I didn't know that Paul had a sense of humor, and he could really crack up the house once he got going. I read that just after listening to the album "Desmond Blue".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0wolSozfM
Jazz for aficionados
I didn't know that Paul had a sense of humor, and he could really crack up the house once he got going. I read that just after listening to the album "Desmond Blue". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0wolSozfM |
o10, I think that video is mis-labeled. I was expecting something by the Blue String Orchestra! ;^) More correctly it is -- Paul Desmond, "Desmond Blue" with string orchestra. I know, not your doing. Aside from that anal reaction, I just never get into jazz albums when featured artists are backed by string orchestras. That seems counter to jazz in my mind. Just yesterday my favored local jazz FM station featured the Charlie Parker album with strings!?! Anyway, to step down off my soapbox, frogman's suggestion for the Monk/Coltrane concert at Carnegie Hall reminded me to pull it out to enjoy it again. In addition to the music, the liner notes show a copy of the billing for the concert. Just imagine if you could hear Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Chet Baker with Zoot Sims, Sonny Rollins, and Thelonious with Coltrane, ALL for only $2.00 to $3.95 PER TICKET!!! Of course that was in November, 1957! But still, what a bargain! |
Bargain indeed; $2 would be $17.50 in today's dollars. I understand your feeling about jazz with strings; the arrangements often seem to put too many constraints on the jazz player. However, I happen to like that record a lot and posted it early in this thread; beautiful arrangements and beautiful playing by Desmond. What "Muzak" (I'm showing my age) could have been been and seldom was. If I leave my jazz expectation behind I find the music very enjoyable. Here's another that I like a lot. Very interesting concept and a great example for anyone wanting to understand the meaning of "Third Stream". It does a great job of straddling the line between jazz and classical with interesting and challenging string arrangements while leaving the solo saxophone entirely improvised. Considered by Getz himself as the best record he ever made: https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLfOleD7-7Oj90W890D0puroQgM7yTR-0P&v=sXxybiV4Pxs |