thomastreichler

Please, report back on the new Sportiello when you listen to it. I really loved his debut album on Arbors! I will do. I already have his two solo records on Arbors and Jazz Connaisseur and love them both. So I am looking forward to this new effort. This is a wonderful album. Sportiello is splendid, covering stride, swing (Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, hints of Art Tatum) and be bop (Red Garland, Barry Harris, his teacher and mentor), he has a beautiful touch and swings effortlessly. Nicki Parrot's bass playing is a revelation: She has a big round tone and superb timing. Nicki also sings on a few tracks. She is an above average, if not exceptional singer, reminding me a bit of Stacey Kent. If you love Sportiello's solo album on Arbors you may also want to have this one.

Please, report back on the new Sportiello when you listen to it. I really loved his debut album on Arbors! I will do. I already have his two solo records on Arbors and Jazz Connaisseur and love them both. So I am looking forward to this new effort.

Nat King Cole - The Complete After Midnight Sessions (Essential Jazz Classics) Coleman Hawkins - With The Red Garland Trio (Prestige) Coleman Hawkins - Hawk Eyes! (OJC) Nicki Parrott and Rossano Sportiello - People Will Say We're In Love (Arbors) Frank Rosolino / Carl Fontana - Trombone Heaven (Uptown) Thad Jones - New York-Detroit Junction (Blue Note) Clark Terry -Serenade To A Bus Seat (Riverside) Toots Thielemans - Columbia Jazz 1955-1978 (Columbia) Various Artists - The Jazz Piano (Mosaic)

I completely agree with this statement. Discussions on who is "the best" on a particular instrument do not make any sense. On any given instrument there is a lesser or greater number of performers who can be considered playing in the same league. As for the baritone-sax this would certainly be at least Serge Chaloff, Gerry Mulligan, Cecil Payne, Harry Carney, Pepper Adams, Lars Gullin, Gary Smulyan, Scott Robinson and possibly a few more. It is primarily a matter of personal taste, and sometimes of temporary moods, which player is one's favorite. I usually avoid labeling certain musicians as "the best" and rather speak of "favorite" players or performers I "like best".

"Lover Man" as performed by a great number of jazz musicians and vocalists was composed by Roger "Ram" Ramirez (the pianist), Jimmy Sherman (also a swing era piano player) and James Edward Davis. I was not aware that there is another "Lover Man", composed by Kurt Weill. Brownie, do you know any recorded versions of this tune?

"Just Us" on Prestige is another fine Richard Wyands trio date, although under the nominal leadership of Roy Haynes.

Some more recommendations: I Dig The Duke, I Dig The Count (Verve) 1960/61 as the title implies, Torme sings Ellington and Basie associated tunes backed by a superbly swinging big band Live At The Maisonette (Rhino, paired with the less memorable "At The Red Hill") 1974 live set with backing by the Al Porcino Big Band (IMHO Torme sounds best in front of a big band) Sing Sing Sing (Concord) 1992 live date with a combo including Ken Peplowski, Peter Appleyard and John Colianni

So do I, one of the best of them is "Basie & Zoot" featuring Zoot Sims, Count Basie, John Heard and Louie Bellson. Bellson has another fine sideman appearance with Oscar Peterson on "London Concert" (Pablo).

Horace Silver - The Stylings Of Silver (Blue Note) Frank Wess - Wess Point, The Commodore Recordings (Fresh Sound) Sonny Stitt - Don't Call Me Bird! (Fresh Sound) Raymond Fol - Les 4 Saisons (Gitanes) Milt Jackson - Jackson's Ville (Savoy)

..plus the Clayton/Hamilton big band. Of course! One of the best in the business today. I did not list it because you mentioned Jeff Hamilton already in your previous post.

There are some big bands led by drummers: John von Ohlen leads the Blue Wisp Big Band in Cincinnati Tommy Igoe leads the Birdland Big Band The Taylor / Fidyk Big Band is co-led by arranger Mark Taylor and drummer Steve Fidyk Sherrie Maricle leads the DIVA Jazz Orchestra

Red Garland - At The Prelude (Prestige) Lucky Thompson - Brown Rose (Prevue) Red Garland - Red's Good Groove (Jazzland)

I completely agree. Bellson had a very different time feeling than Sonny Payne, but the Basie band sounded great with Bellson.

