Favorite instrumental music

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A few '60s Jazz notables:

Cannonball Adderley
Albert Ayler
Tina Brooks
Jaki Byard

Stanley Cowell
Ornette Coleman
Kenny Dorham
Eric Dolphy

Booker Ervin
Bill Evans
Benny Golson
Grant Green

Andrew Hill
Bobby Hutcherson
Jack DeJohnette
Roland Kirk

Booker Little
Yusef Lateef
Jackie McLean
Charles Mingus

Hank Mobley
Blue Mitchell
John Patton
Duke Pearson

Sam Rivers
Freddie Redd
Pharoah Sanders
Archie Shepp

Sonny Simmons
Sun Ra
Cecil Taylor
Clark Terry

George Van Epps
Jack Wilson
Larry Young

...this should be enough to keep you busy for awhile...20+years for me and I'm still diggin all this stuff like there's no tomorrow!
 
Larry said:
DAN BOLTON said:
who did SHANGRI-LA?


Dan
Click to expand...

Robert Maxwell
Arthur Lyman
The Lettermen

To name a few.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking of the instrumental version that featured an organ lead. It was featured prominently in the first episode of MAD MEN on AMC, at the end of the show. The timeline for the series is 1960; and I figured the song was popular then, but I've also heard that it wasn't recorded until 1964; although it may have been written in the late '40's. I'm a little confused.


Dan
 
DAN BOLTON said:
I'm thinking of the instrumental version that featured an organ lead. It was featured prominently in the first episode of MAD MEN on AMC, at the end of the show. The timeline for the series is 1960; and I figured the song was popular then, but I've also heard that it wasn't recorded until 1964; although it may have been written in the late '40's. I'm a little confused.


Dan
Click to expand...

Dan, that would probably be the Robert Maxwell version. He was also one of three credited for writing the song. His single version debuted on the charts in 1964. Don't know when it was written or recorded.

Larry
 
Another one I thought of is the Midnight Cowboy. I always liked the original soundtrack version by John Williams with the harmonica. I never cared for Ferrante and Teicher's version with the wet or dripping (I guess that's what you'd call it) guitar sound.
I also enjoy most of the different TV/Movie Star Trek themes.
 
That made me think of "Tubular Bells," the theme from The Exorcist. ALways liked that one, along with "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk. I couldn't ever get thru the whole album versions of either one of those though!
 
My favorite instrumental track OF ALL TIME (and that is going back to around 1966 or so) is Woody Herman's version of the great Brazilian composer Edu Lobo's tune "Ponteio" off his 1968 "Light My Fire" album for Cadet. I have listened to this track literally thousands of times over the years and I never tire of it. It is the single most exciting, powerful, uplifting piece of instrumental music I have heard in all these years, and that is saying a LOT. The arrangement was by Richard Evans. The band was one of Woody's most fiery. The cut is incandescent.
 
Hugh Masekela (too many favourites but he interprets Semenya very well), Chuck Mangione (esp. 'Doin' Everything With You"), , Chris Botti, Wynton Marsalis, Alison Balsom, Greg Adams, George Winston, David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, "Stranger on the Shore" (which Herb Alpert recorded), Caiphus Semenya compositions (they are awesome - see especially Ziphi'inkomo), Leonard Bernstein and NY Philharmonic doing Copland, Maurice Andre, Hakan Hakanberger, Joshua Bell from "The Red Violin" soundtrack, Vangelis' "Chariots of Fire" music, and an unreleased J.J. Cale instrumental entitled "High School".

And of course, Herb Alpert (whom I will see in DC next month!).
 
OK, guys... It's 2008, and I don't "shop" much for music anymore like I used to do. If I want to get something from, let's say, Mancini, Jobim, vintage Chet Atkins, Gabor Szabo, etc., where would I go to get anything that is not a compilation?

Back about 10 years ago, when I frequented all of the dying breed of CD shops (locals and chain-stores), all I would find in the Tony Bennett/Frank Sinatra/Mason Williams/Vince Guaraldi categories were complilations. And most of these compliations have at least 2-3 of the same songs. For example, I've always liked Nat "King" Cole, and I already have all of his "hits" (L-O-V-E, Nature Boy, Route 66, etc.), but I'm ready to explore - and none of his early work can be found... ANYWHERE! URGH!

Now that many of those stores like Media Play are now defunct, the best place for me to "shop" for music is iTunes. However, they don't exactly have the best selection of pre-'70s artists...

Anybody out there have any ideas???

Thanks,
Tony
 
OOPS! Sorry I got a little "off-topic".

