scott's occasional swinging old jazz thread (moldy figs to 1980)

Curtis Fuller: We have a story to tell. This is our story. Nobody’s copping the
Japanese music, nobody’s copping the Chinese music, nobody’s playing the Ton
Ton’s. We did do it in front of Cherokee years ago. (Imitates sounds of the drums).
We brought this to the table, it’s intertwined with European culture, you know? We
didn’t have the scales, the chords, or the wherewithal to make this take shape to be
enjoyed by all. You’re getting with rhythm and a few things, but even that now…As a
result of this being in America, we can shape all these sounds and chords and
things. It took all of us to do this; I don’t care what color you are. That’s what jazz is,
it’s just like a chord, it all depends on what you got in it. It’s like Bitches Brew, or
Grandma’s Stew, it depends on what you put in it. As Victor Lindlahr says, “You are
what you eat.” You eat shit? That’s what you become. That’s where I think we are
headed. We eat better, we’ll play better, we’ll think better, we’ll sleep better, we’ll
learn to—The guy says, “Can’t we all get along?” Yes we can. When the day comes,
we’ll have to. We have to! We are at that gig right now. We have to get along, or else
it will be like Rome, we’ll crumble from within. That was the greatest country at one
time. The British Empire, great! They over extended themselves; they were all down
in Australia or wherever else. It took four weeks to go to the little island, the
Falkland Islands, to fight a handful of people there in Argentina. Give me a break!
You don’t have to worry about this! There’s nothing there but seagulls. C’mon guys!
You can do better than that. (Laughs) But, this is where we are. So, why don’t we
take this and market this great art form that the Creator has given us? We’re
blessed. We are truly blessed, where we live, the location logistically on the map.
Even the Germans tried, they came right up to our shores. People didn’t even know
it, we sunk more ships right out there. We didn’t know what was happening. They’re
still finding bombs out there in San Diego and out there in places. The Japanese put
on balloons and flew there. Every once and a while, a kid will go out to play
somewhere and go and detonate one of those son of a bitches. We will survive. We
have to. It’s our nature that we can survive all those dinosaurs and pig foot, and big
foot, and all those people. We’ll be all right. The reason I know, you know Grady

http://inarow.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/curtis-fuller-1963.jpg
Tate?

album of the week: Billy Harper - Soran-Bushi, B.H. - Denon - 1978

(can't get over how good this album is. not impossible to find on vinyl though it only came out in Japan. the only CD of it came out in Japan in 1982(!!!). i'll bet you didn't even know that there were CDs in 1982. well, there were. if you see it somewhere, grab it!)

I had no idea that Bernie Hamilton was Chico Hamilton's brother. Captain Dobey! And I had no idea that Bernie Hamilton had a record label called Chocolate Snowman.

http://www.starskyandhutch.info/wp-content/uploads/SH2-1-021.jpg

http://radiofreechip.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Chico-Hamilton-on-Brushes.jpg

Chocolate Snowman!

anyone else checked out the Savory Recordings that have started to come out digitally? INCREDIBLE. Coleman Hawkins stuff on Vol. 1 is out of this world.
http://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504696831/once-the-stuff-of-jazz-legend-1930s-recordings-are-finally-out

does sound great!

don't wish to seem ungrateful, but am a tiny bit annoyed that It's not in stores or on Amazon — it's only available as an iTunes exclusive.

look forward to hearing it all the same

we can only hope that jack white makes a suitcase with a FLAC stick in it of all that stuff.

but anyway yeah it's cool that that stuff exists. but it has always amazed me how much stuff already exists between private recordings/V Discs/radio broadcasts/european recordings/etc.

http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/imageEDK1.jpg

someone should make bootleg CDs out of the iTunes stuff. i'd buy some.

anyone else checked out the Savory Recordings that have started to come out digitally? INCREDIBLE. Coleman Hawkins stuff on Vol. 1 is out of this world.
http://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504696831/once-the-stuff-of-jazz-legend-1930s-recordings-are-finally-out

― tylerw

i posted about it on the rolling jazz thread but only got radio silence... and yeah, _anything_ "exclusive" is a crock.

love this interview. a year before he died. paul desmond asking a lot of questions. bird liked paul a lot. bird liked brubeck and kenton and tristano and lots of egghead stuff. paul desmond really relieved to find out how much bird used to practice. 11 to 15 hours a day when he was younger! just in case anyone thinks being a genius is easy. and then at the end to hear bird talk about how excited he is to go to paris and study with edgar varese and go to school...man, he was just getting started. he changed the world, but he was just getting started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3W8Ff_4oFg

listening to the double-disc set of earl hines doing ellington. recorded in the early 70's at various sessions. i don't know if its common knowledge how off the hook earl hines was in the early 70's. but he really was. just endlessly inventive. can't think of TOO many people who helped invent jazz in the 20's who made records that were as good as the ones he made during the watergate era. you can find them for a buck or two at used stores.

yeah, latter day Hines is really nice. there are some 70s Teddy Wilson LPs that are pretty pleasing too.
this is from the 50s I believe, but it is just gorgeous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6oNMsRsEU

I think (hope?) that the Savory stuff will get a proper physical release at some point?

Just got a disc of previously unreleased live stuff by the Three Sounds, Groovin' Hard: Live at the Penthouse 1964-1968. I feel like nobody remembers them now, but they were a really good soul-jazz/hard bop piano trio who made a bunch of albums in the 50s and 60s. Occasionally, they'd back someone up; LD + 3 is them with Lou Donaldson, Blue Hour is them with Stanley Turrentine.

well, people do remember them because they made about a zillion records on blue note. but its true they aren't exactly in fashion. the records are very enjoyable though. i like Hey There, and the one with Anita O'Day and some other ones. there are so many. a la ramsey lewis.

i've been listening to my Quartette Tres Bien records lately. does anyone remember them? a bunch of their stuff has never made it to CD for whatever reason.

i just looked. 9 albums on decca in the 60's and none on CD. must be some legal thing i don't know about. they are very cool records.

what i really love though are the 70's records that Gene Harris of the Three Sounds made. loooooove that stuff. all on blue note too. astralsignal and nexus are big favorites of mine. and cheap too as far as awesome funky 70's stuff goes. i would recommend all of the solo ones.

think the only one of those 70s gene harris LPs I've heard is the live one with a creedence cover ... which is a pretty good time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QvlYyZ3P5Y

Nexus is my fave. they are just a lot of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70ROu6GoZTU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa6uaE2oYj4&t=163s

Phil Woods:

"At 15 I said “Whoa, this is great."
And we went for a lesson one time at Mr. Tristano’s house and he said, “Are you kids going down to 52nd
street tonight?” And we said “yeah, why do you ask?” And he said, “Well, I’m opening for Charlie
Parker and I thought maybe you’d like to meet him.” And you know, to myself I said “Yeah, I’ve always
wanted to meet God,” you know. And sure enough, this time we held back on the records, we held back
on the pasta so we’d have two dollars, we could buy two coca-colas and really relish the evening, you
know. And Tristano’s trio opened up the evening’s festivities, and uh I think it was Arnold Fishkin who
was a bass player who, because Lennie was blind, somebody had to come and get us. Arnold came and
got us and took us behind the curtain. I mean 52nd street they were just speakeasies. They were just like narrow little cellars, uh there was no backstage, no dressing rooms or nothing like that. And we came
around the back of the st…the back of the bandstand which was just a little, and there was Bird sitting on
the floor, the great Charlie Parker, the man who was changing the planet, and he had a, a big cherry pie,
and he said “Hi, kids! Would you like a piece of cherry pie?” And I said, “Oh, Mr. Parker, cherry’s my
favorite flavor.” And it is! But I didn’t know what else to say! And he said, “Well you sit down
here, boy, and I’ll cut you a big slice” and he took out his switch blade bing boom bang, you know, and
handed me a big piece of cherry pie. And I said, “Oh my God, I’m in heaven.” I mean he was so kind, I
never forgot that."

fucking, amazing.

Arrgghh, you kids and your bebop, boobop---check this (if it don't show, a page of stuff by Mezzrow & Sidney Bechet & Friends: "Sendin The Viper" and whatnot)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_CEzmqAWWc&list=PLIzQd_Wf46Y100OOMNJ-bxZ5a_RjN_YC8

very much to the point!

