mhatta

This error message is a bit worrisome. Who is maintaining this site? I can lend some hands If needed.

I know some of you think Jazz piano trio stuff is boring, but since I was an amateur pianist, I have a soft spot for piano trios. Also, it can be debatable that Horace Tapscott was a good trio pianist (he was more like a composer/arranger/leader), he left several nice trio recordings. My favorite is Dissent or Descent (Nimbus West). A rendition of As A Child is breathtaking. Fred Hopkins and Ben Riley provide very sympathetic support. Also, don't forget Interplay recordings -- this Japanese label recorded Horace Tapscott several times.

I think "Live" Brownies are something else. It reveals what a monster he really was. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, they only survived in terrible sound quality....

I think piano trios on MPS are much-forgotten treasures. Fritz Pauer's Blues Inside Out is one of them. Elsie Bianchi's The Sweetest Sound is also nice. It is almost decadent. Yancy Korossy's Identification is a very idiosyncratic yet hard-swinging gem.

Milt Buckner on MPS is often overlooked. More Chords is one of the best.

I know I'm late to the party, but recently I found Marchel's Mode. Marchel Ivery's tenor playing is very good, but I found the Cedar Walton - Lyles West - Ed Soph rhythm section to be impeccable. I think Cedar is much more inspired than his own numerous trio recordings -- maybe his best?

I too think 2-3-4 are Shelley Mann's best (runner-up would be the Blackhawk lives recordings), but I think the strangest piece is Mannekind. One On One, a piano-drums duo he re-teamed with Russ Freeman in his later years, is more conventional yet interesting.

Nice! The Giant Is Awakened is one of my all-time bests, and Arthur Blythe really shines. I hope this unissued session is the same caliber.

A Japanese TV documentary from 1981 (no English subtitles, but you can guess). Takayanagi plays "All The Things You Are" duo with Sadao Watanabe. It is quite rare.

Several years ago, the rehearsal tape(?) of The Golden Eight was unearthed as The Golden Eight: Encore!. It was recorded on May 2, 1961. It's also very good.

I always regret buying The Complete Bill Evans On Verve. Not because of the music (of course it's superb), it's the packaging. It comes in a steel case, which is supposed to become rusty and degraded. I think the designer who comes up with this idea should be executed.

Since Bosch in novels was originally set as a Vietnam veteran, it would not have been surprising if he liked jazz from the 50s, but the TV drama is set about 20 years later, so it may be unusual for him to like jazz. Anywise, I think Titus Weliver's performance is excellent. I don't remember which season/episode it was, but Bosch is in a car with his young black partner, and the music is playing from the car audio system, and his partner says, "That's good music, who's this?" or something, and Bosch, a middle aged white, replies, "It's Sonny Rollins." That's the hilarious and a bit weird moment.

RIP. Aside from being one of the greatest trombonists of his generation, his compositional talent was formidable. His Hipnosis is one of my all-time favorites. A wild collision of The Sidewinder-groove and avant-garde aesthetics.

RIP. Maybe Barry needs a fine drummer up there...

Richie Cole was pretty popular in Japan. He even appeared on a very popular lunchtime TV show and radio shows. http://jazzvisualparadise.blog106.fc2.com/blog-entry-115.html　(blog in Japanese, but you can see pics). I think Richie (and Bobby Enriquez, Gene Norman promoted them as a package in Japan) have been permanently underrated. They had great facilities. But also I think they lack something...I dunno, something important. Also, I consider Phil Woods is one of the Jazz greats but he too lacks something that e.g. Jackie McLean or Art Pepper had.