/BLINDFOLD TEST/
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
Welcome to the weekly /mu/ jazz Blindfold Test thread. Every Friday and Saturday.
If you're new, the point of these threads is to have fun and encourage critical listening, discussion, and general enjoyment of jazz. All critical music listeners are welcome. The more participation we have, the more fun and successful these threads will be. In the interest of keeping the thread alive and bumped, any general jazz discussion is welcomed here as well.
For more information about how the threads work and listening suggestions, please refer to the pastebin: http://pastebin.com/5cjEr3A6
THIS WEEK'S THEME: Criss Cross
COMPILED BY: JTG
NEXT WEEK: ???
COMPILED BY: ???
If you missed last week's thread, DON'T WORRY. It's not too late. Here are the links for the mystery tracklist. Download the tracks, record your thoughts/guesses/evaluations for each one, and then come back and post them in the thread. Remember, people will be posting guesses and thoughts in this thread so don't read the thread until you have listened to the music and collected your thoughts in order to avoid spoilers. Track info for this week's tracks will be posted on Saturday, so if you see the thread is close to dying before then, give it a bump.
http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/18nM0DFx/file.html
Posting with names or tripcodes is encouraged as it makes discussion much easier.
1. This reminds me a little bit of the Larry Young album Into Somethin, probably because of the instrumentation. The music sounds kind of typical hard bop but there’s a weird dissonance on the melody. The saxophonist mostly sounds like he just wants to shred. The guitarist played some cool things though. The organ solo wasn’t great and sounded too far in the background. I remember a few weeks ago Jazzpossu put something by Larry Goldings on his organ week so I’ll guess this is him again on organ. 2.5 stars.
2. That intro was cool but then this turns into kind of a standard swinger. I hear keyboards but also piano so I’m wondering if there are two pianists. I have heard enough of jtg’s playlists before to guess that this is probably a Chris Potter/Alex Sipiagin recording. The bass player starts doing some cool stuff during the piano solo. This one actually stayed pretty interesting with the shifting tempos and the way they kept all passing the soloing around. Chris Potter was killing it. 3.5 stars.
3. Sounds like an older recording I would say. The pianist is drawing my attention most here, doing some cool stuff with rhythm. The drummer is also doing some cool things. The trumpet player reminds me of Freddie Hubbard a little bit. Not sure if he ever recorded on Criss Cross. I’m getting McCoy Tyner and Monk vibes at the same time in the piano solo. Sounds like typical post-bop. 3.5 stars.
>>64258973
4. Something different. Sounds more classical almost. I’m not great at identifying string instruments but this seems more like bass than cello. This one is a little bit soundtracky but I like the emphasis on melody and it’s a nice change from the other stuff. It’s very unexpected when the drums come in but I liked it. 4 stars.
5. Starting with a drum solo isn’t usually a winning move for me but then this got cool pretty fast. It feels like there is some Cecil Taylor influence but also a nice melody too and a cool groove. Anybody else getting some Coltrane vibe from this? The energy of it has a sort of a spiritual quality to it. It’s cool when it goes into more of a groove for the piano solo too. Easily my favorite track so far. 4.5 stars.
6. Sounds like we’re back to post-bop with this one. I can’t decide if the drummer is overplaying or not. I think the drumming helps make the piano solo more exciting actually. I wasn’t so sure about this one but the sax player is winning me over I like how he makes the whole group sound a little more “free”. The drum solo was kind of unnecessary but short at least. I liked this one mostly though. Orrin Evans is one of the few Criss Cross pianists I know but I could see this being him. 3.5 stars.
7. This one has an older sound to it too. Not just from the recording but it sounds like 50’s bebop. The pianist was probably my favorite here but other than that I don’t have too much to say about this one. 2.5 stars.
>>64258991
8. This one has a little bit of a call and response thing or something going on that I like. It’s cool when it moves from being so structured right into a very free improv section. But then it switches from that into a post bop swing. I like the sax player. The piano solo is pretty nice too. This one was kind of long but I liked that it kept shifting the feel so that it didn’t get boring. 4 stars.
9. To be honest I spent most of this one waiting for the rest of the band to come in. But then after about three minutes I realized it must be staying as a duet. So maybe I should listen to this one again because I didn’t really stay very engaged for most of the beginning. I guess the last half had a nice melody though. It was just unexpected. So 2.5 stars I guess.
10. More post bop to close out the week I guess. I find the melody pretty enjoyable and I like the “dark” sound to it. I’m liking this saxophonist. He maybe one of my favorites of the week. I like that he sounds bluesy and kind of out at the same time. The trumpet player didn’t stand out as much but I enjoyed the pianist a lot. 3.5 stars.
OH BOY I'M SO JOINING THIS DISCUSSION
i'm still downloading the zip!
>>64259043
Cool. It's good to have some new faces.
>>64259873
Hmmm currently listening to track #5 now :)
>>64258329
sup, this is probably not very related to this thread but i don't know where to ask my question. i just bought an alto sax (pic related) and i don't have any money left for a teacher. so do any of you guys know a good channel on youtube to learn how to play the sax? i would like to play jazz. thank you
one of my favorite songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__OSyznVDOY
>>64261073
I don't know of any YouTube channels but you can probably get a pretty good start just with a fingering chart and by running some scales. Do you know how to read music?
>>64259014
Some decent guesses on these. I'll wait a little longer for some others to post before making a detailed response.
>>64261073
Your best bet is probably to start learning scales as jtg said, and also pick up some books to study alongside working on your technique. I'm not a saxophonist so I can't recommend any sax-specific stuff but Jazz Theory: From Basic to Advanced Study will teach you the basics of harmony as well as how they apply to jazz. Here's a link:
http://www6.zippyshare.com/v/0RGV0mgZ/file.html
Here's the online workbook to be used along with the main textbook.
http://www.routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9780415537612/default.php
Start learning how to sing the intervals right away, this is very important. Good luck.
>Track 1
Here we go. Not much momentum to this one, lets see if the solos improve that. Sax solo isn't doing much for me - it feels empty somehow, nothing interesting in the tone or what he's playing. Once it jumps to double time it's finally getting somewhere, but still nothing to exite me. Guitar solo is a bit more interesting, and there's a little run of notes I really like at around three minutes. During the organ solo it feels like the organist and guitarist play off each other a bit rhythmically in a way they should have been doing before this. Overall I wasn't too impressed with that track...
>Track 2
I liked the little intro to this one - was expecting some sort of Bobby Hutcherson/Jackie McLean style moody experimental piece, but then the tempo kicked in. Oh, slow again, so I guess we're gonna have a mix of tempos here, that's cool. The trumpet tone is sooo soft, but it's not in the register of a flugelhorn? Horn and sax are weaving really nicely in the slow parts. I'm actually not sure where the line comes between improvised and written - is it a gradual thing? What the rhythm did around 2:20 was cool, this drummer and bassist can really groove together. And there's a few more bits like that it seems. Soloists are all doing a good job of working around the rhythmic weirdness too. I really like how unpredictable this track is. It was hard to get my head round whilst typing this up - I think I'm going to listen to it again...
>>64262597
>Track 3
After the last track, this is a bit too unadventurous for my tastes. I think these rhythms are sort of latin, but a bit different? That's quite cool I guess. I like how stabby the piano is being under the first solo, and the drums are joining in on that too. In fact everyone is pretty staccato here, sax included. Nice effect, especially with the climbing up and down runs the sax is doing. Trumpet is smoother, definitely a Sketches of Spain feel here, though at a higher tempo. I like how the rhythm gets gradually looser towards the end of his solo. Piano solo was pretty good too actually. Not sure how I feel about this as a whole really. All the solos were really good but something about the overall feel of the track fails to excite me fully. I think maybe I hang more importance than I should on a nice head melody/arrangement given how jazz is really more about the soloists, but at the end of the day I just don't really like this one.
