Kenny Drew - For Sure (1978) [vinyl]

Review by Scott Yanow

Kenny Drew recorded two Xanadu albums in two days during one of his very rare visits to the United States after he moved to Europe in 1961. This rare quintet outing (with altoist Charles McPherson, trumpeter Sam Noto, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Frank Butler) features Drew playing at the peak of his powers. The material (four originals by the pianist plus two obscurities) is strong, is sometimes quite boppish and contains plenty of variety. This out-of-print LP was underrated at the time and is worth searching for.

Or for the more perceptive, review by KingCake:

In 1978 Drew made a rare visit home and recorded two albums in two days, this quintet session and a trio session to follow. Kenny is in spectacular form and his band mates are both sympathetic and talented enough to make this sound like a session from a group with real history together. The front line of McPherson and Noto are one of those special but relatively unknown pairings from the 70's much like Ira Sullivan and Red Rodney and throughout these Xanadu dates it becomes clear that the tandem of Leroy Vinegar and Frank Butler belong in the highest echelon of bass, drum duo's. The tune 'Dark Beauty' is enough all by itself to make this whole session worthwhile, but the rest of it kills too. You may have a hard time getting this one off of your player.

For Sure
Mariette
Arrival
Blues Wail
Dark Beauty
Context

Sam Noto (t), Charles McPherson (as), Kenny Drew (p) Leroy Vinnegar (b), Frank Butler (d)
Los Angeles, CA, October 16, 1978

Sam Noto - Entrance!

For those of you who may not know, there is an amazing blog called Kubla's Crib (here).  It's part of our amazing network.  The sole purpose was to gather the entire Xanadu discography in FLAC format.  That goal was for the most part achieved - save a few albums which may remain in mp3.  However as time wore on, the links began to expire or disappear from failed server sites.

Entrance! was originally shared by legendary Crypt brother Alpax.  A couple years later it resurfaced in FLAC by none other than Kingcake himself.

So last week, during the same day, I was discussing Xanadu with my good friend Billy Batts, & also chatting about pianist Barry Harris with another friend, jgannon.  I decided that the time would be right for a re-rip of this great album.  And it truly is a great album.  The trumpet led quartet is not an easy gig for even the best of horn players.  Even with excellent support, the amount of creativity and physicality required is beyond the typical layman.  Not only does Noto deliver on those fronts, but also on the emotive aspect which is so important for making an album palpable.

Entrance! maintains a wonderful mood that has an upbeat feel.  Of course, the rhythm section lay it down and give Noto the creative juice needed to jump off each chorus.  I think something else worth mentioning is the incredible production.  The seperation always has a natural sound which keeps the band connected between channels.  It also serves to bring Noto into the forefront, accenting his glorious tone.  Between the music and the production, there's no doubt that Schlitten and his Xanadu imprint were at the forefront of the "tradition" during the 70's.

The cover for this album is well loved and as such has a lot of ring wear.  I used an image from the internet instead.  The back cover however, is from my sleeve.  It did it's job protecting the record, which is minty clean.  This album was ripped at 24/48 wav and transferred to 24/48 FLAC for your convenience.  Enjoy!!!

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Xanadu 103

Sam Most - Flute Flight (1976) [vinyl>flac]

Review by Chris Sheridan, Jazz Journal, October 1978:
Anyone who believes a flute-led quartet date is a cure for insomnia is certain to be caught napping by the ferocity of Most's attack on the opener. This most neglected of flautists leaps from the stop-time theme into a brisk solo of bristling clarity. And after Lou, Monty and Donald have had a say, Most wastes no time reminding us that the technique of humming along with a solo was pioneered by himself.
It Might As Well Be Spring is a pretty duet for Sam and Lou, while neither Flying Down To Rio nor Sagittarian Samba are ordinary bossas. Bailey's drums rustle trenchantly — indeed, the entire trio is rather more snappy than one might expect on a flute album.
This is a very good record, so, as Xanadu's gaffer is wont to say - enjoy!

01 The Humming Blues 5:31
02 It Might As Well Be Spring 6:35
03 Flying Down To Rio 7:44
04 Sagittarian Samba 6:16
05 Last Night When We Were Young 5:44
06 It Happened In Monterey 3:11
07 Am I Blue 5:55

Sam Most - flute; Lou Levy - piano; Monty Budwig - bass; Donald Bailey - drums
Recorded: December 28 1976
(Xanadu 141)

Sorry - link now in comments!

Roy Eldridge At Jerry Newman's (1940) [vinyl]

From the danair vinyl collection.

