Archive for February 2010
Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges Play The Blues "Back To Back" (1959, Polygram Records)
These distinctive small-group sessions, featuring Duke Ellington as pianist in a blues context, are part of a group of recordings issued under the titles Back to Back and Side by Side, and further reissued under the name of Blues Summit. There should be no confusion about the high quality of music that came out of these sessions. From the jazz world, it would be difficult to find more profound soloists on traditional blues numbers than the Duke or his longtime collaborator Johnny Hodges, who does some of the most soulful playing of his career here. Also hitting a very high standard for himself is trumpeter Harry Edison and, while musicians are being patted on the back, Joe Jones & Al Hall in the rhythm section should be given a hand. The songs all have titles that end in “Blues,” with the oddball having “Love” in the title not once but twice. (It’s “Loveless Love,” what else?) But these songs are just vehicles for playing the blues, a formula that has produced great music many times, and certainly did every time this particular pianist was leading the group.
1. Wabash Blues
2. Basin Street Blues
3. Beale Street Blues
4. Weary Blues
5. St. Louis Blues, The
6. Loveless Love
7. Royal Garden Blues
Personnel:
Duke Ellington (piano)
Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone)
Harry “Sweets” Edison (trumpet)
Les Spann (guitar)
Al Hall (bass)
Jo Jones (drums)
Recorded at Columbia Studios, New York, New York, February 20, 1959. Originally released on Verve (6055)
Colorado Jazz Party "Live at Dick Gibson’s" (1971, Vinyl – BASF)
It is surprising that the music on this LP has not been reissued yet on CD for there are many exciting performances. Taken from Dick Gibson’s 1971 Colorado Jazz Party, there are mini-sets from four separate groups. Trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry “Sweets” Edison lead a six-horn nonet (which includes Zoot Sims’ tenor) for spirited versions of “On the Trail” and “The Hymn.” Terry gets a chance to stretch out with tenor-saxophonist Flip Phillips in a quintet while a similar-sized group showcases the underrated trombonist Carl Fontana and James Moody on tenor. Finally there is a four-trombone septet (with Fontana, Kai Winding, Urbie Green and an effective Trummy Young) performing long versions of “Undecided” and “Lover, Come Back to Me.” Fans of straightahead jazz who run across this two-fer will not need to be told twice to get it.
Scott Yanow
01. Just Squeeze Me
02. The Hymn
03. On the Trail
04. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You
05. Georgia On My Mind
06. Billie’s Bounce
Personnel:
Clark Terry, Harry Edison, Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Zoot Sims, Budd Johnson, Vicotr Feldman, Lyn Christie, Alan Dawson… play On the Trail; The Hymn;
Clark Terry, Flip Phillips, Victor Feldman, Lyn Christie & Cliff Leeman play Just Squeeze Me; I’m Getting Sentimental Over You / Georgia on My Mind / Billie’s Bounce.
(A live Concert recorded in 1971, but not on CD yet)
Ryan Kisor – On the One (1993, Sony)
One of the youngest of the so-called Young Lions, Ryan Kisor first gained attention when he won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz’s first trumpet competition in 1990 at age 17. He had earlier studied trumpet with his father, played with a local band when he was ten, and started studying classical music two years later. Kisor discovered jazz at 14 and developed quickly, playing both jazz and classical music locally. In the summer of 1988, he was inspired at a jazz camp by Clark Terry. After winning the Monk contest, he was signed by Columbia, coming out with a couple of interesting if slightly premature CDs as a leader.
In “On The One” Ryan Kisor’s playing is reminiscent of Art Blakey-type hard bop. He is accompanied in this albums by such renown musicians such as saxophonist Chris Potter; bassist Christian Mcbride; drummer Lewis Nash; and pianist Mulgrew Miller.
Original Release Date: April 13, 1993
Label: Sony
Chet Baker & Paul Bley: Diane (1985, SteepleChase)
This Album is an unusual collaboration for both musicians, Chet Baker & Paul Bley. “DIANE” is a set of slow, langorous ballads and one jazz original (Sonny Rollins’s “Pent-Up House”). Baker lends his wispy vocals to only “You Go To My Head,” but his trumpet sings satisfyingly throughout. Despite his well-known drug dependence, Baker continued to make good-to-great albums till the end of his life, and “DIANE” is no exception. But the revelation here is Paul Bley who studiously avoided recording jazz standards for nearly his whole career. Here, his stately tone and rich chordal work make an excellent foil for Baker’s nocturnal perambulations. A late-stage triumph for the two veterans.
Paul Bley: (Piano)
2. You Go to My Head
3. How Deep Is the Ocean?
4. Pent-Up House
5. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
6. Diane
7. Skidadidlin’
8. Little Girl Blue
Original Release Date: February 27, 1985
Label: Steeplechase
Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch! (February 25, 1964 – Blue Note Records)
In 1964, Dolphy signed with the legendary Blue Note label and recorded Out to Lunch (once again, the label insisted on using “out” in the title). This album was deeply rooted in the avant garde, and Dolphy’s solos are as dissonant and unpredictable as anything he ever recorded. Out to Lunch is often regarded not only as Dolphy’s finest album, but also as one of the greatest jazz recordings ever made.
After Out to Lunch and an appearance as a sideman on Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure, Dolphy left to tour Europe with Charles Mingus’ sextet (one of Mingus’ most underrated bands and without a doubt one of the most exciting) in early 1964. From there he intended to settle in Europe with his fiancée, who was working on the ballet scene in Paris. After leaving Mingus, he performed with and recorded a few sides with various European bands and was preparing to join Albert Ayler for a recording.
