Milestones

How about some thoughts on Lee Morgan? I know a lot of us are big fans of Blue Note in the glory years, and Lee Morgan was certainly a big contributor--with some good stuff already in the 50's when he was a teenager all the way up to the end of his brief life in 1972. I used to be a big Freddie Hubbard fan (and I still am), and Hubs was all over Blue Note (and other labels), though more as sideman than leader. With Morgan, I do like many of his records, though he probably never shifted much toward the avant garde, unlike Hubbard and so many others. There are exceptions, such as the title track of Search for the New Land. I really like Tom Cat, which sat in the can for many years despite the fine tunes and the presence of Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller, and Art Blakey. It's probably a draw between trumpeters when considering their work with the Messengers. I am still in something of a discovery mode. Morgan sure did put out a lot of work on Blue Note.

On my last go-around with Mirror, the first few tracks sounded good, but it largely lost something as I got deeper into it. I don't have Athens Concert or Sangam--both rather different projects.

Why leave good stuff in the can? At least Blue Note put out a a lot of stuff later. Apparently ECM very rarely does this. True, I'm not about to tell them how to run a business, but the issue of previously unreleased tracks/albums is fun and sometimes quite enlightening.

I'd like to get this kicking again, as I do like Charles Lloyd quite a lot. I'm much too young to have been into him, or into jazz, in the 1960s, so I'm largely responding to his ECM albums, especially those since about the turn of the century. Parts of Lift Every Voice are spectacular, and I thoroughly enjoy Rabo de Nube--a really fine live album. I did see Lloyd once in concert, and this record seems to reflect this rather well. I was somewhat disappointed by Mirror, especially since I found Jason Moran to be such a great fit in Lloyd's group. I understand there is a just-released (or about to be released) duo CD of Lloyd and Moran. I would like to hear that.

That's a shame, because you can look at Blue Note and consider how many first-rate records didn't come out until 20 years after recording.

I do like how DeJohnette has been willing to incorporate electronic stuff on his records, such as on Parallel Realities and even more so on the duo with Frisell: The Elephant Sleeps but Still Remembers. I also recall him doing some weird thing to the drums on some parts of that record he cut with Bruce Hornsby (not so sure that worked). Jack is also a pianist of some note, and not many drummers can claim that.

Really? Do we have some unreleased stuff coming? I don't have much Jack DeJohnette with Miles outside of Bitches Brew and Live Evil.

I think Jack DeJohnette is one of our great living artists, and I was delighted to see him celebrating his 70th birthday at the Tri-C JazzFest last year. Interestingly, the group featured Don Byron, who played some amazing clarinet on the opener, "One for Eric"--but then pretty much played tenor thereafter. I don't think Jack played anything off his new album, but instead relied on his classics, like "Blue" and "Ahmad the Terrible." I believe Jack once said that his style is essentially a combination of Elvin Jones and Tony Williams. He is probably the first who comes to my mind among living drummers. He has played with everyone; and whatever your opinion of Keith Jarrett (I'm a moderate fan), you have to admit there's a lot of great DeJohnette to be heard in this trio. Jack is probably underrated as composer and group leader. I've heard a lot of his records, and I especially like the ones on ECM. I know the label recently brought out a multi-disc set of his "Special Edition" records, of which the first (with Arthur Blythe and David Murray) is the best; but I have heard them all, and I think this was some of the most creative music of the time (late 70's/early 80's).

Well, I'm pretty new to Organissimo, and while I have looked at the older thread, the heart of it was years ago. There was eventually some weird some stuff on Zawinul regarding Hitler as a hero, and then the thread virtually stopped in the middle of 2010.

What do people think of "Live and Unreleased"? I've gotten the impression these are the best WR live recordings, at least among those that are relatively easy to obtain. I know that it contains performances over a period of about 8 years.

Yeah, that's a fine website. I had not seen it before; thanks for the recommendation. All groups and artists should have a website like this.

Any thoughts on this legendary band? I was into the group a little bit when I first got into jazz, which was 1981. They had been around for quite a while and had just had a few years left. I was mainly interested because they came from the Miles Davis tree. Despite the phenomenal talents of Zawinul and Shorter, I was not a big fan in those days. It was certainly a different kind of fusion from John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Larry Coryell, etc. I have become familiar with Black Market and Heavy Weather, and there's no denying their importance to jazz--and they provide plenty of good listening. I've also got a nice anthology of the group's work. In any case, I have come to more greatly appreciate the group's creativity and quality. Zawinul did essentially run the band, which I always thought was odd given Wayne Shorter's enormous talents as composer and player. I have to say, though, that Zawinul did sum up his talents well on Brown Street--the double CD big band record from late in his career, consisting mainly of Weather Report material.

