Your Top 10 Jazz Epiphanies

[Pete C]

I need some time to consider this, but I'm following up on a Sumo response to Bostontricky on the long form thread.

What were the 10 recordings or live performances that changed the way you think about jazz, set you on new listening paths, etc.?

[crawjo]

I can't rank them, but here goes 10 in no particular order:

1. Listening to Cecil Taylor's "Rick Kick Shaw" for the first time. He played the piano like I always imagined it should be played. Quite a revelation.

2. Miles Davis - "Sketches of Spain." This is actually not my favorite Davis album by any stretch, but I first heard it when I was just beginning to get into jazz, and it made me completely rethink what jazz could be.

3. Listening to Patricia Barber's "If I Were Blue" for the first time. This was the first time I ever found a jazz vocalist whose approach and style I really loved.

4. The very first time I ever heard Ornette Coleman. I ordered "The Shape of Jazz To Come" off BMG Music, popped in the disc, and then Lonely Woman hit me. No words can describe what that tune does to me still.

5. Albert Ayler - Live at Slug's Saloon. After hearing this music, I started to think of the so-called "avant-garde" as being less a break from the past and more an embrace of jazz tradition using new forms and ideas.

6. Miles Davis - Miles Smiles, and in particular, "Circle." Still the most beautiful music I've ever heard.

7. The second or third time I heard "A Love Supreme." In particular, Coltrane's playing on the last track, "Psalm" gave me new appreciation both for his artistry and for the way the saxophone can be used to communicate not just musical ideas, but emotions. It felt like he was crying through the instrument.

8. In a similar vein, the "Chasin' the Trane" on Disc Three of the Vanguard box. I remember listening to it for the first time, driving through a hail storm on a dark night, trying to get home. The music seared itself into my brain.

9. In a Silent Way. It took me a while, but once I started listening to this album closely, I found that my appreciation for Miles's music could extend beyond 1969.

10. Reading Ralph Ellison's "Living with Music" essay. I read this just as I was getting into jazz, and the way he articulated the relationship between the individual and the collective, freedom and responsibility, opened my eyes to how powerful an artform jazz is and can be.

[al j]

good idea, Pete. In order, I think:


- James Clay w/ Marchel Ivery, Whitney Russell, Roger Boykin, Drew Phelps and W.A. Richardson churning out Joe Henderson's RECORDA ME at a Dallas bar, 1991. Those were the fucking DAYS.

- Miles Davis - KIND OF BLUE

- Miles Davis - AGHARTA

- Underway on a submarine, Dave Hubbard lending me these discs: MASADA ALEF, Lester Young's ALADDIN SESSIONS, Cecil Taylor's OLU IWA, Andrew Hill's STREET MUSIC (inside joke), Oscar Peterson Trio W/ STAN GETZ, Sidney Bechet's RUNNIN WILD

- Sam Rivers COMPLETE BLUE NOTE RECORDINGS, Coltrane's COMPLETE VV 1961

- Cecil Taylor, solo, live at BENAROYA HALL, Seattle 2000

- Paul Bley, Lee Konitz, Han Bennink and Bill Frisell, live in Seattle, 2000 (this show sent home the idea that great players can, and will, completely suck under the right circumstances)

- Anthony Braxton's quartet, the WILLISAU and SANTA CRUZ sets

- Eskelin, Parkins & Black, Seattle 2001

- AMM and Tilbury/MIMEO's HOC, subsequently (though not jazz music, gave me some fresh insight on improvisational music in general)

[stonemonkts]

Miles - Kind Of Blue

Miles - Miles Smiles

Armstrong - Hot Fives with Earl Hines

Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch

Anthony Braxton - vague memory of being blown away by a live recording heard on WKCR, not sure what it was, but if I had to guess it was his quartet from the 80's. Hearing this initiated my love for avant garde music.

Bix Beiderbecke - I had my first earful of Bix during a birthday broadcast. I was totally enthralled.

Albert Ayler - Live at Greenwich Village

John Coltrane - Live at Village Vanguard

Paul Bley - Hands On (this was my first exposure to his solo work)

Ornette Coleman - Shape Of Jazz To Come

[Pete C]

Some random thoughts, to be added to later.

