What Jazz are you listening to now?

[king ubu]

First listen, and this is prime late Getz -- but then I don't know any late Getz that isn't prime or very close (okay, the "Bossas & Ballads" album may be a wee bit on the tired side, but that was a posthumous release).

[San Antone]

Monk : The Complete Riverside Recordings

[modified]

Reel to Reel Music is selling this as Coltrane record (ft. Johnny Griffin).

[SimonNZ]

Don Shirley - Orpheus In The Underworld (1956)
Don Shirley - Drown In My Own Tears (1962)

[San Antone]

Evidence : Steve Lacy with Don Cherry

"The Mystery Song" (Ellington, Mills) - 5:30
"Evidence" (Monk) - 5:00
"Let's Cool One" (Monk) - 6:35
"San Francisco Holiday" (Monk) - 5:15
"Something To Live For" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 5:50
"Who Knows" (Monk) - 5:20

Steve Lacy - soprano saxophone
Don Cherry - trumpet
Carl Brown - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

[San Antone]

The Savoy Story, Vol. 1: Jazz

AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell
The old Savoy catalog gets bounced around from one distributor to the next like an unwanted foster child, with everyone starting from scratch once they get a hold of it. By 1999, it was Atlantic's turn and, hot on the heels of other label retrospectives, they have compiled a very good three-CD anthology of Savoy's jazz activities over 15 years in the middle of the 20th century. Decently remastered, the set opens around the tail end of the swing era (capturing some major figures in small-combo jazz like Ben Webster, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet) and moves on to a detailed portrait of the emergence of bop just after the war. While rarely sticking with artists for very long to track their progress, Savoy (and the labels it absorbed) was a hugely important player in the early days of bop, managing to capture some of the earliest work of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Stan Getz, George Shearing, and Dexter Gordon. The set also tracks mid- to late-'50s hard bop, including numbers by Milt Jackson, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Byrd, Donald Byrd, Herbie Mann, and other major figures. There are no unreleased goodies -- not much that truly ventures out beyond hard bop -- and only after the opening of disc three does the canvas of each track expand beyond the length of a single. The set comes in a compact, laminated mini-box with mid-century-style cover art.

[king ubu]

weekend listening:



The Adderley is wonderful ... from the Dolphy I played the disc with all new material for the first time - will need some time to really explore these sessions again, only had them in form of ugly bootleg discs, so this new set is most welcome. Great music for sure, but I want to compare takes and stuff eventually.




Then, today I decided to check out the seven reissues by Terumasa Hino from the Takt Jazz Series - recordings made between 1967 and 1971 and showing him evolve from an excellent Miles-based player into a pretty interesting voice. The first four are acoustic, and I think the one with Kikuchi has the edge, which in part is because of the 15 minute live bonus track that shows the band on fire! Hino's brother Motohiko on drums is on all of these and is at this time probably the most independent voice here. Kikuchi arranged half a dozen tracks for larger band on "Feelin' Good". The basic quintet consists of the Hino bros, Hiromasa Suzuki on piano (and electric piano on "Hi-Nology"; Kikuchi is on "Feelin' Good" and "Hino-Kikuchi") and Kunimitsu Inaba (bass, on "Hi-Nology" also electric bass).



At this point, the quintet really has its act together! On "Hi-Nology" it dips into electric territory, following in Miles' footsteps again, but at the same time the voices seem to emerge, and go beyond their US idols, Hino sounding a bit like Woody Shaw would, somewhat later on (not sure what Shaw did at end the 60s, but for some time then he was with Blakey, and I think prior to that with Horace Silver - did either happen to tour Japan?) ... on "Into the Heaven", they're back to acoustic, but with a wiry, steely quality to their playing, going beyond hard bop and modal territory in some of their excursions.



The final album of the series is different - it starts with the Hinos' intro into "Alone Together" ... they're joined by Harold Mabern, Richard Davis and Steve Grossman (there's the MD connection again) for the sessions, which took place in New York.

