BFT 133 Disc 2 Reveal

[Dan Gould]

And here's Disc 2:

Track 001

CORY WEEDS, “A BAPTIST BEAT” (MOBLEY)

UP A STEP, The Music of Hank Mobley (Cellar Live)

Weeds, tenor saxophone

Mike Ledonne, organ

Oliver Gannon, guitar

Jesse Cahil, drums

As Thom said, about damn time someone did a tribute to Hank Mobley the composer, so I hope a few people will grab this fine recording.

Track 002

GENE LUDWIG, “MOANIN” (TIMMONS)

THE HOT ORGAN (TIME)

Ludwig, organ

Randy Gilespie, drums

Jerry Byrd, guitar

MG got this, and it was designed that way.

Track 003

LUCKY PETERSON, 'WELL YOU NEEDN'T” (MONK)

ORGAN SOUL SESSIONS (Universal)

Lucky Peterson, C-3 organ

Cindy Blackman, drums

Rodney Jones, guitar

Danny Sadownick, congas

BFT Goomba HP got this, and it was most definitely not designed that way. He even knew the individual CD it was on, I have it as part of a three disc set. An interesting set, by the way, with Houston Person guesting on a number of tracks, and there were quite a few other jazz tunes to consider but I liked this one best.

Track 004

Ian Hendrickson-Smith, “Jacob's New Crib” (Hendrickson-Smith)

Blues in the Basement (Cellar Live)

Hendrickson-Smith, composer, tenor sax

Dave Guy, trumpet

Rick Germanson, piano

Neal Miner, bass

Brian Floody, drums

For those who dug this, there's much more on the rest of the CD so ... and if you don't mind downloads, it's available cheaply from Amazon, or was when I got it last December.

Track 005

BILL MAYS, “GOODBYE CALIFORNIA” (MAYS)

THA'S DELIGHTS (TREND)

Mays, piano

Tom Harrell, trumpet

Ralph Moore, saxophone

Andy Simpkins, bass

Shelly Manne, drums

I tracked this one as an explicit 'stop' against the funk/soul/hardbop run. And Jim R. questioned if I was still in charge of my own BFT. And Jim S. thought Elvin was on drums. And no one mentioned Tom Harrell, who I thought was a fairly recognizable voice.

Track 006

Paul Humphrey Sextet, “Roundabout”

Paul Humphrey Sextet (Trend)

Humphrey, drums

Oscar Brashear, trumpet,

Herman Riley sax

John Williams, bass

Lew Mathews, piano, composer

I programmed this track to get some recognition for Oscar Brashear, who I feel is criminally under-recognized. Every time I hear him I enjoy him a lot.

Track 007

Gene Harris, Interview – Japan 1996 (youtube)

Words of wisdom, I like the way he calls himself a blues player with chops and a fine way to introduce the Gene/Not Gene section, which most people disregarded anyway.

Edit to add: Track 5, Gene's long-running band-mate in the Sounds on bass. Track 6, Gene's last drummer, Paul Humphrey. Track 7, Gene. How about a hand for my meta-programming?

Track 008

ROBERT TURNER, “Summertime”

Robert Turner, Blues for Gene

Turner, piano

So, this performance of a tune associated with Gene Harris is in fact by the same guy doing the solo piano improv on disc 1. :wacko:

Let me back up a number of years. Five years ago I stumbled across a youtube video called "Blues for Gene" by Robert Turner. It featured a very Gene Harris-like piano and said it was the title track from his new album. And I thought, woh, if I can't have any more new Gene Harris, this will do nicely because this cat has the style down. Problem was, he'd only tracked a few tunes at that point and didn't have the money to finish the album. It took him almost five full years to do it and ultimately only put the recording out as a download but it does show the full breath of his talent.

I'm a fan, obviously, and I hope some of you will go to CD Baby (where you can get it as FLAC files) or I-Tunes and support this guy. There aren't any other solo improv tracks but there are a couple more tunes that show his non-Gene stylings, as well as some excellent tracks in a Gene-inspired way.

By the way, I do think you can distinguish Gene from Robert by the power of his left hand. Gene's, that is.

Track 009

GENE HARRIS TRIO, “Ballin' The Jack – I Love You”

Stereo Gems 45 123A-B

Gene Harris, piano

This is another one of those obscure 45s, is it 'the' Gene or isn't it. I posted a long clip when I found this copy and no one said a thing. Oh well. To me it's more like a young Gene Harris than any track off of the Jubilee LPs.

Track 010

Ray Bryant, “Smack Dab In The Middle”

Double RB – Ray Bryant Meets Ray Brown +1 (Verve Japan)

Bryant, piano

Brown, bass

Lewis Nash, drums

I thought this was a perfect faux-Gene track because of the presence of Ray Brown, whose bass to me is absolutely unmistakeable and yet no one mentioned him. I figured someone would say something like, 'that's Ray, so it's probably Gene, but on what album?" Nope.

