Contemplazione

One of my favorite albums! Fully endorsed Jon Christensen, even outside of that context, like in Eberhard Weber's group (where he does some very funky things), or in the recent trio of Bobo Stenson (with Anders Jormin on double bass), where they play rarefied music on the edge of silence, all the way to melodic and non-shouted free jazz. An excellent drummer, the only thing that doesn't make him truly great in my opinion is the lack of creative bursts... I mean, he is very versatile and always plays well depending on the context, but he has never had a moment of pure instinct, a spark of genius, leaving me in awe. On the other hand, you can count on one hand the drummers capable of that!

Vinnie is a super technician, perhaps the most technical of them all, and that's exactly why he often falls into bad taste… I remember a horrible concert this summer at Umbria Jazz where he, Dave Holland, and Herbie Hancock threw music to the wind for the sake of showing off. The audience was obviously going wild! But that’s just one example... shall we talk about how un-musical they can be, merely circus performers, he and Weckl (Steve Gadd was also there, alas) during their famous drum battle? As the late Happypippo used to say, there needs to be respect for the drums, treating them as a MUSICAL instrument, not just a collection of shells to be hit at crazy speeds with impossible Tetris-like combinations between snare, bass, toms, and cymbals! And Colaiuta is musical depending on who "guides" him; with Zappa, he’s phenomenal for me.

I think it’s definitely enjoyable... it flows like honey that record! I find it very pleasurable (not as a guitarist, but perhaps it's because I’m speaking as a drummer and there's Colaiuta playing divinely).

Like Macaco, it was also my first by Zappa, and I haven't forgotten it! A milestone. Received it so-so...

4 of encouragement, it's written a bit clumsily but it's really nice to see this album on the home page. From the same sessions also came "Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants", which I find superior to this one. Kresko, could you tell me which Miles albums were recorded for Prestige between '56 and '61 please? ;-)

Grass, I almost forgot, I absolutely recommend you buy a double CD from Brilliant Classics (it only costs 8 euros!) featuring the complete works for piano by Ravel, performed by the extraordinary pianist Michelangelo Carbonara. If you don’t know him, I assure you, it will be a revelation! One of the most wonderful and life-infused Ravels I've ever heard. An interpretation worthy of Debussy's preludes played by Michelangeli...

Sublime everything. Works of an overwhelming maturity, not to mention the quartet "of the dissonances."

Full 4 disc. Hi Andrea, my friend.

I guess you'll be just nothing when you're dead... neither up nor down ;-)

Sorry... I haven't followed you much! ;-) What do you mean by complex measure and simple measure? And what do accents have to do with it? In a rhythmic scan, accents aren't necessarily present... I mean, a sestet can very well be ta-ra ta-ra ta-ra, and not necessarily ta-rà ta-rà ta-rà... maybe I didn't understand what you meant?