Not sure if this is the proper place to share this; was looking for a "random old _____ you are loving" jazz equivalent. But anyway, here's an album by the band Ululation from 1987:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPKG0wVPYWA

It's kind of in a larger ensemble sort of style. Maybe a bit reminiscent of Sun Ra's swing revival period. Discogs info.

any love for the philly quartet CATALYST?

"ain't it the truth" (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9i7rO1WYaA

that was their "hit"; a kind of ramsey lewis-esque soul jazz instrumental. funky as they come and always a mixtape favorite for me. the rest of their stuff was a lot more wild, but always retaining some semblance of a groove. kind of reminiscent of mwandishi/crossings era herbie hancock. all four of their albums are really good and recommended if you've never heard them.

in a similar vein, i've always really dug the two sessions buster williams led on muse in the mid 70s (pinnacle + crystal reflections) for many of the same reasons as catalyst. it's kind of weird and skronky in spots, but never full on insanity. and always funky enough to remain fairly accessible. they'd be right at home on strata east or black jazz.

here's "the hump" (1975):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR0KRb8IC9k

Prompted by ilxor Dan Peterson, I revisited Ike Quebec's classic early 60s Blue Note run and have discovered organist Freddie Roach. I always knew him from the Quebec albums, but never knew about any of his albums as a leader. Have only gotten through the Blue Note ones so far, but this is some seriously strong stuff. He preferred to work with guitarists it seems and Mo' Greens Please (1963) features Eddie Wright and Kenny Burrell in peak soul jazz mode (though they never duet on the same track; album probably sourced from multiple sessions). Even better, Brown Sugar (1965) finds Joe Henderson sitting in and proving once again that he really could play anything and he could play it all pretty damn well. More soul jazz than all out funky, it definitely feels like one of those standard classic Blue Notes that just transcends time. Crazy that the Blue Note catalogue still has "new to me" stuff of this calibre.

Here's them riffing on Lloyd Price's "Have You Ever Had the Blues?" from Brown Sugar:

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

Freddie Roach — "Lion Down" (1962)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLpfmg-qX_w

Kenny Burrell kind of vamps for most of his solo, then right around the two minute mark just fucking blacks out. Does Freddie cut him off???!!?! The amount of mutual disrespect captured on tape lol.

I know the title track from Brown Sugar from a Blue Note organ jazz comp but had never heard the whole thing.

Thanks for keeping this vintage Scott thread alive. This is where I will put jazz things that interest me, currently the intersection of Latin and bossa nova, where it verges on easy listening. Most folks around here want to talk about Sonny Sharrock or whatever, but sometimes I just want to relax and pat my foot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcPWqO9-juU

Heh to me it sounds like Freddie Roach was coming in with backgrounds behind the guitar and meant for him to keep soloing, but instead they ended up with that little co-comping chorus.

Reminds me of a jam session I was at over the summer led by Victor Goines, where he kept coming in with backgrounds behind other soloists and they would always stop playing, because no one uses backgrounds anymore and is shocked when they hear another horn player during their solo.

(whereas in New Orleans music, it's standard practice and that's how you know you hit your last chorus)

i agree w jordan, it sounds like roach just starts comping behind him but instead of propelling burrell forward he backs off and settles into a little groove

i got the reissues of Thelonious Monk's 10-inch Prestige 'albums' btw and they are fucking glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7y1nMkYeRE

Somehow only just learned about Hazel Scott (via Arthur Taylor’s Notes and Tones book of interviews. Relaxed Piano Moods with Mingus and Roach is extremely nice.

Dan, "Flame and Frost" is excellent! Very haunting theme. I really liked the guitar playing on that tune, so I looked it up and the guitarist was Joe Diorio, who just passed away a few weeks ago. Time flies. There's so much of that Argo/Cadet/Chess stuff that I've never heard so I definitely appreciate hearing it. This one's even on Spotify, so it's in the queue.

brimstead, checking out that album right now and my initial impression is that you are 100% accurate in your assessment. kind of awesome to hear mingus in such a sustained mellow mode.

Thank you again, brimstead! Have had that Hazel Scott in steady rotation ever since you posted. It really is a remarkable album. It has a very classicist kind of sound on the surface, but every so often she hits these beautiful minor phrases (minor seventh variants? Not sure about the theory aspects) that are so gorgeous. What a wonderful find.

Revisiting an old favorite today: Sahib Shihab's Jazz Sahib from 1957. The first tune is "S.M.T.W.T.F.S.S. Blues" and it's just infectious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPYex25G7k

So funky in that bluesy, early James Brown, chillin` in your car at a red light noddin` at your folks sort of way — just straight to the heart of cool with no effort.

It's one of those albums drawn from multiple sessions with different band members, so Bill Evans is on piano for side two. It opens with "Blu-A-Round":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxKn0mv8mJM

Can't help but be reminded of Kind of Blue by that one, especially on Bill's solo. Pretty hypnotizing stuff.

Both of the tunes are originals by Sahib. I've found that he is highly spoken of by those who know of him, but that he isn't overall that well-known. Oh well. For years, I've used his name in the credits as a guide for finding great music, regardless of which continent he was on. Love him so much.

Postscript—

Jazz Sahib is not on Spotify that I can find. It was originally a Savoy session, so it could be located under another artist.

Discogs has it for just a hair under 900 euros.

Or $10 on CD.

Also on these compilations:

https://www.discogs.com/release/1760012-Sahib-Shihab-Jazz-Sahib-Complete-Sextets-Sessions-1956-1957

https://www.discogs.com/release/8745667-Sahib-Shihab-Five-Classic-Albums-Plus-Bonus-Tracks

Checking out this Randy Weston album because of the Sahib Shihab connection and it's pretty great. Definitely inspired by Duke Ellington's long form works of the period, but kind of filtered through Dizzy's percussion-heavy "big ensemble" sound. Hall of fame cast of characters. Last track is a killer. I can't seem to find it on Spotify or YouTube, unfortunately.

Did a bit more digging. The album is listed on Spotify as part of a two-fer CD.

Of course half of the tracks are unplayable and those are the tracks from Uhuru Afrika.

Fell down a Japanese smooth funk rabbit hole and ended up with this and kind of holy shit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc-pIH0CBxM

Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - "Breeze" (1975)

Because it's Sunday, why not some 80s private press spiritual goodness?

(It's on the internet jukebox, if you're so inclined.)

This is very niiice. I see the OG is currently on sale for $1000 <scream face>.

Thank the streaming gods on this one, I suppose.

(I enjoyed it, as well. Very pleasant vibe. The spirituality of later Coltrane with none of the skronk.)

Yeah, so Randy Weston was an internationalist way back there--back when some artists were sometimes promoted as "jazz ambassadors," prob with some CIA bucks in there somewhere, as tended to happen w hands-across-the-water arts projects, but wth; anyway, he followed the African diaspora back to the Motherland and forward, what with elements of highlife and Caribbean and blues and weirdo Monk as given prob more than some Gov officials liked---live LP Carnival was the only one I ever owned, and some friends said title opener sounded like naval recruitment commercial, but 7:28 or thereabouts "Tribute To Duke Ellington" was an amazing microcosm, deep into and all around solo piano---Side B is "Mystery of Love," piano, bass, drums, flute, and the moon, also all around.
Also try Blue Moses, where Creed Taylor made him play electric piano (he didn't like it, but lots of people loved it). And his albums feat. trombonist-arranger Melba Liston.

Man I miss Randy Weston, along with some people and venues associated with him.

Yeah, I wanna go to this joint!

In 1967 Weston traveled throughout Africa with a U.S. cultural delegation. The last stop of the tour was Morocco, where he decided to settle, running his African Rhythms Club in Tangier[25] for five years, from 1967 to 1972. He said in a 2015 interview: "We had everything in there from Chicago blues singers to singers from the Congo.... The whole idea was to trace African people wherever we are and what we do with music."[26]

Yes, he was such a great presence too.

Thanks for the word, dow! I checked out some other Randy Weston stuff after I liked Uhuru Afrika so much and found that it was all pretty good. Special shout for African Cookbook. Admittedly didn't get to Blue Moses, but curious to give it a listen now!

Also, here's the live one referenced.

(This post is mostly for my own reference.)

