Phil Woods, Tommy Flanagan, Red Mitchell - Three For All (1981) [vinyl]

RIP Phil Woods

Although this has been reissued on CD, it's now out of catalogue and this is from my pristine vinyl LP. It really is a beautiful album with marvellous contributions from all three players.

AMG review ~ Ken Dryden:
This is a bit of an unusual outing for Phil Woods, as Tommy Flanagan and Red Mitchell are his only musical partners for these 1981 sessions. The lack of drums enables the musicians to take a few extra liberties as they respond to one another. Woods is in top form, engaging his partners in a three-way conversation that seems effortless. His robust "Reet's Neet" benefits from Flanagan's fluid lines and Mitchell's potent bass, while Woods' touching ballad "Goodbye Mr. Evans," a tribute to the late pianist Bill Evans (who died a few months prior to these sessions), begins with a hauntingly beautiful piano solo, with Mitchell making a delayed entrance just prior to his solo and the composer waiting until just past the five-minute mark to add his emotional statement, which conveys his admiration for Evans' music. Flanagan's driving "Three for All" has a Latin undercurrent, with plenty of sparks flying among the players. Mitchell contributed three originals, including the loping ballad "It's Time to Emulate the Japanese," the lyrical "Talking," and the upbeat "You're Me," which features Woods on clarinet, though the CD credits fail to mention the instrument.

1. Reets Neet
2. It's Time to Emulate the Japanese
3. Talking
4. Three for All (aka Solacium)
5. You're Me
6. Goodbye Mr. Evans

Phil Woods (as, cl) Tommy Flanagan (p) Red Mitchell (b)
Munchen, West Germany, January 6 & 7, 1981

Wardell Gray - Easy Swing 1946-1955 [24/48 vinyl rip]

An excellent collection of lesser heard Wardell Gray sessions ranging from his first session as a leader in 1946 (with Dodo Marmarosa) to his final session in 1955 (with Tate Houston on a bass sax), only 4 months before he would be found dead in the Nevada desert with a broken neck. In between are a pair of nice sessions with Al Haig which supply the lion's share of sides 2 thru 4, and a pair of blues influenced sessions with Ivory Joe Hunter and Little Willie Littlefield. For someone looking to complete a Wardell Gray collection, this double LP is essential to fill in the holes in his discography.

I should add that this is a French version of the double LP and it has one extra track on side B making a total of 27 - the CD version only includes 19.

Ellis Marsalis Trio (w/ James Black) - Syndrome 24/48 rip

A fine piano trio album and one of the last from the great drummer James Black.

Lennie Tristano, Buddy DeFranco, Bill Harris - Crosscurrents 24/48 Vinyl Rip

"Even though the music on this LP has yet to be made available on CD, it gets the highest rating because the performances are so unique. Pianist Lennie Tristano is heard with his finest group, a sextet with altoist Lee Konitz, tenor-saxophonist Warne Marsh, guitarist Billy Bauer, bassist Arnold Fishkin, and either Harold Granowsky or Denzil Best on drums. Their seven selections include some truly remarkable unisons on "Wow," memorable interplay by the horns on "Sax of a Kind," and the earliest examples of free improvisation in jazz: "Intuition" and "Digression." In addition, the set features clarinetist Buddy DeFranco with vibraphonist Teddy Charles in a sextet on three numbers and backed by a big band for two others; the radical "A Bird in Igor's Yard" was composed and arranged by George Russell. This essential LP (which is subtitled Capitol Jazz Classics Vol. 14) concludes with a feature for trombonist Bill Harris on Neal Hefti's "Opus 96." Consistently brilliant and advanced music." AMG

Brothers And Other Mothers - Savoy 2LP - 24/48 Vinyl Rip

BROTHERS AND OTHER MOTHERS – (LINER NOTES) Part One® 1976 by Mark Gardner CODA Magazine

"Tides of musical influence are virtually impossible to monitor with complete accuracy. And in jazz, a young music still and one that has always been in a hurry, the problem is even more complex. Names and styles pass rapidly before our eyes and ears with disconcerting speed. This is not the scene for the leisurely, scholarly chronicler who likes ordered, out-and-dried developments, easy to trace.

