Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

This is just very accessible (which is ironic for a 3 hour record) and has a lot of pretty melodies to guide the listeners through the more complex stuff.



I admit that I think a lot of jazz is pretty grading to listen to but I never have the feeling that I have to force myself to listen to this album

Album Rating: 5.0

i think jazz is one of those aged inoffensive genres like classical which is hard to criticize on principle. i mean it's jazz, you don't see people going off at coltrane the same way they do at yorke or maynard. for most people it's just cool instrumental stuff which doesn't make much sense but sounds smooth. most people are happy enough listening to it the same way they do beethoven. that is to say, without any real modern critical impose. it's kind of like a holy lamb that no one really bothers thinking too hard to think about, you can see that just by looking at the charts, i bet there are thousands of people who have listened to kind of blue or a love supreme mildly but never bothered rating it because it doesn't really register. kind of like golf or something like that, it takes a lot of getting in too. So it's nice when an album like this comes out and gets a lot of drift

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I agree with you there, Piglet. I feel like the reason Jazz and Classsical have that kind of rep is because it's been etched into our minds that all the music from that era is amazing by music teachers, parents, etc. You're considered wise by many if you listen to mostly jazz and classical(or pretentious beyond belief, depends on the person). Also, since jazz is one of the oldest genres that still produce content today, most of the content in the genre's hayday has been lost, leaving us only the ones regarded as the cream of the crop. I guarantee if we still had most of the jazz albums of the past easily available, you'd find a lot of trash.

@wtf jazz has been extensively recorded since the 20s. and there is relatively easy access to most of it

Album Rating: 5.0

okay sure there's a lot of jazz available from the 20th century, that shouldn't be in doubt nor be the point in focus. It's more just that when you listen to jazz, you are just sort of listening to it. As a modern, white guy if you are really into jazz it's because you are heavily invested into the musicality of it. If you aren't it's kind of empty sounding. In an age of music which includes bands like Radiohead or Tool or an innumerable amount of others the appeal of jazz is less immediate. So that's all I'm saying, it's nice when an album like this comes out and it's a fantastic entry point into the world of jazz. I'm one of them, I barely listen to anything more than Bitches Brew. But, half the songs on this just have an immediate orgasmic appeal that is really, really refreshing and makes me want to revisit this Kamasi's influences.

Album Rating: 2.5

inoffensive genres like classical

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

@Toron well I can't seem to find that jazz you're finding -_-

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I guess you're right. Gotta look deeper.

Album Rating: 5.0

c'mon debate me then, there are barely many people that come out on any classical composer and say "oh hey, i really didn't like the motif there, your ears are tired as balls by this last act, c'mon beethoven you could've trimmed that bit at least, i don't care about your eroica bullshit in this 3rd symphony we all know you're just fuckin around"



if it were any modern composition it's "hey, fuckin the intro sucks balls what is that synth" etc. of course i'm being fairly obtuse but you get my point. Modern music and it's genres are debated far more thoroughly than aged ones. This isn't a controversial point

Album Rating: 2.5

that's a good question.

Album Rating: 5.0

what are we arguing here? that jazz is more accessible than what wtf gave credence to? Sure.



but all i'm saying is that it's fuckin nice to have an album that refreshes the genre, it's just nice. and that we aren't as conditioned to criticizing jazz and classical because we don't know what to make of it and we are a bunch of idiots. so it's just nice, and i really feel like listening to giant steps.

"we don't know what to make of it"
you can make of it whatever you want

I do agree that a lot of ppl don't criticize jazz in that they don't feel their criticism would stick, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. look at every angle. have a sense of discovery. if you aren't sure what it means then ask what it means to you

Album Rating: 5.0

hahahahah that jesus christ made me laugh



but yeah pretty simple point. Mainstream appeal does not include jazz, and when it does it is on a very superficial level. So then an album like this drops and it makes it feel very immediate to revisit the classics of the genre. It's just cool and this album in general is just really, really cool

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

"I do agree that a lot of ppl don't criticize jazz in that they don't feel their criticism would stick"



I was looking for words to explain what I had on mind about this topic, and I feel that this is pretty accurate to how I feel about it. Jazz has been around for so long and the opinions on its masterpieces have been set for so long, trying to take it at a different angle wouldn't really bring anything new to a conversation that's essentially been over for a while. This album, imo, could re-open that conversation by giving us a masterfully crafted jazz album that is accessible enough for almost everyone to enter the conversation.

Album Rating: 5.0



yeah so basically most of the people listening to this album including myself are a bunch of idiots, this album is cool and modern enough and has more sex appeal than all of us combined and we don't really know how to interpret it and are very willing to avoid jazz elitists and their critically refined shadow and their hate for Buddy Rich and Whiplash, but yaknow it's just good so fuck off



yadadadada



i mean the most passionate i have felt before about jazz (with exception to bitches brew) is that about mingus song eat that chicken because it's so goddamn hilarious (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqRpk10rLh8)

Album Rating: 2.5

the reason most people don't criticize jazz or classical is cause they're damn ignorant and they know it. to actually talk about classical/jazz and be taken seriously you actually have to understand music theory, which takes time/effort. in addition, once you do know, you sound like a prick every time you talk about classical or jazz to most other people. considering they're not very relevant genres, it'd be like a layman teaching himself how to read and write sanskrit. well, now he can provide an alternate exegesis of the mahabharata but who's he going to talk to about it?

Album Rating: 5.0



Pretty much. Unless I'm a philosopher clown I'm not going to invest thousands of hours comparing Shankara and Kant's dualism. Listening to music isn't really a profession for most of us on the site. What the fuck could I possibly say about jazz which would be vehemently reputed by someone that has spent years thinking about how Duke Ellington probably didn't add enough impromptu cowbells to one of his albums in his early post-war years (again, being belligerently obtuse but you get my point). we're all fuckin bhenchods and marachods and music theory is too much for the average sputniker to compute

Album Rating: 5.0

I hated music theory back when I took piano lessons, so I'm obviously not one to try to become a jazz elitist

Album Rating: 5.0

i took flute lessons needless to say i'm much more of a pansy because of it, fuckin flute, such a good instrument but may as well be wearing a diaper while you're playing it because no one will take you seriously unless you're ian anderson

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

All the technicalities are nice and dandy to know, but you only have to listen to more jazz to compare jazz. If this album is doing anything to modern listeners, it should open their eyes to jazz having a long tradition that spans far wider than Kind of Blue, Kenny G, and Frank Sinatra.