BFT #84 -- The Reveal

[Spontooneous]

1. "Come Dance With Me" (Dick Griffin), Hilton Ruiz, from "El Camino (The Road)," RCA-Novus 3024-2-N. Ruiz, p; Sam Rivers, ts; Dick Griffin, tb; Lew Soloff, tp; Rodney Jones, g; Andy Gonzalez, b; Steve Berrios, d and guiro; Jerry Gonzalez, cga, perc; Endel Dueno, timbales; Jose Alexias Diaz, perc, cgas. Oct. 15, 1987.

Some people found it too slick. I like the tune itself (so, apparently does Thom Keith, who recognized it right away), I like hearing Sam Rivers in this context, I love the way the rhythm section works -- and doggone it, I like Hilton's piano. Especially the way in this solo he's nice for a few bars, naughty for a few bars. (Thom finds the solo ham-handed, I find it endearing.)

The whole CD or LP is pretty wonderful, as long as you skip the opening tune, which is as creaky and academic as anything to come out of Lincoln Center.

2 "Curved Space" (Joanne Brackeen), Joanne Brackeen, p, from "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall," Concord CCD-4409. Berkeley, Calif., June 1989.

How 'bout that killin' 6/4 funk groove? Maybe the solo above it could be better (and I'd swear it, Brackeen played this even better on a visit to Kansas City circa 1990). But the groove gets me every time. I've spent a lot of time arranging this tune for the band in my brain.

3 Study No. 3A, Conlon Nancarrow, from Studies for Player Piano Vols. 1 and 2 (there are five volumes), Wergo WER 6169-2. Piano roll punched by Nancarrow in the 1940s. Played back and recorded on a custom-altered 1927 Ampico Reproducing piano at Nancarrow's home in Mexico City, January 1988.

Composer Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) wanted to explore realms of rhythm and texture beyond what human players can reliably execute. So in the 1940s, he turned to the player piano. There are about 60 of these studies, featuring dense canons, highly complex tempo relationships, and sometimes precisely controlled gradual tempo changes. But this early study uses the 12-bar blues as a launching pad, a boogie-woogie to the Nth degree. I love the buildup of layers starting about 2:30. Sure, it's mechanical, but I find it more human than mechanical. Certainly the very human sense of fun is still there.

The idea of placing Nancarrow in a Blindfold Test is completely stolen from another O-board member who shall remain nameless.

4 "Cathedral Blues" (Tiny Parham), Tiny Parham and his Musicians, originally Victor 78 V-38111, this transfer from Timeless CBC 1-022. Parham, p, cel; Punch Miller, ct; Charles Lawson, tb; unknown, cl, as, ts; Elliot Washington, vn; Mike McKendrick, bj; Quinn Wilson, bb; Ernie Marrero, d. Chicago, Dec. 3, 1929.

I like Punch Miller's solo, and the resourceful use of the studio's celesta. And how 'bout that intro and outro? Was Tiny Parham (that's him in Medjuck's avatar) thinking of the Dresden Amen?

5 "Trenches" (Turner Parrish), Turner Parrish, originally Champion 78 16645, this transfer from "Barrelhouse Piano Blues and Stomps," Document DOCD-5193. Solo piano, Richmond, Ind., Jan. 13, 1933.

Our set of blues concludes with a boogie-woogie that's all too human, as a counterweight to the mechanical Nancarrow. Turner Parrish, who may have been from Chicago, did a couple of sessions for Gennett-Champion and then disappeared into history. Is he brilliantly integrating eight-bar and twelve-bar choruses, or is he getting lost, playing faster than he can play? I don't know, but it's endlessly fascinating. (To Jeff and any other 78 collectors: We'll probably never see a Champion original, but watch for the 78 reissue in a Decca boogie-woogie collection.)

Edited to fix a cover image.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Spontooneous

[Spontooneous]

6. "Animal Dance" (John Lewis), John Lewis and Albert Mangelsdorff, from "Animal Dance," originally an Atlantic LP, this transfer from Collectables COL-CD-6253. Lewis, p; Mangelsdorff, tb; Karl Theodor Geier, b; Silvijc Glojnaric, d. The CD doesn't give a date; an online search suggests July 30, 1962.

