John Coltrane - First Meditations
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I met Jay McShann at Edinburgh festival in 1986. He had played a set with an all-star group which, from recollection, included trumpeter Johnny Letman, Buddy Tate and possibly Al Grey on trombone. I was struck at how short he was but I think he was a bit if a character. I did not talk to him about Charlie Parker but he did tell me about who used to write the charts for the band and the fact they got lost. He made a comment about being able to have a lot of fun in Kansas City back in the day. I found him really approachable. By and large, I don't like chatting to musicians after gigs as so many can be disagreeable but I came away with the impression that Jay McShann was a very colourful individual. He was not at all pretentious and really down to earth. I would have to admit that I really like his blues-based piano style.Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
The odd thing about when you do meet American musicians is that they cannot understand my accent which makes things difficult. Jon Faddis is someone I have often seen at Vienne and whenever I have spoken to him he always goes in to Dick Van Dyke mode when he realises I am English. I have met some like Kenny Werner who was truly weird and someone I did not like in the least. Still, the most objectionable jazz musician I have every encountered was Tigran Himasyan who was narcistic to the point that I was surprised no one thumped him.
Interesting to hear Red Rodney's name mention because I had been led to believe that he a terrible reputation. A friend of mine was told me he had read a biography of him and was staggered at just how much bad stuff he had done.Comment
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Brad Goode..."Red … the stories about Red are famous, there are even books published with these stories printed in Gene Lee’s book, he had so many of them that he had a whole chapter on all of the con jobs that Red ran (laughing) - including impersonating a General, impersonating the son of a dying millionaire – the long lost son.
All of these things he did; being on the lam and having the FBI looking for him - robbing the armory on a military base. These are verified famous stories and he spent a lot of time in jail over the years. The last time he came out of jail … he was in jail in Lexington, Kentucky where I went to college. He got out of jail just before I got there and that’s when he started a band with Ira."
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Red Rodney's album "Fire" on Savoy from about 1957 is excellent. And he gave a young Chris Potter his first real break, post the "Bird" movie when Red was briefly a "name" again.Comment
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John Coltrane - Live in Seattle (disk 1)
Very pleased this has turned up on youtube.Comment
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I came back from an evening in Newbury with Sir Clive Woodward late last night and out Radio 3 on where I caught a programme called "Unclassified" which I suppose if the replacement for "Mixing it." I have never heard this programme before and was unaware of presenter Elizabeth Alker. My attention was grabbed by a pianist called Nils Frahm but I did not hear his name mentioned and assumed it was someone like Michael Wolny. It was the kind of jazz that makes Todd Gustavsen sound like Pete Johnson and I thought it was dreadful. However, the "electronic" music that followed was fascinating . This had nothing to do with the quality of the music but more to do with the fact that as less and less seemed to be happening in the selections chosen, the more praise Alker heaped upon it. In the end it flipped from being an aural equivalent of "Pseuds corner" to something whereby you really started to question this woman's sanity. It was truly dreadful.
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Red Rodney with Frank Morgan, Monty Alexander, Rufus Reid & Roy Haynes playing 'Round Midnight, from 'A Tribute to Charlie Parker', Cannes 1990:Originally posted by BLUESNIK'S REVOX View Post
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Rare film (I haven't seen it before) of Wardell Grey (tenor solo) with the Basie small group in 1950, "You cried for me", Helen Humes vocal. And a Wardell story at the end. A "hip" guy.
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Originally posted by BLUESNIK'S REVOX View Post
He also mentored Brad Goode who is a seriously under-rated trumpeter himself. I also believe Goode also studied with the legendary Von Freeman. In fact, he was originally the trumpet foil in Potter's first band. I have one album by Goode which is an acoustic quartet that performs a number of originals as well as tunes associated with Bix, Frankie Newton and Louis Armstrong albeit the most obvious comparison would be with someone like Dave Douglas. There is always a recognition of the jazz heritage in his choice of material. It is surprising that players like Goode get overlooked even when part of the Chicago scene although I think he is now associated with one of the American universities. The album I have is called "Tight like this" but there is a live disc with Ernie Watts which came out earlier this year to good reviews.
Goode is one of the musicians who I struggle to understand why they are not better known. I believe he has released nearly twenty records as leader but most people in the UK will register a blank with him when his name is mentioned.Comment
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‘Preach Brother!’- Don Wilkerson
Don Wilkerson with Sonny Clark, Grant Green, Butch Warren, Billy Higgins & Jual Curtis
Blue Note (1962)Comment
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Ozmosys - 'Eyes to the Future', an EP I bought (and had signed by Rachel Z and Omar Hakim) after the concert on Saturday. It's very good, so far and probably throughout. See my review of their gig to see what sort of jazz idiom this is... It's nice hearing Kurt Rosenwinkel play with a more distorted, rock-like tone here...
EDIT: here's the opening track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-iw82FKA5kComment
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Obituary for Gerry Teekens, founder of Criss-cross records.
I have quite of few Criss-cross records and , at one stage, I really got in to the music the label was outing out when the were dealing with artists lie David Binney and Walter Smith III. More than any other label, I think they shared the values of classic Blue Note and preferred to record more in the Hard bop / contemporary vein. It was a decidedly mainstream label and not given over to modishness yet always seemed to have a knack of picking up younger talent. I would also have to say that the sound quality of these records was extremely high. Criss-cross could never be accused of pushing the boundaries of jazz although that was not what the label was about. Instead, I think it shared similarities with Delmark in recognising the tastes of it's audience and ensuring that this was satisfied with high standard releases. The label took risks with younger artists looking to make a breakthrough and the comment in the obituary about wanting to record artists with a hunger for making music was spot on. I had not appreciated just how far the label concentrated on the American scene even if some of it's artists like Alex Sipiagin might not have been American. I really hope that this label continues.Comment
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‘Further Explorations’ - Horace Silver
Horace Silver with Art Farmer, Clifford Jordon, Teddy Holick with Louis Hayes
Blue Note (1958)Comment
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'Step Lightly' - Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell with Leo Wright, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Gene Taylor & Roy Brooks
Blue Note (1963)Comment
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I have picked up a copy of the new Steve Lehman record called "The people I love." It is billed as being by his trio plus guest Craig Taborn. I am intrigued by Lehman and thought that the earlier "Mise en abime" was the best album released in the year it came out. This effort strips the band down to a basis quartet with the trio on one track and three duets with the pianist which are all under 1 min, 30.
If you wrote down all the qualities of Lehman's music down on paper it might seem a bit cold and academic but the opposite is actually the case. Despite the stop / start feel of the odd, shifting meters, the music has an edge about it and the originals seem to have been created from the same improvisatory process as Lehman's method of soloing. Oddly, there are some non-originals written by Jeff "Tain" Watts, Kurt Rosenwinkel (transformed totally from the guitarist's mainstream origins) and a ballad by the late Kenny Kirkland. I find Lehman's music to be edgy and sometimes quite tense yet it is a fascinating listen. This is probably classed as "Avant garde" these days and is demonstrative as to how the "free jazz" has been absorbed in to the mainstream leaving the written / theoretical stuff at the cutting edge. It sounds like a more acoustic version of Steve Coleman but with the cold heat of a cross between MCLean and Paul Desmond.Comment
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Charles Mingus with Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard & Dannie Richmond playing a 44-minute version of 'Fables of Faubus' in Stuttgart, April 28, 1964:
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