It does seem to fly under the radar a bit. George Mraz and Al Foster are both really good on this date. Apparently recorded on JCs 71st birthday.
If you use them, check the three available on cdjapan.co.jp as CTI Supreme Series Blu-Spec CDs for about 10 bucks each. Right now I'm listening to the third of the three I got from Japan Saturday.
Miles Davis, Miles in the Sky (UDSACD 2147, 1968/2016) This may not be one of the most popular Miles albums, but it is one of my favourites. I love the somewhat understated use of electric instruments here. Of course, this is not as radical a departure from the "classic" Miles sound as the considerably more celebrated albums that followed, but an interesting deviation all the same.
Benny Goodman – Big Band in Europe — Yale Recordings, Vol. 3 (MusicMasters) — With Billy Hodges, E.V. Perry, John Frosk, Taft Jordan / Rex Peer, Vernon Brown, Willie Dennis / Al Block, Ernie Mauro, Seldon Powell, Zoot Sims, Gene Allen / Sir Roland Hanna, Billy Bauer, Arvell Shaw, Roy Burnes / Jimmy Rushing, Ethel Ennis; 1958
I have always liked Miles In The Sky, mainly because of it being that transition period between acoustic and electric. I think I like it as much as the titles that preceded it. It really comes down to mood or environment for my preference.
WP Paul Desmond - Bossa Antigua (RCA) black stereo pressing w/Nipper. NP Paul Desmond - First Place Again (Warner Bros.) black on gold label. I don't see the gold label very often. Paul Desmond makes great early morning music for my ears. Nothing too jarring but melodically interesting.
Miles Davis – Miles in Berlin (Columbia/Legacy) — With Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams; includes one bonus track; live at the Berlin Philharmonie This was one Shorter's first gig with the Miles and the "Second Quintet" rhythm section - 9/25/64.
Ben Webster See You At the Fair Or as I sometimes call it, "While Ben's Sax Gently Weeps" Ben essentially created his own fuzz pedal for the sax with his technique.
Thanks, I'll hop on the subway this weekend, it's only 35 mins from where I live to the main Jazz Tokyo store..
John Coltrane - Impressions John Coltrane – soprano and tenor saxophone Eric Dolphy – bass clarinet, alto sax McCoy Tyner – piano Jimmy Garrison – double bass Reggie Workman – double bass Elvin Jones – drums Roy Haynes – drums
Paul Chambers - Bass On Top, Japan CP32 Great sounding disc, average DR 13/14. Continuing to enjoy my dynamic headphone setup with HD600 headphones and Torpedo 3 amp. So much cheaper than the large Stax headphone setup but doesn't give up that much. Too late to listen to the speakers loud. And now from the Sun Ra Art In a Yard box, disc 3 On Jupiter
How does the Blu-spec version sound? Just about to pull the trigger on it myself (though trying to decide between Quartet and Moon Germs). The only Farrell CTI recording I have now is Outback, an amazing album.
Kenny Drew "Undercurrent" (AudioWave XRCD) Drew- Piano Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet Hank Mobley - Tenor sax Sam Jones - Bass Louis Hayes - Drums Great band. Another terrific prestation from Freddie Hubbard but I always loved the rythmic section of Jones and Hayes on those tracks. Fine album.
Keith Jarrett "Mysteries" (Impulse MCAD 33113) Jarrett - Piano Dewey Redman - Saxophone Charlie Haden - Bass Paul Motian - Drums Recorded in October 1976, one of Jarrett's American Quartet's finest hour.
Larry Ochs' Fictive Five is my favorite recent release - with Ochs & Wooley on sax/trumpet the dual bassists provide as invigorating a background along with a strong performance by Harris Eisenstadt in drums. Pascal Niggenkemper (the more unique abstract voice) & Ken Filiano are the bassists. Incredible sound quality. Ochs 90% tenor - only a small amount on sopranino saxophone. For me Nate Wooley is the best trumpeter playing today and this is the jazz version - he plays a decent amount of electronic and more abstract avant-garde non- jazz stuff. This recording is certainly jazz based but not daddy's jazz.
I've been exploring Wadada Leo Smith's more recent work over the past few months. I haven't gotten to the Great Lakes set yet, but tonight I've been enjoying the hell out of this set of duets with Ed Blackwell (recorded in 1986, but released just a few years ago): The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer - Wadada Leo Smith and Ed Blackwell - Kabell Records / A-Train » The amazing thing about this for me, personally, is that it was recorded at the Brandeis University radio station when I was actually in grad school there. I attended several of these "The Joint" radio show sessions during those years, but I somehow missed this one! Glad it showed up on disk! L.
Sam Jones is, to use a massively overused word, massively underrated. To wit: Under his leadership: The Soul Society The Chant Down Home With Blue Mitchell: A Sure Thing Blue Soul Out of the Blue (also features Mr. PC) Blue's Moods With Johnny Griffin: The Little Giant All top-shelf releases.
I just got home from a nice performance by some of our top jazz sextet playing a hardbop show loosely themed around Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. They did some other tunes not associated with Blakey like Pensativa by Clare Fischer, a couple of Woody Shaw tunes, Monk's Ruby My Dear with a great tenor sax solo that really had me following his lines because he kept choosing notes I didn't expect so I was really focussing on what he was playing. It's not often I have that kind of experience with an old chestnut like Ruby My Dear but tbere you go. That's the great thing about jazz. NP Chet Baker Memories in Tokyo (King) It has quickly become my go to for my Chet fix.
Miles Davis, On the Corner (UDSACD 2171, 1972/2016) I wonder if this could be classified as "ambient" jazz, the ambience being the hustle and bustle of a busy street corner? On the Corner doesn't really work as background music, though. This requires concentration to keep up with the ebb and flow; if the listener is "there" in full alert to catch the sweeping sonic waves at the very moment they hit, one is in for quite a ride. Could I perhaps call this "surf" jazz?
2014 Rhino/Atlantic/HDtracks 96/24 mono mix Recorded in one day, February 4th '59 at Atlantic Studios, NYC There's nothing much I can add to this, other than to say I love this album and the mono mix. The slathering of saxophones is always great to hear.
