ALBUMS: Black Codes from the Underground; Acoustical Supension (1985)
\MVC Rating: Black 4.0 $$$; Acoustical 4.0/$$$$.
I’ve never been a major jazz fan. I give it about 5 to 10 percent of my listening time. Total listening time for the week is between four and seven hours. An hour is about three album sides. So I still get a fair amount of jazz in
This is about all that, and jazz too. I’m combining these two respected artists because they are close in alphabetical distance and both are playing some late model jazz (1980s).
There is some jazz I really like and listen to, mostly from the old days. John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dixieland Louis Armstrong, Joe Henderson, Cannonball Adderly, Bud Powell, and Sonny Rollins to name most of my repertoire. Oh, and Chet Baker (hipster dude).
So a jazz collecting friend asked why I don’t have any modern jazz, at least someone like Herbie Hancock (who isn’’t all that modern these days.) I dunno, I said. Seems like it takes me too long to warm up to. I do like some fusion as done by the Dixie Dregs and Sea Level, but that’s my Southern roots kicking in
So I asked him who’s the best jazz person right now in the world. He said the best trumpet player is/was (this was 1980s) Wynton Marsalis. So I bought a Marsalis record Black Codes from the Underground. He’s extremely good – won two Grammy’s for this album. I like it, but am not passionate about it. It’s busy with trumpet runs (as you’d expect) throughout. Makes a good party record that can rise above the background music tag when you want some jazz but not something that rattles the martini olives.
Next up was an album I almost forgot about Teo Macero – and this album would be a notch higher on the in-your-face jazz – in other words with its funky beats, bleating sax and switcheroo time signatures, with splatters of electric guitar, it would not work as well in a background setting demanding low volume. In some ways Marsalis might be pushing it as a dinner time suggestion because of its swings and complexity. Playing Wynton’s album for the first time in years made me realize this album deserves some listening concentration.
Both these guys have great folks working with them and resumes that are about as good as you can get.
