. I know this one forwards and back, but still great to spin it. (And a great gateway album for the jazz-curious.)
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Got into Jazz through the big names in the 50s and 60s who got a bit weird and pioneered their own movements, Davis, Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman mostly.
I recently discovered Mahavishnu Orchestra which floored me, and when I’m exploring I tend to go in for that spiritual stuff: Pharaoh Sanders, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane etc. But I still feel like a novice.
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Miles Davis is my favorite jazz musician, but I tend to prefer atmospheric work like early Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, etc
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Have you checked out Albert Ayler? He took the “spiritual” tradition quite literally.
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Love me some Miles Davis. Have yall listened to much Kamasi Washington? Love his last two records The Epic and Heaven and Earth.
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I remember loving The Epic when it came out but haven’t put aside the time for it since. Time for that to change I think.
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Ernest Ranglin is my big discovery lately. In my house, late in the evenings, we’d put on jazz and let playlists roll without paying a whole lot of mind. We found Jimmy Smith to be a good starting point for those journeys and that led us to Ernest Ranglin. His 1996 album Below the Bassline is where you should start.
Edit: This post got me to do some extra reading about Ernest Ranglin. What a story! He’s infused in the roots of reggae. This also brought me to Earth Tones where Ranglin plays with Charlie Hunter. Worth checking out, for sure.
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Never heard of Ranglin but I will check him out!
My college roommate had that one. Great way to thin out a crowd.
I have not kept up with the catalog, but hell yeah, I’ve appreciated Zorn since the late '90s, Masada being my main thing, but also some of the Filmworks series and the more classical/minimalist compositions (like Redbird).
Funny enough, the stuff he’s famous for (game pieces and -gulp- Big Gundown) have never done much for me.
I’ve got a few albums I want to link, but they’re not on YT (surprise). Here’s an excerpt from a cool doc:
This live Jeff Parker release from late last year finally found its way to my record player this week. Amazing stuff.
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Barney Willen Moshi. Incredible record
I love this thread already. Is anyone familiar with the Jazz Is Dead series…NOT the grateful dead jazz band, but rather the series pioneered by Ali Shaheed Muhammad of a Tribe called Quest and Adrian Yonge?
I can be yer sherpa here
This showed up on my doorstep this morning. I think I’ve heard of these guys before…
Oh man, time to preach about the church of Mingus. All-time favorite jazz musician, everything he put out is top tier in my book. Recommendations, in no particular order: Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Dynasty, the Clown, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus, and Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.
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Preach on! I think Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is one of the greatest things ever recorded. Have you read his autobiography? It’s cracked.