- About 4 or 5 years ago finally "getting" "On the Corner"--it took all the music that happened in the subsequent 25 years to prepare me for it.

- "Not Two, Not One" - It was this album that made me a Bley fanatic. I had known his music vaguely for years, but only owned some of his 60's trio stuff. I even saw him twice before this epiphany--with Giuffre & Swallow, and with Haden & Konitz; I always appreciated him, but he hadn't gotten under my skin. I then became familiar with the solo work and really became obsessed.

- Seeing Jeanne Lee (with Waldron/Workman/Cyrille) doing standards several months before she died. I knew her avant work with Hampel, etc., but wasn't familiar with the standards work with Blake & Waldron. This was a transcendent performance, and I went from appreciating to loving Jeanne Lee.

- Realizing, not too long ago, that there are few things more boring in music (with some exceptions) than a jam session.

- Guys like Wayne Shorter & Charles Tolliver showing me that you should never write a player off. Sometimes it takes 20-30 years for them to find their way again. Who knows--maybe Garbarek will surprise me too.

- Hearing "Windward Passages" not too long ago and realizing that Dave Burrell, another guy I had appreciated for years without fully embracing, was really brilliant.

- "Serenity" and "Anniversary" finally making me appreciate Getz; "There Was a Time" doing the same for Eddie Harris.

[Noj]

1. Jimi Hendrix "Third Stone From The Sun"--it was jazzy, and I discovered that I tend to like songs without lyrics more than those with lyrics.

2. John Coltrane "Cousin Mary"--some of the first jazz I heard, I ran out and bought GIANT STEPS quickly after hearing it.

3. Horace Silver "Song For My Father"--the song that sealed the deal. Jazz was my favorite type of music after hearing this song.

4. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers "Moanin'"--Soul stirring, I was forever altered.

5. Oliver Nelson "Stolen Moments"--whistled this one for months on end after first hearing it.

6. Gil Evans "La Nevada"--I began to realize there is much more great jazz than I had anticipated. The seemingly endless amount of great musicians began to reveal themselves to me.

7. Duke Ellington--very recently a track on a compilation disc provided by a friend has considerably changed my attitude toward Duke, a legend I am largely unfamiliar with and had previously dismissed as being from jazz too early for me to appreciate.

8. Miles Davis' Prestige recordings--found I like these more than his later years which I had heard first

9. EMusic--afforded me a peek into the entire Fantasy/Prestige catalog. Realized how little I knew about jazz once again

10. Cal Tjader--got me into latin jazz, which I wouldn't think I would like as much as I do.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Noj
10. Cal Tjader--got me into latin jazz, which I wouldn't think I would like as much as I do.

Emusic has lots of great Latin Jazz. Get Machito at the Crescendo immediately.

[Jason Bivins]

Boy, I sure would like to have been at that Jeanne Lee gig.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Jason Bivins
Boy, I sure would like to have been at that Jeanne Lee gig.

They did 2 45 minute sets. At the North Sea festival I would normally stay for one set and then try to catch something else (as there are 14 concurrent stages, and at least 2 or 3 things I'd like to see at any time), but there was no way I was leaving after the first set. The next night I saw the trio without Lee do one 75 minute set.

[Noj]

Originally posted by Pete C
Emusic has lots of great Latin Jazz. Get Machito at the Crescendo immediately.

Thanks for the advice, Pete C. I actually quit EMusic after the ownership and subsequent policy changes a while back. Machito may get me back on board--I have a disc he did with Dizzy that smokes...

[Dan G]

In close to chronological order, beginning about 1985

1. Having a friend give me Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin' and Dexter Gordon's A Swinging Affair. I'd heard some jazz before, but never really paid attention to it. This is what set me off trying to hear everything.

2. One day coming across a cheap used copy of Braxton's duos with Derek Bailey on Emanem. I didn't like or understand any of it (some less than others), I realized there was a lot more out there than I knew.

3. A night of heavy substance abuse listening to Mingus: At Antibes, Presents CM, Town Hall, Ah Um, Black Saint...

4. Found more cheap Braxton records: Montreux Berlin Concerts, Alto Solo 1979, New York Fall 1974, Five Pieces. Even with my adverse reaction to the previous one, I couldn't resist. I just kept listening until it made sense.

