EKE BBB

Curiosity (killed the cat): Track 7, allegedly a 10+ minutes version of 'Oleo', is in fact a three-and-a-half minutes version of the Rollins' tune plus a 6'50'' alternative take of 'I Love You'. Blame it on our own Jordi Pujol... to whom I have the utmost respect for his life-long commitment to making hundreds of wonderful jazz recordings available to late 20th and early 21st centuries' jazz lovers...

Yes, I finally spent some time digging into the first fresh new Tete in quite a few years. Very enjoyable disc, provided you like Tete, with his pros and his cons. His amazing technique is displayed throughout the whole disc, with his astounding freshness of touch and phrasing, his ease and naturalness to play the blues, and quite a few very original ideas and surprising turns here and there. But, at that point of time, he hadn’t departed yet from his baroque tendency, with too much ornaments and certain repetitiveness throughout his longer solos. That flaw would disappear in his later years. I am very happy with the selection of tunes and the original rhythmic approach to a few of them. Particularly, Tete’s version of his own ‘Jo Vull Que M’Acariciis’ is one of the best I can bring to my mind. And the trio works out as a hand in glove: Reggie and Alvin do a superb work. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars for me! (side note: yes, I would never rate any Tete disc below 3 stars)

It rocks but is it rock?

No time for relaxed and focused listening yet! 😉

If anyone owns a copy of this 7" 45 r.p.m. disc, please PM off-list: Das Albert Mangelsdorff Septett Mit Tete Montoliu / The Spree City Stompers* ‎– "Deutscher Jazz-Salon Berlin 1961" (Opera) Many thanks in advance! Agustín

New Tete recording is in the market:

- Tete Montoliu - Barcelona Meeting (FSR) - Marilyn Moore - Moody / Oh, Captain! (FSR) - Johnny Griffin & Lockjaw Davis - At Onkel Pö’s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1975 (NDR)

Got it in my mailbox yesterday. I will be able to confirm your impression very soon...

It looks like (finally!) Jordi Pujol has decided to start unearthing some unissued Tete Montoliu recordings that had been resting in FSR vaults for ages. From Blue Sounds website: “All performances on this CD were recorded on May 22, 1988. At the time, Tete Montoliu, Reggie Johnson and Alvin Queen were the dependable rhythm section behind saxophonist Jerome Richardson while he was booked at the old Cova del Drac in Barcelona. The three were in such top form and had such energy and good rapport, that they agreed to do a trio album. With musicians of this caliber, it simply could not go wrong. They were confident, but more so, they were sympathetic to each other’s ideas. Tete played in a straight-ahead vein. He was rhythmically solid and never overeager, but still managed to get all he had bubbling inside him out there, on the piano, and put it together beautifully without ever foregoing his swinging melodic presence. Alvin generated considerable excitement with his distinctive, powerful driving force, while Reggie provided just the precise pulse to best serve the twists and turns of Tete’s playing. All the music they recorded that day has remained in the Fresh Sound Recordsarchives for over 30 years, and this is the first time that the complete trio session has come to light. Listening to these performances we can easily agree that in addition to his talent, what comes across when Tete plays the piano more than anything else is his genuineness.” https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/tete-montoliu-albums/47804-barcelona-meeting.html

Back to my discographical research, I will update the list in the first post soon. But, for now, here's another discographical query: A) Has anyone come across any different release of Tete Montoliu's 'Piano For Núria' than these?: -Saba LP 12": 15 163 — Piano For Núria (1968) -Crystall LP 12": CRY 45 796 — Piano For Núria (1968) -MPS LP 12": CRM 660 — Piano For Núria (1971) -MPS LP 12”: 30-53177 — Piano For Núria (1973) -Teichiku Records LP 12": UXP-14P — Piano For Núria (1975) -Pausa LP 12": PR 7057 — Piano For Núria (1980) -Jazz Stop LP 12": JS-054 — Piano For Núria (1982) -Polydor CD: POCJ-2547 — Piano For Núria (1998) -Universal CD: UCCM 9018 — Piano For Núria (2000) -Universal CD: UCCU 5516 — Piano For Núria (2006) -Universal CD: UCCU 9773 — Piano For Núria (2011) (many thanks in advance!)

If you like that one, try the one with Mayte Martín ("Free Boleros", recorded at the Grec festival in Barcelona, 1996), as well as the "Temas latinoamericanos" and "Temas Brasileños" Ensayo cds.