Clunky Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 In need of a corner of his own……too argumentative?….my favourite Lucky T is almost a Zeilig like character . He crops up all over the place on some of the most famous recording sessions. No need to adjust your set, he really was there at pivotal moments with a long list of the good and great of jazz. Who else worked with Bird, Miles, Mingus, Milt Jackson, Monk, Basie, Kenton, Kenny Clarke, Martial Solal, Oscar Pettiford, Jimmy Cleveland, the list never seems to end. His own sessions have that extra something. If he ever recorded a poor one I’ve not heard it ( although I ‘ve only heard a fraction of his 40s output) My favourite sessions are quartet four sides led by Kenny Clarke featuring Martial Solal available on the EMI france "Swing Americans in Paris" Choose your own…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 These rank very high on the list indeed. I'd put the trios with Oscar Pettiford and Skeeter Best up there (ABC/Impulse); the various sessions with Milt Jackson for Savoy and Atlantic; some of the French stuff, perhaps the Candid session; - it is simply so much he has recorded. He used to be my top favourite player for many years, but meanwhile slipped to rank number two behind Lester Young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 He plays very well on the August 1956 Lionel Hampton session. This has Oscars Dennard and Pettiford, Jimmy Cleveland, Ray Copeland and Gus Johnson on it. I also find his last sessions for Groove Merchant have some fine music that only suffers from fadouts of too many tunes. Has anybody here heard the rare Ralph Sharon LP from January/February 1957 with Eddie Costa, Joe Puma, Oscar Pettiford and Osie Johnson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted November 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 He plays very well on the August 1956 Lionel Hampton session. This has Oscars Dennard and Pettiford, Jimmy Cleveland, Ray Copeland and Gus Johnson on it. don't know this one, is it on CD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 Those Vogue sides with Martial Solal have led Anthony Wilson to inspiration (The Parisian Knight). Haven't heard the disc you're alluding to. Most folks know his "Walkin' " solo with Miles as a starting point. Lucky on soprano is also lovely ("When Sunny Gets Blue" on the Nessa LP 'Body and Soul' is a good example). Have dug those Kenny Clark quartet tracks as much for the tunes as the playing (The Squirrel is it? Now's The Time...). Lucky is still alive, living near Seattle, God Bless him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom in RI Posted November 15, 2003 Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 Lucky Thompson...yeah! His release, Body and Soul, on Nessa is one of my favorites (seem to remember Chuck noting it was licensed from a Spanish label). As mentioneds above I'd strongly recommend the Savoy sides with Milt Jackson and the trio sides on ABC which were released with quintet sides in the '70's as Dancing Sunbeam, all great stuff. Lucky was quite an outspoken guy, his remarks on the music business included on the Candid release Lord Lord, Am I Ever Going To Know, show a guy who was pretty disillusioned with the music business 10 years or so before he left the scene. A big loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted November 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2003 Body and Soul, on Nessa is one of my favorites (seem to remember Chuck noting it was licensed from a Spanish label). Ensayo is the Spanish label concerned. I had to take the Cd back twice to get a playable copy. Pity Chuck doesn't appear to have rights to a CD issue of his own. Sound is good although I am pretty sure that Chuck mentioned some time ago that the Nessa LP sounded better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 Body and Soul, on Nessa is one of my favorites (seem to remember Chuck noting it was licensed from a Spanish label). Sound is good although I am pretty sure that Chuck mentioned some time ago that the Nessa LP sounded better. Nothing wrong with the Ensayo sound but my mastering guy improved it. Lucky thought so too! The cd is currently available at Berkshire for $2.99. You'd be silly not to snap it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 I remember "The Jazz Skyline" as being one of the great Savoy sides, especially "Lover." