Listening Room – “Life Time”

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Jazz Sermon

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 – “Action”

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

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 – “Brilliant Circles”

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

Stanley Cowell – Brilliant Circles

Stanley Cowell – Bobby’s Tune

From “Brilliant Circles” : 1969 : Arista Freedom A 1009

This 1969 session was Stanley Cowell’s second as a leader and finds him fronting a fantastic sextet that includes Woody Shaw and Bobby Hutcherson. The players are at their creative best and the music is a challenging blend of hard bop and the avant-garde. The album was originally released on the Arista Freedom label and briefly re-issued by Black Lion on CD, but is currently (and ridiculously) out-of-print.

Players:
Stanley Cowell – Piano
Tyrone Washington – Tenor Sax
Woody Shaw – Trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes
Reggie Workman – Bass
Joe Chambers – Drums

“Bobby Hutcherson – 1989″

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums) performing Hutcherson’s classic Little B’s Poem live in 1989.

Listening Room – “Happenings”

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

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.

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Released 1966 : Blue Note Records : Catalog # BLP 4231

Players:
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes, Marimba
Herbie Hancock – Piano
Bob Cranshaw – Bass
Joe Chambers – Drums

Bobby Hutcherson – Bouquet from “Happenings”

Bobby Hutcherson – The Omen from “Happenings”

Listening Room – “Idle Moments”

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

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.

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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

Grant Green – Idle Moments from “Idle Moments”

Grant Green – Django from “Idle Moments”

Listening Room – “Blue Impressions”

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

Simon666 over at neverenoughrhodes turned me on to this album posted over at Musical Schizophrenia. It is by DJ Mitsu The Beats and is a great mix of classic Blue Note tracks from the 1970′s (the CD is only available as a very expensive import, if you can find it at all). I have previewed a few tracks below, including a nice Roots remix of Montara. For fans of 70′s Blue Note and/or hip-hop, the whole album can be found here.

Bobby Hutcherson – Montara (Roots Remix) from “Blue Impressions”

Ronnie Foster – Tuesday Heartbreak from “Blue Impressions”

Donald Byrd – Think Twice from “Blue Impressions”

Lou Donaldson – Ode To Billie Joe from “Blue Impressions”

“2010 NEA Jazz Masters Recipients Announced”

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

The National Endowment For The Arts has announced the 2010 Jazz Masters Fellowship recipients. They include Bobby Hutcherson (pictured above), Cedar Walton and Yusef Lateef.

From their website:

“The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that our government bestows upon jazz musicians. These fellowships are given in recognition that this magnificent art form, so profoundly based in American culture, is one of America’s greatest gifts to the world.”

All the recipients can be seen here.

Listening Room – “Oblique”

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

The great vibes virtuoso Bobby Hutcherson, one of my personal favorite jazz players, recorded “Oblique” in 1967 but the album was not released until 1980. While this was not unusual for Alfred Lion to do with Blue Note recording sessions, this record was particularly welcome upon its release as it is stands as an equal to all the great albums Hutcherson released on Blue Note in the 1960′s. This was his second quartet recording and shares Herbie Hancock and Joe Chambers from the first (“Happenings”), but this time he adds Albert Stinson on bass. The music is complex post-bop jazz and is worth checking out for anyone interested in sophisticated forward thinking music.

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Released 1980 (Originally Recorded 1967) : Blue Note Records : Catalog # CDP 7 84444-2

Players:
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes
Herbie Hancock – Piano
Albert Stinson – Bass
Joe Chambers – Drums

Bobby Hutcherson – Oblique from “Oblique”

Bobby Hutcherson – Theme From Blow-Up from “Oblique”

Listening Room – “Out To Lunch!”

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Jazz Sermon

Eric Dolphy – Hat and Beard

Eric Dolphy – Out To Lunch

From “Out to Lunch” : 1964 : Blue Note BLP 4163

Everything about Eric Dolphy’s 1964 avant-garde post-bop classic “Out To Lunch!” – from the music to the cover to the lineup – announces a masterpiece of an album, and rightly so. Dolphy’s five originals (two highlights are the Thelonious Monk tribute Hat and Beard and the title track) are rhythmically complex and create a freedom within the music that allows all the players room to improvise at a high level. These songs are almost more soundscapes than traditional compositions, and while some may disagree I would argue that Dolphy has never sounded more creative and inspired.

Players:
Eric Dolphy – Alto Sax, Bass Clarinet, Flute
Freddie Hubbard – Trumpet
Bobby Hutcherson – Vibes
Richard Davis – Bass
Tony Williams – Drums