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 !!
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 – “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
“Bobby Hutcherson – 1989″
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 – “Mama Wailer”
"Mama Wailer" was the second release on Creed Taylor's Kudu imprint and is a funky soul-jazz classic. Lonnie Smith is joined by a group of like-minded players (including an in-the-groove Grover Washington, Jr. on tenor) and the music is dirty low down jazz-funk that never strays too far from it's improvisational roots. The group's take on Sly and The Family Stone's Stand is the centerpiece of the album and took up all of Side 2 on the original LP. After this recording, Lonnie Smith disappeared from the scene for awhile, he wouldn't make another record until "Afrodesia" showed up on the Groove Merchant label in 1975.
Buy at Amazon (Japanese Import Only)
Released 1971 : Kudu Records : Catalog # KU-02
Players:
Lonnie Smith - Organ, Clavinet
Grover Washington, Jr. - Tenor Sax
Danny Moore - Trumpet
George Davis - Guitar
Jimmy Ponder - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Billy Cobham - Drums
Listening Room – “Blackstone Legacy
Originally issued as a double LP, this 1970 record was trumpeter Woody Shaw's debut as a leader and was ambitious to say the least. The music on "Blackstone Legacy" is not easy to classify, and a look at the lineup that Shaw assembled for the session gives a hint at the exciting music within. Bennie Maupin and Gary Bartz on the saxophones, two bassists: Ron Carter & Clint Houston and Lenny White on the drums were all players that had experience with the progressive jazz Shaw was looking to put down on wax. A landmark recording in the realm of modern music, any fan of creative music should give it a listen.
Released 1970 : Contemporary Records : Catalog # 7627/8
Players:
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Bennie Maupin - Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet, Flute
Gary Bartz - Alto & Soprano Sax
George Cables - Electric Piano
Ron Carter - Bass
Clint Houston - Bass
Lenny White - Drums
Listening Room – “Straight Life”
Released in 1970, "Straight Life" came out in between the more well known Hubbard albums "Red Clay" and "First Light". While I will always be partial to "Red Clay" for personal reasons (it is one of the first jazz albums I ever bought), "Straight Life" may be Hubbard's greatest CTI recording. The all-star group (Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette) were all very familiar with each other by this point in their careers and play off each other with ease. All are on the same page playing the post-bop fusion selections that Hubbard chose for these sessions including his own classic compostition, the title track Straight Life.
Released 1970 : CTI Records : Catalog # 6007
Players:
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
Joe Henderson - Tenor Sax
Herbie Hancock - Piano
George Benson - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Jack DeJohnette - Drums
Top 5
- Listening Room - "Desperado"
- Listening Room - "Sunflower"
- Listening Room - "Byrd In Flight"
- Listening Room - "Mind Transplant"
- Gerald Clayton Trio at The Village Vanguard
Look Around
Recent Posts
- Listening Room – “Sunflower”
- Stan Getz – “Seven Steps to Heaven”
- Listening Room (Repost) – “Keep Your Soul Together”
- Miles Davis Quintet – “So What”
- 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
