Looking for jazz CD and DVD recommendations

EricT43

Some of you may know from my previous postings that I'm a big Chick Corea fan. I really like his latest CD The Ultimate Adventure. But I'm still looking for some more good jazz material, preferably from a different artist, I want to broaden my repertoire.

Looking for recommendations for jazz recordings that rock. No standards. Lots of drums and electric bass. Great musicians really jamming and playing a bunch of sick solos. I love that stuff. That's why I got into Elektric Band in the first place.

Interested in CD as well as good-sounding DVD recordings of live or studio performances.

Suggestions?

szhleppy

Soulive

MMW (Medeski Martin and Wood)

crazy

Ok, I picked up 2 CDs from relatively new artists from Concord Records.

23 year old Christian Scott and 22 year old (I think) Taylor Eigsti. Their albums ROCK and I cannot emphasise this enough.

http://concordmusicgroup.com/artists/album/?id=4112

http://concordmusicgroup.com/artists/?id=1626

You want "Lots of drums and electric bass" - look no further. Infact CHristian Scotts album is probably more in lines of what you want.

I cannot rave enough about them - get them and you won't be disappointed.

If you go to Borders, you'll get a sample CD of their (along with heavenly vocalist Erin Bohemme) for $0.02 - no that's not a typo. It's really for 2 cents.

Infact even GreatAudio.com used their work for creating a compilation for demoing high end audio gear.

http://www.greataudio.com/

Medeski Martin and Wood is #@#*&***ing wierd. Just not jazz - it's too wierd.

These guys rock.

Also do check out David Brubeck Quartet (Take Five). I heard these guys on B&W 802D's are I was so moved that I stood up and clapped at the end of the "performance".

If you still have doubts, go to Christian Scott's website - he has like 5 samples. They'll give you a good idea of what I'm talking about.

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

crazy

Here are their websites ...

http://www.christianscott.net/

http://www.tayjazz.com/

And also do check out Erin Boheme ... amazing voice accompanied by a real nice jazz band ...

http://www.erinboheme.com/

EricT43

I checked out whatever clips I could find on these suggestions. So far Christian Scott sounds closest to what I am looking for, and I will probably pick up his CD. The thing that stood out the most from his clips were the rock-style guitar parts that he layers his jazz over. An interesting sound.

MMW is pretty neat, but too electronic for me. I like to hear musicians playing their instruments, not loops and samples (though it takes a hell of a lot of talent to do that well).

BTW, I already have some Brubeck material, it's great. When I first started listening to jazz, I went to all the giants of the genre like Brubeck, Coltrane, and Davis. Awesome stuff.

Keep those suggestions rolling in!

MrBuhl

Charles Mingus - Blues and Roots (stand-up bass though)

George Grand

Early Billy Cobham. "Spectrum", "Crosswinds" and "Total Eclipse" to be precise.
Early Weather Report.
Larry Coryell and The Eleventh House.
Herbie Hancock's "Headhunters"
Early Mahavishnu Orchestra
Early Stanley Clarke (with the monster Tony Williams on de drums)
Airto Moreira "Virgin Land" with George Duke. Brazilian flavored jazz/rock fusion. Inimitable stuff.
Tom Scott & The L.A. Express. "Express" and "Tom Cat" which were the first two albums. A little more of a formal showing than the rest, but still mandatory stuff for the collection. "Express" features Joe Sample on keyboards, Larry Carlton on guitar, Max Bennett on bass, and another incredible drummer John Guerin. On "Tom Cat" Sample is replaced by Larry Nash, and Carlton with Robben Ford. Max Bennett and John Guerin were VERY established studio men at the time, but the rest of these guys were young and HUNGRY man, and that's what makes these recordings important.

I'll assume you already own the early RTF stuff with Chick Corea. Specifically "Hymn to The Seventh Galaxy", and "Where Have I Known You Before" with Lenny White all OVER those drums. Big toss-up between him and Cobham as to who was really the first ambidextrous drum man. Lenny was cooler because of that damn Zorro hat that he wore.

