The Great Fantasy Jazz Band Draft
If the rock n' roll idiom lends itself to supergroups, jazz music is tailor-made for fantasy bands. And if recent conversations are any indication, both hardcore jazz-heads and pedestrian enthusiasts warm to the idea of hand-picking fantasy jazz bands. My recent listening has gotten me really excited about a number of young up-and-comers, so to balance my own idiosyncratic ensemble, I picked the brains of a few trusty colleagues with following softball: Assemble your ideal jazz group. Pick anyone you like, living or dead. Who would fill your roster?
Illustration courtesy of Sam Kirk (206-240-1649)
I'm in the mood for...
Cuong Vu - trumpet
Rudresh Mahanthappa - reeds
Jason Moran - piano
Toby Summerfield - guitar
Reid Anderson of the Bad Plus- bass
Damion Reid - drums
Patricia Barber - guest vocals
Would these guys rip open a few new dimensions or what? Gettin' your own ideas yet? A few of my fearless ChordStrike cohorts did...
Alan Wiley wants:
Alice Coltrane – Harp
Pharoah Sanders – Sax
Charles Mingus – Bass
Lionel Hampton – Vibes
Ravi Shankar – Sitar
Archie Shepp – Drums
John Zorn – Sax
Jaap Blank – Vocals
Gabi Knight offered two handily labeled examples:
"The Dream"
Chico Hamilton - drums
Paul Chambers - bass
Wayne Shorter - sax
Bill Evans - piano
Don Cherry - trumpet
"The Nightmare"
David Sanborn - sax
Chick Corea - piano
Billy Cobham - drums
John McLaughlin - guitar
Stanley Clarke - bass
Ian Anderson - flute
Think you can do better?
Omnivoracious blogger Dave Callanan prefaces his dream team by saying, "Tough call to exclude Miles [Davis], but I just don’t see how he and Louis [Armstrong] could have coexisted in the same ensemble. Nod goes to Louis for 'Skokiaan' alone." Dave's list:
Thelonious Monk- Piano
Louis Armstrong - Trumpet
John Coltrane - Sax
Charles Mingus - Bass
Count Basie – Bandleader
Lastly, intrepid jazz fan and esteemed associate Eric Martin served an indulgent 10-top:
Joe Williams & Sarah Vaughan - Vocals
Chris Botti - Trumpet
John Coltrane - Soprano Sax
James Moody - Tenor
Bobbi Humphrey - Flute
Jack McDuff - Organ
Ramsey Lewis - Piano
Jaco Pastorius - Bass
Art Blakey - Drums
OK, so no Dizzie? No Miles? No freakin' Bird? Are we a bunch of amateurs? Or do we know something you don't? Boast your draft here. We're leaving the door wide open, focusing for a month on All That Jazz, and awaiting your better ideas. Put us in our place. We dare you...
--Jason Kirk
martin bihl on August 31, 2008 at 10:40 PM
Clifford Brown on trumpet
Bill Evans on piano
Max Roach on drums
Scott LaFaro on bass
Coleman Hawkins on sax
Milt Jackson on vibes
If there's a heaven and this combo ain't playin', I ain't goin'.
carl chambers on August 26, 2008 at 04:21 AM
freddie hubbard-trumpet
dizzy gillespie-trumpet
art blakey-drums
j.j. johnson-trombone
david baker-trombone
wayne shorter-tenor sax
charlie parker-alto sax
paul chambers-bass
george russell-piano
carl chambers on August 26, 2008 at 04:20 AM
freddie hubbard-trumpet
dizzy gillespie-trumpet
art blakey-drums
j.j. johnson-trombone
david baker-trombone
wayne shorter-tenor sax
charlie parker-alto sax
paul chambers-bass
george russell-piano
carl chambers on August 26, 2008 at 04:20 AM
freddie hubbard-trumpet
dizzy gillespie-trumpet
art blakey-drums
j.j. johnson-trombone
david baker-trombone
wayne shorter-tenor sax
charlie parker-alto sax
paul chambers-bass
george russell-piano
Craig Jackson on August 25, 2008 at 02:32 PM
That should be Billy Cobham on Drums:
Geri Allen on Piano
Billy Cobham on drums
Esmerelda Spalding on bass
Al Dimeola on acoustic guitar
Lizz Wright on vocals
Craig Jackson on August 25, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Geri Allen on Piano
Billy Cobham on piano
Esmerelda Spalding on bass
Al Dimeola on acoustic guitar
Lizz Wright on vocals
clovis miguel on August 23, 2008 at 01:10 PM
Unbelievable how can anyone select "their" best in each musical instrument. You would be also able to count the brighest stars in the sky??
