Peter Friedman

Nice memory. Nice record, too. Though I hope your copy was less than $710! ######################################################################################################### Bought it when it was first released. The retail price I paid was somewhere on the range of $3.95 Sold the LP many years later, after I had a CD copy. While I don't recall the exact amount I got for it, but It was somewhere around one thousand dollars.

Where were you buying your records in the 60's? You purchased Strange Blues around 1967? I didn't buy my first jazz record (vinyl) until 1986 — I was Ray Draper's age! Vancouver, British Columbia. I forget the name of the store. The record was Tenor Madness. My saxophone teacher at the time told me that I should check out Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. I saw that record and thought, hey, both guys! That began my fascination with Sonny Rollins' work. Coltrane hit me about a year or so later. Then, in 1988, compact discs were flooding the market, and I stopped buying vinyl. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I grew up in Detroit and bought most of my LPs in a shop called The Land Of Hi Fi. The woman who ran the record department became a good friend of mine. She carried all the newest jazz releases and was a friend of most of the Detroit musicians who were on the verge of moving to New York. She was especially close to Barry Harris. Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer among others. I moved from Detroit to Rochester New York in the summer of 1967, so it is possible I bought Strange Blues in Rochester? It stays in my memory ,the day I wandered into the record shop in Detroit and found Jackie McLean's first LP on the Ad Lib label.

Dan, just finished listening to - Babe's Blues. To be honest, it was less than I had expected it to be. Most of the tunes were very short which did not allow the players to say much that I found to be of interest. Overall, the CD struck me as lacking substance and was on the dull side. This might be a CD useful for introducing a person to jazz? I will be placing it in my disposal box. I agree with your comments on how Gene's playing has evolved over the years. I took a look through many of my Concord CDs under the leadership of Gene Harris. In contrast with Babe's Blues, I saw no tracks under 4 minutes in length, and most were over 5 minutes long. This allowed Gene and his musical colleagues to stretch out a bit. I saw Gene Harris play live a couple of times and truly enjoyed it very much. The Three Sounds albums I have heard do not reflect the qualities i liked so much. Needless to say, all of this is just my personal opinion, and as is said here often - your mileage may vary.

Dan, haven't listened to it in a long time so just pulled "Babes Blues" and will play it soon. My recollection about hearing some of the Three Sounds albums years ago is that they lacked depth , which is difficult to describe. I suppose I was looking for more vitality / energy/ hard swinging. It all seemed a bit too superficial. In fairness, as this was a long time ago I need to do some fresh listening to see what I believe now. The strange thing is that over time I began to consider bass player Andy Simpkins to be really outstanding. I saw him live at a Jazz Party where a number of other fine bass players such as Peter Washington and John Clayton and others also performed. Andy was my favorite. Once Gene Harris began recording under his own name for Concord I started to like his playing a great deal. He swung hard, showed a deep love for the blues and exhibited far more energy than I recall when with the Three Sounds.

Missed this back when it began. I attended the Top of the Plaza jazz events many times. Defintely recall seeing Thad and Mel there. In fact, for some odd reason, they showed me sitting at a table next to the music on some of the TV broadcasts. They did some strange editing as i was shown sitting in the audience on a broadcast of Stephane Grapelli when I did not attend that one. Unfortunately I do not recall seeing Basie at the Top of the Plaza. Wish I had been there.

The one Three Sounds CD that I have enjoyed is - Babe's Blues - on Blue Note.

I was grabbed deep down by McLean back in my formative jazz years. Bought every one of his Prestige LPs when they were first released? Now have them all on CD. I share what Late said about how nobody plays the blues like Jackie. Though I differ slightly about Ray Draper. His ensemble contributions are fine, but was never a fan of his solo playing..

I have 12 of the CDs listed on Timeless. For me the Tommy Flanagan - Jazz Poet - is definitely essential. Three others I like very much are : Al Cohn - Rifftides Cedar Walton - Eastern Rebellion Kirk Lightsey/ Chet Baker - Everything Happens To Me

Dan, I see your point, but don't think Cables ruined the record. The booklet notes discuss Cables solo approach quite clearly. He plays many cadenza's influenced by both Art Tatum and Coltrane. And he credits Dexter for encouraging him to play however he likes. Cables is a piano player I generally like very much. On this particular session from 1977 (over 35 years ago), Cables seemed to be trying out a stylistic approach. Over the years Cables playing has evolved quite a bit. He plays beautifully on many recordings. Though Cables playing on Night Ballads is by no means my favorite example of his piano solo work, the album still is a success.

