Anthony Fung - Common Language

One of the best all around jazz albums that I’ve heard in recent memory. The opening track, McCoy Tyner’s Contemplation, is a masterclass in… everything. Excellent bass solo. This trio locks in together so well, it’s like they are one mind.

The Kris Davis Trio - Lost In Geneva

Kris Davis is a genius from another planet. I don’t know how she even comes up with this stuff. I’m personally not the biggest fan of listening to avant garde jazz (although it’s fun to play) but she hits that line between “too avant garde” and “still somewhat inside” that I can appreciate.

Simon Grey - Pressing Matters

This might be one of the great fusion albums… ever? And it has gotten exactly zero notoriety. It brings me to tears how good it is. The writing is out of this world good. Like unbelievably perfect. The musicianship is scary, which you would expect from a Snarky Puppy adjacent group. But those compositions… How has no one heard of this album? How has it gotten so little press? It should be on every Album of the Year list, every Album of the Century list, every Album of the Universe list.

Tim Garland and Geoffrey Keezer - Mezzo

A duo with Mezzo Soprano Sax and Piano. Yeah… MEZZO Soprano. I had never heard of that instrument before. It’s beautiful, warm, dark. And the way he plays it is incredible, some of the top saxophone playing around today. The piano player is also mesmerizing, they play like they’ve known each other for 40 years, inside one another’s head. They sound like best friends who were like “hey, wanna make an album together?” Opening with La Fiesta was certainly a choice, it’s kind of overplayed and cheesy to play at this point, but they make fantastic work and did bring something new to the table. I’m usually not big into duet albums, but this one is worth a listen.

Avishai Cohen Trio - Eternal Child

Avishai Cohen albums are a reliable staple in the modern jazz world. You always know they are going to be good. Although I’ll miss Roni Kaspi being a part of his group, this trio album is still excellent and worth a listen. Politics aside, it’s just good jazz.

Billy Childs - Triumverate

Also another reliable staple, you just know every Billy Childs album is going to kick ass. The drummer on this album… oh my goodness, top tier drumming.

Willow - The Thread

I’m cheating with this one a bit, it’s jazz adjacent… but I think this album kind of fell through the cracks and deserves attention. Willow released two albums this year. The first one, not so good in my opinion, I listened to it once and never again. But this one… if you liked Empathogen, this is Empathogen 2.0. Brilliant stuff, just brilliant. 9.9/10, only because Empathogen is a 10/10, and this one is almost as good.

CTI has a reputation for overproduced, slick sounding records and to be honest, there is truth to that. The label certainly put out some good records and below are some that I think are worth checking out.

Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay: Most folks know this one. Combining Freddie's hard bop with soul jazz and some funk, this one is a classic. Blue Note veterans Joe Henderson & Herbie Hancock add to a rock solid band. No fillers on this one.

Other Freddie Hubbard: "Red Clay" is the best known, but he had several fine CTI albums with favorites including "Straight Life", "First Light" and "Keep Your Soul Together."

George Benson - Beyond The Blue Horizon: One's of Benson's best, including a fine version of "So What" backed by organ from Clarence Palmer and support from Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette.

Kenny Burrell - God Bless The Child: Kenny is in fine form although be aware of some strings and a bit of schmaltz. Still I quite like this one, especially "Do What You Gotta Do" and "Love Is The Answer."

Stanley Turrentine with Milt Jackson - Cherry: One I go back to often. Turrentine and Milt Jackson create a marvelous groove on this album. Strong from start to finish.

Milt Jackson - Sunflower: A soulful, funky groove, favorites go to "For Someone I Love" and the infectious "SKJ." Oh, not a bad band either; Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, etc.

Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess With Mister T. "Sugar" may be his best known CTI but I prefer this one. From the gorgeous title track, to the funky "Two for T." and the soulful "Too Blue", I go back to this one often.

Ron Carter - All Blues: One of his finest as leader with great work from Joe Henderson and Roland Hanna. Mostly a mellow affair, but a great groove with everyone locked in.

Jim Hall - Concierto: I usually like guitar and piano records in a trio setting, but the group dynamic here is great; Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Roland Hanna, Ron Carter, and Steve Gadd. Marvelous playing from Hall as usual.

Jack Wilkins - Mexico: Wilkins is a fine guitarist who deserves more recognition. Features Chick Corea and alto Phil Woods who joins on two numbers.

A few other things: I have these CTI's on album and CD and the CD's often have extra or alternate takes. Joe Farrell cut a number of records for the label, some quite good, but I can't nail down a favorite. There are three volumes of "CTI Summer Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl" which are fun all-star jams. I've seen Art Farmer's "Crawl Space" praised a few times but this one never really clicked with me.

With Gerald Albright, Sadao Watanabe, James Carter and George Duke in the ensemble.

I see two others of Chet in Tokyo, 'Memories' and 'Four' but not this one. Cheers!

I only found one Reddit comment mentioning this a decade ago so, I need to know if I'm way off base or not.

I was listening to the title track from "The Congregation" (1958) by Johnny Griffin, and I swear the vast majority of the Family Guy theme song was heavily inspired by this track, or it at least used many of the same inspirations and motifs.

Please take a listen and let me know what you think, thanks all!

This record holds a special place in my heart. On days like today when I feel beaten down and hopelessly burnt out, nothing soothes my nerves and loosens my shoulders like The Melody At Night, With You.

