FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Paul DeLouisiana on November 06, 2011, 03:31:56 PM
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So i've never been a big fan of jazz but I've been listening to alot of Bob Brainen's shows recently and every once and a while he'll through in a good jazz song that I find myself liking. I am looking for recommendations of totally accessible and non experimental jazz. I am looking for stuff like the music in Taxi Driver soundtrack. Remember I am sort of a newcomer that still doesn't really even like jazz. I am trying to widen my taste without getting annoyed.
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Kind of Blue by Miles Davis is kind of the acknowledged gateway.
If that sits OK, I'd move on to In a Silent Way, also by Miles, or Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus.
If you're looking for single tracks to check out on the internet, I'd go for Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting by Charles Mingus:
Charles Mingus - Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0D62CGa9gY#)
Or Alabama by John Coltrane:
John Coltrane :: Alabama :: Jazz Casual (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j_TDoOPnIA#)
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Coltrane "A Love Supreme" and "Blue Trane". Some of the Hammond B3 dudes like Jimmy Smith would probably be good (I got to see Smith once sitting right in front of his organ - hey now). Jack McDuff's "Soulful Drums" is another one I've always really liked.
Having just watched the Tribe Called Quest doc, I'd bet if you wiki'd the jazz samples from The Low End Theory singles and checked those records out you'd be glad. I intend to pick up Lonnie Smith "Drives" very soon. Although I haven't heard it yet.
Miles Davis "l'ascenseur pour l'echafaud" is great.
I'm not a huge jazz guy either, but these are some things I like.
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I liked jazz in college and then pretty much hated it for a few decades. Now I've decided that, while almost nothing leaves me as cold as second-tier jazz and below, the A list contains a lot of artists so universal that I forego them at cost to myself.
Some people that got me back into it (apart from Coltrane and Mingus, whom I never really stopped liking):
Thelonius Monk: try Solo Monk or The Essential. Quirky and not especially moody, but so high-spirited and witty. If you get into his solo piano pieces, Bud Powell is an excellent next step.
Lester Young is totally classic and totally accessible: Pres and Teddy or With the Oscar Peterson Trio.
For the late-night, Taxi Driver mood: Coltrane, Ballads; Ben Webster, For Lovers; Ike Quebec, Blue and Sentimental; Jackie Gleason, Music, Martinis, and Memories. Quebec isn't really an A-lister, but this is a great album along these lines. The Jackie Gleason album would probably be filed under "Easy Listening," but you'll be surprised: the trumpet soloist is a real jazz guy, Bobby Hackett, and against a lush, swoony background orchestra, he really ventures into lonesome, moody territory.
You can also turn the clock back a few decades and find yourself drowning a torch in a swank film-noir nightspot with Ellington Indigos. No Duke Ellington fan's idea of his greatest, but gorgeous throughout.
Chet Baker: Chet Baker Sings.
Of course, if you want to go a little further out there's always Sun Ra. I know you said non-experimental, but an accessible way in is a compilation called Greatest Hits : Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel.
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I totally forgot to mention the Django Reinhardt stuff with Stephane Grappelli and the Hot Club Quintet of France. So fun and full of atmosphere. Great for Sunday mornings. You've probably heard a lot of it without realizing it.
Also, if you're OK with jazz vocals, the John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman album is top-notch stuff. Hartman's a Nat King Cole-style crooner and the songs are slow and romantic. I find myself playing it more around the holidays, for whatever reason.
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(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NyEu-s0bL._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UQSFtrGJL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/Saxophone_Colossus_-_Sonny_Rollins.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61yRBikYXNL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41dQgK1fr9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fsp%2BzDhDL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)
Nothing particularly abstract here. None of the music contained in the above albums sound much like Bernard Herrmann/Tom Scott, but it's in the same ballpark.
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(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5141D6qf4YL._SS400_.jpg)
This is another good one.
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Rock fans in general might really like Ask the Ages by Sonny Sharrock, one of the best albums of the 90s by anybody. You may know him as the guitarist from the Space Ghost: Coast to Coast theme.