>Track 4
Sounds really soundtracky. Reminds me a little of the In Bruges soundtrack actually, which is no bad thing. Love these timbres, and got so carried away in the groove with this one that I didn't really think of anything to write first time listening...
The long drawn out approach to the bass solo is beautiful - picking just the right notes to complement the changes. Again not sure how much is written or improvised though. I like the change that happens around 1:50 as the piano gets more open sounding. I didn't know there were drums in this until the piano solo started. I was less fond of that than the rest of the piece, though the bass stayed interesting and it ended nicely. I really liked this piece.
For the sake of having something to guess (which isn't going to happen often for me this week) I'm going to say maybe this is Avishai Cohen, but I'm not at all familiar with him (other than from a previous /bf/) and I have no idea if he's ever recorded for Criss Cross...
>>64262623
Aaaand that's all for now. Hope to get some more listening in tonight, but if not I'll be back in the morning.
>>64262623
Sounds like we were both picking up soundtrack vibes from track 4. Avishai Cohen is a good guess but I have no idea whether he's ever recorded on Criss Cross or not either.
hi everyone this is my first time so pls be nice
1. very chill i like it a lot its very good jazzy and nice like relaxing at a nice jazzy drug den while on heroin like this a lot nice to listen to on a sunny day on a beach
2. great start really nice wow this track is really picking up so nice almost has a dancing feel to it yet has some sad moods in there very dynamic track we have going on here great piano too
3. very latin vibe good sax good everything wow this is so great nice dance vibe cheesy drum solo that leads nowhere tho
4. what is this? sounds like a bit of third stream great melancholy feeling stuff makes me want to sit on a hillside and reflect on my life almost tearing up while typing this good good track might be my favorite track great closer too
5. okay drums this track does nothing for me it's pretty blah
yeah i don't feel like finishing see you next week boys
>>64263579
Well thanks for joining in. It looks like my favorite track was your least favorite.
The thread will be going on until tomorrow if you feel like doing the rest.
>>64263704
thank you friend
i might finish this later
>>64258329
I really love the syncopated guitar chords that play during the organ solo in the first track, it's a shame that the sax melodies don't do much for me.
lol like all the melodies are so much less interesting than the soloing
Well last night I saw Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock together in Austin, Texas so since I'm not writing about the tracks this week I thought I might write a little bit about that.
So before the music started someone came out to introduce the two of them and explained that this year Herbie received a Lifetime achievement Grammy award thing but he wasn't going to be at the presentation ceremony because he was going to be playing another date with Shorter. So they had the two of them come out and Shorter presented it to Hancock.
After that they got into the music pretty quickly. Herbie started some dissonant riffs on the piano and Shorter picked up his tenor. I've wondered for a while why Shorter has preferred soprano for the last twenty years or so but it became obvious why he does pretty quickly.
It really sounded like Shorter was struggling to keep up with Herbie. I think at 82 he just doesn't really have the breath to make it happen on tenor. Herbie was playing a lot of cool stuff- a lot of it very 20th century classical sounding- but Wayne wasn't really reacting much to it. Instead he stuck mostly to long notes and that seemed to emphasize his breathy tone. When did play melodically it usually didn't really work very well with what Herbie was doing. This went on for 10 minutes or so before it just kind of fizzled out.
For the second song Herbie moved to his synthesizer and started laying down some ambient soundscapes with synth sounds that sounded patently 80's. Shorter moved to Soprano but barely added anything to the tune. Over the course of the 10 minutes that this song went on I'd say Shorter played less than 15 notes. Mostly he would just hold out a high note in Herbie's chords.
>>64264552
When this was finally over Herbie started up something new on piano and when Shorter joined in they seemed to be matching up a little better than the first piece they played. Before long Herbie had scooted back over to the synth though but this time he used a looping effect to create a polyrhythmic, industrial sounding drum background. After playing with the polyrhythms a little bit Herbie went back to the piano and he and Shorter played along with the loop and actually got into some pretty cool stuff. Shorter still stuck to pretty simple melodies but they were in time with the drumming and Herbie really went out of his way to make him sound good. Then they had a nice definite ending.
Then they did some more improv that was a similar approach to the first thing the played but they seemed to be playing together a lot more with a lot of call and response playing.
After that they talked briefly then left the stage. Everybody applauded and they came back out pretty quickly for an encore.
The encore was a pretty nice ballad that I think came from something composed. It was pretty good and nice to hear them both playing very melodically. At one point I am sure Shorter quoted the Star Wars theme but I'm not sure anybody else heard it.
Overall kind of a disappointing show, mostly due to Shorter's age limitations I think. But there were some good moments and it was worth it to hear two legends playing together.
>>64264446
It's almost like it's jazz or something...
>>64264552
Wow how much were tickets?
>>64264933
$50 were the cheapest ones
Bump. Wonder where everybody is today.
>>64262623
>Track 5
Drum intro wasn't very interesting, but the way the piano came in was cool, with the bass vamp and then the trills. Sounds like Andrew Hill in terms of the Monk influences, so knowing jtg I'm guessing maybe Orrin Evans? This sax solo is sweet - digging the amount of repetition in it, almost trance-like. Actually now the solo is going the piano sounds more like Cecil Taylor style playing. It's really interesting what the rhtythm section is doing, sounding almost free jazz whilst the sax keeps the beat.
The drums are still doing what they were in the intro, but it makes a lot more sense now the piano and bass are in there too. Piano solo is awesome. Again I like the way they hold the beat so well with quite a free sense of melody.
Listening to it again, the head melody sounds like it was alternating 4/4 and 9/8. That was cool because it grooved so well it was unnoticable at first.
>Track 6
I like the drums on this track. Realised during the piano solo I was mostly listening to them rather than anything else. Sax solo changed that as I thought was he was doing was great. The way it started with long(ish) held notes and then kept revisiting them through the solo was cool, especically coupled with his slightly unhinged tone (like he was almost but not quite overblowing every note) that made those notes sound cool. Actually reminded me of something I was listening to this morning - Joe Henderson's El Barrio (from Inner Urge) - which has a similar screaming sound on the sax and is one of my favourites of his.
Anyway this was a solid track.
>>64266069
>Track 7
Is this a lesser known standard? The opening melody has a really lyrical feel. This alto player has a similar feel in his soloing, but he's also quite boppy in his phrasing. It's quite traditional sounding but still pretty good. Is this a trombone or some other kind of horn? Bit of a weaker solo as I think his slides are a bit sloppy and there's not enough space for any of his melodic ideas to stand out. Piano player does the opposite at first, leaving loads of space around his little bits, and it really works. Gives the rest of the solo a solid basis to build on and it was short but sweet.
Decent track, but again not really adventurous enough for me, though there was some nice soloing. Wasn't expecting that ending, I like stuff like that thrown in.
And I do think it'll be tomorrow before I post any more. I've managed to get plenty of time to listen to each track more than once this week and I'm glad I have done - will have to try and do it this way more often...
>>64265706
I found some time today.
>1
Not really that interesting. Kind of hard bop style but not really something that Jimmy Smith would do or anything like that. The sax player was decent but none of the other solos seemed that interesting to me.
