/blindfold/

Welcome to the weekly Sup Forums jazz Blindfold Test thread. Every Friday and Saturday.

If you're new, the point of these threads is to have fun and encourage critical listening, discussion, and general enjoyment of jazz. All critical music listeners are welcome. The more participation we have, the more fun and successful these threads will be. In the interest of keeping the thread alive and bumped, any general jazz discussion is welcomed here as well.

For more information about how the threads work and listening suggestions, please refer to the pastebin: pastebin.com/UiCCG28N

THIS WEEK'S THEME: Ornette Coleman Compositions
COMPILED BY: JTG

NEXT WEEK: ???
COMPILED BY: ???

If you missed last week's thread, DON'T WORRY. It's not too late. Here are the links for the mystery tracklist. Download the tracks, record your thoughts/guesses/evaluations for each one, and then come back and post them in the thread. Remember, people will be posting guesses and thoughts in this thread so don't read the thread until you have listened to the music and collected your thoughts in order to avoid spoilers. Track info for this week's tracks will be posted on Saturday, so if you see the thread is close to dying before then, give it a bump.

www54.zippyshare.com/v/DplSWEEm/file.html

Posting with names or tripcodes is encouraged as it makes discussion much easier.

Other urls found in this thread:

rbt.asia/mu/thread/S60876622#p60883839
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

1. I can tell that the song is Lonely Woman. But other than that I can’t really tell what’s going on. It’s pretty cool how it seems like just a free improvisation thing but then you can start to hear the Lonely Woman theme come out of it. Not too long too. 3 stars.

2. I don’t know if I recognize this one but I can hear the Coleman influence. The trumpet player is good but it’s just not the same as Don Cherry. Same with the sax player. I do like the drumming though. This one wasn’t bad but comparing it to the Coleman quartet makes it seem not as good. Plus it was kind of too long. 2.5 stars.

3. This has to be Pat Metheny. I’ve never heard it before but I know he has some albums related to Ornette Coleman stuff. I like it. It’s different than I’ve heard Pat Metheny play before and more bluesy. Drumming is good too. 3.5 stars.

4. I’m liking this one a lot. Very free but also lots of interplay. Once again some more great drumming too. Pretty nice bass solo that I could follow. My favorite so far. 4 stars.

5. This is pretty enjoyable. The piano playing is pretty cool. It seems like it’s technical but also somehow messy in a way that seems fitting for a Coleman tribute. The drum solo wasn’t my favorite but other than that I like this one. 3.5 stars.

6. This one sounds very familiar. I actually don’t like the drumming very much on this one. Everything else is pretty good though. Especially the sax playing. 3.5 stars.

7. This seems like a pretty good representation of Ornette Coleman’s style on the piano. Maybe even better than the trio on track 5. The bass and piano are great too. I like how they start swinging when the piano player leads them into it. Great bass solo too. 4 stars.

8. Nice interplay. It reminds me of Chris Potter. I think there was another version of this same song earlier on the list. I thought at the beginning that this one would probably feel too long but it doesn’t really. I don’t know if I’d want to listen to a whole album of this though. 3.5 stars.

9. More nice sax playing. Decent piano solo too but I really like the bass playing on this one. Pretty good overall. 3.5 stars.

10. This is one I recognize too. I think it’s called Blues Connotation. The sax player reminds me of Charlie Parker. It seems more like a bebop interpretation of Coleman which is kind of different. This is good playing but it’s one of the less interesting ones from this week. It’s like they took Ornette’s style and made it into a standard jam session tune. 3 stars.

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I'll be in the thread in a little bit

>1
>But other than that I can’t really tell what’s going on
It's definitely an unusual instrumentation. I'd say inspired by a famous Ornette Coleman album.

>3
>This has to be Pat Metheny.
Nice

>5
>It seems like it’s technical but also somehow messy in a way that seems fitting for a Coleman tribute.
Yeah I'd agree with that

>6
>This one sounds very familiar.
Probably the most well-known album from this week

>8
>Nice interplay. It reminds me of Chris Potter.
This track isn't Chris Potter but he does show up on another track this week