Sonny Sharrock - Who does she hope to be? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jks0N05l4OY#)
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You cannot go wrong with Coltrane's "A Love Supreme". I'm also going to go off and recommend some of the old timey stuff... Jelly Roll Morton's stuff is killer...
As is Erroll Garner...
It really depends on what kinda jazz you like...
There are also some great old singers such as Annette Hanshaw...
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I like jazz in small doses and tend to stick to jazz that doesn't veer too far off of a simple melody. These are my go to albums:
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Moanin'
Charles Mingus: Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Bill Evans: Sunday at the Village Vanguard
John Coltrane: My Favorite Things
Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
Duke Ellington: Far East Suite
Miles Davis late 50's early 60's stuff: Workin', Sketches of Spain, Bags Groove
I also second Chet Baker sings. That album sounds amazing on a good system. Or a bad system... it's a good album all around.
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I totally forgot to mention the Django Reinhardt stuff ...
As did I. Django's great...
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Ben Webster, For Lovers
This is exactly what I was looking for. thanks guys.
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Pink Martini
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(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VR25JyfFp8c/THK2pFs0aRI/AAAAAAAAAek/IwDF08cFRo4/s320/vol1.jpg)
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The Bible of the genre is an out of print Penguin release called "Jazz, Rot and Rule."
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J.J. Johnson-led albums are very accessible and got me digging deeper into jazz. I would try albums "J.J. Inc." or the "Eminent Jay Jay Johnson."
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Start with the classics: Kind of Blue, Mingus Ah Um, A Love Supreme/ Giant Steps, Brubeck's Time Out.
seconding Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder. Absolutely killer album.
I think the best way to start listening to jazz is to put some on as incidental music. Just throw a cd on when you are driving or reading, and don't really give it your full attention like you would music with standard lyrical content.
fwiw: my fav jazz tune thus far. a real dirge.
Siri, play some Coltrane.
John Coltrane Quartet- Afro Blue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olOYynQ-_Hw#)
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Brubeck! What are you, racist??
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Brubeck! What are you, racist??
Stan Getz.
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Hot 5s!
Also Hot 7s!
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I didn't see any recommendations for the Modern Jazz Quartet, but I always considered them to be a very approachable, easy to listen to, yet very forward thinking group.
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I didn't see any recommendations for the Modern Jazz Quartet, but I always considered them to be a very approachable, easy to listen to, yet very forward thinking group.
I agree. Good incidental music to put on in the background of social get-togethers at the house.
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This album is pure torture for some, but I would put in my top 25 of all time, any genre:
(http://991.com/newGallery/Ornette-Coleman-Dancing-In-Your-H-317574.jpg)
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This album is pure torture for some, but I would put in my top 25 of all time, any genre:
(http://991.com/newGallery/Ornette-Coleman-Dancing-In-Your-H-317574.jpg)
Agreed.
Probably not for someone just getting started.
Monk with Coltrane on Riverside. Many (Monk) standards and not too outside.
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If you end up liking Miles Davis you should check out a few of his disciples.
(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfgmt9Bmnj1qz9m0ho1_500.jpg)
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If you end up liking Miles Davis you should check out a few of his disciples.
(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfgmt9Bmnj1qz9m0ho1_500.jpg)
You mean like Eddie Henderson, Mr. L?
If so I agree. Realization in particular it's very similar to Bitch's-era Miles but no guitars and a stronger adherence to compositional form.
And it features Bennie Maupin.
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I've found the Penguin Guide to Jazz to be very helpful over the years. Here's a list of their highest rated albums:
http://www.tomhull.com/ocston/nm/notes/pjazz-crown.php (http://www.tomhull.com/ocston/nm/notes/pjazz-crown.php)
Click on the Core Collection for more recommendations.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz was a good starting place for me as well. I understand a revised edition came out recently to mixed reviews. I've got the original on vinyl and the slightly revised version on cd from 1987.