On the evening of June 28, 1964, Dolphy collapsed on the streets of Berlin and was brought to a hospital. The attending hospital physicians, who had no idea that Dolphy was a diabetic, thought that he (like so many other jazz musicians) had overdosed on drugs, so they left him to lie in a hospital bed until the “drugs” had run their course.
Out to Lunch is one of the finest records of its kind. This record is easily at the caliber of A Love Supreme and The Shape of Jazz to Come. That may seem a mighty bold statement. But this is an outstanding reality once we consider how Dolphy shows himself as solid bandleader and arranger who opens up plenty of room for his players. Much in the ideology of his fellow avant-garde players, the solos exude experiment. Yet Dolphy’s control is masterful and no matter how far out he gets, you can feel his passion and know his path has been well articulated.
Original Release Date: February 25, 1964 (Label: Blue Note Records)
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Yusef Lateef – Live at Pep’s (June 29, 1964, Grp Records)
Recorded live at Pep’s Lounge in Philadelphia on June 29th, 1964, Lateef is here at his best. He combines his proclivity for musical eccentricity with a number of hard-swinging tunes. As usual, he plays not only tenor saxophone, but flute, oboe, and a very obscure instrument called an argol (a double clarinet that resembles a bassoon). He’s backed by Richard Williams on trumpet, Mike Nock on piano, Ernie Farrow on bass and James Black on drums, and this group really shines on bluesy versions of “Brother John” and “Nu-Bouk”.
The ballads, “I Loved” and “I Remember Clifford” are lovely, subtle and filled with brilliant climaxes and melodious tenderness. Other tracks such as “The Magnolia Triangle” and “Listen to the Wind” push the boundaries of hard bop, as Lateef and crew experiment with moments of harsh dissonance bordering on atonality. An extremely creative and well-conceived set of music, Live at the Pep’S delves into the very heart of jazz, for it seeks to push the envelope of spontaneity and improvisation and stretch one’s concept of structure and form. Mr. Lateef draws from a wide range of influences and uses the oboe to great effect on this set. Some of the more out there instruments argo and shannas are put to use and end giving a distinct feel to his musical selections
2. P-Bouk
3. Nu-Bouk
4. Yusef’s Mood
5. I Remember Clifford
6. Listen To The Wind
7. I Loved
8. Delilah
9. The Magnolia Triangle (Alternative Version)
Yusef Lateef (tenor sax, oboe, argo, and shannas)
Richard Williams (trumpet)
Mike Nock (piano)
Ernie Farrow (bass)
James Black (drums).
Curtis Fuller – The Opener ( 1957 – Blue Note Records)
Track List:
01 A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening
Personnel:
Original Release Date: June 16, 1957 (Label: Blue Note Records)
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John Coltrane – Blue Train (2003 – Blue Note Records)
Blue Train gives a taste of what that might have been like, as well as a taste of what was to come. This reissue of the 1957 album finds Trane blowing hard on one of his first albums as a band leader. With one foot still in the Charlie Parker catalog and one ear turned toward hard bop, the album sounds like a typical club set. The album is best known for the title track, Coltrane’s first notable composition. His solo starts off with an announcement that he has something to say, but quickly moves toward Birdland. “Moment’s Notice” and “Locomotion” also demonstrate that, even before his work was informed by his eventual stylistic uniqueness and spiritual depth, Trane could write a compelling, well-organized tune.
The group’s rendering of the Kern/Mercer ballad “I’m Old Fashioned” and Trane’s “Lazy Bird” are a let down after the first three, although each has some nice playing by various band members.
The album benefits from Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones from Miles’ band laying down the bass and drums. Kenny Drew’s plays bluesy piano completes the excellent rhythm section. A young Lee Morgan contributes to the boppish flavor of the album with his Gillespie-ish licks (he even played a bent up horn). Curtis Fuller passes up the rapid fire riffing trombonists sometimes employ in trying to keep up with their more nimble bandmates in favor of a more nuanced, rhythmic variety. And he burns when he has to.
07 Lazy Bird (alternate take)
Personnel:
Duke Ellington & Louis Armstrong – "The complete Sessions" (1990 – Blue Note Records)
As hard as it might be to fathom, a full-scale union of two of the greatest artists in the jazz pantheon came about only once. On two days in April of 1961 Pops and Duke got together to record the seventeen numbers assembled here. While is might have been appealing to have put Armstrong in front of the full Ellington assemblage, it was decided to go with a small “swingtet”, as it were, with trombonist Trummy Young and clarinet Barney Bigard added to Ellington’s piano trio.
All of the tunes come from the Ellington book, with Armstrong fitting into the scene without a bit of strain. He cuts loose with more than a fair share of rousing trumpet spots, while vocalizing on some numbers in his own inimitable style. Familiar cuts abound, although a spontaneous composition came about at the session titled “The Beautiful American” and Duke would also pull out the exotic “Azalea,” a number claimed to have been penned for Pops many years earlier.
Besides the excellent sound quality provided via a new remastering job, this deluxe edition includes two discs housed in a slipcover. The first one consists of the master takes, with the second sporting conversations, false starts and incomplete takes associated with ten of the original seventeen tracks. While nothing all the revelatory occurs on this second disc, you might want to check it out a few times after hearing the master takes. The camaraderie apparent between the two men is obvious, capping off what has to be a solid entry in both artists’ esteemed catalogs.
17. Azalea
Dexter Gordon – The Other Side of Round Midnight: (1985 – Blue Note)
Across Rhythm 