I love unique lineups, so I've always been a huge fan of the Gary Burton collaboration with Stephane Grappelli from 1972. Vibes and violin right up front on some really excellent tunes — most notable for me is the rendition of "Blue in Green":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puqp5Z-dQpI

Just dreamy. Album as a whole is a bit more swingin`, but the other ballads do not disappoint. One of the first jazz albums I heard past the introductory Blue Train - Kind of Blue - Somethin` Else starter pack, so I have very fond memories of it. Highly recommend checking out the back cover of the LP in that link above. xpost to photos where one band member refuses to play along.

I'm extending the timeline from 1980 to 1986 for this one. Later 80s was when I started listening to less alternative rock and more bluesy jazz from guys (and gals) who had been playing for decades previous, falling out of fashion, sometimes struggling with 70s smooth/fusion/disco crossover attempts, and then sticking around as elder statesmen of their craft. They literally were soul survivors.

I spin a lot of this stuff, a soulful, supremely comfortable mix of classic ballads ("The Second Time Around") and swinging R&B inflected jams ("One Mint Julep.") You can't possibly go wrong with a band including George Benson or Jimmy Ponder on guitar and Bernard Purdie on drums.

I wish there was a supper club or lounge where I could still hear organ jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hUux41Fe1g

often think about the Purdie anecdote (as retold by Donald Fagen in the Aja doc) that when Bernard was hired for a session he would put up a sign on each side of his drum set, one reading “You done it" and the other reading: “You done hired the hit-maker, Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie”

I love those early 60s organ-drums-guitar records. This Jack McDuff set is about as classic as it gets for that sort of thing. Wasn't Purdie the one who claimed to have played (uncredited) on some early Beatles stuff?

Do you guys like Ahmed Abdul-Malik? He was Monk's bassist for a bit, but on his sessions as a leader, he played oud and went off into some really unique eastern textures. Still retains a strong jazz foundation, but check his rendition of "Summertime" from 1963 for a good example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebru71tMvzw

The earlier ones almost recall similar vibes to some of the Ethiopiques stuff. Very highly recommended.

"Captain" Jack spent his final years in my city, Minneapolis, and used to play clubs here regularly. I saw him a number of times, but wish I would have gone to many more.

Yes it was Purdie who made those (afaik unsubstantiated) claims.

I recently bought a cheapo set of (all?) four of Ahmed Abdul-Malik's albums. Good stuff.

I remember seeing Jack McDuff at a Milwaukee jazz festival many years ago, it was great. I think it was on the same bill as Kevin Eubanks, where he freaked out all the Tonight Show fans by only playing crazy M-base fusion?

I totally believe that Purdie played on Beatles sessions btw, but who's to say if they ended up using those tracks on the final records or not.

Purdie’s drums were overdubbed onto some pre-Ringo Hamburg-era Beatles recordings that Atco pushed out as a cash-in in 1964:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t_She_Sweet_(album)#/media/File%3ABeatlesatco.jpg

That’s not remotely close to Purdie’s claims though.

absolutely cannot believe i'm linking this place BUT, here's an okay and very vintage pedantic steve hoff thread about it. they've got the most details over there, i'm told.

This is a pretty good dissection: http://www.jimvallance.com/03-projects-folder/purdie-project-folder/pg-purdie.html

Weinberg: Everyone knows the Monkees were a fabricated band, but The Beatles?

Purdie: Ringo never played on anything.

Weinberg: Ringo never played on anything?

Purdie: Not the early Beatles stuff.

lol

but anyway, ahmed abdul-malik is rad. here's one of his oud jams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluGjySRBs0

"farah' alaiyna" (1958)

the rest of the album has johnny griffin on tenor.

or if that's not your flavor, you can get down with some slick 70s yusef lateef.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRKJo4XLaU

"mystique" (1976)

the band holy smokes. whole album is excellent. unexpected turn into straight up phasered out synth funk. very solid.

I've been liking this one a lot lately, a compilation of Willis Jackson cuts from his early 60s albums Bossa Nova Plus, Neapolitan Nights, and a few other stray tracks. Stellar backing cast, as you can see.

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

Excellent, Dan! He's a player whose records I've seen around a lot but have never checked out — that one's piqued me! Also I'm convinced that Roy Haynes played on every non-Blue Note session from about 1958 until 64 or 65. Geez, that guy was everywhere!

I'm jamming a soul jazz classic this Sunday morning. This cover photo has got to be one of my alltime favs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUIIzQ4P9Yk

Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones — "Right On!" (1970)

Here's one I heard for the first time a few Saturday nights ago, after American Routes' replay of their excellent Freddie Hubbard interview x music:
Lou Donaldson, "Blues Walk"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liy9tw03p1I

Which reminded me of the Night Lights interview x music with Bob Porter, re his book Soul Jazz, which unperson says is not all it could be, but still a valuable resource for learning more about music that hasn't gotten much fair (if any) comment from critics. They play a lot of good selections that he talks about here and in the book: https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/bob-porters-portraits-soul-jazz.php
(Night Lights could be catnip for you, Austin! I've learned sooo much from their fun music docs, which are mostly music.)

And here's the American Routes Freddie Hubbard segment, at the beginning of Hour 2---whole show is well worth hearing: American Routes indeed!
http://americanroutes.wwno.org/archives/show/1278/Sounds-of-Freedom-Fontella-Bass-and-Freddie-Hubbard

Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones — "Right On!"

This is very nice. The great Bernard Purdie (well known to Steely Dan fans) on drums!

(Night Lights could be catnip for you, Austin! I've learned sooo much from their fun music docs, which are mostly music.)

Noted and appreciated! Into the bookmarks it goes — thank you!

~UNLESS I AM BAD AT USING THE SEARCH FUNCTION, AM I TO UNDERSTAND THERE IS NO CANNONBALL ADDERLEY TOPIC?~

anyway, music contains wormholes. or rather: it contains the concept of how wormholes work.

(or maybe some of it actually *does* and we haven't decoded it yet - i mean "as slow as possible" exists and who knows wtf stockhausen and coltrane were actually doing sometimes? it's a group effort is all i'm saying.)

anyway. phenix from 1975 by cannonball adderley is one of his best, even though it hardly gets mentioned. pretty much his final statement, as he was gone less than a year later. basically cannonball plays the hits, except it's all mid-70s studio funk'd out. has that very distinct FANTASY RECORDS 1975™ sound, so you get the feeling that he really was trying to make these the definitive recordings of the songs in some cases. and it sounds fantastic. i've listened to the drumbreak on "domination" on loop so many times and for so long that i know there's a part where you can hear cannonball off mic coaching roy mcurdy on how exactly he wants his funk shuffled. of course, some of the electronics sound 'wacky' or maybe a little too vintage in moments, but it's not like any disrespect was present. intentions feel genuine and good here. he made extremely happy music and it's one of the best examples of that.

it's been pretty frequently reissued and available on most formats for a long time. i bought a used vinyl copy mail order for around $20 (probably from dusty groove) in 2002 because i couldn't find one around where i lived and i had not the gas money nor the courage for such lengthy road trips. it was snowing when the mailman tried to deliver it and i was supposed to fly out the next day to meet a person whom i had never met before. i was extremely nervous and pacing in a dark room, figuring how did i get myself into this and how was i going to get myself out. i guess the mailman had attempted during this time. my pattern must have been disturbed by something, because when i went to see what was going on out the window, there was one of those "missed delivery" things on the box.

fuck. my album.

went and stood out in the biggest fucking april downpour snowstorm i've ever seen i mean honestly how is this even happening and met the mailman as he was going up the opposite side of the street. immediately ran inside and threw it on the turntable super loud. all really good versions, like i said. always a ton of soul in his playing and he's really chewing the scenery here in the best way. whole band changes throughout, but it's mostly all the guys who played on the original recordings, so you know the deal: very solid (only person they didn't get was joe zawinul; other obligations at the time iirc). it calmed me down, so i started to realize i'm still here, and made an attempt at packing my bags.

then the last track came on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLT6SkZ2TE8

("walk talk/mercy mercy mercy")

both acknowledged classics in their own right, but when medley'd together like this, something else ignites. it's that real tight, real big funk sound that he helped create, but rolled into all of the high fidelity mojo that fantasy studios at the time allowed for. it was already my favorite track on the album the moment the refrain hit, but then the second section began and it threw me off — we're slowin it down???

