mhatta

My personal favorite is 2000's Horace Is Blue (A Silver Noir), similar to what John Zorn did on News For Lulu, but I thought the approach of emphasizing the melancholic aspects of hard bop was interesting.

Although not trumpet, I like J.J. Johnson's "Blue Trombone". I think one-horn trombone quartets are rarer than trumpet quartets. And Flanagan's playing is top-notch.

I am relatively young in this forum, so I was not in an environment where Oscar Peterson naturally came to my ears, but OP was always mentioned in books introducing jazz in Japan, and many libraries and record stores had LOTS of his works. I still like OP and occasionally listen to his The Trio stuff. BTW, I was surprised that Ahmad Jamal is treated like a god in the US. In Japan, he is like just one of them, rarely mentioned, and many people don't know about them. Regardless, I think OP is quite an anomaly. His playing is great in technique and musicality, but I don't think it had the rich, intense power that would make us in awe of him, like Bud Powell did (even Tatum sometimes showed such quality). In a word, he was carefree (that might be one of the reason his ballad playing is exquisite but somewhat dull). I wonder if it is because he is black but from Canada and successful at a young age.

I'm not familiar with the Jazz A Confronto series (or Horo Records in general) as they were rarely reissued on CD, but Vol. 35 was the last? Personally, I like Enrico Pieranunzi on Vol. 24. ---------- Jazz A Confronto 1 Irio De Paula Jazz A Confronto 2 Marcello Rosa Jazz A Confronto 3 Gianni Basso Jazz A Confronto 4 Frank Rosolino Jazz A Confronto 5 Giancarlo Schiaffini Jazz A Confronto 6 Giancarlo Barigozzi Jazz A Confronto 7 Martin Joseph Jazz A Confronto 8 Mario Schiano w/ Giorgio Gaslini Jazz A Confronto 9 Renato Sellani Jazz A Confronto 10 Johnny Griffin Jazz A Confronto 11 Franco Ambrosetti Jazz A Confronto 12 Teddy Wilson Jazz A Confronto 13 Massimo Urbani Jazz A Confronto 14 Enrico Rava Jazz A Confronto 15 Charlie Mariano Jazz A Confronto 16 Sal Nistico Jazz A Confronto 17 Jac's Anthology Jazz A Confronto 18 Slide Hampton & Dusko Gojkovic Big Band Jazz A Confronto 19 Mal Waldron Jazz A Confronto 20 Kenny Clarke Jazz A Confronto 21 Don Pullen Jazz A Confronto 22 George Adams Jazz A Confronto 23 Steve Grossman Jazz A Confronto 24 Enrico Pieranunzi Jazz A Confronto 25 Dannie Richmond Jazz A Confronto 26 Stafford James Jazz A Confronto 27 Archie Shepp Jazz A Confronto 28 The Paris Quartet Jazz A Confronto 29 Roy Haynes Jazz A Confronto 30 Gerardo Iacoucci Jazz A Confronto 31 Roberto Della Grotta Jazz A Confronto 32 Lee Konitz Jazz A Confronto 33 L. Agudo & A. Vieira Jazz A Confronto 34 O. Valdambrini & D. Piana Jazz A Confronto 35 Piero Umiliani

Strictly Powell (or Bud Plays Bird) is not a bad record (like the worst of Verve), but it is faltering and lackluster. Swingin' With Bud is full of energy and consistency, especially in the second half. IMHO.

I already did that but don't get a reply (yet). Nice! If you can, please ask him. Douglas is a unique player who writes unique songs, although I cannot say that he is on par with John Taylor in terms of ability. Still an interesting figure.

Does anyone know about a pianist named Joe Douglas? There are so-called one-hit wonders, or people who release a single work and then suddenly disappear, not only in jazz but in any other field, but there is really no information on this British pianist Joe Douglas (his name is so ordinary that it is difficult to find in a search). He was recorded and released in 1979, and from the jacket photo, he was in his late 20s, which means he was probably born in the 1950s or thereabouts, so it would not be surprising if he is still alive. However, he must have retired from music early and took up a completely different profession, or died prematurely right after the release of the album. The sidemen are Chris Lawrence on bass and Dave Barry on drums, a good lineup for the British jazz scene at that time, and it seems as if Douglas was a promising newcomer. Incidentally, Barry is still alive and well, and I asked him by e-mail if there was anything he remembered, but he did not reply. In addition, there is no YouTube video as well as music streaming platforms. This kind of thing is quite rare today. In the past, Japanese record companies used to release such things as Japanese CDs. It was a good time. The tunes in "Visage" are all his own compositions, which are in line with his own lyrical piano style and full of the sadness characteristic of British music of this period, not limited to jazz music. I wonder why he disappeared, though he was a talented composer and not bad at the piano.

