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Kumar
January 12, 2015

Recommended music - other than classical and pop

  • January 12, 2015
  • 333 replies
  • 34357 views
I am not sure there is a thread on what Sonos is truly about - the music, so this might be an interesting thread. I have left out classical because that deserves a thread of its own and modern pop because it all sounds the same to me.
I have Phil Keaggy strumming Solitude from his Acoustic Sketches album right now in the bedroom on a play 1 pair and sounding very good indeed.
Recently heard and equally good music and mastering:
1. Michel Petrucciani and NHOP
2. Beyond the Missouri Sky - Metheny and Haden
3. Chiaroscuro - Fresu and Towner
4. Jan Johannsen - Jazz pa Svenska
5. The Astounding Eyes of Rita - Anouar Brahem
6. Last Dance/Jasmine - Jarrett and Haden
7. Saturday Morning - Ahmad Jamal
8. Melos - Paolo Fresu
All but the last are ITunes 256kbps purchases, the last a lossless CD rip.
Very little lost in translation for the lossy thing and Sonos convenience.
Any recommendations on similar music that uses the silence between the notes effectively?
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    chicks
    chicks
    June 2, 2015
    John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Their version of Strayhorn's Lush Life is definitive, IMO.
    KumarAuthor
    June 2, 2015
    I agree. Lovely album.

    Another of my desert island tunes is Round Midnight. There are so many versions of it but the 1957 Miles Davis version from the album of that name still rules in my book. And is still as fresh as ever.

    Where it comes to singing it, Karrin Allyson, on an album by the same name, with an excellent band supporting her.
    KumarAuthor
    June 5, 2015
    I was digging around looking for more of Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham, when I came across a somewhat unheralded Art Blakey/Jazz Messengers album - Like Someone in Love. This from the Lee Morgan/Wayne Shorter iteration of the Messengers, is a companion to their Night in Tunisia that is a better known album.
    I found Morgan and Shorter to be more to my taste on the lesser known album, propelled forward by some robust drumming by Blakey. Great medium and slow tempo blowing on the trumpet and sax, and very well remastered, so crisp and clean sound.
    chicks
    chicks
    June 5, 2015
    Been chillin' with a couple of Eddie Higgins Trio albums from Venus label lately. Standards and Ballads.

    Pretty easy to see why he was loved by Japanese and Korean jazz fans back in the day (while being virtually unknown at home, except in his hometown Chicago). Great stuff.
    KumarAuthor
    June 9, 2015
    I discovered three great Benny Golson albums, recorded in the late fifties, which still sound great for listening as well as background for dinner or working.

    Grooving with Golson, Gone with Golson and Getting with it.

    Three excellent recordings, listen to any one or all three. It isn't easy to find music of this quality these days, even though this comment dates me.

    Another recent find via Golson is Art Farmer. His Modern Art is a great trumpet record, and one of the best of Bill Evans on piano as well. Recorded in - when else - late fifties.
    chicks
    chicks
    June 9, 2015
    Check out The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album for a really fine collaboration between the two masters.
    KumarAuthor
    June 9, 2015
    I got that quite some time ago, and discovered that Bennett was a very good jazz singer too. Doesn't do much in that vein now though.
    chicks
    chicks
    June 9, 2015
    Ah, but he has the kids discovering the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer... Nothing wrong with that!
    KumarAuthor
    June 15, 2015
    His Idle Moments album has been in my collection for a long time, but I recently discovered another album of his - the Rudy van Gelder remastered version of Green Street, another 1950s album.

    Excellent straight ahead jazz guitar with just bass and drums. Many of the tracks are standards, but sound fresh on this guitar led trio. Highly recommended for listening at quiet times, and I am looking to see what else of his I can find that is just as good.
    The music sounds like it was recorded yesterday!
    KumarAuthor
    June 15, 2015
    Not surprisingly, there are more great guitar jazz albums from Grant Green. One of these that I can recommend is with Sonny Clark on piano in the mix as well - A 2 CD 19 track set, The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark.

    The fifties seem to have been golden years for jazz and it is not surprising that in some places jazz is considered to be the music of the 1950s.
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