What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Jazzrook]

Buddy Guy - "One room country shack"
The economy and taste of this, Otis Spann's gorgeous piano and the perfect bass. Compare/contrast with the overblown crap that passes as "the blues".

http://youtu.be/aygSyX4VXe0

A great track, BN.
Will have to try and get hold of the Buddy Guy album from which it comes - 'A Man and The Blues'?

JR

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Yep, it's that the early Vanguard album (immediately post Chess), where from memory Buddy's amp blew up at the start of the session and they had to plug him straight into the studio board. His guitar, not Buddy!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"The Man from Monterey" - Dizzy Gillespie 1965, arranged Gil Fuller, band inc Buddy Collette alto, Earl Palmer drums.

I've heard a lot about this concert, four stars from Cook/Morton, "over too soon", first time I've heard it and it's a very fine band. Earl Palmer, veteran session player, who played drums on the classic Little Richard records,
proving how good he was as a jazz player...

http://youtu.be/Nu78CDbIPtY

[Joseph K]

Mike Stern - Standards (and other Songs)



Check out his version of Coltrane's Moment's Notice -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsaB9FbVBpo

[Jazzrook]

The George Russell Sextet playing Coltrane's 'Moment's Notice' from the 1960 studio album 'At The Five Spot':

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=K0m0_mPIW54

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

Buddy Guy - "One room country shack"
The economy and taste of this, Otis Spann's gorgeous piano and the perfect bass. Compare/contrast with the overblown crap that passes as "the blues".

http://youtu.be/aygSyX4VXe0

I've seen Buddy Guy perform twice and been impressed on both occasions although his music these days is very much in the Chicago , electric style of things. As a live act, he is pretty stereotypical of most of the blues musicians I have seen and I think you need to be careful in making these statements about "overblown crap" because a large part of the blues gigs I have been to is the showmanship. The best show by any artist I have seen is probably B.B. King who really knew how to stage a performance. On the two occasions I have seen Buddy Guy the music has often been a bit hammy and there are elements of his act such as where he will walk amongst the audience playing his guitar which are at odds with most jazz gigs.

It is always interesting for me to go to blues concerts because I think there is nowadays more of a crossover amongst the audience from rock as opposed to jazz. Some acts I have seen have been dreadful and have left me scratching my head as to whether or not they are blues yet the best gigs are always the ones which are more genuine and there is very much an element of hyperbole in these performances. 'I would have to say that the musicians from an older generation always seem more convincing both as being "authentic" and at presenting a show. That said, there are other players like Keb Mo' who I have thoroughly enjoyed and whose music probably reflects a more FM-friendly understanding of the blues.

There are still plenty of convincing players around and would recommend Linsey Alexander as a starting point for how good blues might be in 2019.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I shook hands with BB King, on stage 1985. I was playing bass. No, actually he played a blistering set with his small band, alto, trumpet, keys, bass, drums. He then invited everybody up on stage to meet him. I climbed up from the front row and said he was phenomenal and he gave me a really crushing hand shake, "that'll teach you to try to play like me!", he said as my fingers cracked. No, he was a great guy. Funny thing was, he said he was going to play an encore or two, and proceeded to play another complete set! He certainly gave value for money!

As for Buddy Guy I saw him young, fresh and raw in 1965 with Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy, etc etc and he was extraordinary, lean, no flab or "showbiz", it CAN be done. Otis Rush the same 1966, Albert Hall, just the music. Little Brother Montgomery, piano, Freddie Below (the great) and Jimmy Lee, bass. Hard, cleanly played, aggressive but never hokum. Thems waz the days.

[Serial_Apologist]

there are elements of his act such as where he will walk amongst the audience playing his guitar which are at odds with most jazz gigs.

Courtney Pine would do this a few years ago... and maybe he still does. Andy Sheppard ran a big band in the late '80s which had two drummers - one a local Bristolian who played à la Buddy Rich, the other Han Bennink, the famous Dutch improviser and showman. Following the midway break at the Colston Hall, Bennink entered from the rear of the stalls, and literally "played the Colston Hall" - the steps down to the stage, the backs of seats (to people's alarm!), the front of the stage floor, and the drums stool, which he picked up, spinning it around on his index finger tip while playing the legs - each of which offered a different timbre - before sitting thereupon and resuming what turned into an alternating "drum battle" with the other guy. Pure showmanship, yes, but given that there was some terrific music at that gig - Pete Hurt and Chris Biscoe co-fronting the sax line-up - it in no way detracted from the gig.

