I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.
Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.
The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".
"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.
While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.
Of course, the thought crossed my mind as I compiled the list; which is why the last “rule” was......
- ?????
.....IOW, an open invitation for anyone to make additions to the list and have an opportunity to participate. As I already said, all in good fun, of course. So, feel free to translate your very funny clips to “rules” and amend the list in order for it to be more inclusive .....don’t stir too much 😉. I will start the amendment process with this:
The actual real life saxophonist who recorded “Zoot”’s playing for Sesame Street is an old friend and studio woodwind player who was fond of using this expression and said it with a particularly colorful accent. I will appropriate it as “The frogman rule”:
- Check your boolsheeht at the doh!
**** Since nobody has a reason to doubt my good intentions, I will post couple of ’descriptions’ as well... ****
I have no doubt. I look forward to your “translations”, while I take cover 😊. OK to play it safe, of course.
"This is not say that I think she is a fantastic piano player in absolute terms. I don’t; as evidenced in part by the fact that we don’t find recordings (any?) by other artists with Simone on piano. She was the perfect piano player FOR HER music. Conversely, many great jazz piano players are not necessarily great accompanists to singers. It is a specific skill."
That is the most stupid, ludicrous, and ridiculous statement that has ever been made on this thread. When I read it, it raised my blood pressure 10 points, which is the only reason I responded.
"We don't find recordings by other artists with Simone on piano"; talking about brain out to lunch............
When The Frogman Marshals his Minions, it's best just to chill out with your favorite Jazz CD / LP until the howling subsides. It won't last long. They will soon forget what he told them to say.
He's even got The Jazz Queen all excited.
Now, back to my latest acquisition, Count Basie -- Complete Live at the Crescendo 1958. I turn it up, and it drowns out the annoying drivel.
Can never get enough Sonny. pjw, Sonny had a penchant for picking show tunes that one would usually not think to be good vehicles for improvisation. “I’m An Old Cowhand” is a favorite; thanks. Here’s another:
As in “Cowhand”, on this set Sonny shows why he was one of the few players who could play convincingly in a piano-less setting; amazing command of harmony. He was one of the pioneers of this very challenging format. One of my favorite records by Sonny:
frogman, I have both those discs you posted the song links from.
When I first bought the live Village Vanguard disc I almost wore it out playing it. That was way back before I put my whole music library on my laptop in FLAC format. Over the last 5 years every time I buy a disc it I immediately rip it to my laptop then store it away in pristine condition.
Yes that Village Vanguard recording is a piano-less trio with Sonny out front, Wilbur Ware or Donald Baily on bass, and Pete La Roca or Elvin Jones on the drum kit.
The funny thing is, on the 2 disc set that I have, Sonny introduces Donald Baily and Pete La Roca before the opening song on disc 1 (A Night In Tunisia), but nowhere on either disc does he introduce Wilbur Ware or Elvin Jones.
pjw, good catch and thanks for listing the personell. My guess is that “Night I T” opened their sets; hence the introduction. It makes a great opener. The other tunes on the record are probably from further into the various sets. Since the producers already had their preferred “N I T” for the record, we wouldn’t have the name intros from the sets with the other players.
Annie Lennox, in both live performances above, was over 60 at the time. Still an amazing vocalist. Just imagine if she had taken some time in her younger days to put out more albums of jazz standards mixed in with the alternative pop/rock music that made her rich.
pjw& frogman I own 2 lps by Sonny Rollins recorded at the Vanguard "A Night at The Village Vanguard" , a single lp and "More From The Vanguard" a double lp.In the liner notes it states that "A Night In Tunisia " was recorded the same evening (nov.3 1957) with a different personnel than W Ware and E Jones. Hence maybe the evening set started with Ware and Jones and when personnel shifted he decided to introduce Bailey and La Roca to the audience. The double lp (also issued by Blue Note) has one cut "I've Got You Under My Skin" with Bailey and LaRoca as sidemen and it states this cut was recorded at the MATINEE PERFORMANCE on Nov. 3 1957 sunday. The other cuts on the 2-fer with Jones and Ware were recorded at the evening performance. I also own a cd set" Complete Live At the Village Vabguard " which may have more liner notes but I need to locate it.
Thanks for the info, nsp. I love these mysteries. From “Allmusic.com”:
**** The recording that resulted documents two shows in the afternoon and evening of November 3, 1957. Rollins employed different bands for the two shows. The afternoon show sported Donald Bailey on bass and Pete (La Roca) Sims on drums and the only contribution to the whole by this band is the opening "Night in Tunisia." The remainder of the recording is all Wilbur Ware on Bass and Elvin Jones on Drums. the recently released rudy Van Gelder Edition is superior to all previous releases of this material. Included here is all of the pre-song banter showing a 27 year old Rollins wowing his crowd. Also, previously edited material is restored and situated in chronologic order **** This from Wiki corroborates the above. Check out the “Track Listing” page:
Acman, I can't thank you enough for introducing me to "Lisa Simone". The most fortunate thing about that link you presented, was the fact that it gave me the opportunity to see Lisa Simone several times without changing anything. What impressed me most was her "naturalness"; she made no effort to sound like anybody else but "Lisa Simone".
