Jump to content

Playing Favorites: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s

01/07/20 - The Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Awakening (Impulse, 1970)

01/06/20 - Gene Ammons ‎– Night Lights (Prestige, 1985)

01/05/20 - Freddie Hubbard – Red Clay (CTI, 1970)

01/04/20 - Harold Mabern – Greasy Kid Stuff! (Prestige, 1970)

01/03/20 - Alice Coltrane – Ptah, the El Daoud (Impulse, 1970)

01/02/20 - Thad Jones • Mel Lewis – Consummation (Blue Note, 1970)

01/01/20 - The Michael Garrick Sextet with Norma Winstone – The Heart is a Lotus (Argo/Vocalion, 1970)

 

All recorded between January 20 and February 3, 1970. :) 

 

All excellent choices (and all in my collection - that tendency will fall away greatly as you get later into the decade, I'm sure).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 973
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

For when you reach 1973, I recommend Denny Zeitlin's "Expansion", with George Marsh and Mel Graves. It was issued as mail-order only, and, of course, on vinyl. It is listed on Discogs, which also shows a 1975 issue, possibly in stores.

It's a very interesting, experimental album, with an unforgettable ending.

Edited by Shrdlu
Yes
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Shrdlu said:

For when you reach 1973, I recommend Denny Zeitlin's "Expansion", with George Marsh and Mel Graves. It was issued as mail-order only, and, of course, on vinyl. It is listed on Discogs, which also shows a 1975 issue, possibly in stores.

It's a very interesting, experimental album, with an unforgettable ending.

Shrdlu,

I dig Zeitlin, and I've looked at that LP on discogs -- but I've never heard it. Will put it on the "to get" list. Thanks! :tup

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Shrdlu,

I dig Zeitlin, and I've looked at that LP on discogs -- but I've never heard it. Will put it on the "to get" list. Thanks! :tup

Be sure to add this one to your list if not already in your collection.  Tons of stellar otherwise unreleased material along with his first few wonderful Columbia albums.

Image result for zeitlin mosaic select

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a fantastic project, HutchFan. FWIW I think it’s nearly comventional wisdom now among many jazz listeners that the 1970s was actually a vibrant decade for jazz (and I recall Ethan Iverson and Dave Douglas posting long lists of their favorite albums from the 70s ten years ago or so). There are still quite a few albums that merit further listening and discovery, as you note. Perhaps not as compelling, but I think a case could be made for the 80s being a more interesting decade than its current reputation. Just as the 70s got stereotypically/reductively dissed for too long as “the age of fusion” or some such, the 80s can be erroneously regarded as “the age of Marsalis/neo-classicism.” Lots of good stuff happening beyond/beside the dominant media narratives.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

This is a fantastic project, HutchFan. FWIW I think it’s nearly comventional wisdom now among many jazz listeners that the 1970s was actually a vibrant decade for jazz (and I recall Ethan Iverson and Dave Douglas posting long lists of their favorite albums from the 70s ten years ago or so). There are still quite a few albums that merit further listening and discovery, as you note. Perhaps not as compelling, but I think a case could be made for the 80s being a more interesting decade than its current reputation. Just as the 70s got stereotypically/reductively dissed for too long as “the age of fusion” or some such, the 80s can be erroneously regarded as “the age of Marsalis/neo-classicism.” Lots of good stuff happening beyond/beside the dominant media narratives.

ghost, I agree 100% with you on jazz in the 1980s. There's tons of interesting stuff there. TONS. You've just got to dig a little -- just like in the 1970s.  :tup 

 

16 hours ago, felser said:

Be sure to add this one to your list if not already in your collection.  Tons of stellar otherwise unreleased material along with his first few wonderful Columbia albums.

Image result for zeitlin mosaic select

felser, 

I don't have that set -- but I do have Carnival and Zeitgeist on LP.  Figured that was enough. But perhaps I'll plop for the set some day. :tup 

Shrdlu's recommendation of Expansion (Double Helix, 1973) really catches my eye because it was made during the 1970s -- unlike the stuff in the Mosaic set.  I figured Expansion might be something worth including in my 70s survey.  For the same reason, I've also wondered about Zeitlin's Soundings (1750 Arch, 1978). 

Both look interesting.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard either of them.  There's only so much time and $$$ to go 'round. ;) 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I don't have that set -- but I do have Carnival and Zeitgeist on LP.  Figured that was enough. But perhaps I'll plop for the set some day. :tup

