What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Spotted Horses]

Although Horace Silver doesn't get as much attention as some others working in the 50's (Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc) I have found the albums he recorded between 1952 and 1962 quite rewarding. Horace Silver Quintet (1956) The Tokyo Blues (1962), The Stylings of Silver (1957), Further Explorations (1958) 6 Pieces of Silver (1956) and New Faces New Sounds (1952) stand out. I particularly enjoy Blue Mitchel's contribution to the quintet recordings.

Particularly in the early quintet recordings there are extensive arranged passages, with almost a big-band feel. This is in contrast to the typical 50's hard-bop custom, where the theme is barely stated before extended improvisations start.

[T. D.]

Big fan of Horace. I prefer his quintets with the Blue Mitchell / Junior Cook front line, though they're all good.
Agreed on the heavily arranged aspect.
The early Jazz Messengers recordings with Horace and Hank Mobley are also terrific.

[KevinP]

Thanks for this, I wasn't aware of this recoding of B,B,&B, but it is yet another incomplete version: "Removing a couple of sections from the original score -- the wartime march that ended the 1943 version is gone, and the "Beige" section is drastically truncated --"

The only complete version by Ellington I know of is the Carnegie Concert of Jan. 1943. The Mahalia Jackson recording is vastly edited, more than this one in the Private Collection.  But the version I prefer for completeness and audio quality is the one released in 2020 by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Hence, my use of 'the most complete studio version' rather than 'the only complete studio version'. Though you could argue for its completeness as those are revisions by the composer himself.

Listened to the Carnegie Hall version yesterday too (exactly the length of my early-rush commute).

Haven't heard the Jazz at Lincoln Centre version yet, though I'm aware of it and will likely pick it up very soon.

Have you heard the one on Naxos?

[KevinP]

I mentioned above that I didn't like 'The Blues' movement from Black, Brown and Beige.

I've known this work since I was, I don't know, 20? And this week, I've done a complete about-face on this aria. I love it now.

I think hearing other vocalists (although I've heard all these recordings before) has helped, plus the fact that I've heard a lot of art songs, many by black composers, in the ensuing years. And back then, I didn't like most of the vocal tracks from 1940s Ellington to begin with.

[San Antone]

Have you heard the one on Naxos?

Yes, and don't consider it a valid interpretation which suffers from an overly "classical" interpretation and ensemble.

This work is a jazz composition and needs to be played by a jazz band with jazz performance practice. For me, JALCO is the reference recording, followed by the Carnegie Hall performance, since they are complete.  The JALCO recording just has much better audio engineering.

[KevinP]

Yes, and don't consider it a valid interpretation which suffers from an overly "classical" interpretation and ensemble.

Yes. It felt like a misguided attempt to legitimatise music that was legitimate as it was.

Found the score (of the actual work) online and will buy it soon.

[San Antone]

Yes. It felt like a misguided attempt to legitimatise music that was legitimate as it was.

Found the score (of the actual work) online and will buy it soon.

Coincidentally, this review (with lengthy discussion of the composition of B,B,&B) appeared this week in All About Jazz:

Duke Ellington And His Orchestra: The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943

You might find it interesting.

[AnotherSpin]

[San Antone]

Jason Robinson: Ancestral Numbers II



Ancestral Numbers II is saxophonist, flautist, and composer Jason Robinson's second album of music reflecting on his ancestry, following the May 2024 release of Ancestral Numbers I.

[modified]

Arild Andersen Trio (2000): Achirana

Arild Andersen Trio (2004): The Triangle

[AnotherSpin]

Exactly what you're thinking. A previously unreleased session with the legendary lineup.

[KevinP]

Hardly unreleased. AP just packaged the tracks into an album.

[AnotherSpin]

Hardly unreleased. AP just packaged the tracks into an album.

First release as a standalone session.

[SimonNZ]

I would think most Miles fans would already have those four tracks on "'58 Miles"



As well played as they are I don't hear those tracks as suggesting the Kind Of Blue material, so I'd question that title as well.

[AnotherSpin]

I don't know how it happened, but I listened to it several times today. Then again, I've had a soft spot for Bobby Hutcherson's playing for several decades.

[Vox Maris]

Revisiting this classic (or for me it's a classic anyway):

Terje Rypdal / Miroslav Vitous / Jack DeJohnette - s/t

[AnotherSpin]

This was Bobby Hutcherson's very first album that came into my hands sometime in the late 70s. I think I still remember that first impression. Now, I listen to it with new pleasure.

[T. D.]

Somebody recently posted about Horace Silver and observed that a lot of his quintet works are much more arranged than typical "blowing sessions".
The Jazztet was another group on the "arranged" side of hard bop. Listening to this Mosaic set.

[AnotherSpin]

[AnotherSpin]