>Track 1
An abstract piece, I think it's interesting in sound but I can't really tell what's going on and enjoy it too much.
>Track 2
This one has more of a Coleman sound, but it doesn't do much else with it. There's some good moments but it's still not too remarkable.
>Track 3
Nice track, I'm a fan of the guitar, reminds me of Jim Hall but it's also different. The drums sound more like they could be on an Ornette record but work well with the guitar too.
>Track 4
Great stuff, fast paced playing that feels very fluid throughout with great execution. Very nice bass solo.
>Track 5
The piano here is very vivid, the pianist has a lot to say, very fascinating. The drum solo contrasts with the piano playing as it leaves a lot more of space and I'm not so much into it.
>Track 6
Overall very groovy, guess especially because of the drums that are kinda upfront, and the vibraphone is very good. It's really enjoyable stuff.
>Track 7
This is another nice piano trio with a very nice pianist, but I feel on this track the bassist and drummer do a great job too, there's great interplay in this track.
>Track 8
This one has nice interplay too, really dig the saxophone playing and the piano is interesting too.
>Track 9
This one's very well played, the piano feels distinct in a good way. Good stuff.
>Track 10
The playing on here is very hasty, feels like something out of the Ornette! record. I like the style, the speed and energy remind me of bebop sometimes.

No guesses about artists? There are some on here that I bet you'd know.

Overall yes, familiar sounds but nothing too clear, after black metal November I'm barely putting stuff together again I guess. Track 8 had me thinking of somebody in the style of Coltrane, who's the one I've been listening to mostly these days. It's weird. Other than that I had in mind you might put something off the Notes on Ornette record I've seen you post around, but I'm not sure (I haven't heard it) and the trio tracks didn't really sound like Bley I'm used to, which is much more sparse.

Yeah there is a Bley track

Oh well, then maybe he is in either of the trio tracks, as I also remember him in the Ellington playlist with a similar style.
Should listen to more of him. I don't know if I asked this before but what do you recommend?

Depends... he had a pretty long career and his style varies quite a bit. On his earlier recordings he has kind of a mix between Bill Evans/Herbie Hancock post-bop style. Meditations is a pretty good earlier album.

His later 60's style got much more free. Footloose and Blood are two good albums in that style.

Then his ECM stuff is much more sparse usually but still pretty free.

Then from the 80's onward he just kind of mixed all that together. He did a ton of SteepleChase albums and they usually swing but his playing is still pretty adventurous. I've been enjoying listening to that kind of stuff lately. I think I've absorbed quite a bit of that in my own playing.

One really good one that I've discovered lately is "Annette" that's all Annette Peacock tunes recorded with trumpeter Franz Koglmann and Gary Peacock. It's on the sparse side of things if you like that style.

I'll take a look at the steeplechase ones first and see where to go from there. Annette looks nice too. Thanks a bunch.

Oh another good on on SteepleChase is the Paul Bley/NHOP duet record

Also does anybody have any good ideas for playlist themes that they don't want to do themselves?

I've got some time in the next few weeks to put some together but I haven't had any good ideas for themes lately other than the usual record label/composer themes I've been doing.

>This track isn't Chris Potter but he does show up on another track this week
Maybe on track 2 then

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Holy shit, how confident do I need to be to get the first of these things

1: This is kind of cool - clearly reaching out to Ornette's Lonely Woman

I think it's a monumental achievement in it's own right - maybe it's just the traditional Lonely Woman.

John Zorn did a great subversion - Ornette's theme to the classic bass line of Pretty Woman

2: Fun Coleman influence here

I suppose we're playing around this shit all week :)

Trumpet dude is very confident, maybe Woody Shaw? or someone very similar

3: very cheesy guitar sound, sounds a lot like one of those John Abercrombie 70's albums

What do you mean by that?

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the threads dead just give it up

what if I know very little about Coleman, and avant garde music in general

It will be all the more interesting to read about someone's response to these tracks who knows very little about the style of music.

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up

>Track 1
I can just about pick out Lonely Woman from this. This approach is great - ebbs and flows of sound, just like the original, but achieved more with texture than with melody.

>Track 2
This is another one from SoJtC, but I'm not very good at identifying track names. Possibly the last track. The soloing here seems more harmonic than anything Ornette ever did. Nothing really stands about the arrangement or anything else in the way they're playing this, but both solos are solid and the drums are great. I like the end of the sax solo best, when it gets a bit more adventurous.

>Track 3
This track is similar to the last one in that the rhythm section sounds quite like Coleman's, but the soloing seems straighter. I guess it's cool to see how his compositions fare in a more straightforward setting - I've never heard any recordings of Coleman tunes before this week. I'd be interested to find out who this guitarist is.

