The Sermon has been found

The Sermon. It didn't move me to religious ecstasy.

not terribly inspired

It took some digging but I found the album deep in my collection and it’s been spinning this afternoon. The trio is top-notch: Hampton Hawes – piano, Leroy Vinnegar – bass and Stan Levey – drums. You’d think that trio would be killer and on another date they would have been. On this night however, it just doesn’t come together. There isn’t that magic that appears when a band and the material is right. 

Maybe that’s the problem: the material.

I get that Hampton was looking ahead to years in prison and that may have left him thinking of the beyond but the choice to do an all spirituals album didn’t work, at least not to my ears. The music isn’t bad, it just isn’t as great as you’d expect from these three.

So let me give a recommendation since I know I piqued your interest about Hampton Hawes these past few days. What album should you buy?

I’ll give you options.

1. I spoke about the ‘All Night Sessions’ album and that’s a classic.

2. If that’s not enough, you could pick up ‘The Trio: Complete Sessions with Red Mitchell and Chuck Thompson'. 35 tracks of goodness that you could pick up cheap.

3. If you want to hear him in different context with a horn player, which you don’t get to hear often with him, how about ‘For Real!’ Harold Land plays some fantastic sax on this album. It’s also one of the few recordings made with Scott LeFaro who would join Bill Evans in June 1961 for his seminal Live at the Village Vanguard recordings (and die tragically in July).

If you want a taste, have a listen to the title track. It starts with Scott LeFaro walking us in and then comes the band. It's a swinging 11 minutes that I know you'll enjoy.

Oscar Pettiford: Another Bass Master Revealed

Friends, even those of you who are casual visitors to this site know that I have a fondness for the bass. Not only is this site named in honour of Charles Mingus, but I written at length about my man Paul Chambers as well as Scott LeFaro's masterful performances with the Bill Evans Trio. Well, I have more proof that even two decades of enjoying jazz will continue to reveal wonders. In this case, the wonder is Oscar Pettiford.

Listening to his music, the finest of which was recorded in the early to mid 1950s, he sounds like a bridge between the 1940s and the modern postbop surge of the 50s. He was an amazing soloist, made all the more interesting since he often soloed on the cello, which was pretty rare in jazz. I know Chico Hamilton employed a cello in his fine group that featured a young Eric Dolphy, but other than in orchestral settings, I can't think of another group that employed cello. Those tracks with Oscar on cello are all the sweeter since it was often Charles Mingus who took over on bass, and it's hard to imagine two more talented people playing those eight strings.

He died too young, like so many jazz artists, yet left behind a wealth of wonderful music. I know you are interested in some advice on where to start, so let me recommend two albums that I have no doubt that you will enjoy. "Complete Jazz Series 1951-1954" and "Complete Jazz Series 1954-1955".

Just looking at the names that join him on those album covers must have you intrigued...

I dare any of you to listen to 'Marcel the Furrier' and not agree that his music is a must for your ever-expanding jazz collection.

I look forward to speaking with you about this exuberant music. Over a Bodum perhaps?

The Best Pianist You've Never Heard Of

The best pianist you've never heard of just may be Herbie Nichols.

play it, Herbie

(If you haven't heard of the great Lennie Tristano I might place him first, making Herbie the second best pianist you've never heard of...) Friends, surely you'll remember those jazz cliches I have spoken about several times and Herbie fits the 'never received the acclaim he deserved during his lifetime' (he also died too young, so fits two cliches).

Let's make sure he gets plenty of posthumous attention shall we?

As I was driving west on Water Street this afternoon I was happily listening to the wonderful 'Rif Primitif' which displays his divine sense of rhythm. Truly a masterful trio. How did the jazz public of the 1950s not realize the genius that was recording at Blue Note? Was it just that he was one of many and got lost in the shuffle? 

Blakey brings the thunder

It took me a long time to come around to appreciating the piano trio in general.

Perhaps I had never heard the best ones and associated it with lounge music and always found myself missing the fire of a horn-player. I liked piano players like Monk and Brubeck but never focused on them in the trio format. Bill Evans changed it for me, and then I discovered that the piano trio offers the jazz lover a wide variety of soundscapes. Bill Evans offers a gentle mood with the bass sharing centre stage (especially in his recordings with Scott LeFaro), the exquisitely talented Ahmad Jamal is a joy to listen to (are you getting tired of me talking about the masterful drumming of Vernel Fournier?) and his exploitation of the dynamic range is astonishing, and then there is Herbie Nichols who is completely different. There is a logic to his playing; effortless and beautiful runs that I know you will appreciate. He seemed to have an affinity with drummers the same way that Bill Evans had with bassists. It doesn't hurt that Art Blakey, one of the two or three greatest jazz drummers all time (and I know some of you are at the moment shocked that I wouldn't immediately place him at #1 but you know that there are so many incredible jazz musicians and how accurately can one rank them?) played with him a freat deal.

Do yourself a favour and have a listen.

My Man Paul Chambers and the great bassists of his time

Mr. Chambers takes a rest

Friends, it's been too long since we've talked about Paul Chambers.  It is not a contentious statement to say that he is one of the top two or three bassists of all time.

That being said, when you are talking about that elite calibre of musician, it is difficult to rank them based on skill but purely on personnel preference.  Off the top of my head I'd have to say Charles Mingus is the only player that was his equal in terms of proficiency (or was it just that he was a better composer?).  Well... in terms of skilled players you know how much I love Scott LeFaro with the Bill Evan's Trio, but can a few months recording, even though they were stellar recordings, put him into that elite category?  And what about Ray Brown? Ron Carter?  Percy Heath?  Charlie Haden? maybe even Steve Swallow?  Ah now you see why I stay away from ranking musicians.

