Showing posts with label jazz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jazz. Show all posts

Monday, August 31, 2009

Powerhouse piano, glory gospel, shiny jazz

Big pulsating chords coming from a good piano soul...well they're so powerful so stirring, getting your heart smiling like you were a little kid again. It is interesting if you really get yourself into it, how the sleek overwhelming drive of so much good piano jazz is so incredibly gospel-based. Last night I was digging the punctuating lusty sounds of one fine keyboard man, the wise one named Junior Mance. He was backed by the marvelous Ron Carter on the bass and Mickey Roker on drums. The sound was so provocative, so kickin' and truly right. The sound of strong gospel pops up in the straight ahead classic work of moderns also like the powerhouse himself, the famed Art Blakey on drums. His gospel is that of a man who knows how to fire the musical strongman cars up really smokin' and sensually vivid. When a soul hears Blakey on the drums along with the soaring master, Mr. Freddie Hubbard on the trumpet and the total sax man Mr. Wayne Shorter on his bossman tenor then buddy all is so right on with this great big wild man music world of ours. Atlanta has so many good sounds and one fine thing is the fact men and women of the south know how to really get it together in their enjoyment of true strong music with its overtones of blues and big gospel and the mesmerizing sphere that is the song of the wild, yes man I'm speaking of jazz.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The bliss of exciting piano jazz art

The keyboard sound is so exciting and filled with tremendous energy. A few nights ago I listened to some old King Cole Trio (some people don't realize Nat King Cole was also a fantastic piano man) and also some totally fascinating keyboard jazz from the great man from Canada, Oscar Peterson. This kind of brashness and sleek almost ultra-percussive stylin' is just a wild and wooley cool breeze if there ever was one. Kind of reminds me of the happy dipsy times long ago when I was in my teen years playing with a group. Two guitar buddies played some sizzling licks with the hardnosed impishness that basically strong vivid south Georgian fellas know how to do. Then when I heard Mr. Cole and Mr. Peterson the other night it just brought so many tons of wonderful memories. A friend once said I said the words oh my goodness and wonderful too many times but really sometimes those regular words tell the truly real story better than all the usual claptrap or mundane psycho babble. The boundless energy of good music helps so many of us. One friend of mine digs country sounds like those of Mr. Haggard and Mr. Cash. I try to stretch my brain capacity as much as possible because it feels so slick, yes indeed. So good. I read the brilliant prose of great wordsmiths like Elmore Leonard and V. Nabokov because they always have a tendency to remind me of the importance of tone. Yeah, it's not what you say cause sometimes it all comes back to the sound the human has. In other words what kind of vigorous jazz chorus are you creating. The weather is cool tonight and I am full of bliss knowing things are so good.

Nice Writing

THE GOOD terse writing of Ernest Hemingway is a real joy.  He does not use too many adjectives.  His 'Torrents' is a fine tome.