I am not a fan of most of the Three Sounds recordings (there are a couple of exceptions). I much prefer the recordings with Gene Harris as leader on Concord. Here are some I can recommend beyond the ones you already have. The Gene Harris Quartet at Ste. Chapelle Winery The Gene Harris Quartet - Funky Gene's The Gene Harris Quartet - Black And Blue The Gene Harris Quartet with Special Guest Frank Wess - It's The Real Soul

Sorry but, in my opinion, The Mastersounds were by no means the musical equal of the MJQ. The Mastersounds music was pleasant, but not anything more. The MJQ was better in pretty much every way.

Yes, this is a wonderful session.

Let me try one other example to make the point I along with Larry, and John L. have been trying to make. The Tristano School which is generally understood to be made of of the musicians who studied with and were heavily influenced by Lennie Tristano. Names most closely associated with the Tristano School include players such as Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Don Ferrara, Ted Brown Peter Ind, Ronnie Ball,Sal Mosca,Jeff Morton along with others. But here as with what I have been calling WCJ, the boundries were not rigid and were in fact very loose. Many other musicians studied briefly with Tristano, but veered away into other directions. To follow what Jim has been arguing, the definition of the Tristano School has to be inclusive of any and all who spent any time With Lennie and his closest disciples. So now Kenny Clarke and Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones and quite a large number of other should henceforth be defined as members of the Tristano School (style) of jazz. These layers are the equivilent of Soony Criss, Teddy Edwards, Erc Dolphy, etc. Or is, as with WCJ, the Tristano School label just another ilustration of marketing? I guess after this I need to call it quits on this WCJ topic as I have made my points and will just have to agree to disagree with those who see it quite differently.

Ever since the early 1950's - over 60 years ago - West Coast Jazz has been a recognized and reasonably well understood term within the jazz community. it had a certain stylistic sensibility, though not all example of WCJ were completely the same. Some examples of WCJ were more highly arranged than others, some of the arranged music has more obvious classical music influences. There were also WCJ musicians playing gigs and making records with very meager, if any, formal arrangements. That musical style was centered geographically in the Los Angeles area. Within the same time period, jazz was being played in California by a variety of musicians in styles not generally considered to be part of the WCJ style. It strikes me as an example of revisionist history to now, so many decades later, redefine the reality of what actually was a part of jazz history.

The question of labeling things has long been a bone of contention is all sorts of realms. If we extend Jim's argument just a tiny bit (or perhaps not at all), we should do away with all labels in jazz. No more use of tems such as New Orleans Jazz, Dixieland, Swing, Mainstream, Bebop, West Coast Jazz, Hard Bop, Avante Garde Jazz, Free Jazz, Latin Jazz Soul Jazz, and whatever others I left off the list. Just use one term - Jazz. And following that let's drop the terms Jazz, Classical, Pop, Rock, etc. and just call all of it music. I suspect some would prefer such an approach, but I am not one of them. As long as We understand that music labels are not rigid and limiting, but rather shorthand devices that provide assistance in making sense out of greatly diverse areas, they are very useful. When I come across the name of a saxophone player with whom I am unfamiliar, or the name of a symphonic composer whose name is new to me, one of the things I am interested in discovering is what stylistic approach is involved. Perhaps that should not matter, as quality must be the key. However, for me personally, stylistic caterories are important.

This discussion strikes me as going over the cliff ! Perhaps my age is a factor. At the time I was becoming interested in jazz West Coast Jazz was making itself heard with Hard Bop right on it's heels. The term West Coast Jazz which the photos and album covers by William Claxton helped solidify had definite meaning to me and many other jazz listeners. It was stylistic and understandable though as I said in a previous post, the bounderies were quite loose. The distinction between the music played by Horace Silver's groups and that of Shorty Rogers groups was easily heard. I get the sense that many of the comments in this thread are trying to make far more of that historically meaningful term West Coast Jazz than necessary. Of course there was much more going on in California, and the high quality music being played by Sonny Criss, Teddy Edwards, Harold Land and Eric Dolphy, to mention just a few,is not being denigrated or ignored. An earlier Post by Larry closely mirrors my own experience. I very much liked West Coast Jazz, then as Hard Bop moved into the drivers seat I began to look less positively at West Coast Jazz and saw it as lacking the soulful, bluesy more hard swinging qualities I found in Hard Bop. But as time moved on I began to regain my love for West Coast Jazz, and saw it as one more wonderful listening option along with a variety of other styles within the world of jazz.