5. A long drive with only one tape: Sun Ra Live at Montreux. We listened to it over and over and over. My first exposure to Ra.

6. Bought the first Penguin Guide, and decided to go for a high rated album I know nothing about: Evan Parker Trio's Atlanta.

7. After having seen several mediocre concerts over a few years (Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, David Murray), seeing in one day ICP Orchestra, Clusone Trio, and Gerry Hemingway's quintet w/Dresser, Moore, Reijseger and Wierbos. Maybe the most memorable day of my life, and the day I realized there really is nothing like great live jazz.

8. At some point in mid-90s, finally coming to understand both Derek Bailey (through Aida) and Cecil Taylor (Erzulie Maketh Scent was the breakthrough record).

9. My first AMM album, Nameless Uncarved Block. Shades of my first exposure to jazz (see #1)

10. Realizing finally that I am never going to like the Bailey/Braxton collaborations no matter how much I like each of them separately, and the subsequent realization no matter how great an artist may be, or how much others may rave about a record, it all comes down to personal taste and I'm allowed to find Kind of Blue boring.

[gnhrtg]

I'll give you one, perhaps the most crucial: discovering Jazzcorner about six years ago.
Try as I might, I can't seem to recall how I first bumped onto this wonderful place.

[crawjo]

Originally posted by gnhrtg
I'll give you one, perhaps the most crucial: discovering Jazzcorner about six years ago.
Try as I might, I can't seem to recall how I first bumped onto this wonderful place.

Good one! I bumped into Jazzcorner just a few months ago, and I have no idea how I found this place either, actually. I think I was just bored one day and started doing random Google searches on Jazz until this came up. I was looking for a place to discuss jazz music--since none of my friends or family members listen to it--and I hit the motherload.

This is a great, great site.

[Noj]

I forgot the Best Of Wes Montgomery on Verve record mysteriously tucked in with my Mom's collection of Beatles and Rolling Stones plates--"BUMPIN' ON SUNSET" was definitely an epiphany for me.

Jazzcorner? This place is like Vegas, it never sleeps!

[john williams]

Not really Jazz but "Eric Dolphy's Memorial Barbeque"/Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Frank Zappa set me on the road of discovery. Its still my Favorite Zappa album.

Live at the Village Vanguard (single disc) : Coltrane. It was in a cheap bin and bought it because dolphy was on it. After that I wanted everthing Coltrane recorded.


Nefertiti : Miles Davis. Although I prefer Miles Smiles, I heard this one first.


Mingus Ah-Um


Leosia : Tomasz Stanko. Still one of my favorite albums and it led me back to Astigmatic.


Bar Kokhba/The Circle Maker : John Zorn. Still love these too and were my entry point into Zorn's world for better or worse. Never really liked Naked City that much.


Catologue: Live in East Germany : The Ganelin Trio. I'd never heard anything like this before, except perhaps the humour reminded me of Zappa.

[Tanager]

Jeff Beck - Wired - his cover of "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" made me want to hear the original, which brought me to...

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

I'm another Trane at the VV guy - although in my case, it was a vinyl copy of Impressions - that was the first time I'd heard Dolphy. Freakin' holy crap.

Miles Davis - Bitches' Brew

Trane - Blue Train - my first foray into hard bop, and I discovered Lee Morgan. Another "holy crap" experience.

George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon - I grew up just hearing his pop stuff, which didn't do much for me. One day, I badmouthed him in front my college jazz bandleader, who then chewed me out in front of the entire band. I found this album and realized what an idiot I'd been. I'm listening to it again right now.

Bill Evans - Waltz for Debby - in particular, his cover of "Milestones" - it's my favorite version of this tune by far, and when I heard it for the first time, it somehow struck such a chord in me, it seems to have this sense of urgency to it that just stirs me up inside. I immediately went out and bought a copy of Miles' disk to hear the original.

Discovering this place was also a revelation - finally a place with (somewhat) kindred spirits...

That's only 9, but a lot of others are in a tie for 10th...

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Dan G
7. After having seen several mediocre concerts over a few years (Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, David Murray)

Hard to believe. Especially Lacy.

