Overlooked/Ignored/Neglected

[Larry Kart]

Very good Lion, unbelievable Luckey Roberts:

http://www.amazon.com/Luckey-The-Lion-Harlem-Piano/dp/B000000XOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337262349&sr=1-1

[Pete C]

Very good Lion, unbelievable Luckey Roberts:

http://www.amazon.com/Luckey-The-Lion-Harlem-Piano/dp/B000000XOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337262349&sr=1-1

Great album, but in its own sphere I wouldn't say it's overlooked...

[Larry Kart]

The eccentric George Handy at his most interesting:

http://www.amazon.com/Pensive-George-Handy-His-Orchestra/dp/B000N2H8HI/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337265230&sr=1-2

Very good Lion, unbelievable Luckey Roberts:

http://www.amazon.com/Luckey-The-Lion-Harlem-Piano/dp/B000000XOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337262349&sr=1-1

Great album, but in its own sphere I wouldn't say it's overlooked...

Right, but there a lot of people who are out of that sphere who would be knocked out by it, I think.

[king ubu]

"Sudori" is indeed a fine disc!

Some Actis Dato quartet discs could be nominated here, too... "Fes Montuno" or "Istanbul Rap" for instance (both on yvp)

[Larry Kart]

A number of vintage recordings by the late Adelaide, Australia-based Trad (for want of a better term) composer-bandleader Dave Dallwitz are sublime, particularly his "Ern Malley Jazz Suite" and "Gold Fever," both on Swaggie, both seemingly hard to find these days, though you might have some luck in Oz. Dallwitz was a composer in the Morton class -- I'm not kidding.

[clifford_thornton]

Speaking of Australia, altoist Bernie McGann's records on Emamem (there are two) are well worth seeking out. Loose and intelligent, 'open mainstream' trio and quartet music. I don't think he's too well-known outside of his home country, though he seems pretty busy there.

[paul secor]

Very good Lion, unbelievable Luckey Roberts:

http://www.amazon.com/Luckey-The-Lion-Harlem-Piano/dp/B000000XOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1337262349&sr=1-1

Great album, but in its own sphere I wouldn't say it's overlooked...

Right, but there a lot of people who are out of that sphere who would be knocked out by it, I think.

How many people are in the sphere these days? Good choice, imo.

Edited May 17, 2012 by paul secor

[Larry Kart]

Speaking of Australia, altoist Bernie McGann's records on Emamem (there are two) are well worth seeking out. Loose and intelligent, 'open mainstream' trio and quartet music. I don't think he's too well-known outside of his home country, though he seems pretty busy there.

:tup

[colinmce]

1. Joe McPhee Po Music - Oleo (Hatology, 1982)

One of the great jazz albums of the 1980s. Oleo is a legend for McPhee's music: Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler, Jimmy Guiffre, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman are all part of the fabric, filtered through a quixotic and appealing admixture of the blues and European modernism. This is one I would never want to be without.

2. Mel Tormé - Tormé (Verve, 1958)

A dark, brooding record that Mel sells with absolute authority. This might also be Marty Paich's finest hour as an arranger. His treatments are dense, busy, velvet, conversational and ambitious but they never get in the way. Jack Sheldon shines in particular.

3. Andrew Cyrille / Jimmy Lyons / Jeanne Lee - Nuba (Black Saint, 1979)

All of Lyons and Cyrille's duos are worth your time (Burnt Offering and Something In Return are the other two) but this is the most cohesive and focused of their collaborations.

4. Paul Bley / Evan Parker / Barre Phillips - Time Will Tell (ECM, 1994)

They're taking obvious inspiration from the Jimmy Giuffre 3, but the music is most recognizable as their own. As with Out To Lunch, I can listen to this one over and over to appreciate the individual contributions of each player, but also to listen to the music as a seamless, beautiful whole; as deep listening and as soft listening.

5, Gil Mellé - Patterns in Jazz (Blue Note, 1956)

Of course I would recommend the whole of The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions, but this is the culmination and total highlight of that work. It's been out as a JRVG and 45rpm LP, but I always thought it was a shame it was never put out as a US RVG title. I find Mellé's 50s music endlessly inventive and rewarding. Gil can spin a line with the best of them; his soloing just flows with such direction. His writing calls to mind George Russell and Teddy Charles, and I also get the same feeling from him that I do from Ornette-- maybe I'm crazy. Joe Cinderella, Eddie Bert and Oscar Pettiford are equally on-point.

[Pete C]

How many people are in the sphere these days? Good choice, imo.

Mike Lipskin and a few others...

[Pete C]

5, Gil Mellé - Patterns in Jazz (Blue Note, 1956)

Of course I would recommend the whole of The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions, but this is the culmination and total highlight of that work. It's been out as a JRVG and 45rpm LP, but I always thought it was a shame it was never put out as a US RVG title. I find Mellé's 50s music endlessly inventive and rewarding. Gil can spin a line with the best of them; his soloing just flows with such direction. His writing calls to mind George Russell and Teddy Charles, and I also get the same feeling from him that I do from Ornette-- maybe I'm crazy. Joe Cinderella, Eddie Bert and Oscar Pettiford are equally on-point.

