17th Princeton JazzFeast

As always, the JazzFeast was amazing. The weather was great, the food was amazing, and the music was even better.

(and of course I stopped at the PREX table and bought "Right Now"-Charles Mingus and some Dial jam sessions with Charlie Parker and tons of other sax all-stars on vinyl. Then I went to the PREX store and got SHAFT on vinyl! Genius! Album reviews will be following!)

First on was Alan Dale and the New Legacy Jazz Band with Beth MacDonald. Dale added some rack/power toms to his set which I thought was a daring move, especially seeing as 60% of people attending for the jazz were traditionalists. But as always, the band swung like crazy. Today was the release date for a new Peggy Lee tribute CD of theirs so they did Fever and such. Dale was cracking jokes the whole time too.

Skipping down to Harry Allen, he appeared with Bill Easely who is absolutely phenomenal (coincidentally I was just reading about him in DownBeat). The whole set was great and Easely's solos were just insane.

Ed Polcer appeared with a usual gang of bandmates and they played some traditional stuff.

The Princeton University Jazztet was closing the show with usuals Allison Wood and the graduated Julia Brav. (Wood will be included in a sextet traveling to Sweden including Kevin Laskey on drums) They played tunes like In a Sentimental Mood and other standards.

All in all it was a great day, and I had an awesome time. Anybody else attend? Write what you thought in the comments!

Journey in Free Jazz, Day 1

I'm starting to listen to free jazz to see how it effects the way I think, live, and act.

I'm planning to do posts on each of the albums I'm using, consisting of a CD review, and personal notes about my applications for each.

The CDs I'm Using:

Free Jazz (A Collective Improvisation)- Ornette Coleman
Sound Grammar- Ornette Coleman
The Shape of Jazz to Come- Ornette Coleman
Sun Ship- John Coltrane
A Love Supreme- John Coltrane
Meditations- John Coltrane
History, Mystery- Bill Frisell (I suppose Concept Album would be a better phrase for this)
Black Saint and the Sinner Lady- Charles Mingus (again, more of a Concept Album)
*****'s Brew- Miles Davis
Between Nothingness and Eternity- Mahavishnu Orchestra


This is just a preliminary list. Some I won't listen to nearly as much as others, but it's all as I see fit...

If anybody has suggestions for CDs I should listen to our reasons to listen to the above listed CDs, please comment and let me know.

I look forward to sharing with you all how free jazz affects my life...