What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Stanfordian]

‘Jazz Contemporary’
Kenny Dorham with Charles Davis, Steve Kuhn, Jimmy Garrison, Butch Warren & Buddy Enlow
Time Records (1960)

[Ian Thumwood]

I dug out my copy of Duke Ellington's "New Orleans Suite" earlier in the spring and it set me on a course to dig out other recordings by the maestro as well as add a number of albums that were missing rom my collection. Ellington's recordings in the 50's and 60's are amongst the defining collections of the era and much of what he produced just seems to sound better with the passage of time. One of my favourite recordings is "The Wailer" which is one of the most perfect big band blues recordings in my opinion. I love everything about this recording, especially the leader's succinct piano playing but the writing is absolutely spot on. However, the chart was not actually composed by either Ellington or Strayhorn but the work of Gerald Wilson who also sat in on the trumpet section. I have always loved this particular tune which I think is also one of Wilson's finest charts. This was the very first arrangement of his I ever heard although I was not aware at the time just how good his own bands were too. All in all, the Ellington orchestra featuring the Duke and Paul Gonsalves playing a Wilson blues is just about jazz perfection. Curious that Wilson enjoyed a reputation for incorporating Latin elements in his music whereas so much of his work is primarily rooted deep in the blues. Only a fool would contest Ellington's genius but Wilson is an arranger and bandleader who I feel is rather under-appreciated. I think Bluesnik is the only other fan of Wilson on this board and I suspect that he will love this track which is a gem.

[Ian Thumwood]

Played a couple of albums from a genre I an not normally at all keen on namely Jazz versions of Broadway shows. Yes I know lots of great pieces of music from the shows are a basis for Jazz up to the 1970's but they were cherry picked as being suitable for the Jazz musician.

I bought Art Blakey's Golden Boy Colpix rec 1963 because of the expanded Messengers (a tentet) with a fantastic line up - Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis fuller, Cedar Walton, Reggie workman, James Spaulding, Julius Watkins, Charles Davis, Bill Barber.
Apparently Golden Boy was a not very successful show that featured Sammy Davis jnr, the tentet make a fairly good fist of it Wayne and cedar's arrangements on some of the tunes work well and the ensembles sound is very good. unfortunately like most of these things what they have to work with is thin gruel. Some nice solo's (mostly short) by Wayne, Lee, Freddie. A lost opportunity I would have loved to have heard this band playing arrangements of Wayne's compositions

The second album "Gypsy" by Herb Geller rec 1959 - similar to the above, bought for the line up of musicians - Herb, Thad Jones, Hank Jones, Scott La Faro, Elvin Jones. Arrangements sound pretty dated but some really good solo and ensemble playing by Scott La Faro - a real find as I really love Scott's music, Elvin and Thad also manage to find some strands of gold but essentially these Jazz version of..... were pretty clunky. As with the Blakey would have loved to hear the band playing jazz compositions.

elmo

I am surprised that this topic has not been raised before. My Dad has been snapping up loads of the recent Avid releases that offer 4 records on two CDs that generally stem from the late 40's through to the early sixties. There are some classic albums which are featured by this programme of releases but it is staggering just how many LPs in this period were based on music from Broadway shows. A lot of the artists working in this vein are from the West Coast but the culprits are quite surprising even if finding that Blakey was in on the act too probably takes the biscuit. It is no surprise that these records seemed to have lapsed in to obscurity even if it is hard to believe that there was ever a market for such recordings. I think it was a sign of the times and perhaps the musicians involved were not so critical. Since the 50's, musicals have become an increasingly "niche" musical style and far less popular. I don't feel that musicals have as good a name nowadays as they did back then and these kinds of records often feel insincere , as if the musicians did not really believe in the music. It just goes to show how selective much of jazz history is insofar that the records of show tunes rarely produced much of note with the obvious exception of "Porgy & Bess. " Never heard of "Golden Boy" and would have to say these kind of records are ones I would tend to avoid. They say more about the social history of the time than they do about the actual music.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Bitches Brew.

There is a hell of a lot going on in the duodectet/ band. To me the least attractive part of this album is Miles loud and electronically processed trumpet in the title track.

