Lightningbug's Jazz and Blues Review ... the birth of the cool ...

[hassan]

the Hawk's Then and Now was recorded late in his career (on the Impulse label that 'Trane is so strongly associated with) and it is wonderful

the richness of this brother's tone is incredible

i love it!!

?what are some good Lester Young records to pick up?

and please tell me more about Miles' On the Corner (i've been eyeing it for a while)

 

[hassan]

THIS THREAD NEEDS TO BE ARCHIVED IN THE WALL OF FAME!!!

this is a great resource for jazz lovers and new students to America's great art form

 

[nickderiso]

interesting that Bird didnt make the cut....

hmmm...

hey i cant argue with you - heck of a list

You said 'tenor,' man. Though he played baritone in his very earliest period, and he did do some tenor work on occasion with Gillespie, Bird's greatest (and they were truly great) contributions were on the alto. Check Bird 'n Diz at Carnegie Hall from 1947 or The Complete Savoy and Dial Sessions. All alto.

That means he's No. 1 on a whole different list!

That said, Parker's seminal work with Dizzy -- "Groovin' High," "Shaw 'Nuff," "Salt Peanuts," "Hot House," "Dizzy Atmosphere," so on -- still gives me chills. Coupled with the recordings he did for producer Norman Granz with strings, you have two of the records I'll take to that mythical desert island!

 

[nickderiso]

?what are some good Lester Young records to pick up?

What was cool about Lester Young was that he kept evolving. After having paved the way for bebop in the 1930s, he doubled back to late-period thoughtfulness by the 1950s. While playing clarinet with Basie in the 1930s, he also presupposed the cool California sound of Paul Desmond in Dave Brubeck's 1960s band.
Young's health was bad in the 1950s, and he eventually drank himself to death, but when he was in good spirits he made some of the most openly joyful, deeply emotional tenor music there was.

Obviously, you buy anything he did with Billie Holiday -- this stuff was so achingly beautiful and so perfectly in sync that it seemed impossible that they were not lovers. Recordings are from late 30s on -- with Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Buck Clayton, others. It was originally on Brunswick, Okeh and Vocalion; been reissued by Sony/Columbia, Jazz Portraits, Bluebird and others.

Here are three other recommendations:

Timeless Lester Young" from Savoy
Fifteen tracks to get you started. Classics from the 1940s and 50s. A favorite is "Jump, Lester, Jump."

"Lester Young, With the Oscar Peterson Trio" from 1952.
Peterson (and my man Ray Brown on bass) help the cool-swinging Pres breathe life into a series of timeless pieces ... "Tea for Two," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "I Can't Give You Anything but Love," "Almost Like Being in Love," so on. Completely in the pocket.

"Pres and Teddy" from 1956, Polygram
Reunion with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Jo Jones. This record best shows that while his 1930s style was more forceful, Young's 1950s playing was far more considered and emotional. "All of Me" is touching.

"Pres and Teddy" was recorded the day after another late-period classic: "Jazz Giants '56." Wait, is that four now?

 

[hassan]

i knew that Bird was versatile reed-wise, somehow i always thought more of him as tenor than anything else

hey, i'm going to ask you to give me some Bird-a-dations like you gave me very nice Les' ones

*i love Oscar Peterson so that CD is appealing as is the last one (i know that Les and Jo Jones went way back playing with Count's orchestra)

thanx :thumbsup:

 

[nickderiso]

hey, i'm going to ask you to give me some Bird-a-dations like you gave me very nice Les' ones

"The Legendary Dial Masters, Vols. 1 & 2," from 1996 on Jazz Classics
For beginning listeners, I'd recommend this one over Rhino's two-CD "Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Collection" -- because it's more affordable and it includes 14 out of those 35 songs anyway.
Of course, if you've got the jack, go for the Rhino set. It's terrific.

