He was scheduled to play in town in the spring of 2020 but of course covid hit and it didn’t happen. I was looking forward to the show along with a few others in May and early June that didn’t happen.
Tim Berne's Snakeoil - Snakeoil Let us hope history remembers this band as one of the most distinctive and mind expanding ensembles of its time. Tim Berne - alto saxophone Oscar Noriega - B♭ clarinet, bass clarinet Matt Mitchell - piano Ches Smith - drums, percussion
NP: Various Artists - Amarcord Nino Rota (LP, Hannibal, 1981) When I bought the first of Hal Willner's tribute albums on a trip to Berlin in 2016, I did not know anything about his work yet. I was not too familiar with Nino Rota either and was mostly drawn to Jaki Byard's solo cuts. His take on 'Amarcord' (which is also the opening track of the album) gently moves between almost ironic playfulness and serenity. Some other highlights: Carla Bley leads a 10-person ensemble on a suite on the basis of selections from 8½: it is fittingly carnivalesque, not least because Bley chooses to play the organ and the glockenspiel rather than the piano. A band conducted by Muhal Richard Abrams needs less than three minutes to provide all the atmosphere that can be expected from a composition called 'Notturno'. After a short intermission Abrams' contribution then slowly segues into Michael Sahl's more modest but equally melancholy arrangement of 'Valzer (Parlami di Me)' with Blondie's Deborah Harry on wordless vocals. Bill Frisell accompanies himself on an eerie version of 'Juliet of the Spirits'. Even if this is the earliest Frisell recording I have heard, he seems to have found his own trademark sound already. Steve Lacy also has a solo appearance: he plays a searching but melodic interpretation of 'Roma'. Even if I could not quite put my finger on the variety of sounds on this record when I first heard it, I quite liked it. However, since now that I have delved deeper into the work of some of the contributing artists, it is an even more rewarding listen than in 2016!
I’m going to see Joe Craven this weekend coincidently. The band is Mamajowali. They have performances on youtube. It’s sort of bluegrass meets West Africa in style.
Some of these have been mentioned by others but these hit my player every now & then... Art Blakey - At the Cafe Bohemia Arthur Taylor - Wailin' At The Vanguard Bill Evans - Sunday At The Village Vanguard/Waltz For Debby Cannonball Adderley - At The Lighthouse Charles Mingus - Mingus In Wonderland & Mingus at Antibes - both well worth hearing Coleman Hawkins - Alive! At the Village Gate Dexter Gordon - Nights at the Keystone Duke Ellington - At Newport '56 Jimmy Smith - Cool Blues Joe Henderson - State of the Tenor Kenny Burrell - On View at the Five Spot Cafe Miles Davis - Plugged Nickel or Blackhawk Shelly Manne - Blackhawk or Mannhole (both are great) Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard Stan Getz - Anniversary or Serenity (both absolutely incredible) Stanley Turrentine - Up at Minton's Wes Montgomery - Smokin' at the Half Note (get the full concert with "Impressions - The Verve Jazz Sides") Honorable mention... which does not mean that they are lesser titles, just that I don't spin them as much. Art Blakey - A Night At Birdland Art Pepper - Unreleased Art Vol. III - The Croyden Concert Betty Carter - The Audience With Betty Carter Bobby Hutcherson - Live At Montreux Cannonball Adderley - Take your pick from several great live dates. Chucho Valdés - Live at the Village Vanguard Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge & Johnny Hodges - Alive! at the Village Gate (I prefer the straight Hawkins date over this one) Dexter Gordon has quite a few live CDs that showcase his playing. They have a lot of similarities so try a few out. Earl Hines - Grand Reunion Eddie Lockjaw Davis & Johnny Griffin - Live at Minton's JJ Johnson - Quintergy - Live at the Village Vanguard Jim Hall - Live! Joe Henderson - Live at the Lighthouse Lee Konitz - At the Half Note Lew Tabackin - Tanuki's Night Out Mal Waldron - The Git Go or The Seagulls of Kristiansund (same night at the Vanguard) Michel Petrucciani - Power of Three Mingus Big Band - Live in Time Stan Getz - People Time Thelonious Monk - Live in Tokyo Tommy Flanagan - Nights at the Vanguard
Great choices ! I would add the under rated Joe Henderson State of the Tenor both volumes, art Peppers live at the VV
For some strange reason, when I work at my desk, women do not look at me like this…its not fair frankly.
