Gheorghe

It seems I have another one with another cover. It´s the Woody Herman Herd with guest artists Diz, Woody Shaw and Stan Getz.

oh very interesting, I would have liked to see that edition. In my case it was in the late 80´s and it was Javon Jackson if I remember right, and it was Peter Washington I think, but no Roney and no Julian Priester which I would have liked to hear. I don´t remember who was the trumpet player , the trombone player I think was a very young guy, but they all was great and yeah, Benny Green. The only white guy I had seen until then in a Blakey band was the Russian trumpet player Valeriu Ponomarev.

I like mostly those Max Roach recordings that come very near to the Max Roach I saw live, that means quartet recordings, in the best case with Bridgwater, Harper, Workman, that was the best edition I heard. The later Calvin Hill and Odeon Pope stuff was good too, but the sound of Calvin Hill´s bass was not so natural like Reggie Workman´s sound. And I don´t know why Roach later started to use an electric bass. Other albums have to little similar to live music on it. I think I have one that has Roach with a quite atonal sounding String Quartet, that sounds much more like western abstract music. And the famous "Double Quartet", well some of it is nice sometimes, but , of course it´s my fault, but strings sounds somehow "funny" to my ears in most of the cases......

Funny how I got acquainted with the music of Charlie Parker: I hadn´t even heard his name when my second of all jazz albums was a Mingus record with Dolphy with a tune "Parkeriana" with a lot of Bird Songs in the augmented bridge. This was my thing and made me become curious who is that man Charlie Parker. My first thing was the Savoy Mastertakes, really great, but my second Bird Record was that 1950 Birdland live session with Fats and Bud, and yeah.....live Bird is the greatest. So naturyll the third Bird I had was also with Bud, and with Diz from 1951 also at Birdland ! And then the Massey Hall Concert, again with Bud and Diz. But I had and have some difficulties if it was that recording tehnique that started with Dean Benedetti, I mean cuttin out the solos of the others. So my favourite live Bird recordings always will be complete sets or evenings, with a good group of musicians he was familiar with, from the NY scene. One great little thing I also like, also because it has all the solos of all the musicians is that old musidisc LP "The Happy Bird", but I dare to say that the musician who got the most attention from me here is Wardell Gray !

Ray Brown was one of the leaders of post war bass, maybe the greatest. I´m mostly interested in his work before he jumped on the "Granz-Wagon" , with Diz, Bird and so on. In his later years I had the impression that he turned up his amp on a very loud volume. I like a good bass sound, but I think that was a bit too much of volume for the bass. I had seen Benny Green when he was with Art Blakey. That was a helluva band, but most of us listeners here in Viena was quite surprised that a little guy who looked much more like a college boy plays so much piano, and fast and hip and quick. He was the surprise of the evening. I don´t really know about drummer Jeff Hamilton, maybe he worked in other contexts than what I usually listen to.

I can´t say I heard her often. But she was the big surprise for me and many others when she played with Joe Henderson Quartet 45 years ago here in Vienna. She was a fantastic pianist. Later I think I saw her once again in a strange setting with Joe Farrell as leader, where Chet Baker was booked as co-leader and was "great" in not showing up at all. During that set with Farrell, which was fine, but in no way compareable to Henderson, Joanne Brackeen also did some duo work with Bassist Clint Houston or I think that was his name. But piano-bass duo just isn´t my thing so I don´t remember much about it. No horns, no drums, that´s a bit hard for me.....

Since this thread was completly unknown to me and I don´t know what was the reason that it was brought to live after almost a decade, I just can say that I got to hear Charles Brackeen´s "Rhythm X" about 45 years ago at a friends place. This guy, as all my friends back then, was some years older than me and had a huge collection mostly of Free Jazz as most of my buddies. I think, everything that was round and had a hole in the middle AND had Billy Higgins or Ed Blackwell , Charlie Haden or Henry Grimes, and most of all Don Cherry on it, was in his collection. I was an Ornette-Cherry freak too and so he did spin "Rhythm X", which seemed to be an extremly rare record that I never had seen in the record stores. I made a tape of it. I think, it was so near to Ornette Coleman´s music, so I did and do like it very much. Since I eventually lost the tape (casette) or it got destroyed after so many decades, I re-bought the Mozaic box of Strata East recordings just for that one record. It was the only reason I bought that 5 CD set.