>2
Pretty nice. This has a cool atmosphere from the electric piano but then it also swings hard. These soloists are pretty great too. They all play with a lot of energy and the rhythm section always sounds like they are listening to the soloist. Nice one.
>3
This reminds me of 60’s type music. Jackie McLean and so on. Maybe this is him. I know almost nothing about criss cross. The trumpet and piano solos were both nice. If this isn’t from the 70’s at the latest it seems kind of out of date though.
>4
I say this a lot with these tests but I don’t know if I’d call this jazz. I do like it though. Usually bowed bass is not my favorite but this player gets a nice tone and the melody really comes through. I didn’t like the ending as much though.
>5
Fantastic. This piano player sounds a little like Cecil Taylor and also sort of like McCoy Tyner sometimes. The sax player is awesome too. I love the free jazz jam and how it turns into a rock drum beat later on. More of this please.
We'll see if I get time to listen to the rest tonight.
>>64266069
I had a lot of the same thoughts as you about these two tracks.
Only downloading the tracks now. Will try and post tonight or tomorrow.
Just bumping for the moment.
Hello thread,
Just got home from tonight's local festival jam session - writing my impressions as I go along...
>>64264552
I hope to catch either of them before they die, even Shorter. last big concert i went to was Chick Corea w/ Bela Fleck and that was 2 years ago. we haven't had any interesting artists come up here for awhile, but this summer i might get to see Vijay Iyer
Track 1:
I think Criss Cross has a surprising number of different Hammond players who've recorded with them. This doesn't feel like Larry Goldings or Sam Yahel or Dr. Lonnie Smith, but it's not really that Hammond driven, so hard to say.
Nice, non-offensive, easy going music - kind of in that spot where I wish it was heavier on some aspect, but I'll gladly listen to music like this.
Track 2:
Getting pretty tricky right at the start and apparently not afraid to switch tempos around later, too.
This feels like the kind of post-bop that easily loses my attention and at the least requires several listenings to grasp what's going on.
I like the slow part.
There's really a lot going on here - really hard to make sense of on the first listen. I like that it was relatively short, still.
Kind of interesting - I could see how that would gain from repeated listens and it wasn't too hard to approach.
Track 3:
This on the other hand seems too safe for me. I don't really have desire to listen to this again.
Trumpet solo was the highlight for me here.
>>64258973
>1. This reminds me a little bit of the Larry Young album Into Somethin
I could see that. The organ sound is a little bit like what Larry Young was doing.
>2
You're on the right track here.
>>64258991
>5.
>Easily my favorite track far.
One of my favorites of the week too.
>6.
>Orrin Evans
Not him.
>>64259014
>9. To be honest I spent most of this one waiting for the rest of the band to come in.
I laughed at that. I figured this one would probably throw people off.
>>64262597
>2
>I'm actually not sure where the line comes between improvised and written
I almost always like that
>>64262623
>3
>I think these rhythms are sort of latin, but a bit different?
It's kind of a weird feel on this track. The bass is doing a samba pattern but nobody else is really doing those rhythms.
>4
>Reminds me a little of the In Bruges soundtrack actually, which is no bad thing
Everybody's picking up on the soundtrack nature of this one. I can see how In Bruges comes to mind.
>I'm going to say maybe this is Avishai Cohen, but I'm not at all familiar with him and I have no idea if he's ever recorded for Criss Cross...
Avishai has recorded on a few Criss Cross records- interestingly he plays on another one by this same leader but not this track.
>>64266069
>Actually reminded me of something I was listening to this morning - Joe Henderson's El Barrio (from Inner Urge)
YES! This album always reminds me of Inner Urge. The way the melodies are written reminds me a lot of Joe Henderson tunes and this saxophonist has a raw edge to his tone and kind of a fluid sense of time.
Track 4:
This starts out very nice - love that deep bass sound. The piano has a very minimalistic classical vibe to it.
Oh this wasn't just a duo.
I like this one. Has a very European feel for a Criss Cross release (which is of course strange with it being a Dutch label and all). Cool track.
Track 5:
The kind of drumming that goes back to at least Max Roaches Drums Unlimited here at the start - that's at least what I think of when I hear drumming like that.
Many surprising elements here, pretty nice track - has a good dangerous vibe where you don't know what'll happen next.
I was thinking David Binney on sax maybe, but this is a tenor and I think he plays alto pretty much exclusively. That solo had a vibe that reminded me in some parts of Steve Lehman a bit and I think Binney is kind of like that.
The piano solo is really cool.
This was great - I'll listen to more of these guys.
Track 6:
I don't know what to think - parts of this seem interesting, but overall it's just not really working out for me.
The sax solo is really improving this track for me - pretty nice playing here.
Turned out OK, not a huge fan, but after the cool sax solo and the drum solo, the theme somehow felt a lot more engaging in the end.
>>64268070
Yeah, even though the show was disappointing in a lot of ways it was still worth it for the experience of seeing them. Especially seeing them together.
Track 7:
Sounds like these guys are yearning for some older days.
This kind of feels like a very successful jam session. A lot of classic jazz spirit in this one, but doesn't feel like something I'd listen to a whole lot, but would enjoy live.
Track 8:
Another one of those modern tracks that do a lot of stuff that's hard to keep track of on the first listen.
Hey, the sax guy almost played "the lick" at 02:33!
This sax playing has again some of those qualities that I personally associate with David Binney, but I'm sure there are others who play like this.
This I think is a little below the threshold of not intriguing enough that I'd listen to it enough times to really dig it.
>>64268629
I saw Shorter with his quartet last summer and he was sounding really frail, but yeah, at least I got to see him.
>>64264734
>At one point I am sure Shorter quoted the Star Wars theme but I'm not sure anybody else heard it.
lol do you think he meant to do it?
Track 9:
Well this is all sweet and sappy.
Very breathy trumpet.
This reminds me a lot of of Paolo Fresu's, Richard Galliano's and Jan Lundgren's Mare Nostrum II that came out on ACT this year, although a little more towards Chet Baker or something like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH4zxeZa_r0
I'm not that often in the mood for music like this, but sometimes this is exactly what you want.
Track 10:
So is there a little A Love Supreme influence here, or is it just me. Opens up very similar to Resolution.
Definitely a heavy Coltrane influence here I'd say, I'm digging it. Is this some tribute even?
A Love Supreme is my favorite album of all time and I certainly don't mind people sounding like it, even though this one is a little heavy on the influences with both the sax and piano pitching in if it's not a conscious tribute track/album.
McCoy Tyner hasn't done any Criss Cross albums has he?
>>64268592
>I was thinking David Binney on sax maybe
Oh I bet that is him. I've heard one of his albums before but I forgot that it was a Criss Cross release.
>>64269130
I really think he did. Especially since there is an album he did called Footprints Live! with his quartet from the late 90's where he unquestionably quotes the Jurassic Park theme. I think you can hear the band laugh when he does it.
>>64258329
General Jazz discussion please :
I'm just starting to get into this genre and I'm completely overwhelmed, I would like to please ask for some album recommendations.
Currently my favorite albums are:
John Coltrane : My Favorite Things
Sonny Rollins : Saxophone Collosus
Jimmy Smith : Movin' On
What would you recommend from here? For some reason I just can't get into vocal jazz
>>64268201
>This doesn't feel like Larry Goldings or Sam Yahel or Dr. Lonnie Smith
I think there might only be one other organist who has regularly recorded for Criss Cross.
>2
>Trumpet solo was the highlight for me here.
The trumpeter is very famous.