Track 011

20^th Concord Festival All-Stars, “Just a Closer Walk With Thee”

(Concord)

Gene Harris, piano

Red Holloway, tenor sax

Harry “Sweets” Edison, trumpet

Ray Brown, bass

Jeff Hamilton, drums

Thanks again to everyone. Maybe for my next go-round I'll remember not to try to guess or predict what reaction tracks should get.

Edited May 2, 2015 by Dan Gould

[JSngry]

Track 005

BILL MAYS, “GOODBYE CALIFORNIA” (MAYS)

THA'S DELIGHTS (TREND)

Mays, piano

Tom Harrell, trumpet

Ralph Moore, saxophone

Andy Simpkins, bass

Shelly Manne, drums

I tracked this one as an explicit 'stop' against the funk/soul/hardbop run. And Jim R. questioned if I was still in charge of my own BFT. And Jim S. thought Elvin was on drums. And no one mentioned Tom Harrell, who I thought was a fairly recognizable voice.

Tony Williams, actually, and I was thinking of Tom Harrell for a quick minute, but was in no way even remotely considering Shelly Manne, so...no way I could have connected those dots.

Shelly Manne was a helluva drummer, obviously, but perhaps less obvious is how his kept his ears open to musical evolvements (not a real word, sorry). If you had told me up front that this was Shelley Manne, I would not have been in the least bit surprised, but if you were gonna wait for me to guess Shelly Manne...neither one of us would live that long, separately or combined.

And I like that composition a lot...is this a "typical" Bill Mays piece, at least on this album?

[Dan Gould]

Tony, not Elvin. D'OH!

IIRC, Mays composed all but two tracks but I'd say this one stands out as fairly unique.

[Spontooneous]

It did my Kansas City heart some good to hear Gene name-check Jay McShann.

There was a DJ in town who used to play that "Closer Walk With Thee" once a month or so.

[Dan Gould]

It's kind of funny that he claimed to never have a set list, because I think every live show I've ever heard of the Gene Harris Quartet included "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Summertime," or both.

[Hot Ptah]

My comments are in green.

And here's Disc 2:

Track 001

CORY WEEDS, “A BAPTIST BEAT” (MOBLEY)

UP A STEP, The Music of Hank Mobley (Cellar Live)

Weeds, tenor saxophone

Mike Ledonne, organ

Oliver Gannon, guitar

Jesse Cahil, drums

As Thom said, about damn time someone did a tribute to Hank Mobley the composer, so I hope a few people will grab this fine recording.

I will grab it! I liked this track!

Track 002

GENE LUDWIG, “MOANIN” (TIMMONS)

THE HOT ORGAN (TIME)

Ludwig, organ

Randy Gilespie, drums

Jerry Byrd, guitar

MG got this, and it was designed that way.

Another album for me to get!

Track 003

LUCKY PETERSON, 'WELL YOU NEEDN'T” (MONK)

ORGAN SOUL SESSIONS (Universal)

Lucky Peterson, C-3 organ

Cindy Blackman, drums

Rodney Jones, guitar

Danny Sadownick, congas

BFT Goomba HP got this, and it was most definitely not designed that way. He even knew the individual CD it was on, I have it as part of a three disc set. An interesting set, by the way, with Houston Person guesting on a number of tracks, and there were quite a few other jazz tunes to consider but I liked this one best.

I guessed Lucky Peterson because we had been given the clue that it was a blues or crossover player, and not that many recent blues keyboard players could play Monk convincingly. So that is Cindy Blackman on drums? And Rodney Jones on guitar? I always think of a concert from years ago which I liked a lot, when Rodney Jones was the leader of a group with Fred Wesley, Arthur Blythe, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Idris Muhammad. No wonder this sounds so good, with these players.

Track 004

Ian Hendrickson-Smith, “Jacob's New Crib” (Hendrickson-Smith)

Blues in the Basement (Cellar Live)

Hendrickson-Smith, composer, tenor sax

Dave Guy, trumpet

Rick Germanson, piano

Neal Miner, bass

Brian Floody, drums

For those who dug this, there's much more on the rest of the CD so ... and if you don't mind downloads, it's available cheaply from Amazon, or was when I got it last December.

I have never heard of this group, and I liked this very much.

Track 005

BILL MAYS, “GOODBYE CALIFORNIA” (MAYS)

THA'S DELIGHTS (TREND)

Mays, piano

Tom Harrell, trumpet

Ralph Moore, saxophone

Andy Simpkins, bass

Shelly Manne, drums

I tracked this one as an explicit 'stop' against the funk/soul/hardbop run. And Jim R. questioned if I was still in charge of my own BFT. And Jim S. thought Elvin was on drums. And no one mentioned Tom Harrell, who I thought was a fairly recognizable voice.

This one fooled me. It is very appealing. I will have to look for it.

Track 006

Paul Humphrey Sextet, “Roundabout”

Paul Humphrey Sextet (Trend)

Humphrey, drums

Oscar Brashear, trumpet,

Herman Riley sax

John Williams, bass

Lew Mathews, piano, composer

I programmed this track to get some recognition for Oscar Brashear, who I feel is criminally under-recognized. Every time I hear him I enjoy him a lot.

