Peter Friedman

Yes, but all this does not change the fact that, as with most things, we all have our personal favorites. And there is nothing wrong with that. Rollins playing during the 1954-1958 period is the music by him that I find most meaningful and enjoyable. That does not mean that iI do not dig many things I have heard by Sonny from other time periods.

Soulpope, listened this morning to the La Fiesta CD to familiarize myself with it again before responding to your question. Musically it is a good one. The tune selection includes one tune by 6 different jazz players. I especially like Williamson's version of Hampton Hawes - Black Forest. The rhythm section of Sam Jones and Roy Haynes is 1st class. Roy's excellent drum work in particular adds a great deal to the success of this album. Williamson plays well throughout this fine session. Hope this is helpful.

I have this one on Venus. On the CD label it says "Licensed from Interplay Records. Inc. ". The audio quality is very good. Venus also licensed this one from Interplay - Claude Williamson - The Way We Were (solo piano). There are at least 4 other Claude Williamson Trio CDs on Venus. They were all produced by Tetsuo Hara for Venus and recorded in the 1990's.

It looks as though there are a variety of different opinions on identifying the peak of Sonny Rollins playing ( at least on record). Personally, I found most of Rollins 60's recordings a fairly big let-down after his magnificent playing in the 50's. It is the period from 1954 through 1958 that I consider the definite peak for Rollins. One record after another on Prestige, Blue Note, and Contemporary with Sonny as leader or sideman that are all essential for me.

It is difficult to go wrong with pretty much any of Frank Strazzeri's recordings. Along with "Funk & Esoteric" on Fresh Sound that has just been deservedly praised, I very much like "I Remember You" and "Little Giant" that are also on Fresh Sound. On these last 2 Frank plays with a Spanish rhythm section. It was these last 2 that made me a very serious fan of Frank's playing quite a few years ago. "Kat Dancin"" on Discovery with John Patitucci and Ralph Penland is also a trio session that I find highly appealing. I have Strazzeri's CD "Somebody Loves Me" with his Woodwinds West group currently in my car CD player. There are others I like on the Jazz Mark, and Night Life labels as well as others I did not mention on both the Discovery and Fresh Sound labels.

It seems that the fact that jazz pianist, composer and arranger Frank Strazzeri passed away very recently was missed here. Though Strazzeri never became a well known name in jazz, he was a damn fine player who also wrote a number of interesting tunes. Frank was originally from western New York state in the Rochester/Buffalo area. However he spent the majority of his career on the West Coast in the L.A. region. He recorded as leader quite a few times and many more as a sideman. His trio sessions on Discovery and Fresh Sound are particular favorites of mine. In fact, along with Carl Perkins, and Hampton Hawes, I consider Frank Strazzeri to be one of my 3 favorite jazz pianists on the West Coast.

I recently read this book. It was a really good read. Leitch does not hold back, and shares his persective very clearly.

Joe Wilder was not only a wonderful trumpet player, but a ground breaker in opening up the theatre and radio to African Americn musicians. I very much like the 2 recordings he did on the Evening Star label. He will be missed.

I highly recommend this recording that has some fine playing by Sahib. Art Farmer Quintet - Manhattan - Soul Note With Sahib Shihab, Kenny Drew, Mads Vinding, Ed Thigpen

I am having trouble locating CD versions of "Texas Moaners" and "Santa Claus Blues" referred to by Larry in posts # 24 and #26. Any suggestions?

I keep thinking of more drummerless trios or larger. The number of such groups that recorded must be extremely large. Here are some more that just came to mind a short while ago. Kenny Drew Trio w. Philip Catherine & NHOP - Morning - Steeplechase Horace Parlan Trio w. Doug Raney & Wilbur Little - Hi-Fly - Steeplechase The Modest Jazz Trio w. jim Hall, Red Mitchell & Red Kelly - Pacific Jazz Milt Jackson, Joe Pass & Ray Brown - The Big Three - Pablo Ruby Braff w. Howard Alden & Frank Tate - Candid Ruby Braff w. Gray Sargent, Jon Wheatley & Marshall Wood - Live at the Regattabar - Arbors John Bunch w. Frank Vignola & John Webber - Do Not Disturb - Arbors Kirk Lightsey w. Kevin Eubanks & Rufus Reid - From Kirk To Nat - Criss Cross Lee Konitz w. Jimmy Rowles & Michael Moore - Tenorlee - Candid Eddie Higgins w. John Pizzarelli & Jay Leonhart Eddie Higgins w. Kevin Eubanks & Rufus Reid - Those Quiet Days - Sunnyside

Don't forget the 3 trio CDs on. Steeplechase by the Chet Baker Trio with Doug Raney and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen.