It was the first Griff I heard on record. I wanted to buy a Griffin record after I had seen him live the first time, but back them there was not much available, you know it was the seventies and you cound buy tons of electric jazz which is also fine for me, but many acoustic albums were OOP or the labels did not exist any more. The Blowing Session was on a two-fer album and had as the second disc the "Blowin in from Chicago" with Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore which was also cool for me since I had known Clifford Jordan from my early Mingus albums. Try to play "The Way You Look Tonight" at that tempo !!!! I did and somehow managed to get thru , it was the star of the evening who called it, right on stage and there we went....., I tried it later solo at home and it didn´t run as easily as it did on the spontanous thing on the gig..... I didn´t have sheet but knew the tune anyway from THIS RECORD.

I don´t know too many records or live tapes from Ronnie Scott´s . Once I did read a book, I think it was Ronnie Scotts autobiography or something like that. I mean, all those greats who performed there: Mostly tenor saxophonists if I think about it. I friend of mine, who was 5 years older, was in London when I still couldn´t travel and saw Dizzy there, he told me it was with the band with Al Gafa and all that stuff, that I think I have on a Pablo record from the mid seventies. Johnny Griffin was so great, and he traveled so much in Europe. So I had the opportunity to see him in different venues. Actually, Griff was the first US Jazzman I saw life, not in a concert but in a small club, with the Fritz Pauer Trio. Stan Tracey......sure he was one of the most important figures of jazz in UK. But somehow he sounds quite too individual if he comps for a more mainstream tenorist like let´s say Ben Webster. I also did read that some US musicians were not so pleased with his comping.....(Byas, Thompson)..... Anyway, I must admit that from all European pianists I heard over here, I liked Fritz Pauer most, and Tete Montoliu. IMHO they were the greatest European jazz pianists ready to play with US Greats.....

What a wonderful record. I bought it in the 70´s, but it has another cover, a colour photo of Max. It is on the America Label, which published most of Mingus´ albums. Since this album also has Cliff Joran and Mal Waldron, who had played many times with Mingus, at that time I really associated it with Mingus´ music, and actually it has some of that message. I love it, it´s one of my favourite records and about the same time I saw Roach live, one of the best musical experiences I ever had. I wonderful little album !

I have read it in the Romanian media, really sad news. I hope he can make it next year. But good that we have the best doctors down there.

I agree totally. That Night at Birdland was the first Fats Navarro I ever heard. Then I didn´t even know his name and had to try to read the liner notes when my English still was very poor. Those solos from about the last time Fats was on stage, shortly before he died are so good. I think on this double LP is more Fats than on the few studio albums he made, where due to the short tracks there are only short solos. On Street Beat, even when Fats thinks he´s done, a fellow musician shouts "Play Fats !" and he plays another chorus. There are some tunes where Fats is layin out (Midnight, April I think), but who can play "Dizzy Atmosphere" at that speed ?!. This was pretty 45 or more years ago I bought that and the next day I went back to the record store and bought the Savoy Sessions album and the Blue Note Sessions album which I still have of course. And the book about Fats Navarro is one of the very best jazz books I ever read, since it´s especially for someone like me. Written mostly for musicians, with transcriptions, and very good analysis of his soloes, his quotes from other songs etc ......

That´s true ! And the first vibe player I really was impressed of was our Tom Henkes. He is also a great drummer and yeah I played with him but as drummer.

Thank you ! As you probably know anyway, I am not really an audiophile. So I didn´t make that move. Most of my albums are quite old, at least those that was recorded decades ago like those Miles albums, those Trane albums, so the ones I bought then still have a special meaning for me. They sound good musically and each of them has it´s own story for me, in any case what it meant for my musical developement, so I fear I must say I never did re-buy albums I already have. And my collection seems to be large for non jazz folks, but as I learned from this forum, it is very small in comparation with others, who really collect the records. As musically active with the gigs I have to play I seldom find the time to listen to a record, but if, it is always a special event where memories come back, and gettin a new CD, mostly made by fellow musicians, is also something I can´t wait to find to time to hear it.

Oh I didn´t really realize that. Most of my live was in the 20th century, but I was not aware that the vibes was the typical 20th century instrument. I think, the vibe hype here in Europe startet with the Hamp-hype, when the Generation before me went nuts when Hamp did his thing in his concerts. The first thing I heard a vibe I think was Hamp´s version of "Stardust". Well I dug it, even or because the instrument sounded funny to me. But as I said, the vibe players I really listened to or bought the one or other record of them was Bags , Bobby Hutcherson, oh yeah and I dug Teddy Charles with his interesting stuff on that Miles-Mingus collaboration or on some Prestige dates. But as a player......I really got to ask my fellow musicians, who are professors at the famous MUK here in Viena , if there is any student who chose vibes as his instrument. On the other hand it must be a hard job to carry that instrument around. I remember that in the 70´s with that "world music voque" some guys took Marimba, but I don´t like the Marimba as much as I like a good vibe solo. A friend of mine who is a good drummer had switched mostly to "marimba" for a group that says that it is "Ethno Jazz".....

