I’m going to splurge and buy a new CD but I can’t decide what to get. I’m looking forward to Joni Mitchell’s new album but it’s not coming out till later in the month.
So I turn, as always, to the Teeming Millions for advice and counsel. Any suggestions?
My taste is pretty broad – I can’t think of any genre I’d dismiss out of hand except (ugh!) rap. But I do prefer music with complex tempos/harmonies and with, um – I want to say “soul” but that has a special meaning in this context – with a little depth of feeling.
The disk currently in my CD player is “Spike Jones Greatest Hits” (now there’s depth of feeling!). Rattling around in my car are a whole bunch of Leo Kottke CDs, one Lyle Lovett and “Bach at Bedtime”.
I don’t like Britany Spears, boy bands, Ricky Martin, etc.
I’d like to get better acquainted with Dixieland jazz. Is there anyone that can help me there?
Also someone made a big deal about the anti-Britany Spears at the Grammies – a young girl who sang classical music, IIRC. Can you refresh my memory on that one?
BTW, I did get a huge raise yesterday – twelve percent!! There are things I don’t like about my job but compensation has never been an issue!
For that sort of jazz, I would recommend the Louis Armstrong Hot Five and/or Hot Seven sessions, available on Columbia. It’s got the Dixieland instrumentation (cornet, clarinet, trombone, banjo, piano…plus tuba and drums with the Hot Seven), and the added bonus of Armstrong’s solos.
Do you like NewGrass? (Bluegrass with jazz influence)
Bela Fleck did an album called DRIVE back in 1988 or so, before he decided to go electric. Check it out on Amazon or CDNow…the reviews are great…one of the best string-band albums I own. A kottke buff like yourself would probably really enjoy this sort of fancy guitar/mandolin/banjo/fiddle work!
Congratulations, pluto! My last job gave me raises every year, and I always loved getting them.
My CD recommendation: I recently picked up the new Steely Dan album “Two Against Nature”. I really like it. It’s a lot different from their early stuff. It has some unusual meter changes which will probably prevent any of the cuts from being a “hit”. Still, it’s got those great jazz harmonies and that Steely Dan groove is very much in evidence.
Don’t spend it all in one place.
Now with 1000 posts of pure wisdom!
(or something)
Congrats on your raise…isn’t it great to love your job?
“If I had to live your life, I’d be begging to have someone pop out both my eyes. Just in case I came across a mirror.” - android209 (in the Pit) Zettecity
Voted “Most Empathetic”- can you believe that?
Thanks to one and all for your generous and helpful suggestions. Here’s how it turned out:
Charlotte Church: Charlott Church
Preservation Hall Jazz Band: Marching Down Bourbon Street
Bill Frisell: Ghost Town
All three are great. I’ll have to say Charlotte Church surprised me. The song selection was a little outside my comfort zone (mostly opera/operetta) but she’s terrific!
I’ll be picking up some of the other suggestions in the near future. (If I spend too much money at once Mrs. Pluto starts expecting me to share. Hey it’s my raise! Go get your own! Ha ha. Just kidding, honey! I know you work as hard as I do. No, I don’t want to sleep on the couch. Yes, you do need new shoes.)
One near miss (I had it in my hands and put it back) was Asleep At The Wheel Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Anyone familiar with Asleep At The Wheel?
Oh yes, I love Asleep at the Wheel. Okay, love may be too strong a word, since I haven’t actually bought any of their albums yet. Still, I do try to catch them anytime they’re on TV.
Now with 1000 posts of pure wisdom!
(or something)
Sorry, Uke. It was a timing thing. I read Mr. d6’s post before I went to Silver Platter to purchase the CDs and I read yours after I got back. I am going to check out the Bela Fleck album. (As soon as it’s safe to do so without upsetting Issus-May Uto-Play.)
BTW, the Bill Frisell album I got reminds me a lot of John Fahey. He does a version of “When I Fall In Love” on a banjo(!) and, surprisingly, it works!
Try “Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy”. The self-titled “Warren Zevon” is about as good. They are two of my favorite albums of all time, and sadly they can now be found at those ‘price saver’ prices, so buy 'em both.
pluto: Just teasing, and actually teasing Frank more than I was teasing you. But then that should have been obvious, right?
A few more thoughts: a nice cheap intro (less than ten bucks on Amazon.com) to classic New Orleans music is CREOLE JAZZ, on the Traditional label. It features King Oliver’s band, which included Satchmo on second cornet. Original recordings from the early '20s.
If you want better sound quality, I’ve been enjoying an odd 1954 disc of Jack Teagarden’s called ACCENT ON TROMBONE (Fresh Sound Records). It’s got Tea and some other trad players like Ruby Braff on trumpet and Sol Yagen on clarinet, plus some o’ those wild bebop boys (Lucky Thompson on tenor sax, Milt Hinton on bass, Denzil Best on drums), all playing classic old tunes like “St. James Infirmary” and “After You’ve Gone.” The mixture of “moldy figs” and hot boppers works better than you’d think it would.
I currently own two Frisell albums: BILL FRISELL QUARTET and MUSIC OF THE FILMS OF BUSTER KEATON. I have to admit they don’t come out of the box all that much. Should I try this new one?
Do you know the work of Edgar Meyer, the acoustic bassist? He made a big splash a few years ago with a crossover trio album he did with Mark O’Connor on fiddle and Yo Yo Ma on cello.
I don’t own that one, but I have been getting a mighty kick out of two other trio discs he did: UNCOMMON RITUAL with Bela Fleck and Mike Marshall on banjo and mandolin, and SKIP, HOP, AND WOBBLE with Jerry Douglas and Russ Barenberg on dobro and guitar. Bluegrass roots music with classical and jazz stuff twisting through it. And a LOT of mighty fine acoustic picking.
Great stuff, but go for Fleck’s DRIVE first! THAT one comes out to play every coupla weeks or so!
