Gheorghe

But the point should also be Dexter himself. Yesterday I listened again to that record and again I say it´s some of the best latterday-Dexter I ever heard, if not the best. Cables, well with the exception of his f.....ing up Dexter´s ballad featurs (mostly "More than you Know" and "As Time Goes By"), I might say he is really a grooving and swinging pianist and his solo on "Moment´s Notice" from a private recording from Vanguard that I heard, is amazing, like his own "I Told You So". The best Cables I heard myself was a Dizzy All Star Quintet" (Diz with Harold Land, George Cables, Herbie Lewis and Louis Hayes), and it started with a trio tune, "I Mean You", which he just had recorded for Timeless (the album "Four Seasons", Cables with Hutcherson, again Herbie Lewis, and Philly J.J. ). Dexter´s alcool abuse may have deteriorated after his comeback in the States (like 12 years earlier Bud Powell´s !), but he had better rhythm sections. Now Europe has fantastic bassists and drummers, but back in the 70´s it was still hard to find a bassist or drummer who could be equal to N.Y. rhythm sections. As I said, I have a special scepticism with the "eternal" Nils Hennig Osted Pederson, he had a hell of a technique, but to sound and the beat cannot equal to let´s say Buster Williams, Stafford James, John Heard, and here David Eubanks. And drummers, it was also very difficult to find good drummers in Europe. I can imagine how Americans in Europe, though enjoying a more comfortable live, were longing to return to the States because after some times it must have become boring to not have good rhythm sections..... well, Alex Riel in Danemarca, or Tony Crombie in Anglia was fine..., but Eddie Gladden is top.

Thank you ! I had thought later because from the Paul Chambers bio "Mr. P.C." (very good book) Chambers was in the trio until very short time before his death. I think the one that I have with George Coleman, also from Baltimore was after P.C.´s death. But I fear, that Wynton Kelly after his great times of success, recording mostly as sideman for great labels in the early 60´s became quite low profile, he still played fantastically, but due to other patterns in jazz it seems to have become out of fashion then.

When and where was this recorded. I have a "Clear Day" with George Coleman on and obscure LP, not well recorded. It must have been after P.C.´s departure, since it had Ron McLure on bass. Late 60´s ?

Considering the octet: The only time I saw Woody without the Herd was in 1985, when he came with an octet (Buddy Tate, Al Cohn and Scott Hamilton on ts, Warren Vaché on tp, Woody on cl. + one vocal (I got the World on a String), John Bunch on piano, an unidentified bass player (what a pity that the scheduled George Duvivier did not appear due to illness shortly before his death), and Jake Hanna on dr.

Hello friends ! I know there is a thread about that album on "New Releases" but since finally I had the time to listen to the album I thought to review it and recommend it for listening. First I was sceptic, since that period (early 1983) was the end of Dexter´s active playing career (with the exception of his film presence in 1985 and a handful of selected gigs as "Mr. Round Midnight", which were not recorded for CD. Their was a general report about his weak performances and how he had slowed down, and honestly, the set I saw in Vienna just a few days before or after the recording of this CD was one of the saddest memories I have in jazz. But, as an alcool-adicted bop veteran his situation might have been similar to the situation of the last performances of Bud Powell after his comeback to NY. All books about him describe that "depending on what day or in which set you caught him, he would sound wonderful or really sad". This is also documented in tape recordings from Birdland 1964, where he sometimes is great and daring, and others where he practically was unable to play. I think at that point of advanced alcoolism the artist may still give a great performance if he somehow could have been kept away from booze, at least before and during the concert. And.....my impression is, that this recording of Dexter in Copenhaga 1983 is just wonderful, I was just mesmerized when I heard it. It´s the most beautiful version of "More than you know" I ever heard, and his playing on the faster tracks is strong and sure and not even as much behind the beat as it was sometimes. His sound is great as ever and his inspiration the same, his talent to quote from other songs, his wonderful ability to build up the tension from the start of his solo to the end of it and so on. Dexter had lived almost 15 years in Europe, mostly in Copenhaga, Danemarca and his live and studio recordings mostly for Steeplechase are well documented. But what they miss, is a really good NY-ish rhyhtm section. Listening to NHOP on many occasions between 1964-76 can become tedious sometimes. He is ok while just walking, but his solos are just tehnical exercises with many clichés like those double grips with glissando, and even if he walks it does not have the pulsation which this wonderful bassist David Eubanks has. You don´t have to overdo it and get so much solo spot like NHOP did. I also heard on many occasions the first NY quartet with George Cables, Rufus Reid and Eddie Gladden. George Cables is a fine player, one of the finest of the post war generation, but maybe on ballads he always got into a certain schema which is not always the essence of the ballad. I like Kirk Lightsey better, especially on ballads. Eddie Gladden anyway is one of the best drummers you can think about. So, my opinion is, that 40,50 years ago American rhythm sections were much better than ours. You got to have that NY impulse in it, at least that´s how I feel it. Now in the 2020´s we have very very fine drummers and bassists here in Europe too, who really got it. A special thing is the including of "Hanky Pranky". I must admit I didn´t know it until I heard it here, since I´m not a big collector and have a few albums from each period, maybe the old Savoy and Spotlite things, 2 or 3 from the BN era and some live sets from the 60´s/70´s on Steeplechase. Listen to that "Blue March" beat , that Messengers Beat done by Eubanks. He is wonderful, he plays the bass in that more percussive way that I like so much, not that too long tone, you can´t do that if you play a soft "dooom dooom dooom dooom" on the bass, it got to be cut shorter "doop doop doop" to be a rhytmic element. So, this might have been one of the last occasions to hear Dexter in top form. Highly recommended by me !

