Jazz related Christmas presents?

[Mike Schwartz]

...either given or received.

Welcoming myself to the 21st Century, I recently got a DVD player.

My closest friends and my daughter were paying attention, so the DVD's came rollin' in.

I got a Norman Granz Count Basie 1975 Jam, and Mingus at Montreux, also '75 from a close friend who I attend concerts with regularly, and who supports my efforts on the radio.

Among the cool stuff from my daughter is Ray Charles' swan song "Genius Loves Company" CD...when last we visited she noticed I was on a Ray Charles binge in the months after his passng.

I didn't give jazz as presents this year, except one CD for my daughter, that I knew she would like. I do that all throughout the year with my closest friends & family, so went in other directions for them.


What jazzy stuff did you get and give?

[GoodSpeak]

I get to go to the IAJE

[Mike Schwartz]

We obviously know how to raise children properly;-))

[crawjo]

As my big present this year, my wife got me the Miles Davis Seven Steps box.

[cookie]

For me:
New CD player in my car

Stack of CDs--got 6 from other people; got 7 "from" my husband (I buy 'em; he wraps 'em). He also burned 7 other discs for me. All jazz with the exception of "Motown 2" by Michael McDonald and 'Mountain High, Valley Low" by Yolanda Adams.

For others:
"The Dana Owens Album" by Queen Latifah for my friend Barb. I also plan to give it to a couple of other friends.

I gave my friend Steve the new Dinah Washington biography, QUEEN. When I was a student, Steve turned me on to Dinah Washington who was one of his very favorites since his youth(Barb is Steve's wife and she mentioned that I seemed to have a "queen theme" goin' on. Totally unintentional).

[vibes]

My wife gave me the Francis Wolff Blue Note photography book, which was a very cool gift.

[jazzy mary]

My older daughter got me "Four Lives in the Bebop Business" which I've already started to read. It's very interesting to read a book that is from the 60s and hear the writer complain about all the problems with jazz and how it's such a stepchild to American culture and so on and how there are no cultural or educational outlets for musicians. It's so different now.

I also got a cd that was on my "wish list" "EL Danzon de Moises" by Roberto Jaun Rodriguez. I had read about this cd in an interview that Ray Barretto had given in "Downbeat". I was very interested in what Ray had to say (that was a great interview, btw, did anyone else see it?) and he recommenneded this cd. I'm not sure what I htink of the cd though. My girls had also ordered "Afro" by Dizzy Gilespie but it didn't come in time!

[Valerie]

received the chuck stewart jazz calendar. beautiful photos taken mostly in and around the '60s.

[Pete C]

I've seen Roberto Rodriguez live. The Jewish-Cuban fusion thing was fun for a couple of numbers, but it wore thin very quickly. His son is Michael Rodriguez, a young trumpeter with a beautiful tone who is on Charlie Haden's Land of the Sun album.

[SilentKnowledge]

Jimmy Giuffre's Free Fall.

[kedoane]

I ended up in the 21st century myself. My husband gave me a DVD player for Christmas. Currently watching Ken Burn's Jazz. I have bought that DVD set for my mom a few Christmases ago and she hasn't watched it. So I am watching it now. A lot better than what was shown on PBS.

[Jeff Albert]

A lot better than what was shown on PBS.

I thought it was what was shown on PBS.

Got an iPod for Christmas. I guess that counts as a jazz gift, since that is most of what is populating it. I'm finding lots of good music I forgot I had because I am ripping CDs to put on the iPod. It's a fun, although somewhat tedious, exercise.

[kedoane]

I thought it was what was shown on PBS.

Got an iPod for Christmas. I guess that counts as a jazz gift, since that is most of what is populating it. I'm finding lots of good music I forgot I had because I am ripping CDs to put on the iPod. It's a fun, although somewhat tedious, exercise.

There are more goodies on the DVD than what was shown on PBS.

[bostontricky]

John Wickes' book "Innovations in British Jazz: Volume One, 1960-1980", which came along with Mike Osbourne's "Outback". A lot of information about some neglected music - I only wish the book had a discography...

There's also New Orleans Rhythm Kings CD allegedly headed this way, sitting on some tarmac somewhere, no doubt.

[jazzy mary]

I got my Dizzy's Gillespie's "Afro" yesterday. It's good!!

[bostontricky]

Forgot I dished some of the good word off to my father. Dad was asking about the Art Tatum group sessions with Ben Webster awhile back, and also the Art Pepper + 11 date. I managed to score both of those CDs for him, and sent along some loosely related burns of OOP material here - Lucky Thompson's "Tricotism" to accompany the Tatum/Webster, and Cy Touff's "His Octet and Quintet" to tag along with the Pepper.

That and my sister-in-law burned a copy of Ray Charles & Cleo Laine's "Porgy and Bess" to her computer. That might count.

and still waiting on my NORK CD...