All of these recordings and the artists that made them are the real deal "groundbreakers" of jazz/rock fusion from the very late 60's and early 70's. It was a very exciting time to be around musically, and New York City was where it was really happening.

If somebody mentions that smooth jazz crapola ala "Fourplay" or anything else like that I'm going to go off.

Tour2ma

George,
Given that I own and love about 90% of your list, I'd say there's a chance you'd actually like Dee-Lite.... OK, make that a slight chance... Airto Moreira is the only name on your list I do not know.

From John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Birds of Fire and Inner Mounting Flame , their first two releases are must owns. They are a bit of an acquired taste, but one worth acquiring. And you get a taste of Billy Cobham as he was their drummer.

Obviously Return to Forever has to be in your catalog. While this one does not "rock", no Chick Corea fan's collection can be called complete unless it includes Crystal Silence. This collaboration with Gary Burton is absolutely ethereal.

George Grand

Stick with the "Thriller" crowd Tour. You lost all cred with me when you admitted to not knowing Airto. He's the mad Brazilian percussionist on the first Chick Corea RTF album "Light as a Feather", and the first Weather Report album, "Weather Report". He got real popular and started releasing his own albums. I think maybe he was on the early Eumir Deodato albums as well. That's the Brazilian guy who jazzed up and had a big hit with "Also Sprach Zarathustra" on his "Prelude" album. Billy Cobham on board for that session and the rest of the album too. Deodato released a live album from The Mississippi River Festival. It has a cut called "Rio Sangre" that is worth the price of the album by itself. Backed up by a fairly good sized orchestra.

Airto was (is?) married to Flora Purim, the Brazilian lady vocalist. If you can find them try his "Free" on CTI, and "Fingers" on Salvation.

After Cobham left Mahavishnu I cut them loose, it just wasn't the same without him.

BlueMDPicker

John Tropea - Short Trip to Space
George Duke - Liberated Fantasies
Sekou Bunch - Sekou
Eric Gale - Ginseng Woman
Lee Ritenour - Captain Fingers

EricT43

OK guys, I picked up a few CD's yesterday. Brick and mortar jazz selection is limited, so I couldn't get exactly what was on the lists, but at least I can get a taste of things. Here's what I got:

Mahavishnu Orchestra Visions of the Emerald Beyond - no Cobham, but from what I've listened to so far, I'm impressed. Complex arrangements and lots going on.

Weather Report Heavy Weather - Jaco Pastorius plays on this one, and his bass playing is pretty amazing.

Christian Scott Rewind That - some fairly simple grooves underlying Scott's trumpeting, with some interesting guitar parts as I mentioned above. I haven't listened enough to form a complete opinion yet, but I'm not sure that this disc has the depth to hold my interest for a long time. We'll see.

Chick Corea Sundance - found this in the used section for $4.99. They didn't have any RTF stuff. This one was recorded back in '73, with Jack de Johnette on drums. Should be interesting, haven't had a chance to play it yet.

BTW, Airto Moreira plays on The Ultimate Adventure.

George Grand

Airto plays on about a million releases. Once he was unleashed, everybody wanted him.

Get the first two Mahavishnu WITH Cobham. There is no substitute. Does the one you just bought have Michael Narada Walden on drums? He's okay, but no Cobham that's for sure.

Like Jaco? Get Weather Report's "Black Market". He's on that one also and it was the one that preceded "Heavy Weather". Plus you get Chester Thompson on drums.

DeJohnette was all over a lot of recordings in the early 70's, including some of his own. He's better when somebody else is writing. Even the one with Keith Jarrett was a bomb.

Find the first two RTF's that I suggested. You'll need diapers when you listen to them for the first time.

Tour2ma

GG,
Hell, I thought I lost all credability with you a couple years ago when I called Henry Kloss, "Harvey"...