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 LORD, LORD AM I EVER GONNA KNOW...simply wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 I also love the three albums Lucky Thompson recorded for Prestige/Moodsville 'Lucky Strikes', 'Happy Days Are Here Again' and the 'Plays Jerome Kern And No More'. And of course, he is magnificient on the Miles Davis date that produced 'Walkin' and 'Blue 'n Boogie'. And my real favorites are the two ABC albums he led with Oscar Pettiford. And ... Well, there are so many of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 He plays very well on the August 1956 Lionel Hampton session. This has Oscars Dennard and Pettiford, Jimmy Cleveland, Ray Copeland and Gus Johnson on it. don't know this one, is it on CD? About half of it (there were several quartet tracks recorded at this occaison) was on a French Jazz Anthology/Musidisc CD in 1990, # 550152, but this is OOP. Send me a PM in case you have problems in getting it ... This is Hampton's mondernest session and shouts out loud for a decent reissue, the material was issued in scattered fashion originally, I still have only part of it on two different CDs and a cassette dubbed from an old LP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 16, 2003 Report Share Posted November 16, 2003 Choose your own?. This was in fact one of the phrases of Lucky's speech available on the Candid CD that Alan Bates used to title one of the unnamed tunes of the session ... something he asked jazz fans to always do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifton Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 My personal favorite among Lucky's albums is "Lucky Strikes", although there's no such thing as a bad Lucky Thompson record. I also have high regard for the 1947 RCA Victor session with Neal Hefti and Benny Carter. "Just One More Chance" is one of the classic tenor sax ballads. BTW does anyone know if Mosaic plans a Lucky Thompson box? If anybody deserves the Mosaic treatment, Lucky does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 Hi Clifton. Good to see you around here. And in the Lucky Thompson Corner to boot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 Probably the trio sides are my favorite recordings, yet there are many I have never heard (as those ABC Pettiford albums - bring them out again, PLEEEAZE!!). "Lucky Strikes" is a marvellous album, too. And all those '56 Paris sessions (with Martial Solal and Henri Renaud) are cool - begging for a Mosaic! Then the few things with Jackson I have heard (Plenty Plenty Soul being my favorite of those), are very good, too! Begging for another Mosaic! And that Hampton date is very good, indeed! The father of a friend of mine has it on a very old, really beat-up LP (I've got it on some old tape, only). What was the label it was recorded for? ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 And that Hampton date is very good, indeed! The father of a friend of mine has it on a very old, really beat-up LP (I've got it on some old tape, only). What was the label it was recorded for? The Hampton All Stars date was originally released on the Jazztone label. And the label made a real mess of this great session. Here are session details I found on an Oscar Pettiford site when I suggested several months ago on another thread a reissue of this. This would make an interesting Mosaic Select. Note: No release has the complete session. The tracks of the mono and stereo editions often have different lengths. But there are no alternate takes: in the stereo edition most of the tunes are heavily edited, while A Ghost Of A Chance has a few seconds more. Uwe Weiler documented it like this: Session A - Quartet - Lionel Hampton All Stars. Lionel Hampton vib, marimba, vib, Oscar Dennard p, Oscar Pettiford b, Gus Johnson d. The Gordons voc on track 06. 