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So, What Are You Listening To NOW?


JSngry

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4 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Excellent! :tup

 

EDIT: 
Speaking of Mike Nock, I have a question for anyone who enjoys his music: Have you heard either of his solo-piano LPs from the late-70s? One is a called Talisman (Enja), and the second is simply titled Piano Solos (Timeless).  

I've never heard either of them, and I see that they've both been reissued in Japan. I was wondering whether I should take the plunge.

Any comments much appreciated. 

Hey man!

I'm a bit of a Nock newbie, i've had one album of his for a long time, Open Door, a piano/drums duet album that came out on a NZ label in 1987 (hence i found the CD reissue here in a bargain bin for next to nothing). I think it's a gem, but it always sounded to me like he's aping Jarrett a bit at times (more on that later)...

Nock is New Zealand born, and has largely made his career in Australia and overseas, but has recorded with NZ artists and for NZ labels here and there throughout the years.

Lately i've been feeling the urge to listen to more jazz by NZ-born artists and was going through some of the stuff in my collection. At the same time i was browsing on Amazon Japan as usual and saw those Nock reissues. 

Listening to the samples i had doubts, but in the frame of mind mentioned above decided to order In Out and Around and Piano Solos. 

I know that you're familiar with In Out and Around, but just to lead in to my thoughts on Piano Solos: Knee jerk reaction was that there's a strong Jarrett influence, perhaps to the point of 'rip-off'. But listening in depth reveals the Jarrett influence to be superficial, especially when it comes to his solos, which was what hooked me in. Moving on to Piano Solos, again there's a strong Jarrett influence in the melodies, and quite a strong Corea influence too. Indeed, track 1 of Piano Solos sounds like a Jarrett Song (even the title, California Country Song, appears to ape Jarrett, or maybe it was just the zeitgeist of the time), and track 2 sounds strikingly like Corea. 

The more i've listened to IOaA and Piano Solos, the more the Jarrett and Corea comparisons fade and it becomes something 'other'. It's hard to explain and mileages will vary i guess. I definitely get something from his music that i don't get from either Jarrett or Corea (both of whom i'm fans of for the record). I know that i will be exploring a lot more of his music.

Aaaaaaanyway, long story short, if you're a Nock fan i definitely recommend Piano Solos. I've taken the plunge and ordered Talisman, as well as his first recording under the band name of The 3 Out (a trio recording from the early sixties). Samples for Piano Solos and Talisman can be heard on Amazon Japan.

Apologies for the ramble but your query gave me the opportunity to get out some thoughts on Nock! Cheers.

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3 hours ago, xybert said:

Hey man!

I'm a bit of a Nock newbie, i've had one album of his for a long time, Open Door, a piano/drums duet album that came out on a NZ label in 1987 (hence i found the CD reissue here in a bargain bin for next to nothing). I think it's a gem, but it always sounded to me like he's aping Jarrett a bit at times (more on that later)...

Nock is New Zealand born, and has largely made his career in Australia and overseas, but has recorded with NZ artists and for NZ labels here and there throughout the years.

Lately i've been feeling the urge to listen to more jazz by NZ-born artists and was going through some of the stuff in my collection. At the same time i was browsing on Amazon Japan as usual and saw those Nock reissues. 

Listening to the samples i had doubts, but in the frame of mind mentioned above decided to order In Out and Around and Piano Solos. 

I know that you're familiar with In Out and Around, but just to lead in to my thoughts on Piano Solos: Knee jerk reaction was that there's a strong Jarrett influence, perhaps to the point of 'rip-off'. But listening in depth reveals the Jarrett influence to be superficial, especially when it comes to his solos, which was what hooked me in. Moving on to Piano Solos, again there's a strong Jarrett influence in the melodies, and quite a strong Corea influence too. Indeed, track 1 of Piano Solos sounds like a Jarrett Song (even the title, California Country Song, appears to ape Jarrett, or maybe it was just the zeitgeist of the time), and track 2 sounds strikingly like Corea. 

The more i've listened to IOaA and Piano Solos, the more the Jarrett and Corea comparisons fade and it becomes something 'other'. It's hard to explain and mileages will vary i guess. I definitely get something from his music that i don't get from either Jarrett or Corea (both of whom i'm fans of for the record). I know that i will be exploring a lot more of his music.

Aaaaaaanyway, long story short, if you're a Nock fan i definitely recommend Piano Solos. I've taken the plunge and ordered Talisman, as well as his first recording under the band name of The 3 Out (a trio recording from the early sixties). Samples for Piano Solos and Talisman can be heard on Amazon Japan.

Apologies for the ramble but your query gave me the opportunity to get out some thoughts on Nock! Cheers.

Thanks, xybert, for this info! I really appreciate it. :tup  Would love to hear your impressions of Talisman too, after you've had a chance to take it in.

BTW, I didn't realize that Nock was a New Zealander. I guess I'd always assumed that he was Australian -- since I know that he's spent much of his career there.

Edited by HutchFan
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2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Thanks, xybert, for this info! I really appreciate it. :tup  Would love to hear your impressions of Talisman too, after you've had a chance to take it in.

BTW, I didn't realize that Nock was a New Zealander. I guess I'd always assumed that he was Australian -- since I know that he's spent much of his career there.

No problemo! I think that NZ/Australia is a bit like Canada/USA. A lot of musicians and actors that i think of as being American are actually Canadian (i only found out recently that Rush were a Canadian band). We have a friendly rivalry with Aussie and it's a running joke between us that they 'claim' NZ musicians that are worth claiming. :)

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Thought I'd give this a listen on Spotify and I must say, I like it. I'm partial to Sue's voice too.

I like Sue Raney's voice and I'm one who should generally have been receptive to this album, but it did nothing for me.  In fact, the sheer vapidity of it as really off-putting to me.

Now playing:

MI0002787052.jpg?partner=allrovi.com

I also like Ms. Ver Planck's voice, but the difference is this album works for me because i get a sense of "her" within her performances here.  I got nothing of that from the Sue Raney album  I felt I might as well have been listening to Connie Stevens.

Anyway, on this 199 album, in addition to her performances with the mentioned special guests, the piano trio which accompanied Ms. Ver Planck on most of the tracks here included Hank Jones, with whom the liner notes state, she recorded for Savoy back in 1955.

Edited by duaneiac
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12 hours ago, paul secor said:

R-1085765-1190953397.jpeg.jpg

Intuition - the Marsh/Ted Brown sides

In addition to the music, dig Terry Martin's liner notes.

On 3/15/2017 at 11:18 AM, soulpope said:

Very good ....

:tup

19 hours ago, duaneiac said:

R-8488861-1466761586-1001.jpeg.jpg

This is a fine example of the sort of lovely, technically flawless yet glossy and gutless singing which makes so many people disdainful of jazz singers. :tdown

Don't know this one, but as something of a Raney fan, I'm in that tub right now!

For me, this is Raney at her best:
 

 

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