Side A
1. Sweet And Brown....................3:49
2. Body And Soul*......................3:42
3. Lemon House........................3:10
4. Jazz Rose*...........................3:48
5. Sweet Lorraine.......................3:34
6. I Can't Give You Anything But Love . .. 3:15

Side B
1. I Surrender Dear (Take 1)...............5:16
2. I Surrender Dear (Take 2)...............4:24
3. The Way You Look Tonight (Take 1).....3:39
4. The Way You Look Tonight (Take 2).....3:16
5. The Way You Look Tonight (Take 3).....2:56
6. Rags (Take 1)..........................3:37
7. Rags (Take 2)..........................3:37


Roy Eldridge, Trumpet; Willie Smith, Alto Sax; Herbie Fields, Tenor Sax; Tony D'amore, Piano; Buddy Weed, Piano*;
Mike Bryan, Guitar; Tony D'amore, Drums*; George T. Simon, Drums; Margie Harris, Vocal

(Recorded November 19,1940)

Coleman Hawkins - Thanks for the Memory (1944) [vinyl]

From the danair vinyl collection.

Review by Scott Yanow:
On this fine LP Hawkins is heard on four separate sessions from 1944, only one of which has since been reissued on CD. The latter is his encounter with fellow tenors Georgie Auld and Ben Webster; that date led to the little-known original recording of "Salt Peanuts." In addition he is heard with the Esquire All-Stars of 1944, on a date actually led by saxophonist Walter "Foots" Thomas" and in a matchup with trumpeter Charlie Shavers and Hawk's greatest disciple, Don Byas. Hot swing that looks forward toward the rapidly emerging bebop.

Leonard Feather's All Stars: Buck Clayton (tp) Edmond Hall (cl) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Leonard Feather (p) Remo Palmieri (g) Oscar Pettiford (b) Specs Powell (d)
New York, December 1, 1944

1. Esquire Jump 2:46
2. Thanks For The Memory 3:08
3. Esquire Stomp 2:54
4. Scram! 3:05

Charlie Shavers (tp) Ben Webster (cl-1,ts-2) Georgie Auld (as-3,ts-4) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Billy Rowland (p) Hy White (g) Israel Crosby (b) Specs Powell (d) unknown (vcl)
New York, May 17, 1944

5. Salt Peanuts 2:56
6. Porgy 3:02
7. Pick-Up Boys 3:01
8. Uptown Lullaby 3:20

Cozy Cole And His Orchestra: Charlie Shavers (tp) Hank D'Amico (cl) Walter "Foots" Thomas (as,ts) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Clyde Hart (p) Tiny Grimes (g) Slam Stewart (b) Cozy Cole (d)
New York, November 14, 1944

9. Look Here 2:43
10. A Ghost Of A Chance 3:01
11. Take It On Back 2:41
12. Willow Weep For Me 2:46

Cozy Cole And His Orchestra : Charlie Shavers (tp) Hank D'Amico (cl) Don Byas (ts) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Johnny Guanieri (p) Tiny Grimes (g) Slam Stewart (b) Cozy Cole (d)
New York, November 21, 1944

13. Comes the Don (Take 1) 2:28
14. Comes the Don (Take 2) 2:42
15. When Day is Done 2:51
16. Memories Of You 2:49
17. The Beat 2:32

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

Al Cohn/ Billy Mitchell - Xanadu In Africa (1980) [vinyl>flac,24bit]

A rip was available on the Xanadu blog but this is taken from my newly acquired near mint LP and includes full scans.

Review by Scott Yanow:
Despite the exotic location, this LP contains a typical Xanadu high-quality bebop date. The quintet (tenors Al Cohn and Billy Mitchell, pianist Dolo Coker, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Frank Butler) performs five standards (including long versions of "All or Nothing at All" and "Robbins Nest") in Senegal (this may very well be the first live recording of American jazz musicians in Africa) and the crowd is rightfully enthusiastic. Even if the music contains few surprises, this album is easily recommended to bop collectors although it may be difficult to find.

01 All or Nothing at All
02 Robbins Nest
03 I Surrender Dear
04 Blues in the Closet
05 Easy Living

Al Cohn, Billy Mitchell (ts) Dolo Coker (p) Leroy Vinnegar (b) Frank Butler (d)
Dakar, Senegal. March 14, 1980

Frank Butler - Wheelin' And Dealin' (1978) [vinyl]

I first heard this when wil posted an mp3 rip at kublascrib. I liked it so much that I couldn't resist a near mint vinyl copy that came my way! Never issued on CD.