>Track 4
This is more like I'd expect a Coleman tune to sound. I like the drums' section in the head. Interesting to hear how a piano comps a piece like this (presumably Coleman's version was chordless), and he does a good job of it. I'm not completely on board with some of what the tenor sax is doing, there's a lot of just running up and down scales in there, but the collective stuff is cool. And the altoist has some really neat little bits. I don't think an unaccompanied bass solo suits this arrangement at all, but it was well played.

>Track 5
I like how frantic this sounds. And this is my kind of piano solo, lots of micro-thematic development. I would say this is my favourite so far but the drum solo did nothing for me.

>Track 6
I think I've heard this tune before on a blindfold playlist. I really like the sax player - the start of his solo was great. Is it someone better known for soul jazz? Because that's what I'd associate this sort of sound with normally. The piano was nice too, especially in the stop-time part. He does a lot of techniques you'd expect to hear on an organ too, so they must be soul-jazz guys.

>Track 7
I couldn't really focus on this because I was busy playing with an 11 month old kitten, but it was an appropriate soundtrack.

>Track 8
Cool intro, and I like how it comes together (at about 2 minutes). The interplay here is fantastic, I could easily listen to a whole album of this. Texture-wise, it reminds me of the Giuffre trio, but neither player here seems particularly influenced by that style - this is much funkier. This is my new favourite.

>Track 9
I really like how the bassist sounds in the intro. This recording sounds pretty modern, but harking back to Coleman's style. Tenor player is a beast - got the chops and puts them to good use. Maybe Chris Potter? I know jtg blindfolds often feature him, though I've not listened to him much otherwise. During the piano solo it reminds me more of the Miles Davis group. In fact if I didn't know otherwise I might wonder if this was a Wayne Shorter composition.

>Track 10
At first I thought this was a big band. Would have suited one with that head. One of the saxes sounds like it was recorded from another room. This is similar to track 2, in that I'm not sure why I'd bother to listen to this rather than Ornette's version. Didn't impress me at all really. Best drum solo of the week though.

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I'll be starting with the reveal info pretty soon

Anyone want to rec me some albums featuring Freddie Hubbard? He doesn't have to be leader, but I'd like to hear some of his best solos.

>Track 2
>This is another one from SoJtC, but I'm not very good at identifying track names. Possibly the last track.
It is indeed the last track from SoJtC

>I'd be interested to find out who this guitarist is.
Somebody I'm sure you've heard before

>Track 4
>I don't think an unaccompanied bass solo suits this arrangement at all, but it was well played.
I kind of like how everything drops out but the bass, but I can see why not everyone would. The bass player is the leader here so that maybe helps it make more sense.

>Track 5
>lots of micro-thematic development.
I like that description of this pianist's style

>Track 6
>I think I've heard this tune before on a blindfold playlist.
I know something from this album was on another playlist not too long ago but I didn't think it was this track... These are probably the most recognizable players this week though.

Track 9
>Maybe Chris Potter?
It is indeed Chris Potter. Nice catch.

>Somebody I'm sure you've heard before
Indeed it is, though I'm not at all familiar with this side of Metheny.
>I know something from this album was on another playlist not too long ago but I didn't think it was this track...
I meant the composition - not necessarily this recording of it.
>Chris Potter
Sweet. I'm not at all familiar with him so it was more an educated guess than anything though. Definitely need to listen to more of him though.

How about a good sampler of some great albums he plays on.

Oliver Nelson- The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers- Buhaina's Delight
Herbie Hancock- Maiden Voyage
Wayne Shorter- Speak No Evil
Freddie Hubbard- Breaking Point
Eric Dolphy- Out to Lunch
Freddie Hubbard- Backlash
Freddie Hubbard- Red Clay
Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw- The Eternal Triangle

>Track 1
Benoit Delbecq and Fred Hersch Double Trio- Lonely Woman
from Fun House (Songlines, 2013)

Piano- Benoit Delbecq, Fred Hersch
Bass- Jean-Jacques Avenel, Mark Helias
Drums- Steve Arguelles, Gerry Hemingway

I thought this would be an interesting starting point for this playlist. This “double trio” is probably inspired by Ornette Coleman’s double quartet and I think it makes for a very interesting take on what is probably one of Coleman’s most recognizable tunes.

>Track 2
Larry Schneider- Chronology
from Ornettology (SteepleChase, 1998)

Trumpet- Scott Wendholt
Tenor Sax- Larry Schneider
Bass- Jay Anderson
Drums- Billy Drummond

“Chronology” is another track from The Shape of Jazz to Come, this time with the chordless quartet ensemble taking very direct influence from Coleman’s setup.