it was shortly after that moment, friends, that i can safely say i entered a wormhole. that moment hit me so hard that it felt like something had flashed inside my brain — like a different area had just been newly accessed. i kept it to myself. i had no clue that's where the sample was from and when i finally submitted that to whosampled around 7 years ago, it easily earned the tag _Sample Discovered More Than 10 Years Later_

which is still just wild to me. it's not even a rare album. whatever, the trip went great, i made a lifelong friend, it's one of my favorite records of all time. highly recommended, especially if you like wah wah sounds in your soulful funky jazz.

wow. fantastic post thank you Austin

yeah wonderful, what a jam

Yeah, I need to check out more of him---the only album I have is

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTIb4fKCEAevQGcDKFIXdimOXsMK4uVNv

and that one because Miles, but I do still hear CA tracks on local station, and this recently surfaced

Flora Purim bootleg @ Terminal Island 1975, which “Purim persuaded the prison authorities to let her stage.” Feat. Airto, Cannonball Adderley, George Duke, Miroslaw Vitous, Raoul de Souza, & Ndugu Chanclerhttps://t.co/Ur2xHc41CG

— jeff (@jazyjef) July 12, 2022

what the hell, youtube---anyway it's all of Somethin' Else:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTIb4fKCEAevQGcDKFIXdimOXsMK4uVNv

somethin' else is a very classic album. one of those records that always sounds good.

diggin on mary osborne this afternoon—

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t6SJBV0Gzs

"you're gonna get my letter in the morning" (1947)

a girl and her guitar is the rare yawnsomely literal title/art that is also undeniably cool.

Ha ha, thanks! She's one of the many artists I first heard on xpost Night Lights---here's their doc: https://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/mary-osborne-queen-jazz-guitar.php Last time I checked, there didn't seem to be many reissues.

oh tyvm for that! there's only a girl and her guitar on spotify, but it seems to be the reissue from a few years ago as it's 25 tracks and over an hour in length.

—(kind of frustrating the lack of info on provenance of stuff on spotify)—

always going back to gary burton (someone else who does not have their own topic) in some way or another and this time it's because i'm wanting to hear solo vibraphone. his 1971 album of solo performances is quite lovely and highly recommended if you like magical glassy tones.

trying to search out more albums of solo vibraphone, i discovered one jay hoggard, who has not only been around since the 70s, but who also has several albums of just exactly what i was looking for — and they're wonderful. very mellow stuff, though not strictly ballads. soothing as heck.

also post script— though not strictly solo vibes, side one of bobby hutcherson's 1982 album solo/quartet is highly recommended for all appreciators and enjoyers of music. have posted this one elsewhere, but it's such a quality jam i'm gonna put it here too:

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

bobby hutcherson — "gotcha" (1982)

you would probably like the bill lewis / kham jamal LP "the river" if you haven't heard it already

i have not, tyvm for the word!

also not much to say about it, but solo harp is where it's at. dorothy ashby did a couple of japan-only solo albums in the 80s. they're on youtube-

concierto de aranjuez from 83 and django/misty from the following year. kinda sorta music of the gods.

yesss that jay hoggard solo vibraphone album is wonderful.

Austin you know Walt Dickerson, right? He completely rules

i like the few things i've heard, but he's a guy i admittedly have neglected. that said, his album with sun ra is fun.

Oh speaking of Randy Weston, and his club:

Tangier, 1972, by Mary Jo Schwalbach. My parents spent about a month in Morocco the year before I was born, spending a lot of time at Randy Weston’s club. Morocco is where my dad was given his hand of Fatima medallion, which he wore every day for over 40 years. pic.twitter.com/siNM6HRIHX

— Fitz Gitler (@techdef) August 13, 2022

late night selections from john klemmer this evening as i revisit magic and movement from 1974. haven't heard it in about a decade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x_OTDytDoM

all about the vibes with klemmer and this one's got a really funky sexual one — is that a peak into another universe on his pelvis there? oh my. and yeah, up front: could do without the grunty vocalisms where they show up. but they're low(-ish) in the mix and the band(s) completely smokes. \ED NOTE: eddie marshall of interest\ it's got some goofy wildness — because hey man, did you hear what i said?! basically two bands split between the sides of the album, did anyone ever really consider john klemmer cool? i never have and i really like him. same kinda thing with like gerry mulligan or mike oldfield — just never seemed that cool, but could play. anyway, the effects are out in force here, so if you like vintage echo units, phasers, and wahs combining over shufflely post-grooves to suggest 70s whiteboy coltrane, it's hard to beat. at times he was still kind of skronky and ... uhm, weird and boppy. definitely one of his best. still really like solo echoplex sax stuff. he plays these arpeggios — man! no idea the technical aspects of what he's actually doing there, but some of it really colors his music with that unique dreamy vibe. no idea who this music was for in 1974, but because of the upright jazzy echoplex vibe, my mind immediately went to whatever john martyn was doing around the time — and his two previous were solid air and inside out in 73, so yeah. martyn much more blues-oriented, klemmer much more jazz but a lot of cross-polynation i'd say. "RIYL"

ps— i first heard it after going through all of his later (much cheesier*) material. i wanted to know more about his "wild period", but finding the impulse stuff in the shops was not very common round my way so it was genuine anticipation for the package from ebay. and this was back in the pre-paypal days so i had to send a money order for the fucking thing. it's really good and i would also recommend waterfalls from 1972 if you like it. a lot of the same band shows up and it has a very similar overall vibe. probably my two favorite klemmer albums and some seriously good "weird overly serious hippie guy" music. check out utopia, man (seriously tho — easy to make fun of, but wilton holding down a very solid groove).

thanks for reading,
your neighborhood john klemmer fan👋

*holy shit i can't believe this is a true statement

if there's one thing i've learned from all the hours i've spent listening to david axelrod, it's this: vibes always sound good. always. so for some sunday soul jazz, i'm revisiting the great johnny lytle. a peer of players like milt jackson and bobby hutcherson, he never really broke out past the middle tier of notoriety during his life and passed away in the mid 90s after slowing down significantly in the early 80s. he was able to keep working until the end and he did show up for some pretty significant sample fodder in the early 90s, which is how i first learned about him. on the west coast, copies of his albums have just never been that easy to come by and reissues have always been scarce, even now. which is just too bad, because his 1973 album people & love is about as warm and consoling as it can get for a soul jazz fan: early 70s, milestone/orrin keepnews scene, harp, rhodes, vibes ... all of it, just simmering for you. it's funked out at times, but always staying soulful and always staying focused on the mood. can't quite call it smooth jazz, but it's definitely mellow. check out "family" — another famous sample source and my album highlight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4U9qxqrrck

it's been reissued as part of a 2fer along with the previous year's soulful rebel, which is much wilder and definitely closer to the funky soul bop that blue note was doing at the time. shuffle beats as big as the horn and organ charts and and ron carter laying down a thick foundation; you know the deal. check out the title track for a representative groove. recommended all around.

(also people & love closes with an epic rendition of "people make the world go round." great and worth sticking around for — but can you believe that wasn't the only extended reimagining by a jazz vibist that year?)

this sounds great

i know this is the Milt Jackson S/D thread, but if you like the song "family" posted above, throw on "enchanted lady" right after:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfHAsV1jA78

milt jackson with the ray brown big band — "enchanted lady" (1969)

is=isn't

Have you all heard Funky Skull by Melvin Jackson from 1969? He plays his bass through a bunch of effects and gets some very Arthur Russell-esque sounds over some serious business backbeats by Billy Hart. Pete Cosey's on it, there's a choir of wordless chants showing up occasionally; it just rules excessively. Definite testament to the awesomeness of the Chicago music scene of the time. Here's the cover; perhaps you can surmise what it sounds like just based on this?

https://i.imgur.com/VZ4eUFp.jpg

(Is that an OG Echoplex?!?! Rad.)

If that's not enough, here's "Bold and Black"—
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHv3GjTPwlE

Very highly recommended.

Yeah, I remember hearing that record about 15 years ago when Dusty Groove reissued it on CD. Good stuff.

