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BFT #101 THE REVEAL


tkeith

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Hope folks don't mind, but given the hectic nature of the impending weekend, I'm going to post this today. :crazy:

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Track 01 - Hannibals Carnivals - Ahmed Abdul-Malik - (1961) The Music Of Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Eric Dixon - ts; Tommy Turrentine - tpt; Calo Scott - cello; Ahmed Abdul-Malik - b, oud; Bilal Abdurrahman - clt, perc; Andrew Cyrille - dr

This came across my iPod in the car and, like the rest of you, I thought "Don't Stop The Carnival!" Abdul-Malik has been a recent find for me. I was very familiar with his work with Monk, but when I happened across his stuff as a leader, it was very ear opening. Andrew Cyrille on drums. In Andrew we trust.

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Track 02 - Lonely Woman - The Jazz Doctors - (1983) Intensive Care

Billy Bang - vln; Frank Lowe - ts; Rafael Garrett - b; Dennis Charles - dr

This is a tune my mind never lets me commit to memory. I always forget that it's Ornette's tune and never remember the name. I was listening to the MJQ version recently and really liked what they did with it. Working on the computer one day I had iTunes on shuffle and this version popped up. I immediately popped it on the iPod for the car, and when it popped up there I went through "What is this?" all over again. I got to see Bang/Lowe about 6 months before Frank died. He was not at all well, but what little he played sounded great. Bang was a treat in person, as well. Two guys I miss a lot and I consider Lowe a tremendous personal inspiration from a musical standpoint.

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Track 03 - 8 Bold Souls - Dervish - (1986) 8 Bold Souls

Edward Wilkerson, Jr. - ts (solo); Mwata Bowden - ts; Richard Jess Brown, Jr. - b; Naomi Millender - Cello; Dashun Mosley - dr; Isaiah S. Jackson, Jr. - tbn; Robert Griffin, Jr. - tpt; Aaron Dodd - tuba

Ed Wilkerson is a guy that my predecessor on Prime Cuts, Ken Eisen, turned me on to. We arrived at that conversation because of trumpeter Rod McGaha. I had turned Ken on to Jeff Coffin's Go-Round, and he was very impressed by Rod McGaha. He'd only heard him on Wilkerson's album and that got me to check him out. Naturally, I found the links to the Chicago crowd and was all in. Love me some Chicago musicians.

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Track 04 - Curtis Clark Quintet featuring Oliver Lake -  - (2006) Live at Starbird Recital Hall, Portland, ME

Oliver Lake - as; Matt Langley - ts; Curtis Clark - p; Jim Lyden - b; Jan Van Voorst Van Beest - dr

I was very fortunate to find out about this show just days beforehand. It was not well publicized and the venue was rather hidden, but seeing Oliver Lake in close quarters was an experience. I had my PXR4 in my pocket and that's where this recording comes from. Matt Langley later told me that they had recorded the show. Jim Lyden recently posted a tune from that show on Youtube. You can hear it here.

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Track 05 - The Great Jazz Trio - Favors - (1978) At The Village Vanguard

Hank Jones - p; Ron Carter - b; Tony Williams - dr

This was one of those albums with the horrible, incongruous baseball covers. The music is excellent and to my ear this is the gem of the set. Hank Jones has got to be one of the most under appreciated pianists ever. Tony Williams, unlike a lot of his work of the period, is not overbearing here. This recording holds up well.

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Track 06 - Clifford Jordan - Abracadabra - (1978) Inward Fire

Clifford Jordan (solo), Pat Patrick - ts; Dizzy Reece - tpt; Howard Johnson - tuba; Jimmy Ponder - g; Muhal Richard Abrams - p; Richard Davis - b; Grover Everette - dr; Azzedine Weston - cng; Donna Jewell Jordan - v

Clifford is my guy. He was one of the first people I saw live and was my first bootlegged recording (with his permission). I was 12. This is not a great record, not even a particularly memorable Jordan outing. However, I love this song and the arrangement. Having this cast alone makes it worth owning. I do wish the Muse series would get reissued (this is a digitized needle drop).

Part 2 to follow.

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Track 07 - Bill McHenry - My Melancholy Baby - (2009) Live at the Village Vanguard

Bill McHenry - ts; Duane Eubanks - tpt; Andrew D'Angelo - as; Ben Street - b; Paul Motian - dr

I discovered Bill McHenry a few years back when I attended the Maine Jazz Camp. Everybody was talking about him and I'd never heard of him. I was very excited to be going to see William Parker at the end of the week at the Deer Isle Jazz Festival (sadly, nobody knew who the hell I was talking about). I found out a day before that McHenry was also playing. McHenry is from that area, so it was a local boy returns home situation. This is a nice, representative recording of Bill. He's got his own voice and I can't ask for much more than that. My only complaint is that sometimes he opts not to use it, instead slipping some hero worship into his playing (playing a tune like Dexter, for example). He's a terrific musician who should be more committed to his own sound and let the audience come to him instead of the other way around.

