The Lush Tenor of Ricky Ford

If you are in a mood for that lush sax, have I got an album for you.  Manhattan Blues was recorded in 1989 and features the wonderful Jaki Byard on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Ben Riley on drums. Trust me on this one: this is one big heart on display.  Every note is fat and has the texture of crushed velvet.  Of course, Ricky Ford won't mean a thing if you ain't got that sing.  If you got it, give this one a listen.

I am playing 'Ode to Crispus Attucks', and 'My Little Strayhorn'. 

ps.  I have added 'The Short Life of Barbara Monk', from Ran Blake's album of the same title.  Ford plays wonderfully on this essential album.  It ought to get a lot more attention.  

Jaki Byard

The "J" section on my iPod takes a long time to scroll through, what with all the Johns and Joes that fill up the jazz fan's soul (does Apple have a copyright?).  And then there are the Jacki(e)s.  Keyboard genius Jaki Byard is not one to be missed.  Perhaps his most important date was with Eric Dolphy at the recording of Far Cry.  You will find it well positioned in my list of best jazz albums. 

Byard  played with the authority of someone who had mastered a lot of the music's history.  A better trained ear than mine can find volumes of jazz tradition on any Byard album, and more than one in one song.  Just now I am listening to The Jaki Byard Experience.  This album features Rolland Kirk "switching between tenor, clarinet, and manzello" (All Music).  What the Hell is a manzello?  Wikipedia saves me here.  It's a mutant soprano saxophone. Rolland Kirk rings my bells.  Richard Davis plays an exquisite and well represented bass, and Alan Dawson drums. 

The opening number, 'Parisian Thoroughfare', is an example of what one might call "traffic jazz."  As the sound of a railroad car clacking over ties inspired many a bluesman, so the sound of a busy street corner has inspired more than one jazzman.  For examples see Charlie Mingus and Arthur Blythe. 

Well, here is a sample. 

Memories of You/The Jaki Byard Experience

One can only wish that Byard and Kirk and Davis got together more often.  This one is a keeper.