Jazz Beat (Part 32)

I'm waiting impatiently for my parents to get back from New York with a big box of eleven Prestige Mono SACDs...one of which is "Relaxin'"... which I don't have at all in any format to this point.

 

vinyl


this is where it all starts for me. I bought this album as a teenager when it came out. not quite sure why. I had never heard of the players. I don't think anyone suggested it to me. I used to spend a lot of time browsing at the local tower records shops, and this is one of the albums I picked up on a blind buy...

I have loved it since I first played it. the sound blew me away, and the album has since been one of the first lps I play on a new system...

the album introduced me to players I have sought out since: scofield, frisell, Marc Johnson and erskine, all of whom I have looked for and listened to in the ensuing ~30 years...

and the music still stands. not a bad song in the bunch. I have always especially enjoyed the opener and the coltrane cover, with mojo highway being my favorite, but every tune is wonderful listen...

it was great to hear this trip down memory lane, and I am pleased to say that the lp still holds up for me. hopefully I have a chance to spin the quartet's next effort, "second sight," tonight...

 

Boy, it's been a log time since I listened to that ....... must dig it out.

 

Hi everybody,
if you have suggestions for jazz from NOLA, thanks to answer here:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/your-favorite-records-from-new-orleans.389954/

 

* Dizzy's Big 4 * / Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Ray Brown & Mikey Roker (Pablo)

 

Sonny Criss – This is Criss! (Prestige / Concord)
— With Walter Davis, Paul Chambers, Alan Dawson; one bonus track

 

this is my 2nd album by the DHBB (after What goes around - not sure if they have any other releases) and when I first heard WGA it took me a few listens to realize that there is no piano , which I found a bit strange/ unusual for a big band . The piano part is played by a xylophone which is very interesting but still I somehow miss a piano in the mix - otherwise two brilliant big band albums

 

I just got a really nice one, probably better than you might imagine from this artist's era:

Freddie Hubbard - GLEAM

Apparently this Tokyo concert was issued only in Japan at the time. It's far more straight-ahead jazz than you might think and it's really, really good. Two disc set out on Wounded Bird.

 

(CD Ensayo ENY-CD-3471)

 

BassDrumBone – The Other Parade (Clean Feed)
— Ray Anderson, Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway

 

I have the U.S. box and I wouldn't want more crowd noise and room ambience than I already have. It's a club, so the room is noisier than average. I like the idea of a warmer set though I doubt I will make the switch and as much as I like it I don't feel a need to own multiple copies of the box.

 

Great album. For me SECOND SIGHT is even better, but both albums are terrific.

 

I love that freaking album.

 

(CD Muzak Japan MZCS-1271 SHM-CD) - superb trio recording from 1975 (originally released on the P.M. label) featuring Gene Perla (b) and Joe LaBarbera (dr)

 

Disc 1 - the one with Singin' The Blues...

 

Taped at a Washington DC club the same year his hit But Not For Me album was released, these songs have a sort of rock n roll attitude in the performance. A lot of repeated riffs, and forceful playing. Maybe because the people in the club were yakking and seemingly not paying a lot of attention anyway? IDK. That's how it struck me.

 

I really can't remember the last time I pulled this one out...in amongst the very first jazz albums I bought.

 

David Murray & Randy Weston - The Healers
David Murray, tenor sax & bass clarinet; Randy Weston, piano.

 

Yes, but what if you found a very nice set for $48?

Actually, I was trying to help out a fellow Jazz Beater who is travelling and ran across a few different copies. Not having web access other than a phone at the time I was helping him suss the decision. I've got the US box but for that price...I may grab one myself.

 

That's the Proper set. I prefer the first 3 JSP Bix CDs, which were mastered by the late John R.T. Davies years ago.

 

I haven't bought a Branford album in years, for some reason, not sure why. Anyhow, I love recordings from great sounding natural environments, where the artist and engineer use the space and it's acoustic signature to their advantage and find it works especially well for solo performance. Just saw this, wondering if anyone has checked it out yet?

 

Oregon - In Stride

 

Craig Taborn Trio - Chants

 

Man, I got that a few months back and it's great! George Cables lays down some wicked Rhodes and "Skipper" Franklin is rock solid on bass. The band really stretch out and Hubbard is simply amazing. It's definitely one of the best mid-70s albums I own.