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This won't do my street cred or anti-racist credentials much good, and it's not really addressed to the OP since their music can be abstract and harsh at times, but anyone else here like these guys?
"Big Heart" Music Video by John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzDG5B1NBg#)
John Lurie didn't do his band's rep for seriousness any favors when he called their music "fake jazz," but in practice I think they made the real thing, and you have to admit this is an awesome video.
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I didn't see any recommendations for the Modern Jazz Quartet, but I always considered them to be a very approachable, easy to listen to, yet very forward thinking group.
That's a pretty good assessment
I'd like to post more than a few tracks but there's really not room ... ;)
DON RENDELL AND IAN CARR-BLUE MOSQUE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS-p1uNicDM#)
Jerzy Milian Trio, Tempus Jazz 67, Baazaar LP, 1969 - polish jazz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EscwIEd0Ouw#)
Alice Coltrane "Blue Nile" (1970) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smisXZ7KVpo#)
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I think they made the real thing, and you have to admit this is an awesome video.
Yes!
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This album is pure torture for some, but I would put in my top 25 of all time, any genre:
(http://991.com/newGallery/Ornette-Coleman-Dancing-In-Your-H-317574.jpg)
Tremendous, but grating album.
(http://www.dangerousminds.net/images/uploads/LarryYoung_LawrenceOfNewark.jpg)
This is another album that's "out there," but definitely worth listening to (especially if you're into Miles' fusion-oriented material). Supposedly Nick Cave listened to this one a lot while he was making the first Grinderman album, FWIW.
And if you're into electronic music, check out those early 70's Herbie Hancock albums (Crossings, Mwandishi, Sextant, etc.) Some really great, innovative stuff on those LP's.
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And if you're into electronic music, check out those early 70's Herbie Hancock albums (Crossings, Mwandishi, Sextant, etc.) Some really great, innovative stuff on those LP's.
Who's the trumpet-player on those records?
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Here here on the Monk/Coltrane Riverside recommend, Fredricks.
And nec13, thanks for the Larry Young recommend, will definitely check it out!
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I forgot one and I consider this to be my favorite "Coltrane" album- Alice Coltrane- Ptah, the El Daoud
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That's so funny. I know next to nothing about jazz, but whenever I ask for recommendations I say the same thing: "What do you have that's kind of like the Taxi Driver soundtrack?"
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Most of my list is here already, but I'd add Quincy Jones and some Tropicalia and Boss Nova to the list: Herbie Mann & Joao Gilberto with Antonio Carlos Jobim are favorites.
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I forgot one and I consider this to be my favorite "Coltrane" album- Alice Coltrane- Ptah, the El Daoud
I'll second that!
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I started listening to jazz not long ago and it happened like people on this thread suggested: Kind of Blue heard as incidental music.
But I think the incidental music must also occur in the right environment. I was taking a disco nap on a friend's couch, looking out of a window at the NYC night while Miles was playing. The lights of the city and the music...it just worked. I suddenly "got it."
Had I been doing taxes in my room, I am not sure the same thing would have happened.
What also helped me work my way into jazz was Duke Ellington's Far East Suite and At Newport.
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Once you get your feet wet a bit, check out "Money Jungle" by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach.
It gets just a little out there, without being too...skronk?
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/31/c5/0a7281b0c8a0db80a5a59110.L.jpg)
Ellington does a really good job of letting things get loose and just a little weird, without allowing the other two guys (who were definitely getting plenty weird by that point) get too crazy.
And it's a nice small group, brass free album, which people afraid of horns could possibly enjoy.
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I started listening to jazz not long ago and it happened like people on this thread suggested: Kind of Blue heard as incidental music.
But I think the incidental music must also occur in the right environment. I was taking a disco nap on a friend's couch, looking out of a window at the NYC night while Miles was playing. The lights of the city and the music...it just worked. I suddenly "got it."
Had I been doing taxes in my room, I am not sure the same thing would have happened.
What also helped me work my way into jazz was Duke Ellington's Far East Suite and At Newport.
