What Jazz are you listening to now?

[aligreto]

[SimonNZ]

Steve Davis - Vibe Up! (1998)
Dinah Washington - Sings Fats Waller (1957)

[SimonNZ]

David Hazeltine - Inversions (2010)

[king ubu]

Misha Mengelberg (right, with Han Bennink on the left) has died today - he has retired a few years ago, and actually when I saw him live the only time, with the terrific ICP Orchestra (they're older than what/whoever is "Insane Clown Posse", I don't want to hear that sorry-assed-attempt-of-a-joke again, dear esteemed 'merikin youngsters! Fegh yer alternative facts!) he was in fact already in pretty bad shape. Still very sad news.

I'm still deeply into Blue Note territory, including some albums with Horace Parlan, who has also just left this planet:




next up is more from the Parlan Mosaic box, as well as music from the Turrentine Mosaic:

[George]

After venturing way out into territory I had not ventured into before, namely his 1970s albums, I thought it was time to revisit some of his earlier albums.

[king ubu]

Late night spins from the Lou Donaldson Mosaic set - the three albums/sessions with Horace Parlan (third was held back at the time, there's nothing wrong with it however). Now into these two magnificent Booker Ervin albums, again with Parlan of course.

[James]

https://www.youtube.com/v/8B7_s8N04gs

[aligreto]

[SimonNZ]

Gary Smulyan - With Strings (1996)
Michel Portal - Minneapolis (2001)

I was thinking about playing that one a couple of days ago. I'll take this as a prompt to put it on later this afternoon.

[king ubu]

I was thinking about playing that one a couple of days ago. I'll take this as a prompt to put it on later this afternoon.

It surely is a nice one! It went unissued back then, I assume, as Lion was recording at a too fast pace (he did that in general, and it mostly payed off very well!) and for the reason that the year of Parlan's in the Donaldson band ended soon after the session, and Herman Foster (not a big fan I'm afraid) returned. The next date resulted in one of Donaldson's most successful albums and two of the tunes were remade, so the final session with Parlan was left behind and things moved on ...

In the meantime, I moved on to two other groups of Parlan sideman sessions - his first major gig with Charles Mingus:



And then today his stint with Roland Kirk (played from the Mercury box) - just finishing the third as I type):

[James]

https://www.youtube.com/v/Ox8N7derPmk

[king ubu]

More Horace Parlan, from the Mosaic box collecting his Blue Note albums.

[SimonNZ]

Grant Stewart - More Urban Tones (1995)
Andre Previn - Plays songs By Vernon Duke (1958)



Michel Portal - Minneapolis We Insist! (2001)

[Spineur]

A fable.  Tigran Hamasyan first album


[asin]B004GBP98W[/asin]

[SimonNZ]

Mike Moreno - First In Mind (2011)
Michel Portal - Arrivederci Le Chouartse (1980)



Abdullah Ibrahim - Cape Town Revisited (2000)

[aligreto]

Ellington: Such Sweet Thunder....

[SimonNZ]

Jonathan Kreisberg - Night Songs (2008)
Miles Davis - Collectors Items (1956)



Abdullah Ibrahim - African Horns (2005)

[king ubu]

Abdullah Ibrahim - African Horns (2005)

And old but very dear love!

There are more fine discs in that series, four by Abdullah Ibrahim, and two volumes of "Jazz in Africa", the first one combines music by the Jazz Epistles with the band with John Mehegan on piano (lousy/incomplete info and also several missing tracks, a not-quite-twofer), and the second has the classic album "Tshona" by Pat Matshikiza/Basil Coetzee, as well two fantastic very long bonus tracks with Ibrahim (I once started trying to figure out all of these Ibrahim sessions, from which the Kaz/Camden compilations were taken, what a mess!)

[SimonNZ]

^That's interesting. I didn't know it was a series. I'll check those out, thanks.

now:



Joe Cohn - Shared Contemplations (2007)
Michel Portal - Birdwatcher (2007)

[king ubu]

^That's interesting. I didn't know it was a series. I'll check those out, thanks.

The Ibrahims are called "Voice of Africa", "African Sun", "Blues for a Hip King", "Tintinyana" - they contain several albums he made in the Seventies upon his return to South Africa, and include some stellar sidemen such as Kippie Moeketsi (on the middle two, thoug the fabulous "African Sun" alas misses out on two tracks of a common quartet LP by Kippie/Ibrahim from which is contains four tracks, and the two missing are nowhere to be found on the other discs, either), Basil Coetzee (turning up all over, but most importantly on the first one with a great take on "Mannenberg", which became his nickname), Barney Rachabane, Robbie Jansen ...

Starting pionts:
https://www.discogs.com/de/search/?q=kaz+ibrahim&type=all
https://www.discogs.com/de/search/?q=camden+ibrahim&type=all
I mostly have the earlier KAZ incarnations of the discs.

"The Mountain" is an unrelated later session I don't yet know, though it's from another terrific period in Ibrahim's career ...  the KAZ listing above also displays both "Jazz in Africa" volumes, the first one has - as I mentioned - the important early Jazz Epistles (Doug Payne's Hugh Masekela discography has/had infor on "Jazz in Africa Vol. 1", but I can't seem to find the site right now), but the second truly fits with the wide-open grooves of the seventies sessions by Ibrahim I love so much.

This here may also be of interest:
https://matsulimusic.bandcamp.com/
"Inhlupeko" is a magnificient hard bop album, the Bea Benjamin is great, and so is the Dick Khoza ...the two Batsumi albums have a  great afro jazz groove, and the Ndikho Xaba is from LA, merging Afro with some US jazz. Still haven't come around to play the latest, "Black Disco" by Night Express.