>>64268592
>4
>I like this one.
I thought you might
>5
>I was thinking David Binney on sax maybe, but this is a tenor and I think he plays alto pretty much exclusively
You should go with your first instinct. It is alto.
>>64268884
>8
>This I think is a little below the threshold of not intriguing enough that I'd listen to it enough times to really dig it.
So is this the reason you don't really enjoy this kind of post-bop? To me this kind of music is the best because there are so many little details in it that are only revealed with repeated listening. I like the feeling of listening to jazz for the first time and looking forward to listening to it again.
>>64269178
>Very breathy trumpet.
Not trumpet actually.
>>64269178
>10
>So is there a little A Love Supreme influence here, or is it just me.
Definitely.
>>64269483
Have you heard other albums by those artists?
Jimmy Smith put out like 30 albums just on Blue Note between 1956 and 1965.
If you like My Favorite Things you should be sure to check out Giant Steps, Coltrane Plays the Blues, Ballads, and Coltrane.
Same for Sonny Rollins. Check out The Sound of Sonny and Newk's Time.
>>64269483
Have you heard A Love Supreme?
>>64269487
8) I think for any music understanding where the musicians are coming from is important - there's certainly plenty of contemporary post-bop where I just don't have a good enough grasp of the style and it ends up sounding "the same" to me.
9) Oh, flugelhorn then? I really suck at telling them apart (and cornet too, for that matter), or at least kind of forget that flugelhorn exists if I don't have a visual reference.
>>64269772
>Oh, flugelhorn then?
Haha trombone actually
>>64269869
well, shit :D
somehow it really didn't feel like a trombone to me :) maybe it's the style of music that's confusing me here.
>>64266186
I'm back
>6
Not bad. This reminded me of the Coltrane quartet at times and everybody seemed really solid in their playing. Sax player and the drummer were my favorite but the pianist was doing some good stuff too. This sounds inspired by 60’s jazz but definitely updated with a more modern style.
>7
This one actually sounds more like it could have come from the 50’s than the 60’s. JJ Johnson type of stuff. Solid playing but very nostalgic. Nothing forward thinking at all.
>8
Pretty good on this one. This has influence of the 60’s too. I hear elements of Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond at times but also mixed with free jazz too. There is good interplay going on during the sax solo and I find this pianist plays very clean but is also fun to listen to. I like this one less than 5 but it’s good too.
>9
From the beginning I didn’t think I would like this one very much but the more I listened to it, the more the melody seemed meaningful. It seems simple but also emotional. It kind of reminded me of track 4 this week.
>10
Pretty cool. This has a 60’s modal sound to it almost like Coltrane or Wayne Shorter but the saxophonist kind of takes things his own way. The piano player was exceptional too. Very nice.
just bumping with the only jazz version of a Prince tune I can think of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_uyLdMa848
do these threads also serve as general jazz discussion or is it mainly geared toward the blindfold test part? don't want to hijack the thread with a recommendation question if it's not on topic.
>>64270622
Pretty cool
>>64270785
Feel free. It helps keep the thread bumped during slow times.
I like sun ra's sleeping beauty. Consider my feeble opinion nothing more than a bump for this thread, /mu/ needs more jazz
>>64271134
also charles mingus the black saint and the sinner lady, im sure both ive mentioned are pretty entry-level but again, I need more time with jazz
>>64271134
>>64271204
same guy here, genuine quesiton. Is BadBadNotGoods success credited more towards their marketing strategy by doing covers and hip hop fusion? I doubt they are actually considered good jazzers but again, what do i know
>>64271250
I haven't listened to them that much but I would say their success comes mostly from their marketing and image rather than their great playing or arranging.
>>64271627
homie rec me some jazz yo. whats what got you hooked on jazz?
>>64271883
Norah Jones - Come away with me
>>64271883
The thing that first got me hooked was probably Bill Evans Trio's Complete Village Vanguard Sessions.
Here are some other favorites-
Alex Sipiagin- Destinations Unknown
Wayne Shorter- The Soothsayer
Dave Holland Quintet- Extended Play: Live at Birdland
Miles Davis- Sorcerer
Yosvany Terry- Today's Opinion
Andrew Hill- Point of Departure
>>64272043
thanks man ill check em out
>>64271966
ill check this out too
>>64273016
bumpo
>>64272165
lol it was a joke but whatever, it really isnt that bad
>>64264734
You think it would be worth it to see them if they are playing near me?
Only have a little bit of time to listen right now, but I'll do a few. New to these threads & will go ahead and revive an ancient trip for it. Also am writing this stream of consciousness as I listen, so it's going to be pretty disjointed.
1 - Not a big fan of the opening theme. The backing band and overall feel of the track is a bit "light" for my taste. Just got to around 1:20 it's it's picking up a bit. Has a real "lounge" feel to it. The tone of all the instruments feels a bit kitschy somehow, and nothing really jumps out at me. This is just alright.
2 - :55 in and I'm liking the tone of this a bit better, hoping it leads to some great solos. Nice and comfy, digging the brief call-and-response interplay between the trumpet and sax (at least I'm pretty sure I'm calling them correctly). Piano solo is weaksauce, tempo changes are nice. Trumpet solo around 4:00 is great. This one is pretty solid, good not great to my ear. I think it would have been better if it felt like the track had more direction in terms of tempo and intensity, instead of just flitting back and forth between slow and upbeat portions.
3 - Something about the recording quality and sound of this makes me think it was recorded live, but that's probably wrong. Digging the piano comping & sax solo a lot. Trumpet feels like it's cooling things of compared to the previous solo a bit, but I like it a lot too. Nice idea development & repetition in the piano solo. Ahhh and finally a drum solo, I love jazz drum solos. I've been listening to Sonny Rollins' Village Vanguard recording lately so I'm gonna have high standards here. Yeah the drum solo was solid but not spectacular. Returning to the theme for the outro, solid. I like this a lot.
>>64274689
Thanks for joining in this week
>>64274689
>Piano solo is weaksauce,
Is that a bad thing?
>>64274516
Well you probably won't get another chance
really enjoying pic related, along with est plays monk
what is the best release this year eh?
Gonna bump with an album I've been digging a lot lately. I fell in love with 70's jazz fusion Sun Ra, and decided to work my way through his discography slowly. This is pretty damn good.
>>64275399
Thanks for the welcome, I've been meaning to hop in here for a while.
>>64276630
Yeah I just meant it was a bit weak, at least compared to the other solos.
>>64273793
yea i was a little suspicious but I rather keep an open mind than to judge.
>>64277394
while not really the "best release", there's a new live Esbjörn Svensson tribute album out on ACT that has other Nordic players from ACT's roster that I think is worth checking out for fans of E.S.T
>>64269334
I've been listening to a lot of All Seeing Eye recently and there are parts on it that really remind me of Holst (particularly Genesis, with that repeated rhythm that evokes Mars) so I can see how if he's a fan of that sort of thing he'd like John Williams too.
Bump - listening to the last three now...
>>64266091
>Track 9
So I admit in skimming over the rest of the thread I noticed Jasspossu's confusion over the solo instrument on this one. I think without having read that I might have thought this was a flugelhorn too... I've never heard a trombone being played with this sort of grace - always think of them as having a slightly harsh edged sound. Not much more to say about this one, got carried away in the melodies. Really liked it.