Wrong MJ.... it's Bad, not Thriller that I used to foist on everyone's ears. While I'll admit to liking a few a of Bad's tracks a great deal, it's the SQ that makes me put it out there. Many tracks are stunning, but it's "Man in the Mirror" that absolutely shimmers...

As for Airto, what can I say except I just never came across him, that I know of anyway. Never heard RTF's Light as a Feather, but it's going on my buy list. My source for much of the fusion material I own was a co-worker in the mid-70's. Coincidentally he was a NJ boy. Corea, Clarke, WR and Coryell & 11th all came to me via him. As did several fringe progressive rock groups, e.g., Renaissance.

Others artists including Maha Orch, Cobham, Tom Scott, I came by on my own. Saw Maha before I had ever heard them, sandwiched between The Eagles and Yes. Did not even come close to "getting them" at the time, but years later...

Of the Cobham solo work, Spectrum is the one I'd say to buy first. I even own Dreams s/t debut LP because Billy C. was the drummer. The Brecker Bro's and Abercrombie we also in the group. Took crap owning that one from roomates for a couple years.

BTW, I own Prelude and Deodato 2, "Also Sprach..." is the weakest track on the former, but it got him noticed. 2 was OK, but not at as high a level as Prelude.

Faak... had two others in mind to recommend that aren't fusion, but Jazz that still has the qualities I think you're looking for Eric, but now they've taken a hike...

EDIT: One was Flim and the BB's Tricycle. Awesome DMG recording with some of the strongest attacks I've heard. One caution, do not turn up track 1 too loud the first listening.

george daniel

Larry Coryell,"live at the village gate" cd,,"beyond these chilling winds",starts off kinda slow,but hang with it,you will not be disappointed

George Grand

How about forget recordings and Larry Coryell & The Eleventh House live at New York's Town Hall. Blind keyboard man Mike Mandel and all. The only substitution was a guy named Harry Wilkerson sitting in for Alphonse Mouzon on drums. Oh, they were the warm-up for Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot iteration of the Magic Band, with Art Tripp (Ed Marimba) smacking those drums. A night to remember.

Then there was the night of the big drum-off at Phil. Hall with Alphonse Mouzon's band warming up for Cobham's Crosswinds/Total Eclipse band. 10,000 budding drummers in the audience that night, and Cobham ate him up and spit him out. Mr. Mouzon was never heard from again. New York was the place to be in those days. There was just so much going on.

Plus, in those days, guys played a standard set of drums. Not like the hacks that followed that couldn't play worth a ****, but looked the part with more drums than a Sam Ash music store. One real hack comes to mind, Neil Peart. Aynsley Dunbar could do that guys whole act with nothing more than one hand, a snare, and a mounted tom.

george daniel

I'm gonna grow fins,,:)

George Grand

"....'n take up with a mermaid."

EricT43

George Grand wrote:

Does the one you just bought have Michael Narada Walden on drums? He's okay, but no Cobham that's for sure.

Yes, he's the drummer on this one. I'd say he's better than OK, but then I haven't heard Cobham yet.

As for Neil Peart being a hack, I'll disagree with you on that one. He's in a rock band, so he doesn't have as many opportunities to show his chops, but if you doubt his abilities, listen to Freewill and let us know if you feel the same way. For me, his drum parts are always interesting and blend perfectly with the music. When I learned to play the drums I spent the first several years doing nothing but playing along to Rush songs (or trying to at least).

Tour2ma

Neil ain't bad... Very controlled and can produce some sequences that exceeds any independant muscle control I've ever conjured up, but...

Cobham can do the same and was big and fast and precise and powerful... When George mentioned him "eating up" another drummer above, Billy probably could have literally done so. Had, and may still have, a set of "guns" on him that wouldn't quit.

Give Birds of Fire a try... We've been mentioning early Maha so much, that I had to pop it in the player late last night... Awesome.

EDIT: NM... starting a new thread here.

