What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Stanfordian]

‘Take Twelve’ - Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan Quintet with Clifford Jordon Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw & Louis Hayes
Jazzland (1962)

[Serial_Apologist]

Slightly random tunes by Dizzy Gillespie.

Recommendations for his best albums would be appreciated please.

If you can get hold of An ELECTRIFYING evening with THE DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET, subtitled Recorded Live in Concert at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, recorded by Atlantic for HMV/EMI in 1961, with Leo Wright on alto sax, erstwhile Messiaen pupil Lalo Schifrin (a name to conjure with long before Coogan's Bluff and The Exorcist) on piano, Chuck Lampkin drums and Bob Cunningham, bass, this was an LP I introduced to my contemporary 16-year olds which went down a top favourite and was described as An Absolute Gas in our Jazz Hole at school. Well we talked like that in those days. The only objection expressed was that the fleecy Lampkin's solo intro to Salt Peanuts was a poor imitation of Max Roach's at the famous 1953 Massey Hall re-union with Bird, Powell, Roachy and Mingus. Looking at my cover it's in remarkably good condition, with its purple and blue panels each side of a narrow smiling Diz shot: just needs the sellotape replacing top and bottom.

Then of course there's the must-have Manteca/Cubana Be-Cubana Bop late 40s big band recordings, probably available on numerous re-releases, and arguably the most thrilling big band jazz ever recorded. I still can't listen to this sitting down, 55 years after getting it - and I'm not usually "into" big band stuff.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I really like the Dizzy Quintet recordings with Les Spann, "Have Trumpet, will Excite" etc. Dizzy in top form with a Quintet of Les Spann guitar, and Junior Mance piano. Dizzy with guitar is not that common, at least at this time as I think Alyn pointed out, and Les is a great sympathetic player doubling flute. Bought it when it came out and now the entire sessions are available via HamaZon...

"Description
Digitally re-mastered two CD set. This collection contains the complete studio recordings made by the outstanding 1959 Dizzy Gillespie Quintet with Junior Mance and Les Spann. Included are the albums Have Trumpet, Will Excite and the Ebullient Mr. Gillespie in their entirety, as well as all of the other tracks by this formation originally issued on singles and compilations. Two complete rarely heard 1954 sessions by the Gillespie quintet/sextet featuring Hank Mobley and Jimmy Cleveland have been added as a bonus. American Jazz Classics. 2010."

http://youtu.be/WhDtGaFFAD0....."My Man (Mon Homme)"

[Joseph K]

Slightly random tunes by Dizzy Gillespie.

Recommendations for his best albums would be appreciated please.

Now that really is weird - I had exactly this same thought the other day!

I used to own this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dizzy-Gillespie-Story-1939-50-2002-04-05/dp/B01MPXTBU3/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=dizzy+gillespie+proper&qid=1587646651&s=music&sr=1-3

But was curious what other people would recommend. So - thank you.

[teamsaint]

If you can get hold of An ELECTRIFYING evening with THE DIZZY GILLESPIE QUINTET, subtitled Recorded Live in Concert at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, recorded by Atlantic for HMV/EMI in 1961, with Leo Wright on alto sax, erstwhile Messiaen pupil Lalo Schifrin (a name to conjure with long before Coogan's Bluff and The Exorcist) on piano, Chuck Lampkin drums and Bob Cunningham, bass, this was an LP I introduced to my contemporary 16-year olds which went down a top favourite and was described as An Absolute Gas in our Jazz Hole at school. Well we talked like that in those days. The only objection expressed was that the fleecy Lampkin's solo intro to Salt Peanuts was a poor imitation of Max Roach's at the famous 1953 Massey Hall re-union with Bird, Powell, Roachy and Mingus. Looking at my cover it's in remarkably good condition, with its purple and blue panels each side of a narrow smiling Diz shot: just needs the sellotape replacing top and bottom.

Then of course there's the must-have Manteca/Cubana Be-Cubana Bop late 40s big band recordings, probably available on numerous re-releases, and arguably the most thrilling big band jazz ever recorded. I still can't listen to this sitting down, 55 years after getting it - and I'm not usually "into" big band stuff.

