More Favorites: Reflections on Jazz in the 1980s

[mjazzg]

33 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

Did you take them to a shop?

no, a very nice man came from the shop and collected them, on his bike! Atlantis.

Edited August 29, 2022 by mjazzg

[HutchFan]

31 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

I found the exercise pretty liberating and had a very pleasant selling experience - I wasn't looking for lots of money just the space. I'm already considering titles for the next hundred.

The nice thing about your approach -- letting go of anything that doesn't really appeal to you -- is that your collection becomes very refined.  You're dialed in on the gold.  No dross.

I suppose I'll do that sort of thing at some point in the future.  Not yet though.

 

[mjazzg]

11 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

The nice thing about your approach -- letting go of anything that doesn't really appeal to you -- is that your collection becomes very refined.  You're dialed in on the gold.  No dross.

I suppose I'll do that sort of thing at some point in the future.  Not yet though.

 

Yes, there's an element of that as I was able to put the money towards a few big ticket titles I'd hankered after for sometime. 100 out, 5 in! 

I'm not sure it's near "very refined" yet, there's still 1750+ of them...

[HutchFan]

Last week's entries:

- Aldo Romano - Ritual (Owl, 1988)
- Ray Mantilla Space Station featuring Bobby Watson - Dark Powers (Red, 1989)
- Phalanx - In Touch (DIW, 1988)

 

[Rabshakeh]

Yer Dan’s put up some good records recently

[HutchFan]

9 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Yer Dan’s put up some good records recently

He's got some good ears.  

And I'm running behind.  Hopefully, I'll catch up this weekend.

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Monk in Motian I have and enjoy.  Great material, of course, great band plus great additions.  Also have this trio + ringers doing a Bill Evans trib.  But if I was going to reach for a Monk trib, there's a coupe I'd go for first before this one.

[Д.Д.]

Gaslini - "Multipli" (Soul Note) - good choice.   

[Peter Friedman]

On 9/16/2022 at 10:48 PM, Rabshakeh said:

Yer Dan’s put up some good records recently

I very much agree. Dan's latest 4 picks are all items I like.

Art Farmer i Blame It On My Youth

Bobby Hutcherson - Cruisin' The Bird

Ralph Moore - Re-juvenate

Toots Thielemans -  Only Trust Your Heart

 

Sorry Dan does not post his selections here.

[Dan Gould]

I haven't paid as much attention to this go-round however I second Peter's comment and, scrolling backwards on the blog, I may have pegged this Dan fellow's tastes as a little more outside my wheelhouse than it truly is.

[Rabshakeh]

When's the blog going to be updated? There's not much more of Toots looking at me quizzically that I can take.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Rabshakeh

[HutchFan]

 

On 9/24/2022 at 11:21 AM, Rabshakeh said:

When's the blog going to be updated? 

Rab,

Here are my selections for the last three weeks:

- Phil Woods' Little Big Band - Evolution (Concord, 1988)
- Greg Osby - Mindgames (JMT/Winter & Winter, 1988)
- Bobby Bradford-John Carter Quintet - Comin' On (hatOLOGY, 1989)

- Trio Transition - Trio Transition with Special Guest Oliver Lake (DIW, 1988)
- Jane Ira Bloom - Slalom (Columbia/Enja, 1988)
- Joe Lovano Quintet - Village Rhythm (Soul Note, 1989)

- Charles Earland - Front Burner (Milestone, 1988)
- Michele Rosewoman & Quintessence - Contrast High (Enja, 1989)
- Gary Thomas & Seventh Quadrant - Code Violations (Enja, 1988)

 

No commentary.  But at least there's something.

 

[felser]

Love the Earland album and the other one he did on Milestone.

[danasgoodstuff]

If Thomas had signed with Blue Note instead of Osby and/or Lovano would the musical world be different today?  Thomas' retreat into academia was a great loss.

[Gheorghe]

I somewhere told that I missed a lot of the late 80´s developement of jazz for different reasons, or I just listened to other music mostly more funk based things like Ornette Colemans "Prime Time" or the several electric Miles, but I think I remember Gary Thomas. Wasn´t he with Miles at some point ? 
I remember there was lot fans of Osby but must admit I never heard him. I had heard the name and had heard a name Ozzy Osborn and didn´t know which is which and haven´t heard any of them. So some people in a german jazz forum said that he is the future of jazz and I didn´t know it.....crazy......

