The Used Jazz Record Bin

It's not quite dead, yet.  There is no point in complaining about the steady disappearance of jazz sections in record stores when record stores are all but extinct.  It was a little disconcerting when I discovered that the modern jazz section of the Music Factory in New Orleans was all but gone.  It is pretty clear that jazz artists aren't going to sell their recordings at those venues.  However, this is not really anything new.  How many record stores have ever carried good jazz sections or even good alternative rock sections for that matter?  No record store in my hometown ever carried Patti Smith's great recordings.  What is new is that you can get almost anything you want online. 

What I am really sad to see go are the bins where you could find good second hand jazz CDs.  I did manage to find a couple of gems this weekend at Cheapo Records in the Twin Cities.  I have a respectable collection of Elvin Jones recordings, but I didn't have the double album Illumination/Dear John C. until now.  Well, I did have Illumination.  I was glad to get the second half for a very good price. 

Dear John C., as you might have guessed, is a tribute to Trane.  The lineup is Elvin Jones on drums, Charlie Mariano on alto sax, Roland Hanna and Hank Jones on piano, and Richard Davis on bass.  It's worth a listen.  I am playing the title cut and 'Love Bird'. 

I picked up Natural Illusions by Bobby Hutcherson.  It is a 1972 recording that seems to be rather lack luster, but it does fill out my Hutcherson collection. 

I was pleased to find Revue, by the World Saxophone Quartet.  This all star, all sax group is something you want to check out if you think, as I do, that the saxophone is the main register of modern jazz.  The quartet features Hamiet Bluiett on baritone sax and also clarinet; Julius Hemphill on alto, soprano, and flute; Oliver Lake on the same; and David Murray on tenor sax and bass clarinet.  There is enough texture here that you could float on it. 

I am playing the title cut and 'David's Tune'. 

Sam Rivers 1923-2011

Sam Rivers passed away just one day after Christmas.  I wasn't aware of this until I noticed the tribute show to Rivers at In the Groove: Jazz and Beyond, hosted by my friend and jazz hero, Ken Laster.  I already had  a good serving of Rivers on my Live365 station.  I have substituted a couple of new cuts. 

One is the title cut from Fuchsia Swing Song (1965).  I believe that this was Rivers' first recording as leader.  Here is the lineup, from Discogs:

• Bass – Ron Carter
• Drums – Anthony Williams
• Piano – Jaki Byard
• Tenor Saxophone – Sam Rivers

A second cut I am playing is 'Surge' from Waves (1979).   This is all out free jazz: every kind of energy pushing out from the inner structure of the music with only a hint of narrative. 

• Bass, Cello – Dave Holland
• Drums, Percussion – Thurman Barker
• Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Piano – Sam Rivers
• Tuba, Horn [Baritone] – Joe Daley

It's a pretty good example of River's long association with Dave Holland.   I am also featuring 'Ghetto Lights', from Bobby Hutcherson's superb Dialogue (1965). Don't miss Freddie Hubbard's toe curling blues. 

• Bass – Richard Davis (2)
• Drums – Joe Chambers
• Piano – Andrew Hill
• Tenor And Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute – Sam Rivers
• Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard
• Vibraphone, Marimba – Bobby Hutcherson

River's was twenty-four karat.  He manages to show up on a lot of very basic jazz for several decades.  I only recently fell in love with his opera. 

Last, but not least, here is a beautiful clip of Rivers and Holland playing in Germany in 1979.  Enjoy:

Bobby Hutcherson on Blue Note pt. 2

Bobby Hutcherson recorded three albums as leader with Herbie Hancock on piano: Components (1965), Happenings (66), and Oblique (67).  As Hutcherson's Dialogue was, I think, deeply colored by the presence of Andrew Hill, so Hancock's presence colors the 66 and 67.  This is so in spite of the fact that Hutcherson composed all but one of the numbers on Happenings (Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage') and three of the six numbers of on Oblique.  The latter also includes a single Hancock composition.  I think that this is a strength of Hutcherson's leadership rather than a weakness and is quite intentional.  Hutcherson's composition 'Subtle Neptune' certainly invokes the oceanic theme that marked Hancock's great Blue Note recordings.  Hutcherson chose to do something very clever: record albums that fit rather neatly with the latter.  