So if an inquiring spirit poses the question, "Who was the first saxophonist to latch on to what Lester Young was into in the late 1930?" There is only one honest answer, "Who knows?" Influences are absorbed, often unconsciously, at other times deliberately (though perhaps not admitted), frequently quite casually. The process of widespread musical assimilation of new ideas in a constantly shifting artistic area like jazz is remarkably swift. One can notice significant changes, accepted and incorporated into the styles of numerous players, within months, even weeks.

There will always be the imitators, the mimics who can copy in meticulous detail the work of a true creator. But in jazz outright imitation is not as widespread as we may sometimes feel. Indeed, one of the fascinating aspects of the music is to view the innovations and to listen to the myriad ways they are expressed by various jazz practitioners who may not be originators but who do possess individualistic qualities.

There is nothing especially admirable about a musician who switches completely from one style to another which is coming into vogue. But an established player who shows he has been keeping his ears open for new things that he likes, and demonstrates the fact with a particular phrase, a tonal inflection, maybe just the choice of a certain tune, is informing us that he and the music are alive and growing.
The phenomenon of Lester Young's enveloping influence on young saxophone players between 1940 and 1950, and beyond has, perhaps, been over-simplified. The shadow of Pres was cast far beyond the generation of white tenor players who emerged from the wartime big bands, a refuge for many who were either too young or too clever to be drafted. The young, and not-so-young, black players were equally touched by Lester whose conception, let it be noted. penetrated deeply into all corners of jazz and was by no means an exclusive source for reedmen. Trumpeters, pianists. trombonists, singers and drummers all learned invaluable lessons from digging Young gliding out of the Basie section or riming those deceptively nonchalant gems behind Billie.

One can only generalize about how, why, when and where Pres seemed to permeate jazz and help to lead the music from swing into bebop in the most relaxed and logical way. Charlie Parker was on hand to crystallize and extend the direction, and meanwhile Pres went right along his own easy and supple path. His music changed, too, and young guys picked up on those shifts. But, unquestionably, Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Teddy Edwards. James Moody, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt were just as aware of/and affected by Pres as were their white contemporaries Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Allen Eager, Brew Moore and Herbie Steward. So too were older men like Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Buddy Tate and Georgie Auld.
Perhaps the key difference between, say Dexter and Getz, was that Gordon had also listened profitably to Hawkins, Webster and Byas, while Stan appeared to be a Pres man and a Dexter Gordon admirer! Ideas were exchanged more readily in those days and to unravel the cross-pollination of musical thought that went on between the guys involved would be impossible now.
But we can examine a goodly slice of recorded evidence, enjoyable clues and pointers and fine music to boot, within the covers of this key reissue. In this set can be heard a superstar in embryo (Stan Getz). a living legend (Allen Eager), two departed legends (Brew Moore, Serge Chaloff), Mr. Swing (Zoot Sims), and the complete musician, composer/arranger/soloist (Al Cohn), They all happened to be saxophonists who came to prominence immediately after the war. Four-Cohn, Getz, Sims and Chaloff-were Brothers in the famous Herman bebop hand. Moore (he never worked with Herman) was a brother by adoption while Eager had been a member of Woody's saxophone section in 1944...."
CONTINUED

Various Artists - Dixieland Main Stem New Orleans

Wait!!!  Don't scroll yet!!!

I know it says "Dixieland" and you are probably uninterested, but there's more than meets the eye here.  This is a recording of a live show at the Savoy Cafe in Boston, 1949.  The music is essentially mainstream, but more of a hot jazz/Chicago style, and the tunes are far from typical Dixie fare.  The Dixieland in the title would have been more for marketing than representation.

That said, this album is a really fun romp which maintains a jam feel throughout.  Side 2 plays like a medley, right up to Limehouse Blues which is infact a superb drum solo by Crawford.  Crawford's solo is a real banger too, something to behold.  Everybody gets a ton of shine, including Braff who is described as "new to the jazz scene" in the notes.  

The crooked cover is due to the application of the stickered sleeve, which was done at the factory.  Like most live recordings from this era (originally on 78), the sound quality is far from perfect.  However I think it's more than listenable.  I won't share anything which doesn't meet a certain standard.  The music is super fantastic and enjoyable as such.  This was ripped at 24/48 wav and transferred to 24/48 FLAC for your convenience.  I have it tagged under Edmond Hall.  As you probably assumed, it's in glorious mono... enjoy!!!