Melle was great, and he was certainly an early "avant gardist." I also love his Prestige dates. Has anybody heard his "electronic jazz" album from the '60s, Tome VI? He mostly worked as a film composer, quite successfully, after he quit jazz.

Check this out:

http://www.jazzwax.com/2010/08/denny-melle-on-husband-gil.html

[clifford_thornton]

It's funny, and maybe this speaks to the people I hang around with/talk to on a regular basis, but Melle doesn't seem too neglected in certain corners of the jazz world. Sometimes it's hard to step out of your own sphere and realize that a lot of people, even in jazz, aren't aware of certain artists.

[J.A.W.]

5, Gil Mellé - Patterns in Jazz (Blue Note, 1956)

Of course I would recommend the whole of The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions, but this is the culmination and total highlight of that work. It's been out as a JRVG and 45rpm LP, but I always thought it was a shame it was never put out as a US RVG title. I find Mellé's 50s music endlessly inventive and rewarding. Gil can spin a line with the best of them; his soloing just flows with such direction. His writing calls to mind George Russell and Teddy Charles, and I also get the same feeling from him that I do from Ornette-- maybe I'm crazy. Joe Cinderella, Eddie Bert and Oscar Pettiford are equally on-point.

It was also released in the Japanese "Blue Note Works" series, in 1995: TOCJ-1517. Great album.

[colinmce]

It's funny, and maybe this speaks to the people I hang around with/talk to on a regular basis, but Melle doesn't seem too neglected in certain corners of the jazz world. Sometimes it's hard to step out of your own sphere and realize that a lot of people, even in jazz, aren't aware of certain artists.

Well, neither are McPhee, Lyons, Torme, or the others I listed. I just took the thread to mean albums you're quite fond of but that others here may not own or have heard.

[David Ayers]

Neglected can just mean hard-to-find. Top of my list is New York Art Quartet, Mohawk. I guess if you can google it, you can find it.

[A Lark Ascending]

Speaking of Australia, altoist Bernie McGann's records on Emamem (there are two) are well worth seeking out. Loose and intelligent, 'open mainstream' trio and quartet music. I don't think he's too well-known outside of his home country, though he seems pretty busy there.

These three that touch into the electric jazz vein are big Australian jazz favourites of mine:

And on the electric jazz front, Britain's Partisans have quite a live following in the UK but don't seem to have made much of an impression elsewhere. I find this record one of the most convincing marriages of jazz and rock. Phil Robson can move from standard jazz guitar to the more acerbic rock style. But what really makes the band work is the flexibility of the rhythmic approach - no plodding rock drums or 'let's get down' funk-by-numbers here. And the compositions are really careful, memorable, engaging:

I'm also amazed this Italian beauty is not better known:

A 3 CD celebration of the music of Roland Kirk with pieces by Ellington, Mingus, Hendrix, Marley thrown in for good measure. Has the feel of one of those 70s concept albums where everything connects and moves towards a cathartic end goal.

Edited May 18, 2012 by A Lark Ascending

[BeBop]

I haven't heard it in a while, but New York Jazz Sextet - Group Therapy (Scepter) Art Farmer, James Moody, Tommy Flanagan, Tom McIntosh, Tootie Heath and (help me out here..) Richard Davis? 1965 or so.

[Simon8]

5. Gil Mellé - Patterns in Jazz (Blue Note, 1956)

Of course I would recommend the whole of The Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions, but this is the culmination and total highlight of that work. It's been out as a JRVG and 45rpm LP, but I always thought it was a shame it was never put out as a US RVG title. I find Mellé's 50s music endlessly inventive and rewarding. Gil can spin a line with the best of them; his soloing just flows with such direction. His writing calls to mind George Russell and Teddy Charles, and I also get the same feeling from him that I do from Ornette-- maybe I'm crazy. Joe Cinderella, Eddie Bert and Oscar Pettiford are equally on-point.

I never took the time to get to know Gil Mellé. Spurred by your account, I borrowed his Complete Blue Notes: fun, fascinating music. So thanks for that !

In the (maybe) overlooked dept.:

A unique piano trio: Martial Solal accompanied by two bass players - Jean-François Jenny Clark & Gilbert Rovère. Makes for bewitching, hard to describe music: whirling, suspenseful, humorous, cinematic. The trio had been playing and experimenting for 2 years when this was recorded (1970) and it shows. Exceptionally well recorded, too.

Found very few mentions of this album in the forum. An oddity in the Evans canon, but one that is well worth a listen. Seven Evans originals, no standards, with Zoot Sims & Jim Hall upfront, Ron Carter & Philly Joe Jones providing a thick, springin' bottom. At turns intricate ("Loose Bloose", an excellent, sort of mellow Tristano tune), lyrical ("Time Remembered", "There Came You"), tough, ragged ("Funkallero"), contrapuntal ("Fudgesickle Built For Four")! Each track is interesting, original in one way or another.

