Beginner's Guide to Contemporary J*** (cj***-101)

Posted by: Graeme Cree on 19 September 2000

First – get ye to www.contemporary-jazz.com and take a look around. Check out the Top 10 and listen to some sound bytes.

Our first challenge is to identify some styles of cjazz that appeal to you.

Here are some options for starters:-

1. Acoustic Alchemy – The Beautiful Game (2000) - the latest from Brit guitar-led group. Deservedly popular after they changed direction following the early death of one of their founders Nick Webb. The album Arcanum (1996) is probably more representative of their earlier work. Typically “duelling” acoustic guitars – one steel strung – the other nylon, with frequent flamenco influences.
2. George Benson – Absolute Benson (2000)– the grand master of smooth cjazz guitar with his best release in years
3. The Bliss – For Real – only available from www.higney.com or MP3.com – see separate post in The Music Room. Just buy it.
4. Rick Braun - Body & Soul (1997)– smooth cjazz mute trumpet – reminiscent of some earlier Miles work but much more funky
5. Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue (1987) – the definitive late-night smoky guitar-led cjazz album – actually more modern jazz than contemporary but what the hell – it’s serious stuff
6. Larry Carlton – Fingerprints (2000)– the man’s been with everyone – Crusaders, FourPlay, etc. – sometimes accused of tending towards US shopping mall music but this (his latest) is predictable but good. Actually – his 1990 Collection album is better if you can still get it.
7. Down To The Bone – From Manhattan to Staten (1996) – drums ‘n bass meets cjazz – top of the JazzFM charts for yonks and deservedly so for introducing a new / younger audience to cjazz
8. Richard Elliott – Chill Factor (1999) – very popular tenor sax funky cjazz artist who has finally learned to vary the tone & timbre of the instrument as well as write / play great toons
9. Jeff Golub – Dangerous Curves – funky guitar cjazz (just purchased chez mois and getting good airtime)
10. Goose – Schwang – real left of centre suggestion here – an Australian 15-piece (-ish) band with some bite – vocals a bit weak but worth a try –available direct from www.goose.com.au (with sound bytes)
11. Boney James – Body Language (1999) – verrrrry smooth cjazz – Kenny G on steroids some would say but I like him
12. Boney James / Rick Braun – Shake It Up (2000)– took the cjazz charts by storm and one of the best London cjazz concerts I’ve taken in recently (sponsored by JazzFM)
13. Jeff Lorber – Midnight (1998) – keyboard player whose been around for year – I love this album – one track has a “stylus-desperately-finding-lead-in-groove-having-been-dropped-in-general-vicinity” sound added for that real-retro feel. Check out the great cover version of the Beatles “Dear Prudence” !
14. Bobby Lyle – Ivory Dreams (1989) – forget eveything else he’s done which is pretty much crap – this is good keyboard work with an upbeat feel. I like the final jam track which is all over the place but must have been great to do.
15. Al De Miola / John McLaughlin / Paco De Lucia – Passion, Grace and Fire (1983) – wicked acoustic guitar trio with strong flamenco feel – beautiful album. Also check out Friday Night in San Fancisco – a live album with great feel and more upbeat than PG&F
16. Rippingtons – try anything by them but the earlier the better – say Kilimanjaro or Tourist In Paradise (there is also a Best of album). Largely instrumental rock / pop / fusion / e-jazz and one of my favourite bands. Gone a bit new-agey recently but I forgive them.
17. Soul Ballet – Soul Ballet (1997) or Trip The Night Fantastic (1998) – another left-of-centre suggestion; the first two tracks from TTNF had serious airplay on JazzFM and did wonders for their popularity. What does it sound like? Listen and find out!
18. St Germain – Tourist (2000) – dance meets cjazz – very electronic and challenging in some respects but made No. 1 on JazzFM. A parody on Take 5 starts the album but Pont Des Arts (Track 7) is well wicked and deserves some welly (the bass will also test the end-stops on your speakers)
19. Grover Washington Junior – Winelight (1980) – recently deceased JWJ is one of the grand-daddies of cjazz with a very distinctive sax sound that just flows all over you. Winelight (which includes the seminal Bill Withers vocal track Just The Two Of Us) represents his peak IMHO.
20. Scott Wilkie – Boundless (1999) or More Than You Know (2000) – excellent piano-led albums from relative newcomer to the scene, enjoying great success as word gets around.

So that should get you started. My suggestion would be to try somewhere like www.CDnow.com and listen to extracts from as many as you can (unless I’ve given an alternative source), then decide what you want to spring for. If nothing here works for you tell me why and I’ll propose alternatives. Many of the above tend towards the softer / smoother side of cjazz – if you need music with attitude and teeth I’m sure I can rustle up something else.

Over to you dear listener.

Graeme
self-appointed forum arbiter for cjazz devotees

[This message was edited by GRC on WEDNESDAY 20 September 2000 at 00:32.]

Posted on: 19 September 2000 by Ian P
I bought this a few weeks back.

First listen - interesting. I'll have this one to diversify a bit.

Second listen (at home) - Hmmm, maybe I'll put this on as background music at a dinner party sometime.

Would a 3rd/4th/5th listen change my mind ?

Ian

P.S. I didn't like Kind of Blue the first time I heard it, so I am interested in any feedback.

Posted on: 20 September 2000 by Tony L
quote:
5. Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue (1987) – the definitive late-night smoky guitar-led cjazz album – actually more modern jazz than contemporary but what the hell – it’s serious stuff

I can definitely recommend this album too, I love it, though it was actually a classic slab of Blue Note vinyl that was released in 1963.

I may well try some from the above list - contemporary jazz is something I know absolutely nothing about. I have loads of Jazz, but it all dates from around 1958-1969… its hard to go wrong with stuff on the Blue Note, Impulse, Riverside, Atlantic or Prestige record labels from this period!