1. Components.  Freddie Hubbard (tp); James Spaulding (as, fl); Bobby Hutcherson (vib, mar); Herbie Hancock (p, org); Ron Carter (b); Joe Chambers (d).  Four of the cuts are Hutcherson composition, and they are all lyrical, accessible, and delicious.  'Tranquility' is pensive and haunting.  'Little B's Poem' is a classic.  The rest of the compositions are by Chambers, and lean a little more toward the avant garde.  
2. Happenings.  Bobby Hutcherson (vib, mar, d); Herbie Hancock (p); Bob Cranshaw (b); Joe Chambers (d, mar),  Great album art!  All the compositions are good.  I especially like 'Head Start' with Hutcherson's superb solos going on just inches above Hancock's piano. This is very energetic and compelling hard bop.
3. Oblique.  Bobby Hutcherson (vib, d); Herbie Hancock (p); Albert Stinson (b); Joe Chambers (d, gong, timp).  What Hutcherson does with Hancock's 'Theme from "Blow Up"' is just marvelous, and you don't get better vibes than are on display in the title cut.  
4. Stick Up! (66) Joe Henderson (ts); Bobby Hutcherson (vib); McCoy Tyner (p); Herbie Lewis (b); Billy Higgins (d).  This is a nice contrast with the above recordings.  It doesn't sound like a Hancock or a Henderson album, though Joe does not go unnoticed.  Hutcherson's poetry is a conspicuous feature of all these albums, but the best expression of it is in the aptly titled 'Verse'.  Again, Hutcherson composes his solo just above the exquisite Tyner on piano and Lewis on base, followed Henderson doing the same.  I can't imagine listening to this and not being happy.  

I may do another post on Hutcherson, or maybe not.   If you have the four recordings described in these last two posts, you have a fine record of mid-sixties jazz in all of its glory. 

Bobby Hutcherson on Blue Note pt. 1

I have had very little time for this blog over the last few months and I confess that I have not really found a satisfying way to combine it with my Live365 site.  This was a lot more fun when I was posting links directly to sample cuts, but that was more risk that I was willing to continue taking. 

The original purpose of the blog was to share my love of jazz collecting, so I am going to try to return to that purpose.  Who knows?  Perhaps I can draw some audience back.  

I have been rounding out my collection of vibe man Bobby Hutcherson recordings.  In the mid '60's, Hutcherson did a series of recordings for Blue Note that ought to be in anyone's jazz library.  Here is a list of these recordings with some notes.  

1. The Kicker (63)  Joe Henderson (ts); Duke Pearson (p); Grant Green (g); Bob Cranshaw (b); Al Harewood (d).  This might as well have been marketed as a Henderson album.  Maybe then Blue Note wouldn't have kept it in the vaults for more than thirty years (1999)!  It is a rock solid hard bop date, with fine displays by Henderson and Hutcherson and Pearson.  Kicker* may be heard on my Live365 site.  
2. Dialogue (65) Freddie Hubbard (t); Sam Rivers (ss, ts, f); Andrew Hill (p); Richard Davis (b); Joe Chambers (d).  Likewise, this might have been marketed as an Andrew Hill recording, as the pianist composed three of the cuts and it has a very topography.  This is Hutcherson's most interesting and inventive recording.  It invites obvious comparison with two very great recordings.  Hill's Andrew!!! has the same Hill-Davis-Chambers rhythm section.  Hutcherson, Hubbard, and Davis appeared on Eric Dolphy's earth shaking recording, Out To Lunch.  Hill's 'Les Noirs Marchant' could easily have fit on that album.

Don't misinterpret my remarks about marketing.  These are both Hutcherson recordings.  If his subsequent Blue Note recordings were less adventurous than Dialogue, they are nonetheless squarely on the path of the new thing.   In pt. 2, I'll cover Happenings, Stick Up, and Oblique. 

ps.  I have relied heavily on A Bobby Hutcherson Web Site.  What a resource!  Would that every jazz artist had this kind of attention paid to him or her. 

Bobby Hutcherson's Components

I just noticed that Amazon has Wayne Shorter's Adam's Apple available as MP3 download for two cents under four bucks.  I did a couple of posts on Shorter's magnificent work in the 1960's, and in the second post I review Adam's Apple as the last in that core Shorter collection.  If you don't have this recording, don't let this one slip away at this price.  

