Comments on: Saturday Salon

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:54:08 +0000

diffan1213,
Thanks. Did discover that after my earlier comment, but forgot to say.

By: dlfan123

dlfan123 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:15:54 +0000

Damian Lewis is British he just plays an American in Band of Brothers and other films

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:35:38 +0000

Just for fun (and cuz we’re speaking of jazz) here’s a link to Lee Morgan’s sublime mid-60s cut “The Procrastinator”, one of the great lesser-known jewels of hard bop. Just look at that lineup — it’s to die for, and yeah, they do not disappoint. (And for those of you who think the jazz trumpet is defined by Miles, you’re in for a stylistic surprise. Check out Lee’s entrance around the 2:00 minute mark on “The Sidewinder” some time for a treat.) But here’s “The Procrastinator”, with the great Bobby Hutcherson leading the charge…

Sometimes I think of Lee as being sort of the Dee Dee Ramone of jazz (when you consider, say, “The Sidewinder” or “Mr. Kenyatta”). But beyond that, here’s a truncated version of his sublime, epic “The Search for the New Land”, always one of my favorite jazz cuts… if you can pick up the whole thing on vinyl or CD, it’s money well spent.

I always loved how this bunch, in spite of their enormous chops and taste for high-altitude art, nevertheless did not disdain to throw in a bit of showmanship too. Lee at his best, turns his little spectactular show-off bits into pieces of poetic metaphor instead of just sparks. Anyway enjoy.

Oh, and p.s. — thanks to Jazz Creepo for turning me on to Vince Jones… I checked out some of his stuff on youtube and it was lovely…

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:49:13 +0000

jo — ahh, true. Conversely, there are a few rare passages in Schumann (notably in Kinderscenen, but also elsewhere) where, for a few brief moments, he actually sort of swings — a century or so ahead of schedule.

By: jo

jo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:38:12 +0000

there are clips of tatum playing chopin, dvorak etc on youtube, but not in the 1 above:

By: laura

laura — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:44:53 +0000

My husband plays double bass in two jazz bands. There is a fairly extensive jazz culture in the outer north of Melbourne which goes back to Graeme and Roger Bell and Gordon Ford in Eltham in the 30s and 40s.

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:11:08 +0000

“None of this stuff is freedom…”

Oh, except for Don Van Vliet and The Mascara Snake, getting themselves lost on sax and bass clarinet. Those guys had no idea what they were doing. The Captain was kind of an idiot savant with a horn or a paintbrush; but with a pen or a microphone, he was sublime.

By: j_p_z

j_p_z — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:03:39 +0000

“apparently Coltrane spent a fair time working his way through Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales.”

Oh, Coltrane studied formal technique like you wouldn’t believe. So did most of those guys — well, the good/great ones. (Coltrane also did his post-docs, as it were, in the Schools of Miles and Monk. IIRC, even in Coltrane’s great years, he spent a few hours a day just playing scales.) Just like Pollock studied formally with T.H. Benton and the Mexican muralists, and (informally) over all the minutiae of Picasso, so he could learn to fling paint the exactly *right* way. James Schuyler was Auden’s personal secretary. None of this stuff is ‘freedom’ from ‘constraint or convention’ — none of the stuff that’s any good, that is.

By: joe2

joe2 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:20:52 +0000

Over hot and sticky where you are and missing out on important sleep?

Relief is in sight.

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/radar.jsp?lt=wzcountry&lc=aus&ane=1&anf=1&and=1&ana=7&anb=333&anc=3&lya=1&lyk=1&lye=1&lyf=1

By: David Irving (no relation)

David Irving (no relation) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:05:29 +0000

Further to that, jo, apparently Coltrane spent a fair time working his way through Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales.