montara and that 70's jazz

[Bluesnik]

i didn't like 70's jazz. for me it stood for watered-down jazz trying to accommodate to the fusion template. to me the best before-date was early end of the sixties or midsixties, after that it was all just a mess. but today i've listened to bobby hutcherson's montara from 75 and all that has changed. i'd heard it before but today i realized it is outstanding. although the musicianship is also high i really like that 70's laidback groove. are there more albums on the same quality level as this i'm missing on? i imagine, yes. i also have that clifford jordan record on strata east i just don't remember the title right now. i think it's called glass bead games, from 73.

[ghost of miles]

I'm a big fan of GLASS BEAD GAMES, though Jim Sangrey says there's better Jordan than that from the 1970s. Definitely a good era for all kinds of jazz, in spite of its undeserved crappy rep...I think conventional wisdom on the decade has definitely changed (at last!) over the past several years. If you liked that Hutcherson, here's a Night Lights show that covers other albums from that era:

Later: Bobby Hutcherson in the Mid-1970s

Another NL show that might be of interest: Charles Tolliver on Strata East in the Early 1970s

And definitely check out this page:

Ear of the Behearer

I could also swear that there's a gargantuan Organissimo thread devoted to 1970s jazz somewhere here on the board...will see if I can find it.

EDIT: can't seem to locate it right now (maybe I imagined it, or saw such a thread elsewhere), but here's a prior Clifford Jordan thread.

For more 1970s jazz, also see this December 2006 NY Times article, though it doesn't contain direct links to the blog postings mentioned...but I think all of the albums from those lists were compiled on the Ear of the Behearer site that I linked to above.

Edited August 16, 2009 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

Didn't like Montara back in the day because it was so "produced", like it now because it is.

Definitely a "presentation" moree than a "representation", but what it does, it does thoroughly well.

[JSngry]

And by way of further recs, try the Heath Brothers 1st two on Columbia, Passin' Thru & In Motion. "Commercial" enough to be '70s, "Jimmy Heath-y" enough to be quite musical.

Also, if you do vinyl, look for Horace Silver's Silver 'N'... on Blue Note. Not yet on CD. Some great tunes to be found therein.