Top 10 1970s Jazz Artists

[crawjo]

Kind of spinning off a thread in Speak Out from a few months back, here are my ten favorite jazz artists, based SOLELY on their 1970s output.

1. Cecil Taylor
2. Anthony Braxton
3. Steve Lacy
4. Wadada Leo Smith
5. Joe McPhee
6. Miles Davis
7. Jimmy Lyons (based on the stuff in the Ayler box)
8. Sun Ra
9. Woody Shaw
10. Weather Report

[stonemonkts]

1. Anthony Braxton
2. Cecil Taylor
3. Miles Davis
4. Ornette Coleman
5. Woody Shaw
6. Howard Riley
7. Sam Rivers/Dave Holland (COTB, WAVES, etc)
8. Charles Mingus
9. Paul Bley
10. Zoot Sims
11. Jimmy Lyons

[michaelr]

I'd add to this:

- Roscoe Mitchell
- Arthur Blythe
- Air (is it cheating to nominate a collective?)

[LeMo]

1 - Anthony Braxton
2 - Cecil Taylor
3 - Evan Parker
4 - Art Ensemble Of Chicago
5 - Steve Lacy
6 - Sun Ra
7 - Alexander von Schlippenbach
8 - Sam Rivers
9 - Georges Lewis
10 - Peter Brötzmann
11 - Miles Davis
12 - Art Pepper

[Pete C]

Off the top of my head,

McCoy Tyner (I'll put him at the top for an amazing run of albums, great compositions, great groups)

Charles Mingus group with Pullen & Adams
Sam Rivers, especially live with Holland & Altschul
Gato Barbieri (Flying Dutchman & Impulse recordings)
Charles Tolliver
John McLaughlin
Miles Davis
Steve Lacy
Julius Hemphill (how did the rest of you miss him?)

[Dan G]

In no particular order

Anthony Braxton
Julius Hemphill
Evan Parker
Derek Bailey
Cecil Taylor
George Lewis
Dave Holland
John Stevens
Keith Jarrett
Sam Rivers
Peter Brotzmann
Muhal Richard Abrams
Art Ensemble
Sun Ra
Han Bennink

[bostontricky]

Can I read it as "70s Jazz" Artists and not 70s "Jazz Artists"? Good.

George Benson
Chuck Mangione
David Sanborn
Bob James
Grover Washington Jr.
Dave Grusin
Hubert Laws
Chick Corea
Spyro Gyra
Jan Hammer

[lazarus]

Miles Davis
Art Ensemble Of Chicago
Anthony Braxton
Keith Jarrett
Herbie Hancock
Cecil Taylor
Paul Bley
Dave Holland
Barry Altschul
Sun Ra
Peter Brötzmann
Weather Report
John McLaughlin
Sam Rivers

[GodSpeliZed]

Roscoe Mitchell (and all the AEOC)
Cecil Taylor
Anthony Braxton
Peter Brotzmann
Alex Von Schlippenbach
Alan Silva
Muhal Richard Abrams
Chris McGregor (and all the Brotherhood of Breath guys)
Han Bennink
Steve Lacy

- Air (is it cheating to nominate a collective?)

Are their records actually available?

[LeMo]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Off the top of my head,

McCoy Tyner (I'll put him at the top for an amazing run of albums, great compositions, great groups)

Charles Mingus group with Pullen & Adams
Sam Rivers, especially live with Holland & Altschul
Gato Barbieri (Flying Dutchman & Impulse recordings)
Charles Tolliver
John McLaughlin
Miles Davis
Steve Lacy
Julius Hemphill (how did the rest of you miss him?)

Yes, Pete, but how could you miss, yourself, Art Ensemble, Braxton, Brötzmann, Sun Ra, Pepper, etc.?

[walto]

BT, How could you have Hammer and not McLaughlin!?!

[Derek Taylor]

Great lists so far, Frank Lowe & Denis Charles would definitely be on mine.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by LeMo

Yes, Pete, but how could you miss, yourself, Art Ensemble, Braxton, Brötzmann, Sun Ra, Pepper, etc.?

