I am a lifelong listener, patient and careful, but still mostly an amateur regarding the art of jazz music. Among the sustaining satisfactions of appreciating an art form is discovery of personal favorites, especially those beyond reach of introductions and surveys. For example, my appreciation of the pianist Steve Kuhn (b. 1938.) Kuhn played with major figures (Dorham, Coltrane, Getz) early in his career, but I first discovered him as a leader on ECM dates. I like to think that anyone can find Art Tatum or McCoy Tyner or, if more than a little initiated, Jaki Byard or Fred Hersch. But even more work is required to find players such as Richie Beirach or Steve Kuhn. My recommendation here was triggered by the purchase of Kuhn's Seasons of Romance from 1995, a lively disc of alternating trio and quartet settings. Each listening reveals new pleasure.
M. D. E. S. P.
Among the really good things not discovered until my fifties, along with gin and tonic and Marylynne Robinson's writing, is Miles Davis' E.S.P. This album from 1965 by the classic quintet has a magisterial, autumnal gestalt—the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, although Wayne Shorter's "E.S.P." and "Iris" are parts not to be missed. Is Shorter the iconic saxophonist of the 60s, even moreso than John Coltrane? Consider Shorter's solo stuff on Blue Note and his sideman work with both Art Blakey's and Miles Davis' groups.
Helpful reads
Is there a theme to this collection? Maybe the selections are gathered around concepts of the second great commandment: to love my neighbor.
Tattoos on the Heart, Gregory Boyle. (Free Press, 2010)
Ill Fares the Land, Tony Judt. (The Penguin Press, 2010)
Help: The Original Human Dilemma, Garret Keizer. (HarperCollins, 2004)
The Illustrated Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis. (HarperOne, 1942/1979)
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson. (Picador, 2004)
"Recently"
Recent, here meaning in the last half dozen years or so. Listed alphabetically.
John Burningham (b. 1936) British children's book illustrator
Marylynn Dintenfass (b. 1943) American painter
Marty Ehrlich (b. 1955) American jazz instrumentalist and composer
Philip Guston (1913-1980) American neo-expressionist artist
Brice Marden (b. 1938) American artist
Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) Polish poet
Josef Müller-Brockmann (1914-1996) Swiss graphic designer
David Sanborn (b. 1945) American alto saxophonist *
Simply Red Mike Hucknall's British soul band
Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) American poet
*Sanborn should be more widely respected. His body of work has integrity, and his alto sound is immediately recognizable. Roscoe Mitchell told me a long time ago that he thought Sanborn does good things for jazz. (And Sanborn has NRBQ connections.)