Jazz for aficionados
Forget anything else said or written about Miles, the fact remains he sure knew how to gather talent around himself. I stumbled onto that 1964 footage after watching a short one where Ron Carter describes how he got recruited by Miles. What a charmer RC seems. "Well!...." watch it here (very short).... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzHDKtTI1rw |
Celebrating "Oscar Pettiford" today. While Mingus is one of my "go to" musicians, for all of his many incredible compositions, when just singling out the bass, Oscar Pettiford is my favorite. Unfortunately, you won't find as many Oscar Pettiford records as Mingus, but I savor what I have. There is nothing "objective" about my choice; Frogman, the professional musician would be the one to make an "objective" comparison in regard to the two bassists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5EwGijmqKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6u8j1jnJso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut6LinT-DJI While Mingus resonates with me, Oscar Pettiford resonates deeper. Born September 30, 1922 Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States Died September 8, 1960 (aged 37) Copenhagen, Denmark Genre Jazz, bebop, third stream, Instruments Double bass, cello. Years active 1942–1960 Labels Debut, Bethlehem, ABC Records Associated acts Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Barnet, Earl Hines, Ben Webster, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, Art Tatum, Johnny Hodges, and Kenny Dorham. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVYWHPLuNtk Blue Brothers Oscar Pettiford https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7gKcfKdeQ4 Tricotism; Lucky Thompson, OP, and Skeeter Best. |
frog, your comment suggests I share a little personal musical history - "If the listener doesn’t like Classical, Baroque music in particular, chances are he won’t like it." As mentioned previously, I grew up in a house with a fair bit of recorded music. Dad played records of jazz from the '30s and '40s while mom listened to pop singers of the day, mixed with only a little light-classical. My own interests in music began with rock and roll (Bill Haley, Little Richard, Elvis), then folk, then jazz, but I had practically no exposure to classical music. Early on in college I happened to hear some of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and was fascinated by it. To me the polyrhythms were similar enough to some jazz lines to make a connection, as well as the "call and response" element. So I began listening to other music by Bach, and that lead to other Baroque composers such as Vivaldi, Telemann, etc. Eventually that lead me to Beethoven, Mozart, and many others. My point in sharing this is to suggest there can be a tie between jazz and classical, as well as my own wonderment that my appreciation for classical evolved from jazz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HSRIDtwsfM All this contributed to my appreciation for a wide variety of music, even some opera and country western which I once discounted totally. Today I can find something to enjoy in just about every genre, the exceptions being rap, hip-hop, and heavy metal. ;^) |
A little more on the jazz/classical mix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wo_5D-Bg44 But I believe I read somewhere that Gunther Schuller, credited with originating the term "third stream", intended it to represent a stand-alone musical category. He felt the use of third stream jazz was a misnomer. |
Today's Listen: Thelonious Monk -- THE THELONIOUS MONK ORCHESTRA AT TOWN HALL Pepper Adams, Charlie Rouse, and Phil Woods comprise the Sax Section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd5rGoDqTyE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvXOcLi47TY While in the Army, I served in Korea, with a member of Monk's family. His last name was Monk, and he was a dead ringer for the great man himself. Even from NYC. Of course we all know of the great wide receiver, Art Monk, of the Washington NFL football team. Also kin to Thelonious. Cheers |
