Contemplazione

Absolutely! The must-have album by Morgan, if I had to choose one. It's a case of "when the groove is not just smoke!" ;-) Marco said wise things... in particular "Search..." is the perfect counterpart to the reviewed album, a "serious" and "committed" Lee Morgan that is perfectly believable given the results! That's a 5 for me too, with Herbie Hancock bursting with creativity and captivating harmonic ideas. I also add to the list "Standards" from '67, the name says it all, except that it’s not a routine session. An absolute mouth-watering lineup: Morgan, James Spaulding, Wayne Shorter, Pepper Adams, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Mickey Roker... it delivers on its promises!

Oh man, I’m not just showing that photo... I’m sharing it!!!

On the topic of Pastorius (but the same goes for John McLaughlin), I’ll share my thoughts openly. He was a genius on the instrument. A great innovator. But so technically astounding that it created unjustified feelings of inferiority in many fellow musicians. You’re playing live with Jaco and he just did a stunning solo? You feel trapped. You have to prove that you’re a virtuoso too, that you’re not any less. And so, at that moment, would some long notes, a lyrical moment be appropriate? Eh, no! You’re forced to play lightning-fast scales, to blow harder, to hit the drums like pneumatic hammers, or you lose face. Who cares about art, interpretation, musical sensitivity, I want the ovation of this ecstatic audience too. And so it turned into a circus, focused on performance rather than musical sharing. A tug-of-war, a contest of who has the bigger one. And the blame also lies with Pastorius, who didn’t have the strength to set a good example and discourage these pointless show-offs, being himself the greatest show-off. His premature death robbed us of knowing what he would have done musically afterward, but by then the damage was done, with audiences and musicians caught up in the obsession with speed and decibels. Carnival acts. FUSION

Here I am back. Telespalla: regarding the "necessary evil" discourse, I also agree; I understand that it is indeed important to frame, broadly speaking, the music being discussed, especially when there is a divulgative intent, a desire for sharing, communication (while keeping in mind that the ideal is what Antonio says in post 21). But was it really necessary to make that the opening of the review? ;-) And then the problem is this: if, for example, I were to say, "the beginning of free jazz occurs with the album of the same name by Ornette Coleman," I would be torn apart for two reasons; the first is that not all of us agree on the exact meaning (which cannot exist) of the term "free jazz" (and do the early murmurs of the genre qualify, or only the "mature," established traits??). The second is that many years earlier, there were already some tracks by Lennie Tristano, Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, Coleman himself, etc., that can be defined as free jazz! For this reason, I believe it is always a mistake to use labels as material, as a "substrate" for discussions. If anything, they can serve as a compendium, an enrichment of discussion, a critical point of view... anyway, if labels must be used, at least let it be done with some thought, that's all. Peace.

Sorry for the tangent, but I can’t digest two things: inaccurate and improperly used labels (jazz-fusion, jazz-rock, used as if they had profoundly different meanings) and also the attempt to contextualize "the beginning" of a movement with the wrong albums, those from about ten years after the initial ferment (common knowledge, right?). The term fusion was coined precisely to indicate the fusion of two genres (jazz and rock... so it’s actually a synonym for jazz-rock, created to shorten the phrase and use one word instead of two!), and it began to be used massively in the late '70s and early '80s. When jazz-rock was becoming a funky mess, musically empty, based only on grooves and virtuosity, also thanks to people like Pastorius... consequently, at that point, this happened: music lovers (snobs, if you like) began to use the term "fusion" derogatorily, to differentiate, I don’t know, Stanley Clarke from the first magnificent albums of Lifetime by Tony Williams, while the fans of empty virtuosity proudly used it to signify that this was serious stuff, not like "In A Silent Way"! And some clever fox among these fans even added "jazz" in front of "fusion," because it sounded cool, like a connoisseur... too bad the poor guy didn’t know anything about jazz and didn’t even realize that fusion meant jazz-rock; "jazz-fusion" is meaningless because it would become "jazz-jazz-rock"! All in all, here we are today, where people believe that jazz-rock and fusion are two different genres, when they describe the same kind of music, except that the one from the '80s was trash. However, Miles had already recorded electro-acoustic pieces in '67 with sounds and rhythms common to both musical worlds in question...

A wonder, but what can I say about the first concert? Personally, I love it even more than this one!

Symphonic Studies, Carnaval, Papillon, Kreisleriana, Kinderszenen, Waldszenen, Fantasy Op. 17, Fantasiestücke Op. 12, Novelletten Op. 21, Toccata Op. 7, Sonata No. 1, Album for the Young, Piano Concerto... how many masterpieces for the piano did Schumann create! A free and capricious fantasy like his could only express itself best in free and open forms, in short pieces or suites for piano rather than in sonata form or the symphonic tradition. The thematic elaboration was not in Schumann's nature; he was all poetry and immediacy! Transfigured in his three alter egos: Florestan, Eusebius, and Master Raro.

A book that creates a rich, intriguing, and eerie world. Beautifully written. For me, 4.5. I haven't had the time to read the review, I hope to be able to catch up!!

Rosenwinkel, I'm sorry to say, left me with an indelibly bitter taste in my mouth when I heard him live at the Casa del Jazz a couple of years ago... it was the first time in my life that I got up and left halfway through a concert, and many others did the same. He and his band were truly boring and seemed bored that night; there was a terrible overall feeling of embarrassment and tension; one flat and bland piece followed another in a slow extinguishing of general enthusiasm, until even the encouraging applause began to fade away. There were six or seven pairs of hands clapping limply, and he started sweating cold and trying to joke a bit at the microphone to lift spirits... his poor Italian and an expletive too many even worsened the situation. I felt bad for him and fled from that distressing show... without buying any of his CDs at the store. What a shame, poor thing! It must have just been a bad night, someone will say, but... who knows??

It seems pretty obvious to me... what does Amelie do? Doesn't she dedicate herself to improving the lives of those around her??