[Nate Dorward]

Originally posted by Dan G
7. After having seen several mediocre concerts over a few years (Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, David Murray), seeing in one day ICP Orchestra, Clusone Trio, and Gerry Hemingway's quintet w/Dresser, Moore, Reijseger and Wierbos. Maybe the most memorable day of my life, and the day I realized there really is nothing like great live jazz.

I'm guessing this was in Toronto at the downtown jazzfest? Back in the early 1990s it was really a pretty great festival..... it's so depressing what's happened to it since. -- I was present for the ICP gig (which I thought was good) & the Hemingway (which was spectacular). If I remember rightly though, wasn't it a quartet? I seem to recall Reijseger was not on that tour due to a slipped disc. They gave a reading of the whole of The Marmalade King.


I don't think I have any epiphanies to list--just seems to be little to say that's not more or less the same landmarks already sketched out by others in this thread.

[edpack]

The first and biggest for me was seeing Miles for the first time in 1970. Until then, jazz for me meant "Girl From Ipenema" or "Satin Doll". I was in no way prepared for what I was about to hear.
This was the "lost" quintet with Chick, Wayne, Jack and Dave, and they came out burning. They did about 45 minutes, took a break, and did another 45. The music was ferocious, furious, and I had no idea what was going on, yet I knew I was about to become a jazz fanatic for life. I still think this was Miles' greatest band, and what they were playing was real jazz.
Duke Ellington outdoors at a benefit concert about 1972. Made the earth move.
World Saxophone Quartet live, several times in NYC during the '80's.
Ornette live at Town Hall in NYC with the classic quartet and Prime Time.
Art Ensemble of Chicago, also at Town Hall. A total experience, aural, visual, spiritual.
Roscoe Mitchell at Merkin Concert Hall, NYC. The most intriguing concert I think I've been to.
Roy Hargrove at the Big Sur Jazz fest, with strings, on a sunny afternoon.
Dave Holland Quintet at Birdland. Made me a die-hard fan.
Roscoe at the Chicago jazz fest last fall, the Saturday afternoon set. Amazing.
Russell Gunn at the Saratoga Jazz fest last summer. Always love discovering new talent. I think he blends styles better than anybody.
And the beat goes on!

[vibes]

1. Atheist - Elements

Atheist was labeled a death metal band, but incorporated some elements of jazz into its music, especially on its final album, "Elements." An unusual mix, but it got me interested in hearing jazz without the death metal. That led me to:

2. Lionel Hampton/Oscar Peterson - Verve 50's sides

When I finally decided to look for some jazz to listen to, I searched by instrument. I'd always liked the vibraphone, so I looked for vibes players. A Verve Lionel Hampton/Oscar Peterson comp was what I found at my local record store. The rest is history.

3. Grant Green - Idle Moments

I had never heard of any of the musicians and didn't have anything from Blue Note, but I saw this CD in a display and thought the combination of guitar/vibes/sax/piano sounded interesting. Not only was I introduced to great music by some great musicians, but I learned about Blue Note, which probably comprises 60-75% of my jazz collection now.

4. Cal Tjader - Shades of Jade/Breeze From The East

Early on in my jazz listening, I focused primarily on my favorite jazz instrument, the vibraphone. I found this Verve comp in an HMV in Hong Kong (they let you listen to any new CD in the store, except for Japanese releases) and fell in love with it immediately. From there, I discovered Cal's more latin sides, and became more accepting of a different take on jazz.

5. The Blue Note Bulletin Board

Started posting there almost two years ago. From it, I discovered several other boards/sites, including Mosaic Records, AAJ, Organissimo, the Steve Hoffman forums, and Jazz Corner, of course. My wallet has been feeling it ever since.

6. Alan Shorter - Orgasm

I can't remember why I wanted to hear this one so bad, but I found a sealed copy of it on eBay a couple years ago, and totally loved it. I've become a lot more open to avant/free jazz since hearing this album.

7. My first Mosaic purchase

If I remember correctly, I ordered the Sam Rivers, Blue Mitchell and Curtis Fuller sets all at the same time, and that was my first Mosaic purchase. It turned me on to Mosaic and to some great musicians, all at the same time. I'd never heard anything by any of them before I bought the sets. I've bought another 30-40 sets since then, and it's been that way with most of them - never heard any of the music before I bought the sets. I guess I just trust Mosaic and the opinions of people on these boards quite a bit.

