HutchFan

I agree. Among the album I posted this week, I'd also rate Heavy Spirits 5 stars. The rest would be either 4.5 or 4.

Spinning this relatively new-to-me LP again: IMO, when it comes to conducting Prokofiev's music, Rozhdestvensky is at the head of the class.

Nice batch there. Thanks for the heads-up.

I love this record.

I agree with you 100% re: Salt Song. But not the other one. Yeah, I've read that Jackson resented the "constraints" he felt when playing with the MJQ. And that's what led to the group disbanding.

It's Tuesday, and I'm trying to resurrect my weekly recaps. So here goes: Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s Oliver Nelson – Stolen Moments (East Wind/Inner City, 1975) Art Farmer – To Duke with Love (East Wind/Inner City, 1975) Sonny Criss – Saturday Morning (Xanadu/Elemental, 1975) Oliver Lake – Heavy Spirits (Arista-Freedom/Black Lion, 1975) Horace Silver – Silver 'n Brass (Blue Note, 1975) Shirley Scott – One for Me (Strata-East, 1974) Billy Cobham – Crosswinds (Atlantic, 1974) I've already mentioned Crosswinds and One for Me. But whatever. I'm getting back on track. To anyone who's never heard it: DO NOT sleep on that Sonny Criss record.

I have Sunflower, and I've listened to it many times. I dig it. And I dig that you dig it. ... But it's not one of my faves. Glad that you brought that up though, because I wrestled with NOT including a Milt Jackson-as-a-leader record in my survey. I listened carefully to all the CTI and Pablo stuff. Some I was familiar with; some I hadn't heard before. It was after that exploration that I came to the realization that I like Bags best as a co-leader with the MJQ.

Oh that's interesting. I love Bags, but my reaction is just the opposite. I think he's at his best when he's with John Lewis. Of course, there are some exceptions like Plenty, Plenty Soul, the Savoy sides with Lucky Thompson, the Prestige sessions with Miles, etc. But if I had to pick one or the other -- Jackson with John Lewis or Jackson without John Lewis -- it would certainly be the former. Oh yeah. That LP may be "the exception that proves the rule"! Then again, it WAS the 1970s ...

Liszt: Harmonies poétiques et religieuses; Sonate en Si Mineur / François-Frédéric Guy (Zig-Zag Territories) Unwinding with this after a long, hard day at work. Otherworldly music.

Yeah. I guess I should never say never. What a remarkably consistent unit the MJQ was. They made excellent records from the beginning to the end. The Milt Jackson-John Lewis hook-up is one of the partnerships in jazz, I think. A collaboration that made both of them better. Right up there with Bird & Diz, Duke & Strayhorn, Mingus & Dannie, et al.

I like The Legendary Profile as well. But if I were to pick any single MJQ recording as a favorite -- from any period -- it would likely be The Complete Last Concert. In interviews, John Lewis has said that the group never played better than they did that night. I suppose I agree with him.

That's another excellent one, no doubt.

The band's performance seems inspired. What would your 70s MJQ choice be?

Deeply soulful, brilliant, uncategorizable music.

Sure thing. Diff strokes for diff folks. And that is A-O.K.

Disc 1 - A Sea Symphony (No. 1)

Tribalism.

More Prokofiev conducted by Rozhdestvensky on Angel-Melodiya:

Just ordered. Not Jazz, Classical. Two Russian composers. Solo piano. and Looking forward to hearing these.

Now spinning this Angel-Melodiya LP: Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov with the Concertgebouw is terrific!

Wonderful.