I don´t really know what that SACD really is , but anyway, musically speaking I love that record. I like male vocal much more than female vocal, though I love Billie Holiday. Those ballad singers from the bop era, Billy Eckstine, Earl Coleman, Johnny Hartman, Kenny "Pancho" Haggod, they all great and this is a wonderful record if I just want to close my eyes and relax.

Well yes, but Fats Navarro is always in the mind of those, who play "modern" trumpet style. As much as I love Diz, I think many following trumpet player until today could not be where they are if there had not been Fats Navarro. I love his music and know it very very well and have learned from his style (and I am a piano player). He was on one of my first LPs when I learned that there is somebody like Charlie Parker. It was this stuff Bird, Bud and Fats at Birdland, and it was some of the best stuff I heard, even if the sound quality was lousy. So, if I don´t think about that anniversary in a special manner , nevertheless I think I learned much from him and am so glad that he WAS there !

Yeah, I said to me some days ago that I might listen to it again. It was while I was listening to the newer RTF live stuff with Jean Luc Ponty where they do "Spain" and play "Aranjuez" in the intro, that made me want to spin "Sketches" again, but ya know that´s a thing I have to play when I am a certain mood into. Like ....listen to something that I don´t listen for "study", but only for a certain mood, which happens more in winter time. When I became a Miles Fan from the very start on and started to get a few Miles albums from pocket money, it was one or two Prestige, it was Miles Round Midnite, it was above all Miles in the 60´s with Herbie and Tony, and of course the than brand new "Bitches Brew". Sketches was always around, but I was not marture enough for it. For me then, it was too little action, I was not cultivated enough to enjoy something where I don´t hear them ringin cymbals and that strong traps work.... Now, as I said there are moments I spin stuff like that.....

I must admit I never worked with a vibe player. The most popular group featuring fantastic vibes here in Viena was "Together" with the great vibist and drummer Tom Henkes. They played pianoless, they had vibes, guitar, acoustic bass, drums, percussion. So this was pianoless. Otherwise I don´t have very much vibe stuff. I have Bags, Hutch a lot of. With Bags I think about Monk, John Lewis. Since Monk is nearer to my musical conception, I´d play more "Monkish" comping which I do anyway. Or, less chords, more "voicings", and stay more outta way...., well I think I couldn´t plan it. Since I mostly play "on call" I´d go up on stage and feel from what´s happenin´ what might be the best I can do to give support, inspiration and not get into their way. That´s hard to give a constructive answer, huh ? I might hear the stuff or hear what the boys tell me what kinda conception they want and try to fit in as good as I could. Anyway, if they chose me, they might have a plan what they want me to do and why they want exactly me......

I´m a big fan of Pharoah and saw him live on some occasions. About one of my first 10 own Jazz LPs back in my early teens was "Live at the East", which I still have ! That´s pretty 50 years ago ! Such a great musician ! One of my all time favourites.

For all jazz buffs in NY: Come by and listen to this great Austrian drummer. By the way: I´ve played some concerts together with him as "Allan Praskin Quintet" this year. If you can make it to Small´s please say hello from Gerhard from Vienna.

Such a great trombonist. I didn´t know much about him otherwise than from record, did not know that he stays in Seattle, which is quite far away from NY.

Ron Carter is one of my favourite bassists from the first moment on (I am a kid of the times of VSOP Quintet) and Ron´s unique bass sound on all those 70´s acoustic mostly when people became interested again in acoustic instruments.... I think he had a very unique bass style, not "hornlike phrasings" like Chambers and Co had, but more a bass-bound solo play. I must admit I have not the slightest idea who the sidemen are. The time when I heard Ron Carter frequently was mostly the CBS and Milestone "Family" of Artists....., mostly All Star contexts..... Even his own group was only stars: Ron with Kenny Barron, Ben Riley, Buster Williams......

Must be very interesting. Once I heard the movie score Miles recorded with the same personnel, also in Paris. But never heard live sets of this strange combination of Miles with Paris based musicians. I always had thought that Miles at that stage of his career would play only with his own quintet, until I had read somewhere that Miles also played with those musicians on something called "Birdland Tour" which toured all the world in the 50´s . I have heard about Marcel Romano. He is also on a photo in NY with Bud Powell and Paul Chambers. I think he was the one who brought Bud to Paris....

I love it. Vintage be bop. I loved to see Kai Winding live performing, he was great ! I also like his contributions to the Tadd Dameron band at Royal Roost, great bop trombone. A wonderful musician. I would like to work with a trombone player too, but have not seen good trombonists here on the scene.