In today's post-bop world, it's easy to forget why these recordings from 1946-1947 were such mind-blowing things. But listen closely early on as one of the few truly influential musicians -- he changed jazz sure, but also rock ... think Hendrix and Cream -- finds his muse. It's stunning, really.
Next, we hear -- quite literally -- as Parker descends into mental illness brought on my drug use, then recovers after a stay in a mental institution. The pieces just before are ragged and unsure, but then he slowly rounds back into shape afterward. Fascinating. There's no Diz here, though ... so we must also include ...

"Diz 'N Bird at Carnegie Hall from 1947 on Blue Note
Just outstanding. Bird's "Confirmation" has never -- never -- been played better. Also worth noting are spirited renditions of Gillespie fare like "Cubano-Be, Cubano-Bop" and "Things to Come." Pianist and vibes, by the way, are the Modern Jazz Quartet's John Lewis and Milt Jackson, respectively.

"Bird and Diz" from 1950 on Polygram
Five Bird originals -- along with "My Melancholy Baby" and seven alternate takes on the CD version -- performed by Parker, Dizzy, Buddy Rich and Thelonious Monk (who unfortunately is not prominently featured). It was, however, the only time Bird and Monk recorded together.

There's three. My add on for Miles freaks:
"Birdsong," a new re-release from Savoy Jazz
Legendary bebop tracks recorded by Bird and a very young Davis on trumpet. Classics include "Parker's Mood," "Koko," and "Ornithology."

 

[hassan]

so ?what about ON THE CORNER?

i know you mentioned earlier but i'd love some more information about it

thanx

 

[nickderiso]

One of the more perceptive reviews of "On The Corner" ...

An electrified and multidimensional burst of ass-shaking funk straight from the master himself. If Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix took a space ship to India together, they very well might have come up with something approximating On The Corner.

This utterly unique and unprecedented recording was savaged by a lot of the critics of its day. They blasted Miles for creating a new "anti-jazz" that fundamentally violated the genre's integrity.

Reviled as the jazz anti-Christ, his playing on this recording was indeed demonic. His trumpet spits out wah-wah distorted licks of fire and nastiness, and he grinds on the organ like it was a cheap date. He masterfully tangles and intertwines the varied sounds of the sitar, conga, electric guitar, tabla, organ, and electric bass to create thickly-layered rhythms of dazzling complexity. He throws in some heavy licks on top of it all, hitting hard with quick and punchy bursts from his horn that make the groove throb.

This explosive session is anything but harmless, as it still remains the album that the purists most love to hate. Brimming with the risky inventiveness of untested ideas, Miles pushed the envelope a little too far for many of the less visionary critics with On The Corner.

If B-it-ch-es Brew was the first bombshell Miles dropped on the jazz world, this surely was the second. Still, with both recordings, Miles showed why its better to burn as a devil in the fire than rot as an angel in the wings. -John Ballon, musthear.com

 

[nickderiso]

Imagine jazz-arranged Debussy and Chopin. Chick Corea with a case of classical gas.
That's the vision of James L. Mack -- and it comes into focus on "Pride of Lions," featuring Tony Williams, Roy Hargrove, Bobby Watson and Philip Bailey, among others.

I picked up this Sony Masterworks release because I love Williams, the ex-Davis sideman -- and figured it might work like those old Miles-Gil Evans records did. Too, the list of other players, as you see, is long -- and it's impressively diverse.
There's something to be said for any classical piece that features an Art Blakey sideman (Watson) and a member of Earth, Wind and Fire (Bailey), you know?

The results are interesting, if not classic. The sure, simple work of Hargrove, Watson and Williams make these classical-as-jazz sessions work, if only in part.

Bailey's vocal on Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You," for instance, is positively out of this world. As in unidentified flying object.
Admittedly, Bailey's range is remarkable. But that's primarily because it's astonishingly feminine to begin with, then it goes ... higher. This is something you either like, or hate.

Watson is underappreciated. Hargrove, to my mind, is a little overappreciated. They both put in professional, if somewhat studied, performances. Williams, for his part, sounds like he wants to start grooving ... but can't.

