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TEN
ESSENTIAL
JAZZ RECORDINGS
Count Basie
Basie
and Zoot (OJC)
Clifford Brown
Brown
and Roach, Inc.
(EmArcy)
Benny Carter
Further
Definitions
(Impulse!)
Miles Davis
Kind
of Blue (Columbia)
Duke Ellington
Blanton-Webster
Band (3cds)
(Bluebird)
Charlie Haden
Quartet
West:Haunted Heart
(Verve)
Keith Jarrett
Koln
Concert
(ECM)
Charles Mingus
New
Tijuana Moods
(RCA)
Gerry Mulligan
California
Concerts, vol. 1
(Pacific Jazz)
Charlie Parker
The
Legendary Dial Masters,
vol. 2 (Stash)
(Photo
by Steve Saroff)
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An important part
of most of my novels
has been jazz. This
is especially true
of my last novel for
Grove/Atlantic, MAN
WITH AN AXE. Even
the title is at least
a shared reference
to a jazz musician.
Growing up in Detroit
jazz was a very early
interest of mine and
it continues to be
to this day. As readers
may have noticed from
the references and
at least one of my
author photos, I like
to play the saxophone,
particularly the baritone.
I’ve always loved
that sound. But although
I once actually had
a jazz group, that
was back in high school.
When I went into
the air force I
quit playing and
it was thirty years
before I took up
the instrument again.
Today, I play almost
strictly for myself,
while I’m writing.
I find it very useful,
when I get a little
stuck on a passage,
to pick up the horn
and play along with
a CD. Once in a
great while I play
with others. The
thing is, jazz is
a very difficult
music to play well
enough to subject
an audience to one’s
fumblings. It is
not just a matter
of being creative,
although that is
a huge part of it,
but if you’re
playing with a group
you have to be able
to keep perfect
time and know the
chord changes, plus
you have to have
good intonation.
And on top of that
comes the creativity,
the ability to tell
a coherent musical
story.
The level of playing
in jazz today is
simply tremendous.
Even a ho-hum group,
in the creative
sense, plays at
such a level of
proficiency that
unless one practices
more or less constantly
and has had a good
education to start
with, one is a hopeless
drag on the group.
It becomes intolerable.
Perhaps this was
always so, but it
seems more pronounced
now. Saxophone players,
because they are
usually the featured
performers, are
especially required
to have a high level
of mastery before
they can presume
to step up in front
of a rythmn section
and attempt their
version of even
a simple ballad,
like "Everything
Happens To Me,"
which Chet Baker
made famous.
There have always
been a lot of good
players in Detroit
and today it is
still the same.
But Detroit players
tend to be less
than famous, unless
like Kenny Burrell
or Geri Allen, they
get out of town
and make a name
for themselves elsewhere.
I’ve always
loved baritone sax,
since I got my first
Gerry Mulligan album,
back in the 50s.
It was, in fact,
his first ten-inch
lp for Pacific Jazz,
with Chet Baker,
Carson Smith, Chico
Hamilton and/or
Larry Bunker. I
think since then
I’ve owned
just about every
recording he has
made.
Nowadays, all of
my listening is
to CDs. I’m
impatient with those
who claim that the
sound on the old
vinyl lp is superior.
This may have been
so before more recent
improvements were
made in CD recording
techniques, but
even then it was
off set by the superior
quality of the reproduction,
the lack of surface
noise in particular.
I want to recommend
some CDs that I
especially love,
or that I’m
listening to these
days. I’ll
keep this page current,
so keep checking
if you’re interested
in what I’m
listening to.
I’d especially
like to recommend
a hard to get CD
by Chuck
Florence, a
real Detroit-born
and raised hard
bopper who now lives
in Montana. I get
to hear Chuck fairly
frequently and he
has helped me with
my own playing.
A few years ago,
he recorded his
first CD, with the
great pianist Jaki
Byard, bassist Clipper
Anderson, and the
badly underrated
Boston drummer Alan
Dawson. It’s
called "Home
On the Range".
It’s on Cadence,
CJR 1052. Interested
readers/jazz fans
can order this CD
through this website.
My favorite cut
on this recording
is "Besame
Mucho," a terrific
workout for the
entire group with
Chuck absolutely
scintillating on
tenor sax. I love
this slow loping
opening that builds
to a remarkable
controlled intensity.
Check it out.
I’ll have more
to say about my
personal favorites
in future postings
to this page. For
now, here is a list
of ten important
recordings that
I recently recommended
to my friend, Greg
Patent, who wanted
to start a collection
of jazz CDs. Greg
and I do a weekly
food show on KUFM
radio, in Missoula.
We’re hoping
to get this program
on National Public
Radio. I’ll
tell you more about
that later and elsewhere
on this site.
Jon
A. Jackson
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