jeffcrom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDbTWddrtkE Bunky Green - It Could Happen to You, from Another Place (Label Bleu, 2004). This barely edged out "Tune X" from the same album. I was prompted to spin this album after a discussion with a friend led me to question whether I was overrating Bunky Green. After I spun it, I was asking myself why I don't listen to some Bunky Green every day.

Ornette Coleman - Beauty is a Rare Thing; disc five - Ornette! and outtakes.

I didnt' wait until the last day this time - but almost. I don't think most of what I say here is very profound. I don't do as well on all-mainstream BFTs; I find more to say about old New Orleans stuff and wild free jazz. But here goes. 1. This reminded me of John Scofield’s early trio – but it’s not, of course. Guitar and bass are both very melodic - which might seem like a stupid thing to say; I mean melodic in a direct, uncomplicated way. I like the drummer very much; he has a beautiful cymbal sound. 2. Good, imaginative playing all around on what sounds like a show tune I don’t know. I like the burr in the trumpet player's sound. 3. Two very individual-sounding tenor players playing Rollins. The left-channel first soloist has got some off-center stuff going on that I like. The pianist has very impressive technique and a nice sense of rhythm. 4. More multi-tenor Rollins. The right-channel first soloist is aggressive and really rides the beat. The second and third guys are more relaxed; the second soloist does some interesting stuff. 5. Interesting fatback bossa/funk feel. Some nasty basslines by the organist. Tenor solo is just fine; organ solo is a bit more than that, but I love the drummer; every lick is perfectly placed. 6. This drummer has taken lessons (metaphorically) from Elvin Jones. I don’t think it is Elvin – the snare doesn’t sound right. The tune itself is not very interesting, except that it’s in five, but the soloists are very good indeed. You’re really presenting some slightly odd tenor sax sounds and styles. (That’s a good thing.) 7. I’m not sure I’ve ever before heard a jazz original based on “Just Friends.” This is good, but I think I’m starting to get grumpy about the mainstream nature of this BFT. Nothing wrong with that; I just like a little more variety. Possibly because of this, the soloists didn’t make much of an impression on me – even though, as I said, they’re good. 8.”Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” is such a weird tune – in a good way. Again, very accomplished tenor players. I like the second soloist, who seems to have a little more personality to me. 9. Well, it sounds like Clifford Jordan, but I can’t place the tune. Beautiful playing – heartfelt, but restrained. I like this one a lot. 10. Jug! Gene Ammons always makes me feel good. It sounds like George Freeman on guitar; he’s only slightly less eccentric than his late brother Von. And that’s some tasty bass playing. 11. More solidly mainstream jazz, but I can’t complain, because this is just so good. Everyone is playing at the top of their game. I’ve heard this, and it’s probably sitting on my shelves, but I can’t place it. Thanks for this one. Thanks for putting this together. There was nothing I didn't like, in spite of the slight grousing I indulged in.

Marian McPartland - Ambiance (Halcyon). McPartland's albums vary in quality. This is one of the very, very good ones. McPartland, the underrated Michael Moore on bass, and Jimmy Madison and Billy Hart alternating on drums play an interesting and exploratory set of music from 1970.

Bryan Wright - Bix Beiderbecke's Modern Piano Suite (Rivermont). I could put this in the 78 thread - Wright presents Beiderbecke's four-part suite on two microgroove stereo 78s. I suppose there's a novelty element to this issue, but it's musically and sonically excellent.

Hal Russell/Mars Williams - Eftsoons (Nessa). Fascinating, sometimes very intense music on a practically noiseless LP.

First listen today (finally). I like everything, to one extent or another. I'll listen again tomorrow and comment.

If I have that reputation, it's not really deserved. I have several "wheelhouses" within which I do really well. Outside of those, I flail and founder like everyone else. Gene Harris, etc. ain't in my wheelhouse. But I'll give it a shot, with the disclaimer that two hours is a little long for my BFT tastes, so I might pick and choose tracks. DL, please.

McCoy Tyner - Expansions (BN Liberty)

Beat me to it - the first jazz album I owned. I still love it.

Welcome, Joel. Your uncle is certainly not forgotten around here.

Clunky, I've always thought that the Mary Lou Williams album you pictured represented DSM's worst-ever cover. A bunch of 78s today. The highlight was the December 21, 1944 Black & White session by Cliff Jackson's Village Cats, with Sidney Bechet and the DeParis brothers. These two 12-inch vinyl 78s are visually in excellent condition, but never sounded very good with my old 78 rig. On the new turntable/cartridge/stylus, they sound very good indeed, if a little thin in the bass.

Jones is on all the sides I highlighted in red, and solos on most of them. (There are a couple I haven't heard.) But during his tenure with the Cotton Pickers, he was the only trombonist, so if there is a trombone solo on one of those sides, it's him. And I just listened to "Milenburg Joys" - the original 78 and an alternate take on CD. Add that solo to my list of my favorite Claude Jones solos - it's very impressive.

Dang - I forgot that he was on that Keynote trombone session. I need to give that a spin soon.

