mikeweil

I for one think that rough sound fits the unpolished quality of the music, like on a live gig, where you rarely have perfect sound. A too clean sound cuts the edges.

That band recorded this album:

Just listened to this one: In my ears, a masterpiece. Each track has a different mood and groove, Shorter's solos are exemplary. I love how he takes his time and audibly thinks while playing. One of my top recommendations whenever someone asks me for good jazz albums that show what the music can do.

No. I saw Blakey twice during later years, the band with Ponomarev, Watson, and Schnitter, James Williams on piano, and a later performance with a woran at the piano. That Leverkusen gig must have been something, maybe l saw part of it on a video. Keezer was great with Blakey. Taking some chances with wild unexpected passages in his solos.

I have that CD. You would never know from listening. Maybe Keezer was taking it too casually at first with his abundance of talent. Keezer was Blakey's last pianist. He was asked to join Miles Davis at the same time but preferred the Messengers.

Re-listening to that vocal track. He does some things Eckstine never did, sounds almost female at times. Now who is this?

Here's my two cents: Track 1: Lush Life, played on a bassoon. I must admit I am spoiled by the more beautiful sound of historical bassoon instruments and the perfect way our local Frankfurt period performance practice students play them, so this does not satisfy me from a technical point of view. But it is a nice idea. Bassoon has to be played exclusively to really master it, in any genre. No idea who it is. Track 2: A Child Is Born - very nice that they take their time before they let the band come in. Beautiful arrangement, well played. I would have liked it even more if they had kept it as subdued as in the beginning. Concise and to the point. Track 3: This trumpet intro sounds very familiar. Tenor sax? I hear Dexter Gordon phrases. But that is neither his sound nor his vibrato. I am sure I have heard this or even own it, the tune sounds familiar, too. Very curious who this is. Track 4: Gene Ammons! Track 5: Another standard tune, A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing. That alto player has his own very personal way of approaching the tune. The pianist starts his solo with some Debussy phrases, which is a nice contrast. This probably will be on my must buy list. Like it a lot. This has class. Track 6. Cannot name this familiar tune right now. I probably know this player ..... Must be a seasoned older generation player. Not quite convincing to me how he plays the clsong cadenza. Track 7. Another familiar tune. They way he meanders licks around the tune rather than playing thematic variations on it does not convince me. Almost like Dolphy at times. Could it be him? Track 8. Billy Eckstine? Over The Rainbow! What a fantastic singer! This is better than classical opera as you never have that much freedom there. This has me shout "Yeah" every other bar. This was so great I have to take a break ....

Thanks for the link. I use Opera as a browser, and with the "download all" function it was a piece of cake. Four parts containing 24 ziped files, which unpack in pdf files. Great to have them all on hard drive.

R.I.P. Words fail me ....

Tony made deep black music starting with EGO.

PIPELINE W/KEN VANDERMARK & F. LONBERG-HOLM

Thanks all for the nice words. I had no idea most of these records were new to you. Like there was some discussion here about the Essence All Stars albums that made me curious, so l bought all of them and the other similar stuff that Milan Simich and /or Lenny White procuced (The Acoustic Masters, The Chartbusters, and tributes to Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, and a Tom Browne CD with players from the same pool of musicians). That nobody recognized the Shorter tune was surprise, considering how many of you love those VeeJay albums. I was expecting more astonishment about the identityof the mystery trumpet player. 😉

I love the Ego album, and think Ted Dunbar is great in that band.

Geat you enjoyed it. The late bird's reward is the reveal I just posted.

