John Coltrane Gets Hungry

I told you about the silly comic I saw yesterday so I thought I'd post it here for you to see. I don't know who the artist is, but kudos to them. Rare to see a jazz lyric used as a punchline.

Jazz or Food: a young man's dilemma

I loved this place.

I’m loathe to say it for fear of sounding crotchety, but people today have it good, not like when I was younger. Yikes. That’s sounds like an old man talking…but it’s true when it comes to jazz.

I’ve written before about my early days of discovering jazz thanks to my local public library and I continued to make full use of library jazz collections in various cities that I’ve lived. I spent days at the University of Ottawa importing the entire Bill Evans Complete Riverside Recordings. Sure, technically it was copyright infringement, but I didn’t have the cash for expensive sets like that. Not having the money to pay is hardly a justifiable excuse for theft, but let’s table the whole music piracy issue for another day.

The point I’m trying to make is that music was damned expensive, especially in a genre like jazz. When I was a student in Toronto there was still three or four jazz clubs that I frequented, of which only one (The Rex) remains. I favoured vodka on the rocks back then and spent a fair bit of time and money drinking and loving the live music.

I also LOVED the used CD shops where I would routinely drop $40-$50 a month. I couldn’t really afford it, but for jazz I was willing to live on rice pudding and grapefruit.

strange and cool and a bargain

You couldn't find everything used, so I spent hours pouring through the fantastic jazz collection at the now defunct Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street. The jazz section was up on the second floor. It was possible to get deals now and then.

I remember that sweet day I found Carla Bley's two-CD set 'Escalator Over the Hill' for $20. That gold box shone light some holy relic and I listened to that strange, interesting, avante-garde music and thought what an odd and wonderful world we live in that there were people out there in this world making music like this.

Verve put out Verve Jazz Masters recordings that cost less than $10 new and they helped me in my musical education. Blue Note, Verve and others had 4 CD best-of-the-label sets that were less than $30. Other than that, it was $20+ for a CD. They had so many CDs that I wanted and couldn’t afford that going there was a bit torturous.

I wonder how many times I stood there holding Yusef Lateef's Detroit: Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83°? I loved the song Russell and Elliot and wanted to hear the rest of the session. It cost $26 for 30 minutes of music. I couldn't justify it. I kept hoping it would turn up at one of the used CD stores I frequented (and I traveled from one end of the GTA to the other in search of Jazz).

too $$$ for me

Now though…sign up for Spotify or Apple Music and suddenly you get the entire store at your finger tips for a few bucks a month. I know I love it and can finally listen to Coltrane’s “Heavyweight Champion” set without dropping $100+ for it. You can listen to Russell and Elliot without having to decide if it was worth going without fruit and vegetables for the month.

There's a downside to this though. Man…I cherished those CDs I could barely afford. I was literally choosing them over complete nutrition so I damned well better enjoy them. Let the jazz drown out the hunger grooooooaaning from my belly.

Do we appreciate things if they come without a bit of struggle? I’m sure any psychiatrists in the room could expound on this theory. I suspect they’d echo that old cliché that nothing worth having comes without a price. Like many jazz musicians, I went hungry for the music.

I hope the new generation of jazz fans (whatever age they might be) will take full advantage of the musical splendor available to them.

I hope Beginning With Mingus offers some advice on where to start or continue your jazz journey. It never ends. I'm still growing and learning more about this greatest form of music. I know this site helped you, Harry, and I appreciated the note and bottle of Scotch saying thanks for the education. Thanks for taking this walk with me.

John Coltrane gives me a Bernsteinian moment

You’re a film nerd like me, so you know that famous scene in Citizen Kane where Mr. Bernstein (played by Everett Sloane) says this to Charles Foster Kane:

he'll never forget her

“A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl.”

This scene came to mind last night when I put on John Coltrane’s ‘My FavoriteThings’ (click to listen) at high volume, which I find essential for this tune.

It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to it. It came at me yesterday from the album “1963: New Directions” by John Coltrane. It’s a three-disc set that gathers his 1963 master recordings. It’s a fantastic album that includes his lovely recordings with Johnny Hartman which I have written about before.

The 1963 recordings also have some live cuts from the album “Newport ‘63”, which has a version of ‘My Favorite Things’ in all its bombastic glory.

Now why did I start this piece by talking about Citizen Kane?

I can still remember the first time I really heard Coltrane’s recording of ‘My Favorite Things.’ I was in university and doing some work in the library. I had headphones on and was listening to my Discman. (Remember those gadgets?) 

I wanted this sooo badly

It was one of the discs from the “The Last Giant” 2-CD set. What I really wanted was “The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings” but that was far too expensive for a student’s income. I had to settle for the 2-CD version, which was still pretty fantastic.

As I heard that soprano wail yesterday, and McCoy Tyner’s masterful playing, I was instantly transported back through the decades in a Bernsteinian flashback. 

Me and jazz...we've been together a long time.

ADDITION: Upon further reflection, as much as I like the term, this isn't a case of Bernsteinian flashback is it? No, it's more like a Proustian version, where my hearing a song is like Marcel eating a madeleine and is suddenly brought back in time... Oh well. Forgive me for this won't you?

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?

Fabulous Flamenco on a Winter's Morn

Miles & Bill - I wish they had recorded 100 albums together...

Friends, I know I've spoken a great deal about spending a lot of time listening to lesser known jazz musicians and while this is true, the track that accompanied me through my drive to work on this unseasonably mild January morning (what happened to northern winters?) was the absolutely lovely "Flamenco Sketches" from Miles Davis' seminal recording Kind of Blue. You know that I am in love with Bill Evans and to hear him playing with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Cannonball Adderley and Jimmy Cobb... well it doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Enjoy this classic, my friends.

