What was the first jazz you heard that really fascinated you?

[Big Beat Steve]

1 hour ago, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

Er... Who is it, please?

 

Somebody who's got a Dizzy Gillespie-like trumpet.

[jazzbo]

First for me. . . Another Dimension by Charles Bell and the Contemporary Jazz Quartet. (mono).

[Scott Dolan]

The first Jazz that truly fascinated the hell out of me was a single tune: India. 

I had already been listening to Jazz, mostly Miles and Monk albums. I mentioned before that I had been on a year long Zappa kick, and after reading The Negative Dialectics Of Poodle Play I was very intrigued to hear some things by two of the Jazz artists mentioned multiple times in the book: John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. 

Conveniently, I happened to be a BMG (good god! Remember that?!) member, and they had a big Jazz sale going on. I saw Coltrane's complete Village Vanguard box set on sale for $19.99 and figured hey, two birds/one stone. And if I didn't like it, not a whole lot of money wasted.

The day it came in I opened it and read the liner notes, a practice I did with every Jazz album. It all seemed fascinating, so I put in the first disc, and the crew launched into India. The head was weird, but not too extreme. Then the fireworks started. So I'm listening to this thinking, "this is truly just an awful, noisy mess!" But, about halfway through I started to..."hear" something, I guess? Three quarters of the way through I thought, "this is the most abstract thing I think I've ever heard, but I believe there is something interesting going on". And by the time the song was over, all I knew is that I HAD to immediately listen to it again. I then proceeded to listen to it something like four times in a row. I couldn't really believe or comprehend what I was hearing on an intellectual level, but it touched me very deeply on an emotional level.

This was my introduction to the wonderful world of Free Jazz, and a tune that seemingly unlocked a part of my brain that had never been accessed before that day. Opening my ears up to possibilities I never knew existed. 

[OliverM]

Very dependent on age/generation, family and surroundings I can imagine.

For me, it must be Coltrane's Impressions which a drummer friend whom I was playing with at the time lent me. I was really not ready to hear that at the time, especially the starter "India", yet the length of the piece, the basses, the musical voyage were truly fascinating. It took me a long time to start to realize what was happening. I think I handed it back after one month and very many listenings and told my friend that I still didn't like it, and after a little time without it, things changed by themselves and I went out to buy my own! Just this morning, I listened to India again from the 1961 village vanguard dates and noticed how effective the spell still is!

Edit: I thought I had read almost all of the above, only to notice I had completely skipped Scott's own recollections, what a coincidence! For me this "transformation" happened in the Paris subburbs in the end of the 1990s in my early teens...

Edited November 5, 2016 by OliverM

[jazzscriveyn]

Earliest experience was when I was still playing with toy cowboys & Indians:  I kept putting on the only records worth listening to in our home over and over again, which were about half a dozen swing/Big Band 78rpm records (Glenn Miller, Harry James, etc).

Next step, I was about 14 yo I started to listen to a weekly radio show where jazz record collectors brought in their favourite records, which were then played and talked about with the show host. That way I got to hear a wide range of jazz. I still think this an excellent concept. - My first two self-bought LPs were Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday.

I continued buying vinyl as far as my finances allowed. What really changed my life, literally, was when I bought "Pierides" by the Westbrooks. I started travelling, mostly to the UK, to see/hear jazz concerts.

Edited November 5, 2016 by jazzscriveyn

[Scott Dolan]

4 hours ago, OliverM said:

Very dependent on age/generation, family and surroundings I can imagine.

For me, it must be Coltrane's Impressions which a drummer friend whom I was playing with at the time lent me. I was really not ready to hear that at the time, especially the starter "India", yet the length of the piece, the basses, the musical voyage were truly fascinating. It took me a long time to start to realize what was happening. I think I handed it back after one month and very many listenings and told my friend that I still didn't like it, and after a little time without it, things changed by themselves and I went out to buy my own! Just this morning, I listened to India again from the 1961 village vanguard dates and noticed how effective the spell still is!