Today I grabbed Bobby Hutcherson's Components for a cool $7.99, bringing my collection of Hutcherson's recordings up to 1967.  This recording is very interesting as a document of Hutcherson's range in the period.  Here is the lineup. which I got from a very nice Hutcherson discography page:

Freddie Hubbard (tp);
James Spaulding (as, fl);
Bobby Hutcherson (vib, mar);
Herbie Hancock (p, org);
Ron Carter (b);
Joe Chambers (d)

It's hard to beat that for a band.  The album begins with a number that has Hubbard and Spaulding playing with almost a big band feel.  It is followed by lyrical, impressionistic piece.  These numbers are solid post bop, challenging only to the most conservative jazz fan. Much the same is true of the third and fourth numbers.  The last is back to the fat horn sound, and is quite beautiful.  Hancock's piano is especially haunting.  

The next three numbers shift abruptly into the new thing.  There is no bothering with melody, it's all down to playing with the components of music.  'Movement,' in particular, is a revealing avant garde document.  The interplay between horns on the one hand, and bass and percussion on the other, is very well articulated.  Some listeners may find it whiny, but I do not. 

The last number returns to romantic impressionism.  It is more or less what vibes are for.  Here it is for a sample.  

Bobby Hutcherson/Pastoral/Components

 Give it a try.  Let me know what you think. 

Cheap Vibes

I have stopped downloading from iTunes' store.  They rarely have the best deals, but that isn't the real problem.  Anything I store in their format can't be converted into MP3s.  This matters because the cd player in my RAV4 can read MP3 discs.  I like to load it with hours of music and listen to bits of that when I go for red potatoes or a bottle of Johnny Walker.  But I keep getting that message that I can't burn anything Apple has sold me or touched.  

Amazon has a lot more music, better deals, and you get honest MP3 files.  Yesterday I found another Bobby Hutcherson recording, Happenings, for about four bucks on Amazon.  I gather that this CD is no longer available in plastic.  The Penguin Guide (may it be praised!) mentions it but doesn't list it.  I have little patience for the music industry when it fails to make such recordings available for download.  Amazon has this one, with a Hutcherson/Herbie Hancock team up, with Bob Cranshaw and Joe Chambers.  It's a beautiful piece of work, and four dollars is about what I think a recording should cost.  Especially a recording that has been sitting in the vaults for decades.  

I have already mentioned Hutcherson's wonderful disc Stick-Up!  That is also available from Amazon for a handful of bucks.  Here is a sample from Happenings, one of Hancock's great compositions.

Bobby Hutcherson/Maiden Voyage/Happenings 

Enjoy.  And if you do, for goodness's sake go to Amazon and download them.  You can't get a magazine for this price, and you won't be throwing this stuff into the recycling bin. 

Top Ten Avant Garde Recordings: Bobby Hutcherson

I did a post a few weeks back on a list of top ten avant garde recordings.  I had some difficulty compiling a list with ten recordings.  I wanted albums recorded in the late fifties and early sixties that stood out as core collection documents.  Here was the list I came up with:

Cecil Taylor/Jazz Advance/1956
Ornette Coleman/The Shape of Jazz to Come/1959
Jackie McLean/Let Freedom Ring/1962
Archie Shepp/The New York Contemporary Five/1963
Andrew Hill/Point of Departure/1964
Eric Dolphy/Out to Lunch/1964
Albert Ayler/Spiritual Unity/1964
John Coltrane/Ascension/1965

As my friend Ken Laster pointed out, McLean's album didn't really belong there.  I didn't want to put Coltrane's famous recording on, because I don't like it.  On the other hand, Taylor, Coleman, Shepp, Hill, Dolphy, and Ayler were easy.  

But I have at least one more disc that does easily fit: Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue.  I confess that I didn't have any Hutcherson in my collection until today.  A few unexpected dollars came my way, and I bagged this disc along with Stick Up! from Amazon.  The price was right for both of them.  The first was about seven bucks for the MP3 download, and the second was under four dollars!  

Dialogue is basic document of experimental jazz in the mid-sixties.  Pianist Andrew Hill is responsible, I think, for all the compositions.  All of the sound and hypothesis of AG jazz is there.  Hutcherson's vibes and marimba are perfect for avant garde articulation.  Freddie Hubbard plays trumpet, and Sam Rivers, who would later record a number of great avant garde albums, plays sax.  Richard Davis plays bass, and Joe Chambers play drums.  Here is a sample:

Bobby Hutcherson/Ghetto Lights/Dialogue

I think this cut is worth its weight in fine whiskey.  Hubbard's solo, followed by Rivers and then Hutcherson, they make me want to holler.  All of the album is good.  Give it a listen and then give me a comment.