I love jazz. My favorites are Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious, and Bird. I don't like smooth jazz, I like my jazz to say something, to have a feel or a mood to it, to have a little bit of a dark side. Its a shame in Jackson that with all the jazz lovers that live here, there is no opportunity to discuss jazz or swap our ideas.
Here is something I discovered through the Wall Street Journal, of all things.
Its a series of five minute webcasts on John Coltrane and his work. Just enough to teach you something, not bore you, and leave you wanting to learn a little bit more about his music.
My favorite Trane cds are probably Crescent and Live at Birdland. His "Live at Carnegie Hall" with Monk is pretty awesome as well. Interesting story behind that one. He and Monk collaborated for several months but there were no known existing recordings of their concerts or sessions. However, a couple of years ago (literally) in the archives of the Library of Congress, someone discovered some recordings of the Carnegie Hall concert. It was remastered, released and voila, a true treasure was given back to us.
I'm not an expert on jazz. I just love the music and welcome any and all comments or discussions about jazz on this blog.
This is the story from the WSJ on the Traneumentary:
Jazz: Downloading Coltrane
The podcast meets the documentary in a new exploration of the saxophonistBy JAMIN WARRENFebruary 17, 2007; Page P2For an innovative look at the life of John Coltrane, grab your iPod."The Traneumentary" is a documentary presented in podcast form. Unlike traditional radio or television profiles, it's parcelled out in free five-minute weekly installments.
In each episode, a different jazz musician offers recollections or impressions of Mr. Coltrane as the legendary saxophonist's music plays in the background. The podcasts's creator, Joseph Vella, a media consultant and former musician, has interviewed dozens of musicians for the series and posts a new episode every week. The artists range from some who played with Mr. Coltrane, such as pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Jimmy Cobb (the last remaining member of Miles Davis's legendary "Kind of Blue" sessions), to contemporary jazz stars like Terence Blanchard and Jason Moran.The resulting recordings have an informal, conversational feel. There are no introductions or repartee between Mr. Vella and the musicians, who simply tell their stories.
The music -- clips from classics such as "My Favorite Things" and "A Love Supreme" -- ebbs and flows, growing louder during pauses and subsiding as the artists speak.Mr. Vella, who has worked on similar documentary projects with Yo-Yo Ma and the Beach Boys, was originally commissioned to make a single podcast on Mr. Coltrane last summer for Concord Records, which was releasing a box set of Mr. Coltrane's recordings.Mr. Vella decided to expand the project to a full-scale audio documentary.
He enlisted the support of Warner Music Group, Impulse! and Blue Note Records, who, along with Concord, provided access to their Coltrane recordings and funding for the project.Mr. Vella, who started his own jazz Web site in 1991 and has streamed live broadcasts for more than a decade, says the podcast was the natural medium for the project. Podcasts are "a way to reveal something that had been lost in the commercialization of radio: its intimacy," he says.
HOW TO FIND IT: Go to traneumentary.blogspot.com
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