James Moody

[Mark Stryker]

For a sidebar to a James Moody story I'm working on, I'm putting together a short list of recommended recordings, but the Amazon listings and discographies are confusing on a couple of points. So, does anyone know if "A Great Day" and "Last Train to Overbrook" are in print/available in some effecient form?

Also, any suggestions for the most efficient approach to the earlier material, including the 1949 original and later vocal version of "Moody's Mood"?

Thinking out loud 1: Moody's '80s and '90s recordings for RCA Novus and Warner Bros. are to me his most satisfying records. Almost none of this material is in print -- though the tremendous "Moving Forward" (Novus) appears to be a welcome exception -- and taken together these would be a great Mosaic Select.

Thinking out loud 2: "Feeling it Together" (1973) on Muse is the other great Moody LP that I find myself going back to the most.

Edited January 1, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[brownie]

'Last Train from Overbrook' was available on that Chess CD reissue:

'A Great Day' was included on this Spanish Lonehill CD:

Not sure about CD releases of early Moody material. I have a number of this on vinyls.

I also feel together with your assessment of 'Feeling It Together'. Love that album (on vinyl, again!)

[JSngry]

Thinking out loud 2: "Feeling it Together" (1973) on Muse is the other great Moody LP that I find myself going back to the most.

Do you know Never Again, the one before it? Mickey Tucker (on organ), Roland wislon on bass, & Eddie Gladden. Newark!

Also, those various Scepter sides that Moody appears on as leader and sideman are every bit as valuable as the Argo material.

As for the earlier things, Classics has volumes covering 1948-1954: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifyxqy5ldhe~T21

[marcello]

I've always thought that "Wail Moody Wail", on Prestige, was one of the better Moody dates:

PRLP 7036 James Moody - Wail Moody, Wail

Dave Burns (tp) William Shepherd (tb) James Moody (as, ts) Pee Wee Moore (bars) Jimmy Boyd (p) John Latham (b) Clarence Johnston (d)

Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, December 12, 1955

831 The Golden Touch

832 The Nearness Of You

833 The Donkey Serenade

834 Moody's Blue Again

837 Wail, Moody, Wail

[Mark Stryker]

Thanks for the responses so far. Yeah, "Never Again" is great. I've got an old cassette from college but am always looking for it on LP. Never came out on CD did it? I've also got the Scepter LP "Running the Gamut." Are there any others on Scepter? I thought that was it. The tricky thing about compiling the kind of recommendation box I'm after is you have to balance personal favorites and essentials with stuff that's actually in print, and it's got to be brief. As of now, I'm thinking: "Moving Forward," "Feeling It Together," something that includes "Great Day" if possible, one early thing that grabs "Moody's Mood" and the recent "Our Delight." I can sometimes mention stuff that's out of print that people might be able to find without too much hassle. But if some Moody-o-Phile has a nomination for something that's in print and that I'd be an absolute fool not to include, I'd consider it.

Addendum: Appears that in addition to "A Great Day" the Spanish Lonehill release mentioned by Brownie also includes "Running the Gamut."

Edited January 1, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Lazaro Vega]

Moody's version of "I'm In the Mood for Love" was recently re-issued in this set:

http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/The-Very-Best-Of-Prestige-Records-Prestige-60th-An/

Recall, too, the Jimmy McHugh estate sued to have the title changed from "Moody's Mood" to "I'm in the Mood For Love."

[JSngry]

Thanks for the responses so far. Yeah, "Never Again" is great. I've got an old cassette from college but am always looking for it on LP. Never came out on CD did it? I've also got the Scepter LP "Running the Gamut." Are there any others on Scepter? I thought that was it. The tricky thing about compiling the kind of recommendation box I'm after is you have to balance personal favorites and essentials with stuff that's actually in print, and it's got to be brief. As of now, I'm thinking: "Moving Forward," "Feeling It Together," something that includes "Great Day" if possible, one early thing that grabs "Moody's Mood" and the recent "Our Delight." I can sometimes mention stuff that's out of print that people might be able to find without too much hassle. But if some Moody-o-Phile has a nomination for something that's in print and that I'd be an absolute fool not to include, I'd consider it.