Mack -- a symphony conductor, sure, but also a dude who has produced records by the likes of Nancy Wilson, Curtis Mayfield, even Little Milton and the Chi-Lites -- contributres three compositions. Included among them is "Elegy for String Bass," a terrific excuse for some melodic and impressive solo work by Ira Coleman.

 

[nickderiso]

Was thinking of Jewel/Paula Records ... where two great Delta blues guys stopped in ...

While the performances on "Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood," from Shreveport's Paula Records, are first-rate, unfortunately the sound quality early on is spotty.

Some of the source material was slightly damaged on the Shines sides, resulting in a couple of gurgly spots where the sound falls out completely. Sit tight, however, This eventually works out.

In fact, by the time the immortal "Cool Driver" pokes its head out, "Shines and Lockwood" has fully acquited itself.
Shines plays in a duo for about half of his cuts -- with spare bass backing by Moody Jones, according to Shines. Later, Walter Horton provides some swaying, sometimes chugging, harp antics.

Robert Jr. Lockwood, stepson of Robert Johnson, roars in at the midway point -- with a set far removed from his more common solo acoustic sides. A real find.
In fact, his take on "Dust My Broom" is inspired: Lockwood thrillingly adlibs his way through the chorus, singing ... "If she's not in Chicago, then she's in east Monroe."

Sunnyland Slim sits in for a few tracks -- and to great effect. His gosh-dawg, jooky finger-rolls are immediately recognizeable.

 

[hassan]

here's another miles inquiry:

WATER BABIES

what's up with it?

also, i just picked up MUSICAL ROMANCE: THE BEST OF BILLY HOLIDAY AND LESTER YOUNG (love it)

and

AT BASIN STREET (Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, et al - love it)

and

HAVE TRUMPET WILL EXCITE by Dizzy Gillespie (love it)

and

NATURAL SOUL - Lou Donaldson (feat. John Patton - love it)

and

CARMEN McCRAE SINGS BILLY HOLIDAY LIVE (love it)

and

a sampler of the best of FLETCHER HENDERSON (still trying to dig it)

what i want more of is Coleman Hawkins as well as more Clifford Brown

 

[nickderiso]

here's another miles inquiry:

WATER BABIES

what's up with it?

Interesting recording, indeed -- but only for the true Miles freak. Adventurous outtakes from 1967-68, these songs were not released for about a decade (upon Davis' first "retirement"). Even so, they serve an important role in that they bridge the gap between Miles' smoking 1960s group (Shorter -- who wrote much of the music on 'side one' -- Hancock and Carter) with the fusion meltdown recordings that began with "B-i-t-c-h-es Brew." Side two ditches the 1967 crew, adding the late-1960s innovators Chick Corea and Dave Holland for a taste of the electric glory to come.

A transitional record. Buy this when you are idly bored with "Brew" and "In a Silent Way," but only for the novelty factor. The latter two are far, far superior.

 

[hassan]

bass players

no particular order....

Jimmy Garrison - pillar of Coltrane quartet

Paul Chambers - SOOOO underrated

Al McKibbon - anchored Cal Tjader's Blackhawk group in late fifties and is a true master of the AfroCuban tumbao riddims

Charles Mingus - what else can one say??

Israel "Cachao" Lopez - a GIANT in the field, a GIANT



just a few ....

 

[hassan]

trumpet

Louis Armstrong

Clifford Brown

Dizzy Gillespie

Miles Davis

Roy Eldridge

just to get the talk started

 

[MACKG]

Re: trumpet

Prince performed with Miles Davis back in the 80s. They made a cd called Prince: Miles From The Park. It is a very hard to obtain cd. Has anyone heard it or better yet, have a copy of it. I am trying to obtain this cd.

Thanks

http://www.kind-of-blue.de/seiten/disco/miles_from_the_park.htm

 

[hassan]

i know just the place in minneapolis that MAY have it

when i 'm visiting the twin cities early summer, i'll keep an eye out for you

 

[MACKG]

Good looking out.

i know just the place in minneapolis that MAY have it

when i 'm visiting the twin cities early summer, i'll keep an eye out for you

 

[nickderiso]

Good looking out.

