Jazz Violin

[ninified]

wow, u attended her performance!!! she's really amazing and i especailly like her playing Latin stuff.

she has a few albums: Regina Carter, Motor City Moments, Something For Grace, Rhythms of the Heart, Freefall (with Kenny Barron)....umm, i think those are the ones that i;ve heard of.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Generally speaking, I prefer violinists who make the violin sound like a riti (West African instrument).

My favourite riti player is Djulde Kamara.

MG

[AllenLowe]

best violinist I've heard these days is Andy Stein - the ONLY one I've heard who can swing the old style authentically -

[montg]

Ray Nance, "Body and Soul" a UA session reissued on cd by Mighty Quinn Records.

I just ordered this and I'm eagerly awaiting it. Looks like a pretty eclectic session...the combination of Jaki Byard and Ray Nance is too interesting to pass up.

Anyway, I love Ray Nance, for me he personifies jazz violin. Soulful, swinging, and personal.

[AllenLowe]

I don't think Byard is on the UA session -

[brownie]

The Ray Nance 'Body and Soul' actually was initially released on Solid State. Byard and Roland Hanna share piano chores.

[AllenLowe]

I didn't know that - Nance is also on a Byard/Prestige called Strings Attached -

[Ken Dryden]

With Strings is one of my favorite Jaki Byard records.

Check out the still out of print Ray Nance LPs listed under his All Music Guide discography.

[montg]

I don't think Byard is on the UA session -

Now you tell me! Actually, just going from the sound samples, the duet between Byard and Nance on a somber-sounding version of A-Train is the highlight of the album.

mighty-quinn

[brownie]

I don't think Byard is on the UA session -

Now you tell me! Actually, just going from the sound samples, the duet between Byard and Nance on a somber-sounding version of A-Train is the highlight of the album.

mighty-quinn

It's Roland Hanna on piano on that 'Take The A Train', says the liner notes to the vinyl!

[jazzbo]

The Ray Nance 'Body and Soul' actually was initially released on Solid State. Byard and Roland Hanna share piano chores.

Sorry, yes, Solid State. I got it confused with another.

[Bright Moments]

The most creative jazz violin album I have listened to these past few years is the shamefully neglected Atlantic album by Harry Lookofsky 'Stringsville' which seems to have not been reissued.

Lookofsky is accompanied by Hank Jones, Milt Hinton (Paul Chambers on one session) and Elvin Jones.

A masterpiece well worth looking for.

A critically acclaimed and commercially ignored album !

jazzannviolin, follow the recommendations above and then, have a look to this website : www.abar.net. Anthony Barnett is the specialist of strings in jazz.

this one is now on cd and it is quite good!

[Ted O'Reilly]

There's been no mention yet of the great Danish violinist Svend Asmussen, who has been playing and recording since the mid-'30s, and still going strong as he approaches his 92nd (!) birthday.

[Bright Moments]

just heard/loved 12 songs - jenny scheinman. are her other albums as good?

[kh1958]

I've seen four violinists live that I've really enjoyed:

Stephane Grappelli.

Mark Feldman--with John Abercrombie. I enjoy all of the Abercrombie/Feldman recordings on ECM. There's also an excellent Michael Musillami recording with Feldman. Feldman's own recent ECM date was a bit disappointing.

Charlie Burnham--I just had the good fortune to see him again recently with Michael Blake's Hellbent. But the best was with James Blood Ulmer's Odyssey band.

John Blake--with the McCoy Tyner Quintet, a great band. Blake's two Gramavision recordings had a commercial bent, but there were a few good tracks.

[Nate Dorward]

Recent violinists I've heard whom I've really liked: Carla Kihlstedt (terrific duo with Satoko Fujii at the Vancouver fest this year--is Minamo even close to that level? I had a promo copy but it had a defect & I couldn't play it), John Ettinger (anyone else hear Kissinger in Space?), Jeff Gauthier (lovely new disc on Cryptogramophone, including a couple of Joe Zawinul tributes), Canada's own Jesse Zubot (deep-voiced wildman of Fond of Tigers, ZMF Trio, &c).

Mark Feldman--amazing player but somehow his favourite licks start to get to me after a while. He was a breath of fresh air in the early 1990s, though, on discs by Thomas Chapin & Marilyn Crispell.

Edited October 9, 2008 by Nate Dorward

[RDK]

Yeah, Nate, Jeff Gautier is mostly pretty terrific; I've seen him many times here in L.A. He loses me sometimes with his more outside stuff, but he's always interesting and a really nice guy.

