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[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

Here’s another nice, new classical + jazz fusion, or ‘Third Stream’ album.

AllAboutJazz: “Trumpeter Toby Street and tuba player Adrian Miotti formed Neoteric Ensemble … with Sarah Field on saxophone and trumpet, trombonist Richard Watkin, trumpeter James Fountain and saxophonist Rob Buckland… The group's debut album offers recently commissioned pieces by contemporary composers… The brass and woodwind combinations are always innovative and they neatly fuse the contemporary classical with African and Latin jazz elements.”

Neoteric Ensemble, Volume 1, full album: free YouTube ; Spotify

Jazz is dead? (this thread almost is...) This is the 17th debut album recommended this year! Here's links to posts upthread about the other 16: Ben Morris Pocket Guides; The Relay; A&M Octet New Roots; Mthunzi Mvubu The 1st Gospel; A Plane To Catch Moko Jumbie; M.E.B. That You Not Dare To Forget; Margherita Fava Tatatu; Sultan Stevenson Faithful One; Israel Tanenbaum Impressions; Brendan Lanighan Octet A Little Optimism; Matt Carter Octet Read Between The Lines; Nora Kamm One; Berklee Indian Ensemble Shuruaat; Black Gold Orchestra Genesis; Seulah Noh Jazz Orchestra NOhMAD; Shuteen Erdenebaatar Quartet Rising Sun. Never heard of 'em? They're new! C'mon, take a chance...

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

The 1973 retrospective serves-up the Grammy winner for 'Best Jazz Performance by a Group,' a nice result for 37 minutes of work.

Allmusic: “Supersax's debut recording is still their best. The unusual group, who plays Charlie Parker solos harmonized for a five-piece saxophone section but with no individual sax solos found their own niche. With Conte Candoli as the trumpet soloist and a rhythm section of pianist Ronnell Bright, bassist Buddy Clark, and drummer Jake Hanna, on this recording they brought back quite a few of Bird's classic solos." Discogs lists 4 sax players: altoists Joe Lopez and Med Flory; tenors Warne Marsh and Jay Migliori.

This was their 1st of ~11 albums from 1973-’88. Many sax players rotated through the band. The video has decent sound.

Supersax, Supersax Plays Bird, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

Previous 1973s (link upthread): Dave Brubeck We’re All Together Again...; Gato Barbieri Bolivia & Chapter One... & Chapter Two...; Elvin Jones Mr. Jones; Donald Byrd Black Byrd; Dave Liebman 1st Visit; Don Ellis Soaring; Grover Washington Jr. Soul Box; Hank Crawford Wildflower; Ron Carter All Blues; Return to Forever Light As A Feather & Hymn Of The 7th Galaxy; Flora Purim Butterfly Dreams; Steve Grossman Some Shapes To Come; Archie Shepp The Cry Of My People; Dave Holland Conference Of The Birds; Gary Bartz I've Known Rivers...; Joe Henderson Multiple; Don Sebesky Giant Box; Fela Kuti Gentleman; Chuck Mangione Land Of Make Believe; Crusaders 2nd Crusade; Freddie Hubbard Keep Your Soul Together; Weather Report Sweetnighter; Ray Barretto The Other Road & Indestructible; Gil Evans Svengali; Stanley Turrentine Don’t Mess With Mr. T; Maynard Ferguson M.F. Horn 3 & 4 & 5; Rahsaan Roland Kirk Prepare Thyself...; Horace Silver In Pursuit Of The 27th Man; Herbie Hancock Head Hunters; Dexter Gordon Parisian Concert; McCoy Tyner Enlightenment; Ian Carr’s Nucleus Roots; Sonny Rollins Horn Culture; Sonny Stitt Mr. Bojangles; Randy Weston Tanjah; Hermeto Pascoal A Musica Livre De...; Quincy Jones You’ve Got It Bad Girl; Frank Zappa The Grand Wazoo; Roy Ayers Coffy; Billy Harper Capra Black; Buddy Rich The Roar Of '74; John Klemmer Intensity & Magic and Movement = 48?

