What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Stanfordian]

'Groove' - The Complete Legendary 1961 session plus 8 bonus tracks
Ben Webster with Richard 'Groove' Holmes, Les McCann, Lawrence 'Tricky' Lofton, George Freeman, Herbie Lewis & Ron Jefferson
Pacific Jazz Records (1960)

[Stanfordian]

Discovered this on YouTube yesterday. I was not aware that this record existed but the results are as good as you might expect. Herbie is pretty incredible on this record:-

Hiya Ian,

Sounds terrific!

[Stanfordian]

'See You at the Fair' with 3 extra tracks
Ben Webster with Hank Jones, Roger Kellaway, Richard Davis & Osie Johnson
Impulse (1964)

[burning dog]

Budd Johnson on soprano

[Stanfordian]

‘Crazy! Baby!’
Jimmy Smith with Blue Mitchell, Jackie McLean, Ike Quebec, Quentin Warren & Donald Bailey
Blue Note (1960)

[Joseph K]

Super!

[Stanfordian]

'Soul'
Coleman Hawkins with Ray Bryant, Kenny Burrell, Wendall Marshall, Osie Johnson
Prestige (1958)

[Stanfordian]

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

[Ian Thumwood]

This is what Christmas morning sounds like at Jazzrook's house Belated Christmas present:-

I have always been impressed by saxophonist Mars Williams and this group includes a number of other Chicago favourites such as Josh Berman.

[Stanfordian]

‘Music From the Connection’ (1961)
Howard McGhee with Tina Brooks, Freddie Redd, Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson
Felsted Records (1960)

[Joseph K]

One of my favourite albums, Coltrane's Interstellar Space.

I have reviewed it elsewhere -

"This album is just overwhelmingly ecstatic. It is absolutely euphoric and transcendentally beautiful. It is really just impossible to exaggerate how profound this music is, it bespeaks a mystical symbolism. Its torrents of energy and exquisite lyricism are visionary and utterly sublime. I give this album infinity stars."

And written a sonnet about it -

Within the sounds of Interstellar Space
lie an unfathomed ecstasy beyond
absolute bliss - its radiant colours trace
bejewelled patterns in tones which correspond
to scientific breakthrough. The arcane
invocation of aeons is sublime
and rapturously wrought, in strains which contain
visionary scenes of geologic time.
But contemplating everlasting life
evokes inscrutable feelings of dread –
imperious expression of such strife,
the turbulence of summoning the dead.
Yet with austere exuberance it speaks
in tongues, the zenith in a life of peaks.

[Stanfordian]

'Kenny Burrell' also reissued as 'Blue Moods'
Kenny Burrell with Cecil Payne, Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins & Elvin Jones
Prestige (1957)

[Serial_Apologist]

This is what Christmas morning sounds like at Jazzrook's house Belated Christmas present:-

I have always been impressed by saxophonist Mars Williams and this group includes a number of other Chicago favourites such as Josh Berman.

This one's almost worth bookmarking for future sending to ones musical friends!

[Ian Thumwood]

Wynton Marsalis & the LCJO "Handful of keys"

Got to say that anyone who has maligned the LCJO in the past might wish to reconsider with this album that pays tribute to a number of pianists from the past. The range of invited pianists goes from 13 y.o. Joey Alexander through to Dick Hyman who must be in his 90's although you would not guess from his playing on James P Johnson's "Jingles." Some like Isiah Thompson , Dan Nimmer and Helen Sung are total unknown to me and it is clear from Myra Melford's liner notes that the disc only offers a proportion of the music performed. On the CD, there are compositions associated / written by Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Fats Waller, and Oscar Peterson. Tributes to Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor and Don Pullen performed at the gig did not make it to the disc but I would love there to be a volume 2.

Several tracks stand out. I am a sucker for finger-busting stride piano and "Jingles" really hits the spot. Benny Carter's arrangement of "All of me" is as good as you would expect from the maestro but Wynton Kelly's "Temperance" closes the disc on a blistering note and it one of the two highlights. Good to see Kelly honoured as, for my money, he was the best band pianist in the 50's / early 60's and consistently excellent. The best track is Ted Nash's arrangement of "The Strawberry" which features the leader's piano. Avant garde pianist Melford seems an unlikely choice to work with Marsalis and sceptics will be surprised to hear the trumpet player revelling in the mayhem that ensues with some wonderful Taylor-esque clusters from the Melford in her solo. Taylor is an add pianist as I hugely admire him although he is a player whose music is sometimes difficult to love. Melford is clearly influenced by him but like so many of her contemporaries, other elements of her own personality shine through in her music which makes it very "outside" yet far more approachable that Taylor. The closing gospel-like element of her solo would never happen with Taylor even if the part of her solo I liked the most was the scrunchy free for all she unleashed above the drive from the big band.

All in all a strange compendium of music which reflects the history of jazz piano yet shines a light in some unexpected areas. The only miscalculation was Evans' "Very Early" which has always seemed a bit twee. If tributes to Hill, Pullen and Taylor are not included, it makes you wonder who else was missed.

[Stanfordian]

‘A Tribute to Miles’
Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Wallace Roney, Tony Williams & Ron Carter
Qwest/Reprise (1992/94)