Late

Horace Silver was gigging in Cleveland circa 1957 when he heard The Three Sounds. He befriended Gene Harris and introduced him the next year to Alfred Lion. Before The Three Sounds signed to Blue Note, they played an extended gig in Washington D.C. backing Sonny Stitt. Both Kenny Burrell and Miles Davis heard that gig and supported their move to New York. Lion heard them play at The Offbeat Club in NYC and signed them soon thereafter. Francis Wolff took photos of the trio at The Offbeat, but to my knowledge there's no recording of that gig. The trio broke up in 1967. Dowdy left first, to be replaced by Donald Bailey. Simpkins then took a gig with George Shearing in 1968, which lasted through 1974. The Three Sounds left Blue Note in 1962, recorded albums for Mercury and Verve, and then returned to Blue Note in 1966. Of their return, Michael Cuscuna wrote that "success had diluted the trio's original impact, and their repertoire had become overrun with fanciful, inferior pop tunes of the day." Can't disagree with that. But the 1958-1962 recordings are tight. I don't really hear a comparison with Red Garland, but I do hear a parallel with, say, Horace Parlan. For my own listening, however, I almost always choose The Three Sounds over a Parlan record. Ranking The Three Sounds albums isn't exactly useful, and I haven't heard them all, but if I had to rank those that I know, it'd look like this: 1. Good Deal 2. Moods 3. It Just Got To Be 4. Feelin' Good 5. Black Orchid (with bonus tracks) 6. Babe's Blues (this album is actually bonus tracks from Hey There) 7. Here We Come 8. Bottoms Up! 9. Standards (Those are all that I've heard. That's either just enough or perhaps too many.)

Yes. And Ms. Lion was into their music. Couldn't have hurt their output.

This one grooves. Andy Simpkins has a great sound on bass. Isn't part of the reason there were so many Three Sounds records because Ruth Lion was a big fan?

This one gets my vote for most distinctive Manne record.

Here he is in 1965.

I'm actually liking The Three Sounds more and more the older I get. There's an economy and a meant-to-swing sensibility to their playing that I find inviting. In my 20's and 30's I wouldn't have entertained such a vibe. Nowadays, I think it might be what I need. This album: is excellent. Andy Simpkins in particular, when you listen to his walking lines, is not just some journeyman.

Thanks for sharing that. The end of the video cuts to Takayanagi in the hospital?

Ah, thanks! I have yet to pick up that Emanem set. That's a lot of solo Lacy. Anyone here have it? Looks like a valuable release.

Robert Johnson Charlie Patton or Blind Lemon Jefferson

Yes, with one track ("Follies," I believe) added to the original album. I don't know if all the original HatHut albums Lacy made have all been reissued. Did Ballets ever make it to compact disc? What archival release would whet the appetite? When Disposability and Sortie were reissued together, I was thrilled. That was a great reissue.

Was the last one Stamps on Corbett vs. Dempsey?

Oops. Yes! I guess I was thinking about Paul Chambers' son with Scott LaFaro. As long as they're playing double-stops. Or did I mean Eddie Haden?

I listened to this whole disc tonight—yes, six bonus tracks, and excellent ones at that. The Three Sounds are a vibe. If a person is willing to get with the vibe ... they are very, very good. They can also make your jazz-indifferent friends take note.

(Does Scott Wenzel know who Bill Barron is?)

Agreed. For 1961, they somehow feel a little ahead of their time (despite Coltrane, Giuffre, etc.).

Much agreed. I only have the nachosphere's cleaned up version of Stalks, but would pounce on a CD issue. Also much agreed. As for Aëbi, I've been a fan for a while, but will admit I wasn't at first. Quite a few years ago, Lacy wrote in to DownBeat in response to some critic's ... criticism of her singing. I can't remember what Lacy said precisely, but the gist of it was that if you were going to understand his (Lacy's) music, well, Aëbi was a central part of it. Meaning, actually central. Just as much as Lotte Lenya was central to Kurt Weill. After I made that connection, it was like—pop!—the singing fell into place. I no longer resist her presence on Lacy's records; in fact, I actually look for it. I still will concede she's an acquired taste, but it is a Lacy taste, if you will.

Elvin Jones or Tony Williams Paul LaFaro or Eddie Gomez

There's a thread somewhere on this board about Blues Images. I'd say—if you're just getting into this branch of music ... START WITH BLUES IMAGES. Yazoo is great, but Blues Images is alive right now and could use support. Oops. Back to Bussard. Also great.

This album doesn't get mentioned enough. It really is quite burning in spots—most notably the opener "La Campimania" and the title track "The Golden Eight"—aided in no small part by the deft drumming of Kenny Clarke. The recording quality is also excellent—perhaps that had something to do with Alfred Lion purchasing it. Or maybe Lion and Clarke had an exchange of some sort—one can only speculate. In addition to Karl Drevo being on fire on this recording, listen to Dusko Gojkovic! Great trumpet playing (and great intonation). An interesting discographical note: The Golden Eight was recorded May 18-19, 1961. A handful of months later, on November 14, 1961, Kenny Clarke and Dusko Gojkovic assembled almost the identical band and made a session that ended up being part of an album titled Belgrade Blues. (The LP has two different bands, one largely American, the other European; the "American" session was recorded in 1966. I think they may have originally been separate 10" inch records?) Both The Golden Eight and Belgrade Blues have "La Campimania" on them. The Blue Note version is faster; the RTB version (unreleased until 1967) features Gojkovic more heavily. Both are great. This thread is in the Discography forum, which is good, but it could easily be in the Recommendations forum as well. A sleeper of an album—very warmly recommended. Amazing sound, and excellent arranging skills—the octet sounds like a big band at times.

Collect the 1971-1973 years into a coherent Bootleg edition. Or even just 1972-73.

Click here to see Joe Chambers in 1969 (as part of the Bobby Hutcherson-Harold Land group). At 28:42 into the video, Joe solos.

I can't think of a jazz harpist who swings harder than Dorothy Ashby. To play swinging eighth notes on the harp can't be easy, and Ashby makes it sound effortless. Coltrane doesn't really swing on harp (and that doesn't seem to be her objective), and other harpists, contemporary to Ashby, seem fairly stilted (90 degree angles) in comparison. I haven't heard that Atlantic record posted above, and need to. I will spin Afro-Harping tonight.

That is a tasty track. Thank you for sharing! I'd never even heard of the Greyforrest label. Al Grey is under-represented in my collection. What a player. After listening to the YouTube video mhatta posted, the next video was this. With Shirley on piano! And a SCRUNCHY Jimmy Forrest solo!

Always the first explanation for listening to Cecil Taylor.