A palate-cleanser after the set of blues. I like the tune because it doesn't sound like a John Lewis tune, or anybody else's tune. The piano solo certainly does sound like him, though. Wonder why he drops out toward the end? Mangelsdorff is pretty fine here, and the rhythm section doesn't do much damage. Check the Modern Jazz Quartet's "Lonely Woman" album for another version of this tune.

7. "Mr. Cheese," Milt Ward, from "Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum," Twin Quest LP 1116. The cover gives this composite personnel, and just about everybody seems to be on this cut: Ward, tp, flh; Carlos Garnett, ts; Bill Pierce, ts, ss; Eddie Alex, as, fl; Glenn Barbour, bars; Delmar Brown, p, elp, synth; Coucho Martinez, Fender b; Cecil McBee, acoustic b; Ignacio Mena, perc; Hugh Peterson, d. Recorded circa 1977. Cover gives no date; label has copyright date 1777 (love that early post-colonial jazz!), and the artwork is dated 1976. I made the digital transfer from an LP belonging to another board member.

This is probably the rarest track of the bunch. Ward was from Boston, and the LP, which looks homemade, probably wasn't distributed widely. But it's an ambitious thing! And never more ambitious than in this crazy opening cut, with its wandering theme, its strange arrangement, and its lovely groove and committed blowing.

I'm not sure which of the two tenors takes the solo; maybe Carlos Garnett, because Bill Pierce would have been a mere pup when this was recorded. Cecil McBee has perhaps the strongest solo of the bunch, and Thom Keith picked him out, which blows my mind. Yes, Milt Ward does sound like Woody Shaw, here and elsewhere on the album.

The rest of the album is just about on this level – interesting for the writing, the blowing and the synthesizer touches. It can be found in the blogosphere, and I recommend grabbing it if you find it.

Ward's discography is scanty; it includes an appearance on a David Newman Atlantic album. Apprently he died in the 1980s. That's about all I know. So "Mr. Cheese" is a frustrating glimpse of what might have been. I wanted to be sure some people heard it.

8 "Bye-Ya" (Monk), Anthony Coleman Trio, from "Sephardic Tinge," Tzadik TZ-7102. Coleman, p; Greg Cohen, b; Joey Baron, d. New York, Dec 29, 1993.

Anthony Coleman writes in the liner notes that in many people's minds, klezmer music is a symbol of New York Jewish culture, but to him it's a poor symbol of a "hybrid and fragmented" culture. Thinking back on the music he heard growing up, he recalled mambos and cha-chas. He aimed to explore Spanish-Sephardic-American connections in this album. I'm especially fond of what Joey Baron plays here, not so much a Latin groove as a 1927 junkyard groove. It's a sound I heard in a dream once but hadn't heard in the physical world until this CD came along.

9 "Ol' Man River" (Kern, arr. Errol Parker), Errol Parker Tentet, from "A Night in Tunisia," Sahara 1015. Parker, dm; Philip Harper (solo) and Michael Thomas, tp; Doug Harris, ss; Donald Harrison, as; Bill Saxton, ts; Patience Higgins, bars; Tyrone Jefferson, tb; Cary De Nigris, g; Reggie Washington, el b. New York, April 9, 1991.

Errol Parker was a pianist for most of his career, but in later years he turned to drumming. By this time, he was using a conga in place of a snare in his kit. His piano playing reflected a fascination with polytonality that also came through in his arrangements for the Tentet. And as he loved simultaneous keys, he loved simultaneous solos. Maybe a little goes a long way, but a little can really good sometimes. There are quite a few self-produced quick-and-dirty Parker recordings on his Sahara label -- and I wish I liked some of the others as much as I like this one.

10 "Willow Weep for Me," Ethel Ennis, from "If Women Ruled the World," Savoy CY-18088. Ennis, v; Marc Copland, p; Ron McClure, b; Billy Hart, d. New York, Feb. 11 or 12, 1998.

Ennis was born in 1932, and signed a record deal with Savoy in the 1950s. She also recorded for Atlantic, Capitol, Jubilee and RCA. Mostly she's been back home in Baltimore – but when Savoy was re-launched for a little while in the '90s, somebody remembered, and this recommendable album was the result. Is it a mismatch of singer and rhythm section? I don't think so, but you're free to disagree. She might be a little unsure at first, but by the end, she seems to be completely in charge, and inspired by her surroundings. Let's hear it for Marc Copland!

(Can't make this cover image work.)

