Horned Prog: Set 10: On the Jazz

by nielskunze on March 15, 2019

The Jaan Kuman Instrumental Ensemble, represented by the bald guy with the trumpet in the album collage, is one of those eastern bloc recordings that doesn’t have a bad minute on it. It’s just great jazz the whole way through.

Often, jazz can be a very polarizing genre of music. Folks tend to really love it or really hate it. And I have one foot in either camp. Hardcore avant-garde jazz that’s dissonant and meandering, lacking a discernible rhythm or melody, tends to piss me off after a couple of minutes. I like my jazz to have recognizable moments of true musicality, something for my brain to latch onto. I guess you could say that I like my jazz to be smooth– but not slip-in-your-own-vomit smooth. It has to have a bit of an edge, a definite groove.

This set is classic– yet somewhat obscure– pure jazz… just the way I like it!