>Track 3
Pat Metheny- Tears Inside
from Rejoicing (ECM, 1984)

Guitar- Pat Metheny
Bass- Charlie Haden
Drums- Billy Higgins

I’ve always thought this was a pretty interesting album with Metheny in trio format with two previous members of Coleman’s quartets. Fittingly, they recorded several covers of Ornette compositions. “Tears Inside” originally comes from Ornette’s “Tomorrow is the Question” album.

>Track 4
Matt Brewer- Free
from Mythology (Criss Cross, 2014)

Alto Sax- Steve Lehman
Tenor Sax- Mark Turner
Guitar- Lage Lund
Piano- David Virelles
Bass- Matt Brewer
Drums- Marcus Gilmore

“Free” comes from the album “Change of the Century” recorded directly after SoJtC. I like that this version adds chordal accompaniment to the tune, giving a little bit different perspective on it, along with both Lehman and Turner soloing collectively.

>Track 5
Paul Bley- When Will the Blues Leave
from Notes on Ornette (SteepleChase, 1998)

Piano- Paul Bley
Bass- Jay Anderson
Drums- Jeff Herschfield

Paul Bley makes an interesting interpreter of Ornette Coleman’s music, especially considering that Coleman found some of his early recognition as a member of Bley’s group. I think Bley’s abstracted sense of melodic development works well in the context of Colemnan’s blues-based compositions and his added harmonies work well also.

>Track 6
Bobby Hutcherson- Una Muy Bonita
from Stick-Up! (Blue Note, 1966)

Vibraphone- Bobby Hutcherson
Tenor Sax- Joe Henderson
Piano- McCoy Tyner
Bass- Herbie Lewis
Drums- Billy Higgins

This was one of the earliest cover versions of a Coleman composition that I could find, most likely brought to this group by Billy Higgins who had previously been the drummer for Coleman.

>Track 7
Fred Hersch- Enfant
from Sarabande (Sunnyside, 1986)

Piano- Fred Hersch
Bass- Charlie Haden
Drums- Joey Baron

Here’s yet another example of someone doing a Coleman cover with a previous member of Coleman’s groups. In this case, Charlie Haden who also played on the Pat Metheny track. Fred Hersch has done a number of Coleman covers with various trios but this is one of my favorites.

>Track 8
Joel Frahm and Brad Mehldau- Turnaround
from Don’t Explain (Palmetto, 2004)

Tenor Sax- Joel Frahm
Piano- Brad Mehldau

Joel Frahm is a somewhat underrated tenor saxophonist who had this opportunity to record a duet session with Brad Mehldau. The two grew up together in Connecticut. “Turnaround” has become one of Coleman’s more popular tunes to cover, but the interplay on this version impressed me.

>Track 9
Marian McPartland- Ramblin’
from In My Life (Concord, 1993)

Tenor Sax- Chris Potter
Piano- Marian McPartland
Bass- Gary Mazzaroppi
Drums- Glenn Davis

Marian McPartland never had the most successful recording career, however she worked for a long time as a critic for Down Beat, and then gained the most recognition for her radio show “Piano Jazz.” This recording is also notable for being a very early recording of Chris Potter, who already sounds like a fully mature player at the age of 22.

>Track 10
Tom Harrell- Blues Connotation
from Upswing (Chesky, 1994)

Flugelhorn- Tom Harrell
Alto Sax- Phil Woods
Tenor Sax- Joe Lovano
Piano- Danilo Perez
Bass- Peter Washington
Drums- Bill Goodwin

I thought I’d include this one as a sort of different interpretation of a Coleman tune, one that almost wouldn’t be recognizable as one of his compositions. These players are all big names in jazz, and I thought it was interesting how they turn it into more of a hard bop type of piece.

Nigger music

Hutcherson and Tyner? Looks really good, not to mention the rest of the lineup. Should listen to this one. Interesting picks all around though.

I think somebody else put something from that album on another playlist a few months ago too

Seems like it, a vibes jazz playlist which I missed.
Also I think it might just be a year since I first posted in these threads. These threads have been around for quite some time now that I think about it.

well, almost a year
rbt.asia/mu/thread/S60876622#p60883839

Ah, it's not that I'd heard it on a previous blindfold playlist - I've heard this album several times before. Considering who it is, it's weird that I made a soul-jazz connection...