Ascension (or: a jazz thread)

[Jyqm]

I realize this thread might have exceedingly narrow appeal, but what the hell. Coltrane fans, if there are any out there, do you own Ascension, or have you heard it? What do you think about it?

I just listened to it (Edition II) for the first time in quite a few years, and it was a pretty positive experience. Partly because I think I have a pretty high tolerance for dissonance, depending on the circumstances. Ascension is certainly not a perfect piece/album by any means, but as an exercise in discovering the true roots of free improvisation and its ability to create music, I think it's amazingly successful. This is the "a thousand monkeys banging away at a thousand typewriters for thousand years" (and it certainly feels that long to some people) of jazz albums. It's a glorious noise, often uncomfortable and difficult to listen to, but every now then there emerges that snippet of Shakespeare and it's absolutely beautiful.

Or maybe I'm full of **** and the whole thing is just a big piece of pretentious avant-garde crap. At any rate, I'm now listening to Coltrane as kind of a cool-down.

So. Anybody else have any thoughts about Ascension?

Or, to give this thread a little wider scope: What's your favorite jazz album? Or who's your favorite jazz artist?* Whatever you want to write about; this place could use a good jazz thread.

*The "and why?" is implied in both of those questions. If you pollute my thread with just a list of names and titles that I could go look up on Amazon.com, I will hunt you down and destroy you.

[markolas]

Oh, yay, a jazz thread!

I like John Coltrane, but haven't ventured into his avant-garde period, so I haven't heard Ascension. I'm mostly a fan of jazz vocals, and lately I've rekindled a love for jump blues and piano blues from the '40s/'50s...which isn't exactly jazz, but a lot of it straddles the fence. I'm a huge fan of Louis Jordan and Big Joe Turner. There's a real exuberance in this music that I don't hear anywhere else...even when it's heartbreaking and downtrodden, there's still a sense that life is something to be celebrated.

This is the kind of music that I listen to most. I like rock & pop, but it constitutes a minority of the music that I actually own.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by markolas

Oh, yay, a jazz thread!

I almost made the title "Hey markolas..."

I like John Coltrane, but haven't ventured into his avant-garde period, so I haven't heard Ascension. I'm mostly a fan of jazz vocals, and lately I've rekindled a love for jump blues and piano blues from the '40s/'50s...which isn't exactly jazz, but a lot of it straddles the fence. I'm a huge fan of Louis Jordan and Big Joe Turner. There's a real exuberance in this music that I don't hear anywhere else...even when it's heartbreaking and downtrodden, there's still a sense that life is something to be celebrated.

I'm not at all familiar with Jordan or Turner, but I'll definitely put them on my list, as they sound really great!

[markolas]

Jyqm...

Do you listen to much fusion-type stuff? I had a block against it for a long time, but recently discovered that I really like Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Weather Report.

I first became enamoured of Jaco's bass when I heard Joni Mitchell's Hejira album. Never heard anything like it, and it matches the atmosphere of that album perfectly. It's a shame he went crazy and died.

[David]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

I realize this thread might have exceedingly narrow appeal, but what the hell. Coltrane fans, if there are any out there, do you own Ascension, or have you heard it? What do you think about it?

I have the remastered Ascension.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by David

I have the remastered Ascension.

Stop toying with me.

[markolas]

I'll take that as a no?

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by markolas

I'll take that as a no?

Sorry! When I looked at the thread yesterday, I just saw David's post and somehow missed yours. I thought David had just bumped up the thread with his one-sentence comment to be mean to me...

I haven't yet listened to very much fusion, but I bought Miles Davis' On the Corner (1972) a couple weeks ago, and it kicked my ass pretty hard. It's really awesome. A lot of people describe it as the birth of trance, which I think is a good description, but it's also incredibly funktastic.

[markolas]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Sorry! When I looked at the thread yesterday, I just saw David's post and somehow missed yours. I thought David had just bumped up the thread with his one-sentence comment to be mean to me...

I haven't yet listened to very much fusion, but I bought Miles Davis' On the Corner (1972) a couple weeks ago, and it kicked my ass pretty hard. It's really awesome. A lot of people describe it as the birth of trance, which I think is a good description, but it's also incredibly funktastic.

I haven't heard On the Corner yet. I got In a Silent Way awhile back...last year, I guess. It's taking some time to grow on me. But I really like some of the Weather Report stuff, strangely, since it's almost the same group of people.

[David]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Sorry! When I looked at the thread yesterday, I just saw David's post and somehow missed yours. I thought David had just bumped up the thread with his one-sentence comment to be mean to me.

No, I really have the 24-bit CD remaster of Ascension!!