Re: Raymond Scott: TP jazz man

I think Mose is a TP kind of guy, despite working a whole other idiom. With everyone from the Stones to the Yardbirds to the Who ("Young Man's Blues") to the Clash ("Look Here" from Sandinista!) doing his stuff, I think he's the one jazz man (ok, besides Coltrane and Miles) who deserves recognition in these vaunted cyber halls.

Trying to see just how catholic the tastes of some of you aging punk rockers are!



Post Edited (07-02-08 13:11)

Last Exit and Sonny Sharrock are already in the TP pages. I would argue that LE drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson also deserves inclusion. Henry Threadgill would be another safe bet. So would Bill Frisell and Marc Ribot's solo work. Probably John Scofield as well. Maybe Dave Douglas, though I base that more on what I've read about him than what I've actually heard.

I'd also like to see the inclusion someday of guitarists David Torn and Steve Tibbetts. It's debatable whether or not they're jazz, but that's where you find them in record stores usually. Tibbetts in particular is difficult to easily pin down.

Oh, and I agree on Mose. He's definitely a unique artist in the jazz and blues world.



Post Edited (07-02-08 13:39)

Oh, well thank you, Mr. "I know a lot more about jazz than erikalbany" for putting me to shame!

It's always been funny to me that Sting's humble jazz outfit in Newcastle was called Last Exit too.

I bet Sting's Last Exit doesn't sound anything like TP's!

Ironically for what sounds like me showing off, I gave up on jazz a few years ago for the simple reason that there was too much history and too little time for me to devote the same attention to it that I do rock. I've only recently begun to dip my toes back in those waters. The folks I listed (along with Sun Ra and James Blood Ulmer) are all artists I've listened to for years. I know dick hell about any recent artists, outside of pianist Jason Moran, who's wonderful, but as a more traditional jazzer (relatively - he's got enough avant garde in him to stand way out from the pack) probably outside the TP sphere.

Sun Ra! Who's more TP then him?

- he's got the wacko/outsider cred of Daniel Johnston, Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson

- electronic pioneer long before Eno, Kraftwerk

- shared the stage with everyone from Cage to Sonic Youth

- played electro/r'n'b/funk/improv/exotica; imagine seeing THAT description in a record review of a new up-and-coming act. Hype would ensue.



Post Edited (07-02-08 14:55)

james blood ulmer
lounge lizards

TPers for awhile.........

Ulmer's more of a blueman these days, but yes, he definitely fits, then and now. His last few records have been excellent.

Youre absolutely right! How could I forget the former Herman Blount? A true eccentric genius.

I'll add Albert Ayler, whose willingness to constantly search for a different way to express himself and a new context for those searches fits right into the Trouser Press idea of music.

Miles' electric stuff definitely deserves some recognition. A lot of so-called "post rock" wouldn't exist without it.

Three words, people: "ON THE CORNER."

From the opening crashing Gang of Four-like guitar, it's a James Brown-meets-Stockhausen African psychedelic masterpeice. Not much actual jazz in it, tho.

If you dig On the Corner you should definitely check out the Soul Jazz compilation New Thing.

[www.souljazzrecords.co.uk]

It's quite enlightening to see how the soul scene so influenced Mulawi, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Ayler and others.

I think On the Corner is one of those brilliant albums the huge influence of which has not been fully acknowledged. It still sounds bizarre to this day. Yet it was considered a sell-out at the time. The first time I heard it I thought, "Sell out? To whom?"

Another jazzer who might warrant a TP entry is Raymond Scott. One of the most idiosyncratic jazz men of all time, who then went on to become an electronic music pioneer.

Not to mention having been generously sampled in Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck - the Iggy Pop & Johnny Rotten of the cartoon world?



Post Edited (07-27-08 13:04)

A very strong case could be made for a lot of musicians generally slotted in the classical section as being worthy of TP entries - Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and John Adams spring to mind immediately, with a case to be made for Henryk Gorecki or Arvo Part.

Not to mention the avant gardists who are hard to classify in any section -
John Cage
LaMonte Young (both of whom are in some ways directly responsible for the Velvets)
Stockhausen
Terry Riley
Tony Conrad (an early member of the Velvets - was kind of surprised when I checked, as I thought he actually did have a TP entry)
Morton Subotnik

Conlon Nancarrow