Last month on Facebook, I was nominated by a friend to list my ten all-time favorite albums. "What really made an impact and is still on your rotation list. Post the cover, no need to explain." I enjoyed the exercise, although it was tough to narrow it down to ten and not make any explanations. I thought I would use my blog to share the albums and perhaps make some comments.
My first choice, because the file name was first in the directory, was Elvis Costello's third album, Armed Forces. This was the first Elvis Costello album that I purchased. I love the music on the LP and the EP. Once I saved up enough money, I went back to Tower Records and bought his first two albums.
Some don't like modal jazz; they think the musicians are just playing scales. Miles Davis and his sextette are not just playing scales on Kind of Blue.
Last year my daughter and I were sitting in the car waiting for my wife. I put this CD in the player. My daughter was quiet until she heard "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?" She said "That is warped." Yes it is.
I had trouble deciding which Duke Ellington album to select, but "Ellington at Newport" has the 27 chorus saxophone solo by Juan Gonsalves on "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue."
I bought my fiancée all of Ella Fitzgerald's songbooks, but the Gershwin was our favorite. We used two songs from it for our wedding reception.
I read in Newsweek that Glenn Gould had recorded a new version of The Goldberg Variations. I saved enough money, which took a while because classical albums cost more than pop or rock'n'roll albums.
I found Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh's They All Played Ragtime at the Anza Branch Library and enjoyed it, but I hadn't heard most of the music. The Anza and Richmond branches did not have any ragtime records, but I found Joshua Rifkin's album at the Main Library. I later bought my own copy.
I don't own this actual album, but this image allowed me to represent Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five and Hot Seven with one entry. I love all the recordings. "West End Blues," "Weather Bird," "Potato Head Blues," all of them.
I didn't know about Louis Jordan until someone played "Saturday Night Fish Fry" on KJAZ. I went looking for him at Tower Records.
What can I say about Sun Ra? Space IS the place. Some don't believe he visited Saturn in 1936 or 1937.
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