mhatta

For me, Thelonious Monk's so-called "Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland". I don't know what the real title of this song is, but I think it's an appropriate title.

For some reason Randy Weston made an album on CTI. Interestingly, it is not so bad...

I personally like Oscar Peterson during this period, the 80's, but I think he is neglected. His technique was still steady (I think it started to decline after this) and his compositional abilities were at their peak. Joe Pass as well as the two guys in the rhythm section are great.

I might be wrong, but I think it is not from a legit Japanese company even if it has Obi in Japanese. The design of this one from a Stone Ash Records (of which I've never heard) is dubiously similar to this one from a Dark Purple Records or this one from a Jazz Summit Records.

Joe Turner the pianist seems to have made an album for Pablo -- Another Epoch Stride Piano (1976). Not reissued as CD ever since.. https://www.discogs.com/ja/master/481982-Joe-Turner-Another-Epoch-Stride-Piano It is interesting that they a bit look similar -- and both are big men, too.

I love Big Joe Turner's outputs on Pablo. I admit that they are basically from his declining years, no producing/planning, just loose sloppy bunch of jams, but somehow feel very good. My personal favorite is Life Ain't Easy. Roy Eldridge's outburst is well worth the price of admission IMHO.

Oh, I didn't know NRK is a Norwegian TV. I stand corrected.

I think it comes from live at Theatre National de Paris, October 28th, 1970. The first tune is In A Sentimental Mood, not All To Soon. It was issued as various LP/CDs, but I didn't know video footage survived.

It is difficult to explain in words, but I think that the handling of rhythm has always been a difficulty in Japanese jazz. I may be biased. I personally like the rhythms of American black jazz, which are based on afterbeats and have a natural, somewhat loose groove. I think Japanese (and European) jazz musicians have not been able to digest it well, at least until relatively recently. As a result, the rhythms tended to be stiff or "overly" precise. It's not that their musicianship was inferior. It's just that there was (is) something uncomfortable about it for stubborn jazz listeners like me. This was especially a problem with the orthodox hard bop-based style, which tended to be the case with the people featured in J-Jazz, who were mainly active in Japan. The people who were active internationally had developed more individuality than that, but they were still different in some way. Or, I think they approached free jazz because of that.

It seems that Alec Wilder did write a tune entitled "Lady Sings The Blues" in 1956. https://www.songhall.org/profile/Alec_Wilder

Good article. I can't help but feel uncomfortable with the rhythmic aspects of Japanese jazz, but I wonder if people overseas find it exotic and appealing in the opposite way. I feel that both European and Japanese musicians approached free jazz in order to solve the rhythm conundrum.

RIP. My personal favorite Spolite releases are: Invitation / Al Haig Proto-bopper / Joe Albany Hi Fly / Peter King Together / Billy Eckstine That's Earl, Brother / Earl Bostic

My verdict -- I really love this box set, but I also found that Descent into the Maelstrom (East Wind, 1978) was actually a pretty good summary of this Tristano Archive. The biggest surprise for me is the last tune of Disc 1 -- "Restoration". This is the one missing unissued tune from recordings in Dec. 23, 1947. When I was compiling a Tristano disco at jazzdisco.org some years ago, I wonder where it went. Now here it is!

Maybe a bit of an oddball (and obscure), but I always like Anita O'Day and the Three Sounds. I guess it was a kind of rush job (I think it was her last for Verve), but Anita is in a good shape and the accompaniment by the 3 Sounds is simple and superb. There are also very swinging trio tracks (better than most of Blue Note's, IMHO), too.

The first one is "Yesterdays". The second is one of Stitt's favorite blues lick -- I don't know the exact title, but usually it's called "Deuces Wild". Gene Ammons called it "New Sonny's Blues".