Phil Woods - Greek Cooking (1967) [vinyl 24 bit]

Review by Ken Dryden:
Probably one of the more unusual recordings in Phil Woods' considerable discography, Greek Cooking features the alto saxophonist leading a tentet with a distinctly Greek flavor, including four Greek musicians. None of them have become household names in jazz, though oud player George Mgrdichian later sat in with the Dave Brubeck Quartet during a few concerts. While the addition of instruments like the dumbeg and buzukie add a new twist, the annoying fender bass and the material chosen make the LP sound rather dated. "A Taste of Honey" is given a modal-like arrangement and it's hard not to break into a broad grin when hearing the lively "Zorba the Greek." A musical curiosity that's been out-of-print for a long time, it should appeal to Woods' fans because of his ability to make the best of the material with his powerful, never dull playing.

01 - Zorba The Greek
02 - A Taste Of Honey
03 - Theme From Antony And Cleopatra
04 - Got A Feelin'
05 - Theme From Samson And Delilah
06 - Greek Cooking
07 - Nica

Phil Woods (alto saxophone) William Costa (accordion, marimba) George Mgrdichian (oud) Stuart Scharf (guitar) Chet Amsterdam (electric bass) Bill LaVorgna (drums) Souren Baronian (drums, cymbals) Seymour Salzberg (percussion) Iordanis Tsomidis (buzukie) John Yalenezian (dumbeg) Norman Gold (arranger)
NYC, January 31 & February 1, 1967

Real Live Jazz #2: You'll Know When You Get There

Real Live Jazz #2: You'll Know When You Get There by Kingcake on Mixcloud

Bud Shank At Jazz Alley (1986) [Vinyl 24/48]

A Japanese 1987 issue is the only CD I'm aware of, and I could never locate a copy, so I was very pleased to pick up this mint LP

Review by Scott Yanow:
Altoist Bud Shank celebrated his move to the Seattle area by utilizing two talented Seattle players (pianist Dave Peck and bassist Chuck Deardorf) plus drummer Jeff Hamilton for this fine live set. On a well-rounded program of originals, an obscurity and a couple of standards ("A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square" and "I Loves You Porgy"), Shank is in top form, really stretching himself on the frequently challenging material. A good example of Bud Shank's playing in the 1980s.

The liner notes are much more interesting than Scottie's review!

01 - A Nightingale Sang In Berkelet Square
02 - Seaflowers
03 - Too Long At The Fair
04 - Arion
05 - Song For Lady Lynn
06 - I Loves You, Porgy
07 - Wales
08 - Bud's Theme

Bud Shank (alto saxophone) Dave Peck (piano) Chuck Deardorf (bass) Jeff Hamilton (drums)
"Jazz Alley", Seattle, WA, October 16, 17 & 18, 1986
Contemporary LP C 14027

Real Live Jazz!

From my too rarely visited 'Live and Unreleased' vault, I am always startled when I see how much STUFF is in there, of course in today's world some of what was once unreleased may have seen some issue or other since - oft times the full shows are way too much and 25 minute songs can be excessive so I think with judicious selecting and editing, the material lends itself quite well to this format.

(I think I feel a series coming on...either that I ate too much.)

Let's hear some real live Jazz from Harold Land - 1958, Lucky Thompson Octet - 1961, Booker Ervin - 1966, Roland Kirk - 1967, Pat Martino - 1969, Dave Pike Set - 1969, Yusef Lateef - 1971, Louis Hayes/ Junior Cook Quintet -1976, Bobby Hutcherson Quartet - 1977, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, Jack Wilkins -1980, Sonny Stitt & Red Holloway - 1981, and Mal Waldron w/ Charlie Rouse - 1984. Whew!

REAL LIVE JAZZ!! by Kingcake on Mixcloud

Lament For Horace Silver

I was surprised that the sun could show it's face today, surely the sky should be grey and weeping for we have lost our dear brother Horace and we shall not know his like again!

This is a personal collection assembled this morning with the pain still fresh and tears in my eyes. Goodbye old friend.

I first intended this as a mixcloud but they have changed the rules in the US and we can no longer use more than 3 tracks of any individual in a mix which has kind of killed all my tribute posts.

Doin' The Thing: Understanding The Legacy Of Horace Silver

Doin' The Thing: Understanding The Legacy Of Horace Silver by Poppachubby on Mixcloud

Road Hardened: Classic Working Bands

Lest We Forget Vol. 9 / Road Hardened: Classic Working Bands by Poppachubby on Mixcloud

Hank Crawford - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing (1974) [vinyl>flac]

"Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" by Hank Crawford was released in 1974 on Kudu Records, a subsidiary of the CTI label. On this his fourth Kudu release, Crawford showcases three original compositions alongside two Stevie Wonder tunes; "Don’t You Worry 'Bout A Thing" and “All In Love Is Fair.” Bob James handles the string arrangements and also shares electric keyboards with Richard Tee. James' arrangements don't smother Hank but instead instill a light touch of classiness, perfectly blending Crawford’s rhythm & blues phrasing. Joining him on this date is quite an impressive array of soul-jazz and modern jazz performers, including Pepper Adams, Randy Brecker, Ron Carter, Idris Muhammad, Joe Farrell, Jon Faddis, Bernard Purdie, and Hugh McCracken. As usual it is beautifully engineered by van Gelder; another significant slice of Hank’s discography to immerse even the most discerning jazz aficionado, Enjoy!

