 |
| one of these men does not belong here |
When I listen to the Red Norvo Trio playing Move I find myself wishing that Red's tinkly vibes could be wiped from the track leaving us to enjoy the duo of Tal Farlow on guitar and Charles Mingus on bass. I would have liked the Red Norvo Trio, without the Red Norvo.
Sorry, Red, I feel like I'm being extremely blunt and that you're scowling from beyond the grave.
We all know that you helped bring the vibraphone to jazz, so thank you thank you thank you for allowing us to hear the beauty of Walt Dickerson's 'To My Queen' and Milt Jackson on just about every track he ever recorded, yes thank you for the MJQ but please stop looking at me like that.
Could not agree more. The vibes are precariously close to the precipice that is elevator music. Don't wanna crash-land there, no sir.
ReplyDeleteBut those rare masters (...three or four in the history of jazz?....) make those vibes sound fantastic!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I probably haven't given the vibes in jazz a fair chance. I played them (and the kettle drums) in junior high. Perhaps that wrecked me for life.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to play sax but for some reason I was one of the last people to choose. So... I played the flute. Terrible. Maybe if I had heard some of the great jazz flautists like Yusef Lateef or Sonny Red I could have felt better about the situation, but it would be a few years before I got into jazz.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Red! But I can't imagine him fitting in here, even though I admit I've never heard the performances.
ReplyDeleteRed was especially good with Benny Goodman.
John: I bet Red would have been good with Benny, but I think he didn't mesh very well with the young guns of Mingus and Farlow...
ReplyDelete