The minimalist backdrop of just guitar and bass is what really makes this album special. London's vocals and material don't exactly stand out from the other two vocal jazz albums I've listened to from 1955, but the musical space that they're placed in gives this album the proper ambiance and helps elevate it to my favorite example of vocal jazz of the year at 3.5/5.
~~~~~
1955 Results:
GOLD MEDAL
Study In Brown - Clifford Brown And Max Roach 4/5
SILVER MEDAL
Afro-Cuban - Kenny Dorham 4/5
BRONZE MEDAL
Julie Is Her Name - Julie London 3.5/5
HONORABLE MENTIONS
4. Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan 3.5/5
5. Helen Merrill - Helen Merrill 3.5/5
~~~~~
1956:
a. Albums in my collection still to hear front to back:
- Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley [Rock & Roll]
b. Albums in my collection rated and ranked:
1. Lady Sings The Blues - Billie Holiday 4/5 [Vocal Jazz, Standards]
2. The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers 3.5/5 [Doo-Wop]
3. Calypso - Harry Belafonte 3.5/5 [Calypso]
After giving this a proper listen, it makes me wonder that this places so highly on so many all-time lists. Seems it's there more for influence and less for craftsmanship, because the songwriting is uneven and the music has a raw, unfinished quality. It's loaded down with covers, not all of which hit the mark, and is a haphazard mix of rockers and ballads. Still, the energy this record has when it's at its best is enough to earn it a light 3.5/5 and move into fourth place for 1956.
Next up: Ravi Shankar's Three Classical Ragas, which I chose to round out 1956 because of its acclaim and appearance in the regional music genre olympics. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
This was a great discovery. Just a really tight hard bop album with excellent performances from all involved. It never gets dull and it's suitably virtuosic at times. A strong 4/5 that goes right to the top of my list for 1955.
.
Loving this!!!
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
Even though I have no prior experience with Hindustani classical music, it is readily apparent that Shankar is a very talented musician. Especially toward the end of each raga when the intensity escalates, he is a wonder to marvel at. However, I would be lying if I didn't admit that my experience with this music is more appreciation than enjoyment. Perhaps due to my own ethnocentrism, at times it seems droning or abrasive. Technically, it is impressive enough that I can't give it less than a 3.5/5, but it lands at fifth out of five in my 1956 list.
~~~~~
1956 Results:
GOLD MEDAL
Lady Sings The Blues - Billie Holiday 4/5
SILVER MEDAL
The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers 3.5/5
BRONZE MEDAL
Calypso - Harry Belafonte 3.5/5
HONORABLE MENTIONS
4. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley 3.5/5
5. Music Of India: Three Classical Ragas - Ravi Shankar 3.5/5
~~~~~
1957:
a. Albums in my collection still to hear front to back:
- Singin' The Blues - B.B. King [Electric Blues, Jump-Blues]
b. Albums in my collection rated and ranked:
1. Here's Little Richard - Little Richard 4/5 [Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues]
2. Monk's Music - Thelonious Monk 4/5 [Hard Bop]
3. Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins 4/5 [Hard Bop]
4. Birth Of The Cool - Miles Davis 4/5 [Cool Jazz]
5. 'Round About Midnight - Miles Davis 3.5/5 [Hard Bop]
6. Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk 3.5/5 [Hard Bop]
c. New album selections:
- Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis Quintet [Hard Bop]
- Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar! - Johnny Cash [Country, Rockabilly]
- The "Chirping" Crickets - The Crickets [Rockabilly, Rock & Roll] _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
New Listens / Non-Scored Re-Listens [*] For The Week Ending 5/26
The Classics:
ATLiens - OutKast*
Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt*
The Strong:
Al Green Gets Next To You - Al Green*
Study In Brown - Clifford Brown And Max Roach
Vessel - Frankie Cosmos
16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens*
GP - Gram Parsons
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe
Divers - Joanna Newsom*
Afro-Cuban - Kenny Dorham
Cherry Tree (EP) - The National
Bryter Layter - Nick Drake*
Holding Our Breath (EP) - Slowdive
Outside Your Room (EP) - Slowdive
Psychedelic Shack - The Temptations*
Nocturne - Wild Nothing
The Solid:
Radio City - Big Star*
Uptown Saturday Night - Camp Lo
Cluster & Eno - Cluster & Eno
Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
Another Setting - The Durutti Column
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
I Need To Start A Garden - Haley Heynderickx
Helen Merrill - Helen Merrill
Julie Is Her Name - Julie London
Historian - Lucy Dacus
Nevermind - Nirvana
Music Of India: Three Classical Rāgas - Ravi Shankar
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols
Konnichiwa - Skepta
All Delighted People (EP) - Sufjan Stevens
Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
Blue Afternoon - Tim Buckley
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out - Yo La Tengo
The Not Worth Collecting:
PRhyme 2 - PRhyme
~~~~~~~~~~
Previously Scored Re-Listens For The Week Ending 5/26
This album has some classic tracks, like "Cry, Cry, Cry", "I Walk The Line", and "Folsom Prison Blues". Unfortunately, the folk and gospel tunes that round out the album are of lesser quality, and the album is little more than a collection of tracks, which holds it to a middling 3.5/5 and moves it to the end of my 1957 list.
This record starts to live up to its name more as it goes along, and when the quintet cooks, it's at its best. However, too much of the record is taken up by more languid material that, while competently performed, is less interesting. With a light 4/5, this moves into fourth place on my 1957 list.