I had the same experience once when riding a NYC subway and listening to Coltrane: Live at Birdland. It was like the speed of the subbway car fit the tempo exactly and at the screeches were mimiced in the melodies.
It's crazy how an environment can influence how music is made. To me, the sound of hard bop will always be a NYC street.
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Coltrane: Live at Birdland is fantastic! In fact, Paul, I recall seeing a couple nice looking copies of that on vinyl not that long ago at Beautiful World Syndicate on Passyunk. Beautiful World has always got some great jazz stuff popping up in their new arrival bins!
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This album is pure torture for some, but I would put in my top 25 of all time, any genre:
(http://991.com/newGallery/Ornette-Coleman-Dancing-In-Your-H-317574.jpg)
Tremendous, but grating album.
(http://www.dangerousminds.net/images/uploads/LarryYoung_LawrenceOfNewark.jpg)
This is another album that's "out there," but definitely worth listening to (especially if you're into Miles' fusion-oriented material). Supposedly Nick Cave listened to this one a lot while he was making the first Grinderman album, FWIW.
And if you're into electronic music, check out those early 70's Herbie Hancock albums (Crossings, Mwandishi, Sextant, etc.) Some really great, innovative stuff on those LP's.
I'm a fan of Mwandishi and the 'Headhunters' album, too. 'Chameleon' is a classic.
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Yep. Headhunters holds up extremely well, and it is easy to get into whether or not you have a jazz background. Not really in Taxi Driver territory, however (for that I would second the Miles Davis soundtrack to Ascenseur pour l'échafaud).
You might throw Julius Hemphill and Jackie McLean in the mix, too. Maybe not the first jazz records to get into, but definitely a good entry point into some killer, but "difficult," post-Coltrane weirdness.
As someone who's primarily a rock fan, Art Blakey also pushes a lot of the right buttons.
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For my money, Thelonius Monk absolutely is the guy. And actually, the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood's Straight No Chaser is a really nice intro, it's got short solo pieces and pieces with larger bands as well. Then Solo Monk is good, I like Mysterioso, and there's a whole well's worth to dig into from there.
Thelonious Monk - Jazz 625 - part 1/4 - Straight, No Chaser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIkmNNmAnAM#)
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Just thought I'd add a couple of my personal favorites that are on the safe side in terms of beginning a foray into Jazz:
-Any Wes Montgomery from his Riverside Recording days (there's actually a box set of this that is FANTASTIC)
-Charlie Christian
-Ahmad Jamal
-Lionel Hampton
-And I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet, but Miles Davis "Birth of Cool" to this day remains one of my favorite albums (minus "Darn That Dream"...)
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Stevie Wonder improvising over "Giant Steps":
Stevie Wonder - Improvising on Giant Steps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYoadikm1sI#)
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I'm a big fan of Bobby Hutcherson's "Happenings" album.
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I'm a big fan of Bobby Hutcherson's "Happenings" album.
Hutcherson's Montara (1975) is pretty good too, though it may rankle purists a bit with its eclectic 70's vibe. That's totally part of its greatness, though.
Bobby Hutcherson • Montara (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s02qPFXyDE#)
If you are looking for some more straight-ahead hard bop stuff from artists working today, definitely check out Willie Jones III. I've seen him drum as a leader, but he's worked with Roy Hargrove, Milt Jackson, and Arturo Sandoval. His solo records are great: III and The Next Phase in particular.
Willie Jones III live (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fREYIVL4s9I#)
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Beautiful World has always got some great jazz stuff popping up in their new arrival bins!
So true. I try to make it there on Sunday mornings. I've been picking up a lot lately. BWS has so much jazz that I used to ignore and in now working its way into my stack. Highlights are the Mingus stuff, Coltrane and Jimmy Giuffre. Long in the Tooth has a great jazz section also but its so frustrating to spend 15 on a record that you see at BWS the next day for 5. Sometimes I force myself to buy the second copy as sort of a 'told you so' to myself. I have also been listening to Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else on Spotify. I love that one. Keep the rec's coming!
