B.B. King - My Kind Of Blues
Maybe I needed a break after the jazz marathon, but I enjoyed this more than King Of The Blues, which was rock-solid (see what I did there?) anyway. This slow-burning, minimal and direct approach allows him to shine as bright as ever. The first half is practically flawless, the album does lose steam towards the end, songs like Walking Dr. Bill feel totally out of place, they ruin the atmosphere that took so much effort to create.
6.5/10.
Elvis Presley - Blue Hawaii
I don't expect to suddenly become a fan, but I have to admit that this Hawaiian version of Elvis is definitely a more tolerable one. When the vocals get in the way, it can get annoying pretty fast, otherwise it’s half-decent.
5/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Joan Baez - Joan Baez Vol. 2
I don’t know. There are moments I’m thinking this exploration of the past is too jazz focused. Then I try listening to something different and it lets me down. Those vocals, I just don’t get them. If you asked me to describe them, I ‘d probably call them laughable, but that would be too cruel and at the very least unfair to this legendary artist, so I’ll say I find them puzzling instead. The obvious comparison in that regard would be Joanna Newsom, but I know BEA is in love with her, so I’ll keep my mouth shut. 🫢
5/10.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Art Blakey!!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!!
I’ve already explained my main issue with them. They ‘re great, sure, no doubt about it, it’s just that they they’ll hardly ever surprise me, let alone excite me, all of their albums share the same foundation. No other complaint, every member of the band is in top form, plus Art Blakey is in the spotlight less than usual, which is always a good thing for me.
6.5/10.
Max Roach - Percussion Bitter Sweet
Many reasons to like this album: some haunting, somewhat reminiscent of The Phantom Of The Opera parts, glimpses of Roach's grand artistic vision mixed with the socio-political background that we witnessed in his unrivaled 1960 album, We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite, exotic percussion, Mingus inspired chaos, rock-solid hard bop that just as easily may become vocal jazz or free jazz without any warning. I keep saying this for various records, but this line-up is phenomenal: Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Mal Waldron, Booker Little, Art Davis, Julian Priester, Clifford Jordan with Abbey Lincoln being the icing on the cake.
7.5/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Bill Evans Trio - Explorations
Bill Evans keeps popping up and it’s for good reason. One more album by the famous running like clockwork trio. He has a rather unique way of striking the right balance between being cool in an intellectual manner and avoiding coming off as distant or snob. This felt slightly less relatable than usual, a bit more intensity/energy would go a long way towards spicing things up. Even the wonderful bass can’t help this record. Sweet and Lovely has a rare moment of the drummer being in the spotlight, which was a pleasant surprise.
6.5/10 _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Freddie Redd Quintet - Shades Of Redd
They hardly do anything groundbreaking, yet there were parts of it that somewhow sounded extremely fresh. Freddie Redds may be far from the most remarkable pianist out there, but his compositions allow Tina Brooks and especially Jackie McLean to shine. The opening track, The Thespian, is the clear highlight, but it remains consistent throughout.
7.5/10.
Elza Soares - A Bossa Negra
There’s a very good chance you already know Elza Soares, she is a legend. You might have heard of her because of her illustrious career or her relationship with the football player Garrincha – who also has attained mythical status - and the variety of tragic incidents that surrounded her life. You can’t deny that she is a great singer and that’s based not only on her voice from a technical point of view but how she makes her personality shine through it. The music ain’t half bad either, not extremely diverse or creative, but it puts you in the mood. Cool, uplifting but with tons of passion.
6.5/10.
Lightnin' Hopkins - Blues In My Bottle
Maybe a tiny bit behind his 1960 album, but Hopkins is the man, if was more into blues, I can easily imagine I ’d rank this sky high. Even without liking this genre that much, he almost convinces me I do and that’s quite a feat.
6/10.
Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead
This is victim of a problem that shows up too often in vocal jazz. The band is phenomenal – what did you expect from that lineup, for real– but this is obviously focused on Abbey Lincoln and her vocals, so it’s not the most interesting album, for me at least. She is not bad by any stretch of imagination, but I’d like her to be more restrained, she would make a bigger impression and it would be easier to comprehend what’s going on in the background.
6.5/10.
Nina Simone - Forbidden Fruit
I don’t have anything semi-useful to say about it, I guess it’s fine. She’s always been one of those artists I respect but rarely moves beyond a mild like and this is no exception.
6.5/10.
Oliver Nelson with Eric Dolphy - Straight Ahead
The opening track, Images, is by far my favourite here, it has this underlying eerie vibe, as if something horrible is about to take place and all you can do is helplessly wait for it, a bit like a well-done film noir, the stuff of nightmares. Overall, I’d say it’s just as good as his more famous album that appeared a few days ago on this diary – page 13, post #122. Actually, I find this slightly more enjoyable, probably it has to do with the teamwork between Dolphy and Nelson being on a higher level, in the The Blues And The Abstract Truth Dolphy was too dominant.