Tour2ma

Just spun up Birds of Fire... I'll admit that I don't know the one you bought, but if you are ready to dive right into the deep end of the Maha pool, opt for it over Innermounting...

While Innermounting... ultimately gives you deep Maha thrills, Birds... **** slaps you right from track 1 and does not let up until track 5...

George Grand

Billy Cobham was about as tall as me, with arms the size of tree trunks. When I said he ate that guy up, I meant it. Alphonze Mouzon had a pretty good track record (Weather Report, Larry Coryell) and was really up and coming. Cobham ended his career THAT NIGHT. He never did anything but release a couple of his own albums after that, and they were quite forgettable.

Neil Peart plays in a rock band cause he can't play anything else. I have had so many people PLAY me his stuff, or have me watch videos with him it's not funny. The way I see it, he's average or mediocre at best. Anatomy of a Drum Solo? The guy has nerve. Buddy once said "I hate drum solos, cause none of these guys can keep time." He was so right it ain't funny.

Tour2ma

LOL... I did not realize Billy was that... ummm... compact.

And my old NJ fusion connection was once an aspiring bass player. Pretty fair according to him. Then one nite he saw Stanley Clarke and never picked up his bass again...

capecodder

George Benson's White Rabbit album by CTI. Wonderful versions of J. Airplane's White Rabbit and Mamas and Papas California Dreamin as well as other great tunes. Oh yeah, it had fairly competent back-up support including Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Aitro, Jay Berlinger and Earl Klugh.:rolleyes:

Came out before Benson went real commercial with Breezen and In Flight (which still aren't too bad either). CTI records also had some of the best cover photos. Real works of art.

Tour2ma

Nice... It is sad when "artists" opt for success. Bonnie Raitt is my case in point.

While everyone was going on and on about "Luck of the Draw", the real Bonnie was disappearing before my very ears with each successive track...

EricT43

Just ordered the following from Amazon:

Spectrum - Billy Cobham
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy - Return to Forever
Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra

I'll let you all know how I like 'em. I listened to some clips and they sounded pretty intense!

Tour2ma

Atta boy...

For your future reference, check out BMG. While they are not likely to have everything you are looking for, what they do have will save you $$.

Billm57

EricT43 wrote:

Just ordered the following from Amazon:

Spectrum - Billy Cobham
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy - Return to Forever
Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra

I'll let you all know how I like 'em. I listened to some clips and they sounded pretty intense!

excellent choices..i would love to
to be able to listen to these three for the first time again

capecodder

Tour2ma- Good call on Bonnie, also an early fav of mine. I didn't "mind" her later commercial albums but her first (?) three, Bonnie Raitt, Give it Up, and Takin My Time are classics.

Tour2ma

Obviously you, sir, are a man of impeccable taste.

Give It Up just romps in your ears. And it's "Love Me Like a Man" is my all-time BR favorite... I mean how many lines have ever been written that are as good as:
"I want a man who'll rock me... like my backbone... was his own..."?
---- or ----
"I come home hot and tried... feel like I want to cry...
I want a man to hold me... not some FOOL to ask me why..."

I've been blessed to see Bonnie live four times, including three successive Fall Weekends during my early 70's, college days. At that time a group came out first, played a set and than stayed to back Bonnie up during her set... That group just happened to be Little Feat.

schwarcw

"Feats don't fail me now!" Little Feat was a great band. God rest poor George. You are an old dog too Tour;) Good to have you around so I don't get loney.

Carl

EricT43

I got my CD's yesterday!

The RTF album kicks ****. Stanley Clarke's got some great bass lines on there. I love how he uses a lot of vibrato on the low tones, and the "fuzz bass" solos are cool. And Chick's electric piano solos are beautiful. Great lines and phrasing.

Cobham's drumming on Spectrum is amazing. He's got some incredibly fast hands, and a great sense of dynamics.

Haven't had a chance to listen to Birds of Fire much yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, it's nice to come across new music that jumps out and grabs you.