8. Larry Young - Unity

This is the album and turned me on to jazz organ. I didn't like the sound much until I heard it from someone that I really liked.

9. Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd - Jazz Samba

Turned me on to the whole bossa nova thing. I've found other bossa nova albums I like much more since then, but this is the one that started it all for me.

10. Fred Anderson Trio, at the Iowa City Jazz Festival 2002

To me, avant garde music had always seemed to be cerebral and without feeling until I saw Mr. Anderson perform last summer. Although the music was intense, I remember feeling very moved by what I saw and heard. I can't really explain it, but it's a feeling I'll never forget.

[Dan G]

Originally posted by Pete C
Hard to believe. Especially Lacy.

Re: my comment about mediocre shows - I first saw Lacy in about 1991 or 92, and it was a disaster. Steve Potts was having reed problems and stopped part way through every solo to adjust something. Lacy just stood off to the side and watched this happen each time, but never decided to take him out for the night.

I've seen Lacy a few time since, and still don't rank any of them among the best shows I've seen. They are always good, but never anything that blew my mind. Of course, I feel the same way about his albums.

[Dan G]

Originally posted by Nate Dorward
I'm guessing this was in Toronto at the downtown jazzfest? Back in the early 1990s it was really a pretty great festival..... it's so depressing what's happened to it since. -- I was present for the ICP gig (which I thought was good) & the Hemingway (which was spectacular). If I remember rightly though, wasn't it a quartet? I seem to recall Reijseger was not on that tour due to a slipped disc. They gave a reading of the whole of The Marmalade King.

Good call Nate, that was the day. ICP in the tent on King St. around noon (I was there early while staff was setting up the bar, and Han played a great duet with the cash register ringing off the total from the night before), Clusone at the Music Gallery at around 6, then Hemingway at the Riv. It was the quintet because Reijseger was part of all three shows. I remember because after seeing the orchestra, my wife thought he was so good that she would go to the rest of the shows with me. We had a table at the front of the Riv that was touching the stage (friends not at Clusone show scored it for us), the best seat I've had for any show. And yeah, first set was three or four pieces from various records, second set was Marmalade King (before it was recorded maybe, definitely before it was released).

And yeah, it used to be a great festival. I lived about 125 miles away but some years I drove in 3 or 4 times during the week. The last couple of years I lived there (left in 2000) I don't think I went for anything. By then, Guelph had taken over.

[Captain Hate]

This is a great thread and I doubt that I'll be able to get all my thoughts down on this post without some massive editing:

1. Allman Brothers Band around 1970 at Shady Grove outside of DC - I know these guys are rock but they totally turned my head around about long instrumental solos. I already had their first release on Capricorn so I knew that songs like "Dreams" and "Whippin Post" were pretty extended. What I didn't know was that not only would they be stretched out, but that Whippin Post would segue into Mountain Jam (and they played "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", which hadn't been released then). I left there with a whole new idea of what music was about. Subsequently I heard an interview with Duane Allman on the radio in which he talked about his influences; it was the first time I heard Coltrane's "My Favorite Things".

2. Turn it Over - Tony Williams Lifetime - I heard all this shit about how good McLaughlin was but nothing really stuck with me until I picked this up. I absolutely hated the bullshit singing on this but LOVED Larry Young's mysterious organ playing. Big Nick, baby!!

3. Sun Ra at the Smiling Dog saloon around 1975- this was at a time when Ra played way too much synth for all the burn heads and I didn't enjoy that horseshit too much. What I did enjoy was all his big band charts and all those honking fucking horns led by the great one: John Gilmore. I saw the Arkestra at least a half a dozen times after that, but this really turned my head.

4. Johnny Griffin Quartet live at Cleveland State University around 1977 - this was at about the time that Return of the Griffin came out and the rest of the group was Ronnie Matthews, Idris Muhammed & Ray Drummond. Brother Griff played great but there was something that happened at the end of the concert in which they reached a crescendo that was like sensory overload.

5. Giant Steps - Coltrane - This is still my favorite by Trane; when you hear the opening notes you know you're in for something special.

6. Nice Guys - Art Ensemble of Chicago - I'd heard tons about these guys but their records were hard to get and then this comes out on ECM.