11 "Cavernism" (Hines), Earl Hines and his Orchestra, originally Decca 78 #183, this echoey transfer from Classics CD 528. Hines, p; Charlie Allen, George Dixon, Walter Fuller, tp; Louis Taylor, William Franklin, Trummy Young, tb; Darnell Howard, cl, as, vn; Omer Simeon, cl, as, bar; Cecil Irwin, cl, ts; Lawrence Dixon, g; Quinn Wilson, b; Wallace Bishop, d. Chicago, Sept. 13, 1934.

Sorry about that fakey echo; this was the only digital transfer I could find. Still, the performance comes through pretty well. After the leader, Walter Fuller and young Trummy Young solo, it's Darnell Howard on violin, and extra credit to anyone who picks up on his Dvorak quote. You should also hear the other side of the 78, "Angry," where Howard blows a very intricate clarinet solo and the leader's solo is even better.

12 "Salz" (Misha Mengelberg), Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, from self-titled ECM 1409. Alexander von Schlippenbach, cond; Benny Bailey, Thomas Heberer, Henry Lowther, tpts; Kenny Wheeler, tp, flh; Paul van Kemenade, Felix Wahnschaffe, as; Gerd Dudek, ss, ts, cl, fl; Walter Gauchel, ts; E.L. Petrowsky, bars; Willem Breuker, bars, bcl; Henning Berg, Hermann Breuer, Hubert Katzenbeier, tbns; Utz Zimmermann, bass tbn; Misha Mengelberg, Aki Takase, p; Gunter Lenz, b; Ed Thigpen, d. May 1989, Berlin. Solos by Breuker (bcl), Benny Bailey, Gerd Dudek (ts).

OK, it's got a few problems, notably the inability of the rhythm section to agree on the tempo until halfway through. How odd to hear Ed Thigpen in this context. Still, I love the Dadaistic way the whole composition fits together, from the opening fanfare, to the Kansas City riff that jumps out of nowhere, to the ending that makes it all work somehow. I'm assuming it's Mengelberg on piano on this one.

13 "You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me" (Mongezi Feza), Louis Moholo Octet, from "Spirits Rejoice!", Ogun OGCD 018. Evan Parker, ts; Kenny Wheeler, tp; Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, tbn; Keith Tippett, p; Johnny Dyani, Harry Miller, b; Moholo, d. London, 1978.

My favorite thing here, and apparently a favorite of some other listeners. I love the circular tune of seven bars (or 14, or 3 and a half, depending on how you count it). Can't say I know which trombonist is which, or which bassist is which – if anybody knows, please post! -- but I love the whole ensemble sound. This CD has been the single most-played disc at my house in the last couple of years. It's probably become my favorite acoustic jazz disc of the 1970s.

14. "Sometimes I" (Dick Griffin), Hilton Ruiz, from the same disc as Track 1.

The content of BFT 84 was selected quite a few months ago, and it's just a coincidence that it repeats a dirty trick from BFT 83 and uses two tunes from the same disc. This is another very likable Dick Griffin tune. We don't think of Sam Rivers as a ballad player, but here you go. Is the piano accompaniment a little rococo? I don't mind.

Many thanks to all who participated. There's some good ears attached to some good people in this community.

Edited to fix some busted cover images.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Spontooneous

[kh1958]

I actually saw the Erroll Parker Tentet in concert--a CD release party for A Night In Tunisia, at a small theater in Greenwich Village. It was similar personnel, with the same concept of paired soloists. A fine concert it was. Afterwards, I walked a couple of blocks to Sweet Basil to see McCoy Tyner--New York City is a great town!

[jeffcrom]

Between Garnett and Saxton, I vote for Garnett as the tenor soloist.

I knew not having any of the Decca recordings by the Hines big band would come back to bite me in the ass.

Great BFT - really enjoyed it!

[Hot Ptah]

2 "Curved Space" (Joanne Brackeen), Joanne Brackeen, p, from "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall," Concord CCD-4409. Berkeley, Calif., June 1989.

How 'bout that killin' 6/4 funk groove? Maybe the solo above it could be better (and I'd swear it, Brackeen played this even better on a visit to Kansas City circa 1990). But the groove gets me every time. I've spent a lot of time arranging this tune for the band in my brain.

Wow, Joanne Brackeen! I did not guess that! Now it makes sense. I just could not place who it was.

