O - I listened to Tabackin’s "Pyramid" that you had posted. Also spent time with "Jazz at the Castle"...a live recording of the Lew Tabackin Quartet. This features him mainly on tenor sax but does include one piece of his flute music, "Return of Pan". His flute playing is very good and even to my ear seems to reflect classical training as noted by Frogman.
I was impressed with his sax playing on Jazz at the Castle. The style seems very modern as opposed to "old jazz" though I’m guessing the tunes are more old school. Not Free Jazz (that mostly does seem like noise to me) but his solos do have a more abstract less structured quality than the tight, well structured solos I associate with hard bop, be bop or cool jazz. Some of his playing reminded me of something I’d hear from one of Frank Zappa’s bands (Ian Underwood, specifically).
One of my realities is that the instrumental work and musicianship are NOT what I don’t get or like about old style jazz. It’s more that many (but not all) of old style jazz songs themselves just don’t grab me. They just aren’t interesting no matter how inventive the solos. And that’s said with all due respect to the thousands and thousands of jazz fans for whom the various well-regarded pieces DO make a big connection. I prefer a more contemporary sound song-structure-wise. That’s the best way I know how to describe my jazz tastes. Wish I could provide more music theory detail about what that means. I only recognize it when I hear it. Don’t know enough to predict it up front.
Some of Weather Report’s "oeuvre" represents what I like; Tony Williams Lifetime, too; the Pat Martino Joyous Lake that Frogman recommended works for me BUT absolutely NOT ALL his stuff (e.g., that work with Joey DeFrancesco); a good bit of Pat Metheny - but not his more traditional jazz recordings.
I didn’t bring up Jazz Pistols so they could be an object of ridicule (sorry for those that think that way) or even a touchstone of the best in modern jazz - I’m not that ignorant...there’s only going to be one Coltrane (or Miles or Evans). I do raise them (as well as Neil Cowley and Snarky Puppy) as examples of contemporary musicians - whether you call it jazz or not - whose compositions hold my interest AND who I also happen to think are, objectively, very good musicians.
So, that’s my meditation triggered by Mr. Tabackin’s flute playing.
I was impressed with his sax playing on Jazz at the Castle. The style seems very modern as opposed to "old jazz" though I’m guessing the tunes are more old school. Not Free Jazz (that mostly does seem like noise to me) but his solos do have a more abstract less structured quality than the tight, well structured solos I associate with hard bop, be bop or cool jazz. Some of his playing reminded me of something I’d hear from one of Frank Zappa’s bands (Ian Underwood, specifically).
One of my realities is that the instrumental work and musicianship are NOT what I don’t get or like about old style jazz. It’s more that many (but not all) of old style jazz songs themselves just don’t grab me. They just aren’t interesting no matter how inventive the solos. And that’s said with all due respect to the thousands and thousands of jazz fans for whom the various well-regarded pieces DO make a big connection. I prefer a more contemporary sound song-structure-wise. That’s the best way I know how to describe my jazz tastes. Wish I could provide more music theory detail about what that means. I only recognize it when I hear it. Don’t know enough to predict it up front.
Some of Weather Report’s "oeuvre" represents what I like; Tony Williams Lifetime, too; the Pat Martino Joyous Lake that Frogman recommended works for me BUT absolutely NOT ALL his stuff (e.g., that work with Joey DeFrancesco); a good bit of Pat Metheny - but not his more traditional jazz recordings.
I didn’t bring up Jazz Pistols so they could be an object of ridicule (sorry for those that think that way) or even a touchstone of the best in modern jazz - I’m not that ignorant...there’s only going to be one Coltrane (or Miles or Evans). I do raise them (as well as Neil Cowley and Snarky Puppy) as examples of contemporary musicians - whether you call it jazz or not - whose compositions hold my interest AND who I also happen to think are, objectively, very good musicians.
So, that’s my meditation triggered by Mr. Tabackin’s flute playing.