The process of moving and packing puts a person's accumulations in front of them. Here, in descending order, is the music I have collected most.
1. Elvin Jones, by far (solo and guest)
2. NRBQ (almost all, from all iterations)
3. Tom Verlaine and Television
4. John Scofield (solo and guest)
6. Dmitri Shostakovitch
7. Miles Davis (beginning mid-50s)
8. Joe Henderson (solo and guest)
9. Steely Dan and Donald Fagen
10. Suzanne Vega or Simply Red
Acid Tongue (2008), by Jenny Lewis, is a CD that I have loaned to people and continue to recommend to others. I am not familiar with Rilo Kiley, Lewis' first band, and I prefer Acid Tongue to Rabbit Fur Coat, Lewis' solo debut. Lewis has an interesting and fresh voice; there's something compelling about it that sets her apart. And Acid Tongue has a good variety of solid concepts. In my opinion, the CD's anthemic "The Next Messiah" is among the best songs in this idiom that I've heard in some time.
Another compelling voice, and not as well known, is Eilen Jewell's. Jewell is three years younger than Lewis, but her voice is a little harder. I highly recommend Letters from Sinners and Strangers (2007.)
Both artists were introduced to me by strangers while I was poking around in stores. Both artists have interesting voices, gritty songwriting talents and honest production values. I hope that I can see both of them live in the future.
1. The serious listener can dip his / her toes into "free jazz" without getting soaked. New ideas abound on this recording, but overall the music is friendly and its tensions are balanced by an irrepressible exuberance. Even as it steps outside, one foot is always standing on traditions.
2. Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone and bass clarinet) and Booker Little (trumpet) are a great lead combination. Their unison lines have interesting shadings and usually push toward the possibility of Little's favored dissonance. The solos do not clash; both players weave together, tangling and untangling ideas.
3. The rhythm section is outstanding. Mal Waldron (piano), Richard Davis (bass) and Ed Blackwell (drums) are fine players, and they were secure in their musical concepts. Waldron complements the front line perfectly, and his solos are a lot of fun.
4. Pathos. This is a live recording, and the club's piano is out of tune. But it's hard to imagine this performance being better had the piano been a better instrument. The trumpeter died three months later, only 23 years old. The leader lasted another three years, dying tragically at age 36. The club, a historic site for many new things in jazz, closed not long after these performances were recorded.
This post is dedicated to my friends and mentors, Gary Faleide and Leo Maiberger.
There aren't snowbound days in L.A., and who can be sure what the ultra hip Donald Fagen has in mind when writing lyrics, but "Snowbound" from Kamakiriad is good tonic on days of subzero wind chills. I also recommend "Tomorrow's Girls" from the same CD to the listener putting together a beat-winter playlist.
Kamakiriad (1993) does not disappoint the fan of Fagen and Steely Dan. At time of its release it was nominated for Album of the Year and holds up just fine over time. I frequently spot it in cut-out and used bins.