3 Study No. 3A, Conlon Nancarrow, from Studies for Player Piano Vols. 1 and 2 (there are five volumes), Wergo WER 6169-2. Piano roll punched by Nancarrow in the 1940s. Played back and recorded on a custom-altered 1927 Ampico Reproducing piano at Nancarrow's home in Mexico City, January 1988.

Composer Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) wanted to explore realms of rhythm and texture beyond what human players can reliably execute. So in the 1940s, he turned to the player piano. There are about 60 of these studies, featuring dense canons, highly complex tempo relationships, and sometimes precisely controlled gradual tempo changes. But this early study uses the 12-bar blues as a launching pad, a boogie-woogie to the Nth degree. I love the buildup of layers starting about 2:30. Sure, it's mechanical, but I find it more human than mechanical. Certainly the very human sense of fun is still there.

The idea of placing Nancarrow in a Blindfold Test is completely stolen from another O-board member who shall remain nameless.

I have never heard Nancarrow before. It is a nice discovery.

4 "Cathedral Blues" (Tiny Parham), Tiny Parham and his Musicians, originally Victor 78 V-38111, this transfer from Timeless CBC 1-022. Parham, p, cel; Punch Miller, ct; Charles Lawson, tb; unknown, cl, as, ts; Elliot Washington, vn; Mike McKendrick, bj; Quinn Wilson, bb; Ernie Marrero, d. Chicago, Dec. 3, 1929.

I like Punch Miller's solo, and the resourceful use of the studio's celesta. And how 'bout that intro and outro? Was Tiny Parham (that's him in Medjuck's avatar) thinking of the Dresden Amen?

I love this cut, and had never heard of Tiny Parham before. That is what a BFT is all about, to me.

5 "Trenches" (Turner Parrish), Turner Parrish, originally Champion 78 16645, this transfer from "Barrelhouse Piano Blues and Stomps," Document DOCD-5193. Solo piano, Richmond, Ind., Jan. 13, 1933.

Our set of blues concludes with a boogie-woogie that's all too human, as a counterweight to the mechanical Nancarrow. Turner Parrish, who may have been from Chicago, did a couple of sessions for Gennett-Champion and then disappeared into history. Is he brilliantly integrating eight-bar and twelve-bar choruses, or is he getting lost, playing faster than he can play? I don't know, but it's endlessly fascinating. (To Jeff and any other 78 collectors: We'll probably never see a Champion original, but watch for the 78 reissue in a Decca boogie-woogie collection.)

Edited to fix a cover image.

I had also never heard of Turner Parrish, and find his playing very appealing.

[Hot Ptah]

6. "Animal Dance" (John Lewis), John Lewis and Albert Mangelsdorff, from "Animal Dance," originally an Atlantic LP, this transfer from Collectables COL-CD-6253. Lewis, p; Mangelsdorff, tb; Karl Theodor Geier, b; Silvijc Glojnaric, d. The CD doesn't give a date; an online search suggests July 30, 1962.

A palate-cleanser after the set of blues. I like the tune because it doesn't sound like a John Lewis tune, or anybody else's tune. The piano solo certainly does sound like him, though. Wonder why he drops out toward the end? Mangelsdorff is pretty fine here, and the rhythm section doesn't do much damage. Check the Modern Jazz Quartet's "Lonely Woman" album for another version of this tune.

I did not place John Lewis at all, and I have heard a lot of his music. I also did not place Albert Mangelsdorff. You really fooled me.

7. "Mr. Cheese," Milt Ward, from "Milt Ward and Virgo Spectrum," Twin Quest LP 1116. The cover gives this composite personnel, and just about everybody seems to be on this cut: Ward, tp, flh; Carlos Garnett, ts; Bill Pierce, ts, ss; Eddie Alex, as, fl; Glenn Barbour, bars; Delmar Brown, p, elp, synth; Coucho Martinez, Fender b; Cecil McBee, acoustic b; Ignacio Mena, perc; Hugh Peterson, d. Recorded circa 1977. Cover gives no date; label has copyright date 1777 (love that early post-colonial jazz!), and the artwork is dated 1976. I made the digital transfer from an LP belonging to another board member.

This is probably the rarest track of the bunch. Ward was from Boston, and the LP, which looks homemade, probably wasn't distributed widely. But it's an ambitious thing! And never more ambitious than in this crazy opening cut, with its wandering theme, its strange arrangement, and its lovely groove and committed blowing.

