I listen to Pandora most of the time I am in my office.  Pandora is a free internet radio that personalizes musical selections based on feedback you give it.  For example, you can specify a song by an artist and it will find other songs that have similar qualities.  I thought it would be fun to listen for a little bit and write down my thoughts about the music that Pandora suggests.

I recently discovered (on Pandora!) the music of Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford, a drum and piano duo that plays something between jazz and prog-rock.  I decided to use them as my starting point.  Here is what I heard: (you can listen to the same “station” by using this link. the tune selection is not deterministic so you will hear different music than i did, but in my experience it won’t take long before there is duplication.)

Omjhonz by Satoko Fujii and Tatsuya Yoshida.

this is my kind of music.  improvising the form and not just within the form.  its hard to coordinate this with more than two musicians.  given my choice of two, i go for piano and drums.  it works here because the pianist leans toward classical rather than “free jazz” which in settings like this usually skates off into dissonance.  I am thinking Cecil Taylor here.

Bekei by Dewey Redman/Cecil Taylor/Elvin Jones

Speak of the devil! But this one was just a drum solo by Elvin Jones.  A nice one, typical Elvin Jones, but still just a drum solo.  Never knew these three played together.  Have to bookmark this album for later Pandora fun.

Windy Mountain by Charles Lloyd and Billy Higgins

Duet of sax and drums.  More grounded in Jazz than any of the previous.  Charles Lloyd is good at this.  His work with Zakir Hussain is very similar.  Here Billy Higgins is playing very standard jazz rhythms.  A bass would fit in here.

The Drum Also Waltzes.  Patrick Moraz and Bill Buford.

Another drum solo.  Short.  I like it better than the Elvin Jones.

Double Image. Joe Zawinul.

Whoa, how did this get here?  This is essentially Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew carried on through Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and Miroslav Vitous who also went on to form Weather Report.  I like this much better than Weather Report.  Wait, Herbie Hancock too?  And I love the Vitous bowing on this tune.  Cool, but hard to see how it fits with the theme here. Wondering about Pandora.

Ran Blake “Thursday”

Never heard of Ran Blake.  Looking at the above link I see I am probably not alone.  But this is nice.  Solo piano.  A little Monk, a little Chick Corea.  And although that sounds like a recipe for disaster, it works for me.

Bottom line:  no keepers on this round.  I like Ran Blake, but its generic enough that I don’t imagine ever having a real craving for it.  I was glad to learn that Zawinul had some outings between Miles Davis and Weather Report.  The Japanese duo were the most interesting.  I will check them out again.  (on Pandora!)