As curious as I was about your comments and guesses when I posted the link to the files, I am still more curious about your reactions to the reveal. So here it is. 1. Grooveyard (Carl Perkins) - The Trio: Walter Norris (p), Billy Bean (g), Hal Gaylor (b). Riverside LP 9380 (June 1961) / OJCCD 1923-2 (1999) One of the rare cases where I like a cover version more than the orginal. This tune was recorded quite often, but this remains my favourite version. One member aptly described the lovely voicings as "ear candy" - that's what I love about this version, the perfect tempo and the warm sound of the voicings which I miss so often with young musicians, who seem to go for harmonic sophistication rather than for an accessible sound. This album was talked about some here, so I wondered why it wasn't identified rightaway. 2. S.H. Blackula (Ben Webster) - Jimmy Rowles (p & voc). "Jimmy Rowles In Paris" - French CBS LP (1980), CD 465633-2 (1989) Simply one of my favourite pianist, with absolute perfect time, even in an impromptu setting like this, when he recorded two LPs for Henri Renaud on two days in May 1980. This was on two LPs in France, reissued on one CD. 3. Stroll (Mose Allison) - Mose Allison (tp), Addison Farmer (b), Nick Stabulas (d), recorded January 24, 1958. Prestige LP 7137 "Young Man Mose" / twofer CD 24055 or other reissues I, too didn't know Allison had learned to play trumpet, I found out when I bought the Fresh Sound box set of his Prestige albums. Only two tracks among them all. Pretty good for a pianist. But I hear the Kenny Dorham inspiration. 4. Woman Trouble (Ed Partyka) - Partyka Brass: Tobias Weidinger, Bill Forman, Axel Schlosser (tp, flgh), Christine Chapman (french horn) Adran Mears, Johannes Lauer (tb), Ed Partyka (tuba, b-tb) "The Day After Christmas", Mons CD 874533 (2011) After touring with Carla Bley and recording her Christmas Carols album, the band wanted to stay together and finally recorded this album. Probably hard to find, but a must for brass band fans. They all have perfect academic training, but play mostly in jazz contexts, so they perfectly maneuver that delicate balance between classically trained precision and jazz feeling. Partyka was born in Chicago of Polish/German ancestry, but moved to Europe. 5. Cubano Chant (Ray Bryant) - The Essence All Stars: Gato Barbieri (ts), Bob James (p), Andy Gonzalez (b), Lenny White (d & timbales), Steve Berrios (cga) - from Hip Bop Essence CD 8009 (1995) "Afro Cubano Chant" One of the many All Star projects Milan Simich and/or Lenny White conceived in the 1990's. All are interesting, this one for Gato Barbieri, who is forced to play his best without getting opportunity to fall too much for his pet cliché phrasing. I'm not a fan of Barbieri's own albums but really dig his playing here. 6. Desafinado (Antonio Carlos Jobim) - Rosa Passos (b) & Ron Carter (vcl & g); Lula (solo g), Paulo Braga (d & perc), Billy Drewes (ts) - CD "Entre Amigos" , Chesky 2003 Another proof of Carter's affinity for Brazlian music, and nice takes on the classic bossa nova repertoire. Veteran drummer Paulo Braga and the singer give it the vintage bossa nova feel. 7. Hojas Muertas (Johnny Mercer, Spanish lyrics by Maria Rivas) - Maria Rivas (vcl) & Liberjazztrio: Laurent Lecuyer (p), Miguel Chacon (b), Eliazar Yánaz (perc) - CD Pepiada Queen (con Aldemaro en el alma), Obeso Pacanins 2008 She was Venezuela's greatest singer, at home in all stylistics, but understood herself mostly as a Latin Jazz singer until her death of cancer in 2019 with only 59 years. Now her albums are hard to find, downloads might be the best option. The Aldemaro she has in mind on this album is Aldemaro Romero (1928-2007), Venezuelas greatest Bolero composer, with whom she performed and recorded. Samples can be found on YouTube. (I am still trying to find out which English Johnny Mercer title this is.) https://www.mariarivasjazz.com/wwwmariarivasnet-mainpage - each page has different songs as background music. 