Ever since I heard "Monk's Dream" I have been hooked on Jazz. There is so much material out there it will make you crazy. However, I really don't have that much of a problem finding older material that I like. The problem is finding modern day jazz frontiersmen. I realize that the styles are little different, but the spirit is still there. Stuff like Charlie Hunter, Marc Ribot, Don Byron, Danny Gatton, and Dennis Chambers. These names to me have become more established in recent times and generally are accepted as some of the greats of modern day jazz.

I have read a lot of the posts in the Jazz area and there are a lot of people here that know their stuff. What do you guys think of the newer stuff?

I personally love a lot of what's out there. You just have to wade through a lot of crap to find the gems, but that's the same in any music genre. Some more than others I guess. I think the newer trend of Fusion is great. Listening to Charlie Hunter cover Marley's Natty Dread album for example is a great fusion of styles. It can only lead to greater things.

Some modern fusion efforts that I am enjoying exploring currently is the music coming out on the Thirsty Ear record lable. The lable honco (forgot his name) certainly has open ears and is not afraid to push the fusion envelope, sales be damned. He has given Matthew Shipp artistic control of the "Blue" series on the lable, a series that melds funk, hip hop, classical, etc, into a jazz flavored brew, although the jazz end of things can disappear into some of the compositions. I'm warming up to discs by EL-P, DJ Spooky, and David S Ware. I want to check out the Antipop Consortium stuff, too.

Something brand new on Thirsty Ear (though not part of the "Blue" series) is Meat Beat Manifesto's - 'At the Center'. This is a wild project that can appeal to electronica fans and fans of very modern jazz. Jack Dangers (Mr. MBM) has assembled soundscapes with live musicians improvising within. A must hear. Is it jazz? Disturbing in spots and exhilarating all over.

I checked out the website and I was wondering where Vernon Reid has been hiding. Last I heard from him was Meridiem with Trey Gunn from Crimson. Whether or not it is classified as Jazz doesn't really matter. You can tell if it is in the spirit of things.

It's to bad that the record industry got so profit hungry after Frampton Comes Alive. It is only now that I think that technology has gotten to the affordable level, so we can get some more of the experimental, small audience stuff. Of course in tandem with that is the fact that every yahoo can put something out.

Hey, I love Frampton Comes Alive! That voice box thingy through the guitar is sublime. Mellow stoneage. But yeah, it's a double edged sword when it comes to affordable technology. The new technology allows folks the ability to easily express their musical visions but so much music is being created today that it becomes overwhelming and mind numbing. What's needed is a clearinghouse to seperate the wheat from the chaff. That's where smaller labels (like Thirsty Ear for example) step in. These smaller lables can make (relatively) unpressured artistic decisions and press small numbers of records, yet still make a profit for all involved. I don't have the time, money or desire to wade through zillions of vanity independent projects, most of which never rise above the noise, so to speak. I depend on artful tastemakers at small labels who follow a 'vision' to find the 'new' in music and get the work widely distributed (thanks to modern technology again) so that I might stumble onto it, in my feeble quest to stay hip.

I just hope that modern technology doesn't backfire and leave only a couple giant corporations feeding us bread and circus while the rest of us are in a high tech primitive setting where little is organized and it is every artist and listener for themselves.

Don't get me wrong. I own the Frampton Comes Alive album. I am not knocking the material or the artist. The theory behind the statement is something my buddies and I have talked about for years. When Frampton Comes Alive came out it shattered any previous record sales, and soon after that mass marketed albums started to show themselves, and best selling albums became a dime a dozen. Now obviously a lot of those albums had musical merit, but the content is not what we are focusing on. It's that point when the record companies realized just how much money they could screw us out of. That, and how to mass market and pre-package stuff based on marketing results instead of the quality of the music. Now they have had close to thirty years of fine tuning their craft of specialized marketing and I think that it shows.

With that said, and with the technology becoming cheaper it almost frees the artist up. You can do what you want without having to have a producer breathing down your neck. No longer do you have to pay for the studio and the recordings you make in the studio. I guess it will change though. Life is like that. It's very cyclical. Musical freedom, dominating record companies, musical freedom, dominating record companies.

What was the topic of this thread again?

One of the few threads, which went off course from the very first post. This could explain why in one week there has been two posters and 5 posts. Three of which are about that great Modern Jazz recording, Frampton Comes Alive.

How does someone go from Monk to Charlie Hunter, Danny Gatton, and Dennis Chambers? That's like going from Filet Mignon to hot dogs or Liszt on the piano to me on the piano.


Modern Jazz covers about 45 years of Jazz's history and there is about 1000 musicians, which I would listen to before those mentioned.

My God, I would listen to Wynton Marsalis and everyone knows how much I love him, before I listen to any of those.

Fries: I no longer am a fan of Shipp or Wiliam Parker, however, I strongly recommend Ware's recent 3cd of live recordings. It covers two of Ware's groups, including his best with Susie Ibarra on drums.

However, the best part is the recording with Hamid Drake sitting in on the drums. That portion alone is worth the price of admission.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p...0:8nkbu32san7k

Now tell me, how does someone follow up an excellent post like this one

http://www.radiomute.com/showpost.ph...postcount=1059


with this thread?

[quote=Satchmo8101]What was the topic of this thread again?

One of the few threads, which went off course from the very first post. This could explain why in one week there has been two posters and 5 posts. Three of which are about that great Modern Jazz recording, Frampton Comes Alive. [quote]


Satchmo, It's nice to see you back on duty riding herd at the jazz forum. I'm having trouble following your logic on the dearth of posts here, though. Thread drift is evidently responsible for the lack of posts? Although mpittman's original post was not focused to a razor sharp edge, there was enough meat there to get the ball rolling. Same goes for the "Groovy" thread... a little vague out of the gate but not hard to build upon. A little improvisation, a roll of the dice. I enjoyed the off topic chat with mpittman, too. He appears to be a new member with positive energy and a desire to add something to the jazz board. Welcome aboard, bro. Enthusiasim counts. There must be reasons why hardly anyone posts on the jazz board (besides jazz being a marginal music - in the grand scheme of things) , but I don't think thread drift or unfocused openers are the reasons.

Sometimes the best stuff happens during thread drift. This jazz forum is quiet enough that some off topic talk between jazz fans isn't going to crash the server or muddy the stream of thought. It might get more people to dip their toes into the jazz forum.

P.S. - Thanks for the tip on the live David S. Ware. I have limited funds, so I am leery of springing for an album from someone like David S. Ware, who seems to have a deep (i.e. confusing to the dillitant) catalog to choose from (I have 'Flight of I' and 'Passage to Music'). I'll keep an eye peeled for 'Live in the World'.

I stand accused of thread drift. I didn’t think that I would ever get caught. I thought it was a victimless crime. Now I know the error in my ways. If the court will let me off with a warning I promise not to do it again. I will dedicate my life to correct thread etiquette.

Simply put, I find Jazz listeners make for great music based conversation. And last I checked even the great jazz cats at one point in their life were concerned with recording technology and the cost there of. Not to mention selling their legacy to a suit from a record company that was trying to tell them what to do.

Satchmo, come on now. It’s all good. From someone that apparently dislikes Wynton Marsalis, you sure sound like him. Now I register your dislike of those I mentioned, but can you give me reasons. Something I can debate with you a little, or just give me some examples of some new people out there that meet your standards.

PS. I’ll set Mr. Gatton next to anybody you’ve got. Of course, there will be no way to determine the winner, but I look forward to the challenge