Simon8

Where Higgins' spirit lights up the composer's "darker" sides.

PM sent on Rex.

Grabbed a copy of Ayoub's "Montreal Scene" yesterday (actually somewhere down there in the album cover picture). Very happily impressed so far: catchy originals, cleverly arranged, delivered with gusto by a well-seasoned, inspired band. You can hear that the session was carefully planned and executed. Very good recording and remastering. The tenor/trumpet frontline and the music’s allure made me first think about hard bop à la west coast, say Kamuca/Candoli (or Land/Gordon?)… but an east coast echo just struck me: Tina Brooks/Blue Mitchell.... "Back to the (Montreal) Tracks". Ayoub (tenor) and Al Penfold (trumpet) both have a really appealing sound on their instrument.

Its historical (from Jelly Roll to Polar Bear), geographical (Komeda to Ibrahim) and stylistic (Brötzmann to Sinatra) range sets it favorably apart, for me, from most lists I remember. I'll certainly explore some of the albums mentioned.

Followed some of your Polish steps, king ubu: Stanko's "Music for K" is perhaps a little too out for me (I'll listen some more for sure); I like what I'm hearing from the Andrzej Kurylewicz Quintet right now.

Thanks to all for these recommendations ! Listening right now online to Hans Koller indeed excellent "Exclusiv"; heard him also on Oscar Pettiford's very good "Lost Tapes" (also featuring Rolf Kuhn). Listened to Michael Naura as well (W. Schlüter quite impressive on vibes !). Special thanks to Joe for that Nick Ayoub MONTREAL SCENE heads up (didn't know about that album recorded in my back yard, shame on me).

Excellent observations, Steve. True that most of (American) jazz could be called "pastiche" of the few innovators. And I certainly cherish (and perhaps prefer) the "little masters" of the music, those that came "after" and did their non-innovative, authentic swinging thing. So I'll edit my original post ! I really like Lars Gullin (I'm all for the cool side of things as well) . Any album in particular ? Heard some very good Doldinger and Koller (album ?), don't know Naura. Thanks !

You're right, Jeff: it was my McCarthy joke attempt (and coming from a Canadian; worse, a Québécois). Thanks for Solal, forgot about him. I have his arresting, 2-bass trio "Sans tambour ni trompette". Will lend a ear to "Astigmatic", B. Culgston !

Hello all, I'm looking for some good non-American jazz records from the 40's, 50's and 60's: Polish, Danish, Japanese, South African, whatever's worthy of hearing (I know that the Jazzhus label has some very good albums that fit the bill: I have and very much like Albert Mangelsdorff's "Tension" and Wolfgang Dauner "Dream Talk"). Thanks !

I like it. (made me think about "Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat" for some reason).

A few melodies that sound good even when they come out mangled by my amateur trumpet "playing": Beirach's (often played by Chet) "Broken Wing" Bird's "Yardbird Suite" and "Steeplechase" (à la Wardell's "Easy Swing" mode) Tadd Dameron's "Good Bait" Rollins' "Doxy" Ornette's "Peace" Mulligan's "Festive Minor" Monk's "Mood" & "Crepuscule..." Brassens "Les copains d'abord" and "Je me suis fait tout petit" Phil Sunkel's originals for Fruscella have great melodies as well ("Metropolitan Blues", "His Master's Voice"). Schumann's "Auf Einer Burg" (played by Jason Moran) is mightily poignant.

"Contes cruels" is good one, indeed. Makes me think of his contemporary, Barbey D'Aurevilly, and his excellent short stories book, Les Diaboliques. I'm intrigued by Laforgue (read some of his poetry).

A few favorites: Lorrie Moore: Birds of America Denis Johnson: Jesus' Son Tim O'Brien: The Things They Carried Marcel Aymé: Le Passe-Muraille Donald Barthelme: 60 Stories Raymond Carver: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Barry Hannah: High Lonesome David Means: Assorted Fire Events

I just burned a CD for a friend combining Jackie McLean's "A Fickle Sonance" with Sonny Clark's "Leapin' & Lopin'". A great team for sure, and with Sonny Clark one of my very favorite rhythm section.

