CJ Shearn

Hardbopjazz, "Now's The Time" is heavily edited on the CD, just so you know.

The track you can skip!

http://youtu.be/oGnzwjArjUk

I understand Lon. His implied swinging and dealing with time takes getting used to, as it does with Jack, but Jack locks into a groove so much even when he's not outright swinging or playing a deep in the pocket funk or rock. One of the tunes that's so great on "Whisper Not" is that gorgeous "Poinciana". The great thing Lon when I saw Jack live back in 2008 with Pat Metheny and Larry Grenadier was I was literally right in front of Jack, those drums sound amazing! The heads sound close to calfskin, and you'd think those cymbals make for a better sound recorded but they sound so wonderful live, ironically enough.

What about Motian irks you, Lon? Is it his completely resonant bassdrum sound with no deadening, his free time approach? I think he adds something very very special to that recent Chick Corea trio with Eddie Gomez, which I must listen to again. I share your enthusiasm for Jack with Keith, I get the KJ trio albums as much for Keith as I do Jack, and anyone who says Jack is too loud as a drummer isn't listening to any of these sides carefully. There's so much to listen to, I will get "Deer Head" another time

I decided to grab it later actually, but thanks, I will whenever that is!

No hate here. I do feel funny openly saying I dig KJ around here sometimes though!

I still gotta get that one, was Motian subbing for Jack a one time thing in that band? I love "Changeless". "Endless" is one of the most beautiful tracks I've ever heard, one of my closest friends who has played piano (not jazz) since she was 3, I sent her the YT link for and she loved it. Just ordered a copy of "At the Deerhead Inn" from Amazon Marketplace for $4

The disc is OOP but shouldn't be too hard to find, I got it when it first came out. The only really really bad tune is "Yellowstone" by Jeff Lorber but it can easily be skipped. I wish I had the DVD which I think was officially released in HK for the novelty of Pat Metheny in a suit!

That band is so consistent, choosing a favorite is hard.

Was posted here a few weeks back, "Down By the Riverside" made the "Carnegie Hall Salutes the Jazz Masters" CD.

Thanks for that fasstrack.

Cool, thanks. I really like the three point ride cymbal Jack plays these days. It's really amazing how these guys still play together as a unit. All of the recordings I've heard of this band are good, so it's a matter of what I feel like in the moment.

My personal fav is "Still Live" as well as all the video sets, which were smartly packaged by ECM as twofers. John Kelman of AAJ says this ranks with "Still Live" to him, so would that be a fair assessment Lon? Other titles from the trio that rank highly for me are the above mentioned "My Foolish Heart", "Whisper Not" "Up For It" and the Live @ the BN box (which sadly I no longer own).

That film, "Icons Among Us" is great. I don't think Shipp literally meant f Herbie, Bud, Monk, it was as freelancer said, he was trying to say that it's ok to know the tradition but use that knowledge to move forward into now. Glasper made the same point in the film. He said something like "Bird wouldn't want us playing what he played".

The Power Tools lineup and the band with Brotzmann look real interesting. Too bad the discs are so $$ though.

Some friends are getting this for my birthday. I like "Yesterdays" but I don't think it was as good as "My Foolish Heart", I really like the Jarrett trio, so what are your thoughts?

Yes, that's the blindfold test I was talking about, sometimes nailing people about minutiae is just not important. Funny I said that on a board all about minutiae!

Right, I don't see any competitiveness in Bix or Louie either. The unfortunate thing about race relations in our society at that point in time was that Louis was Bix' hero and they could not really play together, at least that's what's stated in the "Keeping Time" anthology of jazz writings. It seemed to me a bit strange to put Bix' aesthetics over Louis, which is what Alex did. I've read he's said the blues scale is "the biggest lie" among other things, he's criticized Branford for not ID'ing correctly certain swing to bop era saxophonists in a blindfold test. My brief research on Hoffman shows he makes outrageous statements which serve little purpose other than to gain attention to him.

I don't think so, freelancer, it is just math and systems to him. Another guy he dissed was of course, Pat Metheny (although not in this video) I would love to see Pat school him on harmony, and he'd give the guy a lesson on bebop, anybody would. I also read Hoffman assaulted a guy at a gig b/c he didn't like what the guy was playing. I think if I had a chance to see him at Smalls', I'd pass. He also places Bix above Louis, which is bizarre. When he plays bop/hard bop it's formulaic. When I hear Steve Davis, Jim Rotondi play that stuff, it feels real, they truly love that stuff. Steve Davis has a massive record collection and he loves that stuff. When Bird, Dizzy, Hank, Horace, and Tina and Sonny and everyone played that stuff, it was real, and that's why it touches me as a listener. Yes, that is Sacha Perry, Larry. Everyone in that vid just looks stiff, uncomfortable and they give off a forced "this is what we think cool is" vibe

Very cool, that he's back playing.

I guess so, that formulaic approach is very real to him. You're right, maybe Tina was a bad example, and that shows my own relative youthful inexperience. I guess for Hoffman and players with his ideals the formula of this chord must relate to this chord and this note must relate to this note, but as a listener and a fan, and a historian of this music it doesn't do anything for me, his mode of thought. That statement is a bit contradictory because there are pieces with technical concepts as the main goal that I dig, such as some of Lyle Mays' pieces for example.

Yeah, that's incredibly funny to say Coleman doesn't know Bird, or it's like saying Cecil Taylor doesn't know Earl Hines, Powell or Monk. Those guys know the tradition they choose not to play that way. Then theres the other guys who know the tradition like Kirk Whalum and Rick Braun, they just choose not to play straight ahead, opting for the $$ playing smooth jazz. Thank you for that explanation though

You are right, it is fine in that retro hard bop "stay inside" way, there are records like that I enjoy quite a bit. Like that Eric Alexander "Alexander the Great" (the only EA I feel I need to own) or that "Warner Jams vol. 1" record. But Hoffman's thing doesn't replace the realness of Tina Brooks where you hear his experience all the way thru his horn. It's like an actor playing a person with cerebral palsy cannot replicate the experience I have of really living it every day.

The whole BAM thing was a better thought out argument too. I love Nick's blog