[Peter Friedman]

15 hours ago, HutchFan said:

 

Rab,

Here are my selections for the last three weeks:

- Phil Woods' Little Big Band - Evolution (Concord, 1988)
- Greg Osby - Mindgames (JMT/Winter & Winter, 1988)
- Bobby Bradford-John Carter Quintet - Comin' On (hatOLOGY, 1989)

- Trio Transition - Trio Transition with Special Guest Oliver Lake (DIW, 1988)
- Jane Ira Bloom - Slalom (Columbia/Enja, 1988)
- Joe Lovano Quintet - Village Rhythm (Soul Note, 1989)

- Charles Earland - Front Burner (Milestone, 1988)
- Michele Rosewoman & Quintessence - Contrast High (Enja, 1989)
- Gary Thomas & Seventh Quadrant - Code Violations (Enja, 1988)

 

No commentary.  But at least there's something.

 

The Phil Woods - Little Big Band - Evolution on Concord is the only one that I have, and have heard, from this list of 9.

I may check out the Charles Earland, but the other 7 are not in my areas of interest.

 

[felser]

12 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

 
I remember there was lot fans of Osby but must admit I never heard him. I had heard the name and had heard a name Ozzy Osborn and didn´t know which is which and haven´t heard any of them. 

Osby and Osbourne aren't overly similiar...

Ozzy Osbourne (original lead singer of Black Sabbath, reality TV star, and all-round weirdo)

Greg Osby

[Gheorghe]

11 hours ago, felser said:

Osby and Osbourne aren't overly similiar...

Ozzy Osbourne (original lead singer of Black Sabbath, reality TV star, and all-round weirdo)

Greg Osby

Well your Osby looks nice, like the young players now, who again are dressed like the old masters Bird or Bean etc. That "Ozzy" ....if he would not have hair on the chest I would have bet that this is a "little bit crazy woman". 

As I said, a great part of the 80´s due to different circumstances was a big hole for me. But that does not mean that it remained that way. Now I´m quite aware of young players who sound great, but due to the fact that I mostly use them for actual playing and live listening , I´m more aware of the "young lions" here in my town....

[Rabshakeh]

Thanks for posting. 

My own personal view is that, as the 80s drew to a close, jazz (and music in general) enters its least interesting period, lasting from around 1988 to perhaps until the early/mid 00s. There's still lots of good stuff happening, but to me that is the point when the mainstream in particular begins to get very stale: second/third generation Young Lions, moody pianists, wobbly free jazz revivalists, endless ECM wallpaper, hip hop crossover, dreadful 90s fusion and 'jazz rock', etc.. An era when the Bad Plus and Zorn seemed interesting against a backdrop of creeping Mehldau-isation.

I'm not unsurprised to see that I own or know almost all of these from the recent posts, including the classic Code Violations, which is as good an album as they come. 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

...the classic Code Violations, which is as good an album as they come. 

Yep!

Funny...I remember a review of some Gary Thomas album (maybe this one) that said something to the effect that Gary Thomas wrote such complicated music that it made the (then) recent Wayne Shorter records sound like nursery rhymes (or something like that),,,and that in no way meant as a dis on Wayne.

[Rooster_Ties]

Spinning Code Violations as I'm typing this, and Gary is indeed on fire, though in his own sort of restrained way.

I've said it before, but his flute playing is as masterful as it comes -- and he's the only wind doubler who's flute-playing and approach specifically reminds me of their approach on saxophone.  Easily my all-time favorite jazz flute-player, and one of my top-5 tenor-players.

[mjazzg]

Another big fan of Code Violations.

What happened to Thomas? Haven't seen his name mentioned for years

[Steve Reynolds]

6 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Thanks for posting. 

My own personal view is that, as the 80s drew to a close, jazz (and music in general) enters its least interesting period, lasting from around 1988 to perhaps until the early/mid 00s. There's still lots of good stuff happening, but to me that is the point when the mainstream in particular begins to get very stale: second/third generation Young Lions, moody pianists, wobbly free jazz revivalists, endless ECM wallpaper, hip hop crossover, dreadful 90s fusion and 'jazz rock', etc.. An era when the Bad Plus and Zorn seemed interesting against a backdrop of creeping Mehldau-isation.

I'm not unsurprised to see that I own or know almost all of these from the recent posts, including the classic Code Violations, which is as good an album as they come. 

