Every once in a while another 100 Best Jazz Recordings list pops up. A new one is batting about the ethernet. This time the source is the UK newspaper the Telegraph. The compiler is Martin Gayford, an art critic, biographer and sometime jazz critic. It’s a good list, but anyone who has the temerity to choose the best of anything, even the hundred best, opens himself up to the ire of fans. Mr. Gayford’s list, published on November 10, has already attracted a batch of “how could you leave out ___________” complaints. Please direct yours to the Telegraph and Mr. Gayford, not to Rifftides. To see the list, go here.
How could he leave out Woody Herman?
Weekend Extra: A New List
November 14, 2009 by
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
The more CDs and LPs one acquires (and I have a combined total of something like 15,000-18,000 albums, collected over 36 years), the more I learn how pointless it is to try to create a best 100 jazz albums list.
Two tips for people inclined to post such lists: label them as “my favorites” and you’ll get a few less brickbats thrown your way. Also, proofread your work and get everyone’s name spelled correctly (Erroll, not “Errol” Garner) and readers might take you a bit more seriously.
All in all, it is not a bad list, though I wouldn’t include bootlegs on Properbox instead of U.S. releases, nor would I choose abbreviated “best of” collections instead of complete boxed sets by the same musicians.
It is amazing how many seemingly recent issues are already out of print.
No Herman? Phew… Steve Voce must be turning over in his easy chair! England has always been a haven for Hermanites. Oh well, I have just posted a bit on Gerry Mulligan, and added a small credit to you down at the end. You might find it interesting, or misbegotten, or ridiculously wrong, or… So goes the blogosphere.
(You can find Mr. Leimbacher’s blog by clicking on his name in red in the upper left corner of this comment. — DR