I've got a perfectly awful bootleg cassette copy of Miles with Prince. Have listened to it a thousand times, though. It's called the Rubber Band sessions. Bad a s s.

Been digging some Branford lately. Loving this live record "Bloomington."

The jazz ideal is this: a hard-blowing horn player, sweat drops dripping down his nose, fronting a filterless rhythm section.
And the scene, no doubt, is this: Dim and sticky room in the middle a bustling mileau, with taxis and tourists groaning outside, businessmen passing vagrants near the front door, steam rising from the sewer grates.
Well, on Marsalis' "Bloomington," forget it. This recording, done live during Marsalis's 1991 tour, was made in bucolic Bloomington.
In Indiana.

Huh?

Still, in this off-handed venue, on what might have been a nondescript tour stop, Marsalis and his explosive sidekicks -- drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts and bassist Robert Hurst III -- do a number on all those expectations.

Branford said the message on this album was simple: "We're going on a ride, guys. Why don't you take a seat, strap yourself in and hold on."
This trio -- and previously, as a foursome, with the late Kenny Kirkland on piano -- makes a habit of pummeling tunes in the live setting. Marsalis, late-night TV shows aside, is a bruiser.
That's no where better illuminated than here -- in what producer, trombonist and brother Delfeayo Marsalis simply calls "the most important concert recorded in our generation."
Thing is, he could be right.

Searing originals make up the majority of the proceedings. Included too is a meditation on Monk's "Friday the 13th."
The departure of Kirkland -- he went solo on GRP that year -- forces the new trio into some choppy waters on "Bloomington." (Branford acknowledges this at the end of the set, saying: "Hope we didn't confuse you too much.")
These moments, however, are what SHOULD make up the ideal -- whether at the Village Vanguard in New York or Indiana University on a September evening.
When the challenge of improvisation brings about not fair play, but breathless free-form interplay, we have a jazz CD worthy of the ages.
File "Bloomington" thusly.

 

[MACKG]

I went on Ebay and won a DVD of Prince and Miles Davis performing. It was about 50 bucks. The guy who owns it is in The Netherlands or someplace like that. I haven't received it, but I'll let you guys know how it is once it arrives.

 

[nickderiso]

Of Shreveport and Stan Lewis ...
It's been more than 50 years since Stan Lewis opened Stan's Record Shop in downtown Shreveport.

From his vantage point at the the top of Texas Avenue ( I used to sneak down there after class), he would go on to create a once-lucrative business, then see the shop whither and go under (as vinyl died). But, all the while, he issued some of the nation's most influential artists on three separate independent, north Louisiana-based record labels.

In the the early 1990s, we got a digital opportunity to become reintroduced to his best work from the Jewel, Paula and Ronn imprints through a series of terrific CD reissues. Taken together, these labels moved around in every important Southern genre -- early rock 'n' roll, country, down-home blues, black gospel and swamp pop.

Here's a look one of the great ones:
--"1958-1959," Ike Turner. (Paula Records)
Sometimes Ike comes close to blues here with slow-burns like "Down and Out" and "You Got to Lose."

More often than not, however, Turner is spinning a rhythmic hybrid, something one might call heavy R&B -- a very intense mixture of what would become full-bore rock 'n' roll. And fine, indeed. It's a tough sound, with horns and vocals right up-front, sometimes to the point of distortion.

This CD includes sides credited to Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm -- as well as Otis Rush and his band, and the Betty Everett and Willie Dixon Band. All include Turner (primarily on guitar, since the bands included keyboardists).

Speculating on who else is here is a hoot: For instance, the second version of "Tell Me Darling," I think, features legendary Muddy Waters sideman Otis Spann on piano.

That multiple-take feel travels throughout: There are three versions of "Matchbox." Then there's "I'm Gonna Forget About You," which is included in two versions; this sounds like a precursor to "Matchbox" itself.