Sweet soulful jazz from reedman Hank Crawford - one of his killer Kudu sessions from the 70s - all of which really helped Hank redefine his sound! The setting here is large and full - put together beautifully by Bob James, with that sense of space for the soloist that makes his CTI/Kudu arrangements so crucial - and light years ahead of what other arrangers were doing at the time. The tracks are longish, but never overdone - and the record has all the soulful alto sounds of Crawford's 60s work at Atlantic, but with a definite 70s bent overall. James plays Fender Rhodes, Arp, and clavinet - and other players include Joe Farrell on tenor and flute, Idris Muhammad and Bernard Purdie on drums, and Richard Tee on additional keyboards. Titles include "Jana", "Sho Is Funky", "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing", "Groove Junction", and "All In Love Is Fair". ~ Dusty Groove, Inc.

Kudu Records, KU 19 S1, 1974

Recorded June, 1974 At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Personnel:

Hank Crawford - Alto Saxophone

Alan Rubin, Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker - Trumpet, Flugelhorn

Pepper Adams, Romeo Penque - Baritone Saxophone

Jerry Dodgion, Joe Farrell - Flute, Tenor Saxophone

Dave Taylor - Bass Trombone

Bob James, Richard Tee - Keyboards

Hugh McCracken - Electric Guitar

Gary King - Bass (#A1-A3,B1)

Ron Carter - Bass (#B2)

Bernard Purdie - Drums (#A1,A3)

Idris Muhammad - Drums (#A2,B1,B2)

Ralph MacDonald - Percussion

Strings:

Lewis Eley, Max Ellen, Alexander Cores, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green,
Matthew Raimondi, Charles Libove, Harry Lookofsky, David Nadien - Violin

Charles McCracken, George Ricci - Cello

Al Brown, Manny Vardi - Viola

Track Listing:

A1. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing {Stevie Wonder} (8:49)

A2. Jana {Hank Crawford} (5:08)

A3. All In Love Is Fair {Stevie Wonder} (4:46)

B1. Sho Is Funky {Hank Crawford, Bob James} (12:41)

B2. Groove Junction {Hank Crawford} (3:32)

Credits:

Producer - Creed Taylor

Arranger - Bob James

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Design - Bob Ciano

Illustration - Pierre Le-Tan

Richie Cole's Alto Madness (new Rips)

 Richie Cole – New York Afternoon
Muse 5119, 1976

A1 Dorothy's Den
A2 Waltz For A Rainy Be-Bop Evening
A3 Alto Madness
B1 New York Afternoon
B2 It's The Same Everywhere
B3 Stormy Weather (Trenton Style)
B4 You'll Always Be My Friend

Richie Cole alto sax, Eddie Jefferson vocals, Vic Juris guitar, Mickey Tucker piano, Rick Laird bass, Eddie Gladden drums, Ray Mantilla congas

 Richie Cole – Alto Madness
Muse  5155, 1978
Richie Cole : Alto saxophone, Eddie Jefferson : vocals, Eddie Gladden : drums, Harold Mabern : piano, Rick Laird : bass, Steve Gilmore : bass, Vic Juris : guitar, Ray Mantilla : percussion, Produced by Eddie Jefferson

A1 Cole's Nocturne 6:11
A2 The Price Is Right 7:13
A3 The Common Touch 2:23
Vocals – Eddie Jefferson
A4 Last Tango In Paris 4:40
B1 Island Breeze 5:20
B2 Big Bo's Paradise 5:29
B3 Remember Your Day Off 5:15
B4 Moody's Mood '78 2:59

Dave Burns - Warming Up! [Vinyl rip/FLAC]

When poppachubby posted this a couple years back, I had just purchased a new sealed copy which actually stayed that way until a few days ago. Obviously I've opened it and ripped a fresh copy. Sounds pretty damn good to me! Not only is the ripping rig much improved but I've learned some new tricks too!

Vanguard (VRS-9143)
1964

Dave Burns (tp);  Al Grey (tb);  Billy Mitchell (ts);  Herman Wright (bass fiddle);
Harold Mabern (p);  Bobby Hutcherson (vh);  Otis Finch (d);  *Willie Corea (tymboli)
* on Richie's Dilemma and Rigor Mortez only

1. Day By Day   2. Now Ain't It   3. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
4. Richie's Dilemma   5. Slippers   6. Warm Up   7. My Romance   8. Rigor Mortez

Charles McPherson - New Horizons (New LP rip/FLAC)

There have been major upgrades to my ripping system, this is a FAR superior rip to my previous attempts. The dynamic range, soundstage and realism are off the charts.

