Late

It's true that the album is somewhat weighted to the "polite" side, perhaps in the hope of attracting listeners who wouldn't otherwise purchase a "jazz" album. But, yes, it would've been great to hear Brown let go for a few choruses! Still, what he does do within the constraints of the recording date ... And that sound!

That's a good call. This is 1955. Who else? So much of Brown's playing here ... Lee Morgan must've listened very closely. And many, many spins.

I love Clifford Brown's playing on this album — a perfect balance between melody and embellishment. (And always in tune!) But Neal Hefti's arrangements? They seem heavy-handed at times ... and almost always the same tempo, which can get tedious if you listen to the album straight through. Anyone here feel the same ... or differently? What arranger would you have liked to hear instead? And ... favorite track? "Where Or When" is the highlight for me.

New Yorker Review, by Richard Brody

This is a collection of short stories, so not really "Jazz in Print," but Suzuki was famously married to Kaoru Abe, so, tangentially I suppose, related to jazz. It's classified as "science fiction" — think Philip K. Dick — but I think it fits just as well in the larger genre of literary fiction. The translations are excellent here. I wanted to give the book a warm recommendation (even if I misplaced such a recommendation) in this forum. While most these stories were written over 40 years ago, they feel timely today.

This latest batch is out now. Anyone picked any titles up?

Is this the cover? ... and this is the other Spencer Clark record: I want to hear these records! They don't appear to have been transferred to any digital format, but I did find the first record online for $10. I don't really buy vinyl these days, but I do still have a functioning turntable, so maybe ... Oh — I'm listening to Rollini right now ... as part of the Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang 2-disc JSP set. LOTS of tasty Rollini solos there. Really a treat.

After Hours was reissued in the previous batch of Japanese enja titles. A fine record indeed!

This is a full-size sub-contrabass saxophone. It stands 9' 2". Wiki.

Sometimes Bix is the healing force of the universe.

Oh man, what a night! I need to read that novella. The first place I ever heard a bass saxophone (live) was ... at Disneyland! The player was actually pretty good. I talked to him a bit later. He had a music degree, and didn't seem thrilled with the gig. I still enjoyed his playing.

Yes! But I don't think there are very many sub-contrabass saxophones out there. That YouTube video (posted above in 2013) gives a good example of what it sounds like. The soprillo, in contrast, is ridiculously small (and, it appears, very hard to play in tune). The bass saxophone documentary, linked above, is REALLY good! I watched the whole thing this morning without intending to. Some great footage of Adrian Rollini (though not playing the bass saxophone, alas). Medjuck — your friend Josef Skvorecky is in the documentary!

Spencer Clark on bass saxophone. A bass saxophone documentary!!!

Listen here.

Last CD reissue was 2013. It's being reissued again November 24, 2021. 1500¥.

Hey, that's great news!

I wondered about that one too. I have a feeling it's a re-do ... but hope that I'm mistaken.

More enja reissues.

Very much agree. The final Village Vanguard recordings are amazing, as are the Keystone Korner recordings ... with only (roughly) two weeks to live? In his final trio, Evans seemed to be opening up to more discordant sounds.

Agreed. For years, I only listened to Evans from (about) 1955-1966. Those, of course, are classic years, and the Riverside albums are iconic. But when I finally started listening to the final trios, I realized how much I'd been missing out. Evans really was in peak form in the late 70's.

Yes, you're right. hbbfam — that 1967 Vanguard material is really good. It was originally a 2-LP set, but it fits on a single compact disc. (Maybe you have it?) I have the Japanese SMH-CD edition, and the sound is unusually good for live material. I think it was Eddie Gomez's first appearance as part of the trio, and Philly was (somewhat) guesting. Regardless, his ears were fully attuned to what Evans was playing! Now that I think about it, while Evans is certainly a piano trio icon, I sometimes think he was more comfortable in a(n implied) duo setting. He did record with Gomez (minus Morell) in a duo setting, and the 1967 Vanguard material (while Gomez is of course playing as part of the trio) almost feels like duo work with Philly Joe Jones. When I listen to that disc, I hear Evans and Philly "talking" to each other, while Gomez is filling spaces in between. But that's just the way I'm hearing it these days — not a demonstrative observation. I've really come to love late-period Evans, which, many years ago, I shrugged off as simply more of the same. It's not. (Oh — and I wouldn't classify 1967 as "late-period." I'm actually thinking of the trio with Johnson and LaBarbera. I love that trio, but still can't say I "know" their work.)

Hut Note!

Uh ... ?

Oops. Scratch that. Not THIS Friday ... (I got the notifications mixed up with David Sedaris' new book.)

I was just listening last night to California, Here I Come from 1967 with Philly Joe. It's weird how Philly anticipates Evans' figures at times, and then plays the figure WITH Evans ... live. I've read about LaFaro and Evans' "telepathy" many times, but I think it actually existed with Philly and Bill. Philly seems, at first, an unlikely drummer for Bill Evans, but he's actually near perfection. You can hear Eddie Gomez (admittedly just starting with the band) out of sorts at times.