Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Jazz Note 4 Extended

I have removed the previous two shows and extended the current show by another hour.  Here is a list of the additional music.  
  1. Warm Velvet/Ivo Perelman/Sad Life
  2. Seagulls of Kristiansund/Mal Waldron Quartet/Seagulls of Kristiansund
  3. European Echoes/Ornette Coleman Trio/Live at the Golden Circle Vol. 1
  4. Memphis/Ran Blake Trio/Sonic Temples
  5. Abolish Bad Architecture/Reid Anderson/Abolish Bad Architecture
  6. Laredo/ROVA/The Works Vol. 3. 
The Perleman record (1996)  is the sort of thing you will like, if you like that sort of thing.  A saxophone trio can be pretty dry, but this one is superbly recorded and you get all the flavor of the instruments.   The Mal Waldron number is just delicious.  A stretched out romance recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1986.  Almost as good is The Git Go, which is from the same gig.  Coleman's Live at the Golden Circle is a very strong sample of Coleman's playing.  I think he works very well in the trio format.  This odd bounce is interesting for the way Coleman's adventurous horn is easy to follow.  

Ran Blake is a fine piano player with a touch that can be both abstract and sensuous at the same time.  I highly recommend his album Short Life of Barbara Monk.  On this show I presented a piece from a two CD set: Sonic Temples.  Reid Anderson is the bass player with The Bad Plus, and has three recordings under his name.  All three are splendid.  


Finally, ROVA is an all saxophone group, with Bruce Ackley, Steve Adams, Larry Ochs, and Jon Raskin.  Their two albums The Works Vol. 2 and 3 are quite good and are available very cheaply on Amazon or eMusic.  Available very cheaply (under two bucks at Amazon) is their recording of Coltrane's Ascension.  I never warmed to Trane's version, but at that price I might give it a try. 

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Playlist Correction Jazz Note 4

For some reason I could not get Mikuro's Blues by David S. Ware to play right on my Live365 show.  The file looked right on the studio software, but stretched out to twice its length or more when it played.  So far the other tracks seem to be right.  That's really too bad.  Ware's piece was a smokin' bit of blues. 

Jazz Note 4: Thankgiving

Here's a playlist of the current show, which debuts at 9pm Central tonight, Saturday, November 27th.  Tonight's show is a mixed bag of more accessible music from mostly less accessible albums.  Something to cut the taste of turkey and give your digestion something to work with.  You'll find roaring blues and sad romance, spiritual highs and entertaining shadows.  Give it a listen and let me know what you think. 
  1. Thanksgiving Suite/John Lindberg/A Tree Frog Tonality
  2. Mikuro's Blues/David S. Ware Quartet/Live In The World
  3. Ghosts/Albert Ayler/Spiritual Unity
  4. Red Car/David Murray/I Want To Talk About You
  5. Odin/David Murray/Body and Soul
  6. Crossing the Sudan/Chico Freeman/Destiny's Dance
  7. Stratusphunk/George Russell/Stratusphunk
  8. O'Neal's Porch/William Parker/O'Neal's Porch
  9. Contemplation/Mal Waldron and Marion Brown/Songs of Love and Regret
  10. Sonny's Dream/Sonny Criss/Sonny's Dream
  11. The Wane/Steve Lacy Trio/The Holy La
  12. Both Sides/The Vandermark Five/Airports For Light
Update: Mikuro's Blues played at half speed.  I stopped the show and replaced the track.  I hope it works this time.  Of course, with avant garde jazz you can't always tell. 

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Show

Will be a little delayed.  It may not air until tomorrow.  I'll announce it here.  

ps.  I wanted to publish the new show on Thanksgiving so it would run during the holiday.  Didn't make it.  It is pretty much in the can, and I will put it on the air tomorrow night at nine pm Central Time.  I am pretty happy with the selection of music.  There's a lot of blues and a lot of sad romantic numbers, all with an avant garde twist.  Unless you have a rather large collection or the exact same collecting history I have, you will hear some new music. 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

This Week On Jazz Note Radio

A two hour holiday show with David Murray, Albert Ayler, William Parker, Archie Shepp, and I don't know who else.  I plan on running it early Wednesday, if I can get it done in time. You might find it a bit edgy, but I am selecting the most accessible tracks from some challenging music.  Trust me: it's delicious and it will cut the taste of turkey. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sam Rivers Playlist

Here's the playlist from the current show.  
  1. Cyclic Episode/Sam Rivers/Fushia Swing Song
  2. When I Fall In Love/Sam Rivers/A New Conception
  3. If I Were A Bell/Miles Davis/Miles In Tokyo
  4. Conference of the Birds/Dave Holland Quartet/Conference of the Birds
  5. Ghetto Lights/Bobby Hutcherson/Dialogue
  6. Tomorrow Afternoon/Tony Williams/Life Time
  7. Waterfall/Sam Rivers and Dave Holland/Sam Rivers and Dave Holland Vol. 1

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Jazz Note 3: Sam Rivers

I will launch the third episode of Jazz Note Radio tonight (Saturday November 20th) at 9 pm.  That's an hour earlier than usual, but me and mine are going to see Harry Potter.  You'll hear about an hour of Sam Rivers.  Why Sam Rivers?  I just like the Blue Note Box set I have been listening to.  