Edit: I thought I had read almost all of the above, only to notice I had completely skipped Scott's own recollections, what a coincidence! For me this "transformation" happened in the Paris subburbs in the end of the 1990s in my early teens...

Very cool! I was in my mid 20's when I went through my experience with India. It's interesting how my transformation happened in real time, whereas yours happen by way of seperation. But thankfully, it happened. The whys and timeframes are inconsequential. 

Did you continue down the Free Jazz road afterwards? 

[uli]

India was recorded 55 years ago today!

listening to it right now.

[Scott Dolan]

Really?! I had no idea! That's really cool. 

What are the chances? 

[StarThrower]

The tune Brilliant Corners by Monk. I thought it was the oddest music I'd ever heard, but I really dug it.

[xybert]

I'd heard some jazz over the years: Monk's Dream, Mingus Ah Um, Kind of Blue, Blue Train, Bird, Dizzy and Ellington compilations. I liked it enough but it wasn't fascinating: It all just sounded like 'jazz' and went in one ear and out the other. Now, of course, this stuff is plenty fascinating.

The first jazz thing that i can remember being actually fascinated by was a solo version of Cherokee by Joe Pass on a jazz guitar compilation that a friend lent me. I was listening to a lot of 'spazzy' metal/hardcore/grindcore at the time, stuff that had riffy sections but would abruptly have these spazzy breakdowns and then switch back to structured riffing. I was like "here's this guy doing that on an acoustic guitar in the mid seventies." It was like, all the craziness but without the screaming. It was crazy but you could play it for your grandma. It was the first time that i'd felt like i'd stumbled on to something when it came to jazz. 

[soulpope]

On 4.11.2016 at 10:14 PM, mikeweil said:

 a TV broadcast of the Don Ellis Orchestra at Monterey - three bassists, three drummers, strange, exciting rhythms etc. - unforgettable. 

Some fascinating Don Ellis stuff for sure ....

[BillF]

On 11/5/2016 at 7:06 AM, JohnS said:

Around mid fifties. I can recall hearing the Gerry Mulligan Quartet on the radio before I knew what jazz was and being struck by how different it was from the popular music of the day.   Soon after a friend had a 78 of Stan Getz playing These Foolish Things.   Loved that one too.  Within a year or so I was totally hooked.   Perhaps not too bad an introduction.

Those played a part in my early listening days, too. At a time when there weren't many records around and what we heard came in snippets, I recall that 2 EPs were always being played: one of the Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker ("Walkin' Shoes", "Lullaby of the Leaves", Nights at the Turntable") and Getz with Jimmy Raney ("Hymn to the Orient", etc.)

[OliverM]

17 hours ago, Scott Dolan said:

Did you continue down the Free Jazz road afterwards? 

Yes! Through Archie Shepp. This drummer friend started taking lessons with Stephen McCraven from the Shepp Quartet in Paris and he would tell me what they spoke about. Archie Shepp's music was easily available here and I connected with its political orientation which made me appreciate this music even more. I started exploring more later on by learning about the history.

[Scott Dolan]

Excellent! 

Yeah, India just opened the floodgates for me. It led me to my enormous Coltrane collection, Dolphy, Ornette, Cecil, then eventually to the William Parker circle of friends, and even more recently to European style free improvisation. 

Admittedly I don't listen to it nearly as much as I did years ago when it was pretty much the only form I listened to, but it still remains one of the most important points in my music listening history. 

Matter of fact, I was just listening to the second India on disc 4 of the Vanguard box set. That is far and away my favorite version, with Bushell playing that awesome Oboe intro! 

[Jazzmoose]

Someone suggested this and it "took".

I'd dabbled before, mainly Dizzy Gillespie stuff I had in my teens, but this was the one that lured me into the Jazz section at Tower for good.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Jazzmoose

[Scott Dolan]

You know what's really odd, Moosely? As huge a Coltrane fan as I am (my son's middle name nonetheless), I still just don't "get" this one. 