What albums do that for you on a rainy day? You get bonus points from me if it's a solo piano record lol.

Especially love the soundscape and the solos of this one, by far the best version of this theme.

I am new to jams: I went to a chill jam, I play keys, guy let me sit in, I sight read a bunch of songs (I am ass at jazz), I think the house band keys guy disappeared after a song or so. I just kept playing until someone else asked if they could play keys. maybe 5 songs?

I was wondering after the fact was that okay or if I am just overthinking it?

Wanted the a copy on vinyl but thought this at £12 was a good price

Hi! I am no longer able to go to the Amber Mark show at 8PM at Blue Note NYC, and would like to offer my ticket to anyone interested. Payment can be done through Paypal G&S, and I am willing to send a picture of the ticket via instagram DM. :) TicketWeb doesn't allow for transfer or resell, So I would send a picture of the ticket with QR code. :)

Cedar Walton is one of my all-time favorite composers and I'm thrilled to have all of these imported discs from Japan. Volumes 5 and 6 are more recent releases, but they feature the Volume 1 lineup in live settings (so more Bolivia, more Naima, more George Coleman, yay!)

Hey y'all! First time poster, so I'm sorry if this is the wrong format (curse you mobile).

Anyway, for my midterm I figured I would do a Japanese band or album but my professor would like us to use something from either the stylistic period or time period that we've been studying. We've been through New Orleans Jazz, Chicago style, Swing, and Bebop. I was hoping to do Swing but if that's harder than Bebop then I can switch.

Essentially I'm asking if anyone has any recommendations for this kind of thing!

I am by no means a critic and can't report on all the intricacies of the show but I have to say this was one of the best jazz shows I've ever experienced.They said they were just up there having fun, been friends and bandmates for years, yet it was so clean and composed. Francies is so dang talented, mesmerizing and elegant on that piano. Joel Ross and his xylophone added an extra tingle that made me smile and cry. I wish they recorded these shows.

Teddy Charles, Jimmy Giuffre, Shorty Rogers, Curtis Counce, and Shelly Manne, collecting 4 sides of Charles’ 10” “New Directions” records.
There was a lot of “jazz lab” stuff that, for awhile, was known as Third Stream (a term coined by Gunther Schiller) which was using jazz modes, sensibilities, and stylings to classical-like “composed” music. This sounds totally normal now but in 1956 it was revolutionary. The Modern Jazz Quartet made their careers of it, actually collaborating with Giuffre on a few things. But the music itself, swinging as it does between post-bop statement riffs and ECM-style space jazz, is revolutionary and fun (unlike some of Giuffre’s later output which was decidedly less so)(fun, that is).

https://youtu.be/0ylEbA_HfDs?si=eyJPgAUVTgN6jFtr&t=127

Starting at 2:07. This is really bugging me. I swear I know this tune, and I can't seem to track it down.

Could also be I've just heard this version so many times that the familiarity is making it feel like a quote?

Help me r/Jazz!

Original Dixieland Jazz Band – Bluin' the Blues / Sensation Rag (1918) 78 RPM shellac record

This early jazz, dixieland, fox trot style music recorded for dancing.

Lately, I've been really into practicing cells. I'll take 1-2-3-5 and play the pattern up and down whole tone & diminished scales where 1 is the root. So for example, I might play:

C D Eb G
D E F A
E F# G B
F# G# A C#

etc...up and down the whole tone scale. Which I could then superimpose over some changes or use over a modal tune. And of course, practicing different permutations of 1-2-3-5 (like 2-1-3-5 etc. whatever you can think of).

So my question is: Who are some good players or what are some specific recordings I could transcribe that use this technique?

I play trumpet, so I'm especially into how horn players might play this way, especially not super fast but more as a model for melodic playing.

Hope this makes sense. My brain has been buzzing about this lately.

My particular niche is small band recordings from the mid-50s through the early 60s, this gem being from 1956, and Jack Montrose was a very active arranger and tenor man in that era. Note the top 2 names- when this album was being recorded, Bob Gordon and Clifford Brown were up-and-coming stars around the L.A. scene. Gordon was uncannily nimble, fingering a baritone sax as if it were an alto, and Brown was the equivalent of seeing a ball player in his rookie year and knowing he’ll be in the Hall of Fame- but in August of 1955 Bob Gordon died in a crash on his way to a Pete Rugolo gig in San Diego, and Clifford Brown suffered the same fate 10 months later. So this album was recorded in the summer of 1955, and both leads would be gone as it hit the shelves.
Very much worth tracking down on Discogs.

EXERPT: There are few times in life when you can look beyond the existential husk and know, “fuck, I love this,” while something is happening in real time. Someone didn’t turn you onto it; you found the water yourself and chose to dive in. Getting wet was the point. That was me with Jazz, Ken Burns’ 2001 documentary on the history of the music.

I love to hear some instrumental jazz when I'm working as a game developer, after trying so many music genres that was the most effective!

Now I want to hear jazz itself, not only as a background music, but I don't know where to begin with... I love music in general, with a little focus on soundtracks from games. But jazz itself is something i never explored too deep.

Maybe here I can get some help?? Sorry for any mistake on grammar, English is not my first language.

Here is the playlist I hear when I work (if it helps in anything) : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/60c0eJQl2QbGVkKwr7DaNy?si=zgWcwLbPRgKyz3R_LMxxqg&utm_source=copy-link