Any other jazz lovers?

I'm a bit of a burgeoning jazz fan myself! I play trumpet in my school's jazz band (which is the epitome of cool) and I'm a big Miles Davis fan. I wish I knew more about jazz, though. My band teacher plays old jazz records every morning before rehearsal, and I love what I hear

I often listen to jazz to help me get in touch with moods and spirits that are where I want to go. I don't personally do it while I'm creating though.

I find that listening to some of the deeper artists, doing some of their greatest work is keenly inspirational. Examples: Miles on Kind Of Blue, or In A Silent Way. Coltrane on Summertime, or doing love ballads with Johnny Hartman. Gene Amons on Boss Tenor.

So much of jazz is understood emotionally, not intellectually. You just immerse yourself in the mood of the music and it speaks to you on that level. But somebody like McCoy Tyner is almost totally intellectual.

What I like most about this music is that jazz is not only the artists interpretation of a song, but your interpretation of the artist's interpretation.

... been into jazz for many years, courtesy of a college radio station. I'm into bebop, in particular. Avant Garde is groovy too. My favorite artists include Coltrane, Gillepsie, Monk, Mingus, Miles, Ornette Coleman, and a host of others including Eric Dolphy who is my favorite of favorites. Man, could that cat play! *High-fives to the other Jazzers above.*

My favorite jazz was fusion, which I think died out sometime in the 80s. Artists like Al Dimeola, Larry Coryell, Jean Luc Ponty, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, to name a few.

LadyMage said:

It's a bit of an odd mix, writing gritty urban-fantasy while listening to funk a la saxophone, but somehow, it just works for me.

Who else here is a jazz fan?

Click to expand...

I'm also an urban fantasy writer and a jazz lover, as well as a player. The MC of my Ace series is a jazz guitarist, and there are many scenes of jazz clubs included -- as well as relating how my guy does magic to improvisational music.

I played jazz for years, but finally came to the sad realization that I'll always be a mediocre jazz player, and my natural musical bent lies more in songwriting, pop, and rock.

So that's what I play now, but jazz is my true love.

indie_girl said:

I'm a bit of a burgeoning jazz fan myself! I play trumpet in my school's jazz band (which is the epitome of cool) and I'm a big Miles Davis fan. I wish I knew more about jazz, though. My band teacher plays old jazz records every morning before rehearsal, and I love what I hear

Click to expand...

Ken Burns did a wonderful series on jazz for PBS -- it's on DVD. It's a great overview of the history of jazz, from its beginnings to present day.

If you're a trumpet player, check out this Clifford Brown clip of George's Dilemma -- from a great album from the fifties.

Oh, and Chet Baker for sure..

I love music,especially Jazz.If you would like to hear some music when you are at your computer, try this http://players.tv-radio.com/radiofrance/playerfip.php Not a exclusively jazz station but lots of music of every genera including jazz.

I like most jazz. I've had some good luck with finding it on the radio at work if I can pull in CKUA Edmonton.

My passion is a really small subset, usually only liked by other barbershoppers.

I used to play alto sax from 6th grade through high school, and I fell in love with jazz. I can often be found jamming out to Nina Simone, Charlie Parker, or Buddy Rich's Big Band. Blues-swing is awesome too. I am a die-hard Setzer fan

My main interest is small-combo jazz from the 1950s and the 1960s, along with some 1970s jazz fusion. But I appreciate the many different styles of jazz from all eras, the only exceptions being Latin jazz and "free jazz". Here are a few of my recent favorite albums:

"Street of Dreams" and "Matador" by Grant Green. Grant was an amazing guitarist, and he recorded both of these albums when he was at his peak in 1964 and 1965. Laid-back, relaxing "groove music" that just doesn't quit!

"Whistle Stop" by Kenny Dorham. Kenny was an incredibly tasteful trumpet player, composer, and bandleader who unfortunately was overshadowed by a series of trumpet greats -- first Dizzy Gillespie, then Miles Davis, then Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. But Kenny definitely deserves a listen, and I really love this album.

"Page One" by Joe Henderson. One of Joe's smoothest albums, great for cocktail parties if you're into that kind of thing. Featuring Joe on tenor sax, Kenny Dorham (see above) on trumpet, and McCoy Tyner on piano.

"Destination Out" by Jackie McLean. Jackie is my all-time favorite alto saxophone player, and this album combines straight-ahead jazz with some avant-garde touches. Kind of trippy, but still very cool.

CBC 2 FM radio here in Canada has a nightly show with a good mix of styles and eras. Sometimes I can pull it in at work, sometimes not. Lately I've been lucky and have heard it most nights.

Shadow_Ferret said:

My favorite jazz was fusion, which I think died out sometime in the 80s. Artists like Al Dimeola, Larry Coryell, Jean Luc Ponty, Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke, Herbie Hancock, to name a few.

Click to expand...

Still love my fusion and still hate jazz snobs like Wynton Marsalis. Maybe "hate" is too strong a word. I can't stand his looking down on any musician that uses electricity to play their instrument.

There's a newly configured Return to Forever coming out with some new music in a few months. Al Di Meola is not part of the band though, so that kind of sucks.

I write reviews of jazz CDs for a website and its a great way to get the hook-up on new music. I have a stack of albums by Keiko Matsui, Walter Beasley, The Rippingtons, Marcus Miller among others I'm plowing through.

And we're looking for contributors. You want to get your hands on some free music, I can help hook you up.

LadyMage said:

Going to a jazz club and hunkering down with a pad and a pen.

Click to expand...

You know, I've tried this many times and the results are never good. People always give me such weird looks, haha.

I'm a big Jazz fan, though. Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, etc. I love me some Bossa Nova, too. The Getz/Gilberto album might be my all-time fav. There's a lot of Jazz coming out of Japan right now that I'm really into as well.

I'm a big Stan Getz fan. Of course, I like Otis Redding too, but Stan Getz is pretty awesome. My ex was in a jazz quartet that covered "Waves". I saw them play it right after we started dating, and that was part of what got me hooked on her.

Fats and Duke.

I like Earl Hines ^^

Fatha. Mezz.

Monk, Frisell, and Coltrane are probably my top three.

After fifteen years of mostly mining jazz that was recorded between 1955 and 1970, I've flipped my jazz listening habits on their head, and now pretty much only listen to jazz that's being made today. Musicians like Guillermo Klein, Matthew Halsall, Darcy James Argue, Bill Frisell, Jeremy Udden, Todd Sickafoose, Tim Collins, Brad Shepik, various John Zorn ensembles, Ben Allison, Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, just to name a few.

It's been very rewarding.

I'm now the AllAboutJazz download of the day editor. I look for exemplary current jazz being recorded in the present day and invite musicians to give away a free song from their album by way of introducing themselves (and their album) to our readership. I make a couple pithy-ish lines of commentary about each.

If you're looking to explore modern jazz one song at a time, I encourage you to head over to the site...

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/jazzdownloads.php

You'll have to sign up for the site, but it's free and you only need to give an email and choose a nick. Actually, just like AW forum.

Cheers.

I've had a little listen to some Miles Davis, Coltrane and Charlie Parker. It wasn't bad but not really my thing.

Maybe I'll develop an appreciation for it down the road when my musical taste expands further.

Just found this thread. I'm a jazz player. Piano, bass, sax, trumpet. I've been at it most of my life. I like most forms from ragtime forward. I kind of stopped after Bill Evans, though. It had all been said. Listening to Dexter Gordon, now.

Tatum is God.

I like jazz as long as it doesn't remind me of elevator music lol.