For the best vibes sound that I've heard, you might want to get Mapleshade (Wildchild) "Swingin' and Burnin'", by the John Cocuzzi Quintet. John plays the vibes. I'd never heard of him, and I'm no expert (though I've heard all the others so far mentioned in this thread), but he sounds good to me musically too. The recorded sound, like most of the Mapleshades, is remarkable. They sell at $9.50 each plus shipping if you order at least four, and you can send them back for a replacement if you don't like them. |
If you are interested in learning more about Lionel Hampton (one of the grand old men of jazz), check out the following sites:
http://www.downbeat.com/sections/artists/text/bio.asp?from=go&id1=3793
http://people.a2000.nl/ahbone/Hampton.html
http://www.duke.edu/~hlh2/
Enjoy! |
What's wrong with you people!? Haven't you heard of Cal Tjeider? In my humble opinion, he's the greatest vibraphonist of them all! If you like latin spiced jazz, try any of his vintage Concord Jazz recordings and prepare to be mesmerized!
Happy Listening,
Jojo |
The Modern Jazz Quartet: Together Again-Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival. This digital recording was made in 1982 and mastered by Joe Tarantino of Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. It features nine of MJQ's best work. The sound quality of the recording is excellent. The music is very cool! |
We recorded a NY vibist, Joe Locke, a number of years ago who's supposed to be awesome. (We haven't released the recording yet, so I haven't heard it first hand.) I saw a nice write up on Joe recently in Down Beat (?) recently and he has a new album out that sounded worth checking out.
We have releases a few CDs that feature vibes too. I'm sure you'll be knocked out by the recordings. There's:
Andy McCloud's "Blues For Bighead" - one of Andy's Gentlemen is vibist Steve Nelson. The music's largely improvised, bluesy jazz.
John Cocuzzi "Swingin' and Burnin'" - 30's/40's hot jazz a la Benny Goodman, and my favorite of the three.
Warren Smith's "Cat's Are Stealing My $hit" - There are either vibes or marimba's on a handfull of tracks here. This CD's sort of a jazz percussion smorgasbord. |
Frap and Jbaxley: Thanks for the very specific suggestions--I'm going to buy those, assuming I can find them.
Kubla and SD: Sounds like I need some Lionel Hampton--did you know his name appears on no less than 150 albums? Since I'm probably not going to get all of these--at least initially--can you all suggest maybe the top three that I should get? |
Milt Jackson with the MJQ! "Django" on Prestige is just a great record (OJC vinyl reissue is quite good btw), but since this is an audiophone forum, check out just about any of the Atlantic releases (most were engineered by Tom Dowd) and also interesting is "Very Tall" with Milt J. and the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown (nice MoFi lp and Verve cd reissue). And then there's the "Very Tall Band Reunion" on TelArc, featuring Milt J., Oscar & Ray B., recorded live at the Blue Note in NYC just a few years ago, only months before Milt J.'s death. (I was in the audience -- what a show!) Happy listening, Jim |
Abstract,Try to find these;
Dave Pike>>> Pike's Peak (Reissue Columbia LP is also great)
Bobby Hutcherson>>> Total Eclipse, Happenings, Stick Up, Cirrus, Good Bait
Milt Jackson>>> Plenty Plenty Soul (Atlantic)
This List to be added to the above great picks....Frank |
Lionel Hampton! Lionel Hampton! |
Well, the three great artists on jazz vibraphone should be a good starting point:
1. Lionel Hampton's recordings from the 1940's through the 1990's;
2. Milt Jackson's entire body of work with the Modern Jazz Quartet, plus albums done with others;
3. Gary Burton's entire body of work. My personal favorites of his work are the recordings done in the duo with Chick Corea (beginning with "Crystal Silence" around 1972-73). |
Gary Burton, who used to play with Stan Getz, was one of the best in the 60's and 70's. Since I went to the same high school as Stan's sons at that time, we were lucky enough to hear him play in our school. Excellent player. Unfortunately, I don't know what label he recorded for (Verve? I think that was Getz's label, good chance it was Burton's too) or how well recorded he was, as at that time I was principally a rock/folk fan. Hopefully some of our other posters can fill you in on that information. |
