I am not an expert on jazz and I will not therefore, deliver a half-baked jazz appreciation page. Instead I will provide links to sites which I think are excellent for detailed information to the various artists or album. Thank you for visiting my site.
I only started buying Jazz albums a couple of years back, when I got tired of listening to pop music on the radio. I made a friend, Henry, who turned out to be quite a lover of jazz music. He had hundreds of albums from which he loaned some to me (which I am grateful for) and there, he got me started. When I listened to the album (Verve Records) by Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny, "Beyond The Missouri Sky", I was simply hooked and rushed out to buy the album when I could. I noticed that there is no such album whatsoever in the inventories of the online CD merchants, of which is really quite surprising. What is more surprising is that there is no write-up by any aclaimed critic or reviewer on this album anywhere on the web. I will by liberty, introduce it more in detail later.
Jazz artists, from Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, from Nat King Cole to Harry Connick Junior, have that same sassy and comfortable style in producing their music, something they have in common despite the difference in era, generation or time. Armstrong was a legend on his own. Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dave Bubreck, each outstanding, each with a certain style not entirely uninfluenced by one or another. Vocalists such as Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Ella Fritzgerald were propelled to fame with their unique vocals, Fritzgerald being one of the more experimental jazz artists of her time. Now, we have Harry Connick Jr. and Cynthia Basinet, two of my favourites of new-age Jazz musicians.
Music with a laid-back style, yet lilthe and precise with their expressions, my favourite.
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The duet album by Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny has always what the duo wanted to do together on a music front. They have been friends for almost thirty years and although there are more web sites on Metheny than on Haden, there is not doubt both have their magical grasp of the rythmn that exudes from their guitars. Haden plays the bass and does wonderful improvision in accompaniment throughout the entire album and Metheny does his thing with his acoustic and other instruments required for each song. A first time listener could easily tell while listening to the album that this kind of partnership ensues in each of the 13 songs in the album. Yet, each composition has its own story to tell and evokes different feelings with the subtle differences from one song to another. My personal favourite is "Our Spanish Love Song", a number written by none other than Charlie Haden himself, alongside with a few more tracks in the album. Love the guitar, the bass, the pregnant pauses, everything about the song is pure magic. The song is included in this page for me to share it with you guys. Of course, the more well-known titles are the love themes to the beautiful Italian film, Cinema Paradiso. Haden and Metheny, in their version of the acclaimed music written by Ernio Morricone's son, Andrea Morricone, have delivered the feel of the tragic love story with precision. "Beyond the Missouri Sky", aptly named as both musicians are from Missouri, yet are playing for the world and from the world, is indeed a brilliant collection of music. I love it.
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