What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Mister Sharpe]

Damn' hot :

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[SimonNZ]

Benny Carter - Additions To Further Definitions (1966)
Albert Ayler - Love Cry (1968)

[Spineur]

Jazz en douceur by two grand masters

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[king ubu]

Jazz en douceur by two grand masters

Funny, just had a chat on Chet with a friend, and he mentioned all he knew so far was the stuff with Bill Evans ... which is alright in my book, but there's so much better to be found in the discographies of both.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Donny McCaslin, Recommended Tools. Great interplay in this inventive trio setting.



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[SimonNZ]

Jackie Paris - The Song Is Paris (1962)

[king ubu]

Caterina Valente - The Jazz Singer | Granted, she wasn't a real jazz singer, but she had chops aplenty and a voice of steel ... that I can enjoy in some doses if the material is right. And it's certainly okay here, mostly standards (After You've Gone, They Can't Take That Away from Me, Pennies from Heaven, I'll Remember April), some good originals (Louis Jordan's "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby", Basie's "Good Morning Blues", Bob Cooper's "Jazz Invention"), but also some cutesy and some typical period stuff including plenty of the Latin kind (pretending to be Brasilian, Cuban, Mexican ...), three of those with just guitar/backing vocals (Aquarela do Brasil, El Negro Zumbón, El Cumbanchero), on most of the tracks you get the Kurt Edelhagen All Stars or their rhythm section (they're pretty good, with some decent soloists), on a couple you get the Erwin Lehn led Südfunk Tanzorchester (the Lehn dudes were with SWF radio in Baden-Baden, Lehn was with SDR in Stuttgart - they have merged into SWR in the late 90s, and SWR is issuing plenty of good music from the archives, the black "Lost Tapes" cover by the MJQ above is one of theirs, too). Highlight, probably, is one cut featuring the doomed Chet Baker Quartet that was on tour back in 1955, with Richard Twardzik on piano (who ODed a few days later), Jimmy Bond (b) and Peter Littman (d - but his main job really was organizing drugs wherever they were) plus guest Lars Gullin on baritone (they made a few sides together in a Swedish studio, too).

Valente can be heard singing lyrics as well as joining the fun with the band, as on the almost ten-minute "Festival Jump" where she improvises after a series of instrumental solos.

Guess this isn't music for the ages or anything, but it's good fun.

[Spineur]

The material spans Monk to Nino Rota compositions and is somewhat eclectic.  But the playing by this trio is excellent


[asin]B00B5DWIIS[/asin]

[SimonNZ]

Michael White - Land Of Spirit And Light (1973)

[king ubu]

The material spans Monk to Nino Rota compositions and is somewhat eclectic.  But the playing by this trio is excellent


[asin]B00B5DWIIS[/asin]

All recordings by that trio are worth hunting for ... mostly the two volumes of Morricone albums! The two of them were pulled together later into one package:

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[SimonNZ]

Emil Richards - Journey To Bliss (1967)
Albert Ayler - New Grass (1968)



Shirley Scott - On A Clear Day (1966)
Mal Waldron - Sweet Love, Bitter soundtrack (1967)

[SimonNZ]

Beverly Jenkins - Gordon Jenkins Presents My Wife the Blues Singer (1963)
The Russian Jazz Quartet - Happiness (1965)



Sam Rivers - Crystals (1974)
Phil Woods - Greek Cooking (1967)



Lorez Alexandria - More of the Great Lorez Alexandria (1964)
Ahmad Jamal - Outertimeinnerspace (1971)



Yusef Lateef - 1984 (1965)
Earl Hines - Once Upon A Time (1966)

[Autumn Leaves]

Recent listening:



Miles Davis Quintet - Relaxin'



Dave Brubeck Quartet - At Carnegie Hall (Live Recording)

For a first listen - found this most enjoyable.

[king ubu]

That's a pretty wild mix of Impulse classics and eccentricities there, Simon!

That Beverly Jenkins is one I never saw ... rather lame stuff, but of course the spouses Jenkins were no bluesers whatsoever:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/85mbeqet012p7q8/ggj_59.rar?dl=0

But I like some of the corny/cheesy/oddball stuff on Impulse ... and I very much like the fact that this stylish boutique label had room for stuff like that (dig Howard Roberts' "Antelope Freeway"!)

[James]

https://www.youtube.com/v/1gEcTvoqQYM

[James]

https://www.youtube.com/v/opOUa1KcvBw

[SimonNZ]

That's a pretty wild mix of Impulse classics and eccentricities there, Simon!

That Beverly Jenkins is one I never saw ... rather lame stuff, but of course the spouses Jenkins were no bluesers whatsoever:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/85mbeqet012p7q8/ggj_59.rar?dl=0

But I like some of the corny/cheesy/oddball stuff on Impulse ... and I very much like the fact that this stylish boutique label had room for stuff like that (dig Howard Roberts' "Antelope Freeway"!)

Heh, yeah. Just checking out some random ones I hadn't heard before. The Lateef 1984 and Sam Rivers Crystals and Albert Ayler New Grass I thought were superb. The Earl Hines was much better than I expected and has a really wonderful "Black And Tan Fantasy". The Mal Waldron soundtrack to a film I've never heard of was also interesting. The Phil Woods was an oddly half excellent and half misguided kitsch. Shirley Scott I often love, but that wasn't one of her best. The Lorez Alexandra does the smokey nightclub singer thing well, even if it adds nothing new, and I'd be happy to hear more. The Russian Jazz Quartet was a surprisingly solid set. Theviolinist Michael White made me want to check out the rest of his Impulse albums.The Emil Richards was endearingly dated. But I have to agree that the Beverly Jenkins was a real letdown (and misnomer) and the weakest so far.

It was hearing Oliver Nelson's The Kennedy Dream last week, which while not necessarily great had much of interest, that made me wonder if I shouldn't try and check out more that I'd either overlooked or that have justly or unjustly been relegated to the dustbin of history. Have you heard that one?

I also played Michael Brown's Alarums and Excursions a few days ago, and was amused to hear not jazz but some topical/timecapsule Folk in the Freewheelin Dylan mould:



and playing now:



v/a - Intercollegiate Music Festival, Vol.1 (1967)
Gary McFarland - Points Of Departure (1963)

[Autumn Leaves]

Recent listening:



Bill Evans Trio - Moon Beams

So mellow - love this one.



Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Au Club St. Germain (Vols. 1 & 2)

Great, energetic live record - one of the best items in the box-set.

[George]

Recent listening:



Bill Evans Trio - Moon Beams

So mellow - love this one.

Indeed!

I can't get enough of Bill Evans!

[SimonNZ]

Dave Mackay and Vicky Hamilton - s/t (1969)
Zoot Sims - Waiting Game (1966)



Shelly Manne - 2,3,4 (1962)
Michael White - Spirit Dance (1971)