Some of the greatest things ever from the 90’s are:

Braxton’s hat ART classic quartet Willisau & Santa Cruz

Gerry Hemingway’s hat ART European quintet recordings

Joe Maneri’s great recordings on hat ART & Leo

Ivo Perelman on Leo

DKV trio live in Wels/Chicago from 1998

Evan Parker’s peak period was the 90’s

Paul Dunmall & Mujician from the 90’s is extraordinary 

David Murray’s numerous quartet & quintets from the early 90’s are great (although not my ring these days)

Fred Anderson’s stuff / plus all the great okkadisk releases in general started here

Mats Gustafsson’s great early trio stuff with Barry Guy

I saw a bunch of shows in the late 90’s and early 2000’s in NYC and none of it was warmed over free jazz. Tim Berne, Mark Whitecage, Andrew Hill, Dave Holland, Marty Ehrlich, Ray Anderson, Fred Anderson, Joe Maneri, David S Ware, Instant Composers Pool, Willem Breuker, Joe Maneri, Gerry Hemingway, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Marilyn Crispell with Barry Guy & Gerry Hemingway. Etc.

Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, Die Like a Dog, Evan Parker with Mark Dresser & Bobby Previte, Dunmall with Paul Rogers & Kevin Norton. John Lindberg, etc. 

this live music changed my life

 

[Rabshakeh]

50 minutes ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Some of the greatest things ever from the 90’s are:

Braxton’s hat ART classic quartet Willisau & Santa Cruz

Gerry Hemingway’s hat ART European quintet recordings

Joe Maneri’s great recordings on hat ART & Leo

Ivo Perelman on Leo

DKV trio live in Wels/Chicago from 1998

Evan Parker’s peak period was the 90’s

Paul Dunmall & Mujician from the 90’s is extraordinary 

David Murray’s numerous quartet & quintets from the early 90’s are great (although not my ring these days)

Fred Anderson’s stuff / plus all the great okkadisk releases in general started here

Mats Gustafsson’s great early trio stuff with Barry Guy

I saw a bunch of shows in the late 90’s and early 2000’s in NYC and none of it was warmed over free jazz. Tim Berne, Mark Whitecage, Andrew Hill, Dave Holland, Marty Ehrlich, Ray Anderson, Fred Anderson, Joe Maneri, David S Ware, Instant Composers Pool, Willem Breuker, Joe Maneri, Gerry Hemingway, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, Marilyn Crispell with Barry Guy & Gerry Hemingway. Etc.

Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, Die Like a Dog, Evan Parker with Mark Dresser & Bobby Previte, Dunmall with Paul Rogers & Kevin Norton. John Lindberg, etc. 

this live music changed my life

I agree with all of this. You have named my favourites from this period.

The warmed over free jazz was a reference to the Charles Gayle cult in particular, but also to later David S Ware, who I never found particularly convincing.

51 minutes ago, Steve Reynolds said:

Paul Dunmall & Mujician from the 90’s is extraordinary 

Mats Gustafsson’s great early trio stuff with Barry Guy

Specifically which records are you referring to here?

[colinmce]

No surprise, I agree with Steve. I feel almost the exact opposite. I think the 90s was a time of great flourishment across different styles in modern jazz, I never get tired of digging though that body of music and finding more-- in fact next to the 60s I would rate the 90s as a favorite period for this music. What I would say myself is that these tributaries began to dry up as the new century dawned; I think the 2000s period sounds more like what you describe; a lot of the great players and ensembles of the 90s split up or moved on and the newer generation that came to flower about 10 years ago was just getting their feet under them.

More highlights from the era I would mention (also must say that Gayle and Ware are two of my favorite musicians ever-- I listen to them as much as Ayler or Sonny or Coltrane):

Bill Dixon's albums with William Parker, Barry Guy, and Tony Oxley
Cecil Taylor's FMP recordings
Horace Tapscott - The Dark Tree & Arabesque albums
Marilyn Crispell on Music & Arts
Clusone 3
Myra Melford's trio and various groups
John Lindberg on Black Saint
all the great music on eremite from Glenn Spearman, William Parker, Raphe Malik, Jemeel Moondoc, Denis Charles, TEST, Marco Eneidi et al
Dave Douglas' incredible Soul Note quintets
Ellery Eskelin/Andrea Parkins/Jim Black on hatOLOGY
Don Byron's Tuskeegee Experiments
Thomas Chapin's Knitting Factory albums
Franz Koglmann on hatART
Matthew Shipp's early music
Thomas Borgmann Trio
the Wobbly Rail label
Rudiger Carl/COWWS on FMP
King Ubu Orchestru 
Sam Rivers Rivbea All-Star Orchestra on RCA
Mal Waldron on Soul Note & Tutu
The Herbie Nichols Project
Ab Baars Trio

etc. etc!