Thanks S-A. Apple Music has the Electrifying Evening album, so that's lined up.
I was listening to some of the big band stuff, and it really is something else, so I have lined up the Complete RCA Victor compilation.
I'll watch out for that solo intro though.........and try to compare with the Max Roach .

[Jazzrook]

Dizzy Gillespie - 'Concert of the Century'(A Tribute to Charlie Parker) with James Moody, Milt Jackson, Hank Jones, Ray Brown & Philly Joe Jones recorded in Montreal, Quebec on November 24, 1980:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=DE4hsM4U-hY

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

I concur with SA that the late 1940's big band recordings by Dizzy Gillespie are sensational. However, I think that his big bands were always exciting. There was a magazine article I read many years ago in which it explained Gillespie loved big band jazz and this was a format he felt compelled to work with. Incidentally, there is a CD called "Emergence" by Roy Hargrove which features a big band very much modelled on Dizzy's which is available cheaply on Amazon which I would strongly recommend whilst it is still available. By this stage of his career, Hargrove was strongly influenced by Dizzy . This album is a gem.

I also recall a brilliant album by Dizzy with Gig Gryce and Benny Golson which included some great material. I cannot recall what the title of this record was even though I can remember the music being very good.

[Jazzrook]

I concur with SA that the late 1940's big band recordings by Dizzy Gillespie are sensational. However, I think that his big bands were always exciting. There was a magazine article I read many years ago in which it explained Gillespie loved big band jazz and this was a format he felt compelled to work with. Incidentally, there is a CD called "Emergence" by Roy Hargrove which features a big band very much modelled on Dizzy's which is available cheaply on Amazon which I would strongly recommend whilst it is still available. By this stage of his career, Hargrove was strongly influenced by Dizzy . This album is a gem.

I also recall a brilliant album by Dizzy with Gig Gryce and Benny Golson which included some great material. I cannot recall what the title of this record was even though I can remember the music being very good.

It was 'The Greatest Trumpet Of Them All', a1957 album by the Dizzy Gillespie Octet. Seems hard to find now.

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=MQogIsb-PUc

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Comin' On!’ - Dizzy Reece
Dizzy Reece with Stanley Turrentine, Musa Kaleem, Duke Jordan, Bobby Timmons
Jymie Merritt, Sam Jones, Art Blakey, Al Harewood
Blue Note (1960)

[Serial_Apologist]

‘Comin' On!’ - Dizzy Reece
Dizzy Reece with Stanley Turrentine, Musa Kaleem, Duke Jordan, Bobby Timmons
Jymie Merritt, Sam Jones, Art Blakey, Al Harewood
Blue Note (1960)

By coincidence yesterday I was listening to a Dizzy Reece track which had Tubby Hayes ON BARITONE, sounding just a good as his tenor - part of a 2003 Tubbs tribute programme.

[Ian Thumwood]

I have dug out some more obscure CDs from my collection before sitting outside in my garden reading a Bernie Gunther novel which are massively addictive.

1. Earl Hines - recordings by his big band from 30s and 40s. I have always been a fan of this orchestra.

2. Toru Takemitsu - "River Run", etc. I was really taken by this music when I heard it played on the old "Sinfonia" programme with Paul Crossley on Channel Four. I forgot I had this record. It is strange that you could see these chamber works as an extension of the Impressionist movement started by Debussy and view it as the aural equivalent of an abstract water colour yet it just sounds to me like a poor version of Messaien. You can appreciate why Takemitsu's stock seems to have diminished since his passing. I want to like it yet I feel his music never actually goes anywhere.