"If you're a hardcore be-bopper, this probably won't suit your fancy quite as well as Live In Tokyo, but if you're a child of that 70s period of Jazz, this is about as good as it gets. Tucker is in top form as a sideman (his strongest role, IMHO) and McBee is unconscious, as usual. This is a great period for McBee, and while maybe a step past prime for Freddie Waits, he's still burning and this is a very solid, straight ahead Jazz date during a period when the Rhodes and crossover were favored. McPherson is sort of the forgotten soldier -- no one seems to discuss him much and he's always been under recorded. There are no anthems here, and I won't use the word 'clinic' to describe this music because there is nothing clinical about it (a fault much of the 70s/80s Jazz seems to suffer from). This is honest, productive, interesting and enjoyable Jazz, the way it was intended to be." Lost Soul blogspot

  I couldn't see how I was going to do anything but parrot that review so thanks to Lost Soul.

Charles McPherson - New Horizons
Xanadu 149, 1977

1. Promise
2. I'll Never Stop Loving You
3. Night Eyes
4. Horizons
5. Samba D'Orfeo
6. Dee Blues

Charles McPherson - alto sax
Mickey Tucker - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Freddie Waits - drums

Recorded September 28, 1977

George Robert/Tom Harrell - Sun Dance (1987) [vinyl>flac]

The AMG review of this is very lukewarm and very wrong. This is a terrific album with great playing from both Robert and Harrell with a cooking rhythm section. Harrell is well known but Robert seems to be unheard of in comparison. I recommend a trip to: http://new.georgerobert.com/Biography.html

1. Solad
2. Moon Alley
3. Cancun
4. Sun Dance
5. Because I Love You
6. Viking's Theme

Tom Harrell (t,flh) George Robert (as,ss) Dado Moroni (p) Reggie Johnson (b) Bill Goodwin (d)
Lausanne, Switzerland, March 29 & 30, 1987
(Contemporary LP C 14037)

This has had a CD reissue although I couldn't find a copy. Once again this is from mint, sealed vinyl.

Ray Charles Presents David Newman - Fathead (1958) [vinyl>flac]

Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David "Fathead" Newman (also referred to as Ray Charles Sextet) is the debut release of jazz saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman. Teamed with Ray Charles, ‘Bennie’ aka Hank Crawford and others; this sextet really gets down and plays a number of great tunes, three of which are written by Hank and one by David himself “Fathead”; the rest fine standards, enjoy!

The talented David Newman, who alternates on this album between tenor and alto, made his debut as a leader at this session. Since he was in Ray Charles' band at the time, Newman was able to use Charles on piano along with Hank Crawford (here called "Bennie Crawford") on baritone, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, bassist Edgar Willis, and drummer Milt Turner. The music is essentially soulful bebop, with the highlights including "Hard Times," "Fathead," "Mean to Me," and "Tin Tin Deo." Everyone plays well and this was a fine start to David "Fathead" Newman's career. ~ Scott Yanow, AMG.

Atlantic Records, SD 1304, 1960

Recorded 5^th November, 1958 at Atlantic Recording Studios, New York City

Ray Charles Sextet:

David "Fathead" Newman - Alto Sax (#A1,A3,B3), Tenor Sax (#A2,A4,B1,B2,B4)

[Bennie] Hank Crawford - Baritone Saxophone

Marcus Belgrave - Trumpet

Ray Charles - Piano

Edgar Willis - Double Bass

Milton [Milt] Turner - Drums

Track Listing:

A1. Hard Times {Paul Mitchell} (4:41)

A2. Weird Beard {Bennie Crawford} (4:48)

A3. Willow Weep For Me {Ann Ronell} (4:57)

A4. Bill For Bennie {Bennie Crawford} (4:15)

B1. Sweet Eyes {Bennie Crawford} (3:44)

B2. Fathead {David "Fathead" Newman} (5:21)

B3. Mean To Me {Fred Ahlert, Roy Turk} (4:14)

B4. Tin Tin Deo {Gil Fuller, Chano Pozo} (5:19)

Credits:

Supervision - Nesuhi Ertegün, Jerry Wexler

Recording Engineer - Tom Dowd

Cover Photo - Lee Friedlander

Cover Design - Marvin Israel

Booker Ervin - Booker N' Brass (lp rip to flac)

I know that I've posted the cd version of this (which came from our old friend Ron The Jazzman) on a couple of previous occasions, but I came upon a vinyl copy a while back and couldn't resist. It was an original Pacific Jazz pressing and in the store it looked really clean.....It wasn't....my old eyes deceived me. Fortunately there have been some serious upgrades to both hardware and software on the KCC ripping rig. It took some work, I think it sounds better than the cd. It feels more dynamic to me. Vinyl ripping freaks please let me know what ya think.