7. Air Song - Is that the name of the Japanese import that was their first release?? Anyway I spent a lot of jack on it but boy was it worth it; four long songs, all of which were masterpieces. Fred Hopkins was the first person to get me interested in bass solos.

8. Willem Breuker Kollektief on About Time - Ken Burns should be forced to listen to this until blood comes out of his ears. A perfect intro to Euro jazz.

9. Conference of the Birds - I had already "heard" this when my ears weren't ready for it and was totally confused. Then this buddy and I set out on a quest to understand Braxton through massive intake of reefer. Once we accomplished that (which took QUITE a while), we'd put this aside and slapped it on. Boy was it great.

10. Earth Beams - Adams/Pullen - I'd already bathed in the blood of the lamb by listening to a lot of CT and was suitably awed by it. But I picked this sucker up on a whim and was immediately taken in by it. Challenging but fun.

Can we expand this to 20; I'm not nearly done!!

[SinginSumo]

Go for it, Captain. This is a very pleasant side of you.

Come to think of it, consistently cool posts from everyone here!

[stonemonkts]

This is a wonderful thread. I live for those "holy crap" experiences as a music listener. I didn't elaborate on my epiphanies because most of those recordings speak for themselves (at least to the people reading this thread). With each of them I felt jaw-dropping holy crap bliss.

I wonder what will be the next one. Every time I order music I'm hoping for it. Of course I'm satisfied most of the time, thanks to the many people on this board, and my own fine taste.

I should have listed discovering this place among them too.

[Captain Hate]

Ok, if you insist:

11. Monk - The London Sessions - I'd heard plenty of Monk before but for some reason none of it totally resonated with me until I heard these outstanding trio releases. I was amazed at how Blakey managed to keep time with everything that was going on with Monk. After this it all sounded good.

12. Hal Russell Live at the Chicago Jazz Fest performing a tribute to Fred Astaire - Unfortunately I wasn't there for it but I taped it off of NPR and just pounded that sucker for months (too bad I wasn't there because I heard they had tap dancers flanking the stage). I believe that this performance set me up to appreciate Brotz, Vandermark et. al., because prior to this I thought Machine Gun was just a bunch of fucking noise. Now I can't get enough of it.

13. Chico Freeman - Kings of Mali - I bought this based on a five star review in Downbeat and it opened a lot of doors for me. Unfortunately I think this was the high point of Chico's career.

14. Atlantis - McCoy Tyner - Given to me as a birthday present and I pounded it for a long time. Where is the great Azar Lawrence?

15. AMM - Laminal disc 2 - this was probably my most recent epiphany; after listening to everybody rave about these guys I took the plunge. Disc 1 I didn't like much at all but when I first heard disc 2 everything stopped and I just paid total attention to every minute.

16. Dogon AD - Julius Hemphill - Arista Freedom brought out a shitload of GREAT releases; and it was always easy to find somebody who was f-ing giving them away. Hard to choose between this one and Coon Bidness; I think The Painter gives this one the nod.

17. Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus Live at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History - as I was sitting through this I was thinking "I'm here watching the conceptual realization of a unique vision of music".

18. The Third World - Herbie Nichols - Remember those two-fers that Blue Note brought out in those jackets the color of grocery bags?? A buddy of mine at a record store urged me to buy it and I was totally captivated by his playing, particularly with Max Roach, from that point on.

19. Silent Tongues - Cecil Taylor - Another masterpiece on Arista Freedom. I had heard CT in the trio w/Lyons & Murray and the Cecil Taylor Unit on New World Records, but nothing had prepared me for the intensity of his solo performances.

20. Conic Sections - Evan Parker - This forever changed the way I think of the sax being played and how the acoustics of a room get played.

[Nate Dorward]

Hm, now I'm feeling better about missing that Lacy gig--that would have been when I was doing summer courses at U of T in the early 1990s, & I decided not to skip out on class to see Lacy play. Stupid decision, nonetheless. I've seen Lacy on the one other occasion he played Toronto since then--a duet with Danilo Perez at Harbourfront, which was very good (it was billed as a Monk concert, but actually they only played two Monk tunes, the rest was their own tunes, & that was fine by me); plus the double gig at Guelph last year, which included a very fine solo set & a good quartet concert.