A fine series of albums for sure, but hardly essential, unless you're really into the history of Japanese jazz. They're wonderfully produced though, as mini-LPs (all but the first fold-outs), info in English is a bit scarce though, sometimes you don't even get the musicians' names, and for some of the bonus tracks I can only guess (discogs doesn't list full details for these added tracks, alas). Anyway, a fun ride for sure!



Ended my Sunday jazz excursions with late Duke, recorded in Malmö, Sweden, in 1973, with guest Alice Babs. Again, fine and good fun, but hardly essential (but not nearly as bad as allmusic wants you to believe - Ellington had plenty of ideas and a fine band to the very end).

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Lee Morgan on KCSM (now on my wish list too)

[San Antone]

Periodically I re-listen to one or two recordings from the same group of jazz classics I keep stored in my mind.  This morning it's these two:



Oddlly, I did not choose these two because of the obvious similarities which only struck me afterwards:  both are sextets with alto, tenor and trumpet supported by standard rhythm section.  Bill Evans and Paul Chambers are on both.  The Oliver Nelson date is more energetic while KoB is more laid back - but overall they compliment each other very well but with some distinction.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Amazingly, I still don't have Kind of Blue in my collection, but am looking at one of the vinyl reissues--any ideas as to what to buy here (there are several options)?

[SimonNZ]

Charles Mingus - Changes One (1975)

[San Antone]

I created a playlist of records that had Wilbur Ware playing bass - here's the first eight that I chose, but there were others:





I focused on some that I don't often play, but passed up Sonny Rollins at the Village Vanguard since I play that so often.

[SimonNZ]

Charles Mingus - A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry (1957)
Charles Mingus - Mingus In Wonderland (1959)

[king ubu]

Yesterday's listening programme ... got the Kimbrough Monk set, finally, played discs 1-3 (of 6), and it's excellent indeed! Time for something else after that, both first listens, too. Had "Sudori" by Minafra's Sud Ensemble for many years, but somehow I never came around to buy this follow-up from 2005. Good fun, just as I expected. The Etta Jones is great, a working night by a fine singer with a backing trio in fine mood (Sam Jones and Billy Higgins are the names missing on the front cover).

[SimonNZ]

Bubber Miley - Rare Recordings 1924-31

[San Antone]

Bubber Miley - Rare Recordings 1924-31

Very good!  Bubber Miley is great, right after Armstrong.

TD



GERSHWIN : Porgy & Bess | Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Johnny Hartman, Bob Dorough, Betty Roche ...

This is my favorite version of this work, despite the mixed critical opinion of it, I absolutely love it.  It is the most faithful to the score of any of the other jazz recordings and presents virtually the complete opera.  Scored for jazz band and featuring jazz singers and style - the performances suit the music better than a quasi classical/operatic tone, IMO. 

Anyway, I don't care what others may think, I like this recording and am really glad Bethlehem went and did it despite the economic insanity of the project.

[Mirror Image]

Amazingly, I still don't have Kind of Blue in my collection, but am looking at one of the vinyl reissues--any ideas as to what to buy here (there are several options)?

Go ahead and buy the Mobile Fidelity. You'll thank me later.

[king ubu]

GERSHWIN : Porgy & Bess | Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Johnny Hartman, Bob Dorough, Betty Roche ...

This is my favorite version of this work, despite the mixed critical opinion of it, I absolutely love it.  It is the most faithful to the score of any of the other jazz recordings and presents virtually the complete opera.  Scored for jazz band and featuring jazz singers and style - the performances suit the music better than a quasi classical/operatic tone, IMO. 

Anyway, I don't care what others may think, I like this recording and am really glad Bethlehem went and did it despite the economic insanity of the project.

Cheers! 

I remember reading that this was the project that led to Bethlehem going belly-up?

[San Antone]

Cheers! 

I remember reading that this was the project that led to Bethlehem going belly-up?

They were already in trouble and this 3LP release certainly didn't help.  Naxos remastered it and re-released it as a 2CD set, that's what I have.

[SimonNZ]

Pepper Adams - Plays Charles Mingus (1964)