Cornel Dupree - Teasin' Year: 1974
Style or Subgenre: Jazz Funk, Jazz Blues, Soul Jazz
This 1974 solo debut from axeman Cornel Dupree has all sorts of fusions; Jazz Funk, Jazz Blues, Soul Jazz, a little bit of rock and roll, a big slice of his native Texas with a small dose of New Orleans thrown in, and even a touch of country. To be honest, all of these fusions lean heavily on the non-jazz side of the of whatever is being fused with. It is a guitar led, all instrumental album, so there are solos aplenty, but more in the blues and rock vein than the improvised jazz vein. If you like some bluesy, funky six string instrumentals to break up your core jazz now and then, this oughta' work real well.
Lou Donaldson with The Three Sounds - LD + 3 Year: 1959
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz
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Lou Donaldson is on fire on this album. He combines an unusually rich alto tone with breackneck speed on the fast numbers, or with intense expressiveness on the slower ones. The Three Sounds, especially Gene Harris on piano, are also in peak form, more so than on previous albums as if Donaldson's fire inspired them as well. The result is an album that stands proud and strong, even among Donaldson's great recordings.
Freddie Hubbard - Sky Dive Recording Date: 1972
Release Date: 1973
Style or Subgenre: Post Bop, Jazz Funk
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After Freddie Hubbard's phenomenal opening trilogy of albums with CTI (Red Clay, Straight Life, First Light), it's easy for Sky Dive to get forgotten. But this is a dandy as well. Both fully funky and fully Freddie, Sky Dive still has good variety as well. The side cast, with the likes of George Benson on guitar and Hubert Laws on flute, are all in tune, in the groove, and intensely funky themselves. The opening "Povo" is almost 15 minutes of jazz funk genius.
Gerald Wiggins - Wiggin' with Wig Recording Date: 1956
Release Date: 1957
Style or Subgenre: Bop
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In his Allmusic review, Michael G. Nastos says that Gerald Wiggins "...played piano with a dexterity and facile skill that easily rivaled the witty speed of Oscar Peterson and the soulful playfulness of Erroll Garner." I think it's a stretch to attribute such a combination of attributes to any pianist, but there's no doubt Wiggins has both skill and style, and this is a delightfully energetic, melodic, and often swinging bop album with ballads regularly sprinkled in to break things up. Easily recommended listening for any jazz fan.
Dexter Gordon - The Panther! Year: 1970
Style or Subgenre: Neo Bop, Soul Jazz
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This is a superb sort of retro sax alubm. In 1970 as guys like Stanley Turrentine were embracing fusions with contemporary forms, Dexter Gordon reaches back a bit to bring back the essence of golden age swing and bop, and does a mighty fine job of it. And that reaching back doesn't mean the music isn't fresh or full of soul. The opening title cut is as soulful as anything of the day. Larry Ridley opens with a cool bass motif, Alan Dawson adds a sweet beat, and then Tommy Flanagan completes the foundation with creative chords so that Gordon can drop in with a most marvelous solo. And so it goes throughout the album, although none of the rest grabs me so completely as that super soulful opener. Gordon does pull off a nicely energetic reading of Lou Donaldson's Blues Walk to finish the album.
George Benson - Beyond the Blue Horizon Year: 1971
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Mainstream Jazz
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I love George Benson's CTI period, and this is as good as any of those releases. Benson's playing is as dexterous as ever, the songs fun to listen to, and the support provided by Clarence Palmer on the Hammond organ and Jack DeJohnette on drums is just stellar. That Benson has the confidence, and the chops, to take on so iconic a tune as Miles Davis' "So What" to open the album says a lot; and the ensemble certainly deliver. We then get a great movie tune in "The Gentle Rain" followed by the peppy and poppy, "All Clear." This is certainly the most commercial tune on the album, but Benson keeps it from being to lightweight with some of his finest playing. We then get the beautifully reflective "Ode to a Kudu" and we finish with the more exotic "Somewhere in the East." This album does not lack for either variety or chops. A great listen every time I spin it.
Peter Bernstein - Signs of Life Year: 1995
Style or Subgenre: Guitar Jazz
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This album has become a real favorite. I love Bernstein's playing. His note selection is sometimes straightforward and sometimes more harmonically adventurous at a level of a John (Abercrombie or Scofield, take your pick), but he retains a more pure, traditional tone from his Ziegler archtop guitar, all of which makes for an eminently listenable combination to my ear. Solid compositions, excellent and interesting soloing, and fine trio backing him make for a delightful album through and through. I discovered and started collecting Brad Mehldau albums early in my jazz journey, but first only knew him as a leader. Here he sits in as a sideman and is every bit as engaging as one could hope. Most of this music is livelier than the more introspective Meldhau albums I've amassed, but he nails the fast swinging pieces with every bit as much intensity as ever. It also comes as no surprise how excellent Christian McBride's bass support is. I don't know that I've heard drummer Gregory Hutchinson elsewhere, but if this is a representative example of his work, he certainly belongs right there with the rest of the ensemble.
