Milestones

Just seeing this now. R.I.P. A fine writer indeed. Last night I just happened to be paging through his book Like Young, and especially the long and excellent essay on Charlie Haden.

I think he's a cool guy too. His humor and sense of fun tend to sneak up on you.

Besides his playing, one should consider Lovano's compositions and arrangements, his associations with tons of major jazz artists, and his ability to work nearly the entire spectrum of jazz.

I'm perfectly happy with the video that Kevin posted.

What about the Us Five records Folk Art and Cross Culture? No concept on those.

Joey Alexander? He's just a very young man (no longer a "kid") and can be forgiven for drawing wild perceptions, good and bad. Joe Lovano has paid his dues, playing and recording for 4-5 decades.

Interesting that "Mr. Jazzman" has not responded to anything on the board. If you are reading,Jazzman, have you... heard Lovano play Monk? heard 52nd Street Themes? heard Joe with Paul Motian on the "Broadway" albums? heard Joe in concert before? Jut wondering if one concert (and not even present for the whole thing) is the cause of a rather vicious reaction.

I've never seen/heard Lovano play anything close to a poor concert--and I have probably seen him more than anyone. I have tons of his records as leader and sideman. There are some leader dates that didn't work so well (very few), but overall his output his very impressive. Lovano can play his own material, can play a bit "out," and he is masterful on standards. I do find his recent ECM records to be overly low-key, and maybe this new group hasn't quite gelled. I'm kind of intrigued, though, as I have started to enjoy Julian Lage.

Number 2 is Coltrane's "Liberia." I imagine it's pretty recent, and can be found on one of the many Coltrane tribute albums--or can be viewed as jazz standard (as it should). I was thinking it's a bit like Kenny Garrett, but certainly not Kenny on his own Trane tribute. Good stuff. You can't beat Coltrane himself, but I nearly always enjoy others playing his music. Number 3...this tune sounds very familiar. Rather good tune, nice performance. That does sound quite a bit like Lovano--most of the time, but not always. I don't think it's him. It seems to me that many tenor saxophonists have adopted elements of his style.

Not sure whether any of them were truly good singers in the traditional sense--maybe Levon, though he sounded like he was 75 when he was in his 30s. But it worked for The Band. Robbie is at his best on his first solo album, especially the primarily talked "Somewhere Down the Crazy River." Garth's contributions to The Band were enormous.

R.I.P. I enjoyed From Another Perspective. I had always meant to pick up a few more of his records. He liked his Monk! There are four Monk tunes on the record with Pepper Adams.

R.I.P. What a great player. Roy was an absolute legend, and I did get see him live--he must have been pushing 90 and his playing could pass for 25! A man to be mentioned in the same breath with Max, Art, and Elvin. I loved his collaborations with the late great Chick Corea.

R.I.P. What a long life and career! Now listening to Lush Life--not at all the usual thing for Lou, and quite good. Also one of the many fine BN albums that oddly sat in the can for over a decade.

I was not too aware of her, but I've heard a few things--primarily on BandCamp. It is certainly stuff worth hearing. And it certainly seems that she was under-recorded. R.I.P., Claire.

And retired for quite some time, so it really is the passing of an era.