I dug out my copy of Duke Ellington's "New Orleans Suite" earlier in the spring and it set me on a course to dig out other recordings by the maestro as well as add a number of albums that were missing rom my collection. Ellington's recordings in the 50's and 60's are amongst the defining collections of the era and much of what he produced just seems to sound better with the passage of time. One of my favourite recordings is "The Wailer" which is one of the most perfect big band blues recordings in my opinion. I love everything about this recording, especially the leader's succinct piano playing but the writing is absolutely spot on. However, the chart was not actually composed by either Ellington or Strayhorn but the work of Gerald Wilson who also sat in on the trumpet section. I have always loved this particular tune which I think is also one of Wilson's finest charts. This was the very first arrangement of his I ever heard although I was not aware at the time just how good his own bands were too. All in all, the Ellington orchestra featuring the Duke and Paul Gonsalves playing a Wilson blues is just about jazz perfection. Curious that Wilson enjoyed a reputation for incorporating Latin elements in his music whereas so much of his work is primarily rooted deep in the blues. Only a fool would contest Ellington's genius but Wilson is an arranger and bandleader who I feel is rather under-appreciated. I think Bluesnik is the only other fan of Wilson on this board and I suspect that he will love this track which is a gem.

Yes Ian, that's fabulous and right up my street. I don't know that album so will check it out. I think the Gerald Wilson recording was a feature for Groove Holmes and I could see how that might work. BN.

[Jazzrook]

Haven't heard it yet but the 1971 Harold Land/Bobby Hutcherson album 'A New Shade Of Blue' has recently been reissued on Wewantsounds:

https://www.discogs.com/Harold-Land-A-New-Shade-Of-Blue/release/10932992

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYNVzPCI0h8

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘The Montgomeryland Sessions’
Wes Montgomery with Monk Montgomery, Buddy Montgomery, Pony Poindexter & Lewis Hayes/ Harold Land & Tony Bazley
Phoenix (1959)

A treat for this evening!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Haven't heard it yet but the 1971 Harold Land/Bobby Hutcherson album 'A New Shade Of Blue' has recently been reissued on Wewantsounds:

https://www.discogs.com/Harold-Land-A-New-Shade-Of-Blue/release/10932992

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYNVzPCI0h8

JR

Anything by that duo, even the more electric material. I was listening to the Blow Up recordings again from Antibes 1969, and they are just extraordinary. The band was on fire, Harold particularly brilliant. Stanley Cowell said that something VERY special happened there. It really is phenomenonal. That's enough superlatives but...

[Jazzrook]

Anything by that duo, even the more electric material. I was listening to the Blow Up recordings again from Antibes 1969, and they are just extraordinary. The band was on fire, Harold particularly brilliant. Stanley Cowell said that something VERY special happened there. It really is phenomenonal. That's enough superlatives but...

Wish I could find a CD copy of that Antibes gig but here's a track on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-OHOhciNeE

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Take Aim’
Harold Land with Martin Banks, Amos Trice, Clarence Jones & Leon Pettis
Blue Note (1960)

Taken out for tonight!

[Stanfordian]

‘Reaching Out’
Grant Green with Dave Bailey, Frank Hayes & Ben Tucker
Blue Note (1961)

[Jazzrook]

'Left Alone Revisited' - a moving duo album tribute to Billie Holiday recorded in Paris, 2002 by Archie Shepp & Mal Waldron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyBpG6hDAuM

I believe Jackie McLean & Mal Waldron also recorded a tribute album to Billie Holiday in 1986.

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Moving & Groovin’’
Horace Parlan with Sam Jones & Al Harewood
Blue Note (1960)

[Stanfordian]

‘Inner Urge’
Joe Henderson with McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw & Elvin Jones
Blue Note (1964)

[Stanfordian]

‘Bluesnik’
Jackie McLean with Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Drew, Doug Watkins & Pete LaRoca
Blue Note (1961)

[Beef Oven!]

‘Bluesnik’
Jackie McLean with Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Drew, Doug Watkins & Pete LaRoca
Blue Note (1961)

Whole lotta Blue Note going on! But it's hard to go wrong. Not quite as reliable as Tamla Motown, but great all the same.