Hadn't heard of that, thanks! A fair amount of Burton content on the main ECM thread, and do you know his pre-ECM albums? The first was in '61; the earliest I've heard is from several years later:Tennessee Firebird. where he and Steve Marcus and Roy Haynes play with Nashville cats, some of whom were recently involved in Blonde on Blonde, and this includes "Just Like A Woman" and "I Want You," though most of the starting points are country chestnuts. Then there are the albums by his first (?) Quartet, with Larry Coryell, Steve Swallow, and Bob Moses: not jazz-rock per se, but you can tell that they know rock and country and folk as part of their roots and ongoing listening. Barefoot and a tad shroomy at times, with a Spanish-tinged excursion through Ellington's "Warm Valley." Later he jumps to A Genuine Tong Funeral, written for him by Carla Bley.

nothing to ramble about this morning, just wanted to give a shoutout to that one guy who shows up on about 80% of live albums quietly going, "yeah!" at the end of a song in that split second right after the band stops but before the rest of the audience starts applauding. you're my kind of people, man. keep living your best life.

Listening to Leo Wright's 'Soul Talk' today and it's sick. I was looking for non-Monk records with Frankie Dunlop, and it's an organ quartet with sax, Gloria Coleman on organ, Dunlop, and Kenny Burrell.

nice. frankie is so underrated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJvaGpU5gZY

forgot he played on mingus's "tijuana moods". also seeing he was on an early joe zawinul date from '61. plenty to look into! any other favs so far?

i don't know much of frankie dunlop outside of those higher profile sideman gigs - thanks for the word!

as for me, i'm on my friday night smooth bullschitt again and i have to send this one with a special dedication to the good people of ilx. ya'll may have saved my life this year with all of your healthy distractions, cleverness, and just plain old good vibes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lK6457F1iQ

ronnie laws - "friends + strangers" (1977)

bonus track for my acid jazzers-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-LWEgv-0U

ronnie laws - "friends + strangers (the l.g. experience remix)" (1996)

if you've never heard the whole album that's from, i highly recommend it. lots of heavy hitters dipping into some blue note (+capitol) classics, including an early appearance from a "j. yancey" ummah production.

the happiest of new year's to all of you. let's do it again soon, yeah?

Happy New Year, moldy figs!

Patti Bown is a new name to me. I discovered her album Plays Big Piano when I took note of the keys on a Gene Ammons record and did some digging. I'm not normally a big fan of piano trio records, but this one is really swingin', kind of gospelly in places, and reminds me a bit of Bobby Timmons (another fave.) Nice production job too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzqhXJb-dA

I stumbled upon Beverly Kinney, fell down a youtube rabbit hole, and fell in love. I saw her voice described as being between Blossom Dearie and Marilyn Monroe, and that's pretty accurate. She's quite young sounding (she was only 28 when she took her own life in 1960) and her approach is intimate and not at all showy. Her version of "A Lovely Day" was used in a car commercial a few years back, and although I didn't know who she was at the time it caught my attention. I'm currently three albums into her discography and they're all excellent, ranging from a guitar-led combo to more orchestrated 50s pop.

scott's occasional swinging old jazz thread (moldy figs to 1980)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLzC6z5bL-g

Misspelled her name AND messed up the link. More coffee needed...

Really nice overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2cAIUhbE8

I wasn't familiar with Gene Shaw (only three records as leader and three with Charles Mingus) but this pseudo Sketches of Spain meets bossa/exotica record is exactly what I'm into right now.

Arranger Richard Evans went on to helm The Soulful Strings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7zYpLkXJzk

Beverly's new to me, thanks! You might dig another recent discovery:

Carol Sloane, whose voice immediately grabbed via in her early 60s tracks, then gradually changed a bit with age, while continuing the same stylistic flight path, fast and slow, into a live set rec. 2019---she died this January, in her mid-80s---as heard in this doc from the ever-handy, frequently revelatory Afterglow:https://indianapublicmedia.org/afterglow/the-song-styling-of-carol-sloane.php

These guys! Not big eyes over the mic, just for you---na, they may be watching the clock, between shifts, fairly plain voices in several cases, but they know every note and what it's made of---in most cases, although I'm still not that into Chet Baker, and maybe a couple others, but mostly, this is pretty refreshing:

On this episode of Afterglow, I'm highlighting some jazz musicians who made their living playing horn, piano, or drums, but who could also sing when the occasion called for it. It's a look at jazz's part-time, unlikely singers, including trumpeter Chet Baker, drummer Buddy Rich, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Oscar Peterson, clarinetist Benny Goodman, trumpeter Roy Eldridge, guitarist Kenny Burrell, saxophonist Tex Beneke, clarinetist Woody Herman, and trumpeter Clark Terry.

Been going through a bunch of Adderley records after someone (sorry can't remember who) posted 'Electric Eel' from "You, Baby" in a recent thread.

Nat Adderley - You, Baby (CTI '68) - such a cool record. Just texturally it sounds very intimate, and his electronic cornet setup almost sounds like a breathy flute at times. Grady Tate's feel on these tracks is incredible, so laid back.

Nat Adderley - Calling Out Loud (CTI '69) - more conventional than You, Baby but still super solid and enjoyable. Idris Muhammed on drums. Joe Zawinul on Rhodes is a huge part of the appeal of all these records, I love hearing him in the Adderley zone.

Cannonball Adderley - The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free ('70) - has a very distinct time & place vibe, like all of the Adderley live records. Lots of astrology and sex talk in the banter, lol, but you can tell it's a hot crowd. Lots of guest appearances by Nat Adderley's playing guitar and singing in this intimate & soulful folk style, but it all works somehow.

Cannonball Adderley - In Person - I just can't get enough of the quintet with the Adderley Bros, Zawinul, and Roy McCurdy on drums and this is a great dose. Good banter about Zawinul.

Cannonball Adderley - Country Preacher - the banter and crowd are really evocative on this one too, it's possible he made the best live albums of all time? This one is full soul jazz/funk mode, maybe the closest in vibe to the Mercy, Mercy, Mercy record. Great tambourine and crowd handclaps. Roy McCurdy is super underrated, he kills it on all these records, in every style.

Looking forward to going through the '70s records when George Duke replaces Zawinul.

that would've been me!

he's also on sam jones's "the soul society" (1960), which i was listening to earlier this morning. fast becoming one of my very favorite jazz records. it definitely scratches a kind of funk / hard bop itch, but it's much more than that. sam jones killing all over the record on double bass and cello.

i love this so much. so funny. someone should teach a class on this paragraph.

https://scontent-bos5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/355117444_10161289158532137_5911693065179377795_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=TV69rAQPU5cAX9wLLEZ&_nc_ht=scontent-bos5-1.xx&oh=00_AfD5OJlKj7fwN2IFPpzqg6mdZ0XP9stS8SbDPN98ESVdCQ&oe=6496A376

haha, that's a+ material

Our little Donald, he's part of the younger generation, you know.

this might be interesting to someone other than me. i made a playlist of 200 interviews with jazz musicians.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE1-7P1reTFjNq4XVFWjPJiymJ7--IBJP

Discovered this through one of the Richard Davis remembrances, apparently he said this David Young record was one of his favorite recordings that he had done (I wonder if it's because the bass is super present in the mix, lol). But it has Sonny Fortune, Harold Mabern, and Idris Muhammad on it. Sounds extremely '70s (recorded in '71).

https://david-young.bandcamp.com/album/david-young

Check out the sax solo on "Friday the Fourteenth" that keeps dipping back and forth between hard swinging and free moments, that's really something.

i see its on my discogs wantlist. probably for richard davis. though i like all those guys. my dad loves harold mabern. he used to take me to see harold and harold's boyhood pal george coleman a lot when i was a kid. my dad worships george coleman.

George Coleman is still going strong! Amazing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClJmhumJPNB/

thanks for the DY link. love this line from the bandcamp copy:

Despite his talent, he had one album he recorded as a lead which was released on mainstream Records.

ouch!

Obsessed with Jakob Bro's records with Lee Konitz...Balladeering (w/Bill Frisell and Paul Motian), Time (different bassist and no drums), and December Song (Craig Taborn on piano). Incredible autumn music.

Best jazz vocal I've heard in a while---lots of folks have the chops and spirit, but there's a world in here, for now:
Kate Kortum - Dreamsville

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

Jakob Bro is indeed fantastic, have had the pleasure of seeing him quite a few times, once with Lee Konitz!

his first three ECM albums also great

did you catch Music for Black Pigeons? wonderful footage

Pulling up Michael Brecker - Time Is Of the Essence this morning. I'm not a huge Brecker fan but this is sounding great...the drum chair is either Elvin (!), "Tain" Watts, or Bill Stewart and it's a good exercise in comparison (they all sound amazing). Larry Goldings on organ, no bass player.

