HutchFan

New York Jazz Quartet - Oasis (Enja, 1981) Roland Hanna, Frank Wess, George Mraz, and Ben Riley So lovely and understated.

Dmitry, I live in Georgia. If I drove 265 miles, I could visit 265 Waffle Houses. Seriously. Seeing two WaHo restaurants side-by-side is commonplace here. ... A few years back there was ONE interstate highway exit that had four Waffle Houses, one on every corner surrounding the intersection. ... And like Jim said, Waffle House is NOT like Denny's.

Wayne Shorter - Odyssey of Iska (Blue Note, 1971) and Richard "Groove" Holmes - Blues All Day Long (32 Jazz/Muse)

Disc 1 Ben whispers and swoons his way through this "with strings" date. Lovely.

Grist for the mill of discussion ... JazzTimes recently conducted a poll asking their readers to determine the top jazz albums of each decade the magazine has been in existence. https://jazztimes.com/features/lists/top-10-jazz-albums-1970s-readers-picks/?amp FWIW, here's what they came up with for the 1970s: 1. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew No argument from me on this one. I didn't include it in my survey only because it was partially recorded in the 1960s, which ruled it out of bounds, per my own self-imposed rules. 2. Herbie Hancock - Headhunters I prefer the Mwandishi band, but I don't think anyone's going to get wrapped around the axle with this choice. 3. Chick Corea - Return to Forever On my list. A record close to my heart. 4. Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert Among the solo piano LPs, I prefer Facing You. And I like the American Quartet recordings even better. But again it's not hard to understand why readers picked this one. 5. Weather Report - Heavy Weather Meh. ... Yeah, it's got their hit, "Birdland." But there are so many other WR records that are more interesting. 6. Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life On my list. Easily one of Metheny's best records, IMO. 7. Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay Ony my list. Tough to argue with this classic. 8. Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius A good record, I suppose -- but not a favorite of mine. 9. Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson I know that many listeners consider this to be an epochal record. But I've never grooved to it. Rhythm-wise, it just doesn't work for me. 10. Weather Report - Weather Report This isn't on my list, but I don't have a problem with this choice. It's Weather Report at their most abstract, and I prefer their live records, where they seem to more fully realize that abstraction with some rhythmic thrust. But I can understand why readers would pick this one. It was a big deal back in the day. Some observations: -- My 1970's jazz survey covers 366 records. Eight of them were made for Columbia (or Sony Legacy). That's just over 2%. -- Six of the ten records on the JazzTimes list were made for Columbia (or Epic). ... 60% !!! This tells me two things: a.) From my point of view, one of the most important stories of jazz in the 1970s is how small- and medium-sized independents labels helped to carry the music forward. Because "the majors" were only interested in a narrow electric sliver of the jazz pie -- at least until the late-70s, Dexter's return, and jazz's sudden "resurrection" (very much quote/unquote). b.) The influence of Columbia -- Big Red -- cannot not be underestimated when it comes to shaping the popular conception of what was happening in jazz in the 1970s. It's nowhere near a complete picture. It's a tiny fraction of what was happening. But the perception is what the perception is. ... Honestly, I'm surprised that The Inner Mounting Flame isn't on the JazzTimes list. It's crazy, but that would've upped Columbia's percentage even HIGHER. Thoughts?

Andrew Hill Trio and Quartet - Shades (Soul Note, 1987)

Anders Bergcrantz Quartet - C (Dragon, 1997) with a superb rhythm section: Richie Beirach (p); Ron McClure (b); Adam Nussbaum (d) Really enjoying this new-to-me discovery.

Yesterday, my wife told me that Alex Trebek recommended Ben Mankiewicz as his replacement. I think he'd make an excellent host of Jeopardy -- although I'd hate to see Mankiewicz leave his TCM gig. Always enjoy his movie intros and wrap-ups.

Sounds like he was a fascinating person. RIP

More Booker Little -- with Booker Ervin. Sounds of the Inner City (Collectables) with Mal Waldron, Teddy Charles, and others Originally released as Metronome Presents Jazz in the Garden at The Museum of Modern Art ‎(Warwick, 1960) under Teddy Charles' leadership

Booker Little and Friend (Bethlehem, 1961)

Johnny Hodges - Triple Play (RCA)

Rooster, You can't go wrong with Teddy Charles Tentet (Atlantic, 1956). The album features some excellent Mal Waldron piano work. Waldron also composed the LP's opening cut, "Vibrations."

I'd jump aboard that train! I agree with you, gents. It's an EXCELLENT record! Aside from his early LPs with Lockjaw, I think Griffin's best records are the ones he made AFTER moving to Europe.

Andrew Hill - Blue Black (Test of Time, 2005; originally released on East Wind in 1977) with Jimmy Vass (ss, as, fl), Chris White (b), Leroy Williams (d) The title cut on this album reminds me of "Plantation Bag" from Passing Ships. Incredibly funky, but also knotty and lopsided -- like a wheel rim with a flat spot -- all at the same time. Fantastic. and Andrew Hill - Live at Montreux (Arista-Freedom, 1976) Solo piano. Hill made both Blue Black and Live at Montreux in 1975. And Hommage too! ... THREE amazing records in one year. 1975! ... Not much talk about what a great year for jazz 1975 was. But it was! EDIT: I forgot about Divine Revelation, another LP Hill made in 1975 for SteepleChase. An even more bountiful harvest! ... Though, to be truthful, I might not rate Divine Revelation QUITE as high as those other three.

Yes !!! ... That is OVER-due.

Charlie Rouse - Epistrophy: The Last Concert (Savoy; originally Landmark) with George Cables, et al

Sonny Rollins - Reel Life (Milestone/OJC, 1982) Picked up this CD a few weeks ago, so I'm still getting to know it. But I dig it. ... Of course, it's nowhere near Sonny's heaviest record, even from the Milestone years. Plus there's that early-80's soundtrack-y sheen happening production-wise. But still. Sonny is Sonny. ... And when he launches into "McGhee." Whoooooo!!! LOOK OUT!!! Very enjoyable music too.

Now this:

I can relate too, for sure. But it's not just my wife's family. It's my own as well. To avoid conflict, politics at family gatherings is verboten. But things that have nothing to do with politics have taken on political meaning. It's a bummer. I'm dreading Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. It's a pallor hanging over everything.

Sir Roland Hanna - Solo: Round Midnight (Town Crier, 1987) A remedy for the Monday morning blues.

Excellent!

NP: Sonny Rollins - Road Shows, Vol. 1 (Emarcy/Doxy)

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s Johnny Griffin – The Return of the Griffin (Galaxy, 1979) Rodney Jones – Articulation (Timeless/Timeless Muse, 1978) Andrew Cyrille & Maono – Metamusicians' Stomp (Black Saint, 1978) Ira Sullivan – Peace (Galaxy, 1979) and Multimedia (Galaxy, 1982) Max Roach & Anthony Braxton – Birth and Rebirth (Black Saint, 1978) Leroy Jenkins – Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America (Tomato, 1979) Bill Barron – Jazz Caper (Muse, 1982) Some good stuff this week!