I meant to add the following "faves", although they're a little bit more modern than what has been listed above:

Bob James: TOUCHDOWN
(the standard-setting 1978 LP featuring "Theme From 'Taxi'" on Tappan Zee Records)
Pat Metheny Group: AMERICAN GARAGE
(the 6-track masterpiece from 1979 - easily one of Metheny's best works)
Lee Ritenour: RIO
(the all-acoustic Elektra/Musician set from 1979, inspired by Sergio Mendes, Antonio Carlos Jobim and various Brazilian influences)
Chuck Mangione: FUN AND GAMES
(the A&M album featuring "Give It All You Got" - from the 1980 Winter Olympics)
Earl Klugh: WISHFUL THINKING
(a short 36 min., but exquisite 1983 acoustic guitar LP on Capitol)
Dave Grusin & Lee Ritenour: HARLEQUIN
(the 1985 piano/guitar gem on GRP featuring 3 Portuguese vocals by Ivan Lins)
Chet Atkins, C.G.P.: SAILS
(the 1987 Columbia release featuring Mark Knopfler; also contains a serene version of "My Song", which Herb Alpert would record in 1988 for UNDER A SPANISH MOON)
Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons: SAHARA
(a true ensemble album from 1994 on GRP - probably the pinnacle of their career)

And now the one which will probably offend somebody, and I honestly can't figure out why. I've heard a lot of criticism about this artist, and I think a lot of it is due to the fact that it has become somewhat a trend (and a not-so-good one, I might add) to say that his music does not qualify as "jazz":

Kenny G: BREATHLESS :D :shock:
I know it's not true jazz. It's not supposed to be. It's a 1992 version of easy listening & instrumental pop with an R&B mix.

I know I'm bound to catch some flack for that last one, but I'm just being honest. It's a great album!

Tony
 
toeknee4bz said:
For example, I've always liked Nat "King" Cole, and I already have all of his "hits" (L-O-V-E, Nature Boy, Route 66, etc.), but I'm ready to explore - and none of his early work can be found... ANYWHERE! URGH!

Now that many of those stores like Media Play are now defunct, the best place for me to "shop" for music is iTunes. However, they don't exactly have the best selection of pre-'70s artists...

Anybody out there have any ideas???

Thanks,
Tony
Click to expand...

OK, Tony, try Collectors' Choice Music.

http://www.ccmusic.com/search.cfm?searchkey=NAT "KING"%

http://www.ccmusic.com/search.cfm?searchkey=NAT KING COLE&bounce=y&searchType=artist


They have reissued alot Nat's early Capitol albums as twofers.
 
Mike Blakesley said:
That made me think of "Tubular Bells," the theme from The Exorcist. ALways liked that one, along with "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk. I couldn't ever get thru the whole album versions of either one of those though!
Click to expand...

Oldfield's OMMADAWN is his masterpiece, IMO, and it includes a vocal on the flip side, THE HORSEY SONG. It's kinda cute...I also like the KOMETENMELODIEs on the AUTOBAHN album...when it was poular, AUTOBAHN was the theme music for a local TV station's Indy 500 Trackside wrapup show. EEEYYYOOOOWWWWW...there goes another car...well, it's May in Indy, and I'm a rabid fan...




Dan
 
Larry said:
toeknee4bz said:
I've always liked Nat "King" Cole, and I already have all of his "hits" and none of his early work can be found...
Tony
Click to expand...


OK, Tony, try Collectors' Choice Music.

http://www.ccmusic.com/search.cfm?searchkey=NAT "KING"%

http://www.ccmusic.com/search.cfm?searchkey=NAT KING COLE&bounce=y&searchType=artist


They have reissued a lot Nat's early Capitol albums as twofers.
Click to expand...


Thanks. The album NIGHT LIGHTS is, in fact, an unreleased album from those years.
Tony
 
If you like Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and Gabor Szabo, you might want to check out Lee Ritenour's albums "Rio", "WesBound" and "Stolen Moments". These guys were the three biggest musical influences of Rit's guitar approach.

Tony
 
You know, another one I thought of from the disco era that I enjoy is Van McCoy's "The Hustle".
 
I never really liked disco either, but I liked "The Hustle" since it was mostly an instrumental. had a good beat and horns.
 
Dave said:
I also like the Instrumental works of Hugo Montenegro...!:cool:



Dave
Click to expand...

I do , too. I remember getting the LP Music From "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" & "A Fistful Of Dollars" & "For A Few Dollars More" sometime during the summer of 1967 or 1968.
 
Larry said:
You know, another one I thought of from the disco era that I enjoy is Van McCoy's "The Hustle".
Click to expand...

I always liked that song too! I danced with many a girl to that number (a long time ago).

Mike
 
This album is a real gem of an instrumental.

009.jpg


Midnight Roses
The Quiet Excitement of
Xavier Cugat

Tracks: I Have Dreamed, Do You Know The Way To San Jose, Young And Wild And Free, Watch What Happens, Triste, All At Once It`s Love, Misty Roses, On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever), This Guy`s In Love With You, Wave, Manha De Carnaval

I have this on CD and I can say that it's great mood music for an intimate evening with a loved one.

Mike
 
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