Jazzis Web Shop News 05/2006

Two jazz classics added today:

PASTORIUS, JACO ~ WORD OF MOUTH

2nd album (recorded 1980). Pastorius was one of the most tragic stars on the jazz firmament - a musical genius, whose life was wasted by a combination of mental illness and drug abuse. I am talking about a man who single-handedly re-defined the statue and the technique of the bass in jazz, a brilliant performer and immensely gifted composer and arranger. Tragically Pastorius recorded only three albums as a leader in the decade and a half he was active (all other albums are live recordings, which were never meant to be released). Following his eponymous self titled debut from 1976, he devised this album as a showcase of modern Big Band with the bass as a lead instrument. The recording involved over 70 musicians (a list of which reads like the Encyclopedia Britannica of Jazz) and was done in several studios around the world. The result is an absolutely brilliant album, which sounds as fresh today as it was when I heard it for the first time 25 years ago. Most of the material in penned by Pastorius, with the exceptions being a Beatles tune (Blackbird - one of their best) and a classical theme by Bach. There is plenty of superb solos by the participating musicians, including Pastorius himself, but the aim of the recording is not to highlight individual players but to present the Big Band as an extended instrument in the hands of the composer / arranger (very much as other famous jazz orchestras have been earlier - Duke Ellington for example). Absolutely essential!

PASTORIUS, JACO ~ INVITATION

3rd album (recorded 1983). Following the recording of his second album, Pastorius led a large ensemble during the early 1980's, which was called "Word Of Mouth" (same as the title of his second album). This album presets a live recording of the ensemble during a Japanese tour, and is considered by many as the best Pastorius recording ever. The band swings and funks superbly, the soloist (Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, Toots Thielemans and many others) play their hearts out and everybody seems to have a ball. This is obviously one of those "once in a lifetime" moments when everything just clicks together in a musical orgy of sounds. If there is anybody out there, who never heard this album and still considers himself a jazz fan, he is missing a large chunk of his musical education. Well I suppose it's never too late. Absolutely essential!

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I can't believe that nobody so far ordered the two Jaco Pastorius Big Band albums I posted a while back? Is it possible I'm the only one loving them?

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Have Fun!

One magnificent item added today:

MARSALIS, WYNTON ~ LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD

This magnificent Box Set presents the Wynton Marsalis Septet recorded live at the most famous Jazz Mecca in the world, the NYC Village Vanguard club on Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village - probably the oldest Jazz club in the world and a "holy ground", where endless Jazz recordings have been made. The music was recorded between March 1990 and December 1994 and during those four and a half years the Septet was pretty stable, with just three musicians changing chairs: Eric Reed replaced Marcus Roberts on piano, Victor Goines replaced Todd Anderson on tenor and soprano saxophones / clarinet and finally Ben Wolfe replaced Reginald Veal on bass. The remaining four musicians are present on all recordings: Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Wessell Anderson on alto saxophone, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone and Herlin Riley on drums. Wynton Marsalis is of course the most respected and adored Jazz virtuoso since the 1980's and many see him as the successor of Miles Davis in the mighty Jazz Olympus. Marsalis is the epitome of a Jazz master: well bred, well educated, extremely intelligent and outspoken, with parallel highly successful musical careers in Jazz and Classical music and a revered trumpet virtuoso. Very few musicians have such an illustrious calling card to their credit. But above all these advantages Marsalis has also an incredible understanding of the Jazz idiom - both as a scholar (on the intellectual plane) and a performer / composer (on the emotional plane). His interpretations of Jazz standards are always way beyond the primeval melody - expanded and embossed with multiple layers of additional musical threads and polyrhythmic complexity. His ensembles always include the best and most skilled (usually pretty young) players, who under his direction and leadership manage to create some of the most fascinating and well played Jazz music ever. The choice of the septet as a vehicle to create the music Marsalis wants to present here is truly masterly. Seven brilliant musicians are surely plenty to produce an endless variety of solo / duo / trio improvisations at any given moment, as well as produce almost a Big Band sound when playing in unison. Therefore an incredible range of volume and density is possible and the dynamics of the music is constantly changing. Marsalis freely spans the entire stylistic spectrum of Jazz, from New Orleans to Post Bee-Bop, with a dash of free, with the band feeling equally confident all the way through. The entire set includes over 10 hours of some of the most fascinating and moving Jazz music I personally ever encountered and my musical experience would have been so much poorer if I never listened to this marvelous set.

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The final addition for this month is another magnificent Miles Davis Box Set:

DAVIS, MILES ~ SEVEN STEPS: THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA RECORDINGS OF MILES DAVIS 1963-1964

This is the 3rd chapter in the Columbia's epic series of Miles Davis Box Sets, which is a monumental reissue project of recordings by the most important Jazz musician of the 20th century. Recorded mostly live during 1963 & 1964, the music documents the so-called in transition period of Miles between his two legendary Quintets. Miles was, as always. In search of the next step he wanted to take musically and was searching for the right musicians who could accompany him in his journey. Therefore, although this set includes music performed by a constantly changing line-up, the crystallization of the second great Quintet is well documented here, with Ron Carter (bass), Tony Williams (drums), Herbie Hancock (piano) and finally Wayne Shorter (sax) gradually joined his group. All the other musicians playing with Miles here (George Coleman and Sam Rivers on sax, Victor Feldman on piano and Frank Butler on drums) were admirable of course, but somehow lacked the special chemistry Miles required from his players. The music contained here was originally released on the following albums: "Seven Steps To Heaven", "In Europe", "My Funny Valentine", "Four & More", "In Tokyo" and "In Berlin". As usual, a plethora of previously unreleased tracks and tracks released on other albums and various compilations is also included, all present in full chronological order. All of the material is painstakingly remastered and sounds superbly. Of course all this stuff is heavenly and although the musical progress here is slow, every note played by Miles is absolutely right on. There is a lot of tension in the air as Miles tests the ground for the next leap, pushing his musicians to the limit. The youngster Williams re-defines the meaning of Jazz drumming here, with more freedom and space than ever heard before, even with the parallel Free Jazz drummers. Hancock's highly evolved musicality and deep sense of melody is already quite evident and Carter's powerful and precise bass cements the entire concept together. This stuff is as essential to any Jazz lover as air and water are to his physical existence. The box packaging is as lavish and extravagantly beautiful, as all the other items in this series, with extensive liner notes, detailed discography and many superb photographs.
A special note to collectors:
The initial release of all the Miles Davis Box Sets in this reissue series is packaged in an exquisite metal-bound frame housed in a hard cardboard CD-sized slipcase. Once the initial release is sold out, the CDs are repackaged in a tall-box digipack book format. Naturally the tall-box issues have a much lower retail price tag. The initial CD-sized issues become all priceless collectors' items in time.

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Starting tomorrow, June 1st, the Jazzis Web Shop enters the period of the 5th Anniversary celebrations. Hope to see you all joining me in the effort.

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