Ornette Coleman Eddie Lockjaw Davis Miles Mingus

Streaming Jazz (22-1): Miles, Mingus and Two Sax Greats
Letter from Shenzhen (22-3): Streaming Jazz

Background First, a little of my jazz “background”. Although I listen mainly to Classical, I do change genre once in a while. Even if you prefer Bordeaux, won’t you enjoy a Burgundy sometimes?

Less known to my readers is that I had long been a jazz listener. My first LP was a randomly bought Thelonious Monk Solo (Columbia). I didn’t buy that many but for the longest time my favorite was Coltrane’s My Favorite Thing (Atlantic). As I lived in the West Village, I also periodically visited the famous joints like Village Vanguard, but my favorite was little known Arthur’s Tavern, which offered lesser performers (even amateurs sometimes) - it was hit and miss but the place just had the right atmosphere - rowdy and no tourists (Japanese ones dominate the Blue Note).

Paradoxically it was my return to Hong Kong that saw exponential growth in my jazz knowledge and arsenal. Frequent meetings with audiophiles invariably made me acquainted with more jazz material (including Brubeck’s Take Five; which most audiophiles fail to replay well). Most of all though, it was the then thriving used CD market that had me buying frantically (very reasonable prices). By the time I left HK I had amassed a rather huge (and dare I say valuable) collection of Jazz CDs (between 1k and 2k in number I’d say). I sold all my LPs and CDs to a friend, but I actually miss the Jazz CDs more than the classical ones. But I rarely write about Jazz because Classical takes precedence, and there are just too much to write about. This musical offering is an exception.

It came about recently. After downloading the Chinese Kuwo player (one post down), I started playing jazz, and still haven’t stopped. This post will discuss a few favorites. I'll start with the one known to all audiophiles.

Miles Davis In HK I had built up a reasonable Miles library, including local audiophile favorites like the Gil Evans albums, particularly Sketches of Spain. But over the years during my trips back to NYC, I bought many “lesser” albums from J&R cheaply, up to the time they closed for good. There are numerous articles on the net regarding which of this prolific and great artist’s albums are the best, and I urge you to read them. For me, Spain and Kind of Blue always brought comfort and pleasure. Regarding the latter, a HK friend traded his 45 LP reissues with me and said he could not understand it at all. His experience reminds me of my early days in jazz - yes, it takes time to get into any genre, but the rewards are great. There is no Miles album that I don’t like, but, unlike many critics, I am enthralled by his later periods for their progressive stance and embrace of Electronica. As an example, one of my favorites is Tutu, and I like also Decoy and Siesta. Purists need not read further...Although almost everything by Miles is available on Kuwo, some require membership (reasonable payment) so I just stick to the free stuff (enough already). This round, I streamed, aside from those mentioned above, Seven Steps to Heaven, Tribute to Jack Johnson and Nefertiti, great albums!

Mingus Great as Miles is, his conceptions at all times have an over-riding order and control that may be more ethereal and sometimes a little too much. Moreover, he was not a big band leader and more often than not sought collaborations in his projects (like Gil Evans). My heart belongs even more to Mingus. For many years, one of my reference discs is Ah Um (Sony/Columbia). But even greater is the insanely good The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady (Impulse!), now one of my desert island discs. Mingus said in the original Liner Note "... I wrote the music for dancing and listening. It is true music with much and many of my meanings. It is my living epitaph from birth til the day I first heard of Bird and Diz. Now it is me again. This music is only one little wave of styles and waves of little ideas my mind has encompassed through living in a society that calls itself sane, as long as you're not behind iron bars where there at least one can't be half as crazy as in most of the ventures our leaders take upon themselves to do and think for us, even to the day we should be blown up to preserve their idea of how life should be. Crazy? They'd never get out of the observation ward at Bellevue...". I for one can only listen to this and not dance! When it comes to jazz I am not necessarily an advocate for the horns. But here Mingus coalesced them into an incredibly vocal consort that pumped out, above all, ecstasy and erotic cacophony. This round, I am approaching my 10th play of this album, and I am still awashed by the sound! If you ask me, after Ellington, Mingus is the greatest band leader. For a more lyrical vein, Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse!) is good. I have more to stream.