Like Bitches Brew, I still return to it every now and then hoping for that breakthrough moment, but it simply never comes. 

Is there anything in particular that made it finally pop for you that you can put into words? It might help me...

Edited November 6, 2016 by Scott Dolan

[jeffcrom]

Pardon me if I've told some version of this story here previously.

When I was 12, I took up the saxophone - November, 1970. For Christmas that year, my mom gave me a record from the cut-out bin of a local department store - chosen strictly because there was a guy with a saxophone on the cover. It was Budd Johnson's 1964 Argo album Ya! Ya! I was kind of disappointed - I wanted a rock record like my older brother got. But I now had this record, so I listened to it. I liked about half the tracks right away, and the rest grew on me. But the moment that fascinated me and got under my skin was Richard Davis' bass solo on the last track of side one, "Exotique." It was bowed, with quarter tones, glissandos, and lots of dissonant double stops - it was very out there. But I don't think I realized how weird it was at the time; I just thought, "Oh, you can do that."

So I blame my mom for getting me hooked on avant-garde jazz.

[A Lark Ascending]

On 11/5/2016 at 7:04 PM, jazzscriveyn said:

I continued buying vinyl as far as my finances allowed. What really changed my life, literally, was when I bought "Pierides" by the Westbrooks. I started travelling, mostly to the UK, to see/hear jazz concerts.

Westbrook's 'Love/Dream Variations' was in my first dozen or so jazz purchases. Convinced me that there might be something in jazz big bands - I associated them with Radio 2 and older chaps in cardigans awaiting an imminent Second Coming up to that point. 

[mikeweil]

On 6.11.2016 at 3:41 AM, StarThrower said:

The tune Brilliant Corners by Monk. I thought it was the oddest music I'd ever heard, but I really dug it.

I, too, had my Monkish moment when I heard Jackie-Ing on the radio - the tune fascinated me so much I kept on singing it to myself so I wouldn't forget it. When I finally had access to the Riverside album it was from (Five By Monk By Five) - decades later when I got the Riverside Box - it was the first I put on to see whether I still remembered the tune correctly. I had been hooked on Monk by this tune.

[jcam_44]

On 11/5/2016 at 5:31 AM, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

Er... Who is it, please?

It IS a compelling image.

MG

Christian Scott - Anthem 

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

2 hours ago, jcam_44 said:

Christian Scott - Anthem 

Ta.

MG

[kh1958]

2 hours ago, jcam_44 said:

Christian Scott - Anthem 

https://www.munck-music.com/collections/new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival/products/christian-scott-live-at-2016-new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival

[jcam_44]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

https://www.munck-music.com/collections/new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival/products/christian-scott-live-at-2016-new-orleans-jazz-heritage-festival

Have you ever purchased any of these releases? They always seemed a bit suspect to me...

[kh1958]

They are not suspect recordings (though they are CDRs, so downloading might be preferred), they are authorized releases openly sold at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; in fact, there usually is a sign at the performance announcing when they are recording. They do not record all the performances; I would expect it depends on whether the artist wants the recording made or not.

I posted this one because it's a performance by Christian Scott that I attended there this year, and I've listened to this recording quite a bit--it is rather good.

 

[jcam_44]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

They are not suspect recordings (though they are CDRs, so downloading might be preferred), they are authorized releases openly sold at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; in fact, there usually is a sign at the performance announcing when they are recording. They do not record all the performances; I would expect it depends on whether the artist wants the recording made or not.

I posted this one because it's a performance by Christian Scott that I attended there this year, and I've listened to this recording quite a bit--it is rather good.

 

Sweet! Thank you for the clarification. I've seen these in the past, though I was unaware of this particular recording. I'll get the MP3 when I get home. The previous recordings That help me stumble upon these were the Stooges Brass Band ones.