>Track 10
At first I thought this was Maiden Voyage. Drums are going crazy in the intro, so I think he's leading this session. Still really getting Maiden Voyage vibes once the sax kicks in to be honest, he has that really soulful tone like George Coleman does on that album. I like how pared back the rhythm section goes for the trumpet solo, makes for a great contrast. Drums still doing some interesting rhythmic stuff, but without being so aggressive now, so it's good to see he's got that range. Less enamoured by the piano solo, but there's some nice bits, like that little run at 4:45ish. Another really enjoyable track, and though it sounded sort of derrivative in the same way as track 8, I felt like this one had a much more individual mark put on it by each player than that one did.
>overall
This has been one of the best weeks in a while for me. I think for the first time I'll actually be chasing up every album after the reveal, except maybe the first... I can't decide my favourite track but it was probably 2 or 5 - also really liked track 9.
>>64280974
Oops, missed out track 8:
>Track 8
This seems like the sort of track I don't know if I'll get my head round in only a couple of listens. The bits with a free sense of time especially. I like the contrast in there though. I really like the bass tone on this, the low rumble throughout the sax solo is cool. The sax solo itself is pretty cool too, and I really like the way he ends on that flurry to go back into the free time of the piano solo. The drummer does a really good job of keeping it fluid. Stylistically this reminds me of something the members of Miles Davis second quintet might have done on their own in the mid-sixties. To the point where actually I think it's a bit derrivative, though I'm still enjoying it.
Also I take back what I said at the start, the structure ended up being simpler than I thought.
Bumping with Django
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mged84wke8Q
Gonna sporadically post these. I haven't finished them yet and I have a bunch to do today so if I'm taking too long, just post the tracklist. I won't be reading the thread for a while anyway.
>Track one
That opening melody is crap. I’m kinda rush listening to these but the chords sound odd on this. Things pick up when the sax solo starts but the drummer is the only part of the accompaniment who really caught my ears. He’s throwing in a few accents with the snare here and there throughout the piece and there’s a few nice moments where he responds well to the Sax and guitar solos.
>track two (my fave of the bunch)
Oh my God, that intro. This is so good. This has to be Sipiagin, between the pyrotechnical arrangement and the trumpet playing so on point, you’d swear he was part of some sort of clandestine Russian research project and escaped into the world with nothing but his trumpet and the complete works of Clifford Brown and Woody Shaw.
It’s kinda hard to pick highlights cause it’s one of those tracks where there’s always something cool going on but the shared sax/trumpet solo, the start of the piano solo where he’s like one melodic phrase in, the drummer cuts out the swing he was keeping up on the cymbals and hits the snare/tom and the piano drops out for like a bar before coming back in with a continuation of his opening phrase and the double time solos were all brilliant.
Eric Harland and Chris Potter could be on the drums and sax, not really sure though. I’ll certainly be checking out whatever album this is on, this was class.
>>64258329
Oh, I remember this thread. Tried to participate a while ago, but I gave up, sadly.
Glad you guys are still going. Have a bump on me, one day I'll join you.
>>64282551
It's not too late... thanks for the bump though.
>track three
Sax player reminds me a little of Sonny Rollins though I don’t think he’s recorded for Criss Cross though. I liked his performance though, it was pretty inventive and the ensemble were picking up on where he was going pretty well.
Trumpet solo was very good too, someone who sounds like he’s been listening to a lot of Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard. Again, like the sax solo, there were enough enjoyable melodic ideas to keep me interested the whole way through.
Is this Orinn Evans on piano? The chord voicings and accenting are pretty dissonant and a little Monkish so that’d be my guess. Though, one thing you can kind of make out in this playing is that, while it’s influenced by Monk’s idiosyncrasies, this guy has dexterity closer to bop pianists like Powell which comes out in the single note runs he does.
Drum solo was a bit of a slow builder. I would have liked him to have finished out with a crescendo or something else to release the tension he was building up but it’s passable.
>track four
The rhythm felt an unusual on this one. They’re both playing over a 6/4 feel but I think the bass is accenting stuff in different places to the fairly constant piano so I think that’s making it feel a little unsettled to me. I like it, adds a nice effect to the mournful bass playing. The feeling of the piece shifts in a really interesting way when the drums come in at first, things sound a little more resolute cause the bass player starts playing more on the beat and the piano is getting a chance to move around but after a while, the bass player sounds like he’s playing on a 4/4 feel on straight quarter tones and accenting the 1 and the 3 while the piano is still in 6/4. The drummer kind of compromises between them but again, it’s pretty tense until the piano closes the piece with a few floaty chords.
>>64283378
>track five
The drummer opens this piece like a less flashy and more modern Buddy Rich and he remains fairly active the rest of the piece too. I liked the sax player, it’s like he was playing around with a lot of simple ideas but they were all built on some unusual melodies and harmony. There’s echoes of Coltrane in his playing in the way he builds dynamics and develops melodies and the pianist even reminded me of some of McCoy Tyner’s freer excursions. So I mean, from that point of view this hit a lot of sweet spots for me.
>track six
I think this might be Mulgrew Miller on piano. I associate big full and loud (but dissonant) chords put in unusual places and with lots of sustain a lot with Miller but it’s not exactly a feature unique to him so I’m tentative about that guess.
The single note soloing he does reminds me of Miller too but I can’t quite place the features of it that are ringing bells in my head. I think there are just similar melodic patterns he draws on and I’m used to his playing style. I should sit down and try and work out some of his solos someday. It’d probably be very instructive.
Sax player was cool too, I recognise that sort of shrill and aggressive tone but I can’t place it. I’m thinking maybe a little bit of Coltrane too but it’s kind of a given that sax players have some Coltrane DNA and I think there’s a more prominent influence I’m hearing but I can’t think of who I’m hearing.
>>64283693
>track seven
Some more straight ahead bebop. There’s been a lot of post-bop this week so I’m happy to hear a bit of bird style soloing. I can only assume that trumpet player is your man Conrad Herwig who jtg is (understandably) enamoured with. The accuracy with which he can play the trombone at those speeds is astonishing. I don’t think he’s necessarily the best thing about this track, the sax player is pretty smoking as is the drummer but simply because of how unprecedentedly good he is with the trombone, he stands out to me partially because of the novelty.
>track eight
This guy sounds a lot more like Orinn Evans than that other guy from earlier. There was a lot going on in this piece and I’d liked to have listened to it and a few of the other tracks more. There’s lots of stuff I probably missed and stuff which I liked but haven’t talked about but I think the big thing that caught my ear on this was the nearly imperceptible slowdown in the tempo at the end of the sax solo/start of the piano solo. It’s so smooth, I actually didn’t notice it till I was a few bars in like “wait, this piano solo is a lot slower than the sax solo”. The group is tight together.
>track nine
Something from the Gerry Mulligan, cool jazz school of ballad playing. I really liked this, the trombone players tone was lovely and breathy, the piano player followed him perfectly and his performance was lyrical and heartfelt.
Piano player’s solo was very nice too but I think when I’m hearing a duet, I prefer when there’s a chance for both players to comp. The piano solo was lovely unaccompanied anyway but I think I’d have even had the trombone in there playing a few subtle bass notes.
>track ten
Very grande. What planet is the drummer on? I want to go there. He seems to be taking charge and controlling the pacing very well but he takes a bit of a back step for the sax solo but he’s listening to the guy and upping his involvement when it’s appropriate. Same story with the trumpet solo, he’s messing with the pacing a lot but it seems to be in response to the trumpet player’s ideas rather than an imposition of his own ones. This guy is good. Flashy but tastefully so.
I like the head a lot on this, the trumpet and sax player sound lovely together and the trading lines and counterpoint at the end was close to my favourite solo on this week. Around 7:10 onwards is magic.
