Listening Room – “Life Time”
Tony Williams - "Two Pieces Of One: Red"
Tony Williams - "Two Pieces Of One: Green"
From "Life Time" : 1964 : Blue Note BLP 4180
Tony Williams debut album as a leader (he was still going by Anthony Williams when it was issued) is a great example of some classic Blue Note post bop. The lineup features a strong group of label regulars at the time, including the under appreciated Sam Rivers on tenor saxophone. The tracks Two Pieces of One: Red and Two Pieces of One: Green took up all of side one of the original LP and feature all the players except Hutcherson. Williams wrote all of the compositions on the album and the open feel to much of the music shows that even as a young eighteen year old he had many of the chops in place that would make him one of the all time great jazz drummers.
Players:
Sam Rivers - Tenor Sax
Gary Peacock - Bass
Richard Davis - Bass
Ron Carter - Bass
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Tony Williams - Drums & Percussion
Listening Room – “Roots & Herbs”
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "Look At The Birdie"
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "Master Mind"
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "Roots & Herbs"
From "Roots & Herbs" : 1961 : Blue Note BST 84347
Recorded in 1961, but not released until 1969, "Roots & Herbs" features one of the great editions of the Jazz Messengers. This group recorded extensively for Blue Note in 1960-1961 (there is an entire Mosaic box set devoted just to this group, out-of-print of course!) and all of their output was excellent. This shelved album is no exception, although it is unique in that it features all Wayne Shorter compositions, which gives a nice look into the young mind of an artist who would soon go on to become one of jazz's great modern composers.
Players:
Lee Morgan - Trumpet
Wayne Shorter - Saxophone
Bobby Timmons - Piano
Walter Davis, Jr. - Piano
Jymie Merritt - Bass
Art Blakey - Drums
Listening Room – “Byrd In Flight”
From "Byrd in Flight" : 1960 : Blue Note BLP 4048
A great example of the classic Blue Note hard bop sound, "Byrd in Flight" features some of the labels finest players from the early 1960's joining Donald Byrd including Hank Mobley and Duke Pearson. For some reason this album is currently out of print, it was issued on CD in 1996 as part of the Blue Note Connoisseur Series but is no longer available. Enjoy!!
Players:
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax
Duke Pearson - Piano
Doug Watkins - Bass
Lex Humphries - Drums
Listening Room – Expansions
From "Expansions" : 1968 : Blue Note BST 84338
A classic (but out-of-print) session from a post-Coltrane McCoy Tyner. With a group of all-star players - including Wayne Shorter, Woody Shaw, Gary Bartz and Ron Carter - this album deserves a wider audience. The album opens with Vision which fully showcases the soloing skills of all the players, with Carter's cello and Shaw's trumpet playing really standing out. Smitty's Place has a great enthusiastic feeling as the group bounces and swings with each other. Overall the record is a nice blend of the hard-bop and post-bop styles, with just the right amount of free-jazz and avant-garde elements to make the record a nice summation of Tyner's career up to this point and where it would soon be heading in just a few years with his outstanding albums of the 1970's.
Players:
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Gary Bartz - Alto Sax, Wooden Flute
Wayne Shorter - Tenor Sax, Clarinet
Ron Carter - Cello
Herbie Lewis - Bass
Freddie Waits - Drums
Listening Room – “Action”
Jackie McLean - Plight from "Action"
Jackie McLean - Hootnan from "Action"
From "Action" : 1964 : Blue Note BLP 4218
A great album from a period when it seemed Jackie McLean could do no wrong, "Action" is full of exciting and challenging music. McLean is joined by Charles Tolliver (who was one of his main collaborators at this time) and Bobby Hutcherson's righteous vibe playing is featured prominently throughout the record. Plight is a classic written by Tolliver and the Mclean composition Hootnan would probably be considered the most in line with the classic Blue Note sound as it best known, while still fitting in with the adventurous sound of the album as a whole.
Players:
Jackie McLean - Alto Sax
Charles Tolliver - Trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes
Cecil McBee - Bass
Billy Higgins - Drums
Listening Room – “Mustang!”
From "Mustang!" : 1966 : Blue Note BLP 4238
"Mustang!" is a straight ahead jazz session featuring some of the top horn players in the Blue Note stables at the time. Donald Byrd is joined by Hank Mobley and Sonny Red and all three play together wonderfully. Also sitting in on the session is McCoy Tyner, who adds some great piano lines to the hard bop mix. A refreshing record from 1966 that stays in the pocket while much of the jazz world was straying into free jazz and the avant-garde.
Players:
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax
Sonny Red - Alto Sax
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Walter Booker - Bass
Freddie Waits - Drums
Listening Room – “Schizophrenia”
From "Schizophrenia" : 1967 : Blue Note BST 84297
Players:
Wayne Shorter - Tenor Sax
James Spaulding - Alto Sax, Flute
Curtis Fuller - Trombone
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Ron Carter - Bass
Joe Chambers - Drums
Listening Room: “New Soil”
"New Soil" was the first Jackie McLean album released on Blue Note (although it wasn't the first session he recorded for the label) and it firmly shows the roots of the classic recordings that would soon follow. Mostly bluesy, the music also stretches out a bit and featured two McLean originals and four (very good) tracks penned by the pianist Walter Davis, Jr. Donald Byrd sits in on the trumpet as does Paul Chambers on bass. All of McLean's Blue Note albums are worth owning, and "New Soil" is no exception.
Released 1959 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BLP 4013
Players:
Jackie McLean - Alto Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Walter Davis, Jr. - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Pete LaRoca - Drums
Jackie McLean - Minor Apprehension from "New Soil"
Jackie McLean - Greasy from "New Soil"
Listening Room – “Happenings”
This 1966 Blue Note album was actually Bobby Hutcherson's first quartet recording. Joined once again by label-mate Herbie Hancock, Hutcherson wrote six of the seven tracks (the only exception is a nice take of Hancock's Maiden Voyage) on this nice low-key lyrical hard bop outing that showcases the talents of all involved.
Released 1966 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BLP 4231
Players:
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes, Marimba
Herbie Hancock - Piano
Bob Cranshaw - Bass
Joe Chambers - Drums
Listening Room – “Idle Moments”
After posting "Shades of Green" the other day, I figured I would preview some vintage Grant Green. The guitarist is in prime form on this 1963 Blue Note release. The Duke Pearson penned title track is a stone-cold classic, as is the sextet's take on the Modern Jazz Quartet's timeless Django. Green and Pearson are joined by Blue Note stablemates Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and while this is a rather large group session for Green at this point in his career, the players and song selection result in one of the great records of the hard bop era.
Released 1963 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BLP 4154
Players:
Grant Green - Guitar
Joe Henderson - Tenor Sax
Duke Pearson - Piano
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibes
Bob Cranshaw - Bass
Al Harewood - Drums
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
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