7.5/10.
Lee Morgan - Lee-Way
It’s essentially the Jazz Messengers all over again, though you could argue there’s a slight twist this time around. This can be either a good or a bad thing depending on your perspective of this band, I’d say it’s rather pleasant - on another day I might have rated it even higher, but I think I've already been too generous today.
6.5/10.
Kenny Drew - Undercurrent
Kenny Drew is another name that doesn’t get that much attention, but we at least have this record as a testament of his talent. He knows what he wants and he ain’t shy about it, straightforward, no nonsense jazz, yet decently varied. If you are into hard bop, you’ll love this.
6.5/10.
Chavela Vargas - Con El Cuarteto Lara Foster
A much needed change of pace. That’s what happens when music is more than another form of art – and definitely much more than business- , rather a liberating expression of her inner world. She’s ready to crack at any given time, balancing on a tightrope – I think I said something similar about Freddy, this kind of fully immersed in their craft artists is so inspiring.
7.5/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Coleman Hawkins - The Hawk Relaxes
Exactly what the album title says. If you are more into hard bop, you may find this a snooze fest, but if you like your jazz soft and relaxing, this is the way step inside.
6.5/10.
Buddy Rich - Blues Caravan
If you want the drummer to be the centre of the world, this is for you, it doesn’t get any better. Not my cup of tea as I’ve already mentioned while commenting on similar albums, but I have to say that the flute was a nice touch.
6.5/10.
Joe Harriott Quintet - Free Form
As the title suggests, this is moving away from conventional jazz, but at the same time it’s much easier on the ear than the obvious point of reference i.e. Ornette Coleman, kinda the best of both worlds.
7/10.
Chatur Lal - The Drums of India
I browsed Hayden's 1961 chart and this immediately stood out. For real, how do you discover these gems? I have no idea what happened here, but it was outlandish enough to make it cool.
6.5/10.
Randy Weston - Uhuru Afrika
Same as the above, this time it's Africa instead of India, it's so unpredictable and as a result tons of fun, it's as if you are lost in a deep jungle and you watch a shaman perform his rituals. At some point in African Lady even a guy full of swag a la Sinatra joins the party out of nowhere.
7/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Booker Little - Out Front
Eric Dolphy is here, Max Roach is here (among others), yet all I cared about was Booker Little. Can’t say I’m too big on the trumpet generally speaking, but when this man is in charge, it is a different ball game. A summer evening is probably the ideal time for this record. For some reason this felt like reading Hemingway (probably The Sun Also Rises if I had to be more specific). While listening to this, I could easily picture a frustrated young man spending a scorching hot day roaming the streets aimlessly, meeting random people passionately pretending they do something meaningful and when night falls, he wastes his time having a drink at a random bar and getting lost in his deep thoughts, surrounded by a euphoric sense of misery. That was your daily dose of nonsense, I highly doubt this was the mood the band was trying to convey, whatever, to each his own.
7.5/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
The Miles Davis Sextet - Someday My Prince Will Come
Someday My Prince an album by Miles will come and thrill me, this wasn’t meant to be the one.
Teo and the self-titled track are the obvious highlights and showcase where the rest of the album’s lacking: there’s no Coltrane, with all due respect to Hank Mobley.
6.5/10.
Miles Davis Quintet - Steamin' With The Miles Davis Quintet
As I said a while ago, Cooking… is considered to be the best of the bunch, but this is just as good, Coltrane does all the difference as usual. It’s striking how much I like him yet how indifferent I am towards his albums, probably goes to show how I find him a much better performer than a band leader and a composer. Salt Peanuts is the stand out track, though no one does it like Dizzy Gillespie.
7/10. _________________ Bob Dylan Charles Mingus
Booker Little - Out Front
Eric Dolphy is here, Max Roach is here (among others), yet all I cared about was Booker Little. Can’t say I’m too big on the trumpet generally speaking, but when this man is in charge, it is a different ball game. A summer evening is probably the ideal time for this record. For some reason this felt like reading Hemingway (probably The Sun Also Rises if I had to be more specific). While listening to this, I could easily picture a frustrated young man spending a scorching hot day roaming the streets aimlessly, meeting random people passionately pretending they do something meaningful and when night falls, he wastes his time having a drink at a random bar and getting lost in his deep thoughts, surrounded by a euphoric sense of misery. That was your daily dose of nonsense, I highly doubt this was the mood the band was trying to convey, whatever, to each his own.
7.5/10.
I feel like I've heard this, but I don't have it logged anywhere 🤔
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Hayden
