Sebastian Steinberg <ssteinbe@BBNCCW.ARPA> (11/13/84)
here are some albums that both swing and satisfy darker urges... kind of blue - miles davis (EVERYBODY should own this album, one of the most beautiful, moody records ever made, perfect as an introduction to jazz, perfect record to put on when you are sad, happy, wistful, just plain blue etc. something for everyone here.) crescent - john coltrane (just a personal favorite, passionate, swings like mad, great band, mcoy tyner-piano, jimmy garrison-bass, elvin jones-drums) air lore - air (i've already raved about this) change of the century - ornette coleman (a classic from 1959, contrary to popular belief of ornette as "angry black music" this is very warm, amiable swinging music that has a strong tie with traditions such as the blues, vocal phrasing, conversational interplay, it merely extends these forms into a more elastic free form, without losing an inch of swing) afro-eurasian eclipse - duke ellington (what can i say? duke duke duke...) montreux suisse air - air (a live set recorded at the montreux jazz festival in 1979, whew!! the second piece, abra, is one of the best blues i've ever heard) mysterious traveler - weather report (truly atmospheric record, it really shows why this band had such a big influence on a whole generation of players, great SOUNDING record, too..) speak no evil - wayne shorter ( hard swinging mid-sixties session with herbie hancock-piano, freddie hubbard-trumpet, an EXTREMELY dignified ron carter-bass, an EXTREMELY boisterous elvin jones-drums, great tunes, too) live evil - miles davis (i've raved about this one, too. miles is the SOURCE, anybody who is wondering about fusion should check this, on the corner, great expectations, in a silent way, aghartha (!!!) in short, ANY miles davis record out, and watch it blow all of that crap right out of the water. one of the reasons i think the whole fusion movement so loathsome is that it has its roots in some magnificent, powerful music, and decayed into little boys saying "whee, i can play so FAST, ooo, look, a LATIN beat, ooo, look, a very fast SWING beat, ooo, look, we are FUNKY now! aren't our CHOPS and CHARTS incredibly TASTY?!" changes 1 & 2 - charles mingus (ah yes, mingus mingus mingus, hell of a bass player, too...) there's more where this came from