I have also liked what I've heard of the Dizzy/Getz records; there seem to be quite a few of them. Some will think the partnership sounds odd. I guess you don't know Getz very well if you don't know he could be a smoking bop player at times. If not already mentioned, I recommend the album by Bebop and Beyond that pays tribute to Dizzy, with Dizzy on most of the tracks. His singing and moving trumpet solo on "I Waited for You" should not be missed.

Kenny Dorham deserves to be much better known. What can you say about a guy who played with Bird, Monk, Blakey, Silver, Coltrane, Rollins, Joe Henderson, Max Roach, Andrew Hill, and more. He was no slouch as a leader, either. I particularly like Quiet Kenny and Jazz Contrasts. Can't say I ever heard him with Jackie McLean, and I'm a big McLean fan.

Yes, a duet with record with Haden--I wish there was one. It would be wonderful.

I'm a big fan of Herb Ellis' Nothing But the Blues. Great lineup, and "unpretentious yet unpredictable" says it very accurately.

Did Dolphy play much flute on the records with Oliver Nelson? I only remember "Stolen Moments" from The Blues and the Abstract Truth. They made several other records, though I only had one: Straight Ahead.

Any fans of Jessica Williams? She's been around quite a while and has never had the visibility she deserves. In fact, she is in somewhat tough times after spinal surgery this past summer. Here's hoping her recovery is swift and full. Much of her work is solo, and I first got to to know her through the Maybeck album. She has done a huge amount of recording, some of it available only at her website. Again a lot of solo work, but also trios and bigger groups. She is a big Monk fan and seems to know the whole history of jazz piano--and jazz itself. She reminds me a bit of McCoy Tyner, especially when covering Coltrane pieces--which she has done quite a bit. She has a great touch, she's a great blues player, and she plays music as if it's transcendent--as, in the right hands, it surely is.

Can you specify the group sizes on those Steve Lacy records? I'd say Sonny Rollins Vol. 2 (Blue Note) is the best of his quintet records. Of course, he did work with some great trumpeters, such as Brownie (Basin Street is the best, IMO) and Miles (I really like the four short tunes from 1954, three of them Rollins compositions).

Taking this in a different direction--who would you want to hear do a jazz album? It seems that just about everyone has does one, but that's not true--especially for jazz artists. Two that come to mind: Keith Jarrett Bill Frisell

Some good choices on Monk and Mingus--great artists indeed. Not sure I'd go with the Mingus on piano as a masterpiece, though I know there are some real fans--including virtuoso pianist Jessica Williams. BillF, Is that Sonny Rollins #1 or #2? I really love #2 with Monk, Silver, J.J., Chambers, and Blakey.

We live in an era where many jazz artists regularly vary group size and format from album to album. I'm thinking of artists like Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, David Murray, and Anthony Braxton. This is a good thing. Much as I love Miles Davis, he pretty much worked in either quintets/sextets or backed by Gil Evans (though you had rarities like the Birth of the Cool nonet). But I am thinking of artists who created genuine masterpieces in a large variety of formats. Bear in mind, I see even the greatest jazz artists as producing only 5-8 masterpieces of any sort in a long career. One artist instantly springs to my mind: McCoy Tyner. He has gone quiet again, but his output over his lengthy career is both prodigious and impressive in quality. I would point to these records (actually six) as indicative of creating masterpiece recording in virtually every format. Solo: Echoes of a Friend or Soliloquy Trio: Remembering John Quartet: The Real McCoy Quintet: 44th Street Suite Mid-size group: Expansions Big band: The Turning Point Of course, no one has to agree with my choices. What I'm really looking for are your own nominations: artist and specific recordings.

I have long enjoyed this one. It came out in the early or mid-80's. It's somewhat similar to George Winston's December, though I find Owen's record much more enjoyable. Not an easy record to find....for some odd reason.

Anyone with more thoughts on Dolphy's work with Trane? He is rather well-represented (finally) on the complete Village Vanguard sessions--though, if I recall correctly, there's no flute work there.

Some of the greatest Dolphy is with Mingus, including Mingus Presents Mingus: "Folks Forms" and "What Love?"