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 – “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: “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 – “Blue Impressions”
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"
Listening Room – “10 to 4 at The Five Spot”
This 1958 Riverside date was recorded during this group's two month stint at The 5 Spot and features some fantastic interplay between a group of upcoming players including a young Donald Byrd and Elvin Jones. The Long Two/Four and Hastings Street Bounce are prime examples of the Hard Bop sound that would become one of the most enduring styles in jazz.
Released 1958 : Riverside Records : Catalog # RLP 12-265
Players:
Pepper Adams - Baritone Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Bobby Timmons - Piano
Doug Watkins - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums
Pepper Adams - The Long Two/Four from "10 to 4 at The Five Spot"
Pepper Adams - Hastings Street Bounce from "10 to 4 at The Five Spot"
Listening Room – “All Mornin’ Long”
Red Garland - All Mornin' Long
Red Garland - Our Delight
From "All Mornin' Long" : 1958 : Prestige PRP-7130
This is from the same session that resulted in Garland's "Soul Junction" (featured earlier on JS here). Featuring a 20 minute take of Garland's All Mornin' Long and a shorter version of Tadd Dameron's Our Delight, this album captures a young Donald Byrd and John Coltrane in peak early form.
Players:
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Red Garland - Piano
George Joyner - Bass
Art Taylor - Drums
Listening Room – “Johnny Griffin Sextet”
Johnny Griffin - Johnny G.G.
Johnny Griffin - Catharsis
From "Johnny Griffin Sextet": 1958 : Riverside RLP 12-274
More great Hard Bop, this album was actually Tenor Sax player Johnny Griffin's debut on the Riverside Records label. Joined by some great talent, including Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams (who would soon have their own fruitful partnership), Griffin tackles some obscure compositions as well as one of his original tunes (Catharsis).
Players:
Johnny Griffin - Tenor Sax
Pepper Adams - Baritone Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Kenny Drew - Piano
Wilbur Ware - Bass
Philly Joe Jones - Drums
Listening Room – “4, 5 and 6″
Jackie McLean - Abstraction
Jackie McLean - Confirmation
From "4,5 and 6" : 1956 : Prestige PRLP 7048
A bit of pre-Blue Note Jackie McLean, "4, 5 and 6" was released in 1956 on Prestige Records. The title refers to the fact that McLean performs with a quartet, quintet and on one track (Confirmation) is joined by Hank Mobley to make the group a sextet. A great early Hard Bop session that just starts to hints at the classic records McLean would head up only a few years later.
Players:
Jackie McLean - Alto Sax
Hank Mobley - Tenor Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Mal Waldron - Piano
Doug Watkins - Bass
Art Taylor - Bass
Listening Room – “Lush Life”
John Coltrane - "Lush Life"
John Coltrane - "Like Someone in Love"
From "Lush Life" : 1958 : Prestige Records
This is early Coltrane from 1958 when he was recording for Prestige Records. His reading of Lush Life is considered a classic and the trio tracks that make up the rest of the records are just as strong.
Players:
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
Earl May - Bass (Like Someone in Love)
Art Taylor - Drums (Like Someone in Love)
Red Garland - Piano
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Paul Chambers - Bass
Louis Hayes - Drums
Listening Room – “Soul Junction”
Red Garland - "Birk's Works"
Red Garland - "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)"
From "Soul Junction" : 1957 : Prestige Records
Red Garland was just finishing up his stint with Miles Davis' first great quintet when he recorded this 1957 album on the Prestige Records label. Coltrane and Donald Byrd are in great form as is the rest of the group while performing one Garland original (the title track) as well as standards of the day including Dizzy Gillespie's "Birks Works" and Ellington's "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good).
Players:
Red Garland - Piano
John Coltrane - Tenor Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
George Joyner - Bass
Art Taylor - Drums
Look Around
Top 5
- Listening Room - "Dizzy's Business"
- Listening Room - "Blackstone Legacy
- Listening Room (Repost) - "Keep Your Soul Together"
- Listening Room - "Sonny Rollins Plus 4"
- Listening Room - "We Three"
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
