Many Doors, Many Mansions

I came to jazz via the rock-infused fusion of the 70’s: electric Miles, Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, etc. So, to introduce the young listener to the world of jazz I would play the things that worked for me. From the past 10 years I would select:

1. Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo Smith: Yo Miles. Any of their three releases would work, but my personal favorite is “Upriver” (Cunieform). They honor the music of the electric period while making it thoroughly their own. Any rock fan would feel right at home in this music.

2. The Philadelphia Experiment (Rope-A-Dope). Hip-hop fans will be drawn to the presence of Roots drummer Ahmir Thompson on this date. But they will want to hear more of Christian McBride and Uri Caine after listening.

3. Spaceways Inc.: Radiale (Atavistic). I would play this for my funk and R&B fans. I can think of no better gateway to the music of Hamid Drake and Ken Vandermark.

4. John Zorn: Electric Masada at the Mountains of Madness (Tzadik). There is a bit of something for everyone here – blazing guitar, screaming sax. Any metal fan would instantly recognize what is going on with “Metal Tov”.

5. Dr. Lonnie Smith (var). I would try “Boogaloo to Beck” for alt-rockers, or “Jungle Soul” for R&B listeners. From here it is not a big leap from Lonnie Smith to Jimmie Smith.

Do you guys control the anti-spam words? “Cyrille,” after one of my favorite drummers, who was the highlight of one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, the James Newton Trio at Yoshi’s in 1998 (James Newton, Lisle Atkinson, and Andrew Cyrille).

Anyway, it isn’t really “out,” but for a classical lover, Sam Sadigursky’s “Words Project” albums are great, especially Words Project II. For someone who likes folksy/americana type stuff, Frisell, in one of many incarnations. And just for the joy of it, the Fly trio. None of these are out, but they aren’t straight ahead. Maybe for people who have heard a little jazz, and are open. If someone is into world music, maybe “Kinsmen,” from Rudresh Mahanthappa.

And I always think, that if someone loves funk and/or Afrobeat, esp. psychedelic stuff from the 70s, give them the Sun Ra. It isn’t current, but it can take you places.

THANK YOU D:O! there have been so many articles like this lately, starting a lot like how yours started, but then going on to list albums that have me scratching my head as to what planet they are on where they think their selections will appeal to non jazz fans (outside of grandma). It’s frustrating and illuminating at the same time: the very people who want to save jazz are constantly pouring water on the fire.

Anyways, pretty much back everything in your list (esp. Zorn, who has HUGE cross-genre appeal), but will add the Vandermark 5 and Steve Lehman.

“… the conservative ethos of always trying to convert people with the mildest modes of the music has proven self-defeating…” yes yes yes yes yes this is so nutshell on the money it hurts.

There’s some Chicago-based jazz that I think deserves a place in the conversation: the Vandermark 5′s Beat Reader (A Discontinuous Line or The Color of Memory would do the trick, as well), Powerhouse Sound’s Oslo/Chicago, Breaks, and the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet’s 1998 self-titled set. All of those albums have the kind of deep grooves, frantic energy, and narrative intensity that should hook the open-minded madmen and women who should be coming to this party but haven’t yet gotten their invitations.

thanks for these tracks, guys

Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Red Warrior opened some ears of some friends back in the ’90s.

I teach math to high school kids in Arizona and they bring me their “strange finds.” One of my students got heavily into Gene Krupa last year and has since moved on and into a lot of other jazz. He originally just bought Krupa record from a thrift store because he’s a drummer.

I can never figure out what will grab my 15-18 year old students. I play a lot of music in my classroom and I have had students go ape shit over Cecil Taylor (especially the duets with Han Bennink or Tony Oxley from the Berlin sessions). On the other hand, stuff I figured they would jump for has not really done it for them.

On The Corner works well for kids into DJ stuff. Braxton has a special appeal. Some of my students get into Harry Partch or Meredith Monk or other innovative (marginally) “classical” music before they open up to jazz. Some of them are perfect future subscribers to J@LC, preferring everything polished and inside.

PB

Gentlemen -
You might want to mention that Jason Moran’s “Black Stars” is still available as an MP3 download from Amazon, at least. I did just that after a mere few seconds of your sample. He’d passed me by. Good catch.
Cheers, MB

Someone’s comment reminded me: I should have included the Art Ensemble’s Les Stances a Sophie.

I posted these over at Blog Supreme:

1.Rudresh Mahanthappa–Kinsmen
2.Jim Hobbs&The Fully Celebrated Orchestra–Lapis Exilis
3.Harris Eisenstadt–Guewel
4.Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble–Xenogenesis Suite
5.Mary Halvorson Trio–Dragon’s Head

A very recent duet between Tony Oxley and CT, September 29th in Amsterdam. 5 dyas ago! what a world we live in….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLTA1KjlbzU&feature=related

anyway, the adolescent aesthetic is often much more conservative than I expect. Our stereotype of “crazy young people” is that they are rebellious somehow through and through. Many of my students do not at all appreciate rebellion in the arts and are obsessed by technique.

PB

Worth linking to at end of your article?:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2008/nov/07/empirical-radiohead-nude

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2008/nov/07/jonathan-gee-radiohead

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2008/nov/07/liane-carroll-radiohead-nude

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2008/nov/07/food-nude-radiohead

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2008/nov/07/trio-vd-radiohead-nude

Nels Cline is the one no-brainer for me, even though he’s not young (of course when he was a 20-something, his main musical outlet was the tasteful acoustic chamber jazz of Quartet Music). Anyway, he does plenty of stuff that will appeal to people whose tastes are not as extreme as Destroy all Nels Cline. These days my favorite setting for him is the Scott Amendola Band, in which he switches to sideman for his drummer.

Beyond that, I really don’t know much that fits the premise, which, like others, I think is questionable anyway. That said…Dwight Trible! Watch this youtube playlist. Seems to me that anybody who doesn’t respond to this would have to be a little touched in the head, regardless of age (fair warning, though: the video quality is all over the place, right down to the cellphone vid that starts the list. It won’t matter. Watch it anyway).

1. This won’t be a popular choice on D:O, but I would say that Brad Mehldau is one obvious candidate. HOUSE ON HILL would be good, but any of the trio records, really.

2. Vijay Iyer, BLOOD SUTRA or the new trio record.

3. The Bad Plus.

4. Any of Ben Allison’s records. He’s such a great, and undervalued, composer.

5. Dave Douglas, THE INFINITE.

6. In the Country, THAT WAS THE PACE OF MY HEARTBEAT. What a beautiful album, though a little withholding for my taste. Extremely contemporary.

7. Kenny Werner, LAWN CHAIR SOCIETY. This is one example of a jazz record where the electronics actually make sense. Though I liked Shipp’s NU BOP too.

8. Greg Osby, THE INNER CIRCLE or THE INVISIBLE HAND.

9. Andrew Hill, TIME LINES. I’ve played this for a lot of non-jazzheads and they’ve always liked it.

Jess R, I like Mehldau!

I could have made D.O choice, and at the same time I don’t feel far from NPR Blog’s conclusions :)
I’m just a little bit surprised that, from a newbie perspective, David Binney hasn’t been mentioned…