Being There

Signing books at the Portland Jazz Festival Saturday evening, I was pleased to meet Joe Maita, the proprietor of the web site called Jerry Jazz Musician. He reminded me that I took part in his exercise asking a number of musicians, writers and other people in the jazz community to designate recording sessions they wish they had attended. The other respondents for Joe's first installment were Ingrid Jensen, David Liebman, Jane Ira Bloom, Lalo Schifrin, Herman Leonard, Lee Tanner, Buddy Bregman, Bill Moody and Tim Brooks. Here is the first part of Ms. Jensen's answer:

It’s all Miles dates for me. From Kind of Blue, to Nefertiti, Amandla and beyond. If I were to pick one session (actually sessions) it would be the Plugged Nickel. Even before reading Wayne Shorter’s book (Footprints) I found fresh energy and heavy inspiration from the playing of the entire band, especially Wayne.

From Jane Ira Bloom:

I wish I could have been sitting in a front row table at the Village Vanguard when Bill Evans recorded The Village Vanguard Sessions with his trio with Paul Motion and Scott LaFaro.

To see everyone's reply, click here.