Regent MG 6076

"Savoy Cafe", Boston, MA, 1949

Ruby Braff (trumpet) Vic Dickenson (trombone) Ed Hall (clarinet) Kenny Kersey (piano) John Field (bass) Jimmy Crawford (drums)

Careless love
Please don't talk about me when I'm gone.
Bugle call rag.
Black and blue.
When a woman loves a man.
You made me love you.
My ideal.
Limehouse blues.

Dexter Gordon - Wee Dot (1965)

Recorded live in 1965, Wee Dot is one of saxophonist Dexter Gordon's many European dates, recorded in Stockholm, with a rhythm section comprised of the hottest cats on the Swede scene at the time. The program is standard swinging bop that opens with a particularly fiery rendition of "Take the 'A' Train." Gordon introduces each tune with his gracious, hipster vernacular and trademark dry elegance. There are only four tunes on the set, but they are all extended workouts. The closer, an updated, finger-popping redo of "Second Balcony Jump" (recorded by the saxophonist during his Blue Note years) is surely the finest moment of an already excellent set. by Thom Jurek, AMG.

SteepleChase Records, SCCD 36031, 2003

Recorded 10^th June, 1965 "Live" at Montmartre Jazzhus, Copenhagen, Denmark

Musicians:

Dexter Gordon - Tenor Saxophone

Atli Bjørn - Piano

Benny Nielsen - Bass

Finn Frederiksen - Drums

Track Listing:

1. Take The "A" Train {Billy Strayhorn} (9:24)

2. Introduction By Dexter Gordon (0:33)

3. My Melancholy Baby {Ernie Burnett, George Norton} (8:30)

4. Introduction By Dexter Gordon (0:32)

5. What's New? {Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke} (11:05)

6. Introduction By Dexter Gordon (0:34)

7. Wee Dot {Jay Jay Johnson} (14:33)

8. Introduction By Dexter Gordon (0:40)

9. Second Balcony Jump {Billy Eckstine, Gerald Valentine} (1:44)

Credits:

Recording - Danmarks Radio

Producer, Restoration - Nils Winther

Photography - Kirsten Malone

Liner Notes - Mark Gardner

Dexter Gordon Quintet - Ladybird (1965)

The latest offering from the seemingly bottomless Danmarks Radio Archive, this disc presents another air shot of Gordon’s lengthy mid-1960s Cafe Montmarte stint. Dex’s sizable cachet as an expatriate jazz icon prompted a nightly spooling of the tape machines. The resulting cache, so far doled out one set at a time, documents a particularly fertile time for the saxophonist. Shortly after arriving on European shores he teamed with pianist Kenny Drew and a topflight pair of locals in the persons of Pedersen and Riel, set up shop and enjoyed a more relaxed lifestyle than the scuffling of his earlier Big Apple years. This package is a bit different from the previous ones in that it presents trumpeter Donald Byrd, a fellow NYC emigre, sitting in with the working group.

The top-heavy program revolves around extended readings of two standards: the Tad Dameron-penned title track and a blue-chip modal number from the best-selling jazz album of all-time. After a brief ensemble stroll through theme Gordon essays a hungry, if slightly boilerplate solo that swallows up a healthy string of choruses. Byrd follows, cooler in cast and surfing across Riel’s frothy snare and cymbal-driven fills with a succession of slightly smeared runs. Pithy Drew and Pedersen statements follow. Riel lends steady hi-hat and sharp, textured brushwork to the latter’s deft pizzicato exposition and the two wear their advanced postbop pedigrees proudly. The piece winds up with a short spate of robust exchanges between Riel and the rest. These closing minutes are marred by a recurring and intrusive tape warble that ends up sounding oddly like a third remedial horn.

“So What” receives a comparably elongated reading with Pedersen paying homage to and capaciously expanding on Paul Chambers’ original epochal role. After the familiar bass invocation and riffing theme Gordon breaks away and spools out a sultry solo flanked briefly by just Pedersen and Riel at a brisk, but effervescent tempo. As on the previous cut, Drew delivers deft complementary chords that push the action without prodding it. Byrd’s improvisation unfolds in the leader’s wake, displaying a bit of the gelid clarity that was the composer’s calling card. Pedersen brings up the rear with another compact colloquium on killer contrabass technique. The horns wisely abstain from reentry and let it stand as the denouement.