Decades ago a regular band that visited Jazzland and played there was called "New Traditional". It was during the time was the "cortina de fier" and they came from Bratislava (CSSR). Maybe they had special permission from the system down there. Bratislave is not far from Viena, so it can be done just for a one nighter without much logistic trouble, if they were not stopped for ours when leaving or re-entering the CSSR. But musically (I didn´t go to them there shows) Mr. Melhardt, the boss of Jazzland praised them as being not only traditional, but also progressive, including "influences of rock" . Anyway, their bass player played electric bass.

Believe me, in my first years when I didn´t know other than Miles and Mingus, I didn´t and it seems that I have not even heard his name, until one classmate, who was not necessarly from our "gang" told me that I must listen to Brubeck, praising him as the top of it. He lent me one album, I don´t know if it was Take Five or Unsquare Dance or whatever, and my expectations were great since I was still naive and "trusted" everybody who would mention "jazz". In my childish way I thought if this boy says Brubeck is top, it might be at least like what I dug as a kid....let´s say Mingus with Dolphy, Miles with Wayne and Herbie, the electric Miles a la "On the Corner" or "Dark Magus", Trane, Rollins, Ornette, and when I spinned the Brubeck I couldn´t understand what´s so great, I spinned the first side, I spinned the second side, and even my mother (born 1921 ) came upstairs where I had my rooms and said "what´s that kitsch you are listening ?" (it must have been something in our family since my mother didn´t grow up with jazz but when she first heard "Meditations on Integration" from Mingus, or Ornette Coleman´s "Lonely Woman" she was deeply moved by that music). So I had a desperatly wrong start with Dave Brubeck and "Take Five".

I had the tracks "Half Nelson", "The Squirrel" "Mike´s Blues" (correctly: "Down") and "Move" on an Italian pressing which was available over here. It was very interesting for me to hear Miles Davis that way, since Miles was a key figure in my earliest interest in jazz. Until then I had only known the 50´s -70´s Miles (Prestige and Columbia) and had seen him live 1973 in Viena. I think I had purchased this one later than 1973 and bought it only after several visits in the record store. Actually it might have been after I had learned about Bop and Bird and I think this together with the CBS album "Miles-Dameron in Paris 1949" are the best examples of Miles playing vintage be bop.

That´s a damn good personnel here. I saw Flanagan with Mraz, and on that occasion Art Taylor was the drummer. But Al Foster is one of my very favourite drummers of all my life.

I remember the wild young years at high school when we was a bunch of kids crazy about jazz , but still not well informed. Somehow we didn´t really know WHAT is "Cool Jazz". We had heard about "Birth of the Cool" but hadn´t still heard it. So most of us thought, that the special harmon muted vibratoless sound of Miles´ trumpet on the early Prestige albums is "Cool Jazz" or that he had "invented Cool Jazz". Other exponents like typical west coast coolers where not so much present in our generation. Later I "discovered" Tristano and spinned it for my friends, and when there were some more atonal lines they said "no Gheoghe, this is "Free Jazz" 😄

He was a legend.

Wonderful !

Oh, I understand ! It must have been great to still see him. I saw him only when it was around the recordings of his famous "Amsterdam after Dark". By the way: About the photo I had posted I must get the information when and where it was made.....

I think I found the blue Atlantic album back in the 70´s and it was very rare. I already had BN "Empty Foxhole" "At the Golden Circle" , the Atlantic "Free Jazz" and the Impulse "Crisis" and "Ornette at 12" and found that this album is the most easy listening to. It´s just straight ahead swing. A very nice album, though nothing special, a good hard bop album. Both Bags and Trane are great.

Might be a gas, Joe Henderson and Al Foster are among my favourites on their instruments. Charlie Haden might be interesting as long as it is group playing. I love his playing with "Free" Musicians but as soon as he starts to solo at least for me it becomes quite boring. But sure others might see it opposite, it´s a question of taste.

