What Jazz are you listening to now?

[George]

Second spin.

[SimonNZ]

Peter Beets - New York Trio, Page Two (2002)
Cecil Taylor - Garden 1st Set (2015)

[SimonNZ]

Peter Beets - New York Trio, Page Three (2005)

[king ubu]

Giancarlo Tossani Synapser + Ralph Alessi – Newswok, with the leader on piano, the star guest on trumpet, and Achille Succi (as, clars), Tito Mangialajo Rantzer (b) and Cristiano Calcagnile (d). I bought it in Novara recently when Calcagnile played there with Vinnie Golia and Bernard Santacruz and they had some CDs with them. Pretty good indeed!

Then on with Thelonious Monk:





"Live in New York Vol. 1" is the earliest document I believe of Charlie Rouse with Monk - still at Five Spot and with Ahmed Abdul-Malik and Roy Haynes, somewhen in 1958 (the Five Spot gig ended in mid October, after which Monk lost his cabaret card again for one and a half years ... he and Nica - who recorded this and her voice can be heard a few times - entered a segregated diner and Monk picked up a fight with the owner as well as the policemen that were called and that beat him up badly). Fast forward to 1963, the quartet now with Ben Riley on drums and Butch Warren on bass, who has some rather fine solo spots (and easily kicks the asses of John Ore and Larry Gales in that respect ... but those two had more of that deep ooomph that Monk wanted, I assume), on "It's Monk's Time" as well as the two volumes from a Paris concert early in 1964. In Monterey, Steve Swallow is on bass - I think he wasn't a member of the band for real, just stepping in as the bass chair was vacant. The highlight here is the closing "Straight No Chaser" with a larger ensemble and an amazing trumpet solo by Bobby Bryant. "Monk." then is the first album of the line-up with Larry Gales on bass (and of course still Charlie Rouse-ts and Ben Riley-d). This band would be stable for four years.



Now, for a change, revisiting Charlie Rouse's lone album as a leader (he has some good co-led albums with Julius Watkins though, running under "The Jazz Modes" - will have to dig those up as well soon).

[SimonNZ]

Peter Beets - Chopin Meets The Blues (2010)
Dexter Gordon - Stable Mable (1975)



Anthony Braxton - in The Tradition (1974)
Vienna Art Orchestra - The Minimalism Of Erik Satie (1984)

[king ubu]

r.i.p. Horace Parlan

This album has him playing with a wonderful quintet with two great horns: Thad Jones and Eddie Harris. He turned into a favourite very early on - Stanley Turrentine's "Up at Minton's" and the recordings with Mingus were amongst my earliest jazz favourites. Alas, I was never able to catch him in concert.

I was well aware of his right hand only having two "good" fingers due to polio, but never saw how he actually played. This was just brought to my attention on another forum and it's truly fascinating - starts around 7:55 (the camera drifts over to the drums for a while but then returns ... and with you, Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Jordan are watching, too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7b9UOAk_O4

In case flash again fails, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7b9UOAk_O4

[king ubu]

Another fine Parlan quintet, with Franks Strozier and Foster, the great Lisle Atkinson on bass, and the old sidekick Al Harewood on drums.

[Spineur]

Cool spring=Chet Baker In Milan & Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings

[asin]B000056ZWK[/asin]

[SimonNZ]

Horace Parlan - Musically Yours (1979)

RIP




Kevin Norton - Knots (1998)

[Bogey]

 Yesterday:
Lots of secret agent and crime jazz out there, but this has that "big city lights" feel with mixed tracks of melancholy.  My M Squad and Naked City  lps have a similar tone. 

[SimonNZ]

Sam Newsome - Sam I Am (1990)

[SimonNZ]

M.T.B. - Consenting Adults (1994)
Cuong Vu - Leaps Of Faith (2011)



Abdullah Ibrahim - Africa: Tears and Laughter (1979)

[SimonNZ]

Peter Bernstein - Somethin's Burnin' (1992)
Vienna Art Orchestra - A Notion In Perpetual Motion (1985)



Cuong Vu - Pure (2000)

[Bogey]

Never, ever, ever, gets old.  Masterpiece!

[George]

Never, ever, ever, gets old.  Masterpiece!

Absolutely! I recently got the Kevin Gray SACD hybrid remaster for Analog Productions. 

[SimonNZ]

Mike LeDonne - Waltz For An Urbanite (1995)
Dexter Gordon - Biting The Apple (1977)



Cuong Vu - Vu-Tet (2007)

[king ubu]

Discs 1 and 2 with the trio albums, all three recorded in 1960: "Movin' and Groovin'", "Us Three" and "Headin' South" - Al Harewood is on drums throughout, Sam Jones on bass on the first, then it's George Tucker ("Us Three" is Parlan-Tucker-Harewood), on the third, for most of the tracks the congas of Ray Barretto are added. Wonderful music.

[king ubu]

one of my oldest and dearest favourites

[Brian]

Discs 1 and 2 with the trio albums, all three recorded in 1960: "Movin' and Groovin'", "Us Three" and "Headin' South" - Al Harewood is on drums throughout, Sam Jones on bass on the first, then it's George Tucker ("Us Three" is Parlan-Tucker-Harewood), on the third, for most of the tracks the congas of Ray Barretto are added. Wonderful music.

My first introduction to Sam Jones was "Somethin' Else," where the booklet note says something like, "As for Sam Jones, bass, he is Sam Jones, bass." I thought that was an insult, to suggest that he is boring. But now Sam Jones is one of my favorite bassists (with Ray Brown and of course Mingus), and his presence on an album is enough to convince me that I should hear it!

[king ubu]

My first introduction to Sam Jones was "Somethin' Else," where the booklet note says something like, "As for Sam Jones, bass, he is Sam Jones, bass." I thought that was an insult, to suggest that he is boring. But now Sam Jones is one of my favorite bassists (with Ray Brown and of course Mingus), and his presence on an album is enough to convince me that I should hear it!

I love a lot of albums he is on (I think however that his three own on Riverside don't quite live up to his best sideman ones) ... and he does convince on this album with Parlan, too! But then Parlan-Tucker-Harewood is a mighty fine unit that can be heard on other albums as well (including the one I'm playing now with Stanley Turrentine, as well as three studio albums in quintet line-up with Stanley and Tommy Turrentine, Stanley's leader debut "Look Out" on Blue Note in quartet, and one of Booker Ervin's finest albums, "That's It" (there are more Ervin albums with Parlan-Tucker-Dannie Richmond, and there's also Parlan's own "Up and Down" with Ervin, Grant Green, Tucker and Harewood - that's one of Parlan's very finest I think), one of Dexter Gordon's finest ("Doin' Alright" on Blue Note, with Freddie Hubbard), and the made one with Lou Donaldson, too (with Ray Barretto added).

Not dissing Sam Jones, but George Tucker and Al Harewood, while both quite unspectacular, are mighty good players I truly appreciate. Never flashy, but never slight or uncommitted either (and thus a perfect match for Stanley Turrentine, as well as for Booker Ervin).