3. Joshua Redman - "Beyond." I bought this after hearing his perform live with the same quartet back in the early 2000's. Redman is a strange artist. There are moments when I have heard him perform live when he has been 100% convincing ( I saw him with The Bad Plus many years ago and the results were incredibly good) but I sometimes feel the lack of enthusiasm from some critics is justified. I saw him many years ago at Vienne in a group led by guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel that included Brad Mehldau and came away from that gig thinking the whole band was bland and anodyne. I cannot remember who the bass and drummer were but it seemed to underline the perception of many at the time that the then crop of contemporary jazz musicians were technically gifted but almost irrelevant. What should of been edge-of-the seat struck me at the time as being almost middle-of-the road. Listening to "Beyond" it is intriguing to see how your perceptions change when you revisit a record. This quartet record sounded much better than I ever recalled and the whole group were almost pushing towards the level of intensity of players like Branford Marsalis or J D Allen who I usually find to be far edgier. I was really surprised by my reaction to the disc. Granted, the title Redman gives to his compositions are off the scale when it comes to pretentious b/s (even Courtney Pine would be ashamed of titles such as "Stoic Revolutions, " "Suspended Emanations" "Twilight....And Beyond" or "Last Rites of Rick N' Roll." ) but the music was right on the button. Shame that Warner did not tell Redman to ditch the names of the tunes for something less "Fast show"...…..


4. Andy Biskin - "Trio Tragico" This trio by clarinettist Andy Biskin includes Dave Ballou on trumpet and Drew Gress on bass. I suppose the music can be described as being in the tradition of the classic Jimmy Guiffre trio. I suppose this sums up the problem with jazz because this kind of stuff gets overlooked at the expense of players like Mehldau, Redmian and Rosenwinkel. There is no pretention here and the music gets a rigorous workout without losing it's sense of fun. Got to say that I had not expectations when I was given this CD but I have always enjoyed it. Some parts are quite abstract yet the trio never fail to coalesce. The writing is really good.

5. L'Arpeggiata -"Teatro d'Amore" - I usually love Christina Pluhar's mash up of the Baroque and jazz and her ability to rescue some decidedly obscure material and give it a now lease of life. Unfortunately this disc of Monteverdi's music is the one record that I have by her that doesn't quite come off.

6. Guillermo Klein -"With Swiss Jazz Orchestra." I gave this a second listen this morning. I don't think it is as good as the latest disc with his own, smaller "Los Gauchos" but I am really impressed with Klein's writing. There is a love of odd time signatures yet the music still manages to swing and exude an almost nostalgic feel of 1930s/ 40's Latin dance bands. I think Klein is now resident in Spain with the "Los Gauchos" being assembled in NYC from time to time. It is one of those records where you need to pay attention. There is something of bands like Gil Evans and even Charlie Haden's "Liberation Music Orchestra" is the writing although the style of composition is far, far more ambitious. I think the two records I now have by GK underscore the fact that if you want jazz to be "cutting edge" these days, it is composers (especially for lager ensembles) where the "progress" is being made. Having got in to the idea that "modern" big band writing meant something like Gil Evans, Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, Carla Bley, George Gruntz, etc, etc when I was first getting in to jazz in the 1980s, it is quite clear to my ears that the likes of Klein are pushing the possibilities even further out. It did strike me this morning that the one person on this board likely to share my enthusiasm for this music will be Elmo. GK has been recording wince the early 2000s and I am starting to wonder if he is a musician under-rated in the same fashion that players like Paul Bley and Kenny Dorham have been in the past. In my opinion, he deserves wider recognition.

[elmo]

Thanks for that recommendation Ian, I shall definitely check out G K's work.

Watched an interesting programme tonight on BBC 4 called "Pianists" devoted to the BBC's films of great classical pianists. I can't pretend that I have a great knowledge of classical pianists but there were some great performances by the likes of Rubenstein, Richter, Brendel, Horowitz and especially Glenn Gould. Should be available on catch up.

elmo

[Jazzrook]

The Gigi Gryce Quartet with Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath & Art Blakey playing Monk's rarely recorded 'Gallop's Gallop' in 1955:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=nUruy3V6GFA

& the other version, live at the It Club in 1964 with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales & Ben Riley:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=y9TtGgPwUA8

JR

[Stanfordian]

By coincidence yesterday I was listening to a Dizzy Reece track which had Tubby Hayes ON BARITONE, sounding just a good as his tenor - part of a 2003 Tubbs tribute programme.

I see Tubby Hayes was a vibes and flute player too!

[Stunsworth]

Sonny Stitt: Stitt Plays Bird