|
let' s see:
some of my favorite reworkings of old-school big band stuff were done by sun ra. check out "reflections in blue" for example. the story runs that the young mr. ra got his start doing charts for fletcher henderson, so the affinity between his arkestra and music of that period is not surprising biographically, even if it is a bit if you run into these tracks after listening to other, more out recordings.
amina claudine meyers (spelling?) has a release called "jumping at the sugar bowl" which is entirely made up of bessie smith tunes. its a fine thing.
there's quite a bit of stuff done under the general rubric of the synton marsalis school, most of which is altogether too reverent--and therefore altogether too tedious from my viewpoint--but others i run into seem to like this museyroom approach to jazz, so there you are.
all that said, the originals are best, i think: i would suggest starting with the bluebird duke ellington reissue from a few years ago, "the blanton-webster band" which is just great. from there, forward or backward in time, its hard to lose.
__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
|