Oh my gosh, the Zeitlin Select is really fantastic, and frankly - all the previously unreleased material is incredibly interesting, and (most of it) is a bit more 'out there' than what was released from each session.  Zeitlin was involved in picking out what else to include in the set, and (iirc) there's nearly an entire album's worth of extra tunes (none of them just 'alternates'), most of them pretty energetic and almost percussive (thinking of the piano as a percussion instrument).  Some of it borders on the kind of stuff Herbie was doing behind Wayne on The All Seeing Eye, for instance (not that Denny's approach and touch are that similar to Herbie's - but just in terms of general feel).  I could easily assemble a whole new album primarily from the previously-unreleased material, and it'd be tempting to say it could be one of my top-20 piano trio albums of all time (just from the newly released stuff).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Oh my gosh, the Zeitlin Select is really fantastic, and frankly - all the previously unreleased material is incredibly interesting, and (most of it) is a bit more 'out there' than what was released from each session.  Zeitlin was involved in picking out what else to include in the set, and (iirc) there's nearly an entire album's worth of extra tunes (none of them just 'alternates'), most of them pretty energetic and almost percussive (thinking of the piano as a percussion instrument).  Some of it borders on the kind of stuff Herbie was doing behind Wayne on The All Seeing Eye, for instance (not that Denny's approach and touch are that similar to Herbie's - but just in terms of general feel).  I could easily assemble a whole new album primarily from the previously-unreleased material, and it'd be tempting to say it could be one of my top-20 piano trio albums of all time (just from the newly released stuff).

Oh wow ... sounds like I need to check it out!!!  Thanks for the recommendation. :)  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, HutchFan said:

01/07/20 - The Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Awakening (Impulse, 1970)

BTW, yesterday we got half a snow-day here in DC, and as I was heading home on the subway I checked out your blog, and of all things -- my most recent order from Dusty Groove was waiting for me at the front desk our apartment building as I walked in the door, COMPLETELY with Ahmad Jamal's The Awakening!! -- which I had ordered back on Dec 28th, an album I'd been thinking about getting for a year or two.

My wife had had half-a-day at work too, so I spun The Awakening for both of us when I got home, and it's really a nice, and often understated outing.  I used to have whatever that ubiquitous live album of Jama's was from 1985 (the one with "Footprints"), but I let go of it 25 years ago when no piano trio album of any sort was gonna float my boat (back then).  So this is my first foray back into anything by Jamal.  Talk about perfect timing!! -- your blog-post 'album of the day', and it arrived on my doorstep less than an hour later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

ghost, I agree 100% with you on jazz in the 1980s. There's tons of interesting stuff there. TONS. You've just got to dig a little -- just like in the 1970s.  :tup 

 

felser, 

I don't have that set -- but I do have Carnival and Zeitgeist on LP.  Figured that was enough. But perhaps I'll plop for the set some day. :tup 

Shrdlu's recommendation of Expansion (Double Helix, 1973) really catches my eye because it was made during the 1970s -- unlike the stuff in the Mosaic set.  I figured Expansion might be something worth including in my 70s survey.  For the same reason, I've also wondered about Zeitlin's Soundings (1750 Arch, 1978). 

Both look interesting.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard either of them.  There's only so much time and $$$ to go 'round. ;) 

 

Scott: I have a duplicate copy of Denny Zeitlin's Soundings if you would like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Ken Dryden said:

Scott: I have a duplicate copy of Denny Zeitlin's Soundings if you would like it.

ABSOLUTELY!  Thank you, Ken!  :) :) :) 

 

41 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

BTW, yesterday we got half a snow-day here in DC, and as I was heading home on the subway I checked out your blog, and of all things -- my most recent order from Dusty Groove was waiting for me at the front desk our apartment building as I walked in the door, COMPLETELY with Ahmad Jamal's The Awakening!! -- which I had ordered back on Dec 28th, an album I'd been thinking about getting for a year or two.

My wife had had half-a-day at work too, so I spun The Awakening for both of us when I got home, and it's really a nice, and often understated outing.  I used to have whatever that ubiquitous live album of Jama's was from 1985 (the one with "Footprints"), but I let go of it 25 years ago when no piano trio album of any sort was gonna float my boat (back then).  So this is my first foray back into anything by Jamal.  Talk about perfect timing!! -- your blog-post 'album of the day', and it arrived on my doorstep less than an hour later.

That's some uncanny synchronicity, right there. ;) 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rooster_Ties said:

BTW, yesterday we got half a snow-day here in DC, and as I was heading home on the subway I checked out your blog, and of all things -- my most recent order from Dusty Groove was waiting for me at the front desk our apartment building as I walked in the door, COMPLETELY with Ahmad Jamal's The Awakening!! -- which I had ordered back on Dec 28th, an album I'd been thinking about getting for a year or two.

My wife had had half-a-day at work too, so I spun The Awakening for both of us when I got home, and it's really a nice, and often understated outing.  I used to have whatever that ubiquitous live album of Jama's was from 1985 (the one with "Footprints"), but I let go of it 25 years ago when no piano trio album of any sort was gonna float my boat (back then).  So this is my first foray back into anything by Jamal.  Talk about perfect timing!! -- your blog-post 'album of the day', and it arrived on my doorstep less than an hour later.

You may want to retry this one also.  Very nice album.

