What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Serial_Apologist]

‘Cornbread’ - Lee Morgan
with Billy Higgins, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Herbie Hancock & Larry Ridley
Blue Note (1967)

I think I mentioned having brought this a few years ago at Ray's when it came out, on vinyl - big mistake, as the recording quality is poor and the vinyl doesn't even track properly, jumping the groove in several places. I see cassettes are back on offer again from some small indie labels. "You take it off the machine, that parks it, and its where you left off when you put it back on: what's the point of that?" asked the brilliantly intelligent TV presenter, who shall go without naming, as I have no wish to be sued for misrepresentation. One of the guests referred to resorting to analog means, namely a pencil for twirling purposes, whenever a tape became twisted.

[Stanfordian]

Jimmy Forrest - ‘Soul Street’
Jimmy Forrest - Quintet, Sextet and with the Oliver Nelson Big Band including King Curtis
New Jazz (1960/62)

[Joseph K]

Complete Live at the Five Spot - Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane

[Stanfordian]

I think I mentioned having brought this a few years ago at Ray's when it came out, on vinyl - big mistake, as the recording quality is poor and the vinyl doesn't even track properly, jumping the groove in several places. I see cassettes are back on offer again from some small indie labels. "You take it off the machine, that parks it, and its where you left off when you put it back on: what's the point of that?" asked the brilliantly intelligent TV presenter, who shall go without naming, as I have no wish to be sued for misrepresentation. One of the guests referred to resorting to analog means, namely a pencil for twirling purposes, whenever a tape became twisted.

Interesting, many thanks.

[Stanfordian]

‘Know What I Mean?’ - Cannonball Adderley
with Bill Evans, Percy Heath & Connie Kay
Riverside (1961)

[Jazzrook]

Roswell Rudd with Steve Lacy, Misha Mengelberg, Kent Carter & Han Bennink playing Herbie Nichols' '2300 Skidoo' from the 1982 album 'Regeneration':

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=XN4idc124pc

JR

[Joseph K]

A Night at the Village Vanguard - Sonny Rollins

[Ian Thumwood]

I have been listening to a lot of Arthur Blythe lately and played the 3-LP set that just arrived in my post yesterday that includes the exceptional Thelonious Monk tribute album and the risible "Put sunshine in it" which was CBS's attempt to get Blythe to produce an FM-friendly record. This disc is pretty notorious with the alto swamped in the goo of 1980's over-production and is fusion of the worst order. Apparently he was not comfortable with this transformation that CBS had proposed and subsequent discs reverted back to more familiar territory. By contrast, the Monk album is exceptional and one of the best jazz albums of the 1980s. I can recall "Light Blue" being played on the local jazz programme on Radio Solent and I believe Humphrey Lyttelton at the time but everything on this disc turns to gold. The opening disc is pretty useful too but the Monk record is a classic.

The liner notes hint that Arthur Blythe's absence from the scene due to his long illness robbed him of a lasting legacy yet listening to his music over the last month I feel he was amongst the best alto saxophonists of the last 40 years.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Gail Thompson - "Jazz Africa Big Band" (commercial concert cassette mid/late 1990s?)

Going through a big box of jazz cassettes that was left to me a few years ago and came across this, a live concert, Gail's compositions, and Jerry Underwood, Claude Deppa, Harry Beckett etc...

Listening to it last night with a bottle of red wine and it's perfect for that, and wondering "what happened to Gail..."

Well....

School of Oriental & African Studies, SOAS, London University...

" Gail Thompson is a long-time member and ordained Christian minister of the C.I.C. international (churches in communities) and member of the Centre for World Evangelism and ambassadors College in Croydon.


Although now in her sixties, Gail's background includes 20 years as a professional conductor and saxophonist. As well as conducting her own big band, world tours, solo appearances at the Albert Hall, Barbican, and many more prestigious events and appearances, she played the tenor & baritone sax with luminaries such as Art Blakey, Charlie Watts, the Jazz Warriors, founded and established a music school in Brixton called Musicworks for 3000 students, women in music and founded various jazz festivals through her promotion company: all before the age of thirty. Gail had a promising future in the profession until at the age of only twenty-nine she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. However, this did not dampen her ebullient enthusiasm. She started arranging and scoring music for big bands, and writing scores for many television shows. At the age of forty-three she was called into ministry and studied at Ambassadors and Spurgeon's College. There she obtained her ministerial qualifications, Dip Min, Bachelors Hons and Masters degree in theology and fine arts. She is studying for her PhD in 2019."

