One Thousand, plus a song from Omer Avital that may be the greatest song ever created

 

BitW square avatarThis 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)