BFT 230 Reveal

[mjzee]

1. Ira Sullivan - Amazing Grace (Trad).  Ira Sullivan, soprano sax; Jay Anderson, bass; Steve Bagby, drums.  9/14/81.  From the album Ira Sullivan Does It All! (Muse).  A fascinating exercise in overdubbing.  Ira Sullivan had a very interesting musical mind.  In this track, I like how he stays true to the source, yet imbues the performance with a great jazz and blues feel.
2. Ray Charles - Ain't Misbehavin’ (Brooks, Razaf, Waller).  Joe Bridgewater, John Hunt, trumpet; David Newman, tenor sax; Emmett Dennis, baritone sax; Ray Charles, piano; Roosevelt Sheffield, bass; William Peeples, drums.  11/20/56.  From the album The Genius After Hours (Atlantic); also available on the box set Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings 1952-1959 (Atlantic).  Two of the first Ray Charles albums I owned were instrumental: The Great Ray Charles and The Genius After Hours, both drawn from the same sessions.  This track shows the partnership between Charles and Fathead.  They both have great solos, but listen to how distinctive Ray sounds!  And I love how the horns sound at the end.
3. Bob Brookmeyer with the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra - Someone To Watch Over Me (Gershwin).  1998.  From the album Out Of This World (TMD/Koch).  Although I wish the track were about a minute shorter, it really is a beautiful arrangement.
4. Randy Weston - I've Got You Under My Skin (Cole Porter).  Randy Weston, piano; Sam Gill, bass.  NYC, April 27, 1954.  From the album Randy Weston Plays Cole Porter In A Modern Mood (Riverside).  Randy at his most Monk-ish.  Is the piano out of tune, or is it the way he’s hitting the keys?
5. Lalo Schifrin - Mambop (Lalo Schifrin).  Lalo Schifrin, piano; Pierre Michelot, bass; Jean-Louis Viale, drums; Jack Del Rio, percussion.  1955.  From the album Rendez-Vous dansant à Copacabana (Vogue); also available on the box set Jazz on Disques Vogue (Sony).  Is it Monk or isn’t it?  The answer will self-destruct in 30 seconds.
6. Mary Lou Williams - Intermission (Williams, Suggs).  Mary Lou Williams, piano; Zita Carno, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Mickey Roker, drums.  January - March 1974.  From the album Zoning (Folkways).  This does not sound like the work of someone who started in the 1920’s.
7. Julius Watkins - Linda Delia (George Butcher).  Julius Watkins, french horn; Frank Foster, tenor sax; Perry Lopez, guitar; George Butcher, piano; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.  8/8/54.  From the album Julius Watkins Sextet, Volumes 1 & 2 (Blue Note).  I always like having some Blue Note tracks in my BFTs.  Is this a tango?  Watkins was a consistently interesting musician.
8. CBS Jazz All-Stars - Tin Tin Deo (Fuller, Pozo).  Stan Getz, ts; Hubert Laws, flute; Woody Shaw, tp; Arthur Blythe, as; Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, ts; Bobby Hutcherson, marimba; Cedar Walton, p, arr; Percy Heath, b; Tony Williams, d; Willie Bobo, perc.  Havana, Cuba, 3/3/79.  From the album Havana Jazz (Columbia); also available on the box set Stan Getz - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (Sony).  A track tailor-made for a BFT.  Pretty incredible bunch of musicians.
9. Freddie Redd - Give Me A Break (Freddie Redd).  Phil Ranelin, trombone; Curtis Peagler, alto sax; Teddy Edwards, tenor sax; Freddie Redd, piano; Bill Langlois, bass; Larry Hancock, drums.  October 9 & 10, 1990.  From the album Everybody Loves A Winner (Milestone).  Yes, I wish they rehearsed the head more, but it’s an intriguing tune worthy of Redd, and the band has some good solos.
10. Pete Brown - Boot Zoot (Pete Brown).  Pete Brown, alto sax, vocals; Kenny Watts, piano; Herman Mitchell, guitar; Al Hall, bass; Eddie Nicholson, drums.  NYC, August 1, 1944. From the album The Changing Face Of Harlem, Volume Two (Savoy).  I’ve bought many of these Savoy twofers over the last year, and have enjoyed them.  Brown was just a journeyman alto, typical for his time, but it’s such an enjoyable performance.
