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Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers JazzMarch 30, 1999 [Archive]
Editor, S. Duda
FEATURED IN THIS E-MAIL:
* Getting Started in Jazz: Thelonious Monk's Underground
* Jazz Month: March
* The Younger Lions
* Advance Orders: Future Jazz!
* Jazz Charts
GETTING STARTED IN JAZZ: THELONIOUS MONK'S UNDERGROUND
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At the center of bebop was Thelonious Monk, by all accounts a musical genius--and a musical oddity. Monk played piano with such quirky touches that he frustrated critics and fans but also found passionate enthusiasts, more of whom still jump on the jazz great's train every day.
Read more of Amazon.com's commentary and take an audio tour of the Thelonious Monk classic "Underground" in Amazon.com's new Recommendation Center: http://www.amazon.com/thelonious-monk-article
JAZZ MONTH: MARCH
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"Music Is My Life"
Diane Schuur
Schuur applies her powerful, free-ranging voice to a mostly quiet collection of familiar standards and a few lesser- known selections well suited to her emotive interpretations. In a romantic, late-night state of mind on most of the 11 tracks, Schuur sounds as though she's enjoying herself from start to finish. She opens with a playful vocalise on "Invitation" and concludes with a dramatic a cappella version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," where one moment her voice rattles windows, then seconds later shifts to a whisper. The blues, gospel, and R&B influences found in earlier works are not as evident on this subdued, seductive, and consistently charming collection.
"Body Language"
Boney James
The mood sustained throughout all nine tracks of sultry saxophonist Boney James's "Body Language" is urbane, low- key, and cue-ball smooth. Chelle Davis provides breathy background vocals on the slow-grooving opening track, "Are You Ready?"; R&B crooners Shai move into the foreground on the sweetly disarming "I'll Always Love You." Perhaps the album's most attractive cut is the slow urban crawl of "Boneyizm," with subdued interplay between James's tenor sax and Rick Braun's flugelhorn. Nothing shrill, outrageous, new, or significant awaits here, simply an engaging and pleasant listen.
"Nine to Get Ready"
Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory
On "Nine to Get Ready," Mitchell guides his sound into contemplative territory, restraining this powerful post- free-jazz band (including improvising titans like Matthew Shipp and William Parker) with compositions more concerned with color and nuance than energy and direction. His sound studies, though graceful and played with amazing feel, seem to hang together by the thinnest of silk threads. There are exceptions and breaks in the quietude--this is Roscoe, after all--but overall this is a strangely beautiful and oddly delicate effort.
"Count Plays Duke"
Count Basie Orchestra
It's remarkable that the Count Basie band still survives, an authentic and living monument to a giant of the swing era and the musical institution that Basie led from the '30s until his death in 1984. Under the leadership of trombonist Grover Mitchell, the band continues to mine its traditional repertoire and highly developed style, blending smooth ensembles, punching rhythms, and potent soloists. Emphasizing art over nostalgia, the results are thoroughly convincing, rendering classic music in a subtly surprising way and providing a fresh, Grammy-winning perspective on both the Ellington material and the Basie manner.
"Jazz in Film"
Terence Blanchard
The successful jazz soundtrack provides sympathetic musical accompaniment to a movie, but it also swings. That's what New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard does so well on this recording, which features noir-nuanced renditions of nine film selections from 1951 to 1995. Blanchard, a graduate of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and a noted film composer in his own right, is joined by two Jazz Messengers alumni, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and trombonist Steve Turre. The late pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Carl Allen complete the rhythm section while special guest tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson offers his elliptical improvisations, with conductor Steve Mercurio's simpatico strings weaving a finely textured harmonic quilt.
THE YOUNGER LIONS
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Much was made of jazz's Young Lion movement during the 1980s and part of the '90s. Buoyed by the intellectual and musical example set by Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and Marcus Roberts, musicians of this era set their sights on the work of the masters: Monk, Ellington, and Mingus. Today's young players, lacking a figurehead like Marsalis or a stylistic rallying point, are a more diverse group, exploring both the classic elements and the outer limits. Here's the link to Amazon.com's list of recordings by young jazz players to watch into the next century. From trumpeter Russell Gunn's sweeping ensemble work through Amon Tobin's futurist drum 'n' bop, the future is now! http://www.amazon.com/younger-lions
ADVANCE ORDERS: FUTURE JAZZ!
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"Combustication Remix" EP
Medeski, Martin and Wood
"Soundtrack to Human Motion"
Jason Moran
"Coward of the County"
Ginger Baker with James Carter
JAZZ CHARTS
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Amazon.com's jazz charts are updated weekly. Find out what's hot in the land of Miles, Monk, and Boney.
http://www.amazon.com/jazz-charts
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You'll find more great music, articles, and interviews in Amazon.com's Jazz Music section at http://www.amazon.com/jazz-music
******
To become a new Amazon.com Delivers subscriber, or to sign up for additional categories, visit http://www.amazon.com/delivers
Copyright 1999 Amazon.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
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