1. My Man (04:55) mono / Jazztone J-1040 2. Too Much (05:18) mono / Jazztone J-1040 3. Time For Lyons (06:20) mono / Jazztone J-1238 4. Loch Lomond (06:00) mono / Jazztone J-1238 5. Look! Four Hands (03:41) mono / Jazztone J-1238 6. Take The „A" Train (04:18) mono / Jazztone J-1040 Session B - Septet - Lionel Hampton All Stars. Ray Copeland tp, Jimmy Cleveland tb, Lucky Thompson ts, Lionel Hampton vib, marimba, vib, Oscar Dennard p, Oscar Pettiford b, Gus Johnson d. 7. Lionel's Choo Choo (03:01) mono / Jazztone J-723 8. Romeo's Gone Now (06:25) mono / Jazztone J-723 9. Dark Eyes (04:56) mono / Jazztone J-723 10. Deep Purple (04:23) mono / Jazztone J-1040 11. A Ghost Of A Chance (06:19) mono / Jazztone J-1040 12. Over The Rainbow (11:06) mono / Jazztone J-1238 13. When You're Smiling (06:48) mono / Jazztone J-1238 14. Summertime (02:39) mono / Jazztone J-1238 15. Raindeer (07:59) mono / Jazztone J-1238 16. Undecided (07:02) mono / Jazztone J-1040 17. What's Your Hurry (03:52) mono / Jazztone J-1238 Session A & B - Quartet & Septet - Lionel Hampton All Stars. Ray Copeland tp, Jimmy Cleveland tb, Lucky Thompson ts, Lionel Hampton vib, marimba, vib, Oscar Dennard p, Oscar Pettiford b, Gus Johnson d. 1. Undecided (05:19) stereo / septet / Jazztone SJS-1238 2. My Man (03:53) stereo / quartet / Jazztone SJS-1238 3. Dark Eyes (04:59) stereo / septet / Jazztone SJS-1238 4. Too Much (03:49) stereo / quartet / Jazztone SJS-1238 5. A Ghost Of A Chance (06:26) stereo / septet / Jazztone SJS-1238 6. Romeo's Gone Now (04:10) stereo / septet / Jazztone SJS-1238 7. Loch Lomond (06:00) stereo / quartet / Jazztone SJS-1238 8. Raindeer (05:07) stereo / septet / Jazztone SJS-1238 9. Look! Four Hands (03:41) stereo / quartet / Jazztone SJS-1238 10. Time For Lyons (04:58) stereo / quartet / Jazztone SJS-1238 For a quick overview: mono: stereo: A Ghost Of A Chance (06:19) Jazztone J-1040 (06:26) Jazztone SJS-1238 Dark Eyes (04:56) Jazztone J-723 (04:59) Jazztone SJS-1238 Deep Purple (04:23) Jazztone J-1040 Lionel's Choo Choo* (03:01) Jazztone J-723 Loch Lomond (quartet) (06:00) Jazztone J-1238 (06:00) Jazztone SJS-1238 Look! Four Hands (quartet) (03:41) Jazztone J-1238 (03:41) Jazztone SJS-1238 My Man (quartet) (05:18) Jazztone J-1040 (03:53) Jazztone SJS-1238 Over The Rainbow (11:06) Jazztone J-1238 Raindeer (07:59) Jazztone J-1238 (05:07) Jazztone SJS-1238 Romeo's Gone Now (06:25) Jazztone J-723 (04:10) Jazztone SJS-1238 Summertime (02:39) Jazztone J-1238 Take The „A" Train (quartet) (04:18) Jazztone J-1040 Time For Lyons (quartet) (06:20) Jazztone J-1238 (04:58) Jazztone SJS-1238 Too Much (quartet) (04:55) Jazztone J-1040 (03:49) Jazztone SJS-1238 Undecided (07:02) Jazztone J-1040 (05:19) Jazztone SJS-1238 What's Your Hurry* (03:52) Jazztone J-1238 When You're Smiling (06:48) Jazztone J-1238 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted November 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 That Hampton date is sounding more and more intrigung. Have the Club Amis ? dates from March 1956 even been reissued Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 brownie, thanks for all that information! I'd LOVE to hear this date in a good-sounding CD reissue! Copeland, Cleveland and Thompson make a great front line, and Dennard (I don't know anything by him except this date) is pretty good, too. I will have to ask for that LP again to check the details! ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 Picking a favorite Lucky Thompson recording would be almost impossible for me, I love everything I've heard from him. But if I had to narrow it down I'd mention Accent On Tenor Sax, Lucky Meets Tommy, the Candid date and I Offer You. Brilliant player IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifton Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 brownie: thanks. Re Lucky: "I Offer You" was on Groove Merchant, if I recall, as was "Goodbye Yesterday", a real treasure except for the fade outs. Somebody ought to go to Seattle (where Lucky was reportedly homeless), find him, and get him playing again. Hey, it worked for Henry Grimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 (edited) Sammy Price and Lucky Thompson: Paris Blues Lucky Thompson With Dave Pochonet All Stars Lucky Thompson: Modern Jazz Group grab these while you can! Edited November 17, 2003 by couw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 and while you're at it: American Swinging in Paris: The Kenny Clarke & Lucky Thompson volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 yeah, and dont't forget: ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazaro Vega Posted November 17, 2003 Report Share Posted November 17, 2003 COUW: From what label are those records you posted? Especially the Kenny Clarke. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.