So, be easy, there are dozen of masters, each one great at his time. No way to choose, for example, between Louis and Miles.
But I respect someone's feeling in order to offer a homage, a tribute to their idols and nurturing wonderful nostalgia.Clovis Miguel
Blu Hulk on August 23, 2008 at 02:39 AM
Looking at my post, i realized its not really "small group", but more like a team....lol
Blu Hulk on August 23, 2008 at 02:37 AM
It's insane to narrow it down to such a small group, but here it goes...
Trumpet - Clifford Brown
Alto Saxophone - Bird
Tenor Saxophone - Joe Henderson
Drums - Elvin Jones (for some weird reason, this was the only "no-brainer" for me...lol)
Piano - Herbie Hancock
Bass - Paul Chambers
Organ - Larry Young
Guitar - Kenny Burrell
Vibes - Milt Jackson
Vocals - Billie Holiday
jj boxcut on August 20, 2008 at 05:30 PM
heres my dream band.peter brotzmann sax, don ellis trumpet, andrew hill piano, scott lafaro bass, buddy rich drums ,sonny sharrock guitar,larry young organ, rick wakeman synthesizers, eric dolphy flute, benny maupin bass clarinet.
Michael C. on August 20, 2008 at 06:45 AM
Tony Williams - Drums
Paul Chambers - Bass
Rob Brown - Alto Sax
George Lewis - Trombone
Dizzy Gillespie - Trumpet
I probably have 15 or more up my sleeve, but we'll give this a go.
on August 19, 2008 at 08:31 AM
Max Roach-Drums
Charles Mingus-Bass
Horace Silver-Piano
Miles Davis-Trumpet
Sonny Rollins-Tenor Sax
Cannonball Adderly-Alto Sax
Second team
Elvin Jones-Drums
Ron Carter-Bass
Bill Evans-Piano
Clifford Brown-Trumpet
John Coltrane-Tenor Sax
Bobby Hutcherson-Vibes
Yea, I know, there's no Louie Armstrong, but Louie Armstong was a group all to himself. I like to listen to him solo or with very litle backing--just Louie...
David Horiuchi on August 19, 2008 at 07:04 AM
Talking Wall, I agree about the Kind of Blue band, and I'd throw Massey Hall (Bird, Dizzy, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Mingus) in as well. Here's my lineup:
Clifford Brown, trumpet
Charlie Parker, alto
John Coltrane, tenor
Oscar Peterson, piano
Ray Brown, bass
Max Roach, drums
Carmen McRae, vocals
Walter Kolosky on August 18, 2008 at 05:29 PM
As timing would have it, I have started a series on jazz fantasy bands, along with reviews of the music they would make, at jazz.com. The first appeared several weeks ago at http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/7/23/make-believe-ballroom Upcoming jazz fantasy bands will include Frank Sinatra, Weather Report, Gene Krupa, Jonas Hellborg and many more. These pieces are based upon several jazz fantasy bands I created for my 2004 book "Girls Don't Like Real Jazz".
Regards,
Walter Kolosky
Talking Wall on August 18, 2008 at 07:05 AM
I was gonna be a wise guy and put up the Kind of Blue band because I feel that was THE jazz supergroup. Here's a group I think would be very interesting together (jazz/rock) and all of them are alive. Hey! It could happen.
Robert Fripp - guitar
Ian Underwood - saxes & piano
Ruth Underwood - mallets
Barre Phillips - bass
Jack Bruce - electric bass, cello, voice
Jack DeJohnette - drums
Kenny Wheeler - trumpet, flugelhorn