Listening Room – “Farmer’s Market”
Art Farmer - Walkin' With Hank
From "Farmer's Market" : 1956 : New Jazz NJLP 8203
"Farmer's Market" teams up a group of young players who would all go on to have influential careers in jazz. While Farmer and Mobley are clearly the headliners here, Kenny Drew's piano playing is the true standout of the session. Ad-dis-sun was written by Drew and is a swingin' example of the cool jazz sound. Mobley sits out on All By Myself which features some sublime muted trumpet playing by Farmer. Walkin' With Hank is a Mobley composition that clearly lays out the classic Blue Note hard bop sound that he and Lee Morgan would work to perfection only a few years later.
Players:
Art Farmer - Trumpet
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax
Kenny Drew - Piano
Addison Farmer - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums
Listening Room – “Nova” (R.I.P. Steve Reid)
From "Nova" : 1976 : Mustevic Sound MS2001
The great jazz drummer Steve Reid passed away April 12th at the age of 66. He had recorded with everyone from Miles Davis and James Brown to Fela Kuti and Sun Ra. His most famous drumming gig was probably on Dancing in the Streets with Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. Soon after that recording he became the drummer for the house band at the famed Apollo Theatre, which at the time was led by Quincy Jones. In the 1960's and 70's he recorded some great jazz records with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean and Horace Silver.
His album "Nova" was released on his own independent Mustevic Sound label and features a group of players billed as "The Legendary Jazz Brotherhood" so you know they can play. It is an amazing mix of the avant-garde, funk and soul-jazz and is a wonderful listen for fans of just about any genre of modern jazz.
Jazz Times published a great profile on Steve Reid a couple years back that can be found here.
Players:
Joe Rigby - Saxophones
Ahmed Abdullah - Trumpet
Les Walker - Organ, Piano
Richard Williams - Bass
Steve Reid - Drums
Listening Room – “Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian”
Frisell/Carter/Motian - "Eighty-One"
Frisell/Carter/Motian - "Raise Four"
Frisell/Carter/Motian - "I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry"
From "Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian" : 2006 : Nonesuch 79897
A meeting of the minds and sounds of three jazz pioneers - two are legends from the classic heyday of jazz, one is a leader in exploring new regions for modern day jazz. Bill Frisell's guitar is front and center on the album, but the interplay between the three would have you believe they have been playing together for years. The song selection is great, as the album starts off with Ron Carter's composition with Miles Davis Eighty One and continues with some originals by the band members as well as some perfectly chosen covers (Monk's Raise Four and Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry). A nice little gem of an album that deserves to be more widely heard.
Players:
Bill Frisell - Guiter
Ron Carter - Bass
Paul Motian - Drums
Listening Room – “Newport Rebels”
Newport Rebels - Mysterious Blues
From "Newport Rebels" : 1960 : Candid CJM 8022
The background story on this release is that in 1960 Charles Mingus organized an alternative festival to the Newport Jazz Festival and recruited some like-minded players to join him, thus the title "Newport Rebels". The original album was credited to the Jazz Artists Guild, although I believe most of the subsequent releases have been released under Mingus' name even though he doesn't appear on all the tracks. The opening track Mysterious Blues is the real selling point of the album, as it features Eric Dolphy and Jimmy Knepper sitting in with the Mingus band. Equally as good is the track Cliff Walk which features Max Roach's quintet from the time with Booker Little that has Jo Jones joining the group on the drums. Somewhat of an oddity in both Mingus' and Roach's discography, but worth hearing if only for the great music within.
Players:
On "Mysterious Blues":
Roy Eldridge - Trumpet
Jimmy Knepper - Trombone
Eric Dolphy - Alto Sax
Tommy Flanagan - Piano
Charles Mingus - Bass
Jo Jones - Drums
On "Cliff Walk":
Booker Little - Trumpet
Julian Priester - Trombone
Walter Benton - Tenor Sax
Peck Morrison - Bass
Jo Jones - Drums
Max Roach - Drums
Listening Room – “The Time Is Right”
Woody Shaw - "You And The Night And The Music"
From "The Time Is Right" : 1983 : Red 123168-2
This 1983 album was recorded live in Italy and features one of the strongest bands that Woody Shaw would put together in the final phase of his amazing career. The album has four long tracks (three clock in at over 12 minutes and the other is more than 10 minutes long) and allows all the players to really stretch out and show their chops. Why Shaw has not achieved legendary status outside of the jazz world, along with the fact that many of his greatest albums (including this one) remain out of print, is anyone's guess. This is advanced hard-bop jazz played at its highest level.