8. Uno Dos Adios (Lenny White) - The Essence All Stars: Craig Handy (ts), Tim Hagans (tp), Kenny Burrell (g), Cedar Walton (p) Ron Carter (b), Lenny White (d) - from "Primal Blue", Hip Bop Essence 8006 (1995) Another example for the Simich & White projects, bringing together jazz greats of different generations playing older compositions or new originals in that style. White captured the lightly Spanish tinged mood of the 1960's Miles Davis quintet beautifully. JSngry hears traces of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" in this - well, I can see why. Since the many projects of Lenny White and/or Milan Simich with the Essence Allstars or the Acoustic Masters of the Chartbusters and their tributes to Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, and Keith Jarrett always always combine musicians of two or three generations they should be taken serious as nods to older music that continue that tradition rather than just recreating it. And remember, this was in the mid-90's. 9. O.P. (Sam Jones) - Sam Jones (cello) & Co.: Les Spann (f), Joe Zawinul (p), Israel Crosby (b), Vernel Fournier (d) - LP "Down Home", Riverside 9432 (1962) / OJC CD 1864-2 (1995) I'm on a Sam Jones kick at the moment, have compiled a discography of all his dates as a leader. This was the giveaway track. Note how different Fournier's drum solo is from standard rudiments and drum lick solos. This btw was Israel Crosby's last recording session before his heart failure, not the George Shearing Trio sessions. 10. Mama G. (Wayne Shorter) - Jimmy Rowles (p) & Red Mitchell (b) - LP/CD "Red'N Me" Dreyfus (1978, CD 1991) Rowles seemed to be the only one playing the lesser known Shorter tunes (first recorded on the "Kelly Great" LP) - as Big Al said, they had a blast recording this. Here are two of the very best on their instruments. This tune is from a VeeJay session with Wynton Kelly and Lee Morgan. Nice how a hard bop vehicle works for this duo. 11. Low Blow (Jay Anderson) - Roger Rosenberg (bar) & Jay Anderson (b) - CD "Factory Town", Advantage Music 1001 (probably late 1990's) (https://www.discogs.com/release/11559118-Various-Warren-Bernhardt-Jay-Anderson-Keith-Foley-Factory-Town) This was a sound demonstration sampler from a local High End equipment distributor that no longer exists, a friend made me a copy. The company had a direct connection to DMP Records, endorsed their digital sound equipment, and had some of their artists record the music for the sampler. This duo is the jazziest track, a rare feature for Rosenberg, a studio player who cut his teeth in modern big bands and Latin Bands (e.g. Mongo Santamaria) in the 1970's. https://www.discogs.com/release/11559118-Various-Warren-Bernhardt-Jay-Anderson-Keith-Foley-Factory-Town 12. Suave (Santi Wilson Debriano) - The Essence All Stars: Gato Barbieri (ts), Bob James (p), Andy Gonzalez (b), Lenny White (d), Steve Berrios (bgo) - from Hip Bop Essence CD 8009 (1995) "Afro Cubano Chant" I love the passion Barbieri shows here in this Latin ballad. And I never thought Bob James would be so accomplished in Latin piano styles. 13. The Lady Sings The Blues (Herbie Nichols) Dr. Lonnie Smith (B3 Hammond organ and a phrase of vocals at the very end). Alternate take from the "Bongo Bop" sessions of the Essence All Stars (Hip Bop Essence 8017, 1997) released only on the "Hip Bop 'N' Cool" compilation CD (Hip Bop Essence 8803, 1999) The other take has a clarinettist participating. Besides the Rosenberg/Anderson duo, the rarest track in this BFT. It's so cool he plays a Herbie Nichols tune on organ. 14. Get Happy (prayer version) - Flip Philipp / Ed Partyka Dectet: Flip Philipp (vib), Ed Partyka (b-tb & vcl), Klaus Gesing, Pepe Auer & Gerald Preinfalk (as & b-cl), Tobias Weidinger, Daniel Nösig, Robert Bachner (tp), Robert Jukic (b), Christian Saalfellner (d) - from CD "Opium" (2006, self-released) Seeing this band perform at Vienna's club Blue Tomato together with two other board members on a day off during a band tour in Austria was one of the greatest jazz concerts of my life. This band met once a year to rehearse new pieces, perform and record them. All hard to find, try your luck at www.flip-philipp.at, but I'm afraid it's oop. Partyka sang this number on that evening and had us all ROTFL. I hope I did not offend anyone's religious feelings. I just liked this as a closer and love this band that saw itself in the tradition of the few unorthodox tentets in modern jazz. But seen and heard live this probably was much more entertaining. Thanks for listening, reading your comments was very enjoyable, as always.

Same here. Has it ever been on CD in complete form? This was the album that made me appreciate Williams more rockish drumming. He plays very intelligent long phrases on that album

Now that's an achievement! Thanks for listening!

No thanks, I have the Mosaic box set, too 😊 Listening to the whole box set would probably kill you, then, and I don't want to take responsibilty for that.