I'm not sure which of the two tenors takes the solo; maybe Carlos Garnett, because Bill Pierce would have been a mere pup when this was recorded. Cecil McBee has perhaps the strongest solo of the bunch, and Thom Keith picked him out, which blows my mind. Yes, Milt Ward does sound like Woody Shaw, here and elsewhere on the album.

The rest of the album is just about on this level – interesting for the writing, the blowing and the synthesizer touches. It can be found in the blogosphere, and I recommend grabbing it if you find it.

Ward's discography is scanty; it includes an appearance on a David Newman Atlantic album. Apprently he died in the 1980s. That's about all I know. So "Mr. Cheese" is a frustrating glimpse of what might have been. I wanted to be sure some people heard it.

This is the type of appealing obscurity which I hope to find on a BFT!

8 "Bye-Ya" (Monk), Anthony Coleman Trio, from "Sephardic Tinge," Tzadik TZ-7102. Coleman, p; Greg Cohen, b; Joey Baron, d. New York, Dec 29, 1993.

Anthony Coleman writes in the liner notes that in many people's minds, klezmer music is a symbol of New York Jewish culture, but to him it's a poor symbol of a "hybrid and fragmented" culture. Thinking back on the music he heard growing up, he recalled mambos and cha-chas. He aimed to explore Spanish-Sephardic-American connections in this album. I'm especially fond of what Joey Baron plays here, not so much a Latin groove as a 1927 junkyard groove. It's a sound I heard in a dream once but hadn't heard in the physical world until this CD came along.

I knew I should have bought more Tzadiks! I have always been intrigued by this album's title, but never bought it. This is a very interesting approach to Monk.

9 "Ol' Man River" (Kern, arr. Errol Parker), Errol Parker Tentet, from "A Night in Tunisia," Sahara 1015. Parker, dm; Philip Harper (solo) and Michael Thomas, tp; Doug Harris, ss; Donald Harrison, as; Bill Saxton, ts; Patience Higgins, bars; Tyrone Jefferson, tb; Cary De Nigris, g; Reggie Washington, el b. New York, April 9, 1991.

Errol Parker was a pianist for most of his career, but in later years he turned to drumming. By this time, he was using a conga in place of a snare in his kit. His piano playing reflected a fascination with polytonality that also came through in his arrangements for the Tentet. And as he loved simultaneous keys, he loved simultaneous solos. Maybe a little goes a long way, but a little can really good sometimes. There are quite a few self-produced quick-and-dirty Parker recordings on his Sahara label -- and I wish I liked some of the others as much as I like this one.

This was completely unknown to me, and I like it a lot.

10 "Willow Weep for Me," Ethel Ennis, from "If Women Ruled the World," Savoy CY-18088. Ennis, v; Marc Copland, p; Ron McClure, b; Billy Hart, d. New York, Feb. 11 or 12, 1998.

Ennis was born in 1932, and signed a record deal with Savoy in the 1950s. She also recorded for Atlantic, Capitol, Jubilee and RCA. Mostly she's been back home in Baltimore – but when Savoy was re-launched for a little while in the '90s, somebody remembered, and this recommendable album was the result. Is it a mismatch of singer and rhythm section? I don't think so, but you're free to disagree. She might be a little unsure at first, but by the end, she seems to be completely in charge, and inspired by her surroundings. Let's hear it for Marc Copland!

I have read about Ethel Ennis, but never heard her, and here she is in the 1990s! I thought it was a young contemporary singer. This is fascinating.

(Can't make this cover image work.)

11 "Cavernism" (Hines), Earl Hines and his Orchestra, originally Decca 78 #183, this echoey transfer from Classics CD 528. Hines, p; Charlie Allen, George Dixon, Walter Fuller, tp; Louis Taylor, William Franklin, Trummy Young, tb; Darnell Howard, cl, as, vn; Omer Simeon, cl, as, bar; Cecil Irwin, cl, ts; Lawrence Dixon, g; Quinn Wilson, b; Wallace Bishop, d. Chicago, Sept. 13, 1934.

Sorry about that fakey echo; this was the only digital transfer I could find. Still, the performance comes through pretty well. After the leader, Walter Fuller and young Trummy Young solo, it's Darnell Howard on violin, and extra credit to anyone who picks up on his Dvorak quote. You should also hear the other side of the 78, "Angry," where Howard blows a very intricate clarinet solo and the leader's solo is even better.