Right here: http://archive.org/details/Joe-Daley-Trio_Live-Newport-63

Lydia Davis' Collected Stories : I read two dozens of them, mostly from her first and last collection, and I'm... perplex: she comes highly recommended to say the least; I found her stories to be OK at best, almost always missing something (style, perspective, humor, emotion...). I realize I'm in the minority ! Before: Denis Johnson's "Angels". Johnson sometimes wallows in his characters' miseries and the book can be a little depressing...but still, an exceptional writer and some the most vivid prose out there !

And another And another !

Thanks Joe ! I did hear some Tristano echo in there (perhaps a bouncier Tristano, but still) ! Something about the notes "articulation" (I don't have the words either), clean and full, the attack as well, and those long lines, yes. Interesting to read Clark's quotes about Tristano and Monk in the "Cool Struttin' " notes.

Read recently on "Do The Math": "The bassist in the Bill Evans trio before LaFaro was Jimmy Garrison. Paul Motian told me he wanted Garrison to stay in the trio but Evans complained that everything Garrison played “sounded like the blues”." http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/2013/01/bass-genius.html Joe: Sonny Clark, Tristanoite ? Surprising connection, I would've never thought about it. Evans, sure, but Sonny? The one-blues guy versus the all blues one ? They both did love Powell, that's true... Do you have a particular Clark piece in mind that shows best the filiation you hear ?

Listening to a lot of Byrd albums these days, I find that, if he wasn't a "spectacular" trumpeter (which is fine by me), he was a superior ballad player: "Little Boy Blue" (Byrd in Flight), "Stardust" (Motor City Scene), "I'm A Fool To Want You" (Royal Flush) and "I Will Wait for You" (Creeper) are all exceptionally well interpreted by Byrd.

There's a very interesting analysis of Byrd's collaboration with the Mizell's by Darcy James Argue right here: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org/darcy_james_argues_secret/2012/08/disco-inferno.html "[...] the playing, writing, arranging, production, and recorded sound on these records is just brilliant, particularly on Stepping Into Tomorrow and Places and Spaces. The music is concise, soulful, and unpretentious, qualities a lot of other 1970's recordings by jazz artists could maybe have used a little more of."

Digging this thread out while listening by chance to a few of Bell's pieces online. At first sound, a quite intriguing, distinctive pianist. The allmusic biography puts the emphasis on his "soul-jazz" influence and playing "full of blues licks, gospel phrases and inflections"... which is not what stands out to me. His trio has a go at "Work Song", but at a unhurried, delicate tempo, much more, say, John Lewis-like than Bobby Timmons'. They do mention later his "harmonic abilities" and that may be the key. He does an arresting version of "Whisper Not" as well: Anyone knows more about Bell ? Recommandations ?

One of my first jazz record was Byrd's "Slow Drag" (with that groovy title tune that has Higgins mumbling delightfully). Like Clunky said, "he played well, wrote good tunes and produced some damn fine LPs". I'll add that he had a beautiful trumpet tone. Love "Royal Flush" and "Fuego", as well as his parts on a few Red Garland albums with Coltrane ( "Soul Junction", "All Morning Long"), Sonny Clark's "Sonny's Crib", Monk's "Orchestra at Town Hall", Duke Pearson's "Wahoo!"...

In my discothèque, The Big Beat, Moanin', A Night in Tunisia and Blue Train would certainly be lesser albums without him (or with Hubbard, i dare say). I long thought that Sidewinder was a one-track wonder, but renewed listening showed the all-round greatness of the album (Morgan and Henderson: one formidable frontline). One of my favorite, early solo of his is on the first track of Lee Morgan, vol. 3 (1957), "Hasaan's Dream", where he channels Clifford Brown, but with a sense of drama all his own.