Hoopla lets us borrow a certain amount of titles per month, and I used up my last few credits in October to try a variety of albums. Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert blew me away. A commenter on a youtube video called it “the sound of God”.
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane — two immortals. Even if Jarrett is my artist of the month John Coltrane is the “voice of God”.
Clifford Brown and Max Roach — another pairing of greats. Delilah is an awesome opening track.
Know what I Mean? — Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans, I prefer the slow rendition of Waltz for Debby in its original incarnation.
The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings — I get the appeal of hearing everything, but give me the curated experience of an album. Maybe I’ll dig this after I become a real jazzbo.
Unity — I’d buy the album for the cover, but the organ doesn’t do it for me.
Paper Moon — Another great album cover, but Brubeck feels uninspired. It must be endlessly frustrating for musicians to pour their souls into an album only to be so casually dismissed.
Song for My Father — Horace Silver was the only (non-christmas) artist to cut through the dominance of Jarrett. This album swings.
Koln Concert — as noted in the intro, this overwhelmed everything else this month. It’s the most sold solo jazz album of all time for good reason.
Concerts Bremen / Lausanne — His first solo piano concert album. Very good, including Rick Beato’s “Most Beautiful Two Minutes in Music“.
Koln Concert — I borrowed it twice.
Facing You — His first solo piano (studio) album. Very good.
Paris Concert — It starts on a classical note and stays in that tone while being jazz. Remarkable. Not as accessible as Koln Concert but I’m intrigued.
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With the passage of Thanksgiving, and the advent of the holidays, my spare Hoopla credits in November were spent on holiday albums. Here is all the Christmas cheer you can handle — the kids insist.
A Charlie Brown Christmas — Last year, it started our jazz kick. This month I’ve found two great companions with Ella Fitzgerald Bobby Timmons.
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas — I’m not a connoisseur of vocal music. This needs to change in 2023. She’s amazing.
Holiday Soul — Bobby Timmons plays just enough Christmas to make this a holiday album, but I could play this all year. Per the title, it’s got soul.
A Dave Brubeck Christmas — Solo piano. Unremarkable.
The Original: Gene Autry Sings Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & Other Christmas Favorites — Fun album, starts with popular songs on side A and carols on side B.
White Christmas — Bing Crosby takes the opposite tack and serves the veggies first.
The Christmas Song — Nat King Cole sings traditional Christmas songs. I love his voice, my kids want cheery pop. In the war against Christmas they are partisans for the “Holidays”.
James Brown’s Funky Christmas — Definitely James Brown, need to listen to it again.
Elvis’s Christmas Album — Our kids’ introduction to Elvis.
A Motown Christmas — With my jazz kick, I’ve lost interest in compilations. I prefer to hear a unified voice in an album.
A Christmas Gift for you From Phil Spector — hard to enjoy this album with the spectre of its namesake.
Christmas with Sinatra and Friends — Sinatra is great but it feels disjointed as a compilation after the grave.
We’ll see which albums have staying power for repeated plays into Christmas after this initial survey.
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from the deep
peace on earth
good will to men