Addendum: Appears that in addition to "A Great Day" the Spanish Lonehill release mentioned by Brownie also includes "Running the Gamut."

Also on Scepter:

Highly recommended.

Lone Hill version (w/mono and stereo takes): http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifrxqtsldde

Never Again on CD? Not that I know of. Unfortunate...

[mjzee]

Do you know about this?

Moody in Sweden (Prestige)

Also, I think the issue with the title change pertained to the King Pleasure version, not the Moody original.

[BeBop]

"Never Again" and the two Scepters are among the treasures of Moody listening experiences. My listening experiences, period. Another: "Feelin' It Together" w/Kenny Barron, Larry Ridley and Freddie Waits. This was one of the first LPs I digitized so I could carry it with me on my MP3 player (pre-iPod days).

I caught Moody live a number of times in this era. Every performance left me smiling for days. Energy, spirit...chops.

[kh1958]

The early material is on five Classics CDs covering 1948-54. Three of these can be downloaded inexpensively on amazon.com, and the other two are available at a reasonable or at least semi-reasonable price.

[Swinging Swede]

Never Again on CD? Not that I know of. Unfortunate...

Never Again! has been on a Xanadu CD, but under the title James Moody And The Hip Organ Trio. It also included several additional tracks from the same session, including Giant Steps. This CD seems to be impossible to find now. We'll have to wait for the Andorrans, I guess...

[JSngry]

Or the bloggers...but I'd rather find the real thing from the real people....will any of us live that long?

[BillF]

I have only two Moody items - very contrasting items - in my collection. The first is Moods by McGhee, a 10" LP on the French Guilde du Jazz label, which I've had since about 1960, and which features, as well as the leaders, Milt Jackson, Hank Jones, Ray Brown and J C Heard in about 1947. The second, which I bought a couple of months ago, is Moody's Mood for Blues on OJC/Prestige which consists of great septet sides from 1954-55, originally issued on two 10" LPs, I believe.

[AllenLowe]

personally I don't like the late Novus/RCa stuff - too smooth, they took all the edge off Moody. Did anyone mention the live date with Miles and Dameron?

[Mark Stryker]

personally I don't like the late Novus/RCa stuff - too smooth, they took all the edge off Moody. Did anyone mention the live date with Miles and Dameron?

I can understand that criticism of some of the Novus LPs, especially production wise, but "Moving Forward" is a magisterial exception -- there's some synthesizer here and there, but Moody plays the hell out of "Night Has a Thousand Eyes"(!), "Autumn Leaves" and an interesting arrangement of "Giant Steps," plus the ballads. (Rhythm section is Kenny Barron, Todd Coolman, Akira Tana, synths on three tracks by Onaje Allen Gumbs; Tom McIntosh is credited as arranger.)

As a group, the Warner Bros. dates are probably better. Each has a concept -- "Young at Heart" is a Sinatra tribute arr. by Gil Goldstein with a small group and some orchestra; "Moody Plays Mancini" is all small group also arr. by Goldstein. Moody plays great on both. The real overlooked gem is "Warner Jams, Vol 2: The Two Tenors," which has him facing off with Mark Turner (with Goldings, Wolfe, Penn). Hearing Moody next to Turner throws into relief just how much Moody has continued to develop and how contemporary his harmonic conception has remained.

Edited January 2, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Shrdlu]

Mark, as you probably know, Moody's recordings with Diz are great.

I recommend the opening track, "Umm Humm - Ode To Yard", on the Limelight album "Charlie Parker 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert" (Limelight 86017), if you have a copy. The LP shows up on eBay, and I have the Japanese CD, which has two extra tracks with Diz and Moody. (Diz is electrifying on the two tracks on the LP, by the way.)