I´m a quite old fashioned guy in that context. The stuff was around everywhere when I was a teenager, and users would get busted by police and it was a natural thing. But I never had the urge to try it. I think in context with "drugs" I was a more mundane person, smoking normal cigarettes and drinking beer was all I was intrested in. I have or had the impression that reefer-smokers had a more "spiritual thing" in it. Some where into meditation or stuff, and I think that though I have education I was more the workman-type of consuming "goodies" , I mean just cigarettes and beer or wine or „țuică” or „palinca” (prune schnapps or marille schnapps). After the stupid "drinkin contests" in the teenage and early twen years, gettin married I reduced that stupid alcool thing and eventually cut it out completly , I drink my alcool-free beer each evening. But I don´t really understand why they legalizize reefer smokin if they try to forbid cigarette smokin. Well I don´t have no idea what effect reefer has, but I couldn´t imagine having a coffee withouth enjoying a cigarrete with it. This has been so for the last 50 years. So, if everybody is smokin reefer now .....let em do what they want, but I don´t like that "half morale" where militant non smokers tell me how dangerous is my goddamn cigarette combined with coffee drinkin, or after dinner or after sex😄, while the same politic parties want to legalize reefer .

is that old bald headed gentleman also a musician or an fan ?

I can speak only about the Miles Davis album. I love that session with Monk and Bags. And how Monks lays out on Davis´ trumpet solos ......he lays out but you FEEL his presence. And though Miles is not a Monk alumni, his solo on "Bemsha Swing" is the best trumpet solo I ever heard somebody do with Monk. It´s quite strange that they also included one classic Miles Davis Quintet track (Round about Midnight), which must have been recorded later .

Yes ! This was my first Dexter Gordon LP. In those early 70´s years, those Black Lion albums were a good entry to listen to typical "Americans in Europe". The Dexter Album, after Dexter´s solo on "Blue´n Boogie" with Diz in 1945 was the first Dexter under his own name and still years before I saw him live in the late 70´s. Yes, the sound was great, you hear Albert Heath´s cymbals so fine. That´s really a quite fast version of "Like Someone in Love" done in Ab ! And Kenny Drew is very fine on those tunes. I have several of those old Black Lion LP´s : Bud Powell " The Invisible Gage" , Coleman Hawkins (featuring Bud !) : "Hawk in Germany", Don Byas "Anthropology", Philly Joe Jones "Trailways Express" , all of them are great and have great sound quality.

To dye so young is a drag. I had not known his name before reading about Mingus´death.

Interesting remark and you may be right ! Maybe Blakey would have fitted in, since he had played numerous gigs and recording sessions with Leo Parker in Leo´s best years, the 40´s. With Tadd, with Mr. B. ..... About pianists it´s hard to say, with Bud on the other side of the ocean I couldn´t imagine another better 40´s rooted piano player. With bassists, well BN sometimes gave veteran bass players a session so it´s astonishing that the then "modern" Sonny Rollins for a typical 50´s hard bop session would be combined with the veteran Gene Ramey, or Griffin with also veteran Curley Russell. I don´t know absolutly nothing about sports, but is this the "Lou Ghering" about whom I had read in context with Mingus´ terminal desease which is also called "Lou Ghering Desease" until I learned that this was a sportsman.

I´m not a Peterson listener but the combination Roy Eldridge, Sonny Stitt sounds like a good idea.

I like that better than the Take Five with them "angry string players" 😄 That native flute player is really playin´something and compliment for having a jazz feeling with such a strange wooden flute. They all are great, but really I don´t understand why there has to be a conductor ? I think that´s a kind of music and groove that works for itself. But it is really fun. Well I wouldn´t buy it, but yeah it´s fun and fine players from a different part of the world .

I didn´t say I don´t "dig" it😉 But I can´t really say I dig or I don´t dig it. It just looks funny to me all them deadly serious guys . Music is love, even if it is "Take Five" 😜, and they look so angry..... Great picture. This must be an interesting sound . Two completly different styled sounds of tenor. Dexter had deep respect for Webster, but I don´t know how it was vice versa, since there was a story that Ben Webster hated it, when Dexter started to play Body and Soul in a more modal manner (the way he plays it on "Manhattan Symphony".

Wow, I think the only foto of Leo Parker I ever saw is on one of the two albums he made for BN. There are two of them and he plays so great ! Only I never understood why they picked up so obscure sidemen, such a music should have Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Art Blakey ! This is a great photo. So sad that he died only within short time from those recordings. I had read that they had planned a session of Leo with Dex, which would have been fantastic, a re-union . He looks so fine you couldn´t believe this man was dead a few weeks/months later. I never knew anything about his live other than that he was super active in the bop years, like Dexter, and also like Dexter the 50´s seemed to be some lean years for him.