I did a little calculation tonight. The Penguin Guide to Jazz, may it be praised, claims 14,000 reviews. Here's the thing: if you listened to each reviewed disc for five minutes, about the average length of a single number, that would add up to 70,000 minutes, or 1167 hours. At eight hours a day, that would be 146 days. I trust that the authors of the Guide have nothing else to do.
I have more than 900 jazz albums, according to my iTunes program. Of course, that includes every single disc in my three Bill Evans box sets. No wonder I am behind in my listening.
But tonight (it's payday!) I added another gem: Joe Henderson's Big Band. I have a very warm spot in my heart for Joe. His deep heart dredge has gotten me through more than one funk. I listed his State of the Tenor as one of the ten best jazz recordings. Maybe Sonny Rollins is "greater". I would rather spend my time with Joe.
As I said in my previous post, jazz big band albums are frequently concertos: a dialogue between an instrumentalist and an orchestra. It kinda reminds me of baseball. Joe, with his sax, squares off against a field of horns and mallets. Anyway, Henderson's Big Band is a marvelous album. Everything you want in a Henderson album is there, with that lush sound behind him. I got it from Amazon for a song. Here's a sample:
Joe Henderson/Inner Urge/Big Band
Love that record cover! I'll listen to the tune now.
ReplyDeleteRavel: I like the cover as well. The music is even better.
ReplyDelete