Have a listen to the Paul Chambers Sextet's 'Whims of Chambers'  (from the album Whims of Chambers, Blue Note, 1956).

Fabulous!

Post-birthday party

everyone digs Bill Evans

Whew.  It's over.

Everyone's gone home and babies are in bed after a busy and wonderful day.  Not sure what is in store this evening but I think it would be a good night to chill out with some fabulous Bill Evan's Live at the Village Vanguard.  Perhaps the wonderful song 'Gloria's Step'.  Isn't that a great song?  Don't you love Scott LeFaro's bass?  I could get mournful here and talk about his tragic end shortly after this recording, but as I have said many times, we dwell on the positive here.  Let's focus on his masterful technique and not talk about the tragic car accident.

 I know I have talked about this Bill Evans album before, my friends, and with good reason.

It's one of the greatest.

Albums That All Humans Should Own #1 & 2

Here we go, my friends. I am going to begin giving some essential albums picks so you too can enjoy the wonderful world of jazz.

On a weekend in 1961 The Bill Evans Trio played the Village Vanguard in New York City. The group had been together for a few years but this was the first time that they had been recorded with top-notch equipment.  The three men (including Scott LeFaro, bass, and Paul Motian, drums) had a interesting take on what a piano trio should be: they didn't want it to be a piano trio at all. The bass and drummer were not there simply to support the piano; all three musicians were equal.  Sure, the group had Bill Evans' name, but he was a star after his role in Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'. The three men play together beautifully.  It is the sort of music that you can keep in constant rotation over the course of the day and create a gorgeous soundtrack.

My wife did this when she was pregnant and at home. Perhaps that's why our babies are so happy and mellow.

The trick is what specific album to buy... The weekend's performance (5 sets worth) was released on a few different albums.  You can get the entire performance on a three disc set 'The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961'. I think most people don't need that set (do you need 3 takes of All of You and two takes of Alice in Wonderland, Detour Ahead, Gloria's Step, Jade Visions, My Romance and Waltz For Debby? If you do, I understand completely) but why not save a few dollars and pick up the albums 'Sunday at the Village Vanguard' and 'Waltz For Debby'.

If you are trying to decide which one to get first, may I suggest you choose 'Waltz For Debby' since it has the stunningly gorgeous Some Other Time. Just listen to that incredible song! Does it have you rushing out to buy it right now? I thought so. I would love to know what Paul Chamber's thought of LeFaro's work.

'Waltz For Debby' (1961) and 'Sunday at the Village Vanguard' (1961) are my first and second picks of essential albums that all humans should own.

A sad note: these recording are all the more special because Scott LeFaro died in a car accident a couple of weeks after they were recorded.

He is woefully under-recorded and few aficionados doubt that he would have become a major force in jazz. His playing is unique. He spends much of his time high up on the neck of his bass creating captivating melodies and rhythms that help make this Trio so unique in jazz. Some say that Bill Evans never got over the loss, and even suggest that though he recorded voluminously  until his death in 1980, he never again achieved the transcendent quality on display on that day. I have listened to a lot of Bill Evans and have never heard an album that has me arguing against that statement.

Waltz for who? Zweetie??

 I was all set to write about Waltz for Debby as recorded by The Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard.   As lovely a song as has ever been recorded. I have mentioned Bill Evans a couple of times already and have certainly focused a lot on bassists, so the Trio’s masterful Scott LeFaro would have given me no shortage of material.  He was massively influential, played in a very unique manner, and died a couple weeks after this seminal performance was recorded. 

I was thinking about perhaps comparing the versions (I have three on my iPod) and I could have even talked a bit about the vocal version recorded by Johnny Hartman, about a father singing about his little girl growing up and how her toys, including her ‘silly old bear’ will miss her once she grows older, as will he - a song which has all the more impact now that I have a little girl of my own.

Well, as I sat down and spun the wheel to get to Waltz For Debbie I went a little too far and ended up on Waltz For Zweetie instead and decided to stay.

Zweetie? Sure.  Sounds like an interesting woman, doesn’t she?  You must admit, the name Debbie sounds a bit dull but the same could not be same for Zweetie!

The song is by tenor sax man Joe Henderson and on the 'Tetragon' album recorded in 1967-68.  It’s a solid piece of music which is what us fans of Joe have come to expect.

The piano intro is reminiscent of McCoy Tyner (who worked with John Coltrane on his later period - who can forget those power chords on My Favorite Things?) but it is Kenny Barron doing his best impression.  There is an echo of Waltz For Debbie in that opening as well.  I need to mention the bass of course, in this case it’s Ron Carter, another master of four strings (I have already introduced you to some great bassists, haven’t I? With more to come, my friends!) who is bouncing around in my right ear at this moment along with the drums of Louis Hayes.  On the left is Kenny Barron and Joe blows his smooth tenor dead centre.  Gorgeous tone.  Gorgeous tune.  Well worth a listen, my friends! I haven’t sat and listened to this one, really listened to it with my full attention, since the title track is such a winner that it pulls me towards it.

I am sure this will not be the last time we take a look at Joe Henderson and I hope you will not mind this trip into a somewhat obscure jazz track instead of looking at an all time classic.  There are many riches to be found if you stray.  Isn’t there some poem about the road less traveled something something something?  We will likely look at jazz and poetry at some point (Mingus’ The Clown comes to mind...), but not now.

Who was Zweetie?

What would a woman named Zweetie look like?

Great hair I bet.  Gorgeous too.  And cool sunglasses. And attitude to spare. A real firecracker!