Jump to content

Fifties Piano Trios


xybert

Recommended Posts

There's a few piano trio threads on the board but i couldn't find one specifically on this topic.

I initially wrote a long rambling post about piano trios and what makes a good one or a bad one, but ultimately it's easier just to ask:

What are your must have, can't live without, piano/bass/drums trio albums from the fifties?

Any and all general discussion/thoughts/opinions on fifties piano trios or particular artists welcome. I don't see any need to limit it to ten or whatever; for you there could be less than ten, or more than ten.

For me, i don't really have enough piano trio albums from the era to have a meaningful opinion. I love Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Monk and Herbie Nichols and have most if not all of their available trio albums from the fifties... apart from that, off the top of my head i have a smattering of trio albums from Tatum, Ellington, Hawes, Sonny Clark, Kenny Drew, Red Garland, John Lewis, Bley, Jamal... but in terms of fifties trio albums i have no Ray Bryant, Elmo Hope, Al Haig, Barry Harris, Duke Jordan, Duke Pearson, The Three Sounds, Wynton Kelly, Horace Parlan, Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson, Phineas Newborn Jr etc etc... I'm really just starting to get in to it. There's a sea of albums out there and i'm trying to get a bit of a handle on it. Cheers.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off the top of my head:

Horace Silver's Blue Note trio album

Kenny Drew's Riverside album (now on OJC) with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe and his "Pal Joey" album, also on OJC, with Wilbur Ware and Philly Joe

The Duke Jordan trio half album that originally was on Signal, with Percy Heath and Blakey; the quintet half is fine too.

The Dick Twardzik Trio

 

More to come when I have more time to think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of my favorites:

- Kenny Drew: The Kenny Drew Trio (Riverside)

- Duke Ellington: Piano Reflections (Capitol)

- Bill Evans: Portrait in Jazz (Riverside)

- Red Garland: Red Garland's Piano & Groovy (Prestige)

- Erroll Garner: Long Ago and Far AwayBody and Soul; Concert by the Sea (Columbia/Sony)

- Hampton Hawes: HH Trio, Vol. 1; This is HH; Everybody Likes HH (Contemporary) 

- Roy Haynes: We Three (with Phineas Newborn, Jr.) (Prestige)

- Ahmad Jamal: Cross Country Tour: 1958-61 (Argo/GRP)

- Thelonious Monk: TM Trio (Prestige); TM Plays Duke EllingtonThe Unique TM (Riverside)

- Bud Powell: Jazz Giant (Verve)

- Mal Waldron: Mal/4: Trio (New Jazz)

- Randy Weston: Trio & SoloGet Happy (Riverside)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with HutchFan on Bud, Monk, and Bill Evans' Portrait - the Evans I turn to most often. In addition:

The Elmo Hope Trio on Contemporary;

Dick Twardzik on Pacific Jazz;

The Cecil Taylor Trio with Buell Neidlinger and Dennis Charles - they are the ensemble for half of Jazz Advance and half of Love For Sale;

And the Art Tatum Trio with Red Callender and Jo Jones - some of my favorite Tatum. Jo Jones played with an authority that seemed to make Tatum realize that life real; life is earnest.

There's lots more I like (such as George Wallington), but I wouldn't want to be without any of the above.

 

Later: I see that Larry already mentioned Twardzik. The Horace Silver trios would be high on my list, too.

Edited by jeffcrom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the Duke Jordan album I mentioned, has a lovely version of "They Can't Take That Away From Me":

http://www.amazon.com/Trio-Quintet-Duke-Jordan/dp/B0042UJWDA/ref=sr_1_7?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1442895458&sr=1-7&keywords=duke+jordan

 

I prefer the Sonny Clark Trio album on Time to the one on Blue Note, fine as that is:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/sonny-clark-trio-time-mw0000320204
 

Edited by Larry Kart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for the posts guys. Some thoughts:

Pleased to see the love for The Kenny Drew Trio. 

