2018 jazz thread
 

hello dudes. Here's the 2018 thread in which to discuss new jazz albums, new jazz reissues, new jazz documentaries, live performances and so on.



Dr. Lonnie Smith
It's All In My Mind

This is a solid trio live recording. Released a couple of weeks ago and I've been enjoying it a lot. Includes a 9-min version of Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" which I feared might suck, but is actually pretty damn great.




Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
s/t

I think this is out later this week. Chris Dave has recently played w/ Robert Glasper so I'm already paying attention. Also, I'm always a fan of drummers as bandleaders.

I only know Glasper because of his work with Common. Which one thing should I check out to explore further?

oh buddy. I'd start with Covered which is a live trio recording. It's not as hip hop leaning as some of his other work, but it's a really good intro to Glasper since it has a good mix of originals and then covers as diverse as Radiohead and Kendrick Lamar.

Listening now. Caught me in the right mood. Perfect. Thanks.

Awesome!!

Glad to help :D

RIP Hugh Masekela. :(

2018 is all about PsyJazz https://youtu.be/xynk7JiWttY

Bobo Stenson Trio
Contra La Indecision

I just noticed that ECM stuff is finally appearing on Spotify! That's great news for me, as there were a bunch of albums I wanted to check out that I didn't get around to the last few years. This has an Erik Satie cover!



John Surman/Nelson Ayres/Rob Waring
Invisible Threads

Another ECM release. A pianist, a mallet percussionist and a multi-instrumentalist.



The Chick Corea + Steve Gadd Band
Chinese Butterfly

Two discs of 70's inspired fusion.

Really hard to abide Chick Corea, with a few very early exceptions.

I honestly haven't paid much attention at all to his career outside of his work with Davis. But he is on some of my favorite Davis records. Though that totally goes along w/ what you're saying, haha.

Chick has made some fusion albums that don't quite sit with me well aesthetically, but as a piano player he is an absolute monster. Anything where he is playing a traditional piano trio is worth hearing, my favorites are probably Now He Sings, Now He Sobs with Roy Haynes, and Further Explorations with Paul Motian and Eddie Gomez.

https://youtu.be/Ga-M6LDmZzA

https://youtu.be/a_zvlSaeORw

Motian particularly brings out the Monk elements in Chick's playing, it's really great

Going to definitely grab that Bobo Stenson, would recommend anyone to check out his ECM work from the 90s onwards

That Bobo Stensen is really nice. Been listening to it this weekend.

apparently The Bad Plus have a new album coming out. And apparently Ethan Iverson is no longer playing piano with them. So I'm happy and sad.

I was really hoping we could have a jazz thread last a whole year without these clowns being brought up. Jock jazz. I maintain that this group is novelty fodder for people who don't actually even like jazz, for the most part. Technically skilled players making awful awful music.

I guess I don't actually like jazz then.

You seem to be in the minority. I get over exposed to them being from Minnesota. They get played on the insufferable Public Radio rock station, which is definitely not filled with jazz aficionados in the audience. You seem actually know a thing or two, which is much different from their average fan. "OOH IT'S JAZZ APHEX TWIN! NEAT!"
Like I said, they are very proficient players. I guess there's just extreme issues of taste at play for me there. Then again, I think Milo Fine and Davu Seru are among my area's top Jazz talents, so it's pretty obvious that I'm not going to go for something like The Bad Plus.

(I guess I just generally like things a bit more "out/free" than that, so you can just throw that giant grain of salt in with anything I say regarding this musical area. I certainly have my prejudices.)

oooh, I wasn't realizing you're from MN.

Living nowhere near there, The Bad Plus to me is just another jazz band that most people around me (meaning, non-jazz fans) have never heard of.

I can understand the thinking that their covers are gimmicky - but on a purely superficial level, I really like their covers. So shrug, y'know?

But it's funny - the people I know that have heard of them do seem to look down on them. Maybe it's just that they're sort of "pop jazz" in a sense. I don't know. But yeah, I still enjoy plenty of their albums.

I do like free-er stuff too, but y'know sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't kind of thing. Haha.

I love The Bad Plus, but mostly for the Ethan-Dave dynamic... I think I'll try to listen to this as a fresh group making their first album