When I finally got my hands on "Night of the Cookers", I was very excited to hear it. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I thought it was sloppy and I didn't like it much at all. The audio isn't very good either. On another discussion board, an industry guy has said that he was told that the tape was given to Blue Note to satisfy Hubbard's contract so he could move on to Atlantic. Blue Note bought it to keep the recording (with other valuable Blue Note artists) out of other labels' hands. Supposedly, Blue Note only issued it to recoup the money they advanced to Hubbard.
I had forgotten it. Cannonball Adderley with his Quintet or sometimes Sextet (Yuseef Lateef) had released much great live stuff. Some examples: Cannonball In Japan; Nippon Soul with Lateef; Money In The Pocket; Country Preacher.
I still seem to catch the eyes of many ladies, but lately I have noticed that many are clutching either an emergency alarm or some small spray can.
NP: George Adams, Dannie Richmond - Gentleman's Agreement (Soul Note 1983) Adams was familiar, but not drummer Dannie Richmond, who certainly warrants sharing the leader credit here. I see Richmond was on an excellent Mingus Dynasty LP. He gets a few solos and draws fresh sounds out of his drum set rather than just flex his chops. He also composed one of the tunes. Adams switches between flute and sax, equally comfortable on both instruments. Several compositions are by pianist Lawson, a regular from Yusef Lateef's ensemble. And some of those eastern-influenced charts are where Richmond shines. The only hiccup is the blues singing on one track—not sure who to attribute that to. Perhaps the gentleman's agreement was Richmond got to sing the blues. I like the sleuthing of individual players, tracing back to where I've heard them before. It is like a big jazz jigsaw. And just when you think you get the full picture, you realize there's a whole other section missing. What started as a 1,000 piece puzzle, turns out to be at least a 1,000,000 piece puzzle. Double Bass – Mike Richmond Drums – Dannie Richmond Piano – Hugh Lawson Tenor Saxophone, Flute – George Adams Trombone – Jimmy Knepper After a productive but short work day (the best kind), I'm snacking on aged cheddar, fresh nine grain bread and a glass of vintage Monastrell wine. A suitable pairing for Soul Note recordings. Its fun to think of pairing jazz recordings with certain beverages (specific coffees, tea, scotch, wine, beer, etc). The evening ahead of me involves preparing sea bass for dinner, wrapping up season five of sci-fi show The Expanse. Sad to have exhausted a show that seemed so 'expansive' but now too short. Glad the author left a little runway in the subsequent novels.
I stumbled on this in Qobuz new releases it seemed very of the moment, for obvious reasons, it's quite nice, avant-garde but in a mellow atmospheric way.
Dannie Richmond was Mingus' drummer for an extended time. The story, as related by Mingus, was that he could not find a drummer who could play his music, so he found Danny Richmond and taught him to play the drums.
That's very interesting I love Stan Getz but I don't know either of those recordings. I checked both Qobuz and Tidal neither title is streaming on either which seems odd. I don't play CDs anymore but if I find someplace to download them I'll check them out thanks for the recommendation.
Wes Montgomery, “Full House”. Japan Victor re-issue. This is one of those situations where you have heard the CD and thought it was good, then this shows up. WRONGO. The LP is music, the CD is a copy.
Not sure whether anyone has mentioned them but the Art Pepper albums recorded at Ronnie Scott's in 1980 under Milcho Leviev's name at time on Mole Jazz are well worth hearing - Blues For The Fisherman & True Blues.
George Russell - The Jazz Workshop How sick is Paul Motian's drumming on Concerto for Billy the Kid?! I never would have guessed this was his playing. What a fascinating evolution as a musician. Incredible music on this album.
On the turntable, "Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else" on Blue Note. Music Matters reissue. Cannonball Adderley – alto saxophone Miles Davis – trumpet Hank Jones – piano Sam Jones – bass Art Blakey – drums "Autumn Leaves" Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer, Jacques Prévert "Love for Sale" Cole Porter "Somethin' Else" Miles Davis "One for Daddy-O" Nat Adderley "Dancing in the Dark"