I love Louie Bellson, but this is not one of my favorite recordings by him. These are the ones I like best: Thunderbird (Impulse), swinging small group featuring Harry Edison and Carl Fontana Big Band Jazz From The Summit (Roulette), IMHO his best big band recording 150 MPH (Concord), superb big band session featuring Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino, Don Menza a.o. Airmail Special (Musicmasters), another fine big band recording, charts by Tommy Newsom, Don Menza, Sammy Nestico, Frank Mantooth Raincheck (Concord), quintet featuring Blue Mitchell, Ted Nash, Ross Tompkins

The Classical Jazz Quartet, consisting of Stefon Harris, Kenny Barron, Ron Carter and Lewis Nash, did three albums, covering Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Bach.

Personally, I'd rate the Cole Porter and Duke Ellington song books as at least as good as the Gershwin set, which was very fine. One of the nicer aspects of Ella's treatments of these songs is that she always sang the verse. It's one of the features that so excited the composers who were still living when she recorded them. As I recall, the Harold Arlen is also a great one--sorta took me by surprise the first time I heard it. The Harold Arlen set is one of the best of the songbooks with superb backing by Billy May.

That one has been reissued by Lonehill, coupled with "Intermission riff", a 1951 Shrine Auditorium gig that was previously out on Pablo. Damn fine coupling if you ask me. MG Thank you for the hint, I was not aware of this reissue. I am not familiar with the 1951 session though.

On the 1957 EmArcy album "Terry Gibbs plays the Duke" Pete Jolly can be heard to good advantage on accordion; the accordion blends well with the vibraphone and Pete Jolly has some hot solos. Gibbs and Jolly are backed by Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Gary Frommer on drums. This session has recently been reissued by Fresh Sound, combining it with "Swingin' with Terry Gibbs' Orchestra" (recorded in 1956 and originally released on EmArcy). Now my question: Are there any more recordings to be recommended featuring Pete Jolly on accordion?

Various - The Kenton Alumni Series, Live At The Royal Palms Inn (Woofy Productions) a 9 cd set featuring 1993 live recordings by different groups (quintets and sextets) (co-)led by Conte Candoli, Buddy Childers, Shorty Rogers, Pete Candoli, Carl Fontana, Bob Cooper, Bill Holman, Bill Perkins, Bud Shank, Jack Nimitz, backed by relatively unknown (at least to me) local rhythm sections

National Youth Jazz Orchestra - With One Voice (NYJO)

According to my sources, the South American Tour, documented on the CAP recordings took place in 1956, whereas the Jazz Unlimited and Jazz Hour releases cover the Chester / PA concert in 1957 and the two Hindsight discs say "Live 1957". Besides that the sound on the Hindsight releases is superior to the CAP recordings; the recording engineer was Wally Heider.

Yes, the session with Lou Levy, Herb Ellis, Wilfred Middlebrooks and Gus Johnson is superb: Great soloing by Webster and Hodges, and the rhythm section is swinging like mad (with regard to straight ahead swingin', Gus Johnson had few peers). Another highly recommended Verve session is "Gerry Mulligan meets Ben Webster", recorded 1959 with backing by Jimmy Rowles, Leroy Vinnegar and Mel Lewis (another superbly swinging rhythm team). As for the Oscar Peterson / Jimmy Rowles controversy: In my opinion both pianists are highly compatible with Ben Webster. It is just that they create a completely dfferent kind of atmosphere: While the sound carpet created by the rhythm section of Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and either Stan Levey or Alvin Stoller is heavy and dense (but nevertheless incredibly swinging, listen to "Late Date" on "Soulville" for example), the sound of Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, Joe Mondragon and Alvin Stoller is light and airy, much more transparent (and incredibly swinging as well). And just to make sure: as much as I love Oscar Peterson, as an accompanist (of Billie Holiday, Zoot Sims and every other soloist he has backed) Jimmy Rowles is unsurpassed.

Listen to Sonny Criss on "The Cinch", a 1958 live recording by the Buddy Rich Quintet on the Spotlite label (not part of the Mosaic box set). The Quintet, besides Criss and Rich, consists of Ole Hansen (tb), Kenny Drew (p) and Phil Leshin (b).

The question about the source of the Hindsight discs remains unanswered. Do the Jazz Unlimited and Jazz Hour releases disclose the name of the original recording engineer?

Conte Candoli Quintet With Bill Holman And Lou Levy, Complete Recordings (Definitive) Terry Gibbs - Swingin' With Terry Gibbs' Orchestra & Quartet (Jazzcity) Lucky Thompson Meets Oscar Pettiford (Fresh Sound) Johnny Smith - Walk, Don't Run (Roulette)