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Buddy Colette and his West Coast Friends


Larry Kart

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Listening tonight to this compilation of two 1956 small-group dates with similar personnel -- Colette's "Tanganyika" and drummer Max Albright's "Mood for Max" -- I was especially taken with the work of trumpeter John Anderson (1921-74). A suave graceful modernist with a warm big tone and impressive chops, he might be described as residing somewhere between Joe Wilder and Ray Copeland, which is a nice place to be. One assumes that his original inspirations were Harry Edison and Fats Navarro, though there are a few Gillispie-ish touches. In any case, Anderson was his own man and a very impressive player. Anyone know whether he can be heard at length elsewhere? 

BTW, familiar though I am with Colette's work on his various horns, I was surprised by how much several of his alto solos here sound like Paul Desmond. A plus is the work of bassists Curtis Counce (on "Tanganyika") and Joe Comfort. Albright's drumming is a bit tiddly at times, but not enough to really matter.

http://www.amazon.com/West-Coast-Friends-Buddy-Collette/dp/B001PQG0XE/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1462063424&sr=1-3&keywords=buddy+collette+west

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2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Too bad they did not include the (amazing) original cover art for "Tanganyika."  

Buddy Collette's "Polynesia" has also been released on CD:

 

 

 

 

The "Tanganyika" cover is reproduced in the booklet.

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Nope, not full size but ample.Label owner/musician Johnny Otis  designed the cover, maybe even created that sculpture, though I'm not sure about the latter. Don't know "Jazz Heat, Bongo Beat," but unlike you, I'm not into exotica, though I recall enjoying at least one of Les Baxter's hits in my youth.

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While I respected the skill of Buddy Collette, I rarely found his playing very interesting. Seemed to me to not swing much and lacked that jazz feeling so hard to define.

The one exception for me is this one below. It was not the usual setting to hear Buddy, more hard swinging with a fine rhythm section. It is a session I very much enjoy.

MI0000441194.jpg

Edited by Peter Friedman
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2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

While I respected the skill of Buddy Collette, I rarely found his playing very interesting. Seemed to me to not swing much and lacked that jazz feeling so hard to define.

The one exception for me is this one below. It was not the usual setting to hear Buddy, more hard swinging with a fine rhythm section. It is a session I very much enjoy.

MI0000441194.jpg

Yes, indeed.

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