Peter Friedman

Interesting to find that 3 of my all time favoites drummers get blasted by some people. Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones could kick and inspire a soloist wonderfully. These two great players along with Billy Higgins are my idea of the perfect Hard Bop drummers. Ben Riley gets my award for the drummer with the most taste. I have heard him both live and in person many times with the Kenny Barron Trio. Riley constantly knocks me out with his subtle yet very swinging playing. He gets that tap dancing feeling at times that only very few drummers are able to achieve. Listening to Ben Riley has brought more smiles to my face than perhaps any other drummer.

Here are my favorite Roland Hanna CDs At Maybeck (solo) - Concord Trbutaries: Reflections On Tommy Flanagan Solo) - IPO Duke Ellington Piano Solos (solo) - Jazz heritage society Plays Gershwin (quartet) - LRC Play For Monk (duo) - Musical heritage society Glove (trio) - Storyville Apres Un Reve (trio) - Venus Milano, Paris, New York, Finding John Lewis (trio) - Venus

There are many many drummers I like. here are some of my favorites tht quicky come to mind. Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Billy Higgins, Lewis Nash,Shelly Manne, Leroy Williams, Tony Williams, Mel Lewis, Jeff Hamilton

Can someone please share some information on how to order this CD from redoctopus. the website is not in English and I haven't been able to figure out how to place an order for the Kleinschuster CD.

If you like the "early" Tristano-Konitz-Marsh style I suggest you look into a number of recordings by Swedish musicians. Rolf Billberg has two CDs available that I like quite a bit. Darn That Dream - Dragon 369 Rare Recordings By A Swedish Jazz Legend - Storyville 101 8369 There are also a number of other CDs on the Dragon label which show a definite Tristano influence. See recordings by Niels Lindberg and Lars Gullin to mention a few.

Gene Ammons has that quality that is lacking in so many players today - a unique sound that is readily identifiable. Ammons has a big sound and is certainly a soulful player. Among my favorite Ammons CDs are: Boss Tenor The Gene Ammons Story - The 78 Era Gentle Jug The Happy Blues Gene Ammons All Star Sessions With Sonny Stitt

Some of my favorite playing by George Coleman is on the 3 CD series under Chet Baker's leadership on Prestige. Lonely Star Stairway To The Stars On A Misty Night

I didn't see any mention of the other CD by James Clay on the Antilles label. James Clay - Cookin' At The Continental - Antilles 314-510 724-2 with David Newman, Roy Hargrove, kirk Lightsey, Christian McBride, Winard Harper Look for this one if you are a James Clay fan.

No one has mentioned my favorite recording under Tom Harrell's name. Tom Harrell Quintet - Moon Alley - Criss Cross 1018 with Kenny Garrett, Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Ralph Peterson Recorded December 22, 1985 Peter Friedman

Three of my favorite compers are: Horace Silver Wynton Kelly Sonny Clark Peter Friedman

I don't recall seeing Ira Sullivan or Jay Thomas mentioned. They both play trumpet and saxophone well. Don Thompson plays bass, piano, vibes, drumes. Dan Barrett plays trombone and cornet. Peter Friedman

I am also a fan of Chet Baker. A session not mentioned that I enjoy is "Chet Baker & Crew" with Phil Urso and Bobby Timmons. I have long dug the Prestige recordings already mentioned with George Coleman and Kirk Lightsey. Perhaps one of the things that may have hurt Chet's reputation was that he recorded far too often. It seemed that there was a period when a new Chet Baker recording was being issued just about every other week. Not all of them were of a high quality. Peter Friedman

Another one I like with Bennie Green is as follows: Sonny Stitt - POW - Prestige 7459 with Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright, and Roy Brooks I had this on a Prestige LP and now have a CD re-issue which is on Roulette. Peter Friedman

I have two CDs on the Four Star label. Tommy Flanagan - Master Trio w. Ron Carter and Tony Williams - recorded June 16 & 17, 1983. Dick Hyman - A Waltz Dressed In Blue w. Michael Moore and Ron Traxier Peter Friedman

Some of my personal solo piano favorites include: Cedar Walton - Blues For Myself - Red Ray Bryant - Alone With The Blues - New Jazz Hank Jones - Live At Maybeck - Concord Dave McKenna - A Handful Of Stars - Concord John Lewis - Evolution - Atlantic Bill Evans - Alone - Verve Barry Harris - Solo - September Thelonious Monk - Monk Alone - Columbia Art Tatum - 20th Century Piano Genius - Verve Lou Levy - By Myself - Verve Jimmy Rowles - Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn - Columbia Dado Moroni - The Way I Am - Jazz Connaisseur Kenny Barron - Live At Maybeck - Concord Peter Friedman

It's an overused word, but I do think that "underrated' is the right way to describe Steve Kuhn. You rarely hear his name mentioned when top level living jazz pianists are discussed, but I believe he belongs in that group. Some of his recordings such as the things on ECM are not to my taste, but most of his recordings for other labels are top quality jazz. His two trio CDs on Concord (Years Later" and "Looking Back") with David Finck and Lewis Nash are first rate. The three fine CDs on Reservoir ("Dedication" and "Countdown" and "The Best Things") have Billy Drummond in place of Nash along with Finck. I have six Steve Kuhn trio CDs on the Venus label and they are all winners. His Venus recordings may be my favorites though it's hard to select just one or two favorites as the quality level is so high throughout all of them. Peter Friedman

Jan Lundgren is one of the better "young' jazz piano players around today. I am not usually a fan of two piano recordings as they tend to get in each others way and get a muddy sound. However, one that I find terrific is: The Pete Jolly-Jan Lundgren Quartet - Collaboration - Fresh Sound 5038 with Chuck Berghofer on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Lundgren also does an excellent job as a sideman on these two CDs: The Conte Candoli Quartet - Portarait Of A count - Fresh Sound 5015 The Conte Candoli Quartet - Conte-Nuity - Fresh Sound 5028 Lundgren has a number of CDs out under his own name on various labels. He has 2 CDs on the Japanese Alfa label with Peter Washington and Billy Drummond titled "A Touch Of You" and "New York Calling". Jan has about a half dozen CDs on the Swedish label called Sittel and a couple of CDs on the Japanese M & I label. He has a trio CD called "Conclusion" on the Passport label. I have just about everything by him, and they are all very good. Peter Friedman

I am also a big fan of Jimmy Rowles. Here are some more Rowles CDs, where he is the leader, that I highly enjoy. Music's The Only Thing On My Mind - Audiophile 188 In Paris - CBS 465633 Profile: The Music Of Henri Renaud - Columbia 474556 2 Isfahan - Sonet 790 Peter Friedman