BFT 133 Disc 1 Reveal

[Dan Gould]

Thanks to everybody for participating.

Track 001

MICKEY TUCKER, “DUSSELDORF DANCE”

Sojourn (Xanadu)

Tucker, piano, composer

Bill Hardman, trumpet

Junior Cook, tenor sax

Ronnie Cuber, baritone sax

Cecil McBee, bass

Eddie Gladden, drums

Track 002

ED BICKERT , “WALK IT OFF”

Ed Bickert 5 (Concord)

Bickert, guitar

Steve Wallace, bass

Jake Hanna, drums

Okay, I'm clearly treading water here on track 2, but wanted to put some thoughts down. I'm getting the sense that this player was strongly influenced by Ed Bickert, based on the phrasing, and especially the chord choices and tasty and confident chord movement (there's a George Van Eps quality to some of it). The tone even sounds like Ed at times, but not all the way through.

This was the single most entertaining comment ever posted on any of my BFTs. Thanks Jim, haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Track 003

ROBERT TURNER, 'IMROV FOR MULGREW'

Blues for Gene (CDBaby)

Turner, piano, composer

Robert appears elsewhere on the BFT and I'll have more to say there but let me just note that this performance can be seen on youtube

https://youtu.be/ZnpseQp6-5M

As the scroll at the start describes, this tune was spontaneously created in the studio after hearing that Mulgrew Miller's condition was terminal.

Track 004

ARNETT COBB, “JUMPIN AT THE WOODSIDE”

Funky Butt (Progressive)

Cobb, tenor, composer

Derek Smith, piano

Ray Drummond, bass

Ronnie Bedford, drums

Track 005

Harold Ashby, “Pleadin'”

Presenting Harold Ashby (Progressive)

Ashby, tenor sax, composer

Don Friedman, piano

Ronnie Bedford, drums

George Mraz, bass

The Ashby LP and two Arnett Cobb Progressive LPs have been reissued and are available here, with extra tracks:

Ashby:

http://www.jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=PCD-7040

Cobb:http://www.jazzology.com/search.php?search=cobb&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

The following two tracks were chosen mostly as a way to lead in to tracks 8 & 9, but I'm glad they were so well received.

Track 006

Plas Johnson, Dungaree Hop

Bop Me Daddy (Tampa)

Johnson, tenor sax

Ray Johnson, piano

Duke Harris, bass

Sharky Hall, drums

Track 007

Phil Upchurch, “You Can't Sit Down (Part 1)”

Upchurch, guitar, composer

David “Bubba” Brooks, tenor sax

Track 008

Redd Foxx, “Real Pretty Mama” (Dootone)

Stompin', Volume 34

Track 009

Little George Benson, “It Shoulda Been Me” (RCE Groove)

Benson, vocals

Stompin' Volume 25

We didn't need Jeff to get the obscurities, we had Page for that.

Actually a few other people got them before Page. Anyway wasn't it fascinating to hear the funnyman sing, and a ten year old future star? According to the liners the record producers wanted a teeny-bopper hit and commissioned new lyrics with kid topics instead of having a ten year sing Brother Ray's original lyrics.

If you don't know them, those Stompin volumes, of which there were 34 out as CDs, are pretty cool if you can find them, if you think as I do that there is quality music to be found among the obscure non-charting hits.

Track 010

THE DIAMOND 5, “Sister Sadie”

Montmartre Blues, Unreleased Hardbop Tracks 1960-63 (Sonorama Records)

Cees Slinger, piano

Cees Smal, trumpet

Harry Verbeke, tenor sax

Jacques Schols, bass

John Engels, drums

I really wanted to track this as the start of disc 2 but space forced it here where it ended up as a real orphan, separated from the rest of the hardbop tracks that followed. If you listened to Disc 2 right away it was OK but I imagine most took a break with the end of disc 1 and that really ruined the flow. Taking a break after the kiddie R&B and resuming with a set of hardbop would have been much better. Oh well.

