mhatta

I think the most important resource for getting to know Joe Albany is the 1980 documentary A Jazz Life, which is probably the only video that captures Albany playing. In the second half of the film, he talks about playing with Parker and other jazz greats. A fragment is on YouTube, but the full version is available on Vimeo. I am also a pianist and what is interesting about Albany is the choppy rhythmic feel and the intertwined style of the right and left hands. Unlike traditional left hand movements, the left hand is rather moving freely. This is a different story from Oscar Peterson or Phineas Newborn Jr. who also had an exceptionally strong left hand, perhaps closer to John Dennis, Oscar Dennard, or even Brad Mehldau in some ways. You can see a little bit of that in the video as well. Also, a regular contributor of this forum@AllenLowehas performed with Albany (and I believe his enormous ESP recording set included a tune with Albany). I guess he can give us an interesting insight on Albany from a point of player's view.

For me, Wynton Kelly's Left Bank live recordings are very good. The sound quality is not great, but it is the usual Left Bank quality, not so hard to hear (maybe Vee Jay's original release was bad; Fresh Sound's was not that bad). After 1965, Kelly lost some of his lightness (probably due to alcoholism), but I think it was a "different" Kelly, or more powerful instead. His live show with George Coleman is tremendous; his exchanges with Coleman on Unit 7 are amazing, and I think Coleman's solo on Here's That Rainy Day is his absolute best. Also, the way he enters the Four solo with Joe Henderson is like flying!

I recently got a used CD cheap from Amazon Japan. Some thoughts. I don't know so much about Cecil Payne's style, but I am pretty sure that the pianist is Wynton Kelly. I also think the drummer is Charli Persip. The trumpeter is boppish on the uptempo and a bit older style on the ballads, kind of like Clark Terry. I have no idea about bassist, possibly Ron Carter? I think they are all seasoned pros, very skilled ones. I think it may be a broadcast recording from a small club (Monday jam session nights from Birdland?), not a large venue. Perhaps one from the Boris Rose collection? I think the end of the song is cut off because of the Symphony Sid announcements there. The sound quality is no good, but the performance itself is not bad (although for some reason there is a track with only a woman's voice speaking). I think it's unusual to see Wynton play Confirmation (although a Seattle performance was recently unearthed); the solo on A Night In Tunisia (labeled as Kelly's Rhythm) is especially good.

I guess so. I'm listening to this on Spotify via a pretty good Bluetooth speaker and sounds okay. Generally speaking, this is a good piano trio recording -- Using Tina's compositions adds a nice touch, but I hope they could choose more attractive ones (such as "Street Singer", "Miss Hazel" or "The Waiting Game", etc.).

"All or Nothing at All" is one of my favorite tunes, sung by numerous greats including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Bob Dylan. It was composed by Arthur Altman (lyrics by Jack Lawrence). Altman composed over 400 songs, but seems only this stands.

My all-time favorite jazz is Milt Jackson Quartet, which is Milt / Horace Silver. The sound is very different from MJQ, and Horace is a superb accompanist. The combination of Milt with Monty Alexander is also good.

Wow -- "The tape box indicated Rahsaan was standing on his head for the entirety of this interview!"

He was a member of Davis group in 1988. He played synth on "Human Nature" in Live Around The World (Warner). He was also featured on a bootleg known as Indigo Blues.

Benny Goodman / Teddy Wilson / Gene Krupa trio is my favorite. I think Trumpet / Guitar / Drums trio is also unusual. Kirk Knuffke / Mary Halvorson / Matt Wilson trio is a delight.

I think it is too difficult to select only 5 discs without setting some conditions. So I tried to select only unreleased but very much BN-esque ones. Sonic Boom / Lee Morgan The Soothsayer / Wayne Shorter Back To The Tracks / Tina Brooks Another Workout / Hank Mobley Hipnosis / Jackie McLean

Well, I guess it's not "fusion", but more like pseudo-funk. It's from 1988, so please forgive its political un-correctness...

This error message is a bit worrisome. Who is maintaining this site? I can lend some hands If needed.

I know some of you think Jazz piano trio stuff is boring, but since I was an amateur pianist, I have a soft spot for piano trios. Also, it can be debatable that Horace Tapscott was a good trio pianist (he was more like a composer/arranger/leader), he left several nice trio recordings. My favorite is Dissent or Descent (Nimbus West). A rendition of As A Child is breathtaking. Fred Hopkins and Ben Riley provide very sympathetic support. Also, don't forget Interplay recordings -- this Japanese label recorded Horace Tapscott several times.

I think "Live" Brownies are something else. It reveals what a monster he really was. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, they only survived in terrible sound quality....

I think piano trios on MPS are much-forgotten treasures. Fritz Pauer's Blues Inside Out is one of them. Elsie Bianchi's The Sweetest Sound is also nice. It is almost decadent. Yancy Korossy's Identification is a very idiosyncratic yet hard-swinging gem.