The three hour Monk show will continuing playing in the loop. 

Some Sam Rivers Flowing Your Way

I'm running a bit behind this week, but I have put together a hour or so of music featuring Sam Rivers.  I am going to put it into the Live365 playlist when I get it done.  You'll like it.  Trust me. 

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Essential Monk Recordings

Here are some suggestions for the collector wanting to get some essential Thelonious Monk recordings.  You can hear a lot of this music right now at Jazz Note Radio on Live365.  See the link top right. 
  1. Brilliant Corners (Monk's best single recording and one of the best albums in modern jazz)
  2. Misterioso & Thelonious in Action (Two albums of Monk live at the Five Spot)
  3. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk
  4. Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane Live at Carnegie Hall
  5. Monk's Music
  6. Underground
  7. Live at the It Club
  8. Monk in Paris
  9. Alone in San Francisco
  10. It's Monk Time
That's a pretty good basic Monk collection.  You can add a lot by investing in two box sets.  One is The Complete Blue Note Recordings, which gives you most of the early Monk recordings.  I can't remember what I paid, but I seem to recall that it was a bit pricey.  Alternatively you could get Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modern Music.  There are two or three discs sold separately, and they're affordable.  

The second box is Thelonious Monk: Original Album Classics, which includes five Monk albums made for Columbia.  They come in sleeves with the original covers, so its five albums for a very reasonable price.  I paid about $18 for it, but you may not get that good a deal.  





Monk Show Playlist

Here is a playlist of the current show running on Live365.  You can see a link to the show on the right.  The playlist is in order.  I identify the players on the show.  If you want to check out the Monk tunes, go to the wonderful Jazz Discography Project.  

Japanese Folk Song/Monk/Straight No Chaser/1966
Round Midnight/Monk/Misterioso/1958
Blue Monk/Monk/Thelonious Alone in San Francisco/1959
Rhythm-A-Ning/Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk/1957
In Walked Bud/Monk/Underground/1967
Evidence/Monk/Live at the It Club/1964
Nutty/Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall/1957
Ruby My Dear/Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane/1957
Epistrophy/Charlie Rouse/Epistrophy/
Friday the 13th/Thelonious Monk with Sonny Rollins/1953
Straight No Chaser/Mulligan Meets Monk/1957
Round Midnight/Charlie Haden/The Montreal Tapes/
Brilliant Corners/Paul Motian and the EBBB
Well You Needn't/John Stetch/Exponentially Monk/
Four in One/Anthony Braxton/Six Monk's Compositions/1989
Round Midnight/Steve Lacy and Mal Waldron/Live at the Dreher Paris 1981
Pannonica/Steve Lacy/5xMonk5xLacy/
Let's Cool One/Steve Lacy with Don Cherry/Evidence/
Bemsha Swing/Cecil Taylor/Jazz Advance/1956
Trinkle-Tinkle/Alexander Von Schlippenbach/Monk's Casino/2004
Boo Boo's Birthday/Alexander Von Schlippenbach/Monk's Casino/2004

Bright Mississippi/Alexander Von Schlippenbach/Monk's Casino/2004




Saturday, November 13, 2010

JazzNote Radio 2: Thelonious Monk

Jazz Note Radio 2 will go online at 10pm Central Time tonight.  As I start this post, that's about thirty minutes from now.  The first three hour show will disappear and a three hour program of Thelonious Monk's music will replace it.  I will make the old shows available in some form, probably as a podcast.  Right now I am trying to figure out Live365 and the dos and don'ts of legal online radio.  

I will provide a playlist (in order this time) tomorrow, but for now I will say a little bit about Monk and the music on the new show.  It is one of God's jokes that Monk's middle name was "Sphere".  No one in the history of jazz was less spherical and more angular than Monk, as a composer or piano player.  Certainly no working jazz musician left a body of compositions that had more lasting influence.  

Whether leading his band or playing alongside other big names, Monk rarely recorded anything but Monk.  Listening to him for hours at a time, the music never gets old.  Monk's work, if not Monk himself, straddles three crucial movements in modern jazz.  He was present at the creation of bebop as one of the founding fathers of that Music.  Most of his recording comes during the hard bop period, and it was in that period that he finally achieved the fame he so richly deserved.  

Monk himself never ventured into avant garde jazz and this is worth commenting on.  Monk's genius lay principally in his ability to strip down music to its constituent parts and then rebuild it.  Some critics have commented that he almost labels the parts, especially when he is playing jazz standards.  But there is nothing abstract in Monk's playing or composing.  His greatest composition, 'Round Midnight', is so concrete you can almost hear the footsteps on wet pavement.  If Monk didn't do avant garde, avant garde surely did Monk.  Many of the great musicians of that movement were members of the cult of Monk. 

