What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Jazzrook]

Anthony Braxton Quartet with Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland & Barry Altschul at Montreux, 1975:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0F3Uqmgt-k

JR

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Junior Cook, a very rare 1988 interview, in fact I think the only one. Like Bill Hardman who he worked with a lot, a much overlooked player, and one I've too long regarded as a kind of Hank Mobley tenorist, but now on listening to a load of his post Silver stuff, was his own thing.. He was justifiable proud of who and what he was, even if he was neglected in the hierarchy...

http://youtu.be/Pa4F42lCSmY

[Serial_Apologist]

Anthony Braxton Quartet with Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland & Barry Altschul at Montreux, 1975:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0F3Uqmgt-k

JR

That's an amazing recording - Kenny said later it was the hardest music he'd ever had to play.

[Serial_Apologist]

Junior Cook, a very rare 1988 interview, in fact I think the only one. Like Bill Hardman who he worked with a lot, a much overlooked player, and one I've too long regarded as a kind of Hank Mobley tenorist, but now on listening to a load of his post Silver stuff, was his own thing.. He was justifiable proud of who and what he was, even if he was neglected in the hierarchy...

http://youtu.be/Pa4F42lCSmY

He's the tenor player on that remarkable Freddie Hubbard recording from 1971 that got mentioned on here a while back, Sing a Song of Songmy.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

That was one of Kenny Kingtone's, late of this parish in its previous form? favoured recordings!

[burning dog]

Miles Ahead

My Ship. my favourite track from the Davis-Evans stable

[Jazzrook]

'Monk and the Nun' from Ornette Coleman's album 'Twins' with Don Cherry, Charlie Haden & Billy Higgins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEN4HkvAyTM

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘J.R. Monterose’
J.R. Monterose with Ira Sullivan, Horcae Silver, Wilbur Ware & ‘Philly’ Joe Jones
Blue Note (1956)

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

GERI ALLEN, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian "Etudes" album recorded over two days in Italy for Soul note in 1988.

http://youtu.be/IkQln2QSA00

I think this is a very fine album, from the remake of "Lonely Woman" onwards, right through to the Herbie Nichols tribute. Geri Allen can (to me) sometimes seem less certain of where to go, but on THIS date she was right in the pocket. Haden & Motian exemplary. A record to go back and back to...

[Joseph K]

Sonny Rollins - Moving Out

[Ian Thumwood]

GERI ALLEN, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian "Etudes" album recorded over two days in Italy for Soul note in 1988.

http://youtu.be/IkQln2QSA00

BN

I think this is a very fine album, from the remake of "Lonely Woman" onwards, right through to the Herbie Nichols tribute. Geri Allen can (to me) sometimes seem less certain of where to go, but on THIS date she was right in the pocket. Haden & Motian exemplary. A record to go back and back to...

I heard that Geri Allen had recorded some Herbie Nichols and had never been able to find the disc. It must be from this trio.

It is shocking to think that this trio was at the cutting edge of contemporary at the time and now all three members have passed on. There is something special about the combination of Haden and Motian - although I love to hear the latter in any context. This trio played Southampton at some point in the early 1990s and I was staggered to chat with a pianist who used to play locally who sat behind me that he thought Motian was dreadful! It really shocked me as the trio performed without amplification and were pretty telepathic. This is a great trio and there is a goosey quality about the music that really grabs your attention. The interesting thing about the "feel" of this trio is that it strongly reminds me of the Hampton Hawes trio on "The Green Leaves of Summer" - another stellar trio performance.

I would have to say that I cannot agree with your perception of Allen not knowing where to. The trio was pretty special and I later saw her at the same venue in an unlikely combination with Tom Bancroft. This was at the time that Scottish jazz was getting a lot of media attention but the collaboration was not so interesting. She was much better at Vienne with Charles Lloyd but, then again, most pianists seem to raise their game when performing with him. I have a couple of her records plus the Betty Carter disc where she is part of a trio with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette which is also exceptional. For me, jazz has been much the worse for Geri Allen's untimely passing - one of the true great pianists of our era.

[Joseph K]

Sonny Rollins - Moving Out

Now - Work Time.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Yes, I'm not hyper critical of her. It's just that I was listening to one of her old Bluenote discs, "The Nurturer" where she leads a quintet with Kenny Garrett and Marcus Belgrade. In that company she seems to me to sometimes mark time. Belgrave is however wonderful, despite being many years her senior (Detroit, ex Ray Charles, her mentor). Agree about the Betty Carter recording.

Btw Sarah Walker played Geri's take on "A child is born" on Sunday morning. There was a debate on "another site" that the main idea and form of this actually came from something Richard Wyands was working on. Thad Jones "appropriated" it. Or maybe that's just another story.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, I'm not hyper critical of her. It's just that I was listening to one of her old Bluenote discs, "The Nurturer" where she leads a quintet with Kenny Garrett and Marcus Belgrade. In that company she seems to me to sometimes mark time. Belgrave is however wonderful, despite being many years her senior (Detroit, ex Ray Charles, her mentor). Agree about the Betty Carter recording.

Btw Sarah Walker played Geri's take on "A child is born" on Sunday morning. There was a debate on "another site" that the main idea and form of this actually came from something Richard Wyands was working on. Thad Jones "appropriated" it. Or maybe that's just another story.

My feeling was that Geri Allen did lose some sense of direction for a brief period in the early 1990s - I remember one trio broadcast from a live session on tour in this country, when, after the first number, she seemed stumped for new ideas and just kept repeating the same limited figures, and after half an hour of monotony I switched off. Given the evident strengths of her originality and where it could have led I was never really convinced by her subsequent decision to "cover the history" of American jazz piano, however well she did it - though from the few later recordings I've heard she was fully back on form.

I have an amusing (maybe!) story about Paul Motian, who was known for having a dry sense of humour. I saw him backing Martin Speake at a gig in Southend around 2001 - I seem to remember it was a trio, thankfully without Ethan Iverson, who had previously stomped all over Martin's introspective approach. Remembering something Annette Peacock had said about Motian being one of her favourite drummers, I tentatively asked if he had ever had thoughts of doing another tribute album to her, saying how much I had enjoyed the fine 1997 double CD with Marilyn Crispell and Gary Peacock "Nothing Ever Was Anyway". Motian growled, "I've no idea how she is and haven't heard from her for years. If you have her telephone number, do ring her up and give her my love"!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

For what it's "worth", from the last Cook/Morton Jazz on CD..."Allen was officially guest soloist with the veteran Haden/Motian trio but hogged the praise for "Etudes" so completely that she was officially inducted into the freemasonry, immediately losing the freshness and spontaneity that had made that record so striking." And later, "she plays standards as if she understands the chords but has only recently heard the melody for the first time". I find a lot of that book facile and often more concerned with s knowing (and cheap) crack. But I think, like a lot of good musicians Geri Allen was much influenced by the strength of company she played with. Grant Green was another who was a classic case to me in that regard.