So, OK, all of that duplication doesn't exactly make for a record you can listen to all the way through, over and over. But you are invited to mix and match versions as you program your CD player. Which, of course, I did.

 

[BulldogM.Ed.23]

Been digging some Branford lately.

Have you dug The Beautiful Ones and Crazy People Music. Those were Branford at his best, plus they got me through some stressful first two years of College....

 

[nickderiso]

Was having a conversation about Miles Davis with my buddy Jazzbo, the only person I ever met who was more of a Miles freak than me. He convinced me to add a few more selections for consideration on the Jazz and Blues Review ...

1. Walkin' (1954) -- The success of the 1949-1951 The Birth Of The Cool sessions proved to be more than what a young Miles Davis could handle and soon he fell into an abyss of heroin addiction. But a few years later, he crawled out of it on his own and was ready to reclaim the mantle of jazz' foremost innovator. In the year and a half before he got his fame back with a memorable performance at Newport in 1955, Miles recorded several albums with some of the top players at the time that signaled his comeback was imminent. Walkin', the best of these, had Miles backed up by Horace Silver, Percy Heath and Kenny "Klook" Clarke. The two lead off tunes were blues burners with sublime solos taken by JJ Johnson and Lucky Thompson. Miles himself plays with a style that sounds more be-bop than cool, but it fits the occasion. Other tracks consist of some of the earliest recordings of Miles' now recognizable muted sound. Well recorded by the legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder.

2. A Tribute To Jack Johnson (1970) -- One of Miles' most paradoxical recordings. It's mostly a stripped down rock jam session, but there are several interludes dubbed in. The spontaneity and unpredictability of 'Right Off' contrasts with the majestic final section of the only other track, 'Yesternow'. There's really no fully formed songs here, just ideas that almost seem randomly juxtaposed together. But somehow it all works. The psychic interplay between guitarist John McLaughlin and drummer Billy Cobham is worth the price of admission alone. And Miles had never played a meaner horn, it's as if he stepped into the ring for a championship match, like the subject of this record. One of the finest moments ever in fusion jazz.

3. Star People (1983) -- The 1981 comeback after a six year hiatus showed the old master to sound frail and rusty, but after a couple of years, he got his chops back as good as before. In this outing, Miles doesn't really introduce anything new to what he had been doing for a while, he simply executes better. In addition to the rock and funk influences, reggae is a bit more prominent here. But the nineteen minute title track is a wonder: a straight-ahead slow blues tune played by someone who oozed the blues even if he was never known for it. Two master guitarists, John Scofield and Mike Stern, battle it out in an epic clash of the axes. The leader interrupts the mood every five minutes are so with synthesizer splotches of minor chords as if to startle the listener with a striking contrast. The Mad Genius is at it again.

4. Aura (1985) --Interesting story behind this one that I'll try to condense as much as possible: Danish flugelhorn player Palle Mikkelbourg composes, arranges and records an album dedicated to Miles, who stopped by in Denmark at Mikkelbourg's invitation as the project was completing. In a last minute decision, the man of honor agrees to dub his trumpet on top of the recordings. Columbia, which had by this time was convinced that Miles had no more *****es Brews left in him, promptly put the recording on the shelf for four years. What a shame, because Aura, while complex, is an aptly named record. Majestic Gil Evans overtones permeate the suite, punctuated by funk rhythms and McLaughlin's cutting guitar. Many passages make this sound very much of the mid-eighties, but Mikkelbourg's inspired compositions and arrangements with Miles' timeless tone easily overcome that.

5. Mark Isham Miles Remembered: The Silent Way Project (1999) -- Whoa, what's this? Not only is this not Miles, but isn't this guy the new age music trumpeter better known for cranking out a dozen movie soundtracks a year??? Yep, that's what I thought, too, but listen to this one. To tackle songs from Miles most enigmatic period (1969-1974) is a daunting task in itself, but Isham chooses to record them in a live setting and prefers to replicate the raw aspect of the early fusion period over the complexity of the multi-tiered keyboards, percussion and dubs of the time. For someone known for the hand handed music production required for the big screen this is an amazing thing to pull off, but the live format probably has a lot to do with tempering Isham’s normal predisposition. Even the one original, "Internet", is essentially a riff that Miles could have easily invented himself. And while Isham's trumpet playing doesn't duplicate the Original's as well as, say, Wallace Roney, it's pretty damned close; take a few notes out and you're there.