Byrd sits out on a luxurious “Who Can I Turn To?”, but the band returns to full-size for the closer, another Miles Davis’ tune, “Blues By Five.” The trumpeter’s presence and the high degree of rapport shared by the rhythm section make this date one of note. Coupled with a tune choice that strays dexterously in more challenging directions than the band’s usual diet of bop standards it’s a welcome program that finds Gordon in a limber and exploratory mode. Foibles in fidelity aside, Dex aficionados will be sold on the disc’s face value. But casual listeners will probably also be pleasingly surprised by the caliber of this classic conclave. ~ Bagatellen.com

SteepleChase Records, SCCD 36035, 2005

Recorded 19th August, 1965 Live at "Jazzhus Montmartre", Copenhagen, Denmark

Personnel:

Dexter Gordon - Tenor Saxophone

Donald Byrd - Trumpet (#1,2,4)

Kenny Drew - Piano

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen- Bass

Alex Riel - Drums

Track Listing:

1. Ladybird {Tadd Dameron} (19:59)

2. So What? {Miles Davis} (18:00)

3. Who Can I Turn To [When Nobody Needs Me] {Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley} (5:25)

4. Blues By Five [Inc.] {Miles Davis} (4:12)

Credits:

Producer, Restoration - Nils Winther

Photography - Kirsten Malone

Blue Note 1959

1959 is an interesting year at Blue Note. Not a huge number of releases compared to 1957 or 1960, but quality stuff. With the passing of Sonny Clark, the 'house trio' duties are eventually taken up by Horace Parlan's trio the following year, but on these sessions the core changes constantly.

Blue Note 1959 by Kingcake on Mixcloud

Al Haig,Jamil Nasser - Interplay 1976 (aka Milestones) 24/48 vinyl rip

Okay folks...here we go with a genuine LP rip of this one!

Review by Ron Wynn

"Fine duets featuring pianist Al Haig during a busy period in the mid-'70s. He'd overcome personal problems and was cranking out albums left and right for both domestic and foreign labels. These were cut for Interplay, a small West Coast firm, but then were mostly issued in Japan. They are mostly excellent examples of Haig's surging bop style."

Not as good a copy as it appeared to be on visual inspection. Even after repeated cleaning you will hear the occasional noise that I didn't choose to pursue more aggressively for sound considerations. This was recorded in 32/9600 using IsotopeRX3, Cleaned using IsotopeRX3, Re-sampled and Dithered to 24/4800 using IsotopeRX3, smoothed, separated and exported to FLAC via Audacity and FLAC front-end.

Earl Hines Quintet - "Fatha" Blows Best

Hey gang.  This is a re-up from three years ago at the "old" Crypt.  Been spinning it recently and thought that perhaps some of you missed the original post.  You will notice that three out of four members of the JPJ Quartet appear on this album together.

Next up is the curiously titled "Fatha" Blows Best. Since we all know that Earl Hines was a pianist, I am not exactly sure what he blows...I will leave that up for you guys to figure out.

Title aside, this is another hard swingin winner. The group are all veterans of jazz, and it shows on the album. This quintet doesn't rush much of anything as they cook their way through ballads and mid tempo numbers.

Thinking Of You raises the fever, but only for a couple minutes. Infact most of the tunes don't exceed 3 minutes with the exception of Shine On Harvest Moon. On that tune, the group must have really been feelin it as it almost triples any other song on the album in length.

Hines mostly comps for his front line although he does throw in a pinch of hot pepper every now and again. Budd Johnson is excellent here, and fans will want to hear him tear through these numbers on both tenor and soprano. Infact his soprano work is excellent and it adds a nice dimension to the recording, expanding the realm of possibility and keeping things interesting. Buck Clayton was also having a fine day and compliments his partner well. Pemberton and Jackson mostly just keep things swingin for the group, which is fine by me.

This session could easily have appeared as a Swingville or Moodville side. The overall vibe gives me a visual of a hot southern day. This group had been together for some time, with the exception of Clayton, and clearly knew how to use their rapport to paint a picture.

This minty LP was ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC. A wonderfully swingin album...enjoy!!

Decca (DL75048) Mar. 8/11, 1968 NYC

Earl "Fatha" Hines - piano and vocal; Budd Johnson - soprano/tenor sax; Buck Clayton - trumpet; Bill Pemberton - bass; Oliver Jackson - drums