>>64261073
Don't know if you're checking this anymore but I played saxophone in the school band briefly but never reached high level outside of concert band music. I love the instrument even though I'm exclusively a guitarist now with a little piano.
>>64261888
This is good advice.
I should also add for technique, you should be playing your scales in the cycle of fourths/fifths and longtones. According to the saxophonists I know, this really helps. Everything else, I suggest be focused on general music practice. Ear training, transcribing, listening, reading charts, etc.
I hope you go far in your wonderful journey. I always wanted to be a saxophone player but due to my lack of sound space and lung capacity, I somehow ended up as a guitarist. I still draw inspiration and ideas from horn players more than guitarists though.
>>64280983
>Miles Davis second quintet might have done on their own in the mid-sixties
Really? I don't think they ever did anything with this kind of a free feel. They would play outside the changes and outside the time but I don't think they ever did anything that had such a loose sense of time.
>>64282426
>That opening melody is crap.
Haha yeah, it is kind of odd on this version of the tune.
>you’d swear he was part of some sort of clandestine Russian research project and escaped into the world with nothing but his trumpet and the complete works of Clifford Brown and Woody Shaw.
Actually there is something interesting about his ridiculous technique. In the 80's in Russia military service was required for young men so Sipiagin played in a military band where they would have to stand outside in the freezing cold for several hours a day and play. Each of them would get a small vial of vodka that they would wear around their necks. People thought that the vodka was to drink to keep them warm but actually they would have to dip their mouthpieces in it in between songs so that their lips wouldn't freeze to the metal.
>>64283378
>someone who sounds like he’s been listening to a lot of Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard.
Funny you should say that...
>Is this Orinn Evans on piano?
Not here but he is somewhere else
>>64283693
>I think this might be Mulgrew Miller on piano.
Not him but he does appear somewhere else this week.
>and I think there’s a more prominent influence I’m hearing but I can’t think of who I’m hearing.
Joe Henderson maybe?
>>64284047
>This guy sounds a lot more like Orinn Evans than that other guy from earlier.
Not him here either
>>64284351
>track ten
Surprised you didn't recognize the tenor player on this one.
>>64284553
Aren't you kind of on the continuum between bop and free jazz when you're playing out though? I mean, maybe they never got to where Braxton and Taylor were on that continuum but you could describe what they were doing as being freer than a lot of jazz.
>>64284703
>it is kind of odd on this version of the tune.
Is it a standard? I didn't recognise the tune.
>Actually there is something interesting about his ridiculous technique. In the 80's in Russia military service was required for young men so Sipiagin played in a military band where they would have to stand outside in the freezing cold for several hours a day and play. Each of them would get a small vial of vodka that they would wear around their necks. People thought that the vodka was to drink to keep them warm but actually they would have to dip their mouthpieces in it in between songs so that their lips wouldn't freeze to the metal.
Oh my God, it's real! There's probably a whole platoon of these super musicians who can play like cyborgs.
>Funny you should say that...
The implication being Sipiagin again maybe? I didn't think he'd be here twice.
>Joe Henderson maybe?
Could be. He's someone I know more as a sideman on a lot of records I like. I hear his playing a lot but I wouldn't think of him often cause the only record I have by him as a leader is Page One.
>Surprised you didn't recognize the tenor player on this one.
It's not Chris. It's way too aggressive to be him. It could be Seamus Blake, he's the only other Criss Cross regular I can think of.
>>64285096
>Aren't you kind of on the continuum between bop and free jazz when you're playing out though? I mean, maybe they never got to where Braxton and Taylor were on that continuum but you could describe what they were doing as being freer than a lot of jazz.
I would say there are kind of two continuums though... one harmonic and one rhythmic. The Miles Davis quintet could go pretty out on the harmonic continuum but they never went as far out on the rhythmic continuum as on this track 8. The Miles quintet played with a loose and fluid sense of time quite a bit but they never really just outright abandoned a definite time feel like they do on this track.
Anybody else planning on posting anymore about these? If not I'll probably just go ahead and post the reveal since I think I've got some other stuff I have to do this afternoon.
>>64284351
Glad you could join in this week.
>>64285287
Yeah. Might as well post them soon.
Also does anybody have a playlist ready to go or almost ready to go???
Or can anybody put one together pretty fast???
>>64285210
Fair point. I suppose where you start calling something free is kind of arbitrary though. I mean, a lot of people call Out to Lunch free but there is usually semblance of a very abstract beat going on and some vague bop phrasing throughout the album.
>>64285441
You should check out Keith Waters' book about the second Miles quintet. He spends some time talking about the different levels of "free" jazz and how that quintet explores some of the different levels.
>>64285608
The damn academics have already had all these thoughts and put them into a table. Bastards. They've even got specific examples too and it's a nice illustration of how free they actually got and the majority of examples are down the less free end so I'm happy to concede that it's probably not accurate to say they played free music, even if they did explore some features of it.
Could anyone here help me out with this?
>>64286081
>>64286233
I haven't found a dl for it yet. I'm sure it will be on soulseek/rutracker within a couple weeks though.
Ok well I'm going to go ahead and start posting the reveals.
>>64285839
Yeah I think that's why that quintet is really probably the prime example of "post-bop". They explored levels of freedom while still remaining tied to the bop-based compositions.
>Track 1
Melvin Rhyne- Shades of Light (composed by Hubert Laws)
From the album “Boss Organ” (1993)
Tenor Sax- Joshua Redman
Organ- Melvin Rhyne
Guitar- Peter Bernstein
Drums- Kenny Washington
Melvin Rhyne is probably best remembered for his work in the 60’s with the iconic Wes Montgomery trio. Rhyne recorded almost nothing through the 70’s and 80’s but then recorded eight albums as a leader for Criss Cross beginning in the 90’s. “Boss Organ” is notable for the inclusion of a young Joshua Redman, who would go on to become a superstar in the jazz world. For me, Redman’s solo is the highlight here and he brings a youthful energy to this tune which would otherwise be fairly mundane.
>Track 2
Opus 5- Three Days of Maybe (composed by Boris Kozlov)
From the album “Pentasonic” (2012)
Trumpet- Alex Sipiagin
Tenor Sax- Seamus Blake
Piano/Rhodes- David Kikoski
Bass- Boris Kozlov
Drums- Donald Edwards
Opus 5 can be described as a Criss Cross supergroup. These five players are some of the most recorded for the label, both as sidemen and as leaders. On these albums they focus on original compositions and the chemistry that they have developed from years of playing together. This track comes from their second album and highlights their blend of intricate arrangements and top-notch improvisation.
>Track 3
Kenny Garrett- Reedus’ Dance (composed by Kenny Garrett)
From the album “Introducing Kenny Garrett” (1985)
Trumpet- Woody Shaw
Alto Sax- Kenny Garrett
Piano- Mulgrew Miller
Bass- Nat Reeves
Drums- Tony Reedus
This album is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was alto player Kenny Garrett’s first recording as a leader on any label. Secondly, it’s the only Criss Cross recording that Woody Shaw plays on. Shaw’s and Garrett’s individualistic playing stands out on this album but the rhythm section also helps this record stand out from other post-bop dates of the mid-80’s.
>Track 4
Edward Simon- Tonada del Cabrestero (composed by Simon Diaz)
From the album “The Process” (2003)
Piano- Edward Simon
Bass- John Patitucci
Drums- Eric Harland
Edward Simon was born in Venezuela but relocated to the New York in the 80’s. He is equally comfortable playing jazz and Latin music and his unique original music often combines the two. Here he reworks a song written by Venezuelan folk singer Simon Diaz. Edwards takes the accompaniment role and lets John Patitucci (famous for playing with Wayne Shorter’s quartet) shine with the melody played on bowed bass.
