Happy that there is a section dedicated to jazz, I suggest listening to this classic recorded live in 1964.
2 cds, first and second part!
Now, I don't know exactly which one is actually the first and which is the second chronologically!
Essentially, the two parts are divided into a ballad part (My Funny Valentine) and a fast part (Four and More)!
I literally wore out the CD back when I first discovered it, and even today I find that this concert is a milestone of jazz as I understand it.
Dizzy Gillespie's shout from the hall during a high note by Miles Davis in Stella By Starlight, Tony Williams stopping playing to let Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter or George Coleman handle it themselves—and that says it all!
I haven't listened to anything like this for a while and I must say I miss it so much!
It has been a long time since I listened to jazz, but when I put these records on, I go back to when I was twenty years old and imagined the life of a jazz musician full of obstacles, but still a life full of noteworthy musical encounters.
Stunning concerto and one of my absolute favorite records (My funny Valentine)! All five musicians play at stellar levels. The funny thing is that Davis had agreed to play at this charity concert, and when he told the band, Ron Carter started putting his double bass back in its case. In the end, Davis paid the whole band. When I later read that Hancock claimed it was impossible to play because of the terrible acoustics, I seriously started thinking about quitting the piano and becoming a fishmonger...
If you have the time and patience, I would recommend that after listening to the album for pure enjoyment, you listen to it again paying attention from time to time to what each individual musician is doing, even when accompanying. You will discover things that are out of this world, from Herbie's harmonizations to the absurd rhythmic interlocking of Williams and Carter, and much more...
Just the fact that every now and then the drums literally stop playing, almost suddenly, and we only notice it when they come back in, gives an idea of the incredible fluidity of the groove of this unrepeatable band.