Frank Butler's second and last recording as a leader followed his first by just under one year. He retains the same rhythm section as on The Stepper (Dolo Coker and Monty Budwig), while featuring two tenor saxophonists, Joe Farrell and Teddy Edwards, this time around. Missing are the longer drum solos of the earlier album; instead the focus is primarily on the two saxes. Edwards wrote the opening up-tempo blues "Wheelin' and Dealin'," which turns into an old-fashioned tenor battle, with both men coming out victorious. The ballad medley is split, with Farrell taking "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good") and Edwards playing "Tenderly," though the latter's solo gets the nod. Butler is showcased briefly in a snappy treatment of ‘Four" and more extensively in Coker's "Mr. October." Since this long out of print Xanadu LP is a bit more accessible than its predecessor, it will especially appeal to lovers of hard bop.

1. Wheelin' And Dealin' (Teddy Edwards)
2. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster)
3. Tenderly (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence)
4. Four (Eddie Vinson, Miles Davis)
5. Secret Love (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster)
6. My Cherie Amour (Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby, Sylvia Rose Moy)
7. Mr. October (Charles 'Dolo' Coker)

Teddy Edwards, Joe Farrell (ts), Dolo Coker (p), Monty Budwig (b), Frank Butler (d)
Los Angeles, CA. October 22, 1978

Charles McPherson - Beautiful!

Now here is one of those contributions I've been sitting on a while, an lp rip of a Xanadu date for McPherson with a very appropriate title which comes to us from Jazzpracticum Soest. Please direct your thanks to him.

Charles McPherson - Beautiful!

Xanadu 115, 1975

 Charles McPherson - alto
Duke Jordan - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Leroy Williams - drums

01 They Say It's Wonderful
02 But Beautiful
03 It Could Happen to You
04 Lover
05 This Can't Be Love
06 Body and Soul
07 It Had to be You

 From the opening notes of 'It Had to Be You' you can tell exactly why Clint Eastwood chose McPherson as the horn voice of Bird in his movie. This whole session is testimony that bop was alive and well and certainly in safe hands with this quartet. It is interesting that in the 40's and 50's, even into the early 60's the specter of comparison to Bird had many scurrying to other horns than the alto but by the 70's there was no longer a stigma to sounding like Parker. McPherson and Sonny Stitt both recorded unabashed Bird like albums, both in sound and song selections, repeatedly through the 70's and all are worth hearing. 

The rhythm section supporting Charles is sublime and Jordan's piano is nicely miked so that the sensitive touch and key pressure is well reproduced. Sam Jones bass is huge and full-throat-ed, right at the edge of too much but I kind of like the sound. Williams is always the epitome of classy timekeeping, punctuating with style but never overbearing. The leader is in lovely voice here as he is on all his material at Xanadu; I suspect that Charles remembers this time of his career fondly as it seemed all the experience of the Mingus band and the Prestige years had crystallized into a fully mature artist. One the highlights of any visit to the San Diego area ought to be catching a McPherson gig.

Mickey Tucker - Sojourn

When we made the move to our new home I tried an experiment in creating false history by backdating posts to before we actually came here. I thought it might provide some continuity....yeah, okay THAT didn't work out so well so I am saving these one by one by bringing them forward.

This comes once again from Wid and I'm putting it both here and at Kublah's Crib mostly because I don't think anyone will notice the upgraded links over there since they don't expect any new postings anymore. We had an mp3 link previously that is now replaced with a FLAC lp rip!

Mickey Tucker - Sojourn
Xanadu 143, 1977

1: Fast Train To Zurich
2: Norwegian Nights - Norwegian Days
3: Tunisian Festival
4: The Silent Mind of Fraulen Stein
5: French Fables
6: Dusseldorf Dance

Bill Hardman tp
Junior Cook ts
Ronnie Cuber bs
Mickey Tucker p
Cecil McBee b
Eddie Gladden d

RCA Studios, NYC, March 28, 1977
Engineer: Paul Goodman

Whoever said it is under-rehearsed never listened to that album. All tracks were composed and arranged by Tucker and are his impressions of a European tour with the Jazz Messengers - his quotes in Bob Blumenthal's notes are much fun to read, and the music is full of Tucker's own take on humour in music - if I had but one album to pick as Tucker's most impressive, I'd probably choose Sojourn! Great playing from all involved. Highly recommended!

"One of the greatest sessions – if not the best – cut as a leader by pianist Mickey Tucker, and a soaring set of spiritual tunes that best shows his talents as a player and arranger! The group's a sextet, with Junior Cook on tenor, Bill Hardman on trumpet, and Ronnie Cuber on baritone – and most tracks have a fast comping sound that's part Horace Silver Blue Note and part Strata East post-Coltrane grooving. Titles include "Dusseldorf Dance", "Fast Train To Zurich", "Tunisian Festival", and "The Silent Mind Of Fraulein Stein"." © 1996-2012, Dusty Groove America, Inc.