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Track 08 - Noah Howard - Ole Negro - (1969) The Black Ark

Noah Howard - as; Earl Cross - tpt; Arthur Doyle - ts; Leslie Waldron - p; Norris Jones (Sirone) - b; Mohammed Ali - dr; Juma - cng

I discovered Noah Howard as an eMusic recommendation, and boy was I glad. He was another of those guys who just slipped below my radar for too long. This, IMHO, is one of his better recordings; slightly more accessible without compromising the fire within.

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Track 09 - The Leaders - Hip Dripper - (1989) Unforeseen Blessings

Chico Freeman - ts; Arthur Blythe - as; Lester Bowie - tpt; Kirk Lightsey - p; Cecil McBee - b; Don Moye - dr

What is not to love about this lineup? My only complaint is that some of the tunes are too damned short. It seems like it wasn't so much of a cohesive project as a collection of material that was released. However, given the personnel, that still makes it pretty awesome. My favorite track is Lester's interpretation of Blueberry Hill. He just made that du-wop stuff so damned interesting!

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Track 10 - Buck Hill - Little Bossa - (1979) Scope

Buck Hill - ts; Kenny Barron - p; Buster Williams - b; Billy Hart - dr

One of my favorite albums from childhood. Took forever for it to come out on CD, but it holds up well. This album and the previous year's This Is Buck Hill were both outstanding. To my ear, this is the better outing, though. Such a great rhythm section and Hill is in top form, with a fresh, unique voice. There is not a bad track on this album.

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Track 11 - Billy Mitchell - Be My Guest - (1978) The Colossus of Detroit

Despite the terrible sound (for some reason this Xanadu recording makes Billy sound like he's in a clothes-filled closet), this is an absolute bitch of a record. I haven't found much Billy Mitchell that I don't love, and this is just good, ol' fashioned swinging Jazz from note one. Again, not available on CD that I'm aware of. Great personnel playing great music and meaning it. You can't ask for more than that.

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Track 12 - Dick Griffin - Now Is The Time - (1979) Now Is The Time

Dick Griffin - tbn; Bill Saxton - ss; Clifford Jordan - ts; Hubert Eves - ep; Don Smith - p, v; Calvin Hill - b; Billy Hart, Freddie Waits - dr; Lawrence Killian - perc

I was at Looney Tunes in Boston when I found this. They had a used copy I was looking at for $1.99 (about the peak of my price range if I wanted more than one album at that time). I found a sealed copy for $1.88 and bought it. Years later, they cleaned up the sound and released it on CD, sadly, broken into two sections; 1/2 the album paired with The Eighth Wonder and 1/2 paired with A Dream For Rahsaan. Of those DG releases, I prefer this one the most. More great work from Clifford (The Queen is one of his best ballads ever) and some solid work from then youngster Bill Saxton. This is another all-in line-up for me. I've always loved the way keyboardist Don Smith hits that high wail towards the end of the tune. I just couldn't end this test any other way.

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Nice stuff! I only failed to recognize one track from an album I own - the Noah Howard. At least I liked it. Otherwise, I think that I must have been in a mood when I responded - I was unnecessarily pissier about some tracks than I should have been. Good BFT.

I didn't notice, but I know what you mean. I frequently feel that way after I read what I wrote. I always just react to what I hear, but sometimes when I read it, I feel like I'm harder on what I heard than I should have been. :blush:

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Oh man!! Great...more stuff to add to the list! Very interesting that the first track was Abdul-Malik, never would have guessed. I am going to have to check out some of his stuff now too. Making a note of Jazz Doctors, Billy Mitchell and Noah Howard too. Can't believe I missed Buck Hill! I've heard you talk about Bill McHenry before too...nice stuff. While I'm not real familiar with him, I should have guessed Andrew D'Angelo on that cut-- I thought he sounded familiar but couldn't place it. He was in a great group from Boston called Human Feel.

Nice stuff all around!

Edited by webbcity
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I really, really shoulda got Eight Bold Souls. I'm a Wilkerson admirer.

Sometimes on record, Bill McHenry has sounded rigid and squarish to me. He sounds just great here. What a hoot, that I thought Paul Motian was Shelly Manne.

