Lou Reed list

Several weeks ago, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Jim Higgins listed, in order of personal preference, 31 solo albums by Lou Reed. Each album is ranked, with a sentence-long comment. Find the list here.

I have a conflicted appreciation for the rock icon. As a music reviewer in college, I was awed by The Blue Mask (1982) and its followup Legendary Hearts (1983.) As manager of a record store, while attending grad school, I tried to collect Reed's solo stuff, only to shed much of it later. The newest release I still own is Magic and Loss (1992), which is powerful elegy.

I am pleased that Higgins has positive things to say about Growing Up in Public (1980) because I think this effort has staying power for its good writing, albeit its dated sound.

Charlie Haden 1937-2014

Jazz music and American music will miss the contributions of Charlie Haden. "Haden is the ultimate timekeeper, bending and stretching the pulse like a true relativist, but never once forgetting his duties. This, coupled with a heartbeat tone, has placed him at the centre of literally hundreds of important sessions." (Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 1998) "By abandoning conventional bass positions and the usual ideas of harmonic bass lines, (Haden) has found for himself and his instrument the pitch in which a piece and the improvisors are playing, his bass forms a percussive-melodic part that participates much more directly in the music, rather than functioning as a contributing "accompaniment'." (Martin Williams, liner notes for The Shape of Jazz to Come, 1960)

Along with Richard Davis and Dave Holland, Haden is among my favorite bassists. I saw him live, and I like to think that the Midwest was always part of his music. In the jazz idiom I enjoy his early stuff with Ornette Coleman (and later with the group Old and New Dreams), his collaborations with fellow midwesterner Pat Metheny, and his standards group, Quartet West. Rejoicing, ECM 1983, is a particular favorite, and I recommend it often.

Steve Slagle, who knows?

As I have written in earlier posts, an interested or enthusiastic jazz listener begins to discover lesser-known talents and favorites. For example, Charlie Parker (who has attained god-like status), "Cannonball " Adderly, and David Sanborn are among the most well-known alto saxophonists. At the next level of name-recognition are players like Johnny Hodges, Jackie McLean, and Phil Woods. It takes a measure of interest or serendipity for the enthusiast to discover altoists such as Lee Konitz, Donald Harrison, or Steve Slagle.

My appreciation of Slagle, who also plays soprano, is mostly from his collaborations with guitarist Dave Stryker. My personal collection includes Steve Slagle Plays Monk (SteepleChase 1998) and The Stryker / Slagle Band (Khaeon 2003.) I recommend both discs for a natural interplay and empathy between two skillful veterans of the idiom. I found both in used bins—aahh, the overlooked treasures to be happened upon!

Jazz appreciation

Most jazz fans probably keep a number of lists in their heads, of favorite lineups, favorite musicians, favorites styles, favorite albums, etc. But jazz's emphasis on individualized stylistic expression and improvisational modes and jazz's wide range of instrumentation and combinations challenge list-making.
It's one thing to say Elvin Jones is my favorite drummer and another to say Jack DeJohnette is my favorite living drummer and Tony Williams is my favorite Miles Davis drummer and Jon Christensen is my favorite ECM drummer and Lenny White is my favorite fusion drummer and Joey Baron is my favorite "young" drummer, etc.
What's more productive for me is to think of combinations I really enjoy, such as vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson paired with pianists like Chick Corea (listen to 1968 Blue Note Total Eclipse), or such as trumpeter Kenny Wheeler paired with electric guitarists like Bill Frisell (listen to 1997 ECM Angel Song.)