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
Listening Room – “On Broadway”
This 1968 record was Reuben Wilson's debut on Blue Note. Employing a quartet, Wilson produced a prime example of the soul-jazz groove records that were making the rounds at this time. While this album is not quite as well known as the next few LPs that Wilson would make for Blue Note, it is still a great jazz recording that has aged very well over the years.
This album is currently out-of-print.
Released 1968 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BST 84295
Players:
Reuben Wilson - Organ
Trevor Lawrence - Tenor Sax
Malcom Riddick - Guitar
Tommy Derrick - Drums
Listening Room – “Shades of Green”
This RARE album from Grant Green is a soulful and groovy burner of a record. Joined on the vibes by Billy Wooten, the pair keep the music in the cut even on the spacier and mellower tracks. Made up mostly of standards both new and old (although the one Green original California Green is probably the strongest track), this is definitely not the sound that made Grant Green a soul-jazz legend, but it is a still a nice under appreciated gem.
This album is currently out-of-print.
Released 1971 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BST 84413
Players:
Grant Green - Guitar
Joe Newman - Trumpet
Joe Wilder - Trumpet
Victor Paz - Trumpet
Jimmy Sedlar - Trumpet
Billy Wooten - Vibes
Emmanuel Riggins - Electric Piano, Clavinet
Wilton Felder - Electric Bass
Harry DiVito - Trombone
Dick Hickson - Bass Trombone
Jim Buffington - French Horn
Phil Bodner - Woodwinds
Romeo Penque - Woodwinds
George Marge - Woodwinds
John Leone - Woodwinds
Nesbert "Stix" Hooper - Drums
King Errisson - Conga
Harold Caldwell - Percussion
Top 5
- Listening Room - "Desperado"
- Listening Room - "Sunflower"
- Listening Room - "Byrd In Flight"
- Gerald Clayton Trio at The Village Vanguard
- Listening Room - "Mind Transplant"
Look Around
Recent Posts
- Listening Room – “Sunflower”
- Stan Getz – “Seven Steps to Heaven”
- Listening Room (Repost) – “Keep Your Soul Together”
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- New Gil Scott-Heron
- Listening Room – “Kenny Burrell (Prestige 7088)”
- Listening Room – “Byrd In Flight”
- Gerald Clayton Trio at The Village Vanguard
- Listening Room – “Mind Transplant”
- Listening Room – “Mirage”
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
