HutchFan

Yes, I love Total Eclipse too. Absolutely. ... In my mind, just like Happenings and Oblique go together as a logical pair, Total Eclipse goes with Medina (specifically, the Medina CD reissue that includes the music from Spiral). If the Hutcherson & Hancock are at the center of the first pairing, Hutcherson & Land are the heart of the latter. @Aftab Sorry to have sidetracked your thread with so much Hutch talk. Now back to your normally scheduled programming.

More Tito Puente!!! Tito's got one helluva band here: - Paquito D'Rivera (as) - Mario Rivera (ss) - David Valentin (fl) - Claudio Roditi (tr) - Hilton Ruiz (p) - Andy Gonzalez (b) - Ignacio Berroa (d) - Mongo Santamaria (cga) - Giovanni Hidalgo (cga, bgo)

I think you'll really enjoy Oblique, Pim. Here's a little preview. The composition is "Subtle Neptune" by Hutcherson. It always gets me.

NP: Yeah man! I have that on a Gatemouth LP. I didn't know that Landmark had reissued it on CD. One of Joe Farrell's finest hours. ... And, IMO, one of the best CTI releases.

I need to pull that LP off the shelf and give it a spin! My copy looks like this: I like your cover better.

Thanks for the heads-up, sp. Will investigate.

This is a very fine compilation of Ford's 1980s recordings for Muse. I dig Ford's Rollins-derived (but not slavish) sound. ... Since first hearing this CD years ago, I've tracked down most of Ford's LPs that the compilation draws from. Sadly, I don't think those records have ever been reissued in any digital format.

IMO, The Kicker is a very solid first recording -- but Oblique is on an entirely different level. I understand the delay in releasing The Kicker, especially relative to Dialogue. But Oblique? The only reason BN sat on that one is because Bobby was cranking out masterpiece after masterpiece, and the marketplace couldn't handle so many. Both of Hutcherson's quartet recordings with Herbie -- Happenings and Oblique -- are so, so, so special.

Irakere - Chekeré Son (Milestone) Grupo Irakere (Areito)

Still on my Tito Puente kick. As the title implies, this compilation -- selected and annotated by Bobby Sanabria -- focuses on Puente's forays into jazz. Originally released on Tico in 1977.

No doubt. NP: Jeremy Steig - Energy (Capitol, 1971) with Jan Hammer, Gene Perla, Eddie Gomez (on two tracks), and Don Alias

with Hank Jones, George Duvivier, and Alan Dawson

During my morning commute: Trio Humair, Louiss, Ponty: Volume 1 (Dreyfus, recorded 1968) Tremendous version of "Summertime" here.

More from El Rey de los Timbales. Tito Puente - 50 Years of Swing (RMM) Disc 1

Cedar Walton always makes me feel good.

Yup. And, similarly, Roland Hanna.

I think you could make a similar argument for Mal Waldron, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Martial Solal, three pianists whose artistry "flowered" in the Seventies. It's when each of them came into their own, began producing their best work in a fully-formed, singular voice. Looking at saxophonists, the same might be said of Steve Lacy and (pre-A&M) Gato Barbieri.

Bill, I'm not a fan of the IDEA of "Giants" in a post-Coltrane jazz world. By the 1970s, jazz had become so many different things that it was no longer useful or possible to think of single artists who dominate an entire scene -- because there wasn't "a scene"; there were (and are!) many, many, many different scenes. The river of jazz has entered the delta -- and the "single channel" jazz idea no longer exists. There are byways and backwaters and lakes and swamps and it all flows out into the ocean. It's a lot more confusing, and the water moves in all sorts of seemingly contradictory directions. That's why no single person can exert the level of influence of the people you mentioned. There is too much musical diversity and non-linearity. At least that's how I like to think about it. Aside from all of that philosophical stuff, I think that there are MANY interesting artists who emerged in the 1970s. They may not exert the broader cultural influences that some of those "Giants" did, but I would assert that they were (and are!) significant artists who have made wonderful music. And, most importantly, their music means a great deal to me, personally. Rather than list them all here, you'll need to look at my blog -- beginning on January 1st.

I didn't start listening to jazz until the mid-1980s -- at the end of my high school years and into college. And, like a lot of people at that time, I focused primarily on jazz from the 50s and 60s. Miles (up through the Second Great Quintet), Coltrane, Mingus, Monk, Blakey. My explorations of 1970s jazz are entirely retrospective, well after the fact. No different than my discoveries of Eddie Condon and Pee Wee Russell and Bud Freeman. Or Duke Ellington, for that matter. My interest in the decade doesn't have anything to do with my age or my first encounters with jazz. (In 1970, I was only two years old. No personal experience "baggage" -- for better or worse -- with me.) The only thing that I've had to "overcome" was the 1980s and 90s party-line that jazz in the 1970s was crap.

Some number crunching from my list, related to our discussions about the first and second halves of the decade. Of my 366 choices: - 156 are from 1970 to 1974 - 210 are from 1975 to 1979 Another interesting tidbit. The single year with the highest representation is 1978, with 63 choices. (No other year is even close to that. The next highest is 39.) I don't think anyone has ever made an argument that 1978 was a "banner year" for jazz. But I suppose I am -- even if I had no intention of doing so. It just turned out that way. ... Anyhow. More grist for the mill.

Tito Puente - 50 Years of Swing (RMM) Disc 3 Magnífico!

Thanks for the heads-up, soulpope. Will do! NP: Jerome Sabbagh - North (FSNT, 2004)

Peterson's playing definitely provokes STRONG reactions, both pro and con. No doubt about that. I've found that I like Peterson best when he's sharing the front line with a musical partner. I'm thinking about his collaborations with guys like Clark Terry, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, and others.