Rave About Your Fav-orite Musicians

[Reid]

Talk about your favorite musicians and why you like them so much.

1. AMM

I don't know what it is about this group that gets me so excited. There's something magical about this group that I can't put my finger on. One's unnusual is that I usually like music that has some sort of "groove" going on, and while this group can incoporate a kind of drive in their music, they don't play groove music.

I guess, it comes down to their use of silence and the interplay between the musicians for me. To me, listening to silence and the sounds that occur within that silence can be aesthetically pleasing, but it's not satisfying in the same way as intentional music. AMM music is a like a half-way point between the two, and I guess that's partly why I like them so much.

If there is one drawback about this group, it's that their music often comes in huge chunks. You really have to commit a significant chunk of time--undisturbed time at that--to really enjoy the music.

2. Pat Metheny Goup

I think the first thing that comes to mind is the songs. Wow, Metheny and Mays are two of my favorite writers out there. (I like them as much as I like Watson, Shorter and Monk.) They just write some gorgeous melodies that you can't get out of your head. (Btw, there's this really cool moment on the live *Road To You* disc, where the audience starts "singing" a wordless vocal part of the song. It's pretty cool.) If they ever put decent lyrics to their songs, I think many of their songs would become standards.

I also really appreciate the way Metheny has incoporated so many different influences in his music. Few musicians after the 60's combined as many different musical influences as effectively as they did. The band also really has great dynamics and interplay. Probably, my least favorite aspect of the group is Metheny's guitar playing. And I like that, too.

Actually, I think his guitar synth playing doesn't get the attention it deserves. He really has a cool approach and sound that bring together nicely the jazz and rock elements.

3. Keiji Haino (Knead)

I really love that Knead record, man. I've been itching to hear someone take Hendrix to another level, and to me this guy has done it. That album has some of the best (avant) rock jams I've ever heard. Haino with the band The Ruins are like the Keith Jarrett Trio of free-rock. Man, I can't wait to get the Fushitsusha albums.

[Canuck Don]

Art Farmer is one who is on my l like best list.I have sat with the man on a few occasions and had lengthy jazz discussions with him over drinks and meal.I found him to be a perfect gentleman ,and all around nice person.I have always liked his playing from when I first heard him back in the early 60"s.
especially his time with Benny Golson and the Jazztet .I have a large framed picture of him on the wall right across from me above my computer.Here is a story that I have told before about him but will repeat If I may ,for the new people in this forum.
The first time I went to see him live was in the 70's in a small jazz bar in Buffalo N.Y. called Millestones,which was run by local jazz DJ Joe Ricco. I was at the bar sitting .He finished his set and came over and asked if he could sit with me.I said sure.We talked for 10 min. or so and ordered some food.I asked him then if he ever played the song In Love and Vain. It was my fav. On the Jazztet LP. He said he never played that song in over 10 years at all.It was a studio job.He excused himself and said he would be right back.He went up to the stage and got his horn.Come back and sat down beside me again and just starred at me.You could see he was thinking.I didn't know what he was doing,but I came to realize latter that he was trying to remember the song.He then smiled picked up his horn and right there at the bar played the whole song for me.Man ,that was something.I was so thrilled and for him to do that for me was something else .I will never forget that to this day.I met him again the next year when he came back to town and sat with him and talked .A great memory from a supper guy .Lot of jazz people pass on,but his passing on saddened me the most.

[Jazzooo]

Reid said "3. Keiji Haino (Knead)."

Did you mention him to me already, Reid? Sounds interesting--give me a CD title to start with.

Steve Gadd. Over the years, I've come to feel so familiar with his grooves and tasteful fills that it's easy to become complacent about them. But the truth is that he is a true original, and has been since he hit the scene in the '70s. His contributions to everyone from Michel Petrucciani to James Taylor are always uniquely Gadd. I love where he places the beats, no other way to say it.

Chick Corea is another all-time favorite, though I can't take a steady diet of him like I can with, say, Brad Meldhau. Corea can breathe fire, but I still get a sense of 'play' from him at the same time, and i love that.

Wayne Shorter--I'm sure others will name him, but let me just say that I admire his avoidance of most musical cliche's other than the ones he's created for himself. I love that he can go from an Atlantis to a High Life and now an Allegria--stylistically adventurous, each and all.