Anyway - an interesting track from a group from the Dutch jazz scene. I was interested to see if there would be comments about not quite 'getting' the vernacular but a lot of people thought it was Horace so I guess they did pretty good.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

I still can't believe that Redd Foxx got me to thinking of early Joe Williams and/or Sam Butera. wow....Do we have any inkling as to who the tenor player on that cut was? Re-listening to it just now, and the Sam Butera guess doesn't seem totally whack, especially with the trombone, but Joe Williams? Where the f did THAT come from? Hell if i know...

And the Dutch thing, that was not at all vernacularly inappropriate, although it did have an "accent" to it, which is why I guessed "British" as a possibility. But I also seriously considered Yusef as a possibility on tenor, so if I had any vernacular uncertainty...Yusef would not have even begun to be entered into consideration! And maybe a ballad whould have revealed any "learning curve" (or maybe the lack of one), but for this groove at this tempo, hey, worked for me.

[jeffcrom]

Dan, I want you to know that I listened to the entire BFT, but got busy toward the end of the month and never found the time to put my thoughts together and make comments. I have that Phil Upchurch 45, but didn't know that it was Bubba Brooks on tenor. But I did recognize the track. The other track I "recognized' I was totally wrong about. So really, the Upchurch was the only thing I knew, and I can't claim credit, since I didn't post. There is a school of thought that says James Booker is on that record, by the way, but I'm not sure.

But thanks for the music. I enjoyed it..

Oh, and I did think that it might be Junior Cook and Ronnie Cuber on the first track. But I had no idea what it was, and again, I can't claim any credit.

Edited May 2, 2015 by jeffcrom

[Dan Gould]

Dan, I want you to know that I listened to the entire BFT, but got busy toward the end of the month and never found the time to put my thoughts together and make comments. I have that Phil Upchurch 45, but didn't know that it was Bubba Brooks on tenor. But I did recognize the track. The other track I "recognized' I was totally wrong about. So really, the Upchurch was the only thing I knew, and I can't claim credit, since I didn't post. There is a school of thought that says James Booker is on that record, by the way, but I'm not sure.

But thanks for the music. I enjoyed it..

Oh, and I did think that it might be Junior Cook and Ronnie Cuber on the first track. But I had no idea what it was, and again, I can't claim any credit.

I'm glad you enjoyed the music and I wish I had posted what I thought about - a suggestion that anyone who hasn't yet posted guesses can still do so even after the reveal is up.

[Spontooneous]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond fully. My work schedule has been upended this month and every day is a new set of readjustments.

So glad to finally hear a "Little George Benson" side! The kid really had it, taste and swing, from the beginning. I was afraid this side was by somebody who came to a tragic end, like Frankie Lymon.

I've interviewed George Benson twice, and both times I tried to get him to talk about the "Little George" session. He really, really doesn't want to talk about it.

[page]

I wouldn't have guessed track 10 was Dutch, It did sound familair but I'm not sure where I would have heard it. John Engels is my favourite jazz drummer in our country. He'll turn 80 in a few weeks and there is a big celebration tour in his honour. No one quite like him I can tell you.
Thanks again, Dan. I've really enjoyed your BFT!
Kind regards, page

Edited May 3, 2015 by page

[Hot Ptah]

My thoughts are in green.

Thanks to everybody for participating.

Track 001

MICKEY TUCKER, “DUSSELDORF DANCE”

Sojourn (Xanadu)

Tucker, piano, composer

Bill Hardman, trumpet

Junior Cook, tenor sax

Ronnie Cuber, baritone sax

Cecil McBee, bass

Eddie Gladden, drums

Oh, so this is Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax! I love this track. I have to get this album. I have never even seen it, although I was buying a lot of new jazz releases back then. If this BFT had done nothing else but turn me on to this track, it would be a great BFT to me.

Track 002

ED BICKERT , “WALK IT OFF”

Ed Bickert 5 (Concord)

Bickert, guitar

Steve Wallace, bass

Jake Hanna, drums

I really like Bickert's playing on some late Paul Desmond recordings, but I just couldn't place him here.

Okay, I'm clearly treading water here on track 2, but wanted to put some thoughts down. I'm getting the sense that this player was strongly influenced by Ed Bickert, based on the phrasing, and especially the chord choices and tasty and confident chord movement (there's a George Van Eps quality to some of it). The tone even sounds like Ed at times, but not all the way through.