[JiminHouston]

Gave: Invitation to 2 colleagues to begin our respective Christmas "breaks" with happy hour at the Magnolia Club here in Houston (of course) to see some wonderful local jazz artists: Cindy Scott (soon to re-locate to New Orleans - watch out for her if you live there, she's a great vocalist), Paul English, and a suprise mini-set from Pamela York, who dropped by to see one of Cindy's last performances before she leaves town (BTW, I'll be glad to furnish more detailed plugs for these local artists if anyone is interested).

At the above show, I bought Cindy's CD for my mom (I already have my own personalized copy), who had remarked how much she liked it last time I visited and I had it playing in the car.

RAY Soundtrack, to my 13 year old son; despite getting a 1/2 dozen CD's for Christmas, that's the one he's giving the most time to ...

Received: INNER URGE, Joe Henderson; CONSUMMATION, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, both from my wife (she had hints )

[Enforcer]

Not genre specific, but I did get a musician type gift this Christmas that I'm enjoying the hell out of. They're called Metrophones, a set of headphones you can plug into a mixing board during recording but with the added feature of a metronome/click built in. The click can be adjusted to a really loud volume if necessary, enough to hear even during loud musical passages. You can feed the click out of the phones and back out to the mix if you want, but otherwise only you can hear it. The sound insulation is really good, too. They work great for practicing, too. I like being able to woodshed with the click, so they fit the bill perfectly for that.

Edit: Any drummers looking for a way to practice the full drumset along with a metronome should think about these. Us drummers usually have trouble finding a click that's loud enough to practice along with, but these work great. And it's nice to be able to come to a recording session with them and save the trouble of working out a click in your mix with the engineer.

[Jazzooo]

Don't turn that click up too loud, Larry.

I just ordered mywself a gift--the new Weather Report Young and Fine Live DVD, a 2 hour concert rom 1979 with Joe, Wayne, Jaco and Peter Erskine. I happened to see them on that stripped-down tour and it was amazing--can't wait for the DVD to show up!

[Enforcer]

Don't turn that click up too loud, Larry.

I used them last night, and I think I did just that. It's a strange kind of loud. Not immediately alarming, but you can tell that it's not going to be good for your ears if you keep it up. I won't be doing that again.

Another gift I got that I'm completely infatuated with right now is a DVD of Steve Gadd's award ceremony for the Zildjian Drummer's Achievement Award. The show is hosted by a number of musicians and artists, including Bill Cosby. They run through Steve's career and pay tribute to him. Musicians he's worked with perform songs he originally recorded and they describe the impact he's had on them both musically and as a friend. Really awesome stuff.

Gadd finally comes up and plays and the special guest is James Taylor, whom he recorded with recently. There are also interviews with drummers, producers and musicians of all kinds who share stories about Gadd. Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes and Louie Bellson are all in attendance (this was recorded in late 2003). Armand Zildjian had passed away shortly before the ceremony and a portion of the performance is dedicated to him and his life. If you're a drummer, you'll love it.

There are clips going back to Steve playing with the U.S. Army band and even as a young boy. The best part for me is footage of Steve playing in the 70s with his band Stuff and a home video shot in black and white of a 70s performance with L'Image, a band featuring Tony Levin, Matt Mainieri and Warren Bernhardt. Gadd plays a solo coming out of a Latin groove that reminds me of my early years when I was obsessed with absorbing everything he recorded and tried so hard to get inside his head. It still f**ks me up when I hear his groove and depth of musical conception. If you're a drummer, this is as enjoyable as it gets.

[Guinness Steve]

Santa brought me:

Bags and Trane: Milt Jackson and John Coltrane
Roy Eldridge: Montreax '77
Pat Metheny: Trio 99>00

[hardbop]

Christmas is a good excuse to get friends and family to buy me new copies/copies in new format of old favorites.
This years' was McCoy Tyner's Real McCoy (RVG edition), a favorite Blue Note of mine.
I'm always torn between getting music I know and love but have not got in my collection and music totally new to me. I usually go for the new musical experience (partly out of fear of getting stuck in some musical timewarp!), so a Santa's list of the tried and tested but not yet purchased is always a good idea.

[bostontricky]

Does it count if you track down an elusive CD for someone else to give to yourself? My wife's attempts to land a certain New Orleans Rhythm Kings CD by Christmas were quashed, and I managed after some scouring to find the last sealed copy of "The Complete Set 1922-1925" from a vendor in the UK late last night...hmm.

[Noj]

An old friend and fellow jazz fan got me both the Pearson and Moncur Mosaic Selects.

The folks bought me a bunch of Ikea shelving units for my discs. Unfortunately, 6 of these ceiling-high slim towers wouldn't hold the collection!