i was reading an article on tommy flanagan (don't remember where) and it was saying how in the 70's he began taking his solos more out there-far from the original structures of the songs he was playing. i always pictured his 70's albums (on pablo mostly, i guess...) to be sort of rote based on the players and years of recording, but am i missing out on some interesting music?

If I understand your question, I would say I'm not aware of any major stylistic changes in Flanagan's approach during the 70's, but maybe it's a more subtle thing that I haven't picked up on. At any rate, I don't agree with your use of the term "rote" in this context. Flanagan was a piano giant, one of my all-time favorites, and whether or not he was challenging himself stylistically, he was a great artist who always played with taste and sensitivity.

Any particular reason you're asking about the 70's only? He of course continued to record through the 80's and 90's, increasing his output as a leader over the years. I recently found a discography of his later work (1979-1999), BTW, which I saved and could easily post here if anybody's interested.

Anyway, here's what I have from the 70's, all of which I would recommend.

1975-02-15 -The Tokyo Recital (Pablo) w/Keter Betts,Bobby Durham
1977-02; 1978-11 -Confirmation (Enja) w/George Mraz,Elvin Jones
1977-07-13 -Montreux '77 (Pablo) w/Keter Betts,Bobby Durham
1977-12-08 -Alone Too Long (Denon) solo
1978-01-28 -Our Delights (Galaxy) w/Hank Jones
1978-01-30 -Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Galaxy) w/Keter Betts,Jimmie Smith

I was thinking that the Enja record was from the 70s but I couldn't confirm, being away from home. I second Jim's recommendation.

Just a wee bit later than the 1970's (1981), "The Magnificent Tommy Flanagan" was released on Progressive Records and should still be available on CD. Tommy's stellar bandmates are the great George Mraz on bass and the equally magnificent Al Foster on drums. Tunes:

1. Speak Low
2. Good Morning Heartache
3. Old Devil Moon
4. Everything I Love
5. Change Partners
6. I Fall In Love Too Easily
7. Blueish Grey
8. Just In Time

Alternate takes of Speak Low, Good Morning Heartache, Change Partners and Old Devil Moon also included.

Hiiighly recommended!

Marla

There are some great ones from the 80's and 90's, for sure. JAZZ POET is a classic, for example.

relyles, here you go (can't necessarily vouch for the accuracy here 100%, but fwiw...)

From: http://corbusie.hp.infoseek.co.jp/tfdc.htm

[I tried to actually paste in the data here instead of just giving the url, and I got an error message telling me I had used too many emoticons. I knew instantly that this was the result of the dreaded (, (a "b" in parentheses, indicating "bass" in discographical notation). Unfortunately, there were way too many ('s in this 20-year discography for me to manually fix them, so... hopefully the above link still works...]

There's some mighty fine Flanagan on the Enja dates! "Giant Steps", "Eclipso", "Confimation"... I like them a lot! And "Our Delights" (Fantasy, mentioned already) is one of the nicest piano duos I've heard.

ubu