Tony.

Posted on: 25 September 2000 by Frank Abela
I'm not sure if these 'fit' the bill, so let me know if I'm in the wrong place...

Chris Botti, First Wish. Chris is the trumpeter in Sting's latest band. First Wish is his first album, and some of you heard the first track of this yesterday. That was one of the upbeat tracks. The 2nd album isn't much different and doesn't get as much airtime.

Oscar Lopez, Heat. Latin American guitarist with South American beats. Very good guitar playing too.

Acoustic Alchemy, Back on the case. My fave AA album (sorry Graeme). These guys show how acoustic guitars should be played.

Torcuato Mariano, Last Look. Similar to Pat Metheny, but with more rhythm and melody. Might be difficult to find as Windham Hill don't seem to list him any more.

Philippe Saisse, Valerian. Again ex-Windham Hill, this is my favourite of his albums, later ones having less delicacy, also one of my fave albums period. Probably difficult to find. This is moody keyboard based stuff on a bed of lots of synth.

Andreas Vollenveider, Down to the Moon, or Caverna Magica, or there's a 3 in 1 set which name escapes me (very good value). Andreas plays atmospheric (electric?) harp with some vocals and synth backgrounds. Can be upbeat in places, and soundscapy in places.

Earl Klugh, Nightsongs. Late night muted acoustic (nylon strung) guitar sounds, delicate and light.

Martin Taylor, Guitar Artistry. Solo acoustic stereo guitar. Beautiful tone and good guitar artistry but very smooth with it. (Great on vinyl)

Patricia Barber, Cafe Blue. Late night bluesy smoky venue jazz vocalist/piano player (even if there is a most unlikely drum solo in it). Fabulous vinyl and I believe the CD is good quality too.

Patricia Barber, Modern Cool. Got this on CD and it's a very good production (want the vinyl copy of course). Similar to Cafe Blue but certainly worth having.

Regards,
Frank.

Posted on: 04 October 2000 by Graeme Cree
Boldface old son . . .

Good to hear you enjoy "Tourist". You might like to give an earlier album called "Boulevard" a spin. It's more dance than jazz but has the same wicked signature e-piano upfront.

I tried to find sound clips of the other bands you mentioned but only managed Vibraphonic; unfortunately they did not float my boat. Any ideas where I can find sound clips (I mainly use CDnow) ?

Now off to check out some of Frank's suggestions (after refilling my glass with a very unassuming Merlot).

Have an exceptionally fine one.

Graeme

Posted on: 04 October 2000 by Graeme Cree
Frank,

First the good news - after listening to Chris Botti's "First Wish" at the Hammersmith Naim/DBL extravaganza I checked out some other tracks and have ordered it. Just waiting for it to arrive from the US. Thank you !

Now the not-so-good news. Oscar Lopez - I'm bored with jazz guitar - they're all beginning to sound the same to me at the moment (except Jeff Golub) so I'll give it a miss.

Philippe Saisse - couldn't find a sound clip of Valerian and wasn't wild about the later albums I tracked down. This is more New Age than c-jazz. If you can point me towards Valerian then I'll happily take a listen.

Andreas Vollenveider - now this is real New Age ! I've got a few like this and my good lady typically plays them on a Sunday morning after one bottle too many the previous night!

Earl Klugh - have you tried "Cool" or "Two of a Kind" - both with Bob James? Released 1992 and 1982 respectively so may be hard to find.

Lisened to the Patricia Barber clips on CDnow and quite liked them. Not sure about aquisition yet though.

Right - enough of this contemporay jazz - I'm going back to modern jazz - Bobby Timmons Trio - "In Person". Crap recording but serious foot tapping.

Chapter 2 of Beginner's guide . . . coming soon. Watch out for Jay Beckenstein, Big Roy, Dave Koz and others.

Thank you and goodnight.

Graeme

Posted on: 05 October 2000 by Pete
Morning all, saw CB mentioned on one of my periodic music surfings...

Not really terribly much like his solo stuff, but check out Chris's Dark Side on the B.L.U.E. recordings ("Upper Extremities" studio release and accompanying "BLUE Nights" live double.

There's some pretty dangerous stuff in there, with a Bruford/Levin rhythm section and David Torn on guitar (shurely "strange noises" - Ed.) and CB playing fantastic lines over the top.

Is it C-Jazz... not really! somewhere at the crossroads of jazz, avant-garde and prog, it's a seriously cooking mixture. Available on Papabear records in N. America http://www.papabear.com and DGM elsewhere http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com

Pete.

Posted on: 08 October 2000 by John G.
Nice topic Graeme!

A real nice album that has gotten alot of play lately is Ronny Jordan - "A Brighter Day" Blue Note (2000). I've read that this is considered "Acid Jazz". Ronny Jordan is a guitarist and his music kind of reminds me of George Benson with a bit more of a funky/rap attitude. Highly recommended!

Larry Carlton was mentioned in an earlier post. A few weeks ago I picked up "Discovery" (1987). It has a very good version of the Doobie Brother's tune "Minute by Minute" with Michael McDonald on keyboard. It also contains a nice instrumental version of "Knock on Wood".

Medeski, Martin and Wood selections from "Shackman" (1997) is another recent acquisition.
This is an EP, I guess there's a full album available, what's on here is well worth it. I also have "Combustication" and this one is every bit as good if not better.

Andy Narell - "Little Secrets" (1989)
This guy combines steel drums with Jazz and creates a kind of Carribean Sound. It's neat stuff.

All the above, purchased on vinyl.

[This message was edited by John Gilleran on MONDAY 09 October 2000 at 12:07.]