Hamtai !
Since later Opeth albums are somewhat jazz-influenced, I figured this question would be valid here.
Are there fans of Jazz music amongst the people on this board ? What are your jazz preferences ? Fusion ? Whom do you consider to be the greatest jazz musician ? What meaning does improvised music have for *you* ?
As for me, I get most feeling from the music of Miles Davis - inherent spirituality in his every note, he was making notable influence on all musicians who played with him, and as a result his records have a very deep atmosphere - no excess notes or sax-wankery at all. I recommend Miles Davis to any Opeth fan - just stay away from most of his 80's records where he "crossed over" into commercial funk-jazz. Get any album from the 1950-1975 period, you won't regret it !
Similar praise goes to Bill Evans (the pianist) - some of his early albums are bland, but then he developed into something unbelievably original - a genius (I'm not afraid of this word). His music is full of really dense and harsh chords and harmonies, but at the same time yields a natural lyricism and is stunningly beautiful and bittersweet. As much as I like Chick Corea, I still think no jazz pianist before or after Bill Evans has ever achieved such stellar quality of expression.
I really love some newer jazz too (Jan Garbarek is one of my all-time favourites - very spacey and dark, with many ethnic/world music influences, but no 'cheesy' new-age), I'm also into fusion like Mahavishnu Orchestra (and John McLaughlin's early albums are great too), Weather Report, Soft Machine (not jazz per se, more often mentioned as a prog-rock band), etc. I still have a lot to discover - are there any seasoned (or even newbies, I don't care) jazz fans here who can recommend me some good jazz ?
Thanks in advance,
D Mullholand
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NP: Ataraxia - The Moon Sang On The April Chair
Since later Opeth albums are somewhat jazz-influenced, I figured this question would be valid here.
Are there fans of Jazz music amongst the people on this board ? What are your jazz preferences ? Fusion ? Whom do you consider to be the greatest jazz musician ? What meaning does improvised music have for *you* ?
As for me, I get most feeling from the music of Miles Davis - inherent spirituality in his every note, he was making notable influence on all musicians who played with him, and as a result his records have a very deep atmosphere - no excess notes or sax-wankery at all. I recommend Miles Davis to any Opeth fan - just stay away from most of his 80's records where he "crossed over" into commercial funk-jazz. Get any album from the 1950-1975 period, you won't regret it !
Similar praise goes to Bill Evans (the pianist) - some of his early albums are bland, but then he developed into something unbelievably original - a genius (I'm not afraid of this word). His music is full of really dense and harsh chords and harmonies, but at the same time yields a natural lyricism and is stunningly beautiful and bittersweet. As much as I like Chick Corea, I still think no jazz pianist before or after Bill Evans has ever achieved such stellar quality of expression.
I really love some newer jazz too (Jan Garbarek is one of my all-time favourites - very spacey and dark, with many ethnic/world music influences, but no 'cheesy' new-age), I'm also into fusion like Mahavishnu Orchestra (and John McLaughlin's early albums are great too), Weather Report, Soft Machine (not jazz per se, more often mentioned as a prog-rock band), etc. I still have a lot to discover - are there any seasoned (or even newbies, I don't care) jazz fans here who can recommend me some good jazz ?
Thanks in advance,
D Mullholand
--------------------
NP: Ataraxia - The Moon Sang On The April Chair