"The Scene Changes" is Bud's most popular work in Japan, and there is no Japanese jazz fan who does not know a tune called Cleopatra's Dream. I don't like it that much (I heard Toshiko Akiyoshi didn't know it and had to learn for recording). I think the best Bud from the mid-50s is "Swingin' With Bud" on RCA (the counterpart, "Strictly Powell", not so much). By the way, that session has one unreleased song (Lullaby to A Believer), a lullaby written for Bud's son. The tape survives and it is very sweet song (it was on a compilation CD once in Japan.) Borderick in The Scene Changes is another bright, cute song with a similar feel. I guess Bud was somewhat happy at that time.

In Europe 1983 / Yosuke Yamashita Trio + 1 Live at "Heidelberg Jazztag" by Yosuke Yamashita Trio (Yamashita (p) / Kazunori Takeda (ts) / Shota Koyama (ds)) + Eiichi Hayahshi (as) This is the only album by this line up. Open and fun.

Wow, do you own this? It's kinda rare.

There doesn't seem to be any problem with Spotify or Apple Music sources. I don't own CD, I'll get one when I found one. BTW, I found this gem. Flea of RHCP is really something else. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr9rI9ZxctB/

A piano trio that can only be described as "dim." My all-time favorite.

This is my favorite Standards Trio recording. Keith Jarrett's narcissistic sentimentalism is a bit on the nose when he plays solo piano or Miles Davis/Bill Evans repertoire (which also shows that these two were very objective and hard-boiled artists), but when he plays Bud Powell or hard bop repertoire, he seems to be able to balance it out nicely.

Little known live recording by Tethered Moon (Masabumi Kikuchi / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian).

I recently bought it used and cheap, having no interest in Freddie Slack (I had never heard of him in the first place), and was depressed when I realized it was on Spotify (under a different title) after I bought it. But the music is unexpectedly really great. Sweet Swing Music and some white hot boogie woogie piano.

I really love Jackie Mclean's Hipnosis, which AFAIK is only available on CD as a part of this Mosaic Select.

I have heard that Hasaan Ibn Ali, who was recently re-discovered, was an influence on Coltrane's Sheets of Sound. Yet another Philly connections. Many hard bop pianists learned the horn lines, and saxophonists learned the harmonies from the pianists. In the case of Trane, from Monk and possibly Hasaan.

Eric Dolphy's masterpieces (Out To Lunch, Conversations/Iron Man, and the Five Spot live recordings) would not have been possible without Richard Davis' participation. Steady in style but always avant-garde in attitude, RIP.

Google Books has that page (orange one). Looks like some sort of blues solo? https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=g6ZF6bl3S8QC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq="Hi+Heckler"+Lester+Young&source=bl&ots=FYnaiHjj-5&sig=ACfU3U2PTx_DNTdQIDt0dYj31TBU0tN7kg&hl=ja&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim9JfvmpiBAxW0mlYBHYxQBuAQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q="Hi Heckler" Lester Young&f=false

"Soon after arriving in Las Vegas, Bacsik made such a strong impression on the popular headliner, Wayne Newton, that the singer chose Elek as his full-time concertmaster and leader of the string section." https://www.facebook.com/elekbacsik/posts/elek-in-1977/10156813640043493/

J.J. Spirits (J.J. means Japanese Jazz), led by Masahiko Togashi in his later years, was an interesting unit. The first and second albums were called Plays Be Bop Vol. 1 & 2 and played standard numbers in orthodox 4-beat jazz (a big challenge for Togashi, who was paralyzed in the lower half of his body), but this third album featured live performances of only the members' own compositions in a freer manner. Pianist Masahiko Sato's early compositions "Palladium" and "Scrollin'" are performed again.

I only knew Sonny Greenwich from his participation on Hank Mobley's Third Season and didn't have a very good impression of him (except for the first track, I think his playing here is too metallic to fit in with Mobley & Co.'s style), but I found him on Spotify and his leader works are quite good. Thanks for the heads-up.

I heard from an old guy that when Sahara came out in 1972, there were lines at record stores in Japan and it literally sold like hotcakes. Personally, I don't find Sahara that appealing (I prefer the next Song For My Lady), but maybe it was something in zeitgeist. However, it seems that Fly With The Wind was rather the deciding factor in Tyner's popularity.