From the recordings under his own name, I strongly recommend "Smack A Mack" on the "James Moody and the Brass Figures" album (Milestone), "Darben the Redd Fox" on the "Don't Look Away" album (Prestige), and then the much later "Sweet and Lovely" album (Novus), on which Diz guests on two tracks, including one where both do some scat singing. (Moody really digs in on the blues "Darben the Redd Fox", spurred on by a fine rhythm section including Barry Harris and Alan Dawson.)

If you have time, also check out the 1971 live Columbia album by Charlie Mingus. It's a huge band, featuring Moody and a lot of other top guys. You don't hear about it much. It was originally a double LP. (Two LPs for the price of two, lol.)

James Moody has always been a very tasty player on tenor, alto and flute - definitely one of the best jazz flutists (and not just a doubler on it, either). A solo by him is always something to look forward to. Great idea to do a tribute.

[sidewinder]

personally I don't like the late Novus/RCa stuff - too smooth, they took all the edge off Moody. Did anyone mention the live date with Miles and Dameron?

I tend to agree, sadly. They are dominated by cheezy synths, which sound very dated now. Moody plays nicely on them though.

[AllenLowe]

only unfortunate thing about Moody (who is one of the nicest people I ever met) was his put-down of nearly everybody in a DB blindfold test he did maybe 15 years ago - and then showing, in his contemporary (at the time) playing that his whole current style would not exist but for the changes and musicians he was putting down. It's a little like the things Brookmeyer says in interviews, et al. With Moody, one listen to his playing (and this was about 1993) and one could hear how much he was weaving in and out of the harmony in ways that would not have happened but for the opening up of the music. Unfortunately this seems to be a problem for nearly every older-generation musician who is having trouble understanding certain kinds of cultural changes -

Edited January 2, 2010 by AllenLowe

[Mark Stryker]

only unfortunate thing about Moody (who is one of the nicest people I ever met) was his put-down of nearly everybody in a DB blindfold test he did maybe 15 years ago - and then showing, in his contemporary (at the time) playing that his whole current style would not exist but for the changes and musicians he was putting down. It's a little like the things Brookmeyer says in interviews, et al. With Moody, one listen to his playing (and this was about 1993) and one could hear how much he was weaving in and out of the harmony in ways that would not have happened but for the opening up of the music. Unfortunately this seems to be a problem for nearly every older-generation musician who is having trouble understanding certain kinds of cultural changes -

I looked this up and while I found no Moody Blindfold Test from 1993 I did find one from 1997. So, assuming this is the test you are refering to, I don't agree at all with the characterization that he put-down nearly everybody -- or that he seems oblivious to cultural changes, crotchety or blind to the fact that his current style would be impossible but not for younger players pushing ahead in new directions. He's opinionated and has some sharp criticisms at times, but he also says positive things and his descriptions of what he's hearing do not necessarily appear inaccurate. Given the records put in front of him, and the way they do or don't relate to the contemporary currents most relevant to his own aesthetic, it all seams reasonable. And, in fact, in his response to the final record (GRP All-Star Band) he addresses the issue of the generation gap between older and younger musicians head on and generously sides with the younger cats!

I've scanned the test but, unfortunately, don't know how to insert it into this post. But here's a summary:

He's played six records by Jane Bunnett, Jesse Davis & James Carter, Either/Orchestra, Lucky Thompson, Mario Bauza and GRP All-Star Band. Let's leave aside Thompson and Bauza since those are older players and he's certainly positive about what he's played. Otherwise, I'd say he's positive about GRP, negative about Either, mixed-positive about Davis-Carter and mixed-negative about Bunnett.

1. Bunnett's "Pannonica." From "The Water is Wide" (Bunnett on flute, with pianist Don Pullen, bassist Kieran Overs):

"I've got mixed emotions. For a hot minute I thought it might be Frank Wess because of the vibrato and sound, then it changed. I don't think Frank would put that thing on the end. And then, damn, I thought it was Elise Woods. One thing for sure, I know it wasn't Hubert (Laws) and it wasn't James Newton. I have mixed emotions about this group. I have to say 2-1/2 stars or 3 stars.

