Gheorghe

My very personal "best" Farmer is "To Duke with Love", of course for the music and the superb company Cedar Walton, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins, and last, but not least, because Mr. Farmer signed it for me with a nice dedication.......

Always a pleasure to hear. I wonder how often Blakey recorded "Moanin´". One version from later years that I spinned very often then was on a 1979 album on I think "Philips Japan" with a very very good James Williams. I think after Bobby Timmons, James Williams really was a true Messenger´s sound pianist......

indeed awesome

Right, a also have this book. And it´s interesting to read what the musicians say about their personal "Three wishes". Some say really beautiful things, some are ugly (Al Haig), and some get lost in too many words, like Lionel Hampton, he just keeps talkin and talkin about how jazz started with cotton pickin´ and all that and you just can´t trace where he want´s to get, and what is his 3 wishes.....

Great Wayne Shorter album. Fantastic tunes, especially "House of Jade" and "Yes and No", and of course the title track. And the best musicians to play with him . I´m very pleased that on BN records you really can hear the drummer, so Elvin Jones really is very very well recorded.

Same impressions here in Austria during that time. And they had some records from a to me quite obscure label "Trip Records". I purchased Dolphy´s "Jitterbug Waltz" I think on such a label, with quite a cheap and ugly cover and almost no infos. And they had bad quality....

I never thought others might have this . I bought it 1979 at a Jazz Festival (Velden) and they had a bus transformed in a kind of "record shop" with the strangest and most obscure records I ever saw. I think the label was a totally obscure one. Never heard of it. The whole thing looked like some bootleg. But the music was great, especially Beaver Harris was one of the greatest, but underrated drummers. I think, this was a kind of transition period for Shepp: Years before he would not play a swing rhythm like he does here I think on "Blues for Donald Duck". But 2 or 3 years later he became even more conservative and played standards just with a regular quartet.

Has been some time since I´ve listened to it the last time. A classic, but easier to listen than other free jazz,because it still has a "swing rhythm". Haden walks the actual in the actual timing, and Scott La Faro in double time. And there are some typical Ornette Coleman typed riffs in it. Other, more advanced free jazz records make everything to avoid the even slightest touch of swing. Ornette from 1969 (Crisis) was more advanced and would´t let Haden just play swing type walking bass. Then, avoiding swing was the devise. I only noticed on that record, that Eric Dolphy, one of my favourites, doesn´t get much place to be heard. I would have liked to hear more of Dolphy with Ornette on this one.....

Great interview with Chet Baker. Well, Chet was really a living legend when I was young. And I´ve heard him often, always loved his sound. This is a very honest interview and really reveals a lot about his difficult live. I couldn´t check what the Hank Mobley article has to do with Chet´s interview, but nevertheless I found it very interesting. I think almost nobody knew anything about Mobley´s last years, even in the biography about his life there is nothing about that period. An I never saw a foto of Hank from later years, I think we all know only photos of him when he was about in his 30´s .

I´ve read once that some years ago there were coffee or tea houses in Japan where they played non stop jazz records and mostly "hard bop" and that "Cool Struttin" was something like a "trademark", you heard it very very often, "Cool Struttin" and Donaldson´s "Blues Walk". This is hard bop at it´s best, and who does not love the cover photo

Indeed ! Yes, I also listened to it last week. Very exiting album.

Really a treasure. Even after the departure of Dolphy and Jakie Byard (Byard at least temporarly) this is highly recommended. Maybe it´s one of Mingus´ thinnest instrumentations, only a quartet, but it has a very very high level of energy. Never heard Cliff Jordan more powerful than on this, and maybe Fables of Faubus (here titled "New Fables") has the most exiting bass solo I ever heard......., and Dannie Richmond is really hot, and not to forget the interesting choice of pianist Jane Getz....... , former Mingus man John Handy sittin in on Fables, doing a very bluesy solo....

Of course ! And for my greatest delight with the participation of Sam Rivers ! But as for Larry´s organ and Elvin Jones´ drumming I prefer even more "Unity" . It´s my first choice of Larry Young.

I knew that you must love this record, since you like me prefer Bud´s latterday performances All Coltrane albums on Prestige are treasures. And they have really long tracks with extended solos.

One of my favourite albums of McCoy Tyner. The combination with Bobby Hutcherson is ideal, and great tunes !

I have this since it came out in 1977. I remember first time it was quite hard listening for me then, and I was annoyed by the talking of the MC over the music, but soon after that I really appreciated it. Miles is almost as fast as Fats Navarro here, James Moody has some very interesting phrases that sound almost like those typical of the 60´s avantgarde, and it´s a rare occasion to hear Tadd Dameron doing really great solos, and we have the great Kenny Clark. And to mention the very good french bass player Barney Spieler.

I must get that. Didn´t know about it. But I think this was issued by ESP after the real time of that label (60´s ) since I was quite aware of the ESP catalog but don´t think there was this, or Don Cherry. They had other, parial lesser known avantgarde artists and strange enough, some older live material by Bird, Bud, and Billie.......

Oh yes, this is the album. Very interesting !

Hi ! I´d have a question or I´d like to have something confirmed I had heard more than 40 years ago..... that Monty Alexander somehow was "discovered" by Les McCann and that there exists a life-recording where Les McCann is playing on concert and during the concert he introduces Monty Alexander and invites him on stage and Monty Alexander playes a tune. I remember this, because it was presented by our legendary austrian Jazz-DJ Herwig Wurzer and I remember it was very very much discussed in jazz circles, especially that the older McCann sounds more modern than the then blood young Monty Alexander.

Oh that sounds good ! Complete Communion is my favourite Don Cherry, I like it even more than "Suite for Improvisers" or "Where is Brooklyn" which is also superb work. But to have "Complete Communion" live that sounds like dreams might become true !

A genius. I´m glad I saw him live with his own quartet a few years ago. As a drummer he always has fascinated me . I think he could be called a link between Max Roach and Elvin Jones, so to say the next step after Max Roach. When I hear Roy Haynes let´s say with Bird, it´s else than Max. Max played very straight, like a chorus line, and Roy gets more into those polyrhythms. You see, I listen very much to music from the drummers view, cause this is a lot of inspiration for me. And to hear Haynes with Trane, just fantastic, with all due respect and admiration for Elvin.....

I really love this one. A fantastic reunion with those genial musicians Milt Jackson and James Moody, who had been associated with Diz in the 40´s. And the set repertoire is beautiful. Manteca a tune I love, Con Alma with an interesting "new" arrangement and a trendy backbeat. And not to forget the features for Mr. Jackson and Mr. Moody (SKJ and Body and Soul). I´d like to mention also "Brother K." which is underrated but should be considered one of Dizzy´s greatest compositions along with let´s say Con Alma etc. ...... I remember Diz also did play it in Viena the year before. The rhythm section is superb. Ed Cherry has been Dizzys favourite guitar player and he seems to have some Wes Montgomery roots. Saw him on several occasions with Diz, and even after Diz death in a Dizzy Alumni band. Mike Howell is a fantastic fender-bassist, he also has played for a long time with Diz, same with the very fine drummer Georges Hughes. One or two years later I saw Diz with Ed Cherry and Mike Howell, but then he had replaced the drummer with one from his generation, J.C. Heard, a very interesting choice. Dizzy remains one of my favourites. I love his trumpet, his compositions which I play as much as possible.....

When was it recorded ? 70´s ?

Great choice. The first Fats on BN I had when there was those double albums , the BN LA series. But this CD is even greater, since it also has the capitol material.

My favourite Dexter on BN. I think this one has the best tracks.