Contemplazione

Already Jake, and then the House of Jazz, the House of Cinema, the Opera House, the Hi-end, the neighborhood music shops (does anyone know Dark Star?), the parks... and then 2 million screaming wannabes (who fortunately keep themselves away from cultural places—there you find the silent and phlegmy wannabes sometimes) ;-) Vera, as usual, congratulations. I’m sure that to satisfy you Lang Lang really put on quite a show, but unfortunately (for me) I have an idiosyncrasy with names that have two identical words lined up... they make me feel unwell and I avoid them. When a cheerful-stupid sound gets expressed in a double way like: dik dik, bingo bongo, duran duran, cin cin, bau bau, yo yo, etc., I just can’t handle it. I know it’s a ridiculous discussion, but I think it’s unlikely that I’ll go to one of his concerts unless he changes his name...;-)

Fuck Duke Ellington.

Dear Sanjuro, since you went to visit my friend Happypippo, you could have asked for some guidance... who better than him? I can only tell you briefly that the Greats missing from your list are at least Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Art Tatum, Django Reinhardt, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis & Bill Evans. The last four names are particularly indispensable if you're interested in modern jazz. Coleman Hawkins is the man who "invented" the tenor saxophone. Lester Young is the one who "modified" it. Any tenor saxophone that followed is a leaf from their tree, made up of two separate trunks but sharing common roots. I'll stop here, or else I know I'll go on excessively...

If you want to get an idea of how it would have been, try listening to the two alternative versions I mentioned... what I meant to say is that the original is so perfect that any change couldn't lead to an improvement! Of course, having both complete versions would be the best, but still, John himself said in the end that, although the alternative version of the album was nice, the quartet version was WITHOUT A DOUBT superior. I trust him ;-)

It was forgotten to mention the contribution of Shepp (and bassist Art Davis) to two alternative versions of Acknowledgement, found on A Love Supreme (Deluxe Edition), the second of which is phenomenal, almost on par with the one we all know! Unfortunately, the recordings of the remaining parts of the suite are lost; it could have turned into a second Love Supreme version "free." Coltrane was indecisive for a while about which version of the album to release, and then obviously we know how it turned out, and we breathe a sigh of relief after forty years ;-) Who knows how many crucial choices in music history have been made that we are completely unaware of... knowing that a masterpiece we love might never have seen the light of day just for one more musician or one less is a bit terrifying!

It is said that he and Sonny (Rollins, of course) met the day after Ornette's concert, and after embracing like war-surviving friends, they began to stroll hand in hand (I saw a photo capturing them like this), with an innocent and tender senile-infantile affection. The touching thing about all this is that they are not friends in the true sense of the word; they have always walked different paths and never spent much time together... but looking closely, as they reunited on those magical days, they realized how much they have in common, and that they are truly fortunate survivors in a world of jazz musicians who were cut down at a young age. They are the last two immortals of the saxophone from their generation still alive.

Here, I knew it...not even an insult, nor an emoticon...not even a hello...you didn't even send me a little kiss. The complete disregard! :-( Am I no longer your favorite big guy??

Believe me, I understand you!!! Regarding post 14...amen to that.

Alfredo, you can’t go wrong with Contours. Crystal is more focused on atonal composition, and there’s less room for truly improvisational and satisfying soloing, in my opinion. Perhaps Sam's absolute masterpiece is "Portrait," an FMP album from '95 (he was 72 at this point), where he, alone, alternating the use of different instruments, creates beautiful things. If you don't already have it, I recommend his classic Blue Note "Fuchsia Swing Song," which is not a free album, but borderline (also beautiful for this reason). He is accompanied by three amazing musicians: Jaki Byard on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and my love, Tony Williams on drums, who is 18 here. Tony's genius was truly stimulated by Sam, who played with him 4-5 years earlier; Rivers reports that his talent and the complexities of his polyrhythms, as well as his unparalleled use of the ride cymbal, were pretty much at their peak when he was just thirteen (13!!!) years old. He continued to build on that afterward.

Well, yes, but anyone else could have taken care of the business! Anyway, this summer at Umbria Jazz I reevaluated him a bit; he didn’t play badly (and in fact, if there weren't improvements after all these years, it would be pathological!!), however, I've never liked his studio albums. Maybe for him, playing with such a father during a recording is a psychological burden that's too heavy to bear...who knows! The concert, by the way, was comical because at the end, he invited on stage first a tall Polish guy with (blonde) hair like Caruso Paskovski, a very funny individual who sang (in Polish?) what seemed to me like some sort of song from Sardinian shepherds, and then a very shy young Japanese opera singer who performed the Ave Maria. And Ornette's group accompanied everything flawlessly...not free jazz anymore, but "free music."