I feel George Russell still doesn't get the love he deserves ! ( "G.R. Sextet at The Five Spot", "Stratusphunk", "Ezz-Thetics", "The Stratus Seekers", "Outer View" - all recorded between 1960 and '62 - is a mighty purple patch in the midst of one of jazz's purple patch). "G.R. Sextet in K.C.: Original Swinging Instrumentals", recorded in 1961 and released by Decca, is another superlative record and perhaps my favorite. Again, highly stimulating music: tricky, funny, madly swinging. Don Ellis, Dave Baker and Dave Young form a burning frontline. Russell himself is great on piano. Baker and Bley originals, an epic version of "Sandu" and "Tune-Up"... One problem: the CD has been released by a Fresh Sounds subsidiary...

Edited May 22, 2012 by Simon8

[colinmce]

I have been intrigued by the Solal since I read about it in Penguin but have never managed to find a copy.

Big thumbs up on Loose Blues. I'll have to pull that out tomorrow.

I'd love to see a Mosaic Select of Russell's Deccas. They can mostly all be had from Euro labels, but George deserves better.

[JETman]

I have been intrigued by the Solal since I read about it in Penguin but have never managed to find a copy.

Big thumbs up on Loose Blues. I'll have to pull that out tomorrow.

I'd love to see a Mosaic Select of Russell's Deccas. They can mostly all be had from Euro labels, but George deserves better.

First of all, there are only 4 Deccas (New York, New York; At the Five Spot; In Kansas City; Jazz in the Space Age)-- not enough for a Select. Secondly, all with the exception of In KC have been released domestically.

[BillF]

Found very few mentions of this album in the forum. An oddity in the Evans canon, but one that is well worth a listen. Seven Evans originals, no standards, with Zoot Sims & Jim Hall upfront, Ron Carter & Philly Joe Jones providing a thick, springin' bottom. At turns intricate ("Loose Bloose", an excellent, sort of mellow Tristano tune), lyrical ("Time Remembered", "There Came You"), tough, ragged ("Funkallero"), contrapuntal ("Fudgesickle Built For Four")! Each track is interesting, original in one way or another.

You're right! A true Overlooked/Ignored/Neglected candidate. All I have from the session is "Loose Bloos" on this 1970s twofer:

P.S. Obviously things have moved on since Orrin Keepnews wrote of the "Loose Bloos" track on the 1970s twofer:

"This, I'm afraid, is from a truly lost session .... things just didn't go too smoothly at this ... date, and it was put on the shelf. Later, Bill and engineer Ray Fowler began to do editing work; they put this selection into shape that Evans approved and got started on a second without stopping. They never did resume the project, and now I find that the rest of the tapes have totally vanished - leaving only "Loose Bloos" and a frustrating partial item that ends abruptly in the middle of a piano solo. My gut reaction was to get this one salvaged tune out into the world quickly, before it also disappeared."

Edited May 22, 2012 by BillF

[Chuck Nessa]

I have been intrigued by the Solal since I read about it in Penguin but have never managed to find a copy.

Big thumbs up on Loose Blues. I'll have to pull that out tomorrow.

I'd love to see a Mosaic Select of Russell's Deccas. They can mostly all be had from Euro labels, but George deserves better.

First of all, there are only 4 Deccas (New York, New York; At the Five Spot; In Kansas City; Jazz in the Space Age)-- not enough for a Select. Secondly, all with the exception of In KC have been released domestically.

There is more than enough material left over from the "KC" sessions to fill out a good Select.

[paul secor]

I have been intrigued by the Solal since I read about it in Penguin but have never managed to find a copy.

Big thumbs up on Loose Blues. I'll have to pull that out tomorrow.

I'd love to see a Mosaic Select of Russell's Deccas. They can mostly all be had from Euro labels, but George deserves better.

First of all, there are only 4 Deccas (New York, New York; At the Five Spot; In Kansas City; Jazz in the Space Age)-- not enough for a Select. Secondly, all with the exception of In KC have been released domestically.

There is more than enough material left over from the "KC" sessions to fill out a good Select.

If Mosaic did it, I'd buy it.

[J.A.W.]

I have been intrigued by the Solal since I read about it in Penguin but have never managed to find a copy.

Big thumbs up on Loose Blues. I'll have to pull that out tomorrow.

I'd love to see a Mosaic Select of Russell's Deccas. They can mostly all be had from Euro labels, but George deserves better.

First of all, there are only 4 Deccas (New York, New York; At the Five Spot; In Kansas City; Jazz in the Space Age)-- not enough for a Select. Secondly, all with the exception of In KC have been released domestically.

There is more than enough material left over from the "KC" sessions to fill out a good Select.

If Mosaic did it, I'd buy it.

So would I, but if Universal's Hip-O label did it, I'd have to hear it first, given my mixed experiences with the sound on their sets.

[JETman]

Someone should suggest it to Scott, then!