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What's some good Modern Jazz?


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Well two things. See my short article on my footer and then someone resurrect the jazz threads. There is entirely too much jazz during the LP era to try and figure out what you might like.  But something I can say with complete certainty; there is a huge difference between jam bands and jazz.  Don't even mention them in the same sentence.

 

LouieB

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Agree with Dave Douglas.

 

Keeping up with Zorn's output will drive you batty - though Masada is a great place to start.

 

I feel obliged to throw out some current groups/people on the Chicago scene, such as Ken Vandermark and Dave Rempis - who both started their labels somewhat recently.

 

Delmark Records still produces/puts out some great records.

 

Tortoise and Chicago Underground Duo, though not sure I would completely categorize them as jazz, are  a great bands.

 

Jason Adasiewicz, vibes player, is another one that is putting out some great music.

 

Atomic, from Norway/Sweden, is another band that continues to put out great, interesting stuff.

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I was part of a Zorn (with Masada) Q and A - once - he came off as dick - the rest of the (Douglas, Cohen, and Baron) were all great. Actually Douglas seemed uncomfortable sitting next to Zorn. (Zorn did just got into town minutes before the event, which was in Chicago, so maybe that's why he was cranky).

 

Great musical performance, though, afterwards.  This was right before he won the  MacArthur Fellow -- so he might have been still pissy that Vandermark got one before he did.

 

I had to Google the year of the performance and came across the below Pitchfork review

 

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6276-john-zorn-masada/

 

 

A Cobra performance would be a trip see live. I really have to be mood to listen to that band, though.

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I can imagine Zorn can be prickly, and the interview did start out rather awkwardly but it soon picked up a lot of momentum and was a really good one. just to be clear, he didn't play last night...he got an honorary doctorate from New England Conservatory and was there as an honored guest, and the students played compositions of their choice. it was a wildly ranging program, as one might imagine, from the all-out skronk attack of "Warlock" to beatific six piece female a cappela madrigals, and some improv/prepared pieces ("Hockey"). 

when i was leaving the Newport Jazz Fest this year (i only went on the opening day, to see the unreal 2.5 hr Masada Marathon), Zorn was walking off w/ some of his crew. i stopped to thank him for the incredible performance, and before i finished my "do you mind a quick photo?" sentence, he said "no photos." on and off stage though, he was beaming and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. a singular being, really.

I can see Cobra being a chore to listen to...it's really a live creation more than anything else.

 

 

btw, thanks for that Pitchfork link...great read.

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Miguel Zenon, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spaulding, The list goes on and on. Once again I am not sure what you classify as "modern jazz".  That's kind of an old expression. Contemporary? Mainstream?  Avant? Experimental?  lots of stuff going on out there.

 

LouieB

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Miguel Zenon, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spaulding, The list goes on and on. Once again I am not sure what you classify as "modern jazz". That's kind of an old expression. Contemporary? Mainstream? Avant? Experimental? lots of stuff going on out there.

 

LouieB

Sorry didn't be mean to misleading with the topic or title. By modern jazz I mean any type of jazz that's come out roughly since the 2000's. Avant grande, experimental, art jazz, folk jazz, whatever. Only reason I brought up jam bands before is because usually when I ask people to recommend jazz they bring up bands like Phish, which are great, but not what I'm looking for.

 

Hopefully that clarifies things up a bit.

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Brad Meldhau

X2. Especially Art of Trio series if you like it straight up. Day is Done if you want to hear some familiar tunes stretched to some tense and beautiful jazz angles. Highway Rider has some pretty crazy orchestral edges, maybe not for everyone but I love it.

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