About half of this week's show consists of Monk recording either as leader or alongside greats like Coltrane, Rollins, and Gerry Mulligan.  The rest consists of Monk covers by Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, John Stetch, Steve Lacy and Mal Waldron, Cecil Taylor, and Anthony Braxton.  The only Monk composition I repeat is 'Round Midnight,' and you get that one three times.  

A special treat comes at the end.  Avant garde piano master Alexander Von Schlippenbach did something no one else has done, to my knowledge.  He recorded all of Monk's compositions in a three cd set.  That required a lot of squeezing, and there are moments when it reminds one of the Reduced Shakespeare jokes that you can hear on the web.  It is a treasure, and I provide three cuts from that box set.  

If you are listening to Jazz Note Radio, you will hear a lot of Monk this week.  Starting next week I will probably add about an hour a week until I fill up my locker.  I estimate I will have about 9 hours of music to listen through eventually.  New shows will start on Saturday night.  

Thanks for listening and reading.  Drop me a line. 

Thelonious Monk & Sam Rivers.

My Thelonious Monk tribute show is almost done.  I am hoping to launch it tomorrow night (Saturday) at 10pm Central Time.  I'll post here if there is a delay.  The United States Congress told me not to post a playlist in advance, but I will post one after the show gets going.  Not quite half the show consists of Monk recordings, and the rest of other jazzmen covering Monk's compositions.  If you have read this blog in the past, you will have some idea of the mix.  I have several bop treatments of Monk, and some other avant garde treatments.  Steve Lacy is well represented.  

Meanwhile, I have been listening to a new box set: The Complete Blue Note Sam Rivers Sessions.  It is three CDs including four of River's early recordings as leader.  Rivers is best known as an avant garde sax player, but this bundle of music is very accessible and it is utterly delicious.  The box is a little hard to come by.  You might find it easier to get Fushia Swing Song, Dimensions and Extensions, A New Conception, and Contours.  You won't be disappointed by any of them.  Rivers is the real thing.  Let the River flow. 

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Upcoming Monk Show

My first show is running.  I like to think it's a good mix of music: some classics that are very well known, but a lot of music that the average jazz fan might not have heard yet.  Live365 has been a good experience over all, but it does have its irritations.  Most of them are due to the Digital Age Communications Act.  For example, I cannot play more than four pieces by one artist or one album in a three hour period.  I understand the album thing, but why the artist thing?  That makes it a challenge to do a show on one artist like Miles or Monk.  I am not allowed by that law to publish a playlist.  I gather that the intent is to prevent Online Radio stations from turning into sources of free music.  All of this makes it harder to turn new listeners on to the music I love. 

The other irritation is the frequent ads.  I don't mind commercials.  It kinda makes this seem like real radio.  I just get tired of the same commercials over and over.  

Anyway, I am working on a Monk program.  I recently saw the biopic Straight No Chaser.  I cried.  Really.  My next show will feature a lot of Monk playing his own music and a lot of other jazz artists covering Monk compositions.  The covers will stretch from solid bop interpretations to the avant garde branch of Monk's church.  I will feature solos, trios, and larger bands.  Don't miss it!

Friday, November 5, 2010

JazzNote Radio 1: Miles Davis and his Men


JazzNote is now playing on Live365.  Episode 1 is about three hours long and will repeat (I hope!).  This episode is devoted to the music of the two great quintets headed by Miles Davis, and to music produced by the great jazzmen who were part of those two groups.  It roughly tracks some of my early collecting. 

JazzNote can be accessed at this address:

http://www.live365.com/stations/kcblanchard

Here is a list of the music on Episode 1.  

Adderley Julian One for Daddy-O Somethin' Else
Carter Ron Lawra Third Plane
Carter Ron Softly as in a Morning Sunrise Where?
Coltrane John Bass Blues Tranein In
Coltrane John I Want To Talk About You Soultrane
Davis Miles My Funny Valentine Cookin'
Davis Miles Ahmad's Blues Workin'
Davis Miles Iris ESP
Davis Miles My Funny Valentine Live at the Plugged Nickel
Garland Red All Morning Long All Morning Long
Garland Red What Can I Say? Groovy
Hancock Herbie Oliloqui Valley Empyrean Isles
Hancock Herbie The Sorcerer Speak Like a Child
Morgan Lee Melancholee Search for the New Land
Pepper Art Imagination Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section
Shorter Wayne Down in the Depts Introducing Wayner Shorter
Shorter Wayne Infant Eyes Speak No Evil
Williams Tony Two Pieces of One: Red Life Time
Williams Tony Love Song Spring

Thursday, November 4, 2010

JazzNote Radio is Imminent!

If all goes well, the first episode of Jazz Note will go live tomorrow night at 10pm central time.  I will post information about how to access it here.  The show is hosted on Live365.

The first episode is a three hour adventure in jazz collecting based on the First and Second Miles Davis Quintets.  I will publish a list of the music I play here (though it is not a playlist!).