listen to JAZZ!

[stratman]

Oh cmon! Denny Dias has some nice pedal steel work on that song. And besides, who couldn't love yet another song about a whore? That's what most of their songs are about anyways, whores and drugs.

As for me, my favorite album is Aja, but each of them has a different feel that speaks to me depending on the mood. Katy Lied is a real treasure, and Royal Scam is disturbingly dark.

Spoken like a true Dan-o-phile.

 

[jaxvon]

Spoken like a true Dan-o-phile.

Guilty as charged. But on the topic of jazz, I'd suggest picking up this if you're into modern big band. The recording quality is excellent and the compositions are quite good.

 

[jliedeka]

I need to speak up for Can't Buy a Thrill. I always liked Dirty Work. There was a time when I felt I should have written that song.

Jim

 

[stratman]

How about EVERYONE'S GONE TO THE MOVIES, talk about twisted lyrics! Reads like something out of today's headlines.

 

[Gov]

What no love for "Morph the Cat"????????? Although not as good as his first solo material, it is very good! I seem to never tire listening to anything from Dan or Fagen stuff

 

[Starmax]

Drugs and whores...always worked for me! To me, that song has always sounded slow, monotonous and tortured. Speaking of "Dirty Work," who is that singing on it? Sure doesn't sound like Fagan. (I suppose I could google it, but I'd rather show my ignorance and let someone else show off their mastery of Danology.) I don't know what it is about "Morph," but after giving it a fair shot(maybe 5 listens?) it didn't interest me. It seems there's a high number of Danoholics who feel the same way. Hey Jaxvon, why are you trying to highjack this Steely Dan conversation to jazz? Go look at the name of the thread...oops. Nevermind.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Getting back to jazz, here is my current top 10:

Lee Ritenour-Smoke & Mirrors
Stefon Harris-African Tarantella
Mike Stern-Who Let the Cats Out?
Mindi Abair-A Life Less Ordinary
John Pattitucci-Line by Line
Sonny Rollins-Sonny Please!
Madeline Peyroux-Half the Perfect World
Spyro Gyra-The Deep End
Brian Bromberg-You Know that Feeling
Andy Narell-Tatoom

 

[Starmax]

Thanks for getting us back on track...

 

[jostenmeat]

yay! (Im not familiar with Steely D.). Heres mine, some are long standing favs, some are current favs, a good amount of piano.

Mingus: Blues and Roots (my fav jazz musician of all time)
Ellington/Mingus/Roach(!!!!): Money Jungle. An absolute must-have.
Braxton: Six Monk Compositions
Haden: Montreal Tapes (one with G. Allen is my favorite, there are a bunch)
Cherry/Redman/Haden/Blackwell: Old and New Dreams
Dolphy: Out to Lunch
Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth
Mehldau: Places
Jarrett: La Scala
Blakey: Live at Birdland

 

[alexsound]

As a guitar player, I love Al DiMeola, especially the stuff he did with Paco De Lucia.

On the whole, however, I like more bebop and older jazz. I love Dave Brubeck, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman and the soundtrack to Sweet and Lowdown.

Jim

Al DiMeola RULES !! The original shredder....but jazzy. He was doing in the late 70's what the "best" metal guitarists today WISHED they could do. He is absolutely amazing on acoustic guitar. Elegant Gypsy.... One of the most amazing CD's I own.

SpyroGyra is pretty awesome too.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

yay! (Im not familiar with Steely D.). Heres mine, some are long standing favs, some are current favs, a good amount of piano.

Mingus: Blues and Roots (my fav jazz musician of all time)

I have a Mingus CD (called "Ah Um") that I love in terms of content. Being an old recording, however, it is not up to par soundwise. Too bad that some of those classic performances could not have been captured by today's recording equipment. The great thing about my Sonny Rollin's CD is that he is an "old school" performer, but the recording is new.

 

[jostenmeat]

Joe,

I agree. Oh well. Still great to listen to. I've heard Ah-Um, and need to get it. I need all of the medium-large ensemble stuff, Pinthecanthropus, Tijuana Moods, etc. I lost the latter, like I do with too many favorite recordings. Blues and Roots is still my fav.

I find Mingus is the most contrapuntal jazz musician I've heard. He also uses much more complex form than usual. His choice of ensemble is very unique in their textures they can create. And, he must really kik the other guys' butts. A number of musicians on his recording never sounded as good elsewhere, in my experience. I think especially Jackie McLean. Of course, he tried to kick anyones butt lol. He got kicked out from Duke's band without notice for chasing someone with a lead pipe that talked smack, HAHA. Then he blows a shotgun off in his living room.

Have you heard Money Jungle? Get it. Especially if you love piano trios.

 

[stratman]

Give a listen to Steve Khan, an amazing jazz git player.

 

[jaxvon]

Drugs and whores...always worked for me! To me, that song has always sounded slow, monotonous and tortured. Speaking of "Dirty Work," who is that singing on it? Sure doesn't sound like Fagan. (I suppose I could google it, but I'd rather show my ignorance and let someone else show off their mastery of Danology.) I don't know what it is about "Morph," but after giving it a fair shot(maybe 5 listens?) it didn't interest me. It seems there's a high number of Danoholics who feel the same way. Hey Jaxvon, why are you trying to highjack this Steely Dan conversation to jazz? Go look at the name of the thread...oops. Nevermind.

The vocalist on "Dirty Work" (as well as "Midnight Cruiser" and "Brooklyn") is David Palmer. Apparently Fagen had stage fright issues, so he wanted another vocalist to perform on stage when they toured.

As for jazz, I'll skip listing classics like Kind of Blue and Time Out that I adore, because chances are most everyone here does, too.

Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra - Basement Vibes
Mulgrew Miller - Live at Yoshi's
Keith Jarett - Belonging
Keith Jarett - Live at the Blue Note
Dave Grusin - Mountain Dance
The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans Album

If you know the artists above, it should come as no surprise that I play piano, too.

 

[stratman]

Dave Grusin, Mountain Dance...love that CD.

 

[flippo]

Big jazz fan

I am a big jazz fan, both tradional and fusion. My favorites are Pat Metheny, Flim and the BB's (they are great and theit music is fun, listen to them and you'll know what I mean) for fusion and I like Charlie Haden Quarte and Gerry Mulligan are my faves for traditional.

 

[jaxvon]

Dave Grusin, Mountain Dance...love that CD.

It's also very interesting how it was recorded. The process is detailed in the liner notes. The entire album was recorded live in the studio with no overdubbing, no remixing, just straight to a digital stereo recorder. Keeping that in mind, it sounds even more amazing.

 

[davo]

IMO, the most talented musicians are Jazz musicians.

True that.

 

[jostenmeat]

True that.

Quite a statement. I wonder how so. There are so many talented musicians in many styles, especially when going past the borders of the US.

 

[jostenmeat]

I am a big jazz fan, both tradional and fusion. My favorites are Pat Metheny, Flim and the BB's (they are great and theit music is fun, listen to them and you'll know what I mean) for fusion and I like Charlie Haden Quarte and Gerry Mulligan are my faves for traditional.

Another Haden fan here (you mighta noticed my list). I got to meet him during a tour of his with Kenny Barron. My friends and I arrived super early to sit at the closest table. Very nice guy. I think he was playing with gut strings(or maybe some synthetic? I think a couple of them were red in color). Anyways, fabulous duo.