>Track 5
John Escreet- Exception to the Rule (Composed by John Escreet)
From the album “Exception to the Rule” (2011)
Alto Sax- David Binney
Piano- John Escreet
Bass- Eivind Opsvik
Drums- Nasheet Waits
Originally from England, John Escreet moved to New York and has been a growing name on the more avant-garde side of things. This is Escreet’s only recording as a leader for Criss Cross and the album certainly stands out, incorporating electronics, free improvisation, and sudden shifts between minimalism and maximalism. He has collaborated often with David Binney, who sounds great playing Escreet’s interesting original music.
>Track 6
George Colligan- Shiva’s Dance (Composed by George Colligan)
From the album “Ultimatum” (2002)
Tenor Sax- Gary Thomas
Piano- George Colligan
Bass- Drew Gress
Drums- Ralph Peterson
George Colligan is a very talented pianist and composer who unfortunately hasn’t had very much exposure. Recording mostly for the SteepleChase label, this is one of only two albums he recorded for Criss Cross. Colligan’s compositions often seem to recall those of Joe Henderson, with modal vamps and strong triumphal melodies. This album especially highlights the similarities thanks to tenor player Gary Thomas (another underrated player). Between the raw edge to his tone and his adventurous soloing, this album definitely brings to mind Joe Henderson’s “Inner Urge”.
>Track 7
Slide Hampton- Just In Time (Composed by Jule Styne)
From the album “Roots” (1985)
Trombone- Slide Hampton
Tenor Sax- Clifford Jordan
Piano- Cedar Walton
Bass- David Williams
Drums- Billy Higgins
Gerry Teekens started the Criss Cross label in the 80’s when he began to record American jazz musicians who were passing through Europe. Many of the 60’s jazz greats found a more receptive audience to their traditional jazz in Europe than in America, where fusion and smooth jazz were the most commercially successful. This early recording captures a nice blowing session between quite a few jazz legends when they met up in the Netherlands.
>Track 8
Luis Perdomo- Crossmind Dreams (Composed by Luis Perdomo)
From the album “Links” (2013)
Alto Sax- Miguel Zenon
Piano- Luis Perdomo
Bass- Dwayne Burno
Drums- Rodney Green
Luis Perdomo is another Venezuelan pianist who often blends jazz and Latin music. For this album he sticks mostly to the jazz side of things and highlights his complex original music. Miguel Zenon (from Puerto Rico) has been playing with Perdomo for years and their chemistry is apparent on every single track. This track is an especially good example of their interplay, as it moves between a dense contrapuntal theme, free improvisation, and burning post-bop. A few of you have noted that a track like this takes more than one listen to really start to grasp what’s going on. This is true of the whole album but after a few listens it is a very rewarding experience once you begin to notice all the small details in the music.
>Track 9
Conrad Herwig- Rebirth (Composed by Conrad Herwig)
From the album “Unseen Universe” (2000)
Trombone- Conrad Herwig
Piano- David Kikoski
Trombonist Conrad Herwig is a fixture on the Criss Cross label and this is one of his best albums as a leader, featuring strong players like Alex Sipiagin, Seamus Blake, David Kikoski, and Jeff Watts. For this ballad though, Herwig strips down the ensemble to play it as a duet with Kikoski. The piece highlights the beautiful melody, Herwig’s dark, breathy tone, and his comfort in the high range of the trombone.
>Track 10
Ralph Bowen- Boy For Sale (Composed by Lionel Bart)
From the album “Keep the Change” (2004)
Trumpet- Ryan Kisor
Tenor Sax- Ralph Bowen
Piano- Orrin Evans
Bass- Reuben Rogers
Drums- Greg Hutchinson
I first heard the combination of Ralph Bowen on tenor and Orrin Evans on piano on Conrad Herwig’s “A Voice Through the Door” album. I have talked about that album a lot so I didn’t want to include it on this blindfold test but I wanted to include something else with these two. A few of you heard some influence of Coltrane/Tyner in the playing of these two and while they definitely are inspired by that sound, both of them have a very recognizable sound all their own. I highly recommend any recordings that these two have done together.
Well I tried to include a wide variety of stuff, not just my favorites but I also stuck in a few of my favorites too. I hope people found at least a few things they liked.
If anybody is interested in exploring Criss Cross albums more I made some charts with good albums from the label and I'm always eager to give recs too.
>>64286916
>>64285397
I have that "pairs of the same song" one picked out, I just need to remove track info and think of a better title for it.
>>64286635
Does the rest of this album sound like this?
>>64286677
Definitely going to check this one out.
>>64286769
>>64286830
These too
>>64287341
Awesome. Let's go with that then for next week. Just send it to me whenever you can.
>>64285210
>The Miles quintet played with a loose and fluid sense of time quite a bit but they never really just outright abandoned a definite time feel like they do on this track.
I've definitely heard Herbie do that sort of thing, at the very least. Not with Miles, but definitely when he has been leader. Which is what I meant when I said "on their own".
>>64287449
I've got it ready to go but before I put it up, I'll be in the middle of exams the week after next so I won't be able to participate. If anyone has anything they can put forward instead, I'd be able to put this forward that week cause I won't have much time then.
>>64286803
Will definitely be checking this out, but actually a little disappointed that it's not going to be a whole album of just piano/trombone. Does he have anything with that feel all the way through?
>>64287822
Ah that makes sense.
>>64288065
You might want to check this out. It's more improvised as I recall and I think the pieces lean a little more towards contemporary classical but you might like it.
>>64287387
>Does the rest of this album sound like this?
not really
>>64288035
I've got one ready to go but I don't know if we want to do mine since I just chose the list for this week.
Soz for taking so long. I had everything uploaded and realised one of the tracks has an announcer who says all the players at the end.
I went and removed it and apparently all the rest of the audio on the thing. Eh... I'm gonna eat something and come back to this lel. If anyone else has anything in the meantime>>64288035
>>64288468
I don't mind. Up to everyone else really. Suits me fine.
>>64288468
>>64288485
Ok maybe I will just put something together fast.
>>64288699
Here naw, you're grand. I meant if anyone had one handy. Don't trouble yourself, I can miss a week.
>>64289294
No big deal. I'm about finished anyway.
>>64289373
Kk then. Thanks! I'll have this one ready for next week. Might swap out a track or two in the meantime anyway.
>>64286677
Listening to this now and it is awesome
>>64286582
This track was nice. I guess I should get around to listening to Destinations Unknown since I know you always recommend that.
>>64286677
Oh, I actually got Binney but fucked up again on instrument recognition.
Saw Potter's new band today, pretty good - New material most without names even, I'll tell you guys more later, I know jtg wanted to hear at least. I was hoping he'd show up at the festival jam session I'm at but apparently their tour schedule is a bitch and they had left Madrid at 4am...
Pretty good selections this week, gives me some good starting points to learn about music new and odd to me which is always best in these threads.
>>64291153
Oh that reminds me. I'm surprised Chris Potter wasn't on this playlist. I recognized Sipiagin on track 2 and I figured that was probably Potter on tenor then.
>>64290802
>Listening to this now and it is awesome
Don't suppose you've got a link? It was one of my favourites but the link in the archive is dead and I can't find it anywhere else?
