It was righteous! The show was at the Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, which is essentially a basketball arena - but the SFJazz Collective is so powerful and talented that the music didn't get "lost" and in fact I kind of enjoyed the sonic impact, the sound echoing around the venue - probably even more than I did when I saw them last October at SFJazz Center's more acoustically ideal and smaller/more intimate Miner Auditorium. Plus the crowd was mostly high school and college music nuts - kids competing in the large band and small combo competition that forms the heart of the jazz festival. Amazingly cool to see and hear such young people getting totally into that kind of sophisticated music...the way the whole world ought to be! Here's a clip of a live recording of Fire by the Collective, issued on their latest CD - pretty similar to what they did in Reno: http://www.sfjazz.org/content/fire I think Obed Calvaire's arrangement is genius, really putting a stamp on the tune rather than just aping Joe's version.
@Marzz wise purchase and I'm sure you'll find a lot to like. It was available maybe ten years ago as a cut out very cheaply so I grabbed one. It was the same time they released a box of the complete Eric Dolphy on Prestige/New Jazz at similar price points, i.e. worth every penny. I had Joe Henderson's Elements but nothing else on Milestone so I had a lot to gain and next to nothing to lose. The live albums I find particularly strong but then, I like the searching, stretching side of jazz and Joe is adept at it as everyone knows. WP Joey Calderazzo - In The Door (Blue Note) I'm reliving some past here. This is Joey's first album and it has Jerry Bergonzi on a few cuts. I saw him some time after this was out at a big celebration for a new jazz station in town and he played solo piano at one of the four bars at the hotel. Jimmy Smith "happened" to come by when Joey was going to take a break so we got to hear Jimmy play piano while Joey got comfortable. But I digress.... It was a wonderful day/night NP Johnny Coles - Little Johnny C (Blue Note) RVG Edition With the young Joe Henderson. He was hot right out the gate!
Hey, thanks for posting that! Really awesome arrangement as you said... and that sax player was smokin!
Pauline Oliveros - Land Escaping / Zeena Parkins - Once - LP (well, side two is jazz, anyway) Steve Lacy - Clinkers - CD Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch! - CD (original McMaster)
I think it did go out of print but it's now available as part of the Mosaic Records box Woody Shaw The Complete Muse Sessions
Sarah Vaughan / Clifford Brown on disc 7 Of Brownie : The Complete EmArcy Recordings of Clifford Brown Sarah Vaughan, vocals; Clifford Brown, trumpet; Herbie Mann, flute; Paul Quinichette, tenor sax; Jimmy Jones, piano; Joe Benjamin, bass; Roy Haines, drums.
Yes, there was a time when that box could be had for under $30 dollars US. Not anymore. IMO like McCoy Tyner, all of Joe's Milestone work is under appreciated and well worth hearing and not just if your a fan of Joe. Elements, which I just listened to is probably my least favorite of that era. There's a bit of unfortunate spoken word 70's stuff in one song on that album. But otherwise the album is good. The rest of the Milestone era material is excellent.
Jazz In Paris | En ce temps-la ~ Don Byas (EmArcy/Gitanes) Six titles from 1947, seven from 1952 - all originally issued on Blue Star 78 RPM discs. Digitally remastered by Alexis Frenkel & Christophe Henault.
Prestige All-Stars – Roots (Prestige) — With Idrees Sulieman, Pepper Adams, Frank Rehak, Bill Evans, Doug Watkins, Louis Hayes // or with: Idrees Sulieman, Cecil Payne, Jimmy Cleveland, Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Elvin Jones
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Stone Flower (CTI / King Jazz Japan) — With Eumir Dedato, Ron Carter, Joao Palma, Airto Moreira, Everaldo Ferreira, Urbie Green, Joe Farrell, Hubert Laws, Harry Lookofsky
I love Jobim and Stone Flower is amazing. I think his work with Deodato is superb and equal in quality to his collaborations with Claus Ogerman. I have been stuck on Ellington & Coltrane for about a week.
I actually prefer these arrangements to Ogerman's. The CTI Supreme "Stone Flower" sounds amazing: flat transfer very well done.
"Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson" (1959) with Ray Brown (bass), Ed Thigpen (piano). (early Verve CD U.K.)
Yes, sadly lots of critics unfairly dismiss Deodato as "commercial." He is a fellow Brazilian and has the perfect sensibility to compliment Jobim. It is a great sounding recording.
Live & direct! 1946 Jazz at The Philharmonic concert ~ Charlie Parker (Verve) featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young & Coleman Hawkins
I've not seen that cover before but seeing John Taylor paired with Rava piqued my interest. NP Walter Norris - Drifting (Enja) Duo album w/George Mraz. I don't see Walter Norris mentioned here much but Iwent through a phase with him after discovering him through his solo Maybeck Recital Hall recording on Concord. I ended up with four or five cds by him and one lp, his first. He had the distinction of being the only pianist Ornette Coleman recorded with until Geri Allen joined the club in the 1990s!
Norris is cool, and he had a recording (SUNBURST) which has one of Joe Henderson's relatively uncommon (in his later years) but fine side-man gigs: The cover makes it look like this would be rather conservative music - but, while it's certainly not totally out there, essentially in the modern post-bop mainstream mode, Norris' playing is anything but conventional. It's not a totally straight ahead, creases in the jeans type of Concord date.
There's a copy at one of the local used stores, in great condition, for around $30. And, it's been sitting out on the shelves now for over 2 months (this is a place I visit frequently). Hard to fathom why someone hasn't snatched it up yet. His Milestones don't get enough due, I agree. Was listening to disc 7 from this box (the ELEMENTS tracks) on the way to work this morning, inspired by the recent discussion: http://www.*******.com/uploads/posts/2011-11/1322574998_joe-henderson-1.jpg Particularly interesting now to listen after having heard SFJazz Collective's spin. Very different approaches, but they both work out nicely. Love the instrumentation on Joe's rendition, with Michael White's violin and Alice Coltrane's harp.
Cootie Williams and His Rug Cutters – SGS CD 1e/2a (E – Mar 8, 1937) – The Complete Duke Ellington 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okeh Small Group Sessions (Mosaic Records) — With Cootie Williams, Joe Nanton, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, Hayes, Alvis, Sonny Greer; tunes include: I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me, Downtown Uproar, Digga Digga Do, Blue Reverie, Tiger Rag The Gotham Stompers – SGS CD 2b (F – Mar 25, 1937) – The Complete Duke Ellington 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okeh Small Group Sessions (Mosaic Records) — With Cootie Williams, Sandy Williams, Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Tommy Fulford, Bernard Addison, Billy Taylor, Chick Webb, Ivie Anderson; tunes include: My Honey's Loving Arms, Did Anyone Ever Tell You?, Alabamy Home, Where Are You? (Duke doesn't play on this session.)