I just fear that some jazz is a little, well... inaccessable even to people who like jazz. When I first heard Monk, I was very confused by him. I honestly had no idea what was going on. I even wondered if there was a problem with the piano. From what I've learned since, many jazz fams amd musicians felt the same. Diz, Parker, Kenny Clarke, and maybe a select few others seemed to be able to figure out what he was doing and where it was going. Even some of the Mintons players didn't know what to make of him.
Same with Trane. Even when he was playing with Miles, there were a lot of listeners and musicians who had no idea what they were hearing. When he left Miles, things really got weird. "A Love Supreme" is a giant among recordings for sure. I love it to death, but I really wonder how somebody from a vocal country music background would feel about it.
On the other hand, maybe I'm just being too cautious. Maybe siccing Trane on a newby is a good thing. I have to admit I have a hard time imagining anyone hearing "A Love Supreme" and not being drawn in and lost in it (except my mother, of course, who thinks jazz after dixieland is just noise).
>I agree to an extent. Still, that is too close to stating 'expose a newbie to rock with Pearl Jam or the Grateful Dead!' :o)
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>>>My favorite is Boogie Woogie of course:
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>>>
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00000GV4R001002/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_002/102-1552111-0739333>>>
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00000GV4R001001/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_001/102-1552111-0739333>>>
>>>Listen for 20 seconds...
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>>>A group of em:
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http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000GV4R/perpetualstarlig>>>
>>>If not boogie woogie, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis or A Love Supreme by John Coltrane or Belly of the Sun by Cassandra Wilson
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>>You have to be careful. My take, and he can correct me if he likes, is that he likes a very straightforward sort of story music. There is lots of jazz like that, but I'd have to say that Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme are not it. One of the great pieces of jazz ever created imho is Miles' "Bitches Brew", but I sure wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for a jazz newbie.
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>>Cassandra Wilson is a sort of enigma for me. At first I didn't like her at all, then she came out with a few things that I did like ('Cooter Brown', for one). I still don't care for a lot of her stuff, but maybe it just needs to grow on me a bit more. I think it probably also has to do with a sort of protectiveness. I love Billie, and when I hear Wilson doing things like "Strange Fruit", I guess I rebel inside a little.
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>>Another suggestion might be Tuck and Patti. Incredible guitar with wonderful singing.
