Jazz that is currently happening

[pilsner]

The only Marsalis I can really respect is Branford.  My dislike of Ellis can be attributed to the fact that he is an enormous asshole and every time I hear him play I remember how utterly mean he was to me and my friends.  Wynton is Wynton and there really is nothing to say about him that hasn't been said.  Delfayeo is simply not quite as good as Branford, Ellis, or Wynton and gets kind of gimmicky at times.  Jason is a little boring, but he could change my mind over time I guess.

That said, I do enjoy the recording I do have of the Marsalis family (the one w/ Harry Connick Jr. on it).  I don't really know why exactly.

Try not to intellectualize it, eh.  What did Ellis do to you man?  Like, share with the class.  

[KickThatBathProf]

He basically told us our band was not very good and that we were bad musicians because we couldn't rattle off 5 or 6 jazz musicians of our own instrument.  I mean, this is a high school jazz band and most of us weren't necessarily that serious about becoming musicians yet, but that doesn't mean we were bad musicians.  I just expected better treatment for someone who was known for his contributions to music education.

[pilsner]

I'm just kind of amazed Ellis heard your high school jazz band play in the first place.  How the crap did that happen?  I ask because I have been trying to get Britt Daniel to come over and play Rock Band 2 with me and he just won't.  Says he's washing his hair, but I find it difficult to believe he washes his hair every evening including weekends.

[KickThatBathProf]

He was playing at our town's jazz festival and he had like a little hour-long clinic with us beforehand.

[pilsner]

Well I heard some of the stories about why him and Wynton weren't talking to each other for about 10 years so I'm not surprised.  That's a damn shame though.  He seemed really nice when I saw him perform.  Not that that means anything.  You just kind of want to hug him a bit, playing with four of his kids and all.

[Bastardous Bassist]

He basically told us our band was not very good and that we were bad musicians because we couldn't rattle off 5 or 6 jazz musicians of our own instrument.

That's an odd thing, because I remember on the first day of the school year in high school jazz band (many years ago), our teacher asked us to do the same.  I think I was the only person to make it to five, and I had to go for a guy I wasn't sure if he was a bassist or a drummer since I could only remember seeing his name on my Pat Metheny Trio live album (turns out Larry Grenadier is one of my favorite bassists these days).  Some of the guys in my jazz band were really good.  Like, definitely better than I was at the time (I didn't believe that at the time, but now I can see it).

[KickThatBathProf]

Yeah I think at that time I could only get to four, but that was because I didn't really listen to jazz trombonists that much (and frankly I still don't)

[pilsner]

J. J. Johnson and....

yeah....

[KickThatBathProf]

Hahahaha yeah that is the one everyone remembers and is certainly one of the best if not the best.  I would also look into Curtis Fuller and of newer trombonists Wycliffe Gordon.  Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh other ones that I don't necessarily like but "of note" are Slide Hampton, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey (duh), Kid Ory (dixieland), Bill Waltrous, Steve Turre, Frank Rosolino, Kai Winding, John Allred, and Carl Fontana.

(whew)

[pilsner]

Great, now I have to go download a crapload of trombonists.  That high pitched shriek you hear is the sound of my ratio approaching 0.00.

I always liked to say that J.J. Johnson is my favorite trombonist because sometimes he sounds likes he's playing a sax.  Needles to say, I played a sax and a good friend of mine in pre-college played jazz trombone.  He did not appreciate this comment.

[Bastardous Bassist]

How about Robin Eubanks of the Dave Holland Quintet?

[pinkpiche]

Btw Norah Jones really IS the shit.

[KickThatBathProf]

How about Robin Eubanks of the Dave Holland Quintet?

Thanks man I knew I would forget one or two.  It's kind of weird I forgot Eubanks though, considering I saw him play at one point (not w/ Dave Holland though)

[ViolentDove]

Hahahaha yeah that is the one everyone remembers and is certainly one of the best if not the best.  I would also look into Curtis Fuller and of newer trombonists Wycliffe Gordon.  Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh other ones that I don't necessarily like but "of note" are Slide Hampton, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey (duh), Kid Ory (dixieland), Bill Waltrous, Steve Turre, Frank Rosolino, Kai Winding, John Allred, and Carl Fontana.

(whew)

Check out Fred Wesley! The dude was the band leader for the JBs, but he does music besides funk, as well. 

[suitupletsgo]

what about soulive people?! fucking soulive! their two most recent albums have a vocalist though and I just don't think it works, but all of their other albums are fucking aces.

also check out robert walter. him and his band are extremely tight.

I'm a humongous fan of Sun Ra. I could go as far to say that jazz in silhouette is my favourite jazz album ever.

[Kyros]

This band called Gutbucket played at my school last night, and aside from having a kickass name, they were also a really kickass Jazz band.

I guess they like to call themselves "Punk Jazz" which sounds really stupid but is a pretty accurate description of their sound.  I bought one of their albums but I haven't listened to it yet, thinking of mediaf!re-threading it.

[Bastardous Bassist]

I recognize that name.  They played a show at my school several years back.  I think I was playing a gig at the time so I couldn't make it.  Everyone who went said it was great.  Actually, I think I was playing the gig to replace a guy who wanted to go to the show.

[aflowerchild]

Btw Norah Jones really IS the shit.

THANK YOU!

[Scarychips]

Guys, do you like Marcus Miller's stuff? A friend of mine recommended him to me, and I'm not quite sure about his material. I thought I had a problem, since everyone I know who mentionned him praised him.

[pilsner]

The Bad Plus (seriously, listen to these guys.  If you listen to nobody else I've listed, find these guys)

I just heard Smells Like Teen off your avatar album for the first time.  Wow.  That was unexpected.  I've listened to The Bad Plus before but never the Vistas album.  Guess I'm going to have to get it now.

[Bastardous Bassist]

Some of their best originals are on that album, too.

[aflowerchild]

http://tinyurl.com/2w6bke

The best jazz in the world.

[Akima]

Now here comes my main point.  All of that stuff has been around for forty years.  It's awesome, but it's not exactly current, which makes it not exactly relevant to modern times.

<rant>I like jazz a lot, and yeah, I like the "classics" like Miles Davis and especially Jimmy Smith. And I don't buy for a second the bullshit argument that forty-year-old music is somehow "not relevant". I listen to Sibelius (last major work 1926), J.S.Bach (died 1750) and traditional Chinese music dating back to the Tang dynasty, and I wouldn't call any of it irrelevant. Great music is eternal. Music that isn't eternal isn't great.</rant> Ahem... Getting back on topic, of newer stuff:

• Clarion Fracture Zone:  Aussie quintet. Pretty much any of their albums, but I especially like Zones On Parade.
• Galapagos Duck:  Another Aussie band. Try their album Habitat. Not thrilled with their latest stuff, but inextricably tied to my student years and live gigs at The Basement.
• Eternal Jazz Project:  Swedish.
• Drop Trio:  Mathy organ funk. Gotta love it.
• Chris Juergensen:  I recently bought his Prospects and I like it a lot. Some of the guitar-heads round here might like it too.

I'd echo the Nora Jones recommendations above, though her latest stuff is a bit too "country" for me. Jane Monheit has a fabulous voice. Early Diana Krall was enjoyable, though she's a better pianist than singer, before they started pouring gooey strings over her arrangements.