Albums That All Humans Should Own #10

Jim and Sonny

I’ve been thinking about Sonny Rollins lately and wanted to put out there again that despite saying I can’t bear to hear “St. Thomas,” I’m a big fan. 

It got me thinking about his music and what album of his I would pick as my all-time favourite. Yes, you know how I like lists and rankings when it comes to jazz.

My first thought was The Bridge (RCA Victor, 1962), which is one of his most famous albums and has all sorts of mythology around it. 

The story goes that Sonny was tired of the music biz and was feeling like his playing wasn’t developing like he wanted it to, so he walked away from recording and performing. 

Instead, he’d take his sax out to the Brooklyn Bridge and play for the pigeons, trash barges and passing cars. After a certain amount of time, Sonny felt ready and he returned to the studio and recorded one of the great jazz albums, The Bridge.

Now as much as I love The Bridge, this isn’t my recommendation of Albums That All Humans Should Own. It might come later, but I’m going a different direction today.

The reason The Bridge came to mind last night as a potential Favourite Sonny Rollins Album is due to Jim Hall’s appearance on that album.

I've written before about how much I love Jim’s playing. He’s one of the top few jazz guitarists of all time. I love his playing on The Bridge. He is unobtrusive and gives Sonny a perfect place to lay down his tenor sound. Jim played with just about everyone during his long career. If some evil genie said that you could only listen to albums that had Jim Hall on them, your jazz collection would still be fantastic.

If I were to list all of the Giants he played with, this post would be far too long, so here's a brief highlight of some of my favourite Jim collaborations: Bob Brookmeyer, Paul Desmond, Art Farmer, Jimmy Giuffre, Chico Hamilton and Hampton Hawes. 

So enough beating around the bush. 

ok, not the greatest cover, but the music is tops

Jim Hall Live! (Horizon, 1975) is my tenth pick of Albums That All Humans Should Own.

It’s a gorgeous record that shows the master at the apex of his powers. Maybe I also like the fact that it was recorded at a Toronto jazz club. By the time I moved to Toronto, the Bourbon Street club was closed, but there were still a few great places open back then.

I’ve said it many times: a trio sinks or swims on the strength of the group. The greatest trios have three players working together, it’s not just the leader’s show. Jim Hall’s trio on this date is fantastic.

Jim Hall-guitar

Don Thompson-bass

Terry Clarke-drums

Don Thompson on bass

It’s no secret I’m a fan of the bass, and even have a couple of them in my basement (or bassment? No, that’s a terrible pun, ignore that). Don Thompson is one of the best, though he won’t make many best-of lists. That’s okay. He doesn’t need a list. He’s got the talent. He sounds great backing Jim, but Don really shines when it’s time for his to take the spotlight. His solos are beautiful and perfectly suited for Jim’s sound. Don has a long list of credits and it’s no surprise that he was a sought after bassist.

He’s Canadian too, which is nice. Canada has a decent number of Jazz Greats, but we’ll save that topic for another time. Perhaps tonight over a stout?

Have a listen to 'Angel Eyes' and see for yourself why I love this album so much.

The New Voyage of Discovery - The Clarinet

It was a great meeting last night. It’s always a pleasure to talk about educating the next generation of musicians, even if these are classical string musicians for the most part. I suppose getting the education first is important and hopefully some of them will realize that jazz is the truest path.

As I drove home along Hazelwood I was listening to a great album led by a man on a clarinet. The clarinet gets a bad rap and I haven’t written about it often here. If you were to ask ten jazz buffs their list of the Top Ten Jazz Musicians Of All Time (and you know we love making those kinds of lists), how many clarinetists would there be? Not many.

The exception would be those people who favour the old-time stuff. Woody Herman or Artie Shaw might make it. I like Woody best when he sings songs for hip lovers. The last clarinetist that was cool and hugely famous was probably Artie Shaw. He was a big star and was married to Lana Turner and Ava Gardner, though not at the same time. 

Not bad for a clarinetist

Last night it was neither Artie Shaw nor Woody Herman that was spinning, but Buddy DeFranco playing with the Oscar Peterson Quartet. This is a killer band, which doesn’t hurt, but Buddy holds his own with that legendary quartet.

Clarinet – Buddy De Franco

Piano – Oscar Peterson

Guitar – Herb Ellis

Bass – Ray Brown

Drums – Louis Bellson

The track that hit me as I drove those country roads was ‘PickYourself Up’. Yeah, I can hear you say that the title is appropriate given my current gloomy perspective. Buddy shows how it’s done on this track. Just trace his solo around the 5:50 mark and hear him piling phrase on phrase and Oscar and the band humming beneath him and you know you’re onto something special.

Maybe the clarinet should be our voyage of discovery for this new year. What do you say? Jimmy Giuffre anyone?

Elmo and The Fox

love the cover design

Birthdays may be increasingly difficult to endure as one grows older - you know I speak the truth - but it does afford one the opportunity to ask for new jazz as a gift. Helping to lessen the blow from Time was Harold Land's The Fox (1959).

