What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Ian Thumwood]

I find Clark Terry to be seriously underrated but the session with Monk is certainly amongst the best things that I have heard him produce on record. He seems to be to be a natural extension of Dizzy Gillespie's playing and, again, the varied use of timbre in his playing makes him more appealing to me than other trumpet players who had incredible technique and ability to play at very fast tempos. I think that Terry belongs to a class of jazz musician who don't really fit in to the typical mainstream of their era and perhaps players you would describe as idiosyncratic. I would class players like Pee Wee Russell, Monk, Lester Bowie , Ray Anderson etc in this category and the combination of Monk and Terry is certainly serendipitous. Of course, the whole session is considerably enhanced by Philly Joe who seems the perfect match for Monk's piano style.

Incidentally, the first disc includes a session led by Terry playing Quincy Jones' charts and has Art Blakey on drums.

[Pianorak]

I find Clark Terry to be seriously underrated but the session with Monk is certainly amongst the best things that I have heard him produce on record..

Would that be this record, and if not could you provide a link, please. Thanks. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Int...ds=Clark+Terry

[Ian Thumwood]

Pianorak

This is the record I am talking about . The first disc is ok but the second record has the Monk record on and what I have heard of the Hamilton group is pretty good too. In my opinion, it is worth the money for the quartet with Monk.

[Pianorak]

Pianorak

This is the record I am talking about.

Many thanks Ian. I'll add it to the order from Avid. At £4.99 sounds like a steal! :-)

[Ian Thumwood]

Quite like this. A new discovery for me. The lyrics scan really well, especially impressive considering she is Russian:-

[Serial_Apologist]

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.

There are plenty equally impressive outwith the American scene, but any list I'd make would be too long...

[Serial_Apologist]

I find Clark Terry to be seriously underrated but the session with Monk is certainly amongst the best things that I have heard him produce on record. He seems to be to be a natural extension of Dizzy Gillespie's playing

They evolved pretty much contemporaneously I think Ian, without much reference to each other - a case of correlation rather than causation. One British trumpet player who wa influenced by C. Terry was Harry Beckett: another individualist of character.

[Ian Thumwood]

I was going to add Keith Tippett but I am not too familiar with his music.

[Ian Thumwood]

Compare and contrast with this. Eerily similar, I think:-

[Ian Thumwood]

Bjork can be a bit hit and miss but when she is on form I think few artists in pop music can match her originality. Here is the original version of a tune covered by Dave Douglas:-

[Jazzrook]

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.

Another solo piano jazz album that deserves wider recognition is McCoy Tyner's 'Soliloquy'(BLUE NOTE) recorded at Merkin Hall, New York in 1991.

Here's Coltrane's 'Crescent':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX9DLmq5lCI

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Mosaic’
Art Blakey with Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton & Jymie Merritt
Blue Note (1961)

[Jazzrook]

The 1964 album 'Hip Cake Walk'(PRESTIGE) with Don Patterson & Booker Ervin.

Here's 'Sister Ruth':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQhT1vavuDQ

JR

[Joseph K]

Amazing!

[Stanfordian]

'Blue Spring'
Kenny Dorham with Cannonball Adderley, David Amram, Cecil Payne, Cedar Walton, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb & Philly Joe Jones
Riverside (1959)