HutchFan

It's been a Xanadu morning:

They're both very good. Perhaps not quite on the same level as At the Great American Music Hall -- which is my favorite Carmen record from the 1970s -- but close. Repetoire-wise, these Groove Merchant LPs are in the same bag as the GAMH album - a mix of jazz classics and current hits. It doesn't at all feel forced, like a concession to the marketplace. It's all soulful. The line-up on Ms. Jazz: Zoot Sims – tenor saxophone Bucky Pizzarelli − guitar Tom Garvin − piano Paul West − bass Jimmy Madison − drums And the line-up on It Takes a Whole Lot...: Joe Pass − guitar Dick Shreve − piano Ray Brown − bass Larry Bunker − vibraphone, percussion Frank Severino − drums The music's readily available for sampling on YT. Check it out. If you dig Carmen, I think you'd dig these records.

Groove Holmes - American Pie (Groove Merchant, 1972)

Quest - Quest II (Storyville, 1986) as reissued on:

... (again) speaking of top-flight rhythm sections!!!

I love how that record evokes dusty, way-out-in-the-country places. Sorta similar (country-vibe wise) to records like John Carter's Fields and Marion Brown's November Cotton Flower. ... Re: Mraz and Waits. Hell yeah. You cannot go wrong with those two.

David Liebman / Ellery Eskelin / Tony Marino / Jim Black - Renewal (hat Hut, 2008)

O.K. You sold me. I'm gettin' it. . . . That particular Cannonball group with Zawinul was kick ass.

No sweat! Months (years?) ago, I actually bought Lullaby for a Monster based on YOUR recommendation.

Carmen McRae - At the Great American Music Hall (Blue Note, 1977) Freddie Hubbard - Red Clay (CTI, 1970)

So true. And, more importantly, no one person can possible absorb and know everything that's out there -- even if you happen to have it in your collection! Of course that's a wonderful "problem." For all practical purposes, our musical explorations are never-ending. . . . But you really should check out Lullaby for a Monster!!!

Carmen McRae - Velvet Soul (Groove Merchant) A reissue of two McRae LPs: It Takes a Whole Lot of Human Feeling (1973) and Ms. Jazz (1974)

Oregon - Winter Light (Vanguard, 1974)

Enjoying this one...

Sought this book out after seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time on a big screen:

This again: Frank Foster & Frank Wess - Two for the Blues (Pablo)

I'm probably just repeating what's already been said on the other thread, but I'd strongly recommend these three: EDIT: Of course, all three of these are in the Complete Trio & Quartet Studio Recordings box set.

The Microscopic Septet - Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues (Cuneiform, 2017) Fellow forum member and friend Ken Dryden gave me this on a recent visit. Thanks Ken!

Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson, Joey Baron - Play Morricone (Cam Jazz, 2005)

Andy LaVerne Trio - Another World (SteepleChase) with Mike Richmond & Billy Hart Excellent. No doubt! That band was incredible.

Bill Evans - His Last Concert in Germany (West Wind) Chris Byars - New York City Jazz (SteepleChase)

Jimmie Rowles - Grandpaws (Choice, 1976) with Buster Williams and Billy Hart

Now listening to the cuts originally released as Gemini. It's irrepressible music -- and it swings so hard. It's like being carried along by a wave. Hard to believe it was recorded in 1971... but it was.