Grant Green - Grant's First Stand Year: 19961
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Guitar Jazz
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Grant Green - Grantstand Recording Date: 1961
Release Date: 1962
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Guitar Jazz
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After listening to Benson and Bernstein, I'm still on a guitar kick. That usually means I'm gonna' get back around to Grant Green at some point. This morning, I decided to go for for a couple similarly titled albums which are plays on the artist's surname, "Grant's First Stand," and "Grantstand."
The first of these, Green's first full release as a leader, is nothing less than astonishing. That this young artist could bring forth such a fantastic album is itself impressive. As I listened to it this morning, I was awestruck (yet again, as I always am when I pull this one out) at the combination of youthful vitality and maturity of style. Green's also not the only star here as Baby Face Willette's organ really brings the blue heat as well. Drummer Bill Dixon swings in sync and the entire trio is flawless. And that's it... just these there; no bass. But you'd never miss it here. Every once in a while, along comes an artist who bursts out so strong that their opening salvo remains a high mark no matter how great the rest of the career goes. I think this is just such a case. I just can't get enough of this album; Green's lines are just so very tasty!
Grantstand was actually my first Green purchase as I was getting into jazz and spied a used copy in a CD store. I immediately took to it then and still love it today. Green keeps the organ, this time courtesy of Brother Jack McDuff. He gets a front line player in Yusef Lateef, who plays both sax and flute, and despite his evolving concern with eastern sounds, plays it straight here to compliment Green's bluesy soul jazz idiom. This album is a half star behind Green's debut, which is no slight. I find the enduring highlights to be it's bookends, the opening self-titled Green original, and the gorgeous closing reading of "Old Folks."
Black Art Jazz Collective - Armor of Pride Year: 2018
Style or Subgenre: Modern Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Hard Bop, Post Bop
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This is a kickass jazz record! Modern but not "out there," contemporary, but not watered down, hard bop sensibility, but post bop delivery with a progressive touch. There is so much going on here all in a seamless whole, and delivered with complete authority by a group of skilled, confident, and expressive musicians. In a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, I really expected to like Jeremy Pelt's contributions, and guess what? I did! But I also learned the wonder of Wayne Escofferey's tenor, James Burton III's trombone, Jonathan Blake's drums, and especially Xavier Davis' piano.
"Miller of Time" makes for a great opener, but then the following title cut is a massive scorcher! Then we get a lovely Pelt ballad in "Awuraa Amma" before diving into some serious bop on "The Spin Doctor." After that, we need another ballad, and they group deliver with "And There She Was, Lovely as Ever," dripping with aching romanticism. "Pretty" is another easy tempo Pelt showcase. Hints of dissonance in the intro to "When Will We Learn," set up a lively and soaring trombone solo, and then this fine album tops it all off with the hyperactive and slightly edgy "Black Art," a killer tune. This is may be my new favorite jazz album of 2018.
Eddie Henderson - Shuffle and Deal Year: 2020
Style or Subgenre: Mainstream Jazz, Neo Bop, Soul Jazz
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Released today, this acoustic quintet led by trumpet great Eddie Henderson came to me as a fresh breeze of bop based contemporary jazz. There's no doubt Henderson can still blow, but his melodic sense and ability to lay into a groove also remains intact. Of course, part of that contemporary brilliance comes from having included Kenny Barron's piano in the quintet. Sharing front line duties is altoist Donald Harrison, who brings just a little extra edge to provide slight contrast to Henderson's more melodic soloing. The neo-bop and funky fusion infused pieces (most namely the opening title cut) are a serious joyride. The following "Flight Path" sheds the funky fusion vibe of the opener and goes more serious bop, and is a marvelous song. While Henderson can bring the lush, romantic, and appropriately mellow tone from his brass, I was a little less enamored of the ballads here (with the exception of his reading of "God Bless the Child," which is just gorgeous). The slowly developing "Cook's Bay" evolves into a beautiful exercise in melody and easy bopping soloing over a gentle Latin beat.
In rock circles, there's a lot of complaint that rock music isn't as good as it used to be. Some of the music is every bit as "good," but it's not new or fresh; it sounds like so much of what had come before, so it seems tired. If the new music had come first and the classic period stuff was coming now, the same complainants would probably say the same thing. It's not always the music itself so much as it is the timing and sequencing of what sounded fresh and what sounds like a repeat. I suspect the same phenomenon exists to some degree in jazz, especially what we might think of as contemporary mainstream jazz. Based on my first listen, this album may well buck that thrend for me. There's really nothing new here, but this still sounds like great music (for the most part) to me. In 2020, that's quite an accomplishment, and Eddie&Co. are to be commended.
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