Most Underrated Jazz Artists
Jowett, Garth S.
the "most overrated jazz artist" thing should be dropped, and that we
should concentrate on a thread of "most underappreciated jazz artists"
instead. For example, I could list countless modern jazz musicians who
IMHO are basically without much talent, play ugly music, and yet
dominate the posts on RMB. Is that going to solve anything but get a
large number of people mad at me? Further, what purpose would it
serve for me to start to attack those who find no meaning in the
music of Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans? We could talk to them until we
were blue in the face, and it would not help...after all, no amount of
Ed Price's very eloquent (and long) posts have made me hear anything
in Cecil Taylor's music that I would ever want to hear again. So what?
Ed loves it, and more power to him.
I think that we deserve better on RMB. I would prefer to suggest that from
an historical perspective, We could all be of some small assistance to the
neophyte jazzfan by suggesting some names that he/she could examine,
and that deserve to be more widely appreciated. As someone who
basically specializes in the music of the fifties and early sixties,
although I have a significant amount of things from the rest of jazz
history, including lots of music from the nineties, I try to offer names that
might cause someone to appreciate the great stars of that period, and
the great music of that period.
So for two names....let me suggest the alto sax player Hal McKusick
and the trombonist Eddie Bert. Check out their music and you should
be well rewarded. Also, for those interested in more avant-garde
stuff, listen to the work of Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre and Shelley
Manne from the mid-fifties. It is as "out there" as anything that
Anthony Braxton every did!
So, let's have more "underappreciated" jazz names. It is more in tune
with the tone of this net, and is much more helpful in the long run.
Garth Jowett,
Houston.
Jazz Dr
Myers, Keshavan Maslak there must be dozens more!
Dick Burger
Ed Price
>I would like to second the recommendation that S.Barbarian made that
>the "most overrated jazz artist" thing should be dropped, and that we
>should concentrate on a thread of "most underappreciated jazz artists"
>instead. For example, I could list countless modern jazz musicians who
>IMHO are basically without much talent, play ugly music, and yet
>dominate the posts on RMB.
are you referring to wynton? :)
in any case, "dominate" is exaggerating matters a little bit, garth, no?
(i gather you are not at all into john zorn... but i suggest that you
might actually like the masada album which i mentioned recently, "alef".
it's fairly normal really, not too much chaos... i'd be very curious to
know what you thought of it, whether you liked it at all, what you didn't
like, and so on, if you heard it. it seems to me like an example -- quite
possibly the best one yet -- of a zorn album that a fan of regular
straight-ahead jazz could enjoy. the cover art is even tasteful!)
> Is that going to solve anything but get a
>large number of people mad at me? Further, what purpose would it
>serve for me to start to attack those who find no meaning in the
>music of Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans?
as long as everyone keeps in mind that the original question and hopefully
the motivation for discussion in general is to promote understanding,
intelligent argument is not necessarily so futile, i would, um, argue... :)
i agree, attacking people serves little (worthwhile) purpose, but trying to
express what it is that detractors might be "missing", or trying to
communicate one's own aesthetic or philosophy or tastes or whatever it is
that influences what one loves and what one hates, can make for interesting
reading. maybe the person you directly respond to won't change their mind,
but others might hopefully get something out of the dialogue. that's my
theory anyway... (i definitely got something from the debate about miles,
for example, although i didn't participate.)
> We could talk to them until we
>were blue in the face, and it would not help...after all, no amount of
>Ed Price's very eloquent (and long) posts have made me hear anything
>in Cecil Taylor's music that I would ever want to hear again. So what?
>Ed loves it, and more power to him.
oh well! :)
actually, to nitpick a bit, i really just "like" CT; i'm not a fanatic like
i am about, eg, joey baron. ("very eloquent"? you are too kind! surely
there are others who could do a better job raving about cecil...)
it does make sense to me that one can most valuably contribute concerning
things one knows the most about (which would tend to correlate with what
one likes the most).
-ed
Jo3n
played musicians: Lenny Tristano, a fine piano player of the '50s-way
ahead of his time. Al haig, ditto. Bud Powell-often talked about, rarely
listened to by young jazz buffs. Mary Lou Williams. These are all
pianists. Bob Cooper, Lee Konitz on Sax. Some new players: Hannibal
Peterson on trumpet. Abraham Burton alto sax. Kitty Margolis-singer.