Oh well, here goes anyway, a quick list of key albums in rough chronological order of contact.

Max Morath, a 2LP set of ragtime tunes
Bix Beiderbecke, "Flashes" (sheet music, he never recorded it)
Thelonious Monk, Brilliance (2fer set with 5xMonkx5 + Brilliant Corners)
Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch
George Russell, a 2fer set I think called Outer Thoughts
Mal Waldron, Hard Talk
Bennie Wallace/Yosuke Yamashita, Brilliant Corners
Charlie Parker, the Dial sides
Iannis Xenakis, the 2CD set by the Ardittis
Art Pepper, Meets the Rhythm Section
The Art of Larry Young (Unity was unobtainable at the time)
John Zorn, Spillane
Parker/Guy/Lytton, Atlanta--actually I hated the trios & bass solo, it was the solo soprano piece I liked, & it's still one of the EP solos I like most (not least because it's a rare example of his doing this work in a non-resonant acoustic)
AMM, Newfoundland
Guy/LJCO, Harmos
Steve Earle, El Corazon

Looking at that none of it seems terribly meaningful deprived of context but I don't know if I want to flesh it out in gruesome detail. Actually probably most of these are less important than other things like concertgoing & playing piano & hanging out at the music shop with Mike MacNeil & Daniel Heikalo, but I find it hard to remember any of that stuff in detail. Most of the really good concerts I've attended are clustered in the early 1990s, when the Toronto festival was still going strong, I caught a few good things in the UK (Cambridge gigs by Bailey, Fell, E Parker), there was the odd thing in Halifax (two excellent nights by John Abercrombie's organ trio, e.g.) & I went to a couple of Victoriaville fests--the first was mostly great, the second wasn't so good.

1. My interest was sparked by a Bessie Smith recording I happen upon while turning the dial on my radio (Copenhagen, around 1948).
   
2. Found and borrowed Lennie Tristano Trio and Library of Congress chain gang recordings in a dark corner of the U.S. Information Service's Copenhagen library's collection of "American Music"--the only recordings there that even remotely related to jazz.
   
3. Bought John Kirby band's "Dawn on the Desert"/"The Turf" in Copenhagen's largest dept. store, because it was the only jazz disc available there (prob. 1949). Started spending all my money (measly sums) on second-hand 78s, which were plentiful.
   
4. Listening to jazz radio programs and reading books, I discovered new names every day, looked for recordings, and found myself totally immersed in Armstrong, Bechet, Morton, Oliver, Goodman, and, of course, Bessie.
   
5. One day I heard a strange recording, but while it had an oddly different sound, it was every bit as exciting as "Potato Head Blues" or "Breakfast Feud."--it was something by Bird and Dizzy, which led to more bop listening. I found it quite natural to move back and forth between Clarence Williams' Blue Five and a Dizzy quintet or between Duke's "Hot and Bothered" and "Conga Brava."
   
6. I had discovered a whole new world and I just wanted to hear it all, from the early New Orleans and Swing sides to then contemporary things like Stan Kenton's "Artistry in Rhythm," Erroll Garner, and even Nellie Lutcher (she's still kickin' at 91, BTW). In short, it was all great and I didn't mind overdosing on it.
   
7. When I first came across Coltrane, I really liked what I heard, but it did not give me the goose bumps I got from first hearing, say, the Hot Fives, Bessie, Bird and Diz, or Billie.
   
8. By 1959, I was living in Philly and many of the artists I admired had gone from being names on old labels to people I knew--some had even become friends. I took Elmer Snowden, in whose little band Duke had blossomed, to the Showboat to hear Ornette Coleman. Word of his radical approach had preceded him, so the place was packed, but most people only stayed for a little while--it was too unorthodox for them. Ornette's music was obviously out of the ordinary, but the rhythm was there, and it was strong. Elmer was counting bars and shaking his head, but he rather liked it--after all, like so many of the early musicians, he had lived through the evolution of the music, and kept up with it.
   