Image result for ahmad jamal live atlantic

And pick up these one ASAP (all except 'Tranquility' also recorded at Montreux ca. early 70's):

 

Image result for ahmad jamal freeflight outertimeinnerspace Image result for ahmad jamal freeflight outertimeinnerspace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

This is a fantastic project, HutchFan. FWIW I think it’s nearly comventional wisdom now among many jazz listeners that the 1970s was actually a vibrant decade for jazz (and I recall Ethan Iverson and Dave Douglas posting long lists of their favorite albums from the 70s ten years ago or so). There are still quite a few albums that merit further listening and discovery, as you note. Perhaps not as compelling, but I think a case could be made for the 80s being a more interesting decade than its current reputation. Just as the 70s got stereotypically/reductively dissed for too long as “the age of fusion” or some such, the 80s can be erroneously regarded as “the age of Marsalis/neo-classicism.” Lots of good stuff happening beyond/beside the dominant media narratives.

The live music I saw in the 1980s was so fantastic--Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Horace Silver, Ahmad Jamal, Ornette Coleman, Dewey Redman, Charles Moffett, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, George Coleman, Miles Davis, James Blood Ulmer, Dizzy Gillespie, Sun Ra, Benny Carter, Mose Allison, David Newman, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Oregon, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Ralph Towner, Cedar Walton, Lionel Hampton,  Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, etc. And I missed so many that were active. I also saw Wynton and Branford various times, but they were mostly at best of moderate interest. A mere footnote to the era, in my memory.

Edited by kh1958
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That Gene Ammons choice is stealth! I don't think that any of it came out at all until 1985, and then on LP for just a very quick minute. After that, just the pieces added to OJC CDs mentioned in the article.

But it's a great record.

For 70s Prestige Ammons actually released in the 70s, that go into that "straight ahead" bag and stay there, there's the sadly/appropriately titled Goodbye, as well as Gene Ammons and Friends at Montreux. But none of them have Wynton Kelly...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, JSngry said:

That Gene Ammons choice is stealth! I don't think that any of it came out at all until 1985, and then on LP for just a very quick minute. After that, just the pieces added to OJC CDs mentioned in the article.

But it's a great record.

Yes sir. Couldn't agree more. Ammons is FLYING -- and then you add Wynton Kelly. Potent!

 

41 minutes ago, JSngry said:

For 70s Prestige Ammons actually released in the 70s, that go into that "straight ahead" bag and stay there, there's the sadly/appropriately titled Goodbye, as well as Gene Ammons and Friends at Montreux. But none of them have Wynton Kelly...

I considered both of those.  My hesitance with Goodbye is that Jug is so close to the end that his tone is (ever so slightly) diminished. ... Plus, knowing that it's the end... That's rough. Hard to choose it as a favorite for that reason alone.

The Montreux date has Hawes & Klook going for it, but -- at times -- it also has that "loose fitting clothes" jam session feel to it. Yeah, it's comfy, but it could use a little more snap.

Then I heard "Nature Boy" on Night Lights.  At that point, choosing my favorite Ammons-from-the-70s was easy.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

I considered both of those.  My hesitance with Goodbye is that Jug is so close to the end that his tone is (ever so slightly) diminished. ... Plus, knowing that it's the end... That's rough. Hard to choose it as a favorite for that reason alone.

The Montreux date has Hawes & Klook going for it, but -- at times -- it also has that "loose fitting clothes" jam session feel to it. Yeah, it's comfy, but it could use a little more snap.

Oh, I get it, totally, especially the Montreux thing, doesn't really come all the way alive until Cannonball pops in, and that's not until the end. I'm down with Goodbye in a big way though...it's just fierce, no matter what the circumstances were. But, yeah, knowing that it's the end, that's a real thing.

Do you know the Enja thing? Not the best recording, but if you like/love Jug...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Oh, I get it, totally, especially the Montreux thing, doesn't really come all the way alive until Cannonball pops in, and that's not until the end. I'm down with Goodbye in a big way though...it's just fierce, no matter what the circumstances were. But, yeah, knowing that it's the end, that's a real thing.

Do you know the Enja thing? Not the best recording, but if you like/love Jug...

 

not only do I love this recording, but I was thrilled recently to find it on CD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like the Gene Ammons at Montreux since it really fits to this thread (1970´s) since Hampton Hawes uses the Electric piano and Bob Cranshaw the Electric bass. This is very interesting to listen to somehow "straight ahead" bop like "Yardbird Suite" with a more Electric Sound. Wonderful, like a marriage between the Old and the New and that also was part of the 70´s. 

There was those Players who wouldn´t look back, and those from the old School who started to use some of the electricity, like Dizzy did, like Sonny Rollins did….

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Scott,

I tried to leave comments on your blog but for some reason it didn't work.   

Just wanted to thank you for your efforts.

I started listening to "jazz" in the 70s (my 20s) and this is a lot of fun.  Sadly I don't know anything you've posted so far, so I must not have been paying attention back then.  I am looking forward to following along and maybe I will even recognize something along the way. :O)

Nick S.

 

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...