Ellington's Piano Reflections... so good, loved that one so much i bought a brand new copy just in case my perfectly good second hand copy ever conked out.

I really need to check out some Twardzik and Hope.

Listened to a bit of Concert By The Sea on Spotify. I'd never heard it; defied my expectations. Nice!

Duke Jordan is someone that i want to check out more of. Does anyone know anything about this album:

51%2BHRYDUiRL._SX425_.jpg

It was reissued in Japan in 2014 and is available really cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some PERSONAL favorites (in no particular order) that immediately come to mind that I keep revisiting relatively regularly :

Al Haig

George Wallington (my Prestige twofer is not a million spins away from being worn out ;))

Claude Williamson

Ronnell Bright

Hank Jones

Hampton Hawes

Marian McPartland

Pete Jolly

Lou Levy

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Duke Jordan is someone that i want to check out more of. Does anyone know anything about this album:

 

It was reissued in Japan in 2014 and is available really cheap.

1954 Vogue Paris date recorded for them in NYC. 

I have a lovely 10inch UK edition . Music is great

Formerly reissued here and also on a Prestige LP:

23188924yy.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Duke Jordan is someone that i want to check out more of. Does anyone know anything about this album:

 

It was reissued in Japan in 2014 and is available really cheap.

1954 Vogue Paris date recorded for them in NYC. 

I have a lovely 10inch UK edition . Music is great

Formerly reissued here and also on a Prestige LP:

23188924yy.jpg

I have 5 tracks as part of this OJC release:

61sBgrx-tvL._SS280.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best trio album by Hope (Jeff mentioned it, Hifijazz/Contemporary/Fantasy) is from 1961. Not that it matters much since it fits the bill.

1959, I thought.

And I almost didn't reply to this thread because I knew I would forget someone major. And I did.

Herbie Nichols on Blue Note!

You're right, sorry! Released 1960 on Hifijazz, not sure where I got 1961 from.

And yeah, Herbie Nichols of course! His was one of the first names that crossed my mind seing this topic, but he's been mentioned and I'm not sure how useful it is if I do another list of artists already mentioned ;)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1544450.jpg

Took me a few years to really unlock this one to get inside it, but, as with most things Ellington, worth the investment.

As far as ex posto facto releases go, the ESP series of Bud Powell Birdland broadcasts is worthy of inclusion in most any collection.

and as much as I love Vernell Fournier, the early Ahmad Jamal trio records with Ray Crawford & Israel Crosby are seriously da' bomb, as yesterday's kids used to say. The absence f a drum set and the various ways that is handled make for some very provocative and imaginative results.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Duke Jordan is someone that i want to check out more of. Does anyone know anything about this album:

51%2BHRYDUiRL._SX425_.jpg

It was reissued in Japan in 2014 and is available really cheap.

1954 Vogue Paris date recorded for them in NYC. 

I have a lovely 10inch UK edition . Music is great

Thanks!

The best trio album by Hope (Jeff mentioned it, Hifijazz/Contemporary/Fantasy) is from 1961. Not that it matters much since it fits the bill.

1959, I thought.

And I almost didn't reply to this thread because I knew I would forget someone major. And I did.

Herbie Nichols on Blue Note!

You're right, sorry! Released 1960 on Hifijazz, not sure where I got 1961 from.

And yeah, Herbie Nichols of course! His was one of the first names that crossed my mind seing this topic, but he's been mentioned and I'm not sure how useful it is if I do another list of artists already mentioned ;)

 

Actually, if you have time, please do make a list, especially if it's artists already mentioned! It's actually very useful. For example, seeing Concert By The Sea on Hutchfan's list... it put's things in to context in terms of, hey he's digging a lot of the same stuff as me, but i've never thought to really check out Errol Garner let alone that album, let's have a listen...

Or if not a list, just post some favourites that come to mind. I really appreciate everyone's posts here.

For me it's really helpful to see what individual members here consider to be their personal favourite albums. And if there's crossover with other members, even better! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...