9. The following year, I moved to New York where the loft scene was unfolding--I heard a lot of truly dreadful sounds that tried to pass as avant garde, but I also experienced for the first time Cecil Taylor, got to know Ornette better, and made yet another smooth transition. All the old performances I had listened to since first hearing Bessie on the radio sounded as good as ever, and when I met people whose jazz taste was even slightly myopic, I was amazed. Even more amazing to me was the fact that--while working as a disc jockey in Philly--I was several times asked to give talks on jazz to predominantly black audiences. They seemed equally surprised to find someone from Europe giving the talks.
   
10. Today, after listening to jazz for some 56 years, and being involved in it for about 50, I still enjoy it all, but I must confess that I no longer keep up with it as much as I should. There was a time when I listened to just about every new artist--it was my job to do so, but it was also something I wanted to do. I am too far behind in my listening now, and probably missing out on a lot of good things, but I think it's ok.

Not exactly ten epiphanies, but I have had them and they are far more numerous--every time I hear an exciting new artist or a special performance, I have an epiphany. Finally, there were also artists along the way whose music did little or nothing for me, even some who have a sizable following, but they were clearly a minority.

Our Singing Sumo may well regret having encouraged me to post this.

[PHILLYQ]

Here’s ten:

1) Mahavishnu Orchestra, Central Park, 1972- I was 16 and had bought ‘The Inner Mounting Flame’ about a month before. I listened to it every day and couldn’t figure out what was going on. This concert was the revelation where it all made sense.
2) Live/Evil- I started looking for anything with McLaughlin on it, and I happened across Live/Evil. This led me to Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, etc.
3) Miles Davis, various venues, 1973/4(about 9 gigs)- Live/Evil made me want to see him live, and this band blew me away completely. It was a musical gumbo of jazz horns, funk bass, psychedelic guitar & African percussion. After one of those gigs I was usually exhausted and left wondering if there was anything more anyone could with music- I might have reached the jazz equivalent of climbing Mount Everest!
4) Sonny Rollins, Carnegie Hall, 1974- Freddie Hubbard was supposed to be the guest artist, but he was a no-show. Instead, Mingus & Diz showed up and tore the roof off the joint!
5) Herbie Hancock, City Center, 1978?- The concert was billed as a HH retrospective. The first group was VSOP playing ‘Maiden Voyage’. This was my first time seeing Tony Williams play, and the set was simultaneously sublime & smoking.
6) Arthur Blythe, The Bottom Line, 1979?- this was the group with Tuba,cello,electric guitar & drums. They went way out improvising but also swung very hard. After this one, I realized that it didn’t matter what the instrumentation was, it was what the players did with it.
7) Benefit concert for Jimmy Lyons, Public Theatre, 1986?- World Saxophone Quartet started their set with Bluiett coming out alone and playing the riff to ‘Hattie Wall’, and then the individual players came out one by one and joined in. They blew everyone away. At the same concert, I also saw Sun Ra. I knew nothing about Ra, and I saw this aggregation of folks in space costumes- WTF??!! They opened with some very out stuff, then launched into some straight swing. WOW!
8) Benefit for WRVR radio, 197?, Beacon Theatre- Jackie Bayard came out and played solo. He started out with some pretty avant garde stuff, played a head and then proceeded to move backwards in jazz history, playing the head and then soloing in the next style. He finished up playing ragtime to a standing ovation and much screaming! It was the history of jazz piano in about ten minutes! Tony Williams also played at this concert-solo. I had never seen anybody play drums solo, and he floored me completely, playing melody & rhythm on the drums.
9) Sonny Rollins, Village Vanguard, 1973(about 7 times)- This group had Rufus Harley playing soprano sax & bagpipes, Stanley Cowell on piano, Masuo on guitar, etc. They were amazing every time, and Sonny Rollins had jaws dropping every night when he did his a capella solos- as far out as he went, he always managed to return to the tune.
10) Lester Bowie & the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Feelharmonic, Prospect Park(Brooklyn), don’t remember what year- Lester Bowie put together a huge band of about 30 pieces that swung, went out and then came back in. Along the way he brought out half a dozen rappers, and somehow he made the whole thing cohere! Lester also played some incredible trumpet that night besides conducting the group.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by PHILLYQ
4) Sonny Rollins, Carnegie Hall, 1974- Freddie Hubbard was supposed to be the guest artist, but he was a no-show. Instead, Mingus & Diz showed up and tore the roof off the joint!

I was there too. And it looks like we're the same age (and both Broeklundians).