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(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LPzTh0rUL._SS400_.jpg)
I got this album for Christmas. It's really good. Miles and the second great quintet in their prime. For you vinyl purists, it's available on LP for the low, low price of $133.17.
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Of course, if you want to go a little further out there's always Sun Ra. I know you said non-experimental, but an accessible way in is a compilation called Greatest Hits : Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel.
I've always been meaning to check out Sun Ra. Do you have any other suggestions?
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There's a 2-disc compilation of Sun Ra's singles, but as a good chunk of these are loud sloppy R&B songs of the sort beloved by The Hound/Dave the Spazz/Rex et al, the Greatest Hits one is a bit more representative of his jazz output. The soundtrack to Space is the Place is another good intro.
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There's a 2-disc compilation of Sun Ra's singles, but as a good chunk of these are loud sloppy R&B songs of the sort beloved by The Hound/Dave the Spazz/Rex et al, the Greatest Hits one is a bit more representative of his jazz output. The soundtrack to Space is the Place is another good intro.
I shall keep this in mind and see what the library has...
Thanks for the info...
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I really like this somewhat atypical, fusion-y Sun Ra album. Pretty moody stuff.
Sun Ra- Lanquidity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf-OxkoTNp4#)
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Of course, if you want to go a little further out there's always Sun Ra. I know you said non-experimental, but an accessible way in is a compilation called Greatest Hits : Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel.
I've always been meaning to check out Sun Ra. Do you have any other suggestions?
Space Is The Place. Soundtrack and Impulse album. Both ace and different.
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Of course, if you want to go a little further out there's always Sun Ra. I know you said non-experimental, but an accessible way in is a compilation called Greatest Hits : Easy Listening For Intergalactic Travel.
I've always been meaning to check out Sun Ra. Do you have any other suggestions?
Sound of Joy is a good listen. While it's not as eccentric as his later stuff, it's still pretty enjoyable.
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You can't go wrong with Sun Ra's Jazz in Silhouette.
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You can't go wrong with Sun Ra's Jazz in Silhouette.
Right you are, Buster.
A tad more adventurous than Nec's suggestion.
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Thank all of you for the Sun Ra suggestions. So you recommend BOTH the album and the soundtrack "Space is the place", huh? The library doesn't seem to have either of those. I'll see what I can find used in a local store...
The other suggestions I found...
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So you recommend BOTH the album and the soundtrack "Space is the place", huh? The library doesn't seem to have either of those.
Do they have the movie, Rick?
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Just to be clear, I was referring to the soundtrack. I haven't heard the album by the same name.
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So you recommend BOTH the album and the soundtrack "Space is the place", huh? The library doesn't seem to have either of those.
Do they have the movie, Rick?
Nope. They have a book about Sun Ra by that title, however...
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Give it a go. I suggest you grab a book on Ancient Egypt as well. You may need it for reference.
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Give it a go. I suggest you grab a book on Ancient Egypt as well. You may need it for reference.
So he really was into the whole Egypt thing? It wasn't just a gimmick or a persona, huh?
I'll look into the book...
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It wasn't just a gimmick or a persona, huh?
"Yeah, Sun Ra's out to lunch... same place I eat at!"
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More serious note, space is preferable to Birmingham in the 1940s.
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How's this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Very_Still_Life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Very_Still_Life)
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My friend wrote this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/02/02/133373253/agallochs-aesop-dekker-on-his-5-favorite-jazz-records (http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/02/02/133373253/agallochs-aesop-dekker-on-his-5-favorite-jazz-records)
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My friend wrote this:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/02/02/133373253/agallochs-aesop-dekker-on-his-5-favorite-jazz-records (http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/02/02/133373253/agallochs-aesop-dekker-on-his-5-favorite-jazz-records)
You know that guy? Cosmic Hearse blog rules.
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yeah, S.F. is a small city!
Cosmic Hearse is great.