 

[MoreWatts]

The 1973 retrospective concludes with the Grammy for 'Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band,' Woody Herman’s Giant Steps.

Allmusic: “Clarinetist/bandleader Woody Herman always went out of his way during his long career to encourage younger players, often persuading them to write arrangements of recent tunes for his orchestra… With strong solo work from tenors Gregory Herbert and Frank Tiberi, trumpeter Bill Stapleton and Herman himself, this is an impressive effort.”

Woody Herman released >65 studio albums from 1940-’87. His bands won 3 Grammys with 12 more nominations. His next album, Thundering Herd, won him consecutive Grammys.

I hope someone enjoyed this sampling of ~50 fine instrumental jazz albums from 50 years ago. See the post just above for links to posts about the other 49.

Woody Herman, Giant Steps, full album: YouTube link ; Spotify link

 

[Joe Smith]

The new Ishiah Thompson celebration of V. Guaraldi music is complete now and it's great! And just in time for Xmas!

I got to hear his quartet live at Trinity Chapel in NYC in early October, prior to his stand at Cafe Carlisle. What a wonderful concert it was.

A Guaraldi Holiday

 

[Joe Smith]

View attachment 330759

Listening now! SO good!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

Enjoy a big band gem by an under-recorded artist.

NiteLifeExchange: “Jazz elegies lean heavily toward the celebratory, rooted in the New Orleans tradition of the ‘second line,’ the cheery, end-of-funeral playout for the deceased… It’s in this tradition that reed player-composer, Victor Goines, has created the thoughtful and thoroughly magnificent The Woodlawn Suite, which debuted in July 2022,” and now has an album release. “Every movement of The Woodlawn Suite is a stand-alone gem.” Woodlawn Cemetery is in NYC and is the final home for several jazz luminaries, e.g. Duke Ellington and many bandmates.

Victor Goines is co-founder of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, with Wynton Marsalis. This is his ~11th album since 1992. He has been director of jazz studies at Juilliard and Northwestern University. Victor played on Wynton Marsalis Plays Louis Armstrong, recommended upthread.

Victor Goines, The Woodlawn Suite, full album: free YouTube ; Spotify

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

AllAboutJazz: “Precarious Towers is a Midwestern-based quintet whose 2nd recording has Ten Stories… Every one of the 10 was composed by a member of the group: altoist Sharel Cassity; vibraphonist Mitchell Shiner; pianist Johannes Wallmann; bassist John Christensen; drummer Devin Drobka… The songs reside in a gray area somewhere between bop and chamber jazz… The music is both dreamy and dynamic, and is certainly well played.”

Precarious Towers, Ten Stories, full album: free YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

Jazz is Dead? This is the 22nd 'second album' for an artist posted this year (link to post upthread): Tobias Hoffmann Jazz Orchestra Conspiracy; Sean Nelson’s New London Big Band Social Hour; Jordan Vanhemert Nomad; Zela Margossian Quintet The Road; The Justin Haynes Jazz Collective In A Funk; Tito Carillo Urbanessence; Malcolm Strachan Point Of No Return; Benjamin Deschamps Augmented Reality; Dinner Party Enigmatic Society; O'Higgins & Luft Pluto; The Banger Factory Warriors; The Composer's Collective Big Band The Toronto Project; Duncan Eagles Narrations; Peter Somuah Letter To The Universe; Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra Kemet: The Black Land: The Nimmons Tribute Volume 2 – Generational; Jakob Manz Groove Connection; Dennis Adu Sunlight Above The Sky; World Citizen Band Antares; Christopher McBride Ramon; The Fusion Syndicate Beautiful Horizon = 21!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[MoreWatts]

Sheryl Crow said, “No one listens to modern jazz,” in her song ‘We Do What We Can.’

Well, this Spotify subscriber sure does. Here's some stats from my 'Spotify Wrapped' for 2023:

Total time listened: 151,994 minutes or 105 days non-stop.

103 genres. Top 2: ‘Contemporary Jazz’ and ‘Saxophone Jazz.’

2,637 artists and 8433 songs.