I have been somewhat familiar with Harold Land, mostly from the quartet he shared with Carmell Jones, but I'm not sure I truly heard him until this album. What drew me to this disc was the piano player: the great Elmo Jones (who fit that jazz stereotype of not receiving the acclaim he deserved during his lifetime) who was a marvellously inventive pianist who had great melodic skills who isn't afraid of dissonance when the mood should strike him (a touch of Thelonius in his playing...) and while I adore his trio recordings, I was eagerly anticipating listening to him playing in a quintet setting.



plaintive Elmo

Have a listen to the title track and you'll instantly understand why a fan of Elmo Hope would be drawn to The Fox. The rest of the band is delightful and wasn't that a great discovery on a birthday? There is always new jazz to discover and doesn't that make the world a better place? The band may not have names that you are familiar with, but they are worth a listen:

Harold Land: saxophone

Dupree Bolton: trumpet

Elmo Hope: piano

Herbie Lewis: bass

Frank Butler: drums

Dupree Bolton plays with fire. It is a shame that he had such drug problems as it would have been nice to hear more recordings from him. How many great jazz albums were never recorded due to musicians being locked away in prison or sanitariums due to drugs?




the great and obscure Dupree Bolton

Most of the players often worked with Curtis Counce, (who was a bass master that we haven't spoken of before, but we should! After all, one of his album titles is a classic: "You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce" which also features Jack Sheldon, another all time favourite, on trumpet) who was part of that great West Coast scene of the late 1950s along with Gerry Mulligan, Shorty Rogers, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Giuffre and Bob Brookmeyer.

I highly recommend this album for those of you who like exciting uptempo jazz played by a top notch band. Enjoy!

Tyranny of the Drums

Jimmy's feeling it

I know my friends who are drummers aren't going to be fond of this post, (sorry G-Man, Achtung Baby and Dr. Rockmore...) but Jimmy Giuffre made a fascinating point:

Jimmy Giuffre complained about the 'tyranny of the drums' in jazz, and that the only non-tyrannical drummer was no drummer at all.

- from the liner notes to 'Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre'

Now I am a fan of drums in jazz, but I can see Jimmy's point. He wanted the freedom that came without having that person whacking away behind him. As much as I love Art Blakey I don't think he would have added much to the beautiful trio Jimmy formed with Jim Hall. Once they added Bob Brookmeyer to the mix they had one of my favourite groups ever (yes, you keen readers will notice that I use the phrase 'favourite group ever' an awful lot... but cut me some slack... there are so many groups to love in jazz, surely you are learning this by now, aren't you?).

jazz in a peaceful setting

While he may have not liked playing with drummers, I would point out that one of my favourite Jimmy recordings is the album he made with the Modern Jazz Quartet (another of my favourite groups ever...) "The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn." Perhaps he could work with Connie Kay's drumwork, since he did have a style all his own; one that fit perfectly with the rest of the band. He didn't the need to dominate the group. One of the things I love about the MJQ, and this recording in particular, is how well they play together and how well they compliment one another. Jimmy fits perfectly into this ensemble and it's a shame the five didn't record together more often. If you get a chance, listen to 'Fugue' or 'Fun' from this album.

Have a listen to the group play 'Serenade' from that concert, which must have been a treat for those in attendance.

[Feel free to ignore the video of the guy playing bass in this YouTube clip... focus on the fine music]

Bob Brookmeyer is no more

Clark Terry & the great Bob Brookmeyer

Sadly, Bob Brookmeyer has died.  In his honour, let's listen to three great songs from three of the top trombone players of all time.

First, let's listen to Bob playing with the great trio he was in with Jimmy Giuffre and Jim Hall. I love this track.

Secondly, Bennie Green, who I have been listening to a lot lately, playing 'A Bun Dance'. I am a fan of Jimmy Forrest, who plays some fine tenor on this one.

And lastely, who can forget the wonderful Curtis Fuller, seen here in all his glory with The Jazz Messengers, one of the top jazz bands of all time.

It's Easy To Forget Jimmy Giuffre

How many times have we sat around and discussed the greats? Too often to count. Let's face it though, we talk for an awfully long time before anyone mentions Jimmy Giuffre.

Jimmy showed us clarinets can be cool

Surprising isn't it? Perhaps he was always overshadowed by other players, but he was pushing boundaries and expanding the limits of jazz and everyone that followed him benefited from his explorations. I could go on about his history, about how he was part of the whole 'cool jazz' thing and played with Mulligan and was a great arranger and that he is my favourite clarinetist of all time, (who, as you can see from the clip, can also play a fine baritone and tenor and could probably swing on every instrument ever made if he set his mind to it) but instead I'll just direct you to this great song, 'The Train and the River' with his stellar trio featuring the wonderful Jim Hall on guitar. They two were certainly like minded and recorded a lot of wonderful, highly-recommended music together.
Don't you love the recording Giuffre made with the Modern Jazz Quartet at The Music Inn? That's another essential recording isn't it? Oh yes, and the album Sonny Stitt recorded with him is also wonderful. Jimmy, I could go on and on. Let's talk about him more often, okay?

What's Spinning Today

Hank Mobley's 'Curtain Call'. If you have been reading along, my friends, than you know that I have a fondness for Hank Mobley. His tone is so rich and those Blue Note albums sound so good. Hard to believe the recording quality that they were getting back in 1960 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Blue Note head Alfred Lion had such high standards that he didn't release this album and it wasn't available until the mid-1980s! Perhaps my ears aren't as well-tuned as Mr. Lion's, but this album is a welcome addition to my Mobley collection.  Kenny Dorham is on trumpet and the two had played together a great deal and their familiarity and interplay helps make this album.

Perhaps if you are going to build your own Mobley collection you should defer to Mr. Lion (who knows what he is talking about since I have mentioned more than once that Blue Note is the greatest) and start with a different Mobley.  I would recommend 'Soul Station' or 'No Room For Squares' (one of my favourite titles ever, and one of my favourite album covers. I love Blue Note!).

It is a mellow evening here on the 20th floor. Babies are sleeping and The Jimmy Giuffre 3's delightful 'The Easy Way' is lulling me to a state of complete contentment.