Lagniappe pick: Live-Evil (1970) -- If we must disqualify Isham's record, then I would replace it with this one. The leadoff track 'Sivad' is about the most wicked piece to come from Miles (which says plenty) and the live tracks capture the brief period in which Keith Jarrett was playing in the band. Despite Jarrett's later criticism of the music his former boss asked him to play, he actually sounds like he was a good fit in it.

 

[JROCK]

A Few of JROCKS Favorites:

Miles Davis...Tutu..This cut gives me a serious "high."

Wynton Marsalis....Standard Times (several volumes); I love Daddy Ellis on the Piano also

Louis Armstrong....Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans (to many for me to name).

I love this cut from the Mo Betta Blues soundtrack. It is a jazz cut but the title is "Harlem Blues." I think Cindi Williams is the vocalist

Terrence Blanchard scores for several of Spike Lee's movies.

More Artist I like: Joe Sample (enough said), Grover Washington Jr. (enough said), Sarah Vaughn, Roy Ayers, John Coltran.

I love soft jazz....If you all get a chance check out Clark Atlanta Uninverstity Internet Stream late night "Serenade to the City." (the exact time frame is listed on web site) it comes on around 9-10 EST.

For any of you "ole school" New Orleanians, I loved going to Nexus back in the day listening to the Trios that would play down stairs. I know there were several other much greater spots in the city, but this happen to be one of my favorite set ups.
Also, I loved going to Pampi's and any where else that Michael Ward (electric violinist) would perform.

For any of my "ole school" Baton Rouge peeps, back in the day WXOK on late Sunday evenings use to turn it out.

 

[nickderiso]

JROCK, you mentioned Branford (Spike's "Mo Better Blues") and Wynton ... I've been on a Marsalis kick and 'I Heard You Twice the First Time,' 1992 on Columbia is very intriguing ...

Leave it to Branford Marsalis: He pays no empty lip-service to exploring blues through the jazz idiom here.
In fact, you don't have to listen more than once to hear that's he's gone off the deep blue end. Any CD with appearances by B.B. King, Linda Hopkins AND John Lee Hooker isn't playing footsie.
And, oh, Mr. King! His' "B.B.'s Blues" displays by far some of the most impassionaed playing and braying he'd done in several years. Hooker and Hopkins cooly inhabit their showcases on "Heard You Twice," too.
"Berta, Berta," a traditional chain-gang holler, includes cast members from August Wilson's play "The Piano Lesson."

The best of the blues-based instrumentals here don't actually feature Branford's rhythm section of the time -- but bassist Reginald Veal and drummer Herlin Riley from Wynton's septet. (Guitarist Russell Malone is great on this, too.)

Not being able to find too much Branford on a Branford record doesn't sink it, however. If only because I love the blues so well. Too, the brief flickering of Branford that you do hear is top notch.

Good example: The Branford-Bob Hurst-Jeff "Tain" Watts penned "Simi Valley Blues," which finishes the album in the same sharp diction as the opener, "Brother Trying to Catch a Cab (on the Eastside) Blues."

Branford, in embracing the blues, seems to be trying to forge a link between today and the perhaps forgotten work of Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson. He is not the new-age griot ... or even the Chuck D-type ... that he aspires to be. But, in the end, Branford's heart is in the right place.

My pick: Tain Watt's "Stretto from the Ghetto," an example of what Marsalis's band (at this time, also including the late Kenny Kirkland) could do so well in counterpoint. It breaks down, it fools around. But it never forgets to swing.

 

[JROCK]

Lightningbug's ..............

BTW,

I was "on the yard" with Branford at S.U. I enjoyed your synopsis; they are interesting.