Kind of Blue is the best-selling jazz album of all time for a very good reason, don't you think? After all, I named it an Essential Album That All Humans Should Own, so I imagine you've already bought it, listened to it constantly like I did upon first hearing it, then rushed out and bought as much Bill Evans as you could afford.

Regrets, Milt

I told you it would happen. I love 'Bag's Opus' but lately I have been listening to 'Bags and Trane', which is an incredible album Milt recorded with John Coltrane and an all-star line-up in 1959. Perhaps I should have named it the #7 album that all humans should own. Shall we call it #7.5?

two of the greatest

Have a listen to the title track and as soon as you hear the great Hank Jones play that opening riff you know you are in for something special. Milt and John have a great repoir. My man Paul Chambers plays some great bass as well and Kenny Clarke is great on drums, as he always is.

This really is a stellar disc and I can't recommend it highly enough. It was recorded the year before Coltrane released his seminal 'Giant Steps' and began to create one of the great bodies of work in modern jazz.

Trombone, pt 1

that amazing Blue Note design team...

If you think it is tough to love a baritone sax (as discussed a few posts back...), it may be even more difficult to love the trombone.  Again like the baritone, in the hands of the top few players in jazz it transcends the corniness that one might expect from the horn.


It's almost time to get the kids to bed so I don't have much time to write, but let me direct you towards Curtis Fuller, the fine trombonist who is perhaps most famous for playing on John Coltrane's brilliant 'Blue Train'.  Have a listen to the delightful toe-tapping Quantrale.  Be sure to admire Art Farmer's trumpet work as well as the great Louis Hayes laying down that beat.

So What!

On hold to talk to the government about this and that. 

What should be playing?

So What by Miles Davis.  Not a lousy Muzak version either, but the original recording!

Sure, the fidelity is terrible and I couldn't make out much of Miles' muted trumpet or Paul Chambers bass, but that song has a great mid-range. Bill Evans, Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley have my toes tapping.

Say what you will about the Canadian government, and believe me there's a lot I could say, (proroguing Parliament twice! slashing funding to the arts, to hell with the environment, etc etc etc) but I will give them their due: their on hold service has great taste in music!

Keep me on hold a little longer! I don't mind!

Albums That All Humans Should Own #5

When John Coltrane left Atlantic Records in 1961 to join upstart Impulse! it marked a major shift in the jazz community. How big was it? His signing helped the label exist at all and was certainly their biggest star.  A four CD box set commemorating the label’s best was recently released and it is aptly named 'The House That Trane Built'. There is no small number of jazz afficiandos who cherish those orange-spined albums. Perhaps they are the only jazz label whose album art rivals Blue Note...

Some of my favourite Coltrane albums were from this period (who doesn't adore 'A Love Supreme'?) and his quartet pushed the boundaries of jazz, creating what some haters referred to as anti-jazz.

In 1963 Impulse! went to the band and said they would like them to record an album with a vocalist and the band could pick whoever they wanted.

Johnny Hartman was their immediate and unanimous choice.

And what a choice!

He is my favourite jazz vocalist (I’ll take him over Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Louis Armstrong .... well, okay, this is starting to seem like a difficult decision to have to make. Let’s just say that he is my favourite but there are others who are very very close to him in my heart) and how often have I listened to his gorgeous baritone and wished I could sing like that...

Before I continue, my friends, I will end your suspense and announce:

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman' (1963) is my fifth pick of essential albums that all humans should own. 

Hartman put out two of his own Impulse! albums and I could easily have named them here.  'The Voice That Is!' not only shows the label’s love for exclamation points, but is a collection of some of the finest vocals ever recorded. How many times has my wife sung Joey,Joey, Joey to our babies during feedings? Listening to her struggle to hit those lush low notes is fabulous. The song’s lyrics is a great American short story.

But I didn’t pick that album (though you should go buy it too) since the addition of John Coltrane’s stellar band makes it that much more worthy of all human ownership.

I wonder if Coltrane's band sounds so good since they found it refreshing to play some gentle music after their time in the avant-garde...

It is impossible to pick a stand-out track since the album is a little gem.  I say little as this is the only negative I can think of: it is only 31 mins long. Still, 31 minutes of perfection is still worth possessing in this turbulent age, don’t you think?

I will stop here. I am listening to They Say It’s Wonderful (listen here) at this moment as I type in this coffee shop and ahh.... Coltrane’s solo just began. Perfection.

The Theme

Babies are asleep.
Malay Chicken in Coconut Milk is in the oven.

Paul Chambers is setting the mood with The Theme which he probably played every night when he was with the Miles Davis Quintet, (which had the stellar line-up rounded out by John Coltrane tenor, Red Garland piano and Philly Jo Jones drums).

[My wife didn't enjoy the track that was on previously: Charles Tolliver's attacking brilliance demonstrated on Impact. Hit it certainly does.  The electric bass has me playing this track several times a day in between the gentle tones of Walt Dickerson, of To My Queen fame. More on Charles Tolliver's in a later post, my friends.]

Just before dinner was prepared I read about Mr. Chambers in the new Monk biography, stating that when Monk first met Mr. Chambers through Coltrane:

Chambers was jazz's golden child... and Down Beat critics were about to anoint him 'New Star' on bass...

 I knew my faith in him was well placed.

Ahh, the basmati is ready.  Good night for now. Let's allow Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else to lead us to dinner.