[Serial_Apologist]

I shook hands with BB King, on stage 1985. I was playing bass. No, actually he played a blistering set with his small band, alto, trumpet, keys, bass, drums. He then invited everybody up on stage to meet him. I climbed up from the front row and said he was phenomenal and he gave me a really crushing hand shake, "that'll teach you to try to play like me!", he said as my fingers cracked. No, he was a great guy. Funny thing was, he said he was going to play an encore or two, and proceeded to play another complete set! He certainly gave value for money!

As for Buddy Guy I saw him young, fresh and raw in 1965 with Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy, etc etc and he was extraordinary, lean, no flab or "showbiz", it CAN be done. Otis Rush the same 1966, Albert Hall, just the music. Little Brother Montgomery, piano, Freddie Below (the great) and Jimmy Lee, bass. Hard, cleanly played, aggressive but never hokum. Thems waz the days.

Was that 1965 date at the Fairfield Hall - one of the "Blues Caravans", by any chance? I can't recall most of the names now, being pretty ignorant back then where blues were concerned, but if you were there our paths might have crossed. The one act I do remember was Sleepy John Estes, all on his jack on stage, and the audience having to lean forward to make him out.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I saw Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson et Wolf at the Colston, Bristol, 1965, 66, 67,the US Folk Blues tours, I actually bought Sonny Boy a whisky as he and Wolf came over to the pub before the show. Sonny Boy, "I'll have a bottle, Man!". Muddy Waters was either on that trip or the one after. Koko Taylor, Lonnie Johnson, Sugar Pie Desanto, Tommy Tucker, Walter Horton, Skip James all on various incarnations. As recall Sleepy John, he had Yank Rachel and Ransome Knowing with him, sure you're not mixing him with John Henry Barbee, he was solo, and a bit overawed by the event. Met a very sad end thinking he was going to be another "Chuck Berry" and be a huge star.

Anyway, for the authentic, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, "Theresa's", Chicago, 1970, live. And how! Love the way Junior grabs the neck of Buddy's guitar. It'd from a brilliant documentary "Chicago Blues" (1970) made by a British director....

http://youtu.be/ygoQ3dGGPTM

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

It was said that British (and European) audiences at that time were able to see more original & major blues artists in those few years, than their American contemporaries would see in a lifetime. The American University circuit just waking up to the "folk" end and marketing. Howlin Wolf's first "white" TV was when the Stones insisted he followed them on "Shindig" as their star guest. It's on YouTube and it's a wonderful sight! Wolf huge and "menacing", but actually a very amiable guy.

The American Folk Blues tours 1960s... artist list...

Blues musicians who performed on the American Folk Blues Festival tours included Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker, Sippie Wallace, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Boyd, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, Big Joe Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Big Mama Thornton, Bukka White, Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf (with a band made up of Sunnyland Slim, Hubert Sumlin, Willie Dixon and drummer Clifton James), Champion Jack Dupree, Son House, Skip James, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Victoria Spivey, J. B. Lenoir, Little Walter, Carey Bell, Louisiana Red, Lightnin' Hopkins, Joe Turner, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lee Jackson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Roosevelt Sykes, Doctor Ross, Koko Taylor, Hound Dog Taylor, Archie Edwards,[7] Helen Humes and Sugar Pie DeSanto.

[Maclintick]

Wes Montgomery's "Full House" - recommended by a fellow-boarder, & to my jazz-untutored ears as fresh in 2019 as it must have been in its "live" 1962 debut. Alongside Wes, the stellar quartet of Johnny Griffin on alto, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers & Jimmy Cobb ...purrfection for all kool kats...

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Wes Montgomery's "Full House" - recommended by a fellow-boarder, & to my jazz-untutored ears as fresh in 2019 as it must have been in its "live" 1962 debut. Alongside Wes, the stellar quartet of Johnny Griffin on alto, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers & Jimmy Cobb ...purrfection for all kool kats...

Brilliant album, kicking on all cylinders. And "live sound wise" up there with its fellow "Miles Davis Blackhawk" sessions. Same rhythm section.

[teamsaint]

Wes Montgomery's "Full House" - recommended by a fellow-boarder, & to my jazz-untutored ears as fresh in 2019 as it must have been in its "live" 1962 debut. Alongside Wes, the stellar quartet of Johnny Griffin on alto, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers & Jimmy Cobb ...purrfection for all kool kats...

Ah , sounds like one for my similarly (probably even more) untutored ears, Mac.

[Maclintick]

Brilliant album, kicking on all cylinders. And "live sound wise" up there with its fellow "Miles Davis Blackhawk" sessions. Same rhythm section.

& the same rhythm trio, including Wynton, are with Cannonball in Chicago two years later, of course. Tends to be overshadowed by contemporaneous Miles, but "Weaver of Dreams" is very special, IMHO.