Jazz for aficionados
Can you imagine, Milt Hinton, Herbie Mann, Kai winding & J. J. Johnson as side men backing up a female vocalist? That's when you can count on me to listen intently to the music; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8eP6WG0aDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmj-856HCGU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_karS6dakeA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM30-bScuvA |
O-10, re Nina Simone: Imo, Nina Simone is a perfect example of Aristotle’s famous quote “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Before anyone thinks that this comment is faint praise, it is not. Nina Simone was a great artist and I love her artistry. Her artistry was a result of a combination of the ability to convey an incredible sense of emotion and commitment to the message of her songs, individuality, tremendous attitude in her delivery and excellent piano skills; not to mention that her songs, many of which had social consciousness themes, added to the overall impact of her artistry. In this context my following opinion doesn’t really matter, but I point it out because you make an interesting comment re her piano playing specifically: “ I’m not sure she maintained her piano skills to the end”. Imo, none of her many skills were, individually, quite on a par with the very greatest artists that we have discussed here. Her vocal skills (not her delivery) were limited; as was her piano playing. They were very good, but she certainly didn’t have the vocal skills of a Sarah Vaughn (not even close), nor the piano skills of Evans, Kelly, Barron, Wyands, or many other great piano players. To be honest you probably made a valid observation that I never did. You may very well be right that her piano playing was not maintained at the same level. I just never really paid much attention to her piano playing per se because it never struck me as outstanding. Don’t get me wrong, as I said, it was very good, but what always made an impact with me was the commitment and power in the overall delivery of the songs; the sum of the parts. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-sEP0-8VAow Btw, much has been written about how she was denied admission to the Curtis Institute and her feeling that it was due to racial bias. I don’t question nor doubt that bias may have played a role. However, in fairness, I would have to point out that being aware of the unbelievable caliber of pianists that attend that conservatory with the hope of having careers as concert pianists, I personally have not heard enough in her recorded piano playing that made me think she could have been a contender. IMO. |
First, thanks frog for that listing of Chamber's recordings. I've long admired his playing but had no idea he was so active during his short (sadly) career. It seems now there was hardly time to go on the road with any one group! Regarding Nina, we've discussed her before. But I liked the observation of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. While I never thought of her in those terms it does make sense. For my taste, what tied it all together was the emotion she conveyed in her performances. Also frog, while it may not have been at Curtis, I remember reading that she did train as a classical pianist before turning to jazz. Was that true? |
