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Jazz for aficionados

Jazz for aficionados

I'm going to review records in my collection, and you'll be able to decide if they're worthy of your collection. These records are what I consider "must haves" for any jazz aficionado, and would be found in their collections. I wont review any record that's not on CD, nor will I review any record if the CD is markedly inferior. Fortunately, I only found 1 case where the CD was markedly inferior to the record.

Our first album is "Moanin" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. We have Lee Morgan , trumpet; Benney Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie merrit, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

The title tune "Moanin" is by Bobby Timmons, it conveys the emotion of the title like no other tune I've ever heard, even better than any words could ever convey. This music pictures a person whose down to his last nickel, and all he can do is "moan".

"Along Came Betty" is a tune by Benny Golson, it reminds me of a Betty I once knew. She was gorgeous with a jazzy personality, and she moved smooth and easy, just like this tune. Somebody find me a time machine! Maybe you knew a Betty.

While the rest of the music is just fine, those are my favorite tunes. Why don't you share your, "must have" jazz albums with us.

Enjoy the music.
orpheus10
orpheus10 OP
5,988 posts
 

Rok, I don't think it was as much an outrage as the Grant Green outrage; not only was he denied what was due him for producing the music, I was denied the pleasure of having those records in my collection, I was denied the pleasure of listening to some of his best music. He was one of the very few artists that I had met and talked to, he was one of the very few artists that I had seen live many times; to be denied the pleasure of listening to his records was an injustice to me personally.


Enjoy the music.


acman3
2,267 posts
 

O-10, IMHO,The reason Mr. Green's material was only released in Japan was that was the only place where the material would sell big. The market in the U.S. was changing, and not in the direction of Grant Green. Sad but true. No matter how good or bad, it was deemed not marketable by Blue Note. The masses speak volumes with their wallets.

The bigger question was, Why then did they record Grant Green? To keep them at Blue Note? To give them a payday? I don't know. I am just glad the guy's at Mosaic found them and released them, so people who wanted more Grant Green would be able to hear him.

frogman
4,637 posts
 
Acman3, I agree with you.  I said essentially the same thing a while ago.  My question is DID they "sell big"?  I don't know.  I can tell you that in many parts of the entertainment industry "trial runs" are done outside of the U.S. in order to see if the project is commercially viable.  It is cheaper to do so outside the U.S.  This goes to the other parts of your comment.  Why did they record him?  Contracts.  A contract guarantees an artist a certain # of recordings; or, at least, mandates that he record a certain number of records.  
orpheus10 OP
5,988 posts
 

Acman, how do you know that? could you share your new found knowledge with me? No you can't, because you are dead 200% wrong.




llMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]
Mosaic released a four-disc box set titled The Complete Blue Note With Sonny Clark in 1991, rounding up everything that the guitarist and pianist recorded together between 1961 and 1962. Blue Note's 1997 version of the set, The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark, trims Mosaic's collection by two discs, offering only the quartet sessions (the Ike Quebec sessions, Born to Be Blue and Blue and Sentimental, are available on individual discs). In some ways, this actually results in a more unified set, since it puts Green and Clark directly in the spotlight, with no saxophone to complete for solos, but it doesn't really matter if the music is presented as this double-disc set, the four-disc box, or the individual albums -- this is superb music, showcasing the guitarist and pianist at their very best. All of the sessions are straight-ahead bop but the music has a gentle, relaxed vibe that makes it warm, intimate, and accessible. Grant and Clark's mastery is subtle -- the music is so enjoyable, you may not notice the deftness of their improvisation and technique -- but that invests the music with the grace, style, and emotion that distinguishes The Complete Quartets. Small group hard bop rarely comes any better than this.



Those records were made between 61 and 62, when they were the market; that was when "straight up jazz" was king; no "soul jazz" no "hip hop jazz" but straight up "hard bop jazz"; the kind Miles Davis is famous for.

Do You know who "Sonny Clark" is?

Enjoy the music.
orpheus10 OP
5,988 posts
 

Hank Mobley recorded "No Room For Squares" on October 2, 1963 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio.

Lee Morgan; trumpet

Andrew Hill; piano

John Ore; Bass

Philly Joe Jones; drums


Donald Byrd recorded "At The Half note Cafe" with Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Duke Pearson, piano; Lex Humphries, drums; Laymon Jackson, bass in November 1960; that's two months from 1961.


Frogman, I saw Trane at Gino's in St. Louis in 1963, and he was blowing a soprano sax, not a "tenor" sax. He played "My Favorite Things" much longer than what you hear on his album.

Grant Greens music would have been right on time; now come back to me with your YA YA.



Enjoy the music.
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