It seems clear that attempting to agree on a definition of West Coast Jazz is a tough if not impossible task. These are some of the things I usually think of when I think of West Coast Jazz. 1. Shorty Rogers recordings. 2. Highly arranged pieces. 3. Less agressive playing by musicians 4. A cadre of specific musicians such as Shorty Rogers, Early Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Chet Baker, Jack Monterose, Bob Gordon, Shelly Manne, Larry Bunker, Bill Perkins. None of these are absolutes. The Basie influence is often there, but somehow sounds a bit more "cool" when played by West Coast musicians. The Mulligan Quartet especially with Chet seems more in line with WCJ than the Sextet. I don't view Zoot, or Getz as West Coast jazz players even though they Could be seen in that camp. The famous Shelly Manne Quintet recordings with Joe Gordon and Richie Kamuca , as well as recordings by Teddy Edwards and Harold Land are , for me, more in the Hard Bop genre. So the boundries are quite loose.

Glad that you've come to feel this way, but I don't agree with the implicit dis of Quinichette. Yes, he's very close to 1940s Pres but within that intense affinity Lady Q definitely had his own thing IMO. Don't recall ever mistaking either one for the other. Check out Quinichette on "For Basie" with Shad Collins or "For Lady" with Webster Young (see below). And there's a lot more Quinichette of value on record. Yes, it is quite unusual, perhaps even exceptional, for a man to model himself so closely on another player and still be a creative figure in his own right, but that's what I hear. I agree with Larry. There are many recordings by Quinichette that I find very worthwhile. Not only the two Larry mentioned, but also "The Kid From Denver" on Dawn, and "Like Basie" reissued on Mighty Quinn.

Though I don't read Japanese, I was able to identify some of the East Wind reissues as I have them on Earlier Japanese CD releases. These are all things I definitely recommend along with the Cedar Walton at Pit Inn which is great. Art Farmer Quartet with Cedar, Sam Jones and Billy Higgins - To Duke With Love and also The Summer Knows. Art Farmer Quintet Live at Boomers Vol. 1 and Vol.2 with Clifford Jordan, Cedar, Sam & Billy H. Pentagon with Clifford Jordan , Cedar, Sam, Billy Sam Jones - Seven Minds with Cedar, Billy, and a string quartet on a couple of tracks There may well be others I was unable to identify.

It is my impression that many jazz musicians today play with less volume than was typical of the previous generations. A good example. Was when I heard both Al Grey and Bill Watrous both play at a concert. al had a big sound on his horn and stayed back from the mic when he played. Watrous had the mic right inside the bell of his horn as far as it would go to get the sound of his horn out to the audience. When he was a bit away from the mic it was hard to hear him. Though Watrous has great techniques and is able to play very fast, I actually preferred to hear the less technical playing by Grey because I liked his big , more natural (less amplified) sound . Watrous seemd so dependent on the mic that it kind of annoyed me.

Thanks Larry. I hope to get to hear some of the earlier Rubinstein Chopin.

Larry, it will be interesting to see what those changes were by Rubinstein playing Chopin?

I agree with those who believe that Art Blakey was the best drummer with Monk. Ben Riley with Monk was nothing special, BUT when I saw him live a few times with the Kenny Barron Trio he was marvelous. Riley playing with Kenny was the ultimate in tasty trio drumming. His 8's, and 4's were perfect. in fact, Ben with Kenny Barron reminded me at times of the best tap dancer in the world. Ben's playing with Kenny Barron on a number of recordings is, for me, simply outstanding.

"Quintessence" from - It's A Good Day - by the Rossano Sportiello Trio on Arbors. As far as I know, this is only the second recording of this lovely Quincy Jones tune by a piano trio. The other trio version is by Hank Jones. Rossano plays it beautifully!