Jaco Pastorius. Almost every performance is a brilliant example of creativity in motion, whether it's a hard-driving 16th note groove
or a singing melody line. I rarely get tired of listening to him.

Eddie Daniels, on an instrument I don't even enjoy that much. Few players can toy with intonation like Daniels does and get away with it. He's an impeccable player technically, so when he bends into or out of a note, he means it. And there's just something magic about his note choice for me.

Jimmy Johnson, the bassist...though he's slipping further and further into the background over the last decade, content to simply lay down perfect basslines within simple pop/rock arrangements. I've heard him when he felt like stepping out, and it was brilliant stuff.

Holly Cole--my favorite singer, thanks to her gift for injecting irony into classic lyrics and melodies. She needs a new producer--her pop efforts aren't as great as they should be.

Jack deJohnette. i didn't always like him, but something kicked over in me and now i crave his looseness on the drums. He's the perfect Anti-Gadd!

Michael Brecker, though he really needs to take some time off and reinvent himself. But when he comes back, I'll be listening.

Pat Metheny, for the reasons Reid mentioned AND his guitar playing.

Rob Mounsey. This NY producer/keyboardist is just the coolest arranger on his own material (found under the name Flying Monkey Orchestra).

Lew Soloff--my favorite living trumpet player.

Dave Carpenter. I've been lucky enough to play and record with Dave a few times and it's the best. As an accompaniest, it's like he reads my mind and goes where i want to go without any hesitation--I was listening to Corazon from Plays Well With Others the other day, and it sounds as if he and I rehearsed at least a few times, but it was a first take. I love his solos on upright and on electric 6 string bass--they are always gutsy.

Scofield for his off the wall timing and note choice. Meldhau for the exact same things. Zawinul for his historical and compositional contributions. Zakir Hussain and Vishwa Mohann Bhatt for breathtaking virtuosity.

[Uli]

jazooo,

can you make recs for Lew Soloff. I don't have much by him but really came to appreciate him lately.

[Jazzooo]

Originally posted by Uli
jazooo,

can you make recs for Lew Soloff. I don't have much by him but really came to appreciate him lately.

You bet--the contexts of his performances vary greatly, though!

He has a quartet CD with Mulgrew Miller called With A Song in my Heart--it's mostly standards played with a mute, but every solo is smart little slice of beauty. Classy.

Pocket Brass Band with Ray Anderson. Great stuff there.

IMO, Soloff is at his most boisterous and adventurous with the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, which also features the effervescent sax player George Young. Without a doubt, their "Best of..." CD (the one that features Autumn Leaves and Sidewinder, accept no substitutes!) is the best showcase for all of the players. You'll also get to hear Steve Gadd throbbing away at straight ahead jazz--an unusually muscular approach, but a swinging one.

Soloff also shows up on the Flying Monkey Orchestra CDs back In The Pool and Mango Theory, though you've got to be into Rob Mounsey's slick, funny and funky soundscapes to fully appreciate the wierd trumpet excursions. It's not a straight-ahead blowing session by a longshot.

[hearsay]

I really like this electronica duo called Phoenecia, I've listened to their CD "Brownout" about a thousand times in the last few months. And Autechre, I can't wait for their new one. And Radiohead has a new one coming out soon.

Sorry are we talking about jazz?

[Uli]

Originally posted by hearsay

Sorry are we talking about jazz?

Some of us do, hearsay. Others are more using the categories of today's in mags like experimental music etc.

[Reid]

Cool story, Don.

Jazzooo,

Yeah, I wrote to you extensively at least twice! One of the things that I wrote about regarding the Knead album that I forgot to mention above is the drumming. You know how there are different variations on a rock rhythms? Well, during the course of one song, Yoshida will switch up the different type of rock rhythms that can be played, as well as changing the tempos. He also does it in such a way that the transitions between rhythms is not so choppy.

Anyway, the album is by Knead (Keiji Haino and the Ruins) and it's self-titled. You can go to aquarius records site for some sound clips. However, I heard the clips, and they never got me excited. It's only when I got the cd that I really went crazy.

[Reid]

Jazzooo,

Didn't you tell me that Jimmy Johnson is playing in someone's group now? Can't remember which one. I liked his sideman work on Billy Child's album, *I've Known Rivers*.

[bluenoter]

The thread called "Talk About Your Favorite Artists" is here.