And "good Metheny records" is a topic that's come up on a few threads recently, and this might be one of the best. His solo on "Half Past Late" is ridiculous.

I never really think about The Brecker Brothers as music for me, lumping them in with stuff like The Yellowjackets, but I heard this cut on the radio the other night that was beefy enough and had enough twists for me to take notice. Guitarist is great, Barry Finnerty, who I don't know but research shows me has played on a ton of records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcPJ8Wop5o

Is 'Work Song' on Live in Tokyo widely accepted as the definitive version? If not, it should be, killer band and much better than the studio version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q88M5gwgGPI

can't listen now but will listen later. such a great lineup. i've been so high on nat adderley records for awhile now. he made so much good stuff and i kinda didn't pay attention to them. better late than never. cannonball rules so hard. what a mind.

That's a great album. I just got two live Cannonball albums that will be coming out on Record Store Day — one is from 1969, with almost that same lineup, and the other is from 1972, when George Duke was in the band.

Forgot to mention that I heard the Tokyo recording on some cd comp I had in high school (maybe a Rhino Records thing? I remember a yellow cover). I've never had the full set but it was a great cd-era discovery.

Would love to hear those RSD records.

you can read every issue of nat hentoff's jazz review here. i know i did. i like that he had artists write reviews. one of these days i will find a complete run in real life. i could buy them one at a time when they pop up on ebay but i always forget about ebay.

https://www.jazzstudiesonline.org/content/jazz-review

Wow, thank you, that's fascinating. The first one I clicked on (Feb '59) has a pre-Coltrane article about Elvin Jones, written by a European sax was playing with him in J.J. Johnson's group, that's comes very close to speculatively describing the invention of the Coltrane Quartet. Or rather, it correctly recognizes everything Elvin is already doing (the power, flowing across the bar lines without giving the soloist easy signposts) but that eventually he'll probably have to simplify his style.

"...I have often had the same trouble with Elvin...the tension would build to a point where I had trouble finishing my choruses, and I would begin trembling with internal excitement, but completely unable to tell where we were any longer...that is obviously a situation to be avoided."

...until you find a group other musicians who always know where 1 is and can maintain the tension indefinitely. Now I wanna listen to a bunch of early Elvin.

oh wow the very first issue has the (in)famous Gunther Schuller article about Sonny Rollins.

The reviews are hilarious too:

Relaxin' (with the Miles Davis Quintet) and Musings neither disappoint nor do they set the world on fire. Both call for no excess wordage on the part of a reviewer; they should be enjoyed and not analytically picked apart. I enjoyed them. —Mimi Clar

His (Coltrane's) solo on Giant Steps particularly shows a rhythmic stiffness and melodic tameness. He does not construct any real line with the arpeggios.

--H.A. Woodfin

I didn't know this album -- These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly. It's sick, Richard Davis is going hard (and really keeping tracks like Goodnight Irene from being too straight), the late Tootie Heath on drums & tambourine, Cedar Walton, and amazing vocals by Sandra Douglas on a couple tracks.

Damn, this version of Black Girl (aka Where Did You Sleep Last Night)

Way better than the title suggests, great album

the title makes it sound awesome in my opinion! lol. checking it out now

but then i have a lot of time for Clifford Jordan

I can't find anything about Sandra Douglas besides this album, which she steals.

it seems like you're not the first one to wonder

i've pulled this album out more than once this year. pepper adams and curtis fuller together is such a beautiful pairing. i love them both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyQVtVH-dYQ

Damn, this version of Black Girl (aka Where Did You Sleep Last Night)

Damn indeed so good

that Clifford Jordan record got me wondering what other jazz albums of the era had folk revival themes ... this one, "Jazz Impressions of Folk Music," is not terrible, but sounds more like "The Harold Land Quintet Plays The Kingston Trio":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvV73nA1-gg

both albums have versions of "Take This Hammer" and Land's really suffers by comparison ... "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" and lol "On Top of Old Smokey" sound better, but "Hava Nagila" sent me running to Dick Dale

fairly undistinguished and uninspired bop, but like every 1963 jazz album I've ever heard, beautifully played and recorded

hey it's the first sunday afternoon of june this year! if you need a fitting soundtrack, i recommend this trio session led by ray brown. absolutely nothing showy or explosive happens, but i can't help wanting to put it on again after every listen.

I don’t know of any bad records with Cedar Walton playing on them so I’ma check this out.

will check Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly, thanks. Reminds me: you might dig

Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan ‎– Goin' Home (1977) [1985 edition]
Tracklist:
01 Goin' Home 0:00
02 Nobody Knows The Troubles I've Seen 6:11
03 Go Down Moses 10:54
04 Steal Away To Jesus 15:15
05 Deep River 21:29
06 My Lord What A Morning 26:20
07 Amazing Grace 31:01
08 Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child 35:23
09 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 40:44
10 Come Sunday 43:27

Also Shepp & Parlan's Trouble In Mind"

Back Water Blues
Trouble in Mind
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out Careless Love
Careless Love
How Long Blues
Blues In Third
When Things Go Wrong
Goin' Down Slow
Courthouse Blues
See See Rider
Make Me A Pallet On The Floor
St James Infirmary

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

They also did a third one, Reunion, which I haven't heard.

Listened to a long Pablo Held podcast with Joe Lovano, who has by now had a long & respectable career of playing with everyone, but his playing always kind of washes over me and I've never felt any kind of way about his records. I went back and listened to -

Trio Fascination ('97), which was worth it just because it has Elvin Jones (and Dave Holland). There's some great Elvin but I'll take Bill Frisell's trio with both of them any day.

Scolohofo - I remember liking this (Scofield/Lovano/Holland/Al Foster), and still do, but mostly for everyone else.

And I dipped into a bunch of stuff that wasn't doing much for me. But I know the trio with Frisell & Paul Motian was a big deal, and the recent Jakob Bro & Lovano tribute to Paul Motian is fantastic (honestly the first time I was really blown away by Lovano).

But the big revelation is this McCoy Tyner record 'Quartet', a live record with Jeff "Tain" Watts, Lovano, and Christian McBride that's not on streaming services aside from youtube as far as I can tell. The rhythm section really lays it down, it's heavy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcNuOdW4Z9o

John Scofield’s “Meant to Be” with Joe Lovano is a good record. Some of it is like Ornette’s more bluesy tunes.

I need to listen to that, I started with 'Hand Jive' and can't really hang with the '80s albums. But his early Blue Note albums fall into a gap for me (also learned that Sco's previous album was supposed to feature Wayne Shorter, who couldn't do the date and so Lovano stepped in).

Seeing 'young' (middle-aged) Scofield freaks me out, he's one of those guys who was meant to be a spritely old man.

Ok "Meant to Be" rules, vintage Bill Stewart. Everyone sounds great. And I thought I didn't like Marc Johnson's bass sound for some reason but he sounds heavy here (maybe just a casualty of '80s jazz recording on the stuff he's most well-known for).

Inspired by a Vinnie Sperazza post, I've been enjoying listening to what's out there by the 'American Jazz Quintet', New Orleans group from the '50s with pre-Ornette Ed Blackwell, Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, etc. Some of it's a little moldy but other bits are surprisingly modern, and Blackwell sounds great. The drums have a cool saturated quality too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhyHUFM-d8Q

Speaking of the Adderly brothers, their cohort Sonny Fortune stepped out to make a few albums. one of which a friend of mine turned me on to and onto in the late 70s I think---this was the warm valley gateway, Awakening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3EEj0f_7kE
So I gave the follow-up to my friend for his birthday, as did his girlfriend, on my rec., which I forgot before making the same purchase (what the hell, it was a 99 cent promo), and there was big trouble---anyway, so nice it was worth getting twice, though maybe a bit too wavy dreamy, wine and weed dependent, compared to Awakening, but hey! : Waves of Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7gXqMB0Pww
(Both in insanely lavish packaging, among a line of such releases on Horizon) He made a bunch of his own more that I didn't hear, but dig:

With Nat Adderley

On the Move (Theresa, 1983)
Blue Autumn (Theresa, 1985)
Autumn Leaves (Sweet Basil, 1990 [1991])
Work Song: Live at Sweet Basil (Sweet Basil, 1990 [1993])

