"So you wanna get into jazz" is the first in a three-part series which will appear in the Daily over the next few weeks, designed solely to provide an introduction to the world of jazz music, a way to get your foot in the door. By the end of the last column, you'll have a list of ten jazz CDs to investigate and explore which together span 70 years and demonstrate not only the variety of the music, but also the way in which it has evolved to include elements of rock, funk, and world music. In this installment, I'll present four CDs to provide an overview of the developments that took place from the 1940s to the 1960s. In the next column, we'll look at three CDs from the '60s to the '70s which represent some of the ways in which musicians attempted to fuse jazz with rock and funk. Lastly, I'll recommend three CDs released within the past three years which give an idea as to where the music is today and where it might go in the future.
Jazz - cool, swinging, sophisticated, occult. Visions of small, smoky, tightly packed nightclubs come to mind. On a small stage, a saxophonist vehemently plays his horn in front of a pianist, upright bass player and drummer. However, the unfortunate reality is that for most people, the experience of jazz ends here. The music makes no sense, sounds like a jumble of random outbursts organized in no particular, cohesive way. As they observe the musicians on stage, one question repeatedly comes to mind- what is going on here?
The purpose of this column is hopefully to change this reality for some of you. However, before we begin, a disclaimer is in order. As with any type of "essential," "best of," or "introduction to" list, there will no doubt be some students with knowledge of jazz who will disagree with the following suggestions. "What? You didn't include Miles' 1964 My Funny Valentine concert?? And where's Wes Montgomery's Full House?? What are you trying to pull?" All I can say is in putting this list together, my goal has not been to provide an exhaustive list of all of the jazz classics. There already exist large tomes on this subject, and to try to represent the past 100 years of this music in a list of 10 CDs would be a difficult, if not impossible task. Rather, I'd like to stress once again that this is intended to be merely an introduction to jazz, a sample of some of the great records of the past and the present compiled with the non-jazz initiated student in mind. Additionally, I've chosen to focus on more modern jazz, that is to say beginning with the innovations of Charlie Parker and the creation of bebop. As a result, Louis Armstrong is not on this list. For those interested in learning more about Armstrong, however, you can check out the exhaustive treatment given to his role in the music by Ken Burns' series "Jazz."
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
Bird And DizRecorded June 6, 1950
Verve Records Alto saxophonist Parker and trumpeter Gillespie first met in 1940 and subsequently formed a partnership which led to the creation of Bebop, the music that laid the foundation for all modern jazz. Parker (or "Bird" as he was nicknamed) and Gillespie composed the majority of the material which has come to represent Bebop, characterized by fast tempos, complex melodies, and challenging chord progressions. At the same time they championed a new level of virtuosity on their respective instruments. This 1950 studio date almost exclusively features Bird's compositions, and also provides a great introduction to two other major figures in jazz-eccentric pianist Thelonious Monk (yes, that's his real name) and legendary drummer Buddy Rich, who has been called "the greatest drummer ever to have drawn breath." The CD also contains a whopping 17 bonus tracks including false starts and studio conversations, giving an insider's view into the recording process and what the musicians were hoping to achieve with the music.Miles Davis
Kind Of BlueRecorded March 2, 1959 and April 22, 1959Columbia RecordsLook through anyone's CD collection the world over and if there's one jazz disc which you're sure to find: Kind Of Blue. It is arguable that no other musician was as innovative, outspoken, and praised as Miles Davis. Beginning his time in the spotlight as a teenager with Charlie Parker, Miles went on to create a body of music ranging from bebop-rooted recordings such as The Birth of the Cool, to groundbreaking free-form work with his quintet of the '60s, to fusions of jazz with rock and funk beginning in the late '60s which lasted until his death in 1991. Of the Kind of Blue session, it has been said that "it was a recording made in heaven." Fed up with the complex chord progressions of Bebop, for this record Miles composed a series of pieces, some of which were based on the blues. The others were so-called "modal" compositions, sometimes consisting of as few as two chords, each lasting eight to sixteen bars (32 to 64 beats). As with Bird and Diz, Kind of Blue also provides a great introduction to some of the most important and groundbreaking musicians in jazz, most notably tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans, both great innovators in their own right. For anyone looking to get into jazz, this album is an absolute must.
Charles Mingus
Mingus Ah UmRecorded May 5 and 12, 1959Columbia Records Volatile. Passionate. Virtuosic. Genius. Throughout his life, words such as these were frequently used to describe bass player, composer, pianist, and bandleader Charles Mingus. Born on an army base in Nogales, Arizona, Mingus spent his childhood years in Watts, CA, where he was exposed to church music and jazz early on. By the age of 20 he was touring with jazz giants such as trumpeter Louis Armstrong and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. However, it was as a leader and composer that Mingus made his biggest impact on jazz, creating various groups to perform and interpret his original compositions which blended jazz, classical music, and the music of the black church. Mingus Ah Um features nine of these compositions, including the fast swinging "Better Git It In Your Soul," the poignant ballad "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," and the more avant garde homage to Charlie Parker, "Bird Calls." With constant shifts in tempo, unusual chord progressions, and a ton of soul, this record really showcases Mingus and his musicians at a great stage in their development.Oscar Peterson Trio
The TrioRecorded live, September to October, 1961Verve RecordsOscar Peterson has a special place in jazz. The Canadian pianist is not only one of the most technically gifted, swinging musicians in the history of the music, but he is also one of the most accessible. Jazz musicians acknowledge him as one of the greats. Classical piano players revere him as a god. And the general population just can't help but feel better when they listen to him play the piano. On this live date, Oscar is in particularly good form in the presence of his long-time trio mates, Ray Brown (bass) and Ed Thigpen (drums), as he leads them through a set of blues-infected standard jazz songs such as "Sometimes I'm Happy" and "Whisper Not." The trio's amazing telepathic communication is highlighted throughout the album, and the one ballad, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" is especially moving. If you have reservations about buying four jazz albums for fear of not understanding them, start with this one. You'll probably find a smile on your face as you listen to it, which is more than you can say for many albums coming out today.
In a recent article in jazz magazine Downbeat, I read a quote from bassist Dave Holland which struck me deeply: "The best experience I've had with pieces of creative work, whether painting, or music or books has been being able to go back to it, and as I've changed, my experience of it has changed, too. That's what makes art have longevity and significance." Each of the four discs that I've mentioned today has passed the test of time for precisely this reason - they offer a new experience upon each listening. As I said above, if you're hesitant about buying all four, start with just one. Give it a few listenings, and I guarantee each time you'll hear something new - perhaps an unusual chord played by the pianist that you missed the first time, a cymbal splash from the drummer, maybe an interesting passage from the trumpet player. Listen a few more times and you'll be on your way to appreciating a new type of expression, and to forging a deeper understanding of America's only original art form.
Next week: Take a journey back to the late '60s and the '70s as we examine three attempts to blend jazz with rock and funk which created a new music that came to be known as "fusion".
