Peter Friedman

Don Schlitten's musical taste is very similar to mine. So I tend to agree with Ubu that a large number of the original Xanadu releases were things I particularly liked. The Barry Harris, Jimmy Rowles, Al Cohn, Sam Noto, Teddy Edwards, Billy Mitchell, Ronnie Cuber, Sonny Criss, Jimmy Raney,Dolo Coker, Charles McPherson, and Jimmy Heath sessions were among the Xanadu LPs I bought when they first became available. It has always been disappointing for me that Don was so reluctant to have his Xanadu material reissued on CD. Thankfully I have been able to find some of them on French, Japanese, and a few American labels such as Prevue. Would very much like to see many other now become available.

I don"t recall seeing any mention of the fine Brazilian jazz pianist Helio Alves. He has some good recordings on the Reservoir label.

O Grande Amor A lovely version of this Jobim tune form this CD.

He left the world too young and is missed.

"Midnight Mood" from this CD

What about J.R. Monterose? He recorded a very good album on Blue Note, but actually recorded very little as leader or sideman over the course of his life. Ferdinand Povel and Jerry Weldon are some others.

A lot of really good albums by Dexter have already been suggested. I don't recall this one, among my favorites, being mentioned.

The arrangement was by Stan Kenton. Personally I thought the arrangement sounded just what one might expect from that Band. It has the "classic" Kenton sound. Though I am not crazy about most of Kenton's recordings, and most of the tracks on this particular album are not to my taste, as a feature for John Park I liked this arrangement And as I said before, Park's solo is, to my ears, beautiful.. Anyone at all familiar with Kenton could pick out that this was his band immediately.

Though not as lengthy as some other suggestions, at 13:26 "Funky Blues" might be my choice. It is the only opportunity to hear Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter together on one tune. You also get to hear Ben Webster, Flip Phillips, Charlie Shavers and Barney Kessel on that same tune.

Here's a link, Peter: RomanoJFSR108bd.jpg Thanks Marcello. Would be nice if Fresh Sound would reissue it on CD. To hear a very special solo by John Park, try to get hold of this one. Stan Kenton - Birthday in Britain - Creative World Park has an alto solo on "Street of Dreams" on this album that is out of sight!!! A very close friend of mine - Jerry Atkins of Texarkana, TX- died a few years ago. He was extremely close to John Park and they got together frequently. Jerry accumulated a number of private small group recordings by Park taken from sessions in various clubs. The audio quality was not the best, but they give a good indication of Park's talent. Jerry, who played tenor sax himself, might have been John Park's number one fan.

Definitely agree that Canadians Mike Murley and Phil Dwyer are overlooked / underrated. I was in Toronto about 4 years ago and heard a set by Mike Murley and he sounded magnificent on tenor. back when I lived in Rochester, NY I had numerous opportunities to hear Joe Romano when he would come home to visit his mother. He played both alto and tenor at a few different clubs. i particularly thought his tenor work was outstanding. Romano can be heard on a couple of Xanadu records led by Sam Noto. He is also on an Art Pepper 2 CD set called Live at Donte's on the Fresh Sound label. Not too many years before he died Joe put out a very fine Quintet CD titled "This Is The Moment". Fresh Sound released a quartet LP with Joe as leader. It also featured Frank Strazzeri on piano. Unfortunately I never have heard or even seen that album.

Eric Dixon plays and solos on - "The Count Basie Kansas City 7" on the Impulse label.

I am a bit confused about whether there actually was an alternate take of "What's New"? It looks to me like that tune was recorded by two different groups. The quartet version with Mal Waldron, Art Phipps and Art Taylor. The version on the "Makin' The Changes" album is by a sextet with: Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller, Webster Young, Gil Coggins, Paul Chambers, Louis Hayes recorded on August 30, 1957

I don't believe Betha Hope has been mentioned. She has a few very good CDs out, but I never hear anything about her.

Here are some other good CDs by Gene DiNovi.

The Decathexis From Youth (For Cole) Manhattan Nocturne Both tunes are from the terrific CD by Charles McPherson - The Journey - on the Capri label.

Charles Thomas He is a Memphis legend who had a major influence on Mulgrew Miller, James Williams and Donald Brown. Thomas has three excellent trio CDs out on the French - Space Time label -that are well worth acquiring. Cecilia Coleman Michael Weiss

As has been said, overlooked is very subjective. Many of those mentioned already are not pianists I would consider overlooked within the jazz world. Pianists like Hampton Hawes, Carl Perkins and Martial Solal (for example) have been referred to frequently and with very positive reactions over many years. It is difficult for me to think of Don Friedman (no relation) as overlooked. He has recorded a very large number of albums as leader and also as a sideman. In my view, Albert Dailey does qualify. His Steeplechase session is, to my knowledge, the only one he did as leader. Two that I perceive to be overlooked are Hugh Lawson. He played and recorded with Yusef Lateef and has a couple of recordings as leader. Another is Barry Keiner. Barry was a marvelous jazz pianist who died very young. He made a couple of recordings as leader that were released on LP, but never reissued on CD. Barry had a lengthy gig at a club in Rochester, NY and spent a good amount of time on the Buddy Rich Band.

I agree with Chuck. For my taste, the fifties had a load of outstanding recordings by Rollins as both leader and sideman.I liked a few things from the sixties, but after that there were some recordings i enjoyed, but nothing at the level of his 50;s sessions. Just my opinion.

I tend to agree with Chuck that the Urbanity album did not engage me. The Savoy trio with wendell marshall and Kenny Clarke was far more to my taste. But by and large, it was Hank's later recordings with more of a bop sensibility that I enjoyed the most. Just read an interview from Jazz Journal with Kenny Barron. He said that Hank jones and Tommy Flanagan were his major piano influences. Back some decades ago I was at Bradley's in NYC to hear Tommy Flanagan. Had an opportunity to sit down with Tommy between sets. In our conversation, I asked him to what extent Teddy Wilson, Hank Jones and or Al Haig might have influenced his playing. He responded that yes Teddy Wilson and Hank Jones were influences, but not Al Haig.

Aside from the fine recordings by Eddy Louis already mentioned, I like this one. Eddy Louiss - Bohemia After Dark - Gitanes with Jimmy Gourley, Guy Pedersen, Kenny Clarke R.I P.

I have 9 of the Prestige Mono SACD's. Tommy Flanagan Trio Overseas Elmo Hope Sextet - Informal Jazz Jackie McLean Quintet - Jackie's Pal Hank Mobley Quintet, Quartet, Swxtet - Mobley's Message Hank Mobley Quintet - Mobley's Second Message All Night Long - Donald Byrd, Jerome Richardson, Kenny Burrell, Hank Mobley, Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins, Art Taylor George Wallington Quintet - Jazz For The Carriage Trade Phil Woods Quartet - Woodlore Phil Woods / Donald Byrd - The Young Bloods I am very pleased with the audio quality. In almost every case I replaced very early CD releases. The clarity and depth of the music seems definitely better than on the early CDs.

Page One The Real McCoy - (McCoy Tyner Quartet with Joe Henderson) Our Thing

"See See Rider" from Ike Quebec - Easy Living on Blue Note SHM - CD Especially love the great Sonny Clark solo !

Same here. I've never really understood the attention that this record gets relative to other recordings by Erroll Garner, but maybe this reissue will do it for me. I have the same opinion. I never really connected with this album.