What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Serial_Apologist]

Jazzrook


Thanks for posting that link. It is interesting to hear Lasha in this context, against with Sonny Simmons. I see you have reviewed the 2Firebirds" album that they also cut which appears to get very good reviews indeed. I quite like Simmons but only have one record with him here he was recorded in a pick up group with Horace Tapscott which played a load of hoary old standards like "Body & Soul", "Caravan" and "So what" which looks unpromising yet makes this hackneyed material seem really interesting. I didn't realise that Lasha spent a year living in the UK in 1966 and Simmons used to be a regular visitor to these shores in the 2000s with the "Cosmatics."


I find it strange that Simmons is so overlooked whereas Lasha's predominance on the West Coast probaby accounts for his lack of acclaim because the West Coast avant garde never seemed to attract the attention of places like New York or Chicago which were at the Vanguard. When you consider the likes of Bobby Bradford and John Carter as well as Horace Tapscott were vital cogs in this scene, it is a surprise that it gets overlooked.

Another player often cited these days who I have seen is Bunky Green who I heard with Rudresh Mananthappa. I always think of him as being of this ilk. I see the new Steve Coleman album includes a version of a Green composition. You can also add someone like Steve Potts in to the mix .Although he is more associated with his collaboration with Steve Lacy, when I saw him it was with a group of French musicians. It was pretty intense but you could tell that Potts was the genuine article.

I did once have an album featuring Sonny Simmons alongside Eric Dolphy, possibly with some of Mingus's personnel, but probably lent it out & never got it back. Prince Lasha's a fascinating figure - people ask if he's a Reggae star when I mention his name: his alto playing seemed to veer between fairly simple phrasing and Albert Ayler-like expressionistic yodelling, and the flute is very impressive. He did record an album with Stan Tracey while living over here; I have "Inside Story" recorded on enja in 1966, wither Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee and Jimmy Lovelace, which I picked up somewhere on spec and have never regretted it. The flute is wild and Kirkish; Herbie plays great, unfortunately low in a mix that has McBee's bass too high, but that's fine.

[Ian Thumwood]

Have you read the reviews for "Firebird?" This looks like a seriously neglected record. Bobby Hutcherson on vibes.

[Serial_Apologist]

Have you read the reviews for "Firebird?" This looks like a seriously neglected record. Bobby Hutcherson on vibes.

No.

[Jazzrook]

Ian

Came across this YouTube video of Prince Lasha(baritone sax, flute) with Woody Shaw(trumpet):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1E7YATmFE

Also, 'Prince Lasha' from Odean Pope's 2004 album 'Locked & Loaded: Live at the Blue Note':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNCX8zVuu-I

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

Been playing McKinney's Cotton Pickers all weekend - prompted by the request for "Milenburg Joys" on JRR the other week . I had most of their work on two double LPS but have been unable to find them. The later recordings saw a marked diminution in quality with the band laying popular tunes of the day, usually with a guesting white vocalist. However, the remaining 80% of their output is staggeringly brilliant. It may seem heretical to say this but I would tend to agree with Gunther Schuller i that this band was superior to Fletcher Henderson's.

I would have to say that anyone thinking that Coleman Hawkins was the undisputed tenor king in the late 1920's and early 30's might like to check out Prince Robinson's work with the band. I don't think that he is as good as Hawk but far better than nearly all of his contemporaries at that time. The other unsung hero is John Nesbitt whose trumpet sounds like a pugnacious Bix and who produced some really hard swinging charts which, again, seem to compare favourably with the writing for Henderson's band at the same time.

[Jazzrook]

Sonny Simmons' 1969 album 'Manhattan Egos'(ARHOOLIE).

Here's 'Coltrane in Paradise' with Simmons(alto sax & English horn); Barbara Donald(trumpet); Juma(bass & conga drums) & Paul Smith(drums):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_4OM41Fmjk

JR

[Jazzrook]

Don Braden's 1993 album 'After Dark'(CRISS CROSS).

Here's 'Monk's Dream' with Braden(tenor sax); Christian McBride(bass) & Carl Allen(drums):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90POGQ1y9fU

JR

[Beef Oven!]

I've ordered Prince Lasha's 'Firebirds' 1967 on CD. Couldn't find it as a download.

Ian mentioned it somewhere, it looked interesting so I listened on YouTube. Decided it's a keeper.

[Jazzrook]

Apart from John Coltrane there haven't been many other jazz versions of 'My Favorite Things' but here's one from Sonny Simmons' 1995 album 'American Jungle'
with Simmons(alto sax); Travis Shook(piano); Reggie Workman(bass) & Cindy Blackman(drums):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aINK81yBrX0

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Not so Dukish’
Johnny Hodges featuring Ben Webster with Roy Eldridge, Ray Nance, Jimmy Hamilton, Lawrence Brown, Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Woode & Sam Woodyard
Verve (1958)

[Stanfordian]

‘The Honeydripper’
Jack McDuff with Jimmy Forrest with Grant Green & Ben Dixon
Prestige (1961)

Worth getting if just for the title!

[Stanfordian]

'Whistle Stop'
Kenny Dorham with Hank Mobley, Kenney Drew, Paul Chambers & Philly Joe Jones
Blue Note (1961)

[Stanfordian]

‘Judgment!’
Andrew Hill with Bobby Hutcherson, Richard Davis & Elvin Jones
Blue Note (1964)

[Jazzrook]

Odean Pope ~ Coltrane Sax Tribute in 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdIBTcDZPMU

JR

[Jazzrook]

Don Cherry talking about Albert Ayler, recorded in Paris, 1971:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKoBBz1Sbzg

JR