*****"

Multiple Sclerosis is an illness that seems to strike some remarkable people including a very close friend of mine. Life definitely "ain't fair".

BN

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

And this is just wonderful.... JR Montrose, live in Holland, "Body & Soul"

http://youtu.be/iz_v5TeUyV0

I've long had it on a tape without any attribution and only now confirmed who it actually was.

Made my day.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

and this is just wonderful.... Jr montrose, live in holland, "body & soul"

http://youtu.be/iz_v5teuyv0

i've long had it on a tape without any attribution and only now confirmed who it actually was.

Made my day.

monterose!

[Joseph K]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058gw8VmG8U

Mike Moreno - In a Silent Way

[Jazzrook]

And this is just wonderful.... JR Montrose, live in Holland, "Body & Soul"

http://youtu.be/iz_v5TeUyV0

I've long had it on a tape without any attribution and only now confirmed who it actually was.

Made my day.

Wish I could find an affordable copy of that CD!
Monterose's 'Body and Soul' would be a great choice for JRR's tenor ballad series.

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

monterose!

I have the same problem distinguishing the two musicians. Oddly enough I was listening to him on Art Pepper's "Surf Ride" in my car yesterday. I think this was the first record Pepper made under his own name and he was already playing with complete mastery even if he was not quite so recognizable and not found his identity. I was impressed by Montrose almost as much although I think that the album suffers because so much of the material is made up of contrafacts on tunes such as "Tea for two" and "After you've gone." The standard of the musicianship on these sessions from the early fifties is exceptionally high yet I don't think it has aged too well. The cover is something of a classic though insofar it is so bad it has achieved greatness.

The album with Marty Paich is much better and I think one of the finest West Coast records. It is an album I love and, having listened to it after a long time again, it made me realize that I prefer the tracks like Opus De Funk and Airegin than the out and out bop tracks which were my favourites. The band is absolutely on the money and I really enjoy Paich's breezy arrangements. Nice to hear this again. When I was getting in to jazz, this record made a big impression on me. I still think that the arrangement of "'Round midnight" is one of the best of that tune. Given his chaotic lifestyle, the record is incredibly tight and well organized. Put simply, it is a classic.

I think that the later "Gettin' together" is somewhat spoilt by the lack of interest by the then Miles Davis rhythm section. I am usually a big fan of Wynton Kelly yet the ad hoc and hastily arranged nature of this session ultimately does not live up to expectations. I am not sure that Jimmy Cobb's solid style of drumming is frisky enough for a player like Pepper and the addition of Conte Candoli on a few tracks underwhelms. It is something of a mismatch with the horns and rhythm not really gelling as a team. However, you can already hear something of the later Art Pepper in his phrasing and definite signs that he had moved away from Charlie Parker as in influence. For my money, "Smack up!" is much livelier and the rhythm section more sympathetic. It also benefits from having the under-rated Jack Sheldon on board. I also quite like Pete Jolly's piano playing - always struck me that it was a funny name for a jazz musician.

The accepted narrative regarding Pepper is that he had a "second coming" and that the latter half of his career is defined by more intense playing. I agree with this to some extent although until revisiting his 50s and 60s playing this week whilst driving to work, I had not appreciated that this transformation was already underway by the early 1960's. He was a musician who was incredibly talented from the beginning. When i was discovering jazz in the early 1980s, Pepper enjoyed an iconic status and was seen as something as a bastion against fusion. Like Arthur Blythe, his name seems to have been forgotten a bit over time, or at least the status he had enjoyed. I find him to be a hugely compelling soloist and a truly great jazz musician. It is therefore disappointing at just how much his back catalogue is quickly disappearing from being available.

[Jazzrook]

Ray Russell Quintet with Harry Beckett, Gary Windo, Daryl Runswick & Alan Rushton from 'Jazz in Britain, 1974':

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=-JElUqMZt3I

JR