2. Davis (alto) and Carter (tenor). "Moten Swing" from "Kansas City":

"Whoever the alto player was, he likes Phil Woods and somebody like Bob Wilber. At one point, the tenor player sounded like Buddy Tate, but then he went off somehwere else. In the last part, the vibrato sounded like Zoot Sims." (Moody is asked if the record sounds like an old recording or a new one.) "It sounded old to me, like when Zoot and Al played, but it could some young guys just playing like that. For the alto player, the way he was playing 3 or 3-1/2 stars. He was swinging, playing what he was feeling. The band thing didn't move me at all. The tenor player was OK. You can tell he wanted to play more when he growled like that. I guess he wasn't finished, but what can you do when you only have eight bars?"

3. Either/Orchestra. "The Brunt" composed by Curtis Hasselbring with Russ Gershon, tenor; Charlie Kohlase, baritone sax; Chris Taylor, keyboards:

"Sounds like somebody that just likes (scats even, unswinging tones), that rhythm and the major scale (scats). Like something from a movie, something very chaotic. You can't sit down and listen to that and feel mellowed out, tranquil. It's like jumping from one language to another: a little French, a little German, a little Italian. I give this guy credit to noate the thing to get the sound that he wanted, but the sound isn't killing me -- maybe it is. I'll give them 1 for putting it down. That takes a lot of work."

4. GRP All-Star Band. "Some Other Blues." Soloists are Chuck Findley, trumpet; Bob Mintzer, tenor sax; Nelson Rangel, flute; Russell Ferrante., paino. Tom Scott, arranger.

"That's a Coltrane composition. I don't know who the tenor player was, but he sounded beautiful. This sounded like one of those school bands but with professional soloists. It sounded good, man, really good. 5 stars. The flute on top, that's nice.

"I don't care who you are, musicians feel things differently. OK, the younger musician will feel something different than the older one. Not saying it's not good, because it is. I remember when I was coming up, I heard older people saying these young guys, they play too many notes. I don't think anyone has license to say how many notes a person should play. Because if a young person can play fleetingly and he can play and then has to do that, let him do that. As he grows he will change and do what he has to do. I said when I get older, I'm never going to tell a young kid, you play too many notes. No, you play as many notes as you want, because that is your way of growing. You don't tell a young colt, don't run and jump around and run into the fence. He does that. After that, he becomes a champion. See what I mean?"

Addendum:

I've now located a previous Blindfold Test by Moody from 1988 in which he was played tracks by Scott Hamilton/Buddy Tate, newer Sonny Rollins, World Saxophone Quartet ("Take the 'A' Train"), Branford Marsalis and David Sanborn ("Straight to the Heart"). Moody identifies every artist save Hamilton (whom he clearly recognizes but can't place his name right away) and the WSQ, which he misidentifies as the "New York Saxophone Quartet." He gives 5 stars to Sonny, Branford and Sanborn and 3-1/2 to Hamilton/Tate.

The WSQ track is the only thing he doesn't like at all but is so tactful about it that Leonard Feather literally has to push him to admit that he got nothing out of it. Moody ends by saying, "I'm not saying you have to stay within the boundaries ... you have to express what you feel, and different people feel different things. That's what makes the world go round. I don't want to rate it."

Edited January 2, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Victor Christensen]

Hi

Don't forget his two latest on IPO:

Our Delight with Hank Jones (2006)

4A with Kenny Barron (2008)

They are both very good, though his "chops" have gone a little.

I have about 15 of his albums, one of my favorites.