I don't mind the sound quality here, I just love the music, and was unfamiliar with it. Thanks for presenting it!

12 "Salz" (Misha Mengelberg), Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, from self-titled ECM 1409. Alexander von Schlippenbach, cond; Benny Bailey, Thomas Heberer, Henry Lowther, tpts; Kenny Wheeler, tp, flh; Paul van Kemenade, Felix Wahnschaffe, as; Gerd Dudek, ss, ts, cl, fl; Walter Gauchel, ts; E.L. Petrowsky, bars; Willem Breuker, bars, bcl; Henning Berg, Hermann Breuer, Hubert Katzenbeier, tbns; Utz Zimmermann, bass tbn; Misha Mengelberg, Aki Takase, p; Gunter Lenz, b; Ed Thigpen, d. May 1989, Berlin. Solos by Breuker (bcl), Benny Bailey, Gerd Dudek (ts).

OK, it's got a few problems, notably the inability of the rhythm section to agree on the tempo until halfway through. How odd to hear Ed Thigpen in this context. Still, I love the Dadaistic way the whole composition fits together, from the opening fanfare, to the Kansas City riff that jumps out of nowhere, to the ending that makes it all work somehow. I'm assuming it's Mengelberg on piano on this one.

I have this album, but have not played it in a long time. I did not remember it.

13 "You Ain't Gonna Know Me 'Cos You Think You Know Me" (Mongezi Feza), Louis Moholo Octet, from "Spirits Rejoice!", Ogun OGCD 018. Evan Parker, ts; Kenny Wheeler, tp; Nick Evans, Radu Malfatti, tbn; Keith Tippett, p; Johnny Dyani, Harry Miller, b; Moholo, d. London, 1978.

My favorite thing here, and apparently a favorite of some other listeners. I love the circular tune of seven bars (or 14, or 3 and a half, depending on how you count it). Can't say I know which trombonist is which, or which bassist is which – if anybody knows, please post! -- but I love the whole ensemble sound. This CD has been the single most-played disc at my house in the last couple of years. It's probably become my favorite acoustic jazz disc of the 1970s.

Gotta get this one! Wow! Great! Did Johnny Dyani play on any albums which don't sound good?

14. "Sometimes I" (Dick Griffin), Hilton Ruiz, from the same disc as Track 1.

The content of BFT 84 was selected quite a few months ago, and it's just a coincidence that it repeats a dirty trick from BFT 83 and uses two tunes from the same disc. This is another very likable Dick Griffin tune. We don't think of Sam Rivers as a ballad player, but here you go. Is the piano accompaniment a little rococo? I don't mind.

Many thanks to all who participated. There's some good ears attached to some good people in this community.

Edited to fix some busted cover images.

That one really fooled me. I did not recognize Sam Rivers, at all.

Wonderful BFT! I love playing it in the car, and I learned a lot about appealing music unknown to me. What more could you ask, from a BFT!

[tkeith]

Good stuff, brothah!!! I'll put my ear to the Moholo tune and see if I can figure the bassist. I'll be very disappointed in myself if it's Johnny and I didn't pick it up. Just moved, so it'll be a bit before the time avails itself to me with the good sounds to check this out, but I'll try!

[NIS]

Very interesting reveal.

I really thought I had heard track 7 somewhere before but I've never even heard of Milt Ward. Also, I am surprised that I wasn't attracked to number 12 more. There is a bunch of favorite musicians on it.

I have several new things to check out now. Thanks alot.

[king ubu]

Yes! Very enjoyable compilation! I didn't pin down the Moholo, alas

I must have played it four times at least, but never when I could take any notes, so I apologize for not having posted my impressions, but I enjoyed it a lot! - except for a few tracks (for instance #1 which seemed much too cool and too "professional" for me, but actually I like Hilton as a piano player elsewhere)

Again, many thanks and humble apologies!

Addition: I've heard the Lewis/Mangelsdorff and the Milt Ward - DOH!

As for the Moholo, I don't have that disc (yet) - would be inclined to think Evans is the soloist, not sure Malfatti ever played that way - but don't take my word for it, it's just a guess (and not a very "educated" one, either).

[JSngry]

10 "Willow Weep for Me," Ethel Ennis

Now that just fucks me up. Whoa!