Was just listening to Billy Mitchell "De Lawd's Blues" the other day.

McHenry is kind of an enigma to me. He's a great player and I love his sound, but I agree with what you say about hearing him on record. Sometimes live, he seems to fall back on his ability to play like others, and when you can play like Bill McHenry, that's a mistake. He can do an uncanny Dexter Gordon and a perfect Warne Marsh. I'm most excited when he does Bill McHenry, though. I could be mistaken about all of that, but that's how I hear it. When he stays within Bill McHenry, he's downright scary!

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Ah so it's Dennis Charles on the 2nd track, the Jazz Doctors' take on "Lonely Woman," not Ed Blackwell as I'd thrown out. Charles' playing is huge on that track.

Interesting to read your comments on McHenry. You mention his ability to do a Warne Marsh imitation - I heard the Konitz/Marsh sound on "Melancholy Baby" for sure, at the start of the track, before he moves into what I'm guessing is more his own voice.

Anyway fantastic BFT - thanks Thom for exposing me to some great musicians and music that I've been sleeping on.

As I mentioned in my guesses (none of the artists nailed as it turns out!) several of these are immediate buys. I just ordered the recent vinyl reissue of the Noah Howard LP, available at the Jazz Loft among other places - very excited about this. Also ordered some of the others - Buck Hill, Billy Mitchell, Great Jazz Trio and Ahmed Abdul-Malik (that calypso really kept growing on me). For folks seeking the latter, be aware the entire recording was issued as part of this Prestige two-fer CD (bundling it with SOUNDS OF AFRICA):

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Edited by DrJ
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Hope folks don't mind, but given the hectic nature of the impending weekend, I'm going to post this today. :crazy:

 ahmedabdulm_musicofah_101b.jpg

Track 01 - Hannibals Carnivals - Ahmed Abdul-Malik - (1961) The Music Of Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Eric Dixon - ts; Tommy Turrentine - tpt; Calo Scott - cello; Ahmed Abdul-Malik - b, oud; Bilal Abdurrahman - clt, perc; Andrew Cyrille - dr

This came across my iPod in the car and, like the rest of you, I thought "Don't Stop The Carnival!" Abdul-Malik has been a recent find for me. I was very familiar with his work with Monk, but when I happened across his stuff as a leader, it was very ear opening. Andrew Cyrille on drums. In Andrew we trust.

And I even had this album at one time.... :rcry:rmad:

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Yeah to my chagrin I similarly realized this past weekend that I actually owned the Dick Griffin track, as part of the Konnex release I mentioned earlier, THE EIGHTH WONDER AND MORE ("Now Is The Time" and several other tracks from the same album appear at the end of it as bonus tracks - I'd never gotten around to listening to them!).

Yesterday I got the Buck Hill and Ahmed Abdul-Malik discs in the mail - both are fantastic. The more I listen the more I feel like "Little Bossa" should become a jazz/bossa nova "standard" - it's so simple yet lovely, up there with stuff like Jobim's "One Note Samba." People need to start covering this one!

Hope folks don't mind, but given the hectic nature of the impending weekend, I'm going to post this today. :crazy:

 ahmedabdulm_musicofah_101b.jpg

Track 01 - Hannibals Carnivals - Ahmed Abdul-Malik - (1961) The Music Of Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Eric Dixon - ts; Tommy Turrentine - tpt; Calo Scott - cello; Ahmed Abdul-Malik - b, oud; Bilal Abdurrahman - clt, perc; Andrew Cyrille - dr

This came across my iPod in the car and, like the rest of you, I thought "Don't Stop The Carnival!" Abdul-Malik has been a recent find for me. I was very familiar with his work with Monk, but when I happened across his stuff as a leader, it was very ear opening. Andrew Cyrille on drums. In Andrew we trust.

And I even had this album at one time.... :rcry:rmad:

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The more I listen the more I feel like "Little Bossa" should become a jazz/bossa nova "standard" - it's so simple yet lovely, up there with stuff like Jobim's "One Note Samba." People need to start covering this one!

I couldn't agree more. I've been saying that for over three decades and I'm still amazed how few people are aware of this record (I mean, LOOK AT THAT RHYTHM SECTION!!!!).

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I recogniz ed Ahmed Abdul-Malik and The Great Jazz Trio right away, but had no time to post any comments due to the final stages of the Cal Tjader book I write the disco for ... I'm sorry, 'cause this was a real nice compilation. :blush:

The acknowledgement is ample, sir; there will be other BFTs. If you like what you heard, though, I recommend you check out the link for Prime Cuts below.

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