Roy Hargrove Quintet With The Tenors of Our Time – (1994 – Label: Verve)

Verve has certainly pushed the boat out for Hargrove, newly captured from Novus. For his first release they have provided him with no less than five guest stars—all tenor players. They are Joe Henderson, Johnny Griffin, Stanley Turrentine, Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman. What Hargrove’s incumbent tenor player, Ron Blake, thought of this is not known, but he plays remarkably well himself. The change certainly seems to have done Hargrove good. He sounds more relaxed and expansive here than on previous albums, with the slightly manic enthusiasm toned down a bit, although this was always more evident in person than on record. He is 23 now, roughly the same age as Lee Morgan when he was with The Messengers, no longer a prodigy with something to prove. It is now 38 years since Clifford Brown died and his influence among trumpeters has proved as durable as Charlie Christian’s among guitarists. Who could have imagined then the brilliant players yet unborn who would follow his brief, inspiring example?

Tracklist:
1. Soppin’ The Biscuit   
2. When We Were One   
3. Valse Hot   
4. Once Forgotten   
5. Shade Of Jade   
6. Greens At The Chicken Shack   
7. Never Let Me Go   
8. Serenity   
9. Across The Pond   
10. Wild Is Love   
11. Mental Phrasing   
12. April’s Fool

Personnel
Roy Hargrove (Tp, fh)
Ron Blake (Sop & Ten Sax)
Cyrus Chestnut (Piano)
Rodney Whitaker (Bass)
Gregory Hutchinson (Drums)

Additional personnel: (Ten Sax)
Stanley Turrentine,
Johnny Griffin,
Joshua Redman,
Joe Henderson,
Branford Marsalis    

Recorded at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, New York on January 16 & 17, 1994 and at Teatro Mancinelli, Orvieto, Italy on December 28, 1993. Includes liner notes by Bob Blumenthal. – Label: Verve

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Joe Henderson: Page One (1963 – APO)

This 1963 session was Henderson’s debut as a leader, and it introduced a strikingly individualistic tenor saxophonist, with a distinctively muscular sound and approach, as well as a talent for finding a personal route through the dominant tenor styles of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. At the time of the session, Henderson worked regularly in a quintet with the veteran trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and the two enjoyed a special chemistry apparent on several Blue Note recordings under their individual names. One unusual facet is the hard-bop take on the then emerging bossa nova, apparent in the first recording of Dorham’s now standard “Blue Bossa,” on which Henderson’s thoughtful construction is apparent, and the saxophonist’s own coiling Latin tune, “Recorda Me.” Pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Pete LaRoca provide more than solid support for a date that’s as often reflective as it is forceful.
Stuart Broomer (Jazz Critic)

Tracklist:

1. Blue Bossa 

2. La Mesha 

3. Homestretch 

4. Recorda Me 

5. Jinrikisha 

6. Out Of The Night 

Personnel:

Joe Henderson (Ten Sax)

Kenny Dorham  (Trp)

McCoy Tyner  (Piano)

Butch Warren  (Bass)

Pete La Roca  (Drums)

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on June 3, 1963. Originally released on Blue Note (84140). Includes liner notes by Kenny Dorham and Bob Blumenthal.
Original Release Date: June 3, 1963  –  Label: APO

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Bobby Hutcherson: Stick-Up! (1966 – Blue Note)

One of Bobby Hutcherson’s best albums, Stick-Up! was also his first official release not to feature drummer Joe Chambers, who was a major part of Hutcherson’s outside leanings. Instead, Stick-Up! stakes out the middle ground between hard bop and the avant-garde, offering a set of structured yet advanced modal pieces indebted particularly to Coltrane. Hutcherson’s originals (five out of six selections) show him at the top of his game as a composer, and the ensemble’s playing is tight and focused throughout, but what really lifts Stick-Up! to the top tier of Hutcherson’s discography is its crackling energy. It’s quite possibly the hardest-swinging album he ever cut, and part of the credit has to go to the stellar rhythm section of McCoy Tyner on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, who lay down a driving, pulsating foundation that really pushes Hutcherson and tenorist Joe Henderson. Tyner in particular is a standout, charging relentlessly forward on the intricate “8/4 Beat” and “Black Circle” and lending a Coltrane-ish flavor to the spiritually searching “Verse.” The lone non-Hutcherson piece, Ornette Coleman’s sometimes overlooked “Una Muy Bonita,” is given a fantastic, rollicking treatment as catchy as it is progressive, proving that the piece is a classic regardless of whether it’s interpreted freely or with a steady groove and tonal center. Hutcherson’s originals are uniformly strong and memorable enough to sit very well next to it, and that — coupled with the energetic performances — ranks Stick-Up! with Dialogue and Components  as the finest work of Hutcherson’s tenure at Blue Note.
Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Track List:

1. Una Muy Bonita   
2. 8/4 Beat       
3. Summer Nights       
4. Black Circle       
5. Verse       
6. Blues Mind Matte

Personnel:
Bobby Hutcherson (Vibraphone & Marimba)

McCoy Tyner (Piano)
Joe Henderson (Tenor Sax )
Billy Higgins (Drums)

Herbie Lewis (Bass)

Original Release Date: July 14, 1966  –  Label: Blue Note Records

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Horace Silver – Song for My Father (1964 – Blue Note)

 

One of Blue Note’s greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver’s signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics. Silver  was always a master at balancing jumping rhythms with complex harmonies for a unique blend of earthiness and sophistication, and Song for My Father has perhaps the most sophisticated air of all his albums. Part of the reason is the faintly exotic tint that comes from Silver’s flowering fascination with rhythms and modes from overseas — the bossa nova beat of the classic “Song for My Father,” for example, or the Eastern-flavored theme of “Calcutta Cutie,” or the tropical-sounding rhythms of “Que Pasa?” Subtle touches like these alter Silver’s core sound just enough to bring out its hidden class, which is why the album has become such a favorite source of upscale ambience. Song for My Father was actually far less focused in its origins than the typical Silver  project; it dates from the period when Silver  was disbanding his classic quintet and assembling a new group, and it features performances from both bands (and, on the CD reissue with bonus tracks, three different sessions). Still, it hangs together remarkably well, and Silver’s writing is at its tightest and catchiest. The title cut became Silver’s best-known composition, partly because it provided the musical basis for jazz-rock group Steely Dan’s biggest pop hit “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” Another hard bop standard is introduced here in the lone non-Silver  tune, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson’s “The Kicker,” covered often for the challenge of its stuttering phrases and intricate rhythms. Yet somehow it comes off as warm and inviting as the rest of the album, which is necessary for all jazz collections — mainstream hard bop rarely comes as good as Song for My Father. 

Steve Huey (All Music Guide)

Tracks List:
1. Song For My Father
2. The Natives Are Restless Tonight
3. Calcutta Cutie
4. Que Pasa
5. The Kicker
6. Lonely Woman
7. Sanctimonious Sam
8. Que Pasa (trio version)
9. Sighin’ and Cryin’
10. Silver Treads Among My Soul

Personnel
Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5
Horace Silver: (piano)
Carmell Jones: (trumpet)
Joe Henderson: (tenor saxophone)
Teddy Smith: (bass)
Roger Humphries: (drums)

Tracks 3, 6 – 10
Horace Silver: (piano)
Blue Mitchell: (trumpet)
Junior Cook: (tenor saxophone)
Eugene Taylor: (bass)
Roy Brooks: (drums)

Original Release Date: October 26, 1964  –  Label: Blue Note Records

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