Music Forums - Music Forum - The Music Community - View Single Post - Avant Garde jazz suggestions? "Outside" jazz suggestions?

Steve S · #3 04-07-2008

Here are some of the most avant-garde selections from my personal collection:

Anthony Braxton - Piano Quartet, Yoshi's 1994: Braxton on piano? Maybe he should stick to his woodwinds. For the most part, this sounds more like someone playing the piano wearing boxing gloves. However, there are a few moments of relative lucidity where you can catch a pretty decent vibe.

Sun Ra and his Arkestra - Out There a Minute: The title explains it all!

Medeski, Martin and Wood - The Dropper: Think of Jimmy McGriff on LSD. Highly avant-garde, innovative and creative. This is NOT your father's organ trio!

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Aus den seiber Tagen: 47 minutes of pure genre-defying beauty - but then again, avant-garde defies genre and labeling anyway. Granted, this is not for everyone, but you asked for 'outside', right?

Michal Urbaniak - Urb Symphony: This is somewhat avant-garde, but mostly a fusion of jazz, rock, hip-hop and eastern European world music. This is a live recording with Urbaniak leading an orchestra, fusion combo, chorus and soloist (who I believe is his wife, Urzsula Dudziak). This is amazing!

Steve Turre - Sanctified Shells: Conch shells played by four trombonists with Afro-Cuban rhythms? That's definitely out there, but it is also a thing of beauty. Turre has Robin Eubanks as a guest on this collection.