Look him up at www.jamesmoody.com

Vic

[Mark Stryker]

A trip to the used record store today landed Moody's "Homage," which I hadn't heard before. It came out on Savoy in 2004 but is already out of print. Pity. I'm only five tracks in to it so far, but Moody is playing his ass off (all tenor), and the high concept is working really well -- the tunes were written for Moody by Herbie, Chick, Zawinul, Kenny Barron, Horace Silver and others and arranged for ensembles of varying size by producer Bob Belden. Moody sounds very contemporary here, especially on the more modal material. A couple of the cuts so far would make great blindford test material, actually.

[AllenLowe]

the blindfold test that I remember was prior to 1993, and it was very close to that date, and may even have been for Jazz Times - the reason I remember it so well is that around that time I booked Moody to play in the New Haven Jazz Festival, which I was running; and I remember standing there, with John Szwed, after the concert, and both of us had the same response - that we were amazed that this player whom we had just seen performing with such harmonic abandon had so recently been quoted in a a blindfold test as putting almost everybody down who was young and playing in a certain, open, way.

so, I am certain of the test and what his attitudes were; might have been a different publication.Though, after spending some time on line and going through various data bases, I wouldn't be sure that you are even locating it, as those search engines are some of the worst I've ever dealt with - they just pull 10 times too much info, and the actual reference easily gets lost in the jumble. So it's out there somewhere - ask John Szwed -

Edited January 4, 2010 by AllenLowe

[marcello]

I remember this one being particularly good:

Heritage Hum

1. Heritage Hum - 4:57

2. Sound for Sore Ears - 6:52

3. Road Runner - 4:30

4. Can\'t Fool Around With Love - 5:07

5. Rainy Days - 6:15

6. Travel On - 7:32

7. Soul Searching - 7:24

8. Parker\'s Mood - 4:04

9. Pennies from Heaven - 2:24

James Moody - Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)

Eddie Jefferson - Vocals

Samuel Jones - Upright Bass

Micheal Longo - Piano

Frederick Waits - Drums

[Mark Stryker]

the blindfold test that I remember was prior to 1993, and it was very close to that date, and may even have been for Jazz Times - the reason I remember it so well is that around that time I booked Moody to play in the New Haven Jazz Festival, which I was running; and I remember standing there, with John Szwed, after the concert, and both of us had the same response - that we were amazed that this player whom we had just seen performing with such harmonic abandon had so recently been quoted in a a blindfold test as putting almost everybody down who was young and playing in a certain, open, way.

so, I am certain of the test and what his attitudes were; might have been a different publication.Though, after spending some time on line and going through various data bases, I wouldn't be sure that you are even locating it, as those search engines are some of the worst I've ever dealt with - they just pull 10 times too much info, and the actual reference easily gets lost in the jumble. So it's out there somewhere - ask John Szwed -

I found a citation for a Jazz Times "Before and After" from December 1996, but I don't have the magazine. (Anybody got this?) As far as Downbeat is concerned, I found the 1988 and '97 tests by by going through my store of back issues. I have all of 1993, but am missing half of 1992 (Jan., Feb., April-June, Aug.; I'm also missing Dec. 1991 but otherwise have that year complete). Perhaps there's a Moody test in one of the missing issues -- can anyone out there check conveniently? That would amount to three BTs in a 10-year span, which I think would be unusual frequency but perhaps not impossible. It may well be another magazine.

Edited January 4, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[ghost of miles]

I can understand that criticism of some of the Novus LPs, especially production wise, but "Moving Forward" is a magisterial exception -- there's some synthesizer here and there, but Moody plays the hell out of "Night Has a Thousand Eyes"(!), "Autumn Leaves" and an interesting arrangement of "Giant Steps," plus the ballads. (Rhythm section is Kenny Barron, Todd Coolman, Akira Tana, synths on three tracks by Onaje Allen Gumbs; Tom McIntosh is credited as arranger.)

Mark, I got MOVING FORWARD on the basis of your comments here and finally cracked it open tonight--thanks so much for the rec! Moody's playing is fabulous here, and the synthesizer is generally non-intrusive. Digging that "Giant Steps" arrangement right now.