Albums That All Humans Should Own #8

The trombone gets a bad rap these days. I mean, everyone loves the sax and trumpet, but friends, let's be honest, how many of you could claim to love listening to the trombone? How many of you could name three trombone players? Or even two? I would hope that most of you could name J.J. Johnson, especially since I have played so much of his music for you over the years... but today I would like to present another trombone master, who followed in J.J.'s ellustrious footsteps: Curtis Fuller.

He played with some of the greats (surely you noticed his playing on John Coltrane's "Blue Train" album) and was part of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 60s and made several incredible albums with them.

I could list some of those albums as essential, but for today, I'm proud to announce that:

'Blues-ette' (1959) by Curtis Fuller is my eighth pick of essential albums that all humans should own.

How many times have I mentioned that the band often makes the record? Often, I know, but how about this line-up?

Benny Golson - tenor sax
Curtis Fuller - trombone
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Jimmy Garrison - bass
Al Harewood - drums



Great player, great writer.

A stellar line-up. There is a ton of great grooving music on this disc. Have a listen to the classic Five Spot After Dark and tell me that all of a sudden the trombone doesn't seem as staid as you previously thought... Besides, you know I'll listen to anything Benny Golson played, especially his recordings from the 50s and 60s.

If you have $30 to spare, and spending money on music is an investment in life-enrichment, I would recommend you head over to iTunes and pick up Curtis Fuller's "Complete Savoy Recordings" on which "Blues-ette" is featured. Killer music friends.

You're welcome. Happy listening and see you soon, okay?

J.J.'s Big Score

Yesterday's post about Oliver Nelson has me thinking about other jazz greats who got work scoring for film and TV. The list is a long one. 
Just to name a few off the of of my head: Miles Davis Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud, Gerry Mulligan The Subterraneans, and then there's Quincy Jones (did you know that he began life as a jazz trumpeter?) who scored numerous films. 
Oliver Nelson scoring the cheesefest that was The Six Million Dollar Man got me thinking about J.J. Johnson.


His stellar album "J.J. Inc" (1960) is playing right now as the babies struggle to fall asleep for their afternoon nap. It features a young Freddie Hubbard in one of his first sessions and is highly recommended.  


J.J. Johnson's career began back in the 1940s and he recorded some classic albums with a who's-who of the jazz world including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz just to name a few.  He brought the bebop sensibility to the trombone, which is a testament to his skill. Playing a lot of notes in a hurry is not as easy on that horn as it is on a trumpet or sax.  He influenced every trombone player after him and a lot of songwriters too as he wrote a number of jazz standards. 

I thought of his later days which played out in a similar vein as Oliver Nelson...


J.J. Johnson got involved in that fabulous film genre known as Blaxploitation and he scored films including Willie Dynamite and Cleopatra Jones (listen here!).  


Why Shelley Winters never got another Oscar nod for her role as 'Mommy' I'll never know.


If you like, you could look down on J.J. Johnson for working in this genre, but a man needs to make a living, right?


I know what I am talking about.  After all, I worked on many films that weren't a fraction as entertaining as Cleopatra Jones and I cashed my paycheques with a clean conscience. Why should a jazz legend be any different?