With Kenny Barron

Innocence (Wolf, 1978)

With Elvin Jones

Elvin Jones Jazz Machine Live at Pit Inn (Polydor (Japan), 1985)
When I Was at Aso-Mountain (Enja, 1990)
In Europe (Enja, 1991)
It Don't Mean a Thing (Enja, 1993)

With Charles Mingus

Three or Four Shades of Blues (Atlantic, 1977)

With Mal Waldron

Crowd Scene (Soul Note, 1989)
Where Are You? (Soul Note, 1989)

With Mongo Santamaría

Stone Soul (1969)

xgau on Fortune:

Long Before Our Mothers Cried [Strata-East, 1974]
Support your local jazz musicians. Fortune is a sax player whose warm-up for the Wailers at Schafer turned my head around not with its originality--Fortune is a cultivator rather than a ground-breaker--but with its commitment to plain good music, from bop to new thing. A righteous thing to do with your life, and righteous to hear. Despite even the bracing piano comps of Stanley Cowell, there's nothing compelling here. But satisfying. B+

Awakening [Horizon, 1975]
I'd better watch out or I'm gonna turn into a fan of this guy. No great innovations, as I mentioned in conjunction with his Strata-East LP (shame on A&M for calling this "his debut as a great leader"; what's the catch, the last one wasn't great?), but plenty great synthesis. Shades of hard bop and late-'50s Miles in a more modal setting, so lyrical and tough-minded that the 12-minute flute-and-congas thing (the title cut, wouldn't you know) becomes quite credible, even listenable. A-

And that's from somebody who really, as he made clear elsewhere, didn't and prob still doesn't particularly give a shit for flutes, with or without congas. Back in the box, 'gau.

Local station still plays the hell of out "Poinciana," from Ahmad Jamal's But Not For Me:Live At the Pershing (ID specified here because ilx isn't showing album cover & playlist from my links). Whole LP here too, as well it might be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0e2G32f3IU

They're on a Holiday Top 22 Countdown---just played something from The Electrifying Eddie Harris, said to be first jazz LP to go Gold---think it was "Listen Here," but whole alb is here anyway:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2MMWxIixPE

xp I don't think it's wildly wacky take to hear "Poinciana" as a precursor to disco and house music, in terms of its blissfully repetitive four-on-the-floor chord progression--a total ahead-of-its-time classic.

It makes a really nice disco song. I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq7_7yBq1rw

Oh, wow--thanks! Had no idea.

hadn't thought of it that way, thanks yall!
Other than Ahmad, I mostly know the song this way---from a fine album(if it doesn't show, it's Smokey Robinson and the Miracles live in the 60s):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER3AdAuGbgA

Yeah, the thing that makes that "But Not For Me" arrangement of Poinciana stand out so much is the relentlessness of the drums. It's on plenty of other Ahmad Jamal releases, but it never seems to have the same immediacy.

It's just a New Orleans street bass drum beat, baby.

this shit is killing me right now. kind of hits a sweet spot between some of the sparser jimmy giuffre stuff from the late '50s/'60s and miles's "cool" nonet (which makes sense because JLP studied with lennie tristano in the late '40s)

https://i.discogs.com/9V55XOVCBTkXT55GwIDD5lwFc4krDRcpk5yGEgJam88/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:500/w:500/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTExNTY5/MDQxLTE1MTg2NjEz/MDEtODk3NC5qcGVn.jpeg
john laporta - complete debut recordings

i recognized his name from the jazz composers workshop stuff with mingus and teo macero, but had never really explored. capital stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96oSJ9h_lY

oh wow

i think i might make a thread for it. its too cool for school.

Listening to Houston Person w Emmet Cohen Trio, w "Lester Leaps In" and much more, tweaking my ears again and again,just when I think it might be about to get too polished---from several live sets, incl. EC's livestream rent party series interspersed w good comments (not too many)---whole thing is here: https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118054743/pianist-emmet-cohen-hosts-a-harlem-rent-party-for-the-modern-day

Person's not in all of it, but Cohen's canny across the keys, styles, subgenres---closer: his trio w Person on what Christan Scott announces as "the soul jazz classic 'Sunny'"---Bobby Goldsboro never did it anything like this, far as I know---

Oregon w/Elvin Jones - didn't know this album existed, heard about it on an interview with Ralph Towner. Goes together like peanut butter and pickles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY_qW2oPsXU

haha, yeah! i like that album, if only for the novelty of who's making the music. haven't listened to it over a decade tho!

Have only heard their very early albums, which seemed pretty groovy, extending thee late night stoner FM canon into what I thought of as higher waterbed music ("Sure beats the Moody Blues," thought I).

"the soul jazz classic 'Sunny'"---Bobby Goldsboro never did it anything like this, far as I know---

it's Bobby Hebb who did "Sunny" -- Bobb G did "Honey" (lol)

other inexplicable and divisive things that just sort of happened in jazz: that talking yowl thing that nat adderley does through his horn in his solos. especially on the early 70s stuff, it seems like he does it on every solo he takes. is there any sort of context for that in jazz? idk if i've ever heard anyone else do it.

when i worked in record stores and would play those records for my pick, natxs solos would always get ridiculed because he would do that.

my thought: silly as it comes across sometimes, it beats any of the mike deasy stuff simply on the premise that it's listenable.

hat talking yowl thing that nat adderley does through his horn in his solos

Example?

nat's solo starts ~4.45 and he starts doing it ~6.20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nrbolthsc
cannonball adderley - "tensity" (1970)

and any of the live albums of the time find him taking off into it at least once.

btw i recommend this late 70s session if you want a pinch of classic cannonball sound: https://www.discogs.com/master/270349-Nat-Adderley-A-Little-New-York-Midtown-Music
it's not exactly the same, but the band is all cannonball group alumni, plus johnny griffin in cannonball's solo spots and ron carter being ron carter.

Oh haha, I guess he's doing the trumpet version of multiphonics, singing one note while playing another.

Sounds better on sousaphone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DO3BwRZpZo

ahhh okay! it does have some greater context! it doesn't necessarily sound bad when nat would do it, but i agree that his cornet probably wasn't meant for that.

Listening to an Ellington album I've never heard before: The Cosmic Scene, credited to Duke Ellington's Spacemen. It's a nine-piece band instead of the full orchestra: Ellington on piano, Clark Terry on trumpet, Quentin Jackson and Britt Woodman on trombones, John Sanders on valve trombone, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Paul Gonsalves on tenor saxophone, Jimmy Woode on bass, Sam Woodyard on drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhaAc2Hkzto

amazing record

also post script— though not strictly solo vibes, side one of bobby hutcherson's 1982 album solo/quartet is highly recommended for all appreciators and enjoyers of music. have posted this one elsewhere, but it's such a quality jam i'm gonna put it here too:

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

bobby hutcherson — "gotcha" (1982)

Just gave this a listen. Awesome.

hat talking yowl thing that nat adderley does through his horn in his solos

i was wondering -- is this what Don Ellis or somebody else is doing on the track "Tears of Joy"? or is that a synthesizer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIaoBwL8UTU

Huh, the credits I found say he plays a 'quarter-tone trumpet' and a 'four-valve trombone' and I also see some references to effects pedals, I'm guessing it's some combination of the above? Doesn't sound like multiphonics to me, sounds more like an effect of some kind.

Dave Valentin tosses some in while playing various flutes in this sick video, Andre 3000 wishes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY9ZU7rdb24

sorry in advance for the tangents upon tangents but you guys lit up some things...

...and yo! appreciate the dave valentin shoutout!! i love him but even i ―a very self-aware john klemmer fan― thought he was maybe a tad unhip for posting here. his smooth jazz albums are top tier barber beats and should be instant bargain bin grabs but idk where vinyl collecting stands anymore. he's super dope and a legitimate flute hero, as shown in that awesome clip...

...which reminded me about a relevant musicology/evolution thing i saw. real world records posted this clip on their youtube channel some years ago, explaining and giving an example of how to play the one-note bamboo flute. the song ―which seems to contain the blueprints for a lot of what we're talking about here― starts ~2.40. pretty fun stuff...

...and to bring this back around, john klemmer was in don ellis' band before making his own name. surely where he got at least some of the inspiration to rely so much on effects in his own playing...

...oh yeah, you guys like eddie harris, right? he was also doing weird fun horn effects that kind of mime that sound.