11. Fred Jackson - On The Spot (Fred Jackson).  Fred Jackson, tenor sax; Earl Van Dyke, organ; Willie Jones, guitar; Sam Jones, bass; Wilbert Hogan, drums.  4/9/62.  From the bonus tracks to the album Hootin' 'n Tootin’ (Blue Note).  Jackson was an enigma who played on very few albums.  He made only one album under his own name, but a second session (which included this track) was added to the CD of the first.  Has that great Blue Note sound, and Motown Funk Brother Earl Van Dyke plays organ.
12. Bobby Timmons - Damned If I Know (Bobby Timmons).  Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums.  1/20/66.  From the album The Soul Man! (Prestige).  Wayne and Bobby together for perhaps the last time.
13. James Clay - The Very Thought Of You (Ray Noble).  James Clay, tenor sax; Cedar Walton, piano; David Williams, bass; Billy Higgins, drums.  1/20/89.  From the album I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Antilles).  I was on a James Clay kick this past year.  I love this pretty performance, and I find it poignant that, in spots, he sounds like his old friend Fathead.
14. Pony Poindexter - Pretty Lady (Pony Poindexter).  Pony Poindexter, alto sax; Neal Kirkwood, piano; Art Washington, bass; Richie Goldberg, drums.  March, 1978.  From the album Poindexter (Inner City).  We recently had a thread about “soft spots,” defined as “Artists/albums we feel a soft spot for, even though there's nothing major about them.”  This album is one of them for me.  I remember when it came out, and I was so rooting for it to do well.  I know the sound quality is iffy, and the mix is odd, and it sounds like a first take, and it sounds like On A Clear Day but isn’t… I know all that.  But I really like this track, and this album.  The band does pull it together as the track goes on, so that in the end they’re far tighter than at the beginning, and Pony plays very well throughout.  This was his last album.
15. Beverly Kenney - Ball and Chain (Sweet Lorraine) (Burwell, Parish).  Beverly Kenney, vocals; Johnny Smith, guitar; Bob Pancoast, piano; Knobby Totah, bass; Mousie Alexander, drums.  1955.  From the album Beverly Kenney Sings For Johnny Smith (Roost).  The Johnny Smith Mosaic box is one of my favorites, but they purposely omitted 5 albums: two with string orchestra and three with vocalists.  I finally heard the Beverly Kenney this past year, and was wowed by her voice, her articulation, her phrasing, and her sensibility.  Smith is good too!
16. Erroll Garner Trio - Movin' Around (aka The Campbell's Are Coming) (Erroll Garner).  Erroll Garner (p), Eddie Brown (b), Doc West (d).  1/10/45.  From the box set Classic Black & White Jazz Sessions (Mosaic).  I think this threw some people off.  Garner early in his career, in a very lively performance.

Thanks to all who participated.

[Dan Gould]

Much here to feel embarrassed about not knowing ... Fathead, Edwards and Clay especially.

Will be re-listening to a few if not more than a few.

Thanks.

[Dub Modal]

I have #s 11 & 12, none of the other ones. Fun and interesting BFT. 

[webbcity]

Some really interesting reveals here. Ira Sullivan on track 1, wow! Definitely a bunch of things I need to explore further, probably starting with the Randy Weston and the Erroll Garner. I really dug a lot of this. Thanks so much for putting it all together.

[felser]

Thanks so much, interesting  and informative listen. I have seven of the tracks, though in some cases in different configurations (the dreaded Euro PD collections, the Ray Charles box etc.).  The Bobby Timmons (which I have) is my favorite cut.  The item I come away most wanting is the CBS All-Stars Havana Jazz set, but it is more expensive than I would have expected.  But I do have some of the tracks on the Getz and Dex CBS boxes.  I've always had a soft spot for the CBS All Stars Montreux Summit sets which were recorded a few years earlier.