Jazz Alley From Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to the new greats of today, this is the place for Jazz!

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My Response to Recommendations

Posted by LaszloPhoto (A) on February 27, 2021 at 20:12:42

I had earlier posted a request for recommended music that would be along the lines of Gerry Mulligan's Night Lights. I found this CD in my bin rather recently though I must have bought it long ago. But it's only upon my rediscovery that the exquisite loveliness of this music penetrated my mind. I rank it right up there with "Kind of Blue", in jazz heaven.

Several of you were kind enough to suggest other pieces that you thought I would like. So I'll now give my responses. Bear in mind that not only am I no music critic I'm not even that well versed in the jazz idiom. So these are simply my untutored, inexpert, personal responses.

1. Starting at the bottom I rank Stanley Turentine's Pieces of Dreams. This is pleasant enough big band style jazz. It's jaunty and tuneful. (It's playing as I write.) But to me it's reminiscent of the sort of jazz band music that used to appear on variety shows of the 1950s and 60s, maybe even Johnny Carson's house band. It comes across as fairly straightforward melodies accompanied by a thousand and one strings. In short, though pleasant it strikes me as more on the conventional side.

2. Art Farmer's Gentle Eyes is next up. It begins with a thoughtful trumpet solo that promised much mellow sophistication but then an orchestra comes in and the mood dissipates. Farmer's trumpet work all the way through is excellent and in the mood I was looking for but the orchestra doesn't seem to be on the same level with him. Still a decent piece of music that I will listen to on occasion.

3. Next up is Chet Baker in New York. It's clear to me that Chet Baker truly is a genius level trumpet player and I do like the lively moods of the cuts on this CD. Once again, I'd say that Chet outplays the ancillary musicians though not by as a large margin as on Art Farmer's Gentle Eyes. Overall I'd call this a really decent bit of musicianship.

4. Finally, jackpot!, Bill Evans You Must Believe in Spring. This is, at 34 minutes, a little gem. It is consistently lovely from start to finish. The supporting musicians (unidentified on the CD jacket) are fully up to Bill Evans musicianship. Overall it has exactly the meditative qualities I was seeking. (Apparently this is a rare CD. I saw one listing of it for $946! My copy came from England in a couple of weeks. for some $20.)

5. Jackpot again! Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster. Wow! This was right on the mark. The initial cut of Gerry on baritone and Ben on tenor sax was a masterpiece. Since it is an early stereo recording (1959) it completely separates the saxes, baritone left channel/tenor right channel, as was the norm at the time. Fortunately this seems to work rather well for this sort of duet playing. In addition to the wonderful musicianship, the recording production is first class. All the music is of the same high caliber and of similar thoughtful qualities. And at 76:48 playing time I certainly got my money's worth! It may be that I'm simply a Gerry Mulligan fan and just now finding that out.

Please be assured that I do not want to insult anyone who made a recommendation. All of the CDs were worthy. It's just some happened to please me more than others. I have one more CD yet to arrive: Chet which was shipped via DHL February 8th from North Carolina and still hasn't arrived. When it does, I'll add a response to it, too.

Edits: 02/27/21 02/27/21 02/27/21

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