I looked up Dave Valentin because I remembered a killer salsa album I used to have ('90s probably?) where his solos were the highlight. But I can't remember what the album was...thinking Tito Puente, but it could have been Eddie Palmieri, or Giovanni Hidalgo, or Mongo Santamaria?

explaining and giving an example of how to play the one-note bamboo flute

i'm reading this and i'm rubbing my hands together like, yes! a pretext to share one of my favorite francis bebey videos. but of course that's what this was, lol.

you guys like eddie harris, right?

gah, of course, eddie harris! good call

Today I'm listening to Booker Ervin's records with Alan Dawson that aren't part of the "___ Book" series, Heavy!! and The Trance. Very very good so far, and that's leading me to trombonist Garnett Brown, who apparently never recorded as a leader but is on a million records.

going back to a cool modern smooth jazz record from finland this cloudy morning. all those dudes had a pretty fun scene going in the early 2000s, the ricky-tick label is goated imo. shame you can't hear five corners on north american spotify. they called their jams 'dancefloor jazz', and yeah: does what it says on the tin――
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYFCJ-xVvUI
the five corners quintet ― "unsquare bossa" (2005)

the scene gloriously went into all directions at once and ricky-tick burned out in a blast of retro big band barnstormers in just under a decade. their reissues were as solid as their new releases. the first five corners album is a personal classic and i still have to admire that undeniably cool "JAZZ FROM FINLAND" insignia. schema records still aspires to be as consistent.

not issued on ricky-tick proper, the teddy rok album is maybe the best thing to come out of the entire scene. featuring nothing but ricky-tick affiliates and members of five corners, the album is just retro enough to get by on its simmering grooves. but it's also puffed up on its own new agey post-hipsterism, so it makes something like the spiritual "spaces & echoes" fairly confident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWEHUilDkUo
teddy rok seven ― "spaces & echoes" (2005)

it does come off as a bit of pastiche, but there's tons of vibes and flute all over it, so if you dig the sound, i can't recommend it enough.

I looked up Dave Valentin because I remembered a killer salsa album I used to have ('90s probably?) where his solos were the highlight. But I can't remember what the album was...thinking Tito Puente, but it could have been Eddie Palmieri, or Giovanni Hidalgo, or Mongo Santamaria?

I remembered! It was McCoy Tyner & the Latin All-Stars, with Giovanni Hidalgo, Ignacio Berroa, Gary Bartz, Dave Valentin, etc. Some bangers on here but the flute often steals the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNidWr9YJ_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9T-UyHZyHw

thanks jordan! i'll dig in and circle back around.

in the meantime, i went back to the final recordings of sahib shihab from 1988. he went into a sextet session co-led with fellow monk alumni charlie rouse and they had a nice couple of days in hackensack that summer from the sound of it. nothing more than two oldheads in their twilight passing time. it's intermittent on streaming so here's the whole thing on youtube and info on discogs. the album went unreleased at the time, but finally got issued in 1993 by the still hidden gem status uptown label.

dang jordan, this latin all-stars record is really nice! kind of expected, considering the context. flute features are all on point, and there's a cool reading of "blue bossa" to close it out. always interesting to see what gary bartz was doing too. just ime, 90s telarc is sorta overlooked.

to tie this into my last post (sorta), during his solo on "blue bossa" dave valentin does that thing where he stops playing and does one or two off key vocal scats and then picks back up with the solo. idk if there's a name for that, but imo it's a hard thing to pull off, but pretty cool if you can. sahib shihab did it sometimes when he would play flute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8eTJkjd_s
sahib shihab/clarke+boland sextet ― "om mani padme hum" (late 60s)

thanks again for the rec! is there a name for when flute players do that?

Glad you enjoyed it, idk if there's a name for that, but he's also doing a lot of multiphonics in that solo (singing one note while simultaneously playing a different note)

oh that duke ellington spacemen record is great (xpost of many x's)

going off on various little vibe'n'flute tangents lately because of this thread...

...and it of course brought me back to bobby hutcherson. there's just something about his catalogue that contains a vital nutrient i crave. like a lot of jazz legends, he has a huge back catalogue that inevitably contains some albums that haven't fully jumped the digital gap. i'd expect his out-of-step mid-80s indie postbop albums to have gotten lost in the shuffle a bit, but even some of his major label albums are still kind of poorly translated to the digital era. case in point: this rad album on columbia from 1978. beautifully recorded in the bay area, featuring hubert laws and freddie hubbard, along with arrangements by cedar walton and george cables (a very overlooked player that i may post about later; he was a hutcherson protege, of sorts). i've always kind of considered hubert laws more of a role player, so his featurettes are perfect here. the album has that wonderfully classy big production 70s postbop sound, with the arrangement accents and kenneth nash's added percussion. the tunes are all atmospheric modal originals, bookended by "secrets of love" (one of which is a vocal). bobby's columbia period was short, but fruitful, if you like this sound. not changing anyone's mind about anything, but certainly a solid entry into any discography. it used to be an easy find, due to major label distribution. i found my copy at salvation army for a dollar. and yeah, used copies via mail order still very reasonable, but you couldn't hear it in full anywhere on the current internets, so here's a vinyl rip on youtube.

btw, hutcherson's 80s albums on the landmark are all excellent too. smaller groups, still lots of flute features. some are on streaming, the best ones aren't. i'm gearing up to reaccess my vinyl in the next few months, and archiving will begin. i got other stuff too. watch this space.

oh yeah, highway one also features freddie hubbard a bit, too.👍🏻

guess i mentioned freddie hubbard twice there. he's great, wish he got more playing time!

one last thing for now: another courteous fellow traveler has posted bobby's other columbia album on youtube as a playlist. it's worth your time if you're reading this. but i have a question to my fellow listeners about this: what's your preferred format for this? post the album as one long video, or split out the tracks individually?

(i've been doing one video, full album because that's how i prefer to listen on youtube hbu?)

definitely prefer one video for a full album

thanks for sharing these!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZWBfO8UmeY; title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

fairport convention's debut single "if i had a ribbon bow" came across a feed spurring me to look into the song's history, and the maxine sullivan/john kirby version from... 1937? 1940? is sublimely arch. maxine sounds a lot like ella on these early sides with bassist john kirby's orchestra, but the real revelation was the chamber jazz versions of classical hits like scheherazade, humeresque and swan lake, this is the clear link between early ellington and "birth of the cool" that i've always suspected exists in the third stream jazz prehistory.

i see that some of these kirby arrangements were by charlie shavers, who started with gillespie pre-bebop and later joined the raymond scott cbs small group, which has a similar metronomic clockwork overly-composed feel. great stuff then you relisten to the vocal sides and hear the intricacy better there, too.

huh. i will have to check this out

Thanks Austin, those Bobby Hutcherson records are sweet.

Is there really no standalone Lee Morgan thread? Because Taru is killing me with goodness tonight.

A friend recently sent me this, which I'd always heard about, yet somehow never heard---I asked of we'd talked about Art Pepper before; he said no: turns out we were both solo Pepper heads, all these years. Remastered, expanded, the soulful, vibrant, sometimes scary Winter Moon:
https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFIbU9MNv5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFIbU9MNv5w

Been really into Hank Mobley's Roll Call lately. I'd been listening to all the ones with Philly Joe which are great, but then you put this on and Art Blakey just swings you to death. It's basically a Messengers album with Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, and great Freddie Hubbard.

Just now heard on radio: Leslie Odom Jr. singing "Autumn Leaves," with me thinking, "Of course! Why have I never heard anybody do it this way before?" Only backing mentioned was Jeff "Tain" Watts, in the pocket with bass and piano, nobody showboating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVJAc3nxhqY

https://www.discogs.com/label/589685-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB10-Inch-LP%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AC%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3-From-BN5000

here's a brief look at the frank foster one.

these came out in late 90s japan/early 2000s in america. emi japan way ahead of the curve doing mono reissues back then! i had several of these reissues at one point and they are CLEAN. recommended!

here's a fun post-bop session led by chico freeman on the contemporary label. really dig the vibe of "nia's song dance" check it out!

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

https://www.discogs.com/release/2347568-Chico-Freeman-Peaceful-Heart-Gentle-Spirit

never heard a Chico Freeman record i don't like. the one right before it, No Time Left, is good too

i had never heard of that frank foster record, will be checking it out shortly