Jazz for aficionados

Don't let one man's opinion from 5 years ago worry you. Today has it's own worries.

The Grant Green Mosaic box set with Sonny Clark is one of the releases that mostly came from Japan. It is highly regarded.

There will always be people with a different opinion than you. Some are just haters and others just get off on different music. I love some music that others don't even consider music. So what? 🙃

Alex, I don't disagree with anything you wrote; except the implication that I was saying otherwise about chronology.  I know you are not a fan of Benson, but he was not "my pick" as concerns this discussion; he was mentioned by the writer in the liner notes that O-10 quoted as one of the players that "overshadowed" Green.  

"Bugaloo Jones": New to me.  VERY NICE!  Love his sound and feel.  Very funky.  Fabulous!  Thanks for those clips; and they make my point about players' ability to play in a certain style.  This is definitely his musical home turf and he does it on a level that, imo, Grant Green does not.  What I hear in Jones' playing is an understanding of the feel of "rock and roll" which was, obviously, a force to contend with at the time and something that would have an impact on a player's appeal.  I don't know much about his playing, but I also don't hear much that tells me he could play in other styles (straight ahead jazz) as well.

What made Benson special was his rare ability to play credibly in any style, his virtuosity, he can sing; and, as concerns "marketability" and whether we like or not, he looks good.  We can criticize the reasons that record labels have for promoting certain artists more than others all we want, but I think we should always remember that if a label does not succeed NO ONE benefits.

****Probably the ’jazz scene’ was never so pure, or it was bigger than the audience, so there was no big enough market to sustain all that. I guess that is one of the reasons that contributed to change in styles (for worst,imho) in years to come.****

Very true.  Except, imho, the "for worst" part; but, only inasmuch as it is, as always, an inevitable change.  This is the part that I think is often missed about the changes in jazz, music in general, and art as a whole.  It HAS to change and it WILL change.  As always, it all reflects the changing cultural climate; and how we each feel about that change is a reflection of who we are as individuals.  This is true for artists as well as listeners.  That is why artists seldom do their best work late in their careers; they have a voice or style that often does not stay as relevant in a changing social climate.  It is the rare artist who can ride that wave of change with consistently high quality music.  

Well said, Acman3.

Alex, one of my favorite tenor players (The Little a Giant); will never forget hearing him live at the Village Vanguard back in the ’80s. I listened to your clips while I wrote my previous posts and here my impressions of the trumpet player; you have my word that I did not "peak":

Nice player with a very nice time feel with a vocabulary not quite as wide as some of other players. I would say he listened to a lot of Lee Morgan as he has a similar swagger in his time feel. Reminded me of a player you posted previously and I couldn’t remember his name. In fairness, since you posed a challenge to identify the player, I suspected that it may be one of the "forgotten ones". Please keep in kind that, for better or worse, as a musician I listen for certain things that are telltale and may not be important to other listeners (nor should they necessarily be). Here’s why he reminded me of that other player: This trumpet player plays consistently a little flat in pitch and is what brass players call a little "fracky"; his note attacks are not always the cleanest. Listen to the unison lines with the tenor saxophone in "Low Gravy" (particularly at the end of the tune); intonation is not that great. Still, very nice player and I really like his time feel. My comments may seem more critical that they are meant to be, but you did ask 😎

***** There will always be people with a different opinion than you. Some are just haters and others just get off on different music. ******

Acman3 gave me similar advice following the infamous "Bey Sisters" episode.   Those wonderful, harmonious, swinging, song birds of Jazz.   Unjustly Trashed by the entire thread.  Not one of 'aficionados' finer moments. But I didn't take it personally, it's just Jazz.

I still get my weekly 'Bey Sister' fix.

Cheers