I saw Brashear live in a small group headed by Louis Bellson many years ago. I agree that he is under recognized. Paul Humphrey--there is a name from the past. He was Frank Zappa's drummer in the early 1970s.

Track 007

Gene Harris, Interview – Japan 1996 (youtube)

Words of wisdom, I like the way he calls himself a blues player with chops and a fine way to introduce the Gene/Not Gene section, which most people disregarded anyway.

Edit to add: Track 5, Gene's long-running band-mate in the Sounds on bass. Track 6, Gene's last drummer, Paul Humphrey. Track 7, Gene. How about a hand for my meta-programming?

Track 008

ROBERT TURNER, “Summertime”

Robert Turner, Blues for Gene

Turner, piano

So, this performance of a tune associated with Gene Harris is in fact by the same guy doing the solo piano improv on disc 1. :wacko:

Let me back up a number of years. Five years ago I stumbled across a youtube video called "Blues for Gene" by Robert Turner. It featured a very Gene Harris-like piano and said it was the title track from his new album. And I thought, woh, if I can't have any more new Gene Harris, this will do nicely because this cat has the style down. Problem was, he'd only tracked a few tunes at that point and didn't have the money to finish the album. It took him almost five full years to do it and ultimately only put the recording out as a download but it does show the full breath of his talent.

I'm a fan, obviously, and I hope some of you will go to CD Baby (where you can get it as FLAC files) or I-Tunes and support this guy. There aren't any other solo improv tracks but there are a couple more tunes that show his non-Gene stylings, as well as some excellent tracks in a Gene-inspired way.

By the way, I do think you can distinguish Gene from Robert by the power of his left hand. Gene's, that is.

This is the same pianist who plays the solo improvisation on Disc 1? He is versatile! I had never heard of him before, but I really like his playing.

Track 009

GENE HARRIS TRIO, “Ballin' The Jack – I Love You”

Stereo Gems 45 123A-B

Gene Harris, piano

This is another one of those obscure 45s, is it 'the' Gene or isn't it. I posted a long clip when I found this copy and no one said a thing. Oh well. To me it's more like a young Gene Harris than any track off of the Jubilee LPs.

Track 010

Ray Bryant, “Smack Dab In The Middle”

Double RB – Ray Bryant Meets Ray Brown +1 (Verve Japan)

Bryant, piano

Brown, bass

Lewis Nash, drums

I thought this was a perfect faux-Gene track because of the presence of Ray Brown, whose bass to me is absolutely unmistakeable and yet no one mentioned him. I figured someone would say something like, 'that's Ray, so it's probably Gene, but on what album?" Nope.

Ray Bryant! I should have guessed him. Did Ray Bryant ever make a record that was less than very good?

Track 011

20^th Concord Festival All-Stars, “Just a Closer Walk With Thee”

(Concord)

Gene Harris, piano

Red Holloway, tenor sax

Harry “Sweets” Edison, trumpet

Ray Brown, bass

Jeff Hamilton, drums

Thanks again to everyone. Maybe for my next go-round I'll remember not to try to guess or predict what reaction tracks should get.

Thanks for a most enjoyable BFT, Dan!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Track 010

Ray Bryant, “Smack Dab In The Middle”

Double RB – Ray Bryant Meets Ray Brown +1 (Verve Japan)

Bryant, piano

Brown, bass

Lewis Nash, drums

I thought this was a perfect faux-Gene track because of the presence of Ray Brown, whose bass to me is absolutely unmistakeable and yet no one mentioned him. I figured someone would say something like, 'that's Ray, so it's probably Gene, but on what album?" Nope.

Ray Bryant! I should have guessed him. Did Ray Bryant ever make a record that was less than very good?

Yes, Bill. Watch out for 'Hollywood jazz beat', which I have as part of a Collectibles twofer with 'The Madoson time'.

Don't be tempted by cheapo prices - it vies with 'Hampton Hawes plays movie musicals'.

MG

[Hot Ptah]

Track 010

Ray Bryant, “Smack Dab In The Middle”

Double RB – Ray Bryant Meets Ray Brown +1 (Verve Japan)

Bryant, piano

Brown, bass

Lewis Nash, drums

I thought this was a perfect faux-Gene track because of the presence of Ray Brown, whose bass to me is absolutely unmistakeable and yet no one mentioned him. I figured someone would say something like, 'that's Ray, so it's probably Gene, but on what album?" Nope.

Ray Bryant! I should have guessed him. Did Ray Bryant ever make a record that was less than very good?

Yes, Bill. Watch out for 'Hollywood jazz beat', which I have as part of a Collectibles twofer with 'The Madoson time'.

Don't be tempted by cheapo prices - it vies with 'Hampton Hawes plays movie musicals'.

MG

I have that Collectibles twofer!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Ha ha!

MG