Late

Clifford Brown left us 66 years ago today. I'm spinning this one right now: The TOCJ retains the original LP order, which really works. The RVG, which significantly adds 8 tracks, scrambles the original order.

I'm having a Three Sounds renaissance of sorts this summer. My appreciation for the unit only grows. While I'm not necessarily enamored of Dowdy as a drummer, within the context of the trio ... he's just right. The Three Sounds had some formulas that they used on repeat, but to their credit they always seemed to ignite some blue sparks. Gene Harris couldn't not swing. I'm glad there're as many albums as there are, even if I know perhaps only half of them. Ruth Lion was right.

I'm fairly convinced this is Clark's masterwork. Just listened to the whole session last night. "Nahstye Blues" in particular evinces the Mingus influence. Stellar track.

I wonder if we'll ever see a complete Town Hall release. Would it have to be Denardo who would give permission? (Wasn't there also a track titled "Taurus?" An unaccompanied Izenson solo?)

So ... it's perhaps likely that this particular set is being issued because Miles' nephew is on it? Maybe the 1972-1974 bootlegs will be issued ... for Miles' 100th in 2026!

I don't know this record, but I noticed that it's being reissued in Japan this August.

That's a fine track. I don't know that record. But I have a feeling I should.

Big Kinks fan here. I always liked this short B-side. I don't think it ever made it onto vinyl.

Only 15 years later, and I finally picked up the CD of this fine album. An under-remarked Ornette album if there ever was one.

Finally ordered and received the (somewhat) recent Japanese version of The Ringer: CD Japan doesn't carry this particular title for some reason. I only ever had a CDR of the Black Lion edition, but this new remaster (with original UK cover art) sounds really good. Not compressed at all. Highly recommended. Tolliver would go on to finer solos, but what an auspicious debut. Play it loud! ("Debut" as far as it being released in the day.)

I like Parlan a lot as a sideman, but as a leader I find his albums somewhat grating. (I recognize I'm probably in the minority with that opinion.) That said, Happy Frame of Mind is a small masterpiece. (I guess I'm thinking about albums without horns. Those I haven't been able to get with.)

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.