Jump to content

BFT 205 Reveal


randyhersom

Recommended Posts

1.    Karin Krog and Archie Shepp - Soul Eyes from Hi-Fly (1976) Karin Krog - vocals, Archie Shepp - tenor saxophone, Charles Greenlee - trombone, Jon Balke - piano, Arild Andersen - double bass, Cameron Brown - bass, Beaver Harris - drums.  A great album.  The track was selected for fitting the mood, Solitude and Hi-Fly may be better tracks to hook in new listeners that didn't fit the mood as well.  Mal Waldron's composition.

2.    Dexter Gordon- You've Changed from Doin' Allright (1961) Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone. Freddie Hubbard - trumpet, Horace Parlan - piano, George Tucker - bass, Al Harewood - drums.  I was actually looking for a version of this that I had heard where Dexter recited the first verse before the band began to play.  That turns out to be on Swiss Nights, and the intro is found at the end of the previous track - thanks to mjzee for solving that mystery for me.  Great ballad playing.

3.    Abdullah Ibrahim - Mountain of the Night from African River (1989) Abdullah Ibrahim – piano, leader, Horace A. Young – alto saxophone, John Stubblefield – tenor saxophone, Robin Eubanks – trombone, Howard Johnson – baritone saxophone. tuba, trumpet, Buster Williams – bass, Brian Abrahams – drums.  I learned from the participants that this lovely composition had been on earlier Abdullah Ibrahim albums as The Mountain.  Along with The Wedding, it's a track that listeners can't get enough of so it has been recorded many times by the composer.

4.    Pete LaRoca - Lazy Afternoon from Basra (1965) Pete La Roca - drums, Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone, Steve Kuhn - piano, Steve Swallow - bass.  This was the inspiration and mood-setter for the first half of the BFT.  I'll always remember when a friend of my stepson stepped into my computer room and commented on this track.  It clearly moved him, but he was aware it was not the kind of music that his age group agreed on, so he made fun of it too, even as he was appreciating the peaceful and hypnotic mood.  James left us way too soon, due to unforeseen health issues.  Like the previous track, this was very widely identified by the participants.

5.    Horace Tapscott - Aiee! The Phantom from Aiee! The Phantom (1995) Horace Tapscott - piano, Marcus Belgrave - trumpet, Abraham Burton - alto saxophone, Reggie Workman - bass, Andrew Cyrille - drums.  Two "locals" associated with localities a half a continent apart.  I thought this was one of the three difficult IDs in the BFT, but Thom had it in milliseconds.  Tapscott's best known for leading and mentoring an Arkestra in Los Angeles for many years, but his solo and small group recordings are quite wonderful.  Belgrave was born in the same city as me, Chester, PA, but is associated with the Detroit, MI Jazz scene, also known for his work with Ray Charles.

6.    Jason Adasciewicz - Warm Valley from Sun Rooms (2009) Jason Adasiewicz - vibraphone, Nate McBride – bass, Mike Reed – drums.  As a fanatic of Walt Dickerson's Peace (as well as all his Steeplechases and everything else he ever did), the vibes, bass and drums instrumentation really speaks to me, and I made a point to get everything I could find by Jason Adasiewicz.  Only three dates are trios, others have an alto and thus more kinship to Out To Lunch than Peace.  Hard to go wrong either way there!

7.    Bill Evans - Bass Face from Quintessence (1976) Bill Evans – piano, Harold Land – tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell – guitar, Ray Brown – bass, Philly Joe Jones – drums.  I love this track, in particular the ascending guitar riff.  There have been comments even before the BFT that the album was kind of underwhelming given the star power of it's lineup, but I find plenty to enjoy.

8.    Sheila Jordan - Baltimore Oriole from Portrait of Sheila (1962) Sheila Jordan – voice, Barry Galbraith – guitar, Steve Swallow – bass, Denzil Best – drums.  Her debut and only Blue Note album. She would not record again as leader for 13 years, but then had a burst of productivity from 1975 on and continued recording until age 80.

9.    Pat Martino - Sunny from Live (1972) Pat Martino - guitar, Ron Thomas - electric piano, Tyrone Brown - electric bass, Sherman Ferguson - drums.  One of my all-time favorites, a track I can play over and over, and often have.  I don't hear commercial pandering in this track at all, but it does fit the category of jazz-rock fusion.  The bass and drums played together in a fusion quartet with Odean Pope and Eddie Green called Catalyst, while a classical pianist was recruited for the gig and sounds right at home with the explorations and hypnotic grooves Pat was laying down.  The appealing melody anchors the piece quite nicely.

10.    Ira Sullivan - E Flat Tuba G from Horizons (1967) Ira Sullivan – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, trumpet, flugelhorn, 
Lon Norman – trombone, euphonium, Dolphe Castellano – piano, keyboards, William Fry– bass, Jose Cigno – drums, timpani
With two days to go, nobody has gotten this one without a clue.  The edgy sound reminiscent of late sixties/early seventies Blue Note was laid down by multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan and four little known Florida locals.  George Adams, Sam Rivers, Jaki Byard and Dave Burrell were among those ventured as guesses.  I'm particularly fond of the aggressive tenor solo, but the track holds together well, fine playing from all.

11.    Oscar Peterson - Travelin' On from Exclusively for My Friends, Vol. 6 (1969)  Piano – Oscar Peterson, Bass – Sam Jones, 
Drums – Bobby Durham.  Unapologetically showy, this speed burner was a track I always liked even though I wasn't inclined toward Peterson in general.

12. Herbie Nichols - The Gig from Herbie Nichols Trio (later on The Complete Blue Note Recordings) (1956) Herbie Nichols - piano, Al McKibbon - bass, Max Roach - drums.  JSngry mentioned the Blue Note "brown bag" series of twofer vinyl LPs issued in the 70s and that's where I encountered Herbie Nichols.  The tracks with Max Roach have always been my favorites, but the entire catalog is great.  

13. Cecil Taylor - Of What from Looking Ahead (1958) Cecil Taylor - piano, Buell Neidlinger - bass, Denis Charles - drums
Earl Griffith is on the vibes for the rest of this set, but this is the earliest of not very many recordings featuring only piano, bass and drums (although one of those was a 10 CD set).  The spiky, percussive logic is there from the beginning.

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...