I made 24 posts about my 8 top artists/songs! Here are links to those posts upthread:

Bandolinist (Brazilian mandolin) Hamilton De Holanda: 2021 & 2022 albums, with a video; 2023 album. His 2021 & 2022 albums were nominated for the Latin Grammy Best Jazz Album.

Saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera albums: 1981 debut album; 1998 album; 2022 album with 2 videos, posted again for its Latin Grammy nomination, posted a 3rd time for its Latin Grammy Award for Best Jazz Album win. Paquito played for: 2 albums for the Caribbean Jazz Project, with 2 videos; the WDR Big Band, with a video; trumpeter Michael Mossman; saxophonist Felipe Salles, with a video.

Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin’s 2023 album Phoenix, with a video. Her album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album! Winner announced Jan. 2024. She played on Hamilton De Holanda’s 2023 album, linked above.

Saxophonist Diego Rivera albums: 2022 album, with a video; 2023 album. Diego played on 2023 albums for: saxophonist Patrick Cornelius and trombonist Altin Sencalar.

Pianist Maria Baptist’s 2023 album Essays On Jazz.

Saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. 1973 Soul Box and 1998 Then And Now. He played on arranger/composer Don Sebesky’s 1973 Giant Box.

Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart’s 2023 album Dark Horse, with a video. He played on saxophonist Mthunzi Mvubu’s 2023 album. Tobias 'follows' me on Spotify, one of all of 4 people! Although, my 'Jazz Best Albums 2023' playlist has >50 followers now.

Saxophonist Tim Garland’s 2023 album Life To Life, with a video. He played on a 2023 Paul Mottram orchestral jazz album also, with a video.

Give some of these a listen. It’s all great jazz!

 

[beeface]

I'm just starting to get into jazz

Anyone have recommendations for more music like this?

 

[MoreWatts]

How about s’more really nice big band jazz, from a Melbourne artist.

ABCJazzAustralia: “The Eye Is The First Circle is named after a famous artwork by painter Lee Krasner, and like its namesake, this release from the Vanessa Perica Orchestra is deep, expansive and driven by emotions and the human experience. The musicians showcased throughout this album represent some of Australia's finest jazz talents. You'll hear performances from the likes of saxophonists Tessie Overmyer, Julien Wilson and Jamie Oehlers (solos in the video), trumpeters Mat Jodrell and Paul Williamson and trombone greats including Jordan Murray as well as a star rhythm section of Theo Carbo, Andrea Keller, Sam Anning and Ben Vanderwal.”

This is Vanessa’s 2nd big band album. The video is an album tune in-studio performance. Might as well give you her debut album also, from 2020, in case you missed it.

For art folks, the namesake painting sold for $11.7 million in 2019, and is shown below. Actual size is ~2.4m x 4.8m. FYI, Krasner was the wife of famous abstract artist Jackson Pollock.

Vanessa Perica Orchestra, The Eye Is The First Circle, full album: free YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

Vanessa Perica Orchestra, Love Is A Temporary Madness, full album: free YouTube ; Spotify ; Bandcamp

If no one listens to modern jazz, why are so many new artists making wonderful music? Jazz is Dead? This is the 23rd 'second album' for an artist posted! (link to post upthread): Tobias Hoffmann Jazz Orchestra Conspiracy; Sean Nelson’s New London Big Band Social Hour; Jordan Vanhemert Nomad; Zela Margossian Quintet The Road; The Justin Haynes Jazz Collective In A Funk; Tito Carillo Urbanessence; Malcolm Strachan Point Of No Return; Benjamin Deschamps Augmented Reality; Dinner Party Enigmatic Society; O'Higgins & Luft Pluto; The Banger Factory Warriors; The Composer's Collective Big Band The Toronto Project; Duncan Eagles Narrations; Peter Somuah Letter To The Universe; Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra Kemet: The Black Land: The Nimmons Tribute Volume 2 – Generational; Jakob Manz Groove Connection; Dennis Adu Sunlight Above The Sky; World Citizen Band Antares; Christopher McBride Ramon; The Fusion Syndicate Beautiful Horizon; Precarious Towers Ten Stories = 22!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]