What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Beef Oven!]

Hiya Beefy,

Those Wayne Shorter Blue Note albums from the mid-sixties are quite superb!

'Ju Ju' is the finest album I think and 'Speak No Evil' excellent too. There is a reissued budget box comprising of 'Night Dreamer', 'The Soothsayer', 'Etcetera', 'Adam's Apple' & 'Schizophenia' which is a real steal:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/5-Original-Albums-Wayne-Shorter/dp/B01KL0L9CQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1509013001&sr=1-1&keywords=wayne+shorter

And all those mentioned above are on a more expensive box:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Note-A...=wayne+shorter

Thanks, Stanfordian. I was after a recording of ETC, but it's coming up a bit expensive so this set might hit the spot.

[Stanfordian]

'Whistle Stop'
Kenny Dorham with Hank Mobley, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers & Philly Joe Jones
Blue Note (1961)

[Pianorak]

Oscar Peterson (2 CD)
On the Town
Oscar Peterson plays Count Basie
Very Tall
Stratford Shakespearean Festival (Side one)

On Order: 5 Original Albums Box set
Bill Evans
Charlie Parker

and Best of Jazz Piano Box set

[Stanfordian]

'Today and Now'
Coleman Hawkins with Tommy Flanagan, Major Holley & Eddie Locke
Impulse (1962)

[Pianorak]

The Piano
Herbie Hancock
11 tracks Remastered

[Ian Thumwood]

The Piano
Herbie Hancock
11 tracks Remastered

This must surely be one of the best albums ever to slip under the radar. I believe it was recorded in the late 1970's for release solely in Japan. The album consists of a handful of originals plus a selection of standards associated with Miles Davis. I was staggered by how good the album was when I first heard it and, for me, it is easily amongst the best acoustic records Herbie Hancock produced ever if he is not particularly associated with solo piano performances. What I found salutary was that this album is squarely pitched in Bill Evans territory yet I felt that it was infinitely more interesting than anything Bill Evans ever released including his more celebrated material. This is a view that I am sure that even the most militant of Bill Evans fans would probably agree with. Fair enough, it is totally different to Evans' more introspective approach, yet Herbie is on a different plane when it comes to his harmonic language. This record really opened my eras to what Herbie Hancock is capable of and whilst I can understand and appreciate why pianists like Evans, Jarrett and Mehldau all enjoy rather exalted reputations amongst their respective fans, none is really in the same league as Herbie who is the very greatest of them all.

Hancock is probably unique amongst the more celebrated jazz pianists in that he does not enjoy a reputation for fronting any particular trio as it the case with Evans, Jarrett, Bley, Corea, etc and some of his very finest work tends to appear on records like this which are almost unknown or seldom cited. I would rate "The Piano" as an essential album for anyone passionate about the instrument.

[Beef Oven!]

Two of my favourite pianists. Evans and Hancock are chalk and cheese, comparison isn't instructive.

[Beef Oven!]

The Piano
Herbie Hancock
11 tracks Remastered

Listening to it now - thanks for the heads-up

[Stanfordian]

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

[Joseph K]

[Ian Thumwood]

Two of my favourite pianists. Evans and Hancock are chalk and cheese, comparison isn't instructive.

I think that they are both worth comparing because the two of them come out of the Debussy / impressionism style of harmony and I would say that it is the harmonic element which is key to their identity. The differences stem from their respective method of attack with Bill Evans tending to flatten the contours more and perhaps being one of the key jazz pianists to drive away from be-bop by doing this. With Herbie, the harmonic source is broadly the same yet I think his employment of substitutions is beyond any other pianist , past or present. Hancock doesn't get enough credit either for the way in which he deviates from the form of a tune whereas Evans is more slavish to the structure. The whole improvisation process is also quite instructive. Post be-bop, I suppose that the most impressive improvisers on piano would have to be Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley. I admire Taylor but sometimes find his playing too dark even if he is extremely creative. There are recordings that Hancock made in the 1960s where Blue Note allowed him to pursue some more free form elements on a number of records and I feel that working in this oeuvre, Hancock is under-appreciated. I would have to say that Hancock can be extremely "outside" and even in a fusion context such as the band I heard him tour with this summer, the level of creativity remains (in my opinion) point that is far beyond both his contemporaries and some of the technically precocious pianists of these times.

Been listing to a bizarre yet cracking quartet album with Clark Terry fronting a quartet with Thelonious Monk, Sam Jones and Philly Joe Jones. I was aware of this record but did not know just how good it is. Quite why Clark Terry is not a revered by fans as he should be is difficult to understand. This album is allegedly one of the first entirely recorded on flugelhorn and the whole band seem tailor-made for each other. There is a brilliant version of "Lets cool one" where Philly Joe is on fire. The other albums on the selection include early examples with Terry playing with other leaders including a so-so session written by Quincy Jones but , of the tracks I have played, none are as good as the combination of Terry and Monk which makes the whole set worth the money. I always think that Clark Terry's sound on his instruments matches his personality and he always adds something to whatever band he is playing with that takes the music up a few notches.

[Joseph K]

Speaking of Herbie Hancock, compare Kurt Rosenwinkel's sequence starting 3:25 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChStVkUuH0o with Hancock's starting 5:32 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbs_-BobfOs

Nice!

[Pianorak]

I think that they are both worth comparing because the two of them come out of the Debussy / impressionism style of harmony and I would say that it is the harmonic element which is key to their identity. . .

Impressionism. Arthur Rubinstein plays Ravel's "La Vallée des Cloches"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4d5TiNqqAY

[Joseph K]

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

The Terry/Monk date is wonderful and Theolonius sounds in a particularly attentive mood. By coincidence I've been listening to the four sides Gigi Gryce cut with Monk, "Brakes Break" etc. and they are also a joy. Never heard Gryce sounding quite so fluent. Parkerish maybe, but right there. Monk fully committed.

BN.