Text by John Pietaro
When posed with the challenge of listing 10 albums that have moved me on a personal level, those that have hit me viscerally, regardless of critical acclaim, I thought, let me try to reflect a bit. I am 51 and have carefully been listening to different genres of music for much of that time. I hope those I tag in this will also go that route and list the records that hit you deep and avoid trying to just wow everyone else here on DooBeeDoo. This challenge is more about what records were important as we developed as musicians/music listeners. So now in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
1. Out To Lunch – Eric Dolphy (not only an amazing classic of challenging, melodic, creative jazz led by one of the super visionaries of our time but also a great demonstration of the how the vibraphone can become as much a part of this new music as any other instrument!)
2. This is Our Music – Ornette Coleman (I became so deeply absorbed I this album as a college freshman, majoring in music and having my ears expand with this music’s heritage and in the downtown music I was beginning to throw myself into)
3. Revolver – the Beatles (I will always feel that the Beatles were the apex of rock music and that their incredible progression from pop songs to concept albums was truly developed with this brilliant album)
4. collection of The Benny Goodman Quartet (Gene Krupa was my first drum hero! I still love his burning, manic brand of swing! But in an ensemble here with Lionel Hampton – my first vibes inspiration -, the great Teddy Wilson and Goodman’s guile and drive, and you have a music that sang the praises of the old Chicago Loop and the swing to come on every cut)
5. Discipline – King Crimson (I will always feel so strongly about this record, released in ’81 when I was still a college student and flying high on the playing of Bill Bruford. His kit combined acoustics and electronics, standard drums and boo-bams, and a whole other feel. This Crimson was deep in that it looked to a concise, clean progressive music that was as influenced by gamelan and African music as it was the sound of tomorrow)
6. CoDoNa – CoDoNa (This was a trio consisting of percussionist/sitar player Colin Walcott, the immortal trumpeter/
7. Phil Spector collection – Various Artists (These ever-lasting, exciting songs recorded by the Crystals, the Ronettes and other greats of R&B pop were great in general but most of why they influenced me was the presence of that top-line studio assemblage known as the Wrecking Crew on backing tracks, led by amazing drummer Hal Blaine. There were so many great musicians involved in the countless sessions they did between the early 60s and early 70s, that they cannot all be named here. But Blaine’s drum fills were legendary and remain among the greatest examples of how far one can take popular music. Everything he touched was gold!)
8. No New York – Various Artists (I became a musician active in the downtown scene only toward its close, late 80s-early 90s. While my own vision of new music has always been more Jazz-oriented, the No Wave scene was very important in that it extended concepts of Free Jazz, 20th century modern composition and experimental rock by way of punk’s entire DIY philosophy. His album really put the genre on the map, even before it had a name. And while similar musics later popped up in other locations, this is really a sound drenched in the tension and creativity of NYC. You gotta love it)
9. Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane – Thelonious Monk (any, every thing by this genius of modern jazz is essential to any musician worth his salt, but here working with Coltrane, it all comes together. Monk offered a boundary-breaking modern harmony in his Be-Bop and in these sessions with John Coltrane’ s own vision, where we can see the Jazz to come. Trane was the voice of Jazz in his generation—and his voice will always speak to me and countless others)
10. John Coltrane….I have hesitated because I cannot decide which record to list! At first I think Giant Steps as this one has not only stayed with me for decades but always lifts me. Then I thought My Favorite Things but then it occurred tome, which version?? I believe that Coltrane’s version of this recorded on German television in the quintet –with Dolphy added to the classic quartet line-up–tops them all; check out Dolphy’s flute solo! It sends Trane to another place and the music just soars. The very sound of Trane’s horns has been a mesmerizing factor in my musicianship, so all of his work sends me. His contributions to the Miles albums are my favorite parts, though I too am a big Miles fan. What can one say? How about Ole? Or Live at the Village Vanguard? A LOVE SUPREM??! Maybe New Thing at Newport – which would qualify the list here if I got to extend it. Ballads, The Avant Garde, the record he made with Duke, oh forget it. I cannot decide. Sorry if I am cheating a bit.
Now for real cheating, if I got to include a few more I would need to add Phil Ochs to this list – All the News That’s Fit to Sing is that good. So is Rehearsals for Retirement and Tape From California. Oh hell. And I would need to include most anything by Bill Evans. His spacious, resonant concept of piano probably influenced my vibraphone playing more than any vibraphonist. Evans’ albums like Portrait in Jazz, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie hold a gigantic place in my heart. Other records that hit me hard as a young musician include Aja by Steely Dan (most of their output, but especially Aja), Mr. Gone by Weather Report (I love the band’s entire rep but this one was released at an important period for me; later I recognized that Wayne Shorter’s role was being diminished so can find fault in it, but back in the late 70s, wow). Lastly, I also enjoy British pop from the 60s, West Coast cool Jazz, protest folk music of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and Richie Havens, the Eddie Condon records from the 40s, punk rock, late 60s-early 70s rock and modern composers like Satie, Bernard Herrmann, Stravinsky and others. How do you squeeze all of this into 10 albums? You cannot……
