Clark Terry - Serenade to a Bus Seat Year: 1957
Style or Subgenre: Bop
Clark Terry - Duke With a Difference Year: 1957
Style or Subgenre: Bop
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These two albums are full of Ellington homage and influence. They are also lively and entertaining. The title cut of the first, a Terry original, is Terry's homage to traveling as part of the Ellington orchestra. Terry also contributed four more originals out of the eight cuts and while the Ellington influence remains most of the time, they are Terry's songs as well. On the later disc, another Ellington influenced affair as indicated in the title, is full of Ellingtonian tunes but laid out in Terry's arrangements, for a fine mix. Across both albums , the occasional ballads are especially listenable.
Freddie Hubbard - Here to Stay Recording Date: 1962
Release Date: 1976
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop
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Another great date I give thanks for someone having dug out of a vault. (recorded in '62 but not released by Blue Note until '76). This is a quintet comprised of personal (to me) all-stars (Wayne Shorter on sax, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums) and they play like it throughout. The opening "Philly Mignon" has everyone shredding like mad; this is to be expected from a young Hubbard, but it's Walton who really gets the rapid-fire notes dancing about. The following "Father and Son" has a magnificently exotic feel, and the group really make the most of it. As much as Hubbard lights up the valves, it's easy to forget just how lyrical he can be, so he kindly reminds us in the third cut, "Body and Soul," a beautifully delivered ballad. After that, it's time to swing on "Nostrand and Fulton," where Hubbard again shows some serious soloing skills, not just in licks, but also in overall composition, as does Shorter and their two consecutive solos are pure joy. "Full Moon and Empty Arms" is a rather standard hard bop entry, but the ensemble elevate it to something worthy of sitting alongside the other great performance on this album. The closing "Assante" is truly masterful, especially due to the wonderful interplay between Walton's vamping and Shorter's mellifluous soloing.
Ed Thigpen - Out of the Storm Year: 1966
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Post Bop
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Drummer Ed Thigpen give us an intriguing if short (32 minutes) album here. You can't argue with the crew, which includes Clark Terry on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, Herbie Hancock on piano, and Kenny Burrell on guitar. While the opening Cielito Lindo for me bordered on the cheezy side of Latin jazz, Thigpen's drumming is special and Burrell gets in some very tasty licks. The ensemble veers hard away from the hard bop centre to produce the intensely impressionistic title cut; trumpeter Terry is especially well served by the trip away from the mainstream. The whole group gets swinging, but in a sort of sideways way, on "Elbow and Mouth," and the result is another fine moment on the album. Thigpen gives us some Blakey/Orgy in Rhythm banging on "Heritage," but with Terry adding some seedy New Orleans sounding wailing to go with it, and I dug that a lot. It's only fitting that the artist who brought us Chitlins Con Carne would be the center of attraction on the closing "Struttin'" With Some Barbecue," a happily swinging bit of light hard bop which won't challenge much, but leaves a smile on the face to finish this brief album.
Lennie Tristano - Crosscurrents Recording Date: 1949
Release Date: 1972
Style or Subgenre: Cool, Bop, Progressive Jazz
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Lennie Tristano is one of those names I've seen frequently, but until today, never got around to checking out. Yep, another one I waited to long on! (so much jazz, so little time!)
What struck me most was the range of styles Tristano and his sextet bring forth, especially for 1949! (recording date... not released until 1972, another travesty). We get some straight ahead cool jazz, a little bop, some classical counterpoint, things get progressive, and some things, had they been cut a few years later might even have been labeled avant garde. Wayne Marsh killing it on tenor and Lee Konitz killing it on alto were no surprise, but hearing the guitar of Billy Bauer on these cuts was an extra bonus treat. Hard to beat the experience of discovering music which is both challenging and joyous at the same time.
Earl Turbinton Featuring Willie Tee - Brothers for Life Year: 1987
Style or Subgenre: Post Bop, Soul Jazz
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I'd heard a good deal of albums with a side of Turbinton and generally liked them, so it was time to take in some Turbinton as leader. This soulful, funky bit of accessible 80s jazz proved to be a fine accompaniment to my Sunday afternoon.
Billy Cobham - Spectrum Year: 1973
Style or Subgenre: Fusion
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Billy Cobham is an incredibly musical drummer. By that I mean he doesn't just keep or even create beats with his percussion, but rather creates full fledged music just with his kit. On this, his debut as leader after his stint with Mahavishnu Orchestra, not only does he make that music, he also surrounds himself with incredibly talented fusion musicians, including some not primarily known as such. Of course, fusion master Jan Hammer nails it on the keys. But hard rocker Tommy Bolin makes some of the finest music of his all too brief career on this album. As amazing as Cobham and Bolin are though, for me the number one treat on this album is usually the bass. Lee Sklar, not previously known as a fusion musician made his name as a session player for the '70s singer/songwriter crowd, but on this album he lights it up with some of the most wicked four string chops I've ever heard anywhere. I don't think I'll ever get over listeneng to this album with my jaw on the floor.
Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy's Big 4 Recording Date: 1974
Release Date: 1975
Style or Subgenre: Mainstream Jazz, Bop
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I absolutely love this intimate little quartet coming rather late in Dizzy's career. But he's clearly having fun, as is the rest of the ensemble. Guitarist Joe Pass always has a killer groove when comping or is on fire with a solo. Ray Brown's bass is more to the fore than in the typical acoustic jazz record, and that's a very good thing. Mickey Roker's drums keep everything swinging nicely. All around, this is a supremely fun listen.
Gabe Baltazar - Back in Action Year: 1992
Style or Subgenre: Bop, Hard Bop, Mainstream Jazz
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Just had a very nice lunch with Stan Kenton alum, Gabe Baltazar. Back in Action is a rather mainstream blues/bop quartet affair, and in that vein it is just exuberant enough to be fun and just serious enough to warrant repeat listens. I don't always like the timbre of Baltazar's alto, but the music itself and its deliver are more than enough to compensate in my ear.
Billy Bauer - Plectrist Year: 1956
Style or Subgenre: Cool Jazz, Guitar Jazz
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It's hot. Hitting triple digits today (Fahrenheit). The remedy? Some lemon mint iced tea and finally getting aught up on this cool recommendation I got from a fellow Jazz fiend. I very much enjoyed this easy-swinging guitar album.
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