Ditto that. Jeff, are you listening to the McKinney's disc on Frog? Gonna have to dig out my copy now. Thank y'all. I just feel like more people should know how great Claude Jones was. Late, I don't have the complete McKinney on the Frog CDs. I have the RCA/Bluebird CD The Band Don Redman Built, some other tracks on anthologies and some 78s I don't have on LP or CD.

Claude Jones (1901 - 1962) was one of the great swing trombonists, but I feel that he is somewhat overlooked. I think I first really took notice of him, many years ago, when I heard "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say" from Jelly Roll Morton's 1939 Victor "comeback" session. Sidney Bechet's soprano sax solo was perfect in timing and poise, with a surprising octave jump just past the halfway point, but the trombone solo which followed really caught my attention. It was only half as long as Bechet's 16-measure solo, but the asymmetrical phrasing and thoughtful note choices made Jones' solo at least as memorable as Bechet's. From the moment I heard these eight measures, I was a Claude Jones fan. Jones played and recorded with McKinney's Cotton Pickers (that excellent band with the regretable name), Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Cab Calloway, and in the 1940s, Duke Ellington. Scott Yanow dryly says that he was "underutilized" during his stint with Ellington. Around 1951, he took a job as mess steward on a cruise ship; he died at sea in 1962. Claude Jones never made a session as leader, and although he is on a lot of recordings, his solography is not that extensive. Among my favorite solos by this great trombonist: McKinney's Cotton Pickers - It's Tight Like That (1928). Bluesy and forward-looking at the same time. McKinney's Cotton Pickers - Plain Dirt (1929). This solo, like many of his solos with the Cotton Pickers, is only eight measures long. But, wow - he really packs a lot into those eight measures, like some interesting three-against-four rhythmic displacement in the second half. Fletcher Henderson - Chinatown My Chinatown (1930). Beautiful, fast, fluid trombone playing. Fletcher Henderson - Sugarfoot Stomp (1931). Jones takes the first trombone solo on this tune, which Henderson recorded for Columbia, Melotone, Crown, and Victor. Jones plays an excellent, similar solo on each. Fletcher Henderson - Somebody Stole My Gal (1931). This one is marked by striking note choices. Jelly Roll Morton - I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say (1939). See above. Louis Armstrong/Sidney Bechet - Perdido Street Blues (1940). Despite the producer repeatedly telling him, "More tailgate, Jones, more tailgate!," the trombonist plays an excellent "modern" duet passage with Bechet. To repeat myself a little, Claude Jones' playing is marked by creative, asymmetrical phrasing, thoughtful and unusual note choices, and very accomplished technique. Check him out.

Clifford Jordan / Sonny Red - A Story Tale (Jazzland mono)

This again. A sermon and two songs by the Hurricane.

Syl Johnson - The Complete Mythology (Numero). The first LP of this monumental set.

I thought about this for a couple of days, and kept coming back to the same three, which have all been mentioned already: Art Ensemble of Chicago - People In Sorrow (Nessa) Anthony Braxton - For Alto (Delmark) Roscoe Mitchell - Nonaah (Nessa). The first two were very important to me as a young man exploring the possibilities of jazz/improvised music. I didn't discover Nonaah until much later, but the solo version of the title cut is one of the most intense, shocking, amazing pieces of music I've ever heard. The rest of it is pretty good, too. This may seem odd, but the Braxton album I listed would not be the same as "the one Braxton album I would take to a desert island", if I had to choose that. This is a subjective thing, I guess, but most of Braxton's albums don't seem like "AACM records" to me. Among the ones that do are For Alto, 3 Compositions of New Jazz, and For Trio.

The Soul of Jazz (World Wide Stereo). An odd one from Savoy's short-lived stereo subsidiary label. All the tunes are fake gospel tunes (except for "Royal Garden Blues," which is there for some reason) arranged by Billy VerPlanck. But the solos, by Joe Wilder, Billy Harris, Bobby Jaspar, Pepper Adams, and Eddie Costa (on piano) are really good.

Since just picking one Bird live recording is cruelly impossible, I'm going to cheat a little, with explanations: For the quality of Bird's improvisations, Bird at St. Nick's; For the historical aspects - the early flowering of a new style - and the interaction with Gillespie, Town Hall, June 22, 1945; For a more expansive view of the scope of a genius, the Billy Berg recordings from the Dean Benedetti Mosaic set. Oh, wait, there's the JATP concert with "Lady Be Good"..... This is really cruel, Paul.

John Kirby and Orchestra (Asch). A really nice three-pocket album from 1945, with Emmett Berry and Budd Johnson in the band, along with Kirby veteran Buster Bailey. Typical lousy Asch pressings, but it sounds pretty good on the new rig with some quick adjustment to the EQ. And to indulge in the fetisization of this album as an object/artifact a little bit - what a cool David Stone Martin cover.

I use Brian Rust's two-volume American Dance Band Discography 1917-1942 several times per week. It's not perfect, but it's very useful, especially when used in conjunction with other sources. It's out of print, but there are sets for sale on Amazon US for around $70, which doesn't seem too bad to me.

Yes, Kelly's Monk biography. Wikipedia says that she permanently rented a suite at the Hotel Stanhope on Fifth Avenue, but that following Parker's death there, she was asked to leave by the hotel management and relocated to the Bolivar Hotel at 230 Central Park West. Didn't remember that, and didn't know it was generally known.