Rabshakeh

Thank you.

Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim - Blues for a Hip King (The Sun, 1976) Coetzee always turns up.

Thanks. An interesting review. I hadn't realised it was a touring group. I had it in my head that Ammons was very Chicago based, and made a record with Stitt as he passed through, then some more when that turned out to be a hit. That's the sort of "event" I'm thinking about. Similar to the example of Jacquet's famous solo on the Hampton record that you mention in that article.

Sorry. Spelling error. Unless there's a third Turrentine brother who never really made it on the dulcimer.

I haven't seen this. Is it a new rerelease?

Ha! This was basically my response to my friend, in different words. Largely because I hear so much church music and blues in Turrentine's playing. (Someone mentioned Fathead - same applies.) These players are right there in the centre of the continuum that then gets packaged as blues, jazz, gospel, soul, R&B or whatever depending on the target audience and route to market. Who is to say that Ray Charles and Lonnie Johnson aren't jazz, but Jimmy Rushing yelling over Basie or Lester Bowie playing 80s pop is; whilst Louis Jordan either is or isn't, depending on who you're trying to impress? However, I still don't think that's all of it. These "blues/bop" players emerged from that continuum and were recorded in that style at a specific point in time. Who were the individuals who led the way, or the events (artistic, commercial, personal?) that caused recordings of this sort to be perceived as potentially lucrative and to be released? Perhaps it was just the effect of Parker re-entering the swing/ mainstream/ blues bloodline as bop became less specialised and more widely diffused, but you'd still expect to be able to point to leaders and milestone records, like you can with Jimmy Smith and the explosion of soul jazz on the organ, or (going much earlier into the same musical continuum) Blind Lemon Jefferson and the growth of unaccompanied guitar blues.

Sorry. I didn't mean it to be taken as a disparaging comment on Tommy Turrentine. My point is that there is very limited discussion of his brothers, and that this is one of the few details out there. It was meant just as a joke. I guess it is soul jazz or it isn't. Like early Lou Donaldson or the 3 Sounds or Gene Ammons. But whatever they're playing sounds slightly slightly different to that later 1960s soul jazz bracket that flows out of it. I like the "bluebop" and "swinging mainstream" ideas. I find this interesting, as I associate him with Ammons and Chicago. Probably as a result of the exact same associations.

Barney Wilen - Le Ça: New York Romance

Are there figures available? I’d love to know how they compared.

Albert Ayler - Music Is The Healing Force of the Universe (Impulse!, 1696) Bobby Few is one of those pianists like John Hicks who you barely notice until the third or fourth listen, but who can single handedly elevate an album.

I recently got a friend who enjoys and listens to a lot of the more well known jazz musicians into Stanley Turrentine (Blue Note era). He is the type of listener who likes backstory and narrative, and has been asking me awkward questions about him, his style and, for want of a better term, his place in the GRAND NARRATIVE of JAZZ HISTORY. I realise that I don't actually know anything at all about Stanley Turrentine, outside of the records and the fact that he was married to Shirley Scott and had a brother called Thomas who had a trumpet, and that he started at Blue Note and then went to CTI. I don't think any history of jazz I have ever seen has even mentioned his name, who his inspirations were, etc. Stylistically, I have always placed him in what I think of as "Ammons music". Uplifting blues based hard bop that doesn't quite step into soul jazz. Likewise Ike Quebec, Sonny Stitt (when wearing his blues hat), Blue Mitchell or Lou Donaldson (in his early Blue Note heyday). This unnamed style seems to slip between the cracks when it comes to critical attention (contemporary or retrospective), other than by reference to the "Jug Phenomenon" (itself rarely mentioned by the Gioias of the world) or Jimmy Smith. I have tried Bob Porter's book, but even that book is quite Prestige and Ammons heavy. So, two questions: First, the specific one, where did Turrentine himself come from, musically, both in terms of influences and immediate peers? Secondly, what is the relationship between this wider network of players - particularly players like Lou Donaldson and Gene Ammons? Were there any particular figures, groups, industry events, A&R networks, or hit records that stand out that might have inspired or caused them to coalesce around this sound? On this second question, I am particularly interested in hearing the recollections of those forum members who were lucky enough to be there are the time. Thank you, in advance.

Keith Jarrett - My Song (ECM, 1978)

What are some good Rushing records without the Count?

Mark Weinstein - Latin Jazz Underground (Zoho, 2014) I’m extremely impressed by this one. Flutes + piano trio (led by Aruan Ortiz, with Gerald Cleaver on drums) plus percussionist playing music with links to Andrew Hill. Does anyone know anything about Ortiz or Weinstein? They’re new names to me.

I think they had a sweet spot, but sort of overdid it after this period. I never understood the regard that Electric Masada or the various books of compositions Zorn did are held in some other corners of the internet. Sorry to hear about the loss of the Masada CDs.

Terumasa Hino & Others - Vibrations (Enja, 1971)

Nice to see that the run of British jazz reissues are now stretching into the Fusion era a bit.

Wayne Shorter - Atlantis (Columbia, 1985) A better album than I remember. First time around I was shocked because it's barely jazz. This time round I was pleased to find that it wasn't the limp quiet storm / smooth fest I'd recalled it being. There's more of a link between this sort of thing, Miles Davis and people like Steve Coleman than is commonly discussed. A new sort of fusion in an era of quiet storm, new wave, electro and smooth jazz.

Unforeseeably, I found myself there today, with a record bag. A great shop. Some good fresh stock that you don't always see in England and lots of Japanese stuff (although a little too Watanabe heavy for me). I plugged some fairly basic holes in my collection that I've wanted to fill for a while. Apparently they have a turnover of stock in November some time.

I enjoyed her Notes From The Village.

Thanks. I'm certainly interested, and will look into picking this up. I'm still rewatching that Keijo Haino shoot interview that someone posted a couple of months ago.

I love the idea of the two genres of soul jazz: greasy and healthy. Thank you for the list of favourites. Digging to do.

Definitely! I never understood for a second why he’s considered so ‘populaire’. All those clashes and dissonances…

Thanks. I'll check it out.

This post is 100% new material to me. I actually did not know that there was a late 70s / 80s soul jazz revival. We don't have a thread on this, do we?