This was the single most entertaining comment ever posted on any of my BFTs. Thanks Jim, haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Track 003

ROBERT TURNER, 'IMROV FOR MULGREW'

Blues for Gene (CDBaby)

Turner, piano, composer

Robert appears elsewhere on the BFT and I'll have more to say there but let me just note that this performance can be seen on youtube

https://youtu.be/ZnpseQp6-5M

As the scroll at the start describes, this tune was spontaneously created in the studio after hearing that Mulgrew Miller's condition was terminal.

Wow, I have never even heard of Robert Turner, but I am very favorably impressed by his playing!

Track 004

ARNETT COBB, “JUMPIN AT THE WOODSIDE”

Funky Butt (Progressive)

Cobb, tenor, composer

Derek Smith, piano

Ray Drummond, bass

Ronnie Bedford, drums

I don't have this Arnett Cobb album. It's time to rectify THAT!

Track 005

Harold Ashby, “Pleadin'”

Presenting Harold Ashby (Progressive)

Ashby, tenor sax, composer

Don Friedman, piano

Ronnie Bedford, drums

George Mraz, bass

The Ashby LP and two Arnett Cobb Progressive LPs have been reissued and are available here, with extra tracks:

Ashby:

http://www.jazzology.com/item_detail.php?id=PCD-7040

Cobb:http://www.jazzology.com/search.php?search=cobb&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

Thanks for those links. I have quite a few Harold Ashby albums, but not this one. I need to get this one!

The following two tracks were chosen mostly as a way to lead in to tracks 8 & 9, but I'm glad they were so well received.

Track 006

Plas Johnson, Dungaree Hop

Bop Me Daddy (Tampa)

Johnson, tenor sax

Ray Johnson, piano

Duke Harris, bass

Sharky Hall, drums

This is a really fun track. I love it!

Track 007

Phil Upchurch, “You Can't Sit Down (Part 1)”

Upchurch, guitar, composer

David “Bubba” Brooks, tenor sax

This is also a very fun track, and so different from my mental image of Upchurch. I am really glad that I heard this!

Track 008

Redd Foxx, “Real Pretty Mama” (Dootone)

Stompin', Volume 34

I love this! I don't care if it's Redd, I just love it. Knowing that it is Redd makes it more intriguing.

Track 009

Little George Benson, “It Shoulda Been Me” (RCE Groove)

Benson, vocals

Stompin' Volume 25

I had never heard any of these Little Benson recordings--really interesting.

We didn't need Jeff to get the obscurities, we had Page for that.

Actually a few other people got them before Page. Anyway wasn't it fascinating to hear the funnyman sing, and a ten year old future star? According to the liners the record producers wanted a teeny-bopper hit and commissioned new lyrics with kid topics instead of having a ten year sing Brother Ray's original lyrics.

If you don't know them, those Stompin volumes, of which there were 34 out as CDs, are pretty cool if you can find them, if you think as I do that there is quality music to be found among the obscure non-charting hits.

I will be checking this series out! Thanks for presenting it to us!

Track 010

THE DIAMOND 5, “Sister Sadie”

Montmartre Blues, Unreleased Hardbop Tracks 1960-63 (Sonorama Records)

Cees Slinger, piano

Cees Smal, trumpet

Harry Verbeke, tenor sax

Jacques Schols, bass

John Engels, drums

I really wanted to track this as the start of disc 2 but space forced it here where it ended up as a real orphan, separated from the rest of the hardbop tracks that followed. If you listened to Disc 2 right away it was OK but I imagine most took a break with the end of disc 1 and that really ruined the flow. Taking a break after the kiddie R&B and resuming with a set of hardbop would have been much better. Oh well.

Anyway - an interesting track from a group from the Dutch jazz scene. I was interested to see if there would be comments about not quite 'getting' the vernacular but a lot of people thought it was Horace so I guess they did pretty good.

I think it was fine at the end of Disc 1. It really fooled me. You sent me some live Horace Silver from the late 1950s and 1960 some time ago, so I was thinking it was from yet another Horace Silver live set.