Her bio says she served in the United States Air Force as an engineering assistant; that's a most admiral beginning. After that she became an actress, she was in St. Louis at The Muny in the Summer of 2006 as "Aida". The opening of "The Muny" was an event I looked forward to when I lived in the city.
Lisa Simone is a natural vocalist with a unique individuality that will take her far; other than the name, there is no similarity between her style and her mothers; Lisa Simone is her own woman with a lot of spirit, her vocals was just what I needed to hear, and her inner confidence is just what she needs to succeed.
It takes a lot of confidence to sing with these three woman and hold your own;
Lisa Simone, Lizz Wright, Dianne Reeves, and Angelique Kidjo; four woman not afraid to display their femininity. "Sweet Thang" was my favorite lady, as sung by Lisa Simone. I had to play that one twice.
The second time around I heard Lizz Wright like I had never heard her before; her voice is dripping with dark chocalate; I've got to get more.
In my last post about Nina Simone, I only focused on her piano; this song encompasses the raw power of "Nina Simone", I could feel her spirit as I listened.
nsp and frogman thank you both for the info on the Rollins Village Vanguard shows.
Pete La Roca is something of an enigma. I have his first solo disc Basra and he was no slouch behind the kit. According to Wiki he left the music business and went to law school:
It is strange to realize that drummer Pete La Roca only led two albums during the prime years of his career, for this CD reissue of his initial date is a classic. La Roca's three originals ("Basra," which holds one's interest despite staying on one chord throughout, the blues "Candu," and the complex "Tears Come From Heaven") are stimulating but it is the other three songs that really bring out the best playing in the quartet (which is comprised of tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Steve Kuhn, and bassist Steve Swallow in addition to La Roca). "Malaguena" is given a great deal of passion, Swallow's "Eiderdown" (heard in its initial recording) receives definitive treatment, and the ballad "Lazy Afternoon" is both haunting and very memorable; Henderson's tone perfectly fits that piece.
frogman & pjw It seems there is still a bit of a mystery to the Rollins Village Vanguard sessions. The facts are : there were 3 sessions , one afternoon and 2 evening. LaRoca and Bailey played on the afternoon session, Jones and Ware at the evening sessions. My 3 lps and the Rudy Van Gelder cd reissue have 2 tunes from the afternoon session. I found this strange that a set would only consist of 2 tiunes. Didn't make sense. Now read pjw's bio of LaRoca wherein it is stated that of FIVE recorded tunes at the VV sessions only TWO made it on to records(or cd). So there is ADDITIONAL music from these sessions which appears to have never been published!!
pjw I bought a reissued lp of "Basra" long ago and it is a great lp. Top notch sideman all around and Joe Hendersons playing is some of his best. Highly recommended to anyone who does not own a copy. I like Pete on this date w/ D Friedman: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KNJsn0m8VL8
nsp, you may very well be correct that there is music from the afternoon sessions that was not released. They were probably tunes that were also played in the evening sets. It is possible that these versions from the afternoon set were felt to be inferior to those from the evening sets and weren’t released. The record does include two “alternate takes”. Neither is one of the two tunes from the afternoon set. Perhaps it was felt that those two (from the evening sets) were felt to be good enough to include as alternate takes. It is unlikely that they would play the same tune twice in the same set. So, it does appear that they did play some of the same tunes in different sets. I suppose it is also possible that there were technical issues with some of the recordings from the afternoon set. What do you think?
Hah! I didn’t know that about it being the first live recording at the VV. Thanks for that very interesting factoid, nap. With that knowledge in mind, I would put even more stock in the possibility that technical issues may have been the reason that not all of the music from the afternoon set was released. Afternoon set: very first time that a recording was attempted vs the evening sets for which they had had a “practice run”. Seems plausible to me. In answer to your question: Good list that I can’t argue with eventhough that, as usual, “best” gets a little complicated. A couple more that come to mind as contenders (favorites, anyway):
Stanley Turrentine “Up At Minton’s“ Sarah Vaughn “Live In Japan” Monk/Coltrane “At Carnegie Hall” Eric Dolphy “At The Five Spot” Benny Goodman “Benny In Brussels”
Burrell, Grant Green, Barney Kassell (wonder if this was ever issued...do not know of any other date where Green and Burrell are playing together) https://youtu.be/_4jMQNJFPO4
Kenny Dorham Quintet 'Live at Flamboyn, featuring Joe Henderson' (this I dont have, but sounds interesting) https://youtu.be/2yOdyfx8q6U
frogman There were 2 sets and they wouldn't play same songs twice in a set. Good perspective by you in that maybe they did have tech problems in 1st set with recording . Would be nice to know back story. I suspect thay tried to record everything so who knows? Would like to have additional afternoon material if available.
frogman At bottom of the "Best live" link there is a #11 which goes to another page. They mentioned E Dolphy Live at Five Spot as well as Turrentines Up at Mintons, both favorites of mine. Also listed Art Peppers Live atThe Vanguard which is also a favorite. 2 not mentioned are Lee Morgan's Live at The Lighthouse" and Shelly Manne's Live at Shellys Manne Hole. I think everyon e has their personal favorites and it's interesting to see their picks.
