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Stereojack

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Posts posted by Stereojack

  17. The Modern Jazz Quartet Corner

    in Artists

    Posted · Edited by Stereojack

    Let me just start off by saying that I dearly love the MJQ, all periods, early and late, although I haven't always felt this way. In my younger days I was drawn to harder edged, more overt jazz, and found the MJQ's music too genteel. I resented that they played concert halls and wore tuxedos.

    However, as I began to learn more about the individual members - John Lewis, who had recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis; Milt Jackson, who had also recorded with Dizzy and Miles, and Ray Charles and John Coltrane, and was generally regarded as the leading vibraphonist in jazz in the 1950's and 60's; Percy Heath, who had played on about half of the records made in New York in the early-mid 50's, including some of my favorites by Miles; and Kenny Clarke, largely considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern jazz drumming; and when I began to form opinions of my own without totally relying on those of others who I thought knew more than I did, I slowly began to find merit in their music. At first I dismissed anything after Connie Kay joined, and found his style a little too precise and boring. Eventually as I began to discover their musical universe, which is theirs and theirs alone, I became more enamored and intrigued, first by the records they made with Sonny Rollins and Jimmy Giuffre, figuring that they must be hip if these guys played with them :cool:, and gradually I became a huge fan, eventually acquiring all of their records, early and late. And finally I actually came to prefer Connie Kay, whose style is an integral part of what makes the MJQ unique.

    My personal favorites:

    Django (Prestige, 1955)

    Fontessa (Atlantic, 1956)

    Blues At Carnegie Hall (Atlantic, 1966)

    For Ellington (East West, 1988)

    There are plenty more really good ones! :w

    (edited for typo)

  21. DVD of Stormy Weather (1943):

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Funny you should bring this up - I just watched the film the other night, and was also puzzled as to the identity of some of the acts, particularly those on the riverboat. I wonder if the vocal group might have been the Spirits of Rhythm. The featured singer sounds like Leo Watson, but I haven't seen enough pictures of him to make a positive ID. The personnel of Waller's band in the nightclub scene is Benny Carter (tp), Alton Moore (tb), Gene Porter (cl/ts), Fats Waller (p/vo), Irving Ashby (g), Slam Stewart (b), Zutty Singleton (d), all of whom are on the soundtrack, but I could only recognize Slam and Zutty (and Fats) on screen.

    I agree about the commentary - thoroughly useless! I dumped out after about 15 minutes of his drivel. :cool:

  24. buyers - Nat Cole Box?

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    Not knowing the licensing issues (esp. globally) .. What's the odds are that Mosaic/blue note is going to release some of this stuff at some point in the future?

    Unlikely, since Mosaic usually focuses on material that is not currently available elsewhere, and, also, this set is not primarily a jazz set. Much of the material would most likely be categorized as "pop". There is a fair amount of Nat Cole already available on Capitol, including, I believe, a lot of what's on this set. Bear Family's approach is not necessarily to offer rare or unavailable material, but to provide an exhaustive and comprehensive package for the hard core fan. These sets invariably include outtakes, breakdowns, non-LP singles, good and sometimes bad.

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