Players:
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Steve Turre - Trombone
Mulgrew Miller - Piano
James Stafford - Bass
Tony Reedus - Bass
Listening Room – “Sunflower”
Milt Jackson - What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?
From "Sunflower" : 1972 : CTI 6024
Another CTI classic from the early 70's and although this one has a larger ensemble it still stays away from the over-produced commercialized sound the label would soon be putting out. Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock are simply spectacular throughout, especially on the title track. Billy Cobham's drumming stays in the groove and the interplay between him and Milt Jackson is really happening. What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life is a ballad shows off the skills that made Jackson a legend on the vibes and the string arrangements are for the most part tasteful and not over the top.
Players:
Milt Jackson - Vibes
Freddie Hubbard - Flugelhorn
George Marge - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, English Horn
Phil Bodner - Flute, Piccolo, English Horn
Romeo Penque - Oboe, English Horn
Herbie Hancock - Piano, Electric Piano
Jay Berliner - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Billy Cobham - Drums
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green,
Charles Libove, Joe Malin, David Nadien,
Gene Orloff & Elliot Rosoff - Violins
Charles McCracken, George Ricci
& Alan Shulman - Cellos
Margaret Ross - Harp
Don Sebesky - Arranger, Conductor
Listening Room (Repost) – “Keep Your Soul Together”
Freddie Hubbard -"Keep Your Soul Together"
Freddie Hubbard - "Destiny's Children"
From "Keep Your Soul Together" : 1973 : CTI Records 6036
Recently scored myself a pristine copy of this on vinyl and have been trying not to wear it out listening to it too much. Just an awesome album from start to finish, has to be counted among Hubbard's best moments in the studio.
Players:
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
Junior Cook - Tenor
George Cables - Keyboards
Aurell Ray - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Kent Brinkley - Bass
Ralph Penland - Drums
Juno Lewis - Percussion
Miles Davis Quintet – “So What”
Live on the Steve Allen Show, 1964. Miles, Herbie, Wayne, Ron and Tony. Nuff said !!
New Gil Scott-Heron
Me and The Devil is the first single off Gil Scott-Heron's new album "I'm New Here". It's his first record in 13 years and I'm really digging what I've heard so far. Nice article about him and the record in The Village Voice here.
Look Around
Top 5
- Listening Room - "Blues-ette"
- Herbie Hancock Trio - "Toys"
- Listening Room - "The Lounge Lizards"
- Listening Room - "Coltrane Playlist #2"
- Listening Room - "Sonny Rollins Plus 4"
Recent Posts
- Listening Room – “Blues-ette”
- Listening Room – “Life Time”
- R.I.P. Herman Leonard
- Listening Room – “Upon This Rock”
- Listening Room – “The Jaki Byard Experience”
- Listening Room – “Inside Straight”
- Listening Room – “Coltrane Playlist #2″
- Listening Room – “Hank & Frank” (R.I.P. Hank Jones)
- Listening Room – “Roots & Herbs”
- Listening Room – “Sounds of Africa”
Recent Comments
- RPS: Cool fire indeed. Perfect music to go along with some work I’m doing at the moment. Thanks.
- Straight No Chaser: A true favorite of mine – thanks for passing it on to the world
- Jazz Sermon: I have only ever seen the “kirkbam” listed in 2 spots: this album and the double LP...
- RPS: Thanks for this. A terrific group of musicians, and a ‘fist fight’ indeed, but what a fantastic...
- Jazz Sermon: I did forget to add that they were brothers, but I didn’t realize that they were also twins....
Jazz Related Sites
- All Music Guide
- Dusty Groove
- emusic
- Jazz Discography Project
- My Favourite Sound
- My Jazz World
- Never Enough Rhodes
- The CTI Never Sleeps
Other Hip Sites