Billy Bang was a revalation to me when I caught him live last year with El Zabar. I've always respected him, mostly for his more outside playing, but the cat can swing, has a great sense of humor, and knows when to put on a show.

[PHILLYQ]

just heard/loved 12 songs - jenny scheinman. are her other albums as good?

I've seen her live in two different settings- one with a string quartet with Hank Roberts, Bill Frisell & Jason Hwang(sp), and with Todd Sickafoose's group- she was excellent in both.

[Chuck Nessa]

Hnk mentioned Eddie South. He was a master and I suggest checking out the '30s material.

[Bright Moments]

just heard/loved 12 songs - jenny scheinman. are her other albums as good?

I've seen her live in two different settings- one with a string quartet with Hank Roberts, Bill Frisell & Jason Hwang(sp), and with Todd Sickafoose's group- she was excellent in both.

any recommendations as to her other albums?

[randissimo]

I have an interesting CD of Jean Luc Ponty playing the music of Frank Zappa on Blue Note. It's a re-issue of an lp entitled "King Kong, Music For Electric Violin And Low Budget Orchestra" .. Frank plays on some tracks as well as George Duke and Ernie Watts.

Very interesting music. I believe the record was released in 1969. I had the original vinyl at one time but lent it to somebody and never got it back..

[Guest Bill Barton]

I have an interesting CD of Jean Luc Ponty playing the music of Frank Zappa on Blue Note. It's a re-issue of an lp entitled "King Kong, Music For Electric Violin And Low Budget Orchestra" .. Frank plays on some tracks as well as George Duke and Ernie Watts.

Very interesting music. I believe the record was released in 1969. I had the original vinyl at one time but lent it to somebody and never got it back..

Yeah, that's a fine LP Randy. It's one of the first "jazz" albums that I ever bought (from the then-ubiquitous Columbia House).

These days Jason Kao Hwang has been doing some things that I like a lot. His CD with the group Edge, Stories Before Within, from earlier in the year is a keeper.

[Rooster_Ties]

I've always liked that Ponty/Zappa disc (King Kong), mostly from my interest in Zappa. Here's a couple other Ponty dates I've listened to just in the last two weeks...

and

George Duke left me a little nonplussed on Live at Donte's (or maybe it was just the quality of the piano he was playing, which had next to no sustain in tone, ever, and just sounded downright "dull"), but generally it's a pretty interesting date. Electric Connection is a big band date with Ponty fronting the Gerald Wilson orchestra (or were they called a big band?? -- I know it was the Gil Evans Orchestra) -- I forget. Anyway, this is a little commercial, but still enjoyable if you know that going into it.

I'm a little hot and cold on Ponty in particular, and probably jazz violin in general. Have to be in the right mood, which isn't all that often for me.

Edited October 11, 2008 by Rooster_Ties

[hepcat1950]

Some violin players not mentioned so far:

Zbigniew Seifert [1946-1979] from Poland (Wikipedia). He's featured on Charlie Mariano's Helen 12 Trees which has been reissued on CD by Promosing Music.

Jerry Goodman, member of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Didier Lockwood from France.

Violist Judith Insell.

Joe Fonda recorded with some string players:

Violinist Billy Bang (FAB): Transforming the Space, Live at Iron Works, Vancouver, BC and A Night in Paris, Live at the Sunset

Violinist Jesse Zubot (already mentioned by Nate Doward): ZMF Trio: Circle the Path

Violist Judith Insell: Dark Wood Explorations

Violinist Jason Kao Hwang: The House of Treasures (w/ guzheng player Xu Fengxia) which will be available soon.

[Guest Bill Barton]

best violinist I've heard these days is Andy Stein - the ONLY one I've heard who can swing the old style authentically -

He is incredible in concert. Just wonderful. While I was still living in the Northeast I heard him with Ken Peplowski - great show.

Recent violinists I've heard whom I've really liked: Carla Kihlstedt (terrific duo with Satoko Fujii at the Vancouver fest this year--is Minamo even close to that level? I had a promo copy but it had a defect & I couldn't play it)... Well, I wasn't there in Vancouver so I couldn't offer an opinion as to how the shows compare, but Minamo is a very good recording. Canada's own Jesse Zubot (deep-voiced wildman of Fond of Tigers, ZMF Trio, &c)...His playing on the Tony Wilson 6tet Pearls Before Swine CD knocked me out. That one's definitely among the best recordings of 2008