It’s fun to a point, but now I’m at the point of frustration trying to find the particular sound I’m looking for. I have heard individual tracks like I’m searching for in, say, film scores, but not even a majority of an album or CD.
I find ones and twos here and there from Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Bill Charlap, Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, and some others. But what I find more often than not is that they will start off a beautiful, slow, melodic song and somewhere about halfway through it they are compelled to try and play as fast as they can. That’s fine if that’s what you like and are looking for. It is not for me in this case.
I would think over the long history of Jazz that the kind of music I hear on rare ocassions must exist as a whole record. Maybe not, I dunno.
Belden-Carter, Ben Goldberg, Ben Heit Quartet, Bobo Stenson Trio, Charlie Haden-Pat Metheny, Dick Hyman, Gigi Gryce, Joey de Francesco-John McLaughlin, Moscow Jazz Ensemble, Passos and Carter, Paul Beaudry, Peterson-Brown-Jackson, Ray Brown Trio, Ron Carter-3’s Company, Tommy Smith.
I have just a few tracks by each combo, and there’s no assurance you would prefer those over others, so one of the things I do for evaluating the music quickly, freely, with 90-second samples, is on iTunes.
I have plenty of Playlists and compilation CDs (although no mix tapes or even cassette players to play them on left).
I was idly hoping that an older Jazz album or CD had the same kind of theme that artists used to do; like a Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra album “for lovers” kind of thing. Only a Jazz lounge sort of vibe.
I generally use Pandora to try out artists to get a feel for them and their sound. Sometimes Amazon Music. But you’re limited to their catalog.
I’m kinda over the days of buying an album or CD blind from a source like Discogs (which I’ve used a lot in the last year) just hoping to strike gold. That’s why I tried this forum.
Not sure why you eschew the Bossa Nova\Brazil\Carribean fork of the jazz utensil. Often less frenzy there. I do understand what you don’t like - Anthony Braxton’s Creative Orchestra Music 1976, that takes a perfectly good Sousa homage, and suddenly reveals that the marching band just refueled with acid and speed before closing back on this earth again. (BTW, I really like that track, but such is taste).
I think that part of the problem might be that most artists doing an album in the old days felt a need to change it up somewhere on each side. And even in the movies, the relaxed lounge only stayed relaxed until a heavy walked in. Unless it happened this way:
I just heard a song by Bill Charlap that’s right in the center for the sound I’m searching for. It was Some Other Time, on his Somewhere album. Apparently all the songs on it are by Leonard Bernstein. It had a great, relaxing, mood.
Hi Carl, this is Carl:) Recently enjoying slow Jazz the most… I wanted to pass on the 1994 album called Jazz Romance. It has various artists some are soooo good. For example - Grover Washington Jr.'s Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.
I look forward to reading this thread and trying some of the tunes out. Thanks for starting it.