~~~~~
1. Here's Little Richard - Little Richard 4/5
2. Monk's Music - Thelonious Monk 4/5
3. Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins 4/5
4. Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis Quintet 4/5
5. Birth Of The Cool - Miles Davis 4/5
6. 'Round About Midnight - Miles Davis 3.5/5
7. Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk 3.5/5
8. Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar! - Johnny Cash 3.5/5
This 1957 comp collects singles released between 1951 and 1956. It has a lot of energy and represents King's early years of recording well. The best known track on here is "3 O'Clock Blues", but the rest of the material is very consistent in quality as well. I didn't find this awe-inspiring, but I will give it a strong 3.5/5.
The hits are good, the filler less so. Still, this is loaded with classic tunes like "Maybe Baby" and "That'll Be The Day". While it's less impressive as an album, that's good enough for another strong 3.5/5.
~~~~~
1957 Results:
GOLD MEDAL
Here's Little Richard - Little Richard 4/5
SILVER MEDAL
Monk's Music - Thelonious Monk 4/5
BRONZE MEDAL
Saxophone Colossus - Sonny Rollins 4/5
HONORABLE MENTIONS
4. Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet - Miles Davis Quintet 4/5
5. Birth Of The Cool - Miles Davis 4/5
6. 'Round About Midnight - Miles Davis 3.5/5
7. The "Chirping" Crickets - The Crickets 3.5/5
8. Singin' The Blues - B.B. King 3.5/5
9. Brilliant Corners - Thelonious Monk 3.5/5
10. Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar! - Johnny Cash 3.5/5
~~~~~
1958:
a. Albums in my collection still to hear front to back:
- The Blues - B.B. King [Electric Blues]
b. Albums in my collection rated and ranked:
1. Le Sacre Du Printemps - Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 4.5/5 [Modern Classical]
2. We Are The Chantels - The Chantels 4/5 [Girl Group, Doo-Wop]
3. Lady In Satin - Billie Holiday 4/5 [Vocal Jazz]
4. Little Richard - Little Richard 3.5/5 [Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues]
5. Blue Train - John Coltrane 3.5/5 [Hard Bop]
6. Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud - Miles Davis 3.5/5 [Film Score, Cool Jazz]
7. Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley 3.5/5 [Hard Bop]
8. Soulville - Ben Webster 3.5/5 [Cool Jazz]
As a proper album instead of a collection of singles, this one doesn't have the highs of Singin' The Blues, but it remains a fairly consistent and rewarding listen. 3.5/5.
There are too many loping piano and bass lines on this record for it to be one of my favorites. I prefer my hard bop to go as hard as possible. That being said, this does have three tracks (1, 3, 6) that I feel are very strong. 3.5/5.
~~~~~
1958 Results:
GOLD MEDAL
Le Sacre Du Printemps - Leonard Bernstein & New York Philharmonic 4.5/5
SILVER MEDAL
We Are The Chantels - The Chantels 4/5
BRONZE MEDAL
Lady In Satin - Billie Holiday 4/5
HONORABLE MENTIONS
4. Little Richard - Little Richard 3.5/5
5. Blue Train - John Coltrane 3.5/5
6. Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud - Miles Davis 3.5/5
7. Milestones - Miles Davis 3.5/5
8. Somethin' Else - Cannonball Adderley 3.5/5
9. The Blues - B.B. King 3.5/5
10. Soulville - Ben Webster 3.5/5
~~~~~
1959:
a. Albums in my collection still to hear front to back:
- Go Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley [Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll]
b. Albums in my collection rated and ranked:
1. Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers (Moanin') - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers 4/5 [Hard Bop]
2. Little Girl Blue - Nina Simone 4/5 [Vocal Jazz]
3. Having A Good Time - Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns 4/5 [New Orleans R&B]
4. Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis 3.5/5 [Modal Jazz, Cool Jazz]
5. The Shape Of Jazz To Come - Ornette Coleman 3.5/5 [Avant-Garde Jazz]
6. Mingus Ah Um - Charles Mingus 3.5/5 [Post-Bop]
7. Time Out - The Dave Brubeck Quartet 3.5/5 [Cool Jazz]
c. New album selections:
- Chega De Saudade - João Gilberto [Bossa nova]
- Moanin' In The Moonlight - Howlin' Wolf [Chicago Blues] _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
I hope you “come around” so to speak in Kind Of Blue. Recently I did a reassessment of my top 600 fave albums and graded each (if I had listened enough to have a good idea) and I came to the conclusion it’s about as perfect as any album I’ve ever heard, both in terms of virtuosity and quality and my personal enjoyment of it. Kind of Blue and Highway 61 Revisited are currently tied for highest grade. 9.8/10. Adore it.
Anyway, love this and keep it up. _________________ -Ryan
I hope you “come around” so to speak in Kind Of Blue. Recently I did a reassessment of my top 600 fave albums and graded each (if I had listened enough to have a good idea) and I came to the conclusion it’s about as perfect as any album I’ve ever heard, both in terms of virtuosity and quality and my personal enjoyment of it. Kind of Blue and Highway 61 Revisited are currently tied for highest grade. 9.8/10. Adore it.
Anyway, love this and keep it up.
Thanks Merc! Digging your diary too and will get a bunch of recs with time. Too bad The End was too bleak for your liking. I like it except for the fascist anthem cover.
I tend to give albums a long time in between visits to allow for my outlook on music to change enough to alter my assessment. So since I just heard it again a few months ago I'll probably go back in a couple years. It's pretty flawless at what it sets out to do, for sure, the stumbling block is that as of now I don't always love what that is. _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
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baystateoftheart
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Mercury
