HutchFan

Helen Merrill / Dick Katz - A Shade of Difference (Landmark) Originally released on Milestone in 1968. This is my first listen. Just picked it up today. Really digging it, so far.

The recordings that I play most frequently are by Michel Béroff with Kurt Masur and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig on EMI.

You and me both!

Wofford has such a lovely touch, and the music is like German chocolate cake, rich and delicious. ... Hybrid-SACD recorded sound is sumptuous too.

On TCM the other night:

Kenny Barron - Golden Lotus (Muse) An outstanding release from '82.

No doubt! I'm now on to Volume 2:

A solo piano morning so far. Barry Harris Plays Tadd Dameron (Xanadu/Elemental) and Richie Beirach - Impressions of Tokyo: Ancient City of the Future (Outnote) Each very different. Both wonderful.

Don't you mean Charles Tolliver (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) .... ?

James Moody at the Jazz Workshop (Argo)

Oh man, this Art Hodes sounds GOOD. I've never heard this LP before. Thanks for sharing.

Amen to that. Not sayin' that it didn't happen. I'm just sayin' . . . Besides, lots of jazz musicians -- bebop musicians -- were on the outs during the 60s. I've been listening to Duke Jordan today. He didn't make ANY records from 1962 to 1973. He was driving a taxi to support himself. Lots of factors at play in that. I'd be cautious about simplifying it as a race issue -- especially in Haig's case. My 2 cents.

McKenna is like a bear, isn't he?!?! BIG and POWERFUL. He's sorta like the Lazar Berman of jazz. I'm listening to more Duke Jordan: with Mads Vinding and Ed Thigpen; from the same '73 sessions that produced Flight to Denmark

Duke Jordan Trio - Change a Pace (SteepleChase)

John Lewis - Afternoon in Paris (Dreyfus) A gem. Originally recorded for the short-lived All Life label in 1979. Yeah!

Credit where credit is due: A few years back, soulpope hipped me to that Spotlite LP!

I would say that Haig's style continued to evolve. He wasn't a pianist like, say, Barry Harris, whose style stayed rooted in bop. For example, Haig does an interesting version of Cedar Walton's "Holy Land" on Invitation. Given Haig's approach, I can see how he must have appreciated Walton's sense of craftsmanship and logical construction. Haig doesn't necessarily play funky like Cedar can, but Haig definitely was listening to & incorporating post-bop developments. And I agree with you that Haig's way with ballads is very impressive. That didn't change. I have several Haig LPs & CDs from 70's -- on Seabreeze, Spotlite, Choice, Progressive, and Interplay. All of them are well worth hearing, but Invitation and Ornithology (Progressive) are the two that I pull from the shelf most often. EDIT: Thinking about Haig prompted me to queue up this album: Various Artists - I Remember Bebop (Columbia, 2 LPs) This session is more bop-oriented than most of Haig's recordings from the time, since it's intended as a retrospective. (Haig plays four Dizzy Gillespie compositions here.) From Henri Renaud's liner notes: "And Dizzy himself confided to me that in Chicago in 1976, during the making of a TV broadcast about the history of Bebop, he was struck by the discovery that his former pianist played even better than in the heyday of Bebop when they both used to work together at Berg's in Hollywood!"

and

Jeremy Steig - Wayfaring Stranger (Blue Note) Along with Steig, Eddie Gomez and Don Alias are MONSTERS here. This is one of Steig's best records, IMO. and Jan Garbarek Group - Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof (ECM) I dig this LP, but I think that the record that preceded it -- Places -- is even better. and Michel Petrucciani - Oracle's Destiny: Big Sur, California (Owl) Lovely.

I really like that one. Need to pull it out and give it a spin.

Jimmie Rowles - Grandpaws (Choice, 1976) with Buster Williams & Billy Hart An excellent trio session with typically sub-par Choice sound. I prefer this LP over Paws That Refresh, the second Choice LP derived from the same March 1976 session. and Frank Capp / Nat Pierce Orchestra - Juggernaut (Concord, 1977) Another recent dollar-bin find. Enjoyable.