Good evening Rawkers.... Let's step outside the genre for a moment and give solemn nods to two giants who helped define ALL genres of music. If you don't get their thing, odds are that you don't get music in the deepest sense. For those who speak the language, listening to John Coltrane and Miles Davis is a surreal, mystical, transformative, nearly religious experience.Miles and 'Trane represent two vital steps in the musical ladder that must be touched in order to ascend properly and achieve the ultimately sublime experience music has to offer.
Yes, there are others legends, including Yardbird, Monk (my fave on piano), Dizzy, Mingus, Chet, Cannonball, etc. But for my money, 'Trane and Miles are the best; the ones who take me to another place and leave me there, never wanting to return.
PLEASE check out what may arguably be the best record EVER laid down -- "Kind of Blue", a Davis album featuring (among others) John Coltrane. Their work together in the late '50s forging the Bebop sound set the standard for improvisation that carried over to the rock genre, especially the jazz-influenced extended jams of Cream and the Allman Brothers. Their influence cannot be exagerrated. Nor can their talent, their reach or their vision. The Rawk Show salutes them....
Go in peace....
G.O.T.
Can't go wrong with either, or Charlie Parker. They're perfect for background music for introspective, quiet, and/or romantic occasions, or for background music for entertaining/at work/etc. Also, if you can't dig the soul and energy of a group of jazz musicians pouring out their heart, soul, energy, and talents into a jam, that's sad. Honestly.
ReplyDeleteAnother one of my favorites if Vince Guirardi, who composed "Linus and Lucy" and most (if not all) of the music for the Peanuts TV shows and movies. The Wynton Marsalis tribute CD to Vince (Joe Cool's Blues) is great. A more recent artist that you may like is Marcus Miller, who's best known for his slick bass grooves (also plays the piano and sax) and for his scores in a bunch of movies (Good Hair being the most recent, I believe). Another plus - worked with Miles Davis towards the end of his life. Although he's more into the funk side of jazz, definitely check him out.
Made me spool up my copy of Lush Life. Funny story about how Miles tells Coltrane to 'just stop blowing.'
ReplyDeleteTwo giants indeed.