>>64292427
I found it on spotify m8
>>64285397
I can do something for the next week, I guess. I have more than enough 2016 European releases to try to expand everyone's views and I could also try to do the connecting links idea with one player being the same from one track to next or duos jtg suggested.
>>64286916
>>64286944
really appreciate this i've always wanted explore there catalog more after getting into Alex Sipiagin but didn't know where to start
>>64292756
If you're getting into jazz and do not use Spotify or equivalent, you're doing things wrong - such a wealth of essential material so easily available.
Sure, deeper stuff won't be there and muh lossless but it's so much easier to get to know essentials and sample classic albums than Slsk or torrents or whatever.
>>64291970
Oh, Potter's crew just came to the jam lounge. Is there a market for paparazzi pictures of Potter and Gilmore waiting for drinks at a Bar?
I doubt they're planning on actually jamming with the house band and other locals, but hell if I'll leave before they do.
>>64293105
I'm also tempted to just walk up to him and tell him that "jtg left you off his Criss Cross blindfold" and walk away.
>>64292910
I've never liked Spotify. Aside from anything else, I do a lot of my listening on the move so I prefer just putting it on my mp3 player.
Never mind though, I'll find it at some point. Would probably end up buying it anyway so might just skip straight to that step.
>>64291153
I think Binney plays tenor on a few tracks on some of his albums and he plays some soprano on Sipiagin's most recent album but yeah he mostly sticks to alto.
I'm going to need to hear more about the Chris Potter concert. I think a lot of the material will be stuff on his upcoming ECM release so I'm excited to hear what that will be like.
>>64293425
This thread should be alive when I get home, so I'll post some more thoughts then because writing on mobile sucks.
>>64291970
Yeah... I got done making the playlist and realized Potter wasn't in there anywhere but I liked the tracks I had picked. I've put him in plenty of other playlists before anyway.
I've definitely mistaken Seamus Blake for Chris Potter before. I even used to jokingly call him Chris Potter Jr. because sometimes I think people call Potter for gigs/recording dates and if he can't be there they call Seamus Blake next.
That's not completely fair though because even though their tones are very similar their styles are a little different. They both really favor motivic development in their solos but I think Potter approaches it with a little more abstraction and humor whereas Blake hits it a little more directly.
>>64292427
Almost all Criss Cross albums are available on Youtube.
>>64292884
I'm glad somebody will use them. One thing that's cool about the label is that if you find a few players you like you can usually find them on quite a few other albums and will start to recognize some of the other players who appear a lot.
>>64293340
One of my favorite things about Spotify is actually syncing playlists to your smart device - really made my life easier compared to the time I was copying shit to my iPod.
It's an inconvenience though that you feel the limited storage capacity of smartphones when you'd want to offline a bunch of stuff just in case.
>>64293164
Get him to participate in next week's test
>>64293164
Oh my God Please do this>>64293625
That would be the greatest thing to ever happen on /mu/
At the very lease, get a pic!
>>64293757
Well here's the next best thing
https://tedpanken.wordpress.com/2016/01/01/for-chris-potters-45th-birthday-a-downbeat-feature-from-2008-a-jazziz-feature-from-2006-and-an-uncut-db-blindfold-test-from-2000/
On the bottom of this article is Potter's blindfold test from 2000.
He has a lot nicer things to say about the World Saxophone Quartet than I did.
>>64293757
Looks like they either went to have proper dinner in the dining room or more likely to bed - it's soon 2am here so they'd apparently been awake for over 20 hours, so I have an excuse for being a total pussy and not taking /blindfold/ to the next level.
"Hello Mr.Potter, have you ever heard of 4chan?"
This festival location is pretty cool in the sense that the hotel where all artists stay at is like a 2 minute walk from the venue and the regularly jam session is here every night and there's nothing remotely decent open after the gigs end for Miles around and there's a limited amount of people not directly working for the festival who stick around for the jams, so there's usually a high chance to meet and chat with anyone performing in an informal and relaxed atmosphere if you want.
I did exchange some pleasantries with Marcus Gilmore after his gig with Iyer last summer at another local festival, so maybe he would have immediately recognized me and jumped for the incredible offer to /blindfold/ with us.
>>64293757
Here's a picture I got when I saw him back in December. I got lucky to see him at a very small venue and managed to get good seats for the late set.
>>64293995
I'd actually really like to hear now what you think lf WSQ's earlier albums where they play all original material.
Choosing these /blindfold/s has actually made me aware of the fact that I apparently find "popularity" and coping, subverting, parodying or just plain achieving it to be fascinating - I find myself picking commercial successes, failures and anything connected to artist milestones like that in contrast to just making picks based on purely artistic success and that pick from WSQs discography was certainly primarily decided by the stark contrast between it being from their most commercially succesful recording while going all apeshit abstract in the solos.
>>64294232
The biggest thing I noticed seeing him live (with his own Quartet, I've seen him with Metheny before) compared to recordings was how much more intense he felt live - really awesome high register playing on tenor, too, and his unaccompanied solo passages never got boring or formulaic.
>>64294421
I'll listen to one. Which one do you think I'd like the best?
>>64294526
Yeah the thing I noticed the most was just how much control he has over the instrument. Seeing him live I really noticed things like how he controls the volume of what he plays and how much he is listening to the other players.
http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/rm8pjPHw/file.html
Bump. Here is the link for next week. The theme is vibraphone.
good thread. i will bump
looks like the thread suggesting a classical blindfold test thread died, so I'll just say here I really hope it'll happen.
>>64294787
Try Steppin' With The World Saxophone Quartet - it's an early studio recording that has enough separation between the saxes through the magic of stereo that it should be clear whether their concept doesn't work for you
I stayed at the jam until last call, so I'll just do a quick summary:
- Potter was great - I really liked how his unaccompanied solo passages were always interesting, how intense and dynamic his playing was live and how well he took was advantage of the high register of his tenor sax
- Pablo Held on piano was a bit of a mixed bag and the weakest link - at the start he appeared to be too low in the mix so you couldn't hear what he was playing even when he was pounding on the keys, but this improved over the 90 minute set - he was the biggest offender of formulaic post-bop soloing that I found pretty boring, but he did play great in slower passages that required interplay, so not all bad.
- Joe Martin on bass felt at first totally generic, but when it came time for solos or passages that required more structure or support from the bass he always came through wonderfully, so I ended up being really impressed by his ability to do whatever is needed and nothing more - really won me over.
- Marcus Gilmore I saw last year in Iyer's trio and in comparison he was a lot more unsure now and playing a lot more loose - he was really impressive and confident with Iyer and less so now. He got the job done, but felt like he needed to put more effort into it. Great solo in the last song, so Roy's grandson has still got it.
Potter had some sort of a touchpad-thing he used in a couple of places to trigger various sounds. These started a really surprisingly abstract passage in a tune that may or may not be called "Sonic Anomaly" and later for me the highlight of the set: a tune that grew out of a pretty ambient repeated passage from the touchpad and then gathering a lot of rhythmic momentum along the way - almost an Esbjörn Svensson Trio type thing.
>>64299276
Potter remarked that most tunes were still unnamed and new - first one was "tentatively called 'Explore'", then there were tunes called 'Sonic Anomaly' and 'Adams' and the encore was called 'Eagle'
>>64299276
Thanks for writing this. Sounds like an interesting show.
random-I-might-want-to-say-more-about-Potter-in-the-morning-bump
Enjoy an example of how Chris Potter miraculously made Pat Metheny seem all exciting and cool meanwhile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iavWYtNu-Q