Alex Good choices . Not sure about thawt J Griffin I think it was studio recording, i'll check my copy. A great live Griffin 2-lp is Live in Tokyo . I also agree with your picks of MJQ, Brubeck , SManne, Chet Baker. I don't own that Hawkins or Dorham title so can't comment.
pjw, that Alvin Lee clip was a big surprise for me. A blast from the past and one of my favorite Rock guitar heroes (Ten Years After) during my HS days. I pretty much stopped following those players night around the time that was recorded and I had no idea that he had been into that kind of playing. I liked it!
I first heard Annie Lennox in the mid 1980’s with the Eurythmics. The song was "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" and, although at the time, I was into the music of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and the like, something in her voice stuck in my gut.
Here I am 30 plus years later still in love with her soulful, soaring, and at times highly emotional singing, with the Eurythmics and her solo sessions. Annie recorded an album of jazz standards in 2014 at the age of 60 called "Nostalgia" that, IMHO is outstanding.
Then again, my feelings about Annie’s vocals are shared by the worldwide masses and she has sold millions of records over the years.
frogman, I have everything TYA ever put out and then some!
Alvin Lee was heavily influenced by American jazz and blues. He covers the standard blues tune "Good Morning Little School Girl" and jazz "Woodchoppers Ball" with his blazingly fast guitar out front as with all of his recordings. The thing about me, which seems to separate me from a lot of the members posting on this thread, is that when I really got into jazz, at age 40, and became obsessed with jazz (I have 5x more jazz music in my library then any other genre), I never trashed my rock/blues/metal music and still listen to it often.
Thanks nsp for the ongoing updates on the Sonny Rollins VV sessions. I hope they release another disc with the complete sessions day and night.
By the way, you had mentioned the group Soft Machine, I believe, a while back. I just picked up volumes 3-7 in a 20 dollar box set and the albums "Bundles" and "Softs" which adds guitar into their stuff.
Great choices, Alex. Interesting, I had forgotten how much faster they played “Take Five” at the Carnegie concert. At first I thought it might be a technical speed issue with that particular upload to Youtube and checked my lp; but that is the actual tempo they took it at. Must have been the excitement of and from the live audience. I’m reposting for comparison:
fro, (jazz is hard to follow) when measuring the bpm, the drummer is the band official’s metronome? It is over 200 at live version/Take five, right? This is not serious question, I was just playing with it on the mobile Metronome app (5/4 measure or..?). I am "sucker" for rhythm (crazy about it in every possible piece of music). I could listen Take five all day long.
pjw81563, man, I heard "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This" for the first time, long time after you. This song, if I am not mistaken, was her/Eurythmics breakthrough hit. Sadly, I neglected listenin’ Annie in her latest performances. Thanks to you, I will now correct that.
pjw, you are not separate from me, I never trashed my rock or blues records either.
As I’ve related here previously, my early musical influences were the ’30s and ’40s jazz played frequently at home by my dad. Then I became a teenager about the time rock and roll emerged in popularity so that became my main focus. Over the years I added other genres to my interests and continued to expand my collection for each one.
So today, while jazz remains my first choice, I do listen to a wide variety of other musical types. It all depends on my mood and which way the wind is blowing. ;^)
PS, to prove the point, I happen to also have "Bundles".
mary_jo, you’re exactly right; over 200 bpm. Most metronomes max out at around 208 or so and the Carnegie “Take Five” is played at a click or two even faster; probably 210. That’s fast! especially for music in 5/4.
AlexThat Burrell, Green, Kessel clip seemed to be taped from a tv show.Nice to see them all together. Doubt it was issued to the public .I'm also interested in that Kenny Dorham Flamboyan live 1963 date but i looked it up on amazon and it's pricey, cheapest offer was$24 dollars.
pjw & prysoCan't believe I found 2 Soft Machine fans in the same day.Pjw that box set is a good find it gives you all the significant discs from the 1st incarnation. SM discs before Third are not significant. Bundles and Softs have guitar players and lean a little more towards rock than jazz. I have other SM live discs from this period if your interested let m e know. I also have discs of Soft Machine Legacy band recorded 10-15 years ago and some live Hugh Hopper discs.BTW-was listening to King Crimson's Discipline last night. I was a TYA fan but had forgotten about him after the band broke up. Nice cut you posted. Sadly i heard he passed away recently?
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