Monday, January 17, 2011

Some New Music on Live365

I've been swamped lately.  One of these days I'm going to get things right.  Or so says Mose Allison.  I have added an hour of music to my Live365 channel.  I started with a Mose Allison gem.  The rest are from albums that I purchased when I first began buying jazz records.  Here is a playlist:

  1. Mose Allison/Days Like This/The Word from Mose Allison
  2. Bill Evans Trio/Pensativa/Crosscurrents
  3. Warne Marsh/Blues in G Flat/The Unissued Copenhagen Studio Session
  4. Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane/Freight Trane/Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane
  5. Kenny Burrell/ Midnight Blue/Midnight Blue
  6. Zoot Sims/Jitterbug Waltz/Warm Tenor
  7. Zoot Sims/You Go To My Head/Warm Tenor
  8. Wes Montgomery/Come Rain or Shine/The Complete Riverside Recordings
  9. Bill Evans/The Days of Wine and Roses/Affinity
  10. Bill Evans/Blue and Green/Affinity
The Allison piece speaks for itself.  Crosscurrents, with Warne Marsh  Lee Konitz backing the Bill Evans Trio (Eddi Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums), was one of the albums that hooked me into jazz.  I follow it with Warne Marsh from an unissued recording that got issued.  

I bought a bunch of albums with Kenny Burrell on them after I saw Burrell in concert in Southern California.  Burrell and Trane is a great example.  But I think that Midnight Blue is one of those albums that ought to be at the top of the list.  The recording is superb, and the playing is transcendental.  From Discogs.com:
Bass - Major Holley  Congas - Ray Barretto  Drums - Bill English Tenor Saxophone - Stanley Turrentine

Zoot Sims' Warm Tenor was one of my first purchases, back in Jonesboro Arkansas when I was still mowing my parent's lawn.  That is about as revealing an album title as ever I saw.  From the All Music Guide: This quartet set with pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist George Mraz and drummer Mousie Alexander.  

I had a double album by Wes Montgomery.  I don't know for sure if this piece was on it, but it is a good sample of what I fell in love with.  If Zoot's horn was warm, Wes had about as warm a line as any guitar jazz man. Now that I think about it, I am sure that this was on the original album because I recorded it and played on the stereo at the liquor store where I worked.  My boss complained. 

I added a couple of pieces from Affinity, with Bill Evans and Toots Thielemans on harmonica.  Same trio as above, with Larry Schneider on horns.  This is just exquisite jazz. 


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Insufficiently Sung Sidemen/Commentary

Intrepid reader had done a masterful job of interpreting my current playlist.  I am tempted to leave it at that.  But I will resist the temptation.  

I began with a duo by Mal Waldron and Marion Brown, because I wanted to feature Brown.  Brown is one of those big souls who leaves a small mark.  But don't miss it!  I followed that with a piece from John Coltrane's album Afro Blue Impressions.  This is part of a body of work recorded by Trane in Europe in 1963.  I think you can get a box with all of it.  The piece is Naima, one of the most beautiful ballads in modern jazz.  Bass - Jimmy Garrison, Drums - Elvin Jones , Piano - McCoy Tyner.  

I offered that only to set up the next piece by Archie Shepp from Four For Trane.  Listening to Trane's version, you can really appreciate the invention in Shepp's groundbreaking album.  Bass - Reggie Workman ,Drums - Charles Moffett ,Saxophone [Alto] - John Tchicai ,Saxophone [Tenor] - Archie Shepp, Trombone - Roswell Rudd , Trumpet - Alan Shorter.  I am simply amazed by this work. 

That got me to Marion Brown's album, Three For Shepp.  The connection is obvious, and it offers an example of how I listen to music: like a bloodhound following a trail.   Bass - Sirone, Drums - Bobby Capp ,Piano - Stanley Cowell, Trombone - Grachan Moncur III.  

The rest of the playlist is devoted to Andrew Cyrille, Grachan Moncur III, a lot of Reggie Workman, and Booker Ervin.  I hope to offer some more information, but for now this will have to do.  Love to all.  

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Insufficiently Sung Sidemen/Playlist

Here is the play list for the first Jazz Note of 2011.  This shows focuses on a number of jazz artists who made a big mark as sidemen but are relatively unheard of as leaders.  As always the show can be heard at http://www.live365.com/stations/kcblanchard. I will provide a list of musicians and some commentary as soon as I can.  

The show will debut about 8pm Central Time tomorrow (Sunday, Jan. 2nd). 

  1. Mal Waldron & Marion Brown/Inch Worm/Much More!/Mal Waldron piano; Marion Brown Alto Sax
  2. John Coltrane/Naima/Afro Blue Impressions
  3. Archie Shepp/Naima/Four For Trane
  4. Marion Brown/West India/Three for Shepp
  5. Marion Brown/La Sorrella/Why Not?
  6. Mal Waldron & Marion Brown/Contemplation/Songs of Love and Regret
  7. Andrew Cyrille/Metamuscian's Stomp/Metamuscian's Stomp
  8. Andrew Cyrille/The Navigator/The Navigator
  9. Miles Davis/Stuff/Miles in the Sky
  10. Archie Shepp/Ujamma/Live in New York
  11. Grachan Moncur III/The Twins/Some Other Stuff
  12. Grachan Moncur III/The Coaster/Evolution
  13. Wayne Shorter/Genesis/The All Seeing Eye
  14. Wayne Shorter/502 Blues (Drinking and Driving)/Adam's Apple
  15. Wayne Shorter/Night Dreamer/Night Dreamer
  16. Reggie Workman/Meteor/Summit Conference
  17. Reggie Workman/Summit Conference/Summit Conference
  18. Horace Tapscott/Aiee! The Phantom/Aiee! The Phantom 
  19. Mal Waldron/Crowd Scene/Crowd Scene
  20. Booker Ervin/The Trance/The Trance
  21. Booker Ervin/You Don't Know What Love Is/Heavy!
  22. Booker Ervin/A Day To Mourn//Freedom Book
  23. Charles Mingus/You Better Git Hit In Your Soul/Mingus at Antibes
  24. Archie Shepp/Sophisticated Lady/The Way Ahead