Mar 10 2015
One Thousand, plus a song from Omer Avital that may be the greatest song ever created
This is my 1,000th post on Bird is the Worm.
I’m shocked to have gotten here so soon, but I guess my real shock is to realize that I’ve been at this for just over three years. Three. Years. Good god.
I’m not going to use this as an excuse for a lengthy retrospective (aka babbling about stuff semi-coherently). Besides, it’s not been so long since I did that for both my Year in Review and Site Anniversary posts. I will just say thanks for stopping by and I hope you continue to find great new favorite music.
Here’s a track from one of my all-time favorite jazz albums. In truth, the audio embed doesn’t really do the song justice. I’ve driven through the city with this CD blasting from my stereo, and it’s everything music should be. Anyways, here it is…
Omer Avital – Free Forever
An outstanding quintet date album from one of the great composers and bassists on the jazz scene. Straight-ahead jazz with Omer’s unique modern voice. An album so powerful at times it can make the listener sit up and shout, not unlike Ellington’s masterful performance at Newport. Recorded live in Italy, with Omer Avital (bass, composer), Joel Frahm (soprano & tenor sax), Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Jason Lindner (piano), and Ferenc Nemeth (drums)… all jazz heavyweights.
Everything about this song, and really the entire album, encapsulates the enthusiasm and joy I feel for the best music, and why all the hard work that goes into this site seems like such a small sacrifice for the honor and delight of discovering music like this album and sharing my love and knowledge of it to others.
As an aside, this album was included in my Best of 2011 recap posts back when I first began this site. I never did a proper Best of 2011 list. I keep thinking that may change one day. Don’t be surprised if you see Free Forever listed in the top three from that year.
By the way, my original post about this album may have been my seventh post on Bird is the Worm… nearly 1,000 posts ago. Here’s hoping for many many more.
Cheers,
Dave
P.S. You should buy Free Forever. Here’s some places to do it…
Available at: eMusic | Amazon (CD – MP3)
Chris Ammann
March 10, 2015 @ 6:52 pm
Happy millepost, Dave. Respect.
taquet
March 11, 2015 @ 3:41 am
Bravo !!!!!
Thank you so much Dave for sharing your love for music
So go on !!!!
Love
davesumner
March 12, 2015 @ 7:51 pm
Thanks, Chris & Marcia. And thanks to all the others who wished me well via Twitter, Facebook and email.
I’m still amazed by the whole 1,000 number, but I’m even more awed by what that implies about how much special music is out there. It’s a great time to be a music fan.
Cheers.
Robert Middleton
March 13, 2015 @ 5:10 pm
I love your blog Dave and I visit weekly to see what treasures you’ve discovered. Other than artists I already know, I find ALL my new music through you. Keep up the great work.
Cheers, “robmid”
davesumner
March 13, 2015 @ 6:14 pm
Hey, Rob.
Thanks for the kind words, and obviously, I’m thrilled that you’re finding music here that grabs your ear. Some of this, however, should get filed under “you reap what you sow.” You, along with Bill/Alypius and JustinV, got that New Releases Only thread started up on the AAJ forum right around the time I was beginning to dedicate my time to listening to new releases… that discussion thread really helped nurture that dedication. I think it also fed into our personal enthusiasm about the different albums we were discovering and our collective excitement to share what we were hearing with others on that thread. How many hundreds of posts were made about excellent new releases over the years? How many thousands?
My site is just an expanded version of the enthusiasm we all felt about that music and the time we invested in sharing news of it.
Anyways, I’m always glad to see you come around BitW. Feel free to stop by any time and shoot the breeze about music you’re liking.
Cheers,
Dave