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Bebop & Hardbop albums from the late '60s


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Allen Lowe wrote this in response to Chewy's thread about bebop in the late 60s.

"anyway back to the point - they probably weren't playing much bebop in the late 1960s - was one of the worst times for jazz employment. Hence recordings like Lou Donaldson's Hot Dog.

Funky time..."

I don't believe this. So, following the thread about the top '70s albums, let's have your top Bebop and Hard Bop albums from the late '60s.

My selections? Oh dear... I'm clearly not the best person to ask :)

Well, there are some ace Sonny Criss albums from that period

Up up and away

I'll catch the sun

Sonny's dream

Rockin' in rhythm

Dexter Gordon - Tower of power & More power

Cedar Walton - Cedar (plus several others I haven't got)

Booker Ervin - Some of the Books - not sure of all their dates

Hampton Hawes - Here & now; The seance; I'm all smiles

And that's without looking at the Mobleys, Morgans, McLeans, Hutchersons, Hancocks & etc on Blue Note.

MG

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Allen Lowe wrote this in response to Chewy's thread about bebop in the late 60s.

"anyway back to the point - they probably weren't playing much bebop in the late 1960s - was one of the worst times for jazz employment. Hence recordings like Lou Donaldson's Hot Dog.

Funky time..."

I don't believe this. So, following the thread about the top '70s albums, let's have your top Bebop and Hard Bop albums from the late '60s.

My selections? Oh dear... I'm clearly not the best person to ask :)

Well, there are some ace Sonny Criss albums from that period

Up up and away

I'll catch the sun

Sonny's dream

Rockin' in rhythm

Dexter Gordon - Tower of power & More power

Cedar Walton - Cedar (plus several others I haven't got)

Booker Ervin - Some of the Books - not sure of all their dates

Hampton Hawes - Here & now; The seance; I'm all smiles

And that's without looking at the Mobleys, Morgans, McLeans, Hutchersons, Hancocks & etc on Blue Note.

MG

I'm sure there are a bunch of Charles McPherson sides that are pure bebop and from this period.

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Barry Harris was doing bebop at this time.

Legitimate question though is the club employment aspect and the overall market: don't you think there was more souljazzin' in the clubs and whatever playing opportunities than beboppin'?

Even in the early sixties the bar on the corner of my Philadelphia street (Red Rooster) was playing souljazzy stuff.

Edited by jazzbo
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Barry Harris was doing bebop at this time.

Legitimate question though is the club employment aspect and the overall market: don't you think there was more souljazzin' in the clubs and whatever playing opportunities than beboppin'?

Even in the early sixties the bar on the corner of my Philadelphia street (Red Rooster) was playing souljazzy stuff.

I don't know - I wish I'd been there then, though!

MG

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Allen Lowe wrote this in response to Chewy's thread about bebop in the late 60s.

"anyway back to the point - they probably weren't playing much bebop in the late 1960s - was one of the worst times for jazz employment. Hence recordings like Lou Donaldson's Hot Dog.

Funky time..."

I don't believe this. So, following the thread about the top '70s albums, let's have your top Bebop and Hard Bop albums from the late '60s.

My selections? Oh dear... I'm clearly not the best person to ask :)

Well, there are some ace Sonny Criss albums from that period

Up up and away

I'll catch the sun

Sonny's dream

Rockin' in rhythm

Dexter Gordon - Tower of power & More power

Cedar Walton - Cedar (plus several others I haven't got)

Booker Ervin - Some of the Books - not sure of all their dates

Hampton Hawes - Here & now; The seance; I'm all smiles

And that's without looking at the Mobleys, Morgans, McLeans, Hutchersons, Hancocks & etc on Blue Note.

MG

Sonny's Dream is a piece unto itself. Hard boppish in character, yes, but the writing and Sonny's solos push the boundaries of the idiom in a fairly idiosyncratic, somewhat progressive manner (Tapscott's all over it).

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McPherson's Con Alma was recorded Aug. 1965, so I'm not sure it qualifies as "late '60s." I recently got his From This Moment On!, rec. Jan. 1968, which is more hard bop with slight soul overtones. Barry Harris's Bull's Eye is bebop/hard bop, recorded June 1968 (nice album, but CD has horrible sound, which I blame on original engineer Richard Alderson). For bop, definitely this, rec. Nov. 1969:

B0000296MY.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Edited by T.D.
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well, I really had my tongue in my cheek, as the independents were still active - it's just that the musicians at the time were in tough shape, employment-wise, hence a lot of bad jazz/pop albums. Somewhat ironically, it was a perfect time to become a jazz listener, however (I started in 1968), as everything was cut out of the catalog, and one could find a bonanza of LPS that were under $2 in those days. That's how I learned about jazz, on the backs, as I later figured out, of unpaid jazz musicians (as royalties did not have to be paid on cutouts). It may also be the reason I was able to see Ornette and Mingus at Slugs for a $3 cover charge (found out years later that the little guy at a table speaking French was Jean Genet, but that's another story) -

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well, I really had my tongue in my cheek, as the independents were still active - it's just that the musicians at the time were in tough shape, employment-wise, hence a lot of bad jazz/pop albums. Somewhat ironically, it was a perfect time to become a jazz listener, however (I started in 1968), as everything was cut out of the catalog, and one could find a bonanza of LPS that were under $2 in those days. That's how I learned about jazz, on the backs, as I later figured out, of unpaid jazz musicians (as royalties did not have to be paid on cutouts). It may also be the reason I was able to see Ornette and Mingus at Slugs for a $3 cover charge (found out years later that the little guy at a table speaking French was Jean Genet, but that's another story) -

I'm sure you did. But I always put the period of a lot of bad jazz/pop albums as the '70s, particularly the late '70s - when there were tons of (good) jazz musicians making disco records, many of them quite successfully. Which is why I thought to start this thread.

MG

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Sonny Criss is wonderful but I'd hardly call an album like Up Up and Away bebop--half of it is contemporary pop tunes IIRC.

Wasn't half of what Bird played pop songs?

MG

Yes, but the pop songs of c. 1945-1955, not the pop songs of the late 1960s.

First, they were the contemporary pop songs of the time, as were the two on the Sonny Criss album (only two).

Second, neither "Up up and away" nor "Sunny" were crummy songs. So there's no reason to dis the LP in my view.

MG

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Chewy-Chew-Chew here: Yea ***I*** started this thread but everyone just used it to make wisecracks, so M.G. has to s-p-e-l-l it out for you then you all come running to it like a baby with a new piece of candy. I know what im talking about. I might not have the complete dischograpies like all you rich old guys but i have enough to know what the hells up w/ it all.

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