I saw the trio with Rob McConnell, Ed Bickert and Neil Swainson live and they were outstanding. They fortunately have a good album on Concord.

I like Billy Root's playing a lot on both tenor and baritone. That solo on "dishwasher" is a gem. The 2 Birdland sessions, the Red Rodney album, and the Bennie Green session are all very good. However, the Capazolli's date on Woofy was very disappointing. As Billy's son indicated, Root was just not in good shape for that session. I quickly disposed of my copy.

what paul sed. I am also with Paul.

I have Enja CDs of the 8 items on the list that I care to have.

Hank Jones along with Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris and a half dozen others has long been one of my favorite jazz pianists. Many of his wonderful recordings have been mentioned. Here are a few more under his leadership that I like, and that I believe were not referred to here. Beyond these are numerous sessions where Hank plays a sideman role. Bluesette - Black & Blue I Remember You - Black & Blue For My Father - Justin Time Hank and Frank (Wess) - Lineage In Japan - All Art

It is really tough to make such a short list. Here are some of my favorites and I could have made it much longer. Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris Barry Harris Trio - Magnificent Teddy Edwards / Howard McGhee - Together Again Miles Davis - Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk Horace Silver - Song For my Father Sonny Rollins - On Impulse Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag Art Blakey - Mosaic Hank Mobley - Roll Call Stan Getz - Jazz Samba

Interesting how we can define the same things in different ways. I wonder if anyone here has seen Kellaway live in recent years? Sometimes seeing a musician live can give a different impression than just hearing the recordings. What Larry calls clever - cute, I call creative and "thinking outside the box". When I saw Roger play many sets both in a trio, and with a variety of horns, he just seemed to me to be having a great time and swinging as hard as anyone I can recall. Yes, sometimes he does put into a solo something very unexpected, but, at least for me, it usually worked very well and brought a large smile to my face. One thing that I can definitely say about hearing Roger is that it is never dull, boring, or trite. though I respect Ellis Larkins playing and sometimes I enjoy it a lot, at times his understated approach can become a bit dull. For a more understated approach I will take Hank Jones every time. I suppose it boils down, as so often is the case, to personal taste.

My view is to some extent very much the opposite of Jim's final paragraph. If Roger was doing his own program I would be concerned it would include things more on the order of the 4 Cello group, or some compositions using strings or other instrumentation designed to show off his composing chops. That is not what I prefer about Kellaway s music. I would much rather hear him play with a good rhythm section as well as some solo tunes with him playing good Standards and good Jazz tunes by Monk, Golson, Etc. To my mind, it is his hard swinging creative jazz piano that shows the "real" Kellaway. The other stuff is just him trying out things to see what might result. Just as many top level jazz players like to record an album with strings or compose and or play once in while in a "workshop" setting that is very different than what they usually do. Is the "real" Ellington defined by his "church music' or by his many masterpieces, or do we not know who he really was? The other way to look at this is to say the the "real" Ellington is the sum of all his compositions and performing. Might that not be true for other musicians as well?

Funny, but the Mainstream label was not one that released many recordings that I liked. The Sonny Red and the Clark Terry/ Bob Brookmeyer were the most interesting to me. They also reissued on CD some ealy material by Getz, Quinichette and other tenor players that I am glad to have. The things by Blue Mitchell, Hal Galper, Frank Foster, Harold Land and others were not particularly good examples of their playing in my opinion.

My impression is that Roger can impress differently depending upon the context. His recordings with a cello quartet and some of his classical oriented recordings are rather different than the Kellaway in a straight ahead jazz environment. He made a wonderful duo Recording with Ruby Braff, and his things with Red Mitchell on both Concord and Dragon are terrific. There are also his quite recent things on the IPO label that I very much like.

A few weeks back I attended the Paradise Valley Jazz Party here in Arizona. Roger Kellaway's playing was, to my ears, definitely one of the true highlights of the weekend. Not sure why, but Roger seems to get minimal respect here. I have seen Roger live a number of times, and have a large collection of his recordings. He is a highly creative jazz piano player who is very versatile in that he can fit well with musicians from a broad range of styles. He swings like mad and approaches each solo with great energy and enthusiasm. He also has a readily identifiable style of his own which is lacking from many other players.

I saw Dexter live 3 time. Once in Detroit, and two separate times in Toronto. He played wonderfully the first 2 times when he did not seem high. The last time in Toronto he was seriously stoned, and his playing was not good. The rhythm section on that last gig had Kirk Lightsey, Rufus Reid, and Eddie Gladden. They were great and saved the evening from being a disaster.

Yes, interesting to read Billy's choices and commentary. As Paul said, my choice of drummers and specific recordings would be somewhat different. Perhaps what surprised me the most was that Philly Joe Jones was not included.