I could easily miss Brötzmann, and I could mostly avoid Braxton (heresy!), but you're right about the others, and I was privileged to see the Arkestra at least 4 times between 1975 & '82.

[bostontricky]

Originally Posted by walto

BT, How could you have Hammer and not McLaughlin!?!

Hmm. I wanted to keep my list a little light and greasy; McLaughlin's got some serious legit cred for "Extrapolation" back in the 60s, no?

Chick Corea might be straddling that line here...

[walto]

Speaking of the 60's, I was wondering if LeMo and Pete would agree with me the best Sun Ra stuff was all recorded on or before about 1971.

[Derek Taylor]

I'd agree with you, Walt.

[John L]

Originally Posted by walto

Speaking of the 60's, I was wondering if LeMo and Pete would agree with me the best Sun Ra stuff was all recorded on or before about 1971.

I don't know about LeMo and Pete, but I would agree with you.

[Tom Storer]

Off the top of my head:

Chick Corea
Keith Jarrett
Gary Burton
Miles Davis
Dave Holland
Betty Carter
Anthony Braxton
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Cecil Taylor
Dexter Gordon
Woody Shaw

That's eleven, but tough.

[John L]

Gil Evans is worthy of consideration. "There Comes a Time" might be his single greatest accomplishment. And that's saying something.

[sonic1]

My list will probably repeat a lot of what is already said, but I will especially give nods to Braxton. Also ECM really made an impression during this time. And the NY Loft jazz scene was doing it best work during this time. Many of the great European artists were working hard during this time too.

[Frisco]

Originally Posted by walto

Speaking of the 60's, I was wondering if LeMo and Pete would agree with me the best Sun Ra stuff was all recorded on or before about 1971.

I'd almost agree, Walt, but I'd stretch that date to at least 1973. I have to put Astro Black, Discipline 27-II, and others I'm sure I'm not recalling immediately, up there among the best.

The 70's (starting around 1973) is when I was discovering this music. I knew absolutely nothing about Brotzmann, Kowald, E. Parker until the late 80's, so I can't really include them. My favorites were (and continue to be):

Cecil Taylor (+ Lyons)
Art Ensemble (particularly Roscoe)
Steve Lacy
Anthony Braxton
Sun Ra
Julius Hemphill
Oliver Lake
Max Roach
Sam Rivers
Air (it was such a collective, you couldn't pick out one artist)

[Jesse]

Rather than reiterate those already cited, these names would be found all over the Seventies vinyl I spent my misspent youth with:

Dewey Redman
Don Cherry
Charlie Haden
Andrew Cyrille
Kenny Wheeler
Paul Motian
Kent Carter
Roswell Rudd
Barry Guy

& are previously uncited.

[Gordon B]

In no particular order, solely based on output as a leader:

Cecil Taylor- solo and the great units
Keith Jarrett
McCoy Tyner
Woody Shaw
Anthony Braxton
Steve Lacy
Mike Osborne
Art Ensemble
Chico Freeman
Arthur Blythe

I revised my list after reading Captain Hate's list.

The three guys whose best work without a doubt was in the 70's are McCoy, Woody, and Jarrett.


Pete, are you not a Woody Shaw fan? I think that Woody fans should be Tolliver fans and vice versa. I love Tolliver, too.

[Captain Hate]

Chico Freeman
Arthur Blythe
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Air
Braxton
Woody Shaw
Sam Rivers
Johnny Griffin
Cecil Taylor
Keith Jarrett

The first time I saw Sun Ra was maybe 74 or 75; he was way too heavy on the synth for the acid heads but when he wasn't making weird noises the horn charts were absolutely awesome.

[Richardo Caerleoni]

Just to annoy Pete C ! - actually, It's one of the only two Phil Woods records I really like a lot (the other being "The Young Lions " with Donald Byrd, Al Haig and Charlie Persip c. 1956). I also like Art Pepper 's "crack" that ..."Phil Woods wanted to get so close to Bird, he even married his "old lady" !

So, my vote for the 1970's would go to Art Pepper's "return" sessions - & Dexter's Qrt. recordings in Denmark (underated) . And there was some nice Max Roach about. And Harold Land. And Woody Shaw. And Sam Rivers. Hey, a much better decade than I remember!