There's a lot of great music out there. It's great to share it.
Jon
Ben Sharvy
I've just recently discovered and Tristano, and I agree that he's great,
under-rated, and was way ahead of his time.
I also think Henry Threadgill is under-rated.
--
Live Globally, Die Locally. Witches Heal. So Do Blowjobs. Liberate the
Weirdos and You Liberate the Squares.
Charles H Berg
Bernard Peiffer - pno.
Was a contemporary of Tristano's who had a similar style, and
monster chops.
--
Charlie Berg
c...@world.std.com
Steve Robinson
having difficulty posting directly to rmb.
Steve
From 00lcs...@bsuvc.bsu.eduFri Jan 6 18:35:02 1995
Date: Tue, 03 Jan 1995 17:10:55 -0500 (EST)
From: 00lcs...@bsuvc.bsu.edu
To: stev...@u.washington.edu
Subject: davis
Your choice of Walter Davis Jr. was a good one. I just got a Japaneese
copy of Davis Cup on Blue Note and it's quite good. Have you heard
much of his father?
My choice for most underated player is Hugh Lawson.
I read in a British Jazz Magazine that Blue Note has issued the Best
of John Patton over there. Does anyone know if it is coming out here.
If you will, please send along the Lawson and Patton queries. There
may be some interest in Walter Davis, Sr. but since he's a blues
piano player, it may be limited. What do you think?
(I thought there WOULD be interest, so I left the comments about Walter
Davis, Sr., in. SR)
Tobocman
post-stride piano players. Check the Miles quintet and his own early trio
recordings for some excellent, tasteful playing. The piano at Rudy Van
Gelder's house never sounded better.
Bill
Didn't Tatum also record something there? Maybe I thinking of someone
else's pad. I seem to recall this was sometime around the period where
Granz was doing his sessions with Art.
Bill
Barrett Tsuji
> Bill
Mckinley Dorham never got his due. In my opinoin his chops were
smoother than Diz's. Of course he was not noted for his compositions,
leadership, etc. But he was a monster bebop trumpeter. Number two is
still with us: Kenny Garrett. How come we don't hear more about him?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barrett Tsuji
Carleton University
Email address: bts...@chat.carleton.ca
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I spent three years in highschool and wound up a freshman"
Charlie Parker 1920-1955
Peter Moeller
Jeff Volkman
On Mon, 9 Jan 1995, Barrett Tsuji wrote:
> still with us: Kenny Garrett. How come we don't hear more about him?
>
Because folks haven't caught on yet. Enjoy his "early years" while they last.
__Jeff
Brian D. Phillips
Brian Phillips, hummer par excellence.
Brian
loren schoenberg
Chiarascuro woth Herb Hall and Buddy Tate // also many records
with Teagarden,plus sessions with Baby Dodds on Audiophile. Don played
in what you might think of as a "traditional" style, but did it with
great creativity and freedom.
Alive:Lee Konitz. It seems that everyone is aware that he is one of
the half-dozen most original/influential alto saxophonists, but he
never plays any of the majpr venues in the US, and especially not
in New York. His playing has done nothing but develop and get
greater as each year passes, and its really criminal that he isn't
feted like he should be here. He is much more visible in Europe - and
I for one miss the opporutnity of hearing him here.
Sergio Palermi
ciao, Sergio
Yusuke YOSHIOKA
k20...@regen.dkrz.de writes:
>> I would mention Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre and Kenny Wheeler...
>>
I dare say Jimmy O'Bryant (cl) in 1920's was the most underrated
musician in the history of jazz.
I had a LP of Jimmy's (french BYG reissued)but I've lost it now.
Does anyone have Jimmy's informations?
Yusuke Yoshioka from Tokyo,Japan [30na...@keyaki.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp]
Laurie Sonnenfeld
& Tommy Ladnier, may be found on King Jazz KJ 170 FS, "Play That
Thing," The Quintessential Tommy Ladnier 1923 - 1939. O'Bryant is
one of the least known of the early recorded musicians. He's also
full of energy and fun to hear. King Jazz is distributed by
Camarillo Music Ltd. It's an Italian import (into the U.S.).
There's no address in the liner notes. Names mentioned are:
Alessandro Protti with Vittorio Castelli & Gianni Tollara.
Hope you can find it. Jim Andrews c/o lau...@teleport.com.
--
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