All That Jazz ...

I have been watching NPR music's tiny desk concerts on YouTube for a while now. Was watching the Vijay Iyer trio and Rudresh Mahantappa perform when I chanced upon Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. Absolutely spellbinding music this.

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing @Avinash Pai
I’ve only got one album with Scott, before he added letters to his name (see below). Not as adventurous as the set above, but if you like Cuban jazz, you’ll love it. Stefon Harris is also in fine fettle, on vibes.
Btw, could you please share the Vijay Iyer concert link, too? Would love to watch that, as well. Thanks!

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Great stuff! Thanks for sharing @Avinash Pai
I’ve only got one album with Scott, before he added letters to his name (see below). Not as adventurous as the set above, but if you like Cuban jazz, you’ll love it. Stefon Harris is also in fine fettle, on vibes.
Btw, could you please share the Vijay Iyer concert link, too? Would love to watch that, as well. Thanks!

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Thanks. I love Cuban Jazz and have been a big fan of Buena Vista Social Club, Ibrahim Ferrer and so many more. Thanks for this recommendation. Here is the Vijay Iyer NPR concert I watched.


Also here is one of Rudresh Mahanthappa at NPR. You may like him too.

 
Thanks @Avinash Pai !
These tiny desk concerts are something else. IIRC, @Nikhil had started a thread devoted to them. Time to resurrect it, methinks.
And, yes, I’m a fan of RM too. The Bird Calls album below is a favourite. And the Iyer album has RM, Crump and a superb musician called Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Do check it out, if you haven’t already.

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TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/album/68714033



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I was wondering when someone would lay out some MJQ.
 
So I scanned all 93 pages and only caught one post on the Modern Jazz Quartet ( MJQ). Not sure why I don't here more about these guys in Jazz circles. I only have this one recording but I rather like it. MJQ is underrated I think.

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True, MJQ doesn't find mention. Nor do a whole bunch of jazz vocalists. I was thinking that vocal jazz and vocalese are out of favour in this thread:
Lambert, Hendricks and Ross; Manhattan Transfer; Kurt Elling, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Dee Dee Bridgewater to name a few.
 
I got on the Cole train (groan!) with Giant Steps, and his Atlantic albums are still my favourites - a good balance between the ‘sheets of sound’ of his Prestige period, and the fire-breathing pyrotechnics on the Impulse sessions.
Giant Steps, Coltrane’s Sound, Coltrane Plays The Blues and Ole Coltrane are the standouts for me.
These days I am inclined to believe that a standout Coltrane album for me is Both Directions At Once : The Lost Album.
 
a smoldering , slow buildup leads to a crescendo of beautiful atmospheric jazz .. my all time Hancock favorite.. the crosstalk between instruments lays out the tapestry of a beguiling sound —building up and releasing tension— resolving into an epic story that isn’t too difficult to visualize especially with the helpful suggestion from the liner notes which begin thus :
“ away beyond the mountains of Lune , in the heart of the Great Eastern Sea, lie the Empyrean Isles , four glittering jewels, beyond the dream of men. there is a perpetual haze around them , shimmering and distorting , and they seem to hover , ethereal , a little above the water , suggesting a world inaccessible except to a fancy. “


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I was thinking that vocal jazz and vocalese are out of favour in this thread
That’s an interesting observation.
I have a reasonably decent jazz collection, yet only a handful of vocal jazz CDs; mostly Ella and Billie.
Not sure why but I’ve always preferred instrumental jazz. OTOH, the majority of my rock collection is vocals. Wonder if it’s the same for others.
 
That’s an interesting observation.
I have a reasonably decent jazz collection, yet only a handful of vocal jazz CDs; mostly Ella and Billie.
Not sure why but I’ve always preferred instrumental jazz. OTOH, the majority of my rock collection is vocals. Wonder if it’s the same for others.
Very similar thing in my small collection too. Out of the handful vocal jazz i own, i seem to go back to Johnny Hartman now and then.

Lately I have not been playing too many piano trios aswell. Mostly listening to trumpet players in the phase i am in. My rock/pop listening use to be 99 percent vocal driven too.
 
could it be that once you have heard the words repetitively there isn’t much to listen to in vocal jazz …
You’re definitely on to something there, moktan.
Personally, I thrive on obscure lyrics: Dylan, Steely Dan, Tom Waits, Tull, RHCP, Cornershop, REM, Massive Attack, the list goes on…
When it comes to jazz vocals, there’s only so many torch songs I can take :)
Which is probably why I prefer the offbeat numbers like Black Coffee, Love For Sale and Strange Fruit.
 
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