Phil Woods - - Musique Du Bois (Muse/32) - 1974 - NOT my review...


Woods’ rich sound and coursing ideas ….Not as lean and ascetic as Konitz and more conventional than Art Pepper or Jackie McLean, Woods alone took Charlie Parker’s alto saxophone vocabulary and ushered in an alternative form that hewed closely to the founder’s flame. This 1974 record was an early moment in this period. Backed by the massive attack rhythm section of Byard, Richard Davis, and Alan Dawson, which fuelled so many of Booker Ervin’s classic sessions, Woods’ presentation of these six standards are both elegant and intense. Even the usually stale Willow Weeps for Me perks right up on Woods’ soaring solo and Davis’s aggressive playing. This performance of Nefertiti is rivalled only by Braxton/Corea/Holland/Atchul Circle session. Airegin is a showcase for Alan Dawson and a rocking Byard.

[LeMo]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I could easily miss Brötzmann, and I could mostly avoid Braxton (heresy!), but you're right about the others, and I was privileged to see the Arkestra at least 4 times between 1975 & '82.

I always known you where an heretic, Pete.

Aniway, I've seen Sun Ra, like you, four times during the seventies (four must be the number, as I've seen Cp Beefheart, Lou Reed, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, the (original) Art Ensemble, David Murray, Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins four times, the two last, alas, not at the best moment of their respective career).

Maybe this influence my vote.

But to answer to Walto, I would say yes about the sixties if I didn't have a bunch of LPs bought at the concerts of Ra (like most of the Saturn records I own), or who have been publish on label like Horo who are the equal, in musical quality, to the sixties production but never get their way unto CD.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Captain Hate

Chico Freeman
Arthur Blythe

Johnny Griffin

Do you have JG's "Live in Tokyo?' I've got it on 2-lp. It's always been my favorite Griffin. I forgot about Blythe. He would have been in there for sure, had I remembered him. Chico, too. In fact, I went back and revised my list. I also forgot Mike Osborne.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

Pete, are you not a Woody Shaw fan? I think that Woody fans should be Tolliver fans and vice versa. I love Tolliver, too.

Gordon, I like Woody Shaw a lot, but somehow I don't get as excited about him as I do about Tolliver. Objectively I'd say that Shaw & Tolliver are the two great trumpeters of the immediate post-Hubbard generation. I really love Shaw's early "Blackstone Legacy" album.

I'm not a big Johnny Griffin fan, but for me "Blues for Harvey" is one of his best. I haven't heard "Live in Tokyo," though.

[Captain Hate]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

Do you have JG's "Live in Tokyo?' I've got it on 2-lp. It's always been my favorite Griffin. I forgot about Blythe. He would have been in there for sure, had I remembered him. Chico, too. In fact, I went back and revised my list. I also forgot Mike Osborne.

No I don't Gordon; what label is it on (before I go over to AMG and try to find it)? My list was pretty much made up of people that I actually saw in the 70's or was somehow incredibly geeked about, which describes my reaction to Chico's first few lp's and Air's, since I didn't see Chico until much later (and much worse) and I never saw Air (although I did see Threadgill's group with Hopkins, Aklaff and others). I saw Johnny Griffin a number of times after his Return of the Griffin although he hasn't been around here in a LONG time; he isn't the youngest person in the world. I saw Blythe with Bob Stewart and Bobby Battle (is Battle still playing??). And I really enjoyed seeing Woody Shaw in his Columbia days. I felt bad about leaving Lacy off my list but I didn't really start pounding his releases until the 80's. I also felt bad about not listing McCoy either because that was a nicely fertile period for him; Atlantis and Trident both smoked, the version of Ruby My Dear on Trident was the first version of a Monk song that really grabbed me. But the truth of the matter is that I listened to more Jarrett then than either McCoy or CT. That has obviously changed with time.

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

In no particular order, solely based on output as a leader:
Mike Osborne

Great player. Too bad his career was so short. I saw recently that Border Crossing was issued on CD with another record - what's the other one, and is it worth buying if I've already got BC on vinyl?