Dexter Gordon – Go This was one of the first core saxophone albums I can remember really taking a shine to. I knew it was considered one of the truly essential sax albums outside Trane/Mobley/Henderson, so I scooped up a copy but had no expectations. Well, had I had expectations, not only would they have been met, but they would have been exceeded.... greatly. It was love at first listen and it retains a joyous place in my collection today. Actually, I was hooked right from the head of the opener, "Cheese Cake." This is a very strong melody, delivered by Gordon with great confidence. Fortunately, his subsequent solo is entirely worthy of the head, and then, making the song truly special, is the fantastic solo contribution of the great Sonny Clark on piano. While this album is an all time fave, the opening cut in particular stands out among all the great jazz tunes I've heard. Gordon then mixes things up nicely with a lush ballad (only to top it with an even more sensuous ballad on the album's penultimate song) before returning to some lightly but expressively swinging hard bop. Every tune is hummable, but this is still great jazz. No solo is too scary, but this is still great improvisation. As a whole, the album is accessible, but still worthy of its lofty reputation, and then some. It would be easy, as some do, to write this album off as not being a ground breaker, or being too upbeat and happy to be deep enough to warrant special recognition or repeated listening, but such a falsely elitist assessment would be shortsighted and could deny one great joy in a world that needs more. Gordon once said: "Jazz to me is a living music. It's a music that since its beginning has expressed the feelings, the dreams and hopes of the people." Go is a fine musical expression of this sentiment and should be in every music lover's catalog.
NP Steve Kuhn Trio - Temptation (Venus) Japanese lp W/Buster Williams and Billy Drummond from 2002 possibly from the obi.
I think it would be difficult to purchase cds of the small combo lps for the price of the box , in fact i think you might spend a lot more and not get this sound quality. I have not finished listening to the set but there is a lot of good stuff here and I am half way through the 100% Proof Big Band set from 68 and there are some pretty special moments here on first listen , Might be worth your while to give it a bit of time. ... that often works for me on something outside my comfort zone
Nat Birchall Quartet "The Storyteller--The Music of Yusef Lateef" This cd keeps jumping into my transport. It's great music (I've long been a Lateef fan and I've become a Birchall fan) and it's the kind of recording that lets you know how your system is doing--very well-recorded, acoustic instruments clearly and cleanly presented.
Followed by . . . . A Helen Merrill that was as far as I know only released in Japan and that I have had a crappy MP3 version from someone. . . so happy to have this on the new UHQCD release from Japan. Not essential, unless like me you are someone who just has to have all of Merrill's work if possible. . . . Helen Merrill "Love in Song"
R. I. P. all people dead in the terrible event. I'm not a huge fan of basketball, but Bryant was a phenomenal champion much known and loved in Italy. He had lived in my country and liked Italy that knew thanks to his father Joe, player in Italian teams. He spoke Italian fluently.
Np Art Pepper Live At the Village Vanguard (Contemporary) Glad the tapes were rolling that week at the VV.
Good thoughts, but I can't get past the Big Band tracks and I kept dreading that the next track might be that. That's no way to listen to music. And that final disc!!!
Ha well i have yet to get to the final disc but it does not sound encouraging Still there are 8 lps of small group bands. Some of these hard to find so costs are not small to reassemble those...
I saw this in Ray's once before and wondered whether to get it and did last time I was there. It's good. Wonder where it's been all these years? And the trio rendering of Pavanne/So What/Impressions (delete as applicable)? Coincidence that this was recorded later the same month as the famous Coltrane residency at the Village Vanguard or not?
Motohiko Hino/ Toko: Motohiko Hino Quartet at Nemu Jazz Inn (1975) You may have heard Motohiko play drums on his brother Tarumasa Hino's albums, but you Joe Henderson freaks may also know him from Joe Henderson in Japan. He's also on Masabumi Kikuchi's Poo-Sun. Loose, a bit psychedelic and wild, clearly inspired by Live-Evil but without sounding like a clone. No trumpet, just guitar/keys/bass/drums. You can get a reasonable price on the CD from Amazon Japan, if you're in the market for something like that.
I'm not really familiar with Buddy Tate but this Storyville compilation is really nice very fun accessible music.
This album, in particular the opening track, needs to be played loud I really like Morgan's playing on this one. And while I'm not very familiar with Cedar Walton (piano), there is something I like about his sound. I can envision Art with the cigarette in his mouth playing out the rhythm perfectly.
Fred Anderson Trio: Live at the Velvet Lounge with Peter Kowald & Hamid Drake Recorded on 6/1/98 5 stars - priceless long form grooved out free jazz with Fred in prime form. Okkadisk records
On top of the cost issue, all earlier cd versions of this material sounded decidedly inferior, most were needle drops, and none came anywhere close to sounding as good as the material in this box with one exception--Classic Records put out a gold cd of the US version of the date with Kirk, and it sounds pretty good. But it's also rare and costs a lot these days.
One of my faves. Blakey and Morgan together is always special. Walton doesn't get as much ink as his contemporaries, maybe in part because his efforts as leader never yielded the classics of a Tyner or Silver, but I've always loved his contributions as a sideman. There's no doubt he made many things better through the years.
Of course, these guys are great together. With Claude Williamson (p), Buddy Clark (b) & Mel Lewis. Recorded 11/17/59, Los Angeles. Producer: Norman Granz.
OJC-001. 1982. USA. Scored another five OJC recordings from Japan this week. Seems the only place I can find the old 80's pressings for a good price. Damn, I love the varied beauty of the OJC catalogue.
It's time to go back to the original disc sources (assuming they've been properly preserved) for a new and *complete* transfer/remastering of these 1940s Ellington concerts!
I'm not huge into jazz guitar....but I have a few exceptions. Wes Montcomery: Full House OJC-106. 1984. USA.
Storyville is the only company that might ever do that, but there is a chance that Prestige (now Concord) owns the rights, so that is unlikely. (Re: The Ellington Carnegie Concerts of the 1940s) It is hard enough to get SONY to remaster the complete Victor recordings