Despite many albums with excellent sound (Impulse! certainly always delivers), Mingus is not at all an audiophile fav, but he was a really interesting man. Here is a solid discussion on The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady. While doing research I discovered this Open Letter to Miles Davis! This is a must read! We found out that Miles was dismissive of the way Thelonious Monk (another one of my heroes) played and there is a discussion on whether Brubeck swings (not for me, what about you?). :-)

Eddie Lockjaw Davis My first acquaintance of this exceptional saxophonist is from the many (Pablo) Montreux ‘77 albums, featuring prominently Oscar Peterson at his best. Incidentally, this entire Norman Granz sponsored series is just glorious, with few duds. Not only did I discover Jaws, I also fell in love with the piano playing of Tommy Flanagan. For vinyl fans, these are frequently seen in “dollar” bins. The typical French Tricolor cover is unmistakable. Bonus is, the sound of Pablo is almost always exceptional. Back to Jaws, I highly recommend the Cookbook series (Prestige). As an Amazon customer commented: “...Excellent, uncomplicated music from the man who candidly explained how he got into music: " I decided to become a musician when I was a kid, by watching musicians. I saw that they drank, they smoked, they got all the broads and they didn't have to get up in the morning. That attracted me." Admirable...” Note that "uncomplicated" as the music may be, Jaws made them invariably interesting by his rhythmic drive and savvy. I also dig the chordal Hammond organ playing of Shirley Scott, which to me is a perfect fit for Jaws’ outbursts. (I disagree with the sentiment expressed in this review and align much more with this review). Scott is under-rated and her playing is totally different from, say, the more popular Jimmy Smith, but she is more of a team player and less overt, and her contributions are pristine. Suffice to say, I regard Scott as someone who never got her due.

Ornette Coleman The more I listen to Jazz, the more I take to many progressives. I follow the pianists more than the hornists (late John Lewis is a favorite, and not just his MJQ period). But I don’t feel in sync with everyone. Much as I like Coltrane, some of his works feel more like intellectual pursuits and I’d like a more corporeal feeling. I came to Ornette Coleman early. Maybe 10-20 years ago I bought his iconic Free Jazz LP (used, a late pressing). I liked it but it is over the years that I’ve come to appreciate its greatness - to be exact, over 37 minutes of greatness. Grant you, this is not for a beginner, but those with modern music stamina can withstand it, provided they are in sympathy with the style (not often). This is a seminal album, indeed THE seminal album. The musicians involved read like a who's who (including another personal fav, Eric Dolphy). This excellent reiew gives you pics of the backcover etc. And here is another good one. Many Ornette Coleman albums, even earlier ones, are also very good; he’s never boring. I thoroughly enjoyed Change of the Century, At the Golden Circle (Live), Of Human Feelings, The Shape of Jazz to Come. That Coleman is not at all a crowd favorite is evident from Kuwo: almost all his albums can be streamed free, whereas almost all Billy Cobham albums require membership (I have a fondness for the latter's Power Play, an album I heard many years ago when it first came out. Light and melodic stuff - Mahavishnu it is not but very entertaining).

Audiophiles always play a few jazz cuts, but usually very safe stuff with little dissonance (say, Take Five), even bland stuff (say, Diana Krall). And Chinese audiophiles take to older sax greats like Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Stitt and Ben Webster. (Make no mistake, I love them too, but one cannot have too much caramel). That is because older (and more inventive) greats like Charlie Parker, Lester Young etc are only available in lesser sound. But there is much greatness to be explored! Stream more older Jazz, and you will be amazed by their inventiveness!

Kudos to the Jazz Greats!