Jazz on a Summer’s Day: Vinyl collectors list their favourite jazz records

For its role of uniting people in all corners of the globe jazz is celebrated on April 30 every year Even as we stay locked down MidDaycom asked two Mumbaibased musicians and vinyl enthusiasts to offer a tour of their favourite jazz records acquired during their journeys to all corners of the country and world The choices span historical contemporary typical and experimental acts of the magical improvisational genreANURAG SHANKER music composer and guitar playerThe Mumbaibased composer producer and guitar player defines the term ldquojazzrdquo beyond its typical association with piano and saxophone sounds to include any music with improvisation Still he has more core jazz in his collection than even he anticipated Shanker listens to these on a Rega Rp1 turntable with a Telefunken Preamp and vintage Woodstock New Delhi made floorstanding speakersSomethinrsquo Else Cannonball Adderley 1958 ldquoIt has an allstar bandmdashMiles Davis on trumpet Art Blakey on drums It is completely up there in the holy tradition of jazz Whatrsquos also amazing is the sound the way it has been recorded even today in this day and age the sax and the trumpet is unbelievable and it feels so intimate The standout song is Autumn Leaves one of the most common and popular jazz standards But the way they have twisted the arrangement it has such a good slightly darker texture The other songs lsquoLove for Salersquo lsquoSomething Elsersquo are also outstandingrdquoGlenn Miller The Swinging Big Bands 19391942 ldquoMy wife and I picked this up just by looking at it We knew it was going to be something interesting It is a really old record we found in a second hand store in Vienna something that you wonrsquot find somewhere else Glen Millerrsquos orchestra I later found was one of the most successful recording artists They did a lot of tours and it has got that typical ballroom jazz big bandvibe that people would dance to so it is that record which you put on and it immediately makes everything light and celebratory lsquoIn the Moodrsquo lsquoGeorgia on my Mindrsquo lsquoAt Lastrsquo have all been done in that swing jazz big band style which is so unique It was an era of sound people still do it but you donrsquot get that sound Itrsquos a piece of history that we have with usrdquoBenny Goodman 1945 1945 ldquoThis is again a piece of history which we picked up in Marseille A brilliant record by the legend Benny Goodman who is a clarinet player Frankly the first time I played this record the kind of prowess and speed and command with which he performs his instrument was so stunning I thought it was playing at the wrong speed because it was so smoothly and unnaturally quick Then I realised that thatrsquos his expertise These are really hightempo fast pieces Cafe or bar jazz you know which is sitdown easy to listen to lsquoAinrsquot Misbehavingrsquo is one of my favourite songs from the original jazz traditional standard list One of the amazing things about this record is the liner notes which LPs used to have which are gone from our vocabulary now People used to write a mini review of the album and an introduction to the artist and their contribution to musicrdquoHarmony of Difference Kamasi Washington 2017 ldquoThis is a concept album Then again it is not an album it is more of a piece They play five songs but the beauty is that it is actually the same song only presented to you one layer at a time And finally the fifth song has all those layers played together and it sounds like a celebration I had heard this artist before but it was only when I listened to lsquoHarmony of Differencersquo where they celebrate different layers and finally play them together in harmony that I understood his message and what he is trying to do He is playing his culture and roots rather than showing off a style It is a cultural experience listening to himrdquoRecord of the album To Know Without Knowing Pic Courtesy Anurag ShankerTo Know Without Knowing Mulatu Astatke 2020 ldquoThis is one of the new records I got last year it came out in 2020 I did not know the artist before that Somebody sent me a link to his work and I found this album and the singles coming out I found out later that he is called the godfather of Ethiopian jazz he learnt jazz and Latin music in Europe and London and combined it with his Ethiopian roots This is a beautiful cultural experiencemdashrituals family festivalsmdash that you can be a part of It is amazing that music can do that even recorded music Astatke is a vibraphonist He is writing the arrangements and playing it with a young ensemble from Australia which is cool because a lot of international jazz tends to be centred in America and Europerdquo SHANKAR LAKSHMANAN musician and advertising professionalHaving grown up listening to his fatherrsquos records on a Murphy or Philips player Carnatic classical musician Shankar Lakshmanan began collecting vinyls from shops like Razzakrsquos a haunt in CST for music lovers during his college years This was long before he could afford his own ProJect audiophile record player and a customised music setup Currently ldquodivorcedrdquo from his collection thanks to lockdownmdashwhich he has been spending at his parentsrsquo homemdashLakshmanan is happy to reminisce about it ldquoIt is a welcome distraction from CovidrdquoNatural Elements Shakti 1977 ldquoI regard Get Down and Shruti as a sign and prototype of the IndoWestern fusion that has followed ever since I first heard this track as a child long before I had heard of Shakti or jazz or fusion After a recurring theme is established solos on guitar and violin followed by solos on ghatam and tabla followed by a MohraKorvai format including Konnakol and then returning to the main theme Legend John Mclaughlin plays some mindbending chords here In the pause between the two melodic solos Ustadji Zakir Hussain plays the most subtle but effective pickups imaginable This is also one of the finest early sound recordings of Ustadjis Tabla lsquoPeace of Mindrsquo has too much beauty packed in a couple of minutes It is a heartbreaking conversation between L Shankarjis violin and McLaughlins guitar Not only the finale of this landmark album but usually the finale of my music listening in this genrerdquoIn a Silent Way Miles Davis 1969 ldquoThe album plays out like one extended piece The title track is a stripped down arrangement of Joe Zawinuls beauty Hypnotic repetitive chords on Its about that time over which Mr Wayne Shorter plays a breathtaking solo This is the album where a young Mclaughlin was instructed by Miles to play the guitar like you dont know how to play the guitarrsquordquoHeavy Weather Weather Report 1977 ldquoItrsquos the first jazzfusion album I ever heard thanks to a neighbour Irsquove got two pressings of it lsquoBirdlandrsquo may be the most popular lsquohitrsquo but my favourite tracks are Zawinuls lsquoA Remark you Madersquo Shorters lsquoHarlequinrsquo and Pastoriuss lsquoTeen Townrsquo and lsquoHavonarsquo The best way to sum up this bands music is in the bandleaders words We always solo We never solordquoThrust Herbie Hancock 1974 ldquoI first heard the tricky rhythm statement of lsquoPalm Greasersquo when I was part of a lsquofusion bandrsquo as a teenager Mike Clarkrsquos drumming on lsquoActual Proofrsquo is still mindnumbing after decades of listening It is difficult to pick one album from Herbie Hancockrsquos vast body of work My favourite tracks from his other albums include lsquoSpiralling Prismrsquo lsquoSlyrsquo and lsquoTexturesrsquordquo