You Gotta Love Hank Mobley

I think you made a good point last night, Larry, when you said that if John Coltrane had never existed, Hank Mobley would take his place among the pantheon. No more 'middleweight' champion BS. Yeah, they really called him that while calling Coltrane the heavyweight champion. That must hurt when your nickname digs at you.

Hank Mobley is one of the greats

Yes, I love Hank Mobley too, as anyone who has been following this blog will know. Last night Larry and I were drinking a beer and listening to Another Workout (Blue Note, 1961) that has a stellar band, as all of Mobley's Blue Note albums did.

Hank Mobley - tenor saxophone

Wynton Kelly - piano

Paul Chambers - bass

Philly Joe Jones - drums

You'd be hard pressed to find a better trio to back you up, so no surprise that Mobley shines on this date. We were particularly taken by the ballad "Hello, Young Lovers" which I encourage you to listen to.

Larry also talked about the new Andrew Bird album being out and that he's loving it, but as great as Andrew Bird is, he's not jazz, so we won't discuss him in detail here. Sorry Andrew.

Thinking About Flutes

After talking to you about Nathan Davis the other night, I've been thinking about other flautists that I listen to.

(Odd word isn't it? Flautist? Why add the A? Wouldn't flutist be just fine? English is strange.)

There's two tracks that immediately came to mind and I bet you haven't heard them.

you gotta love the cigarette holder...

The first is by A.K. Salim, whose name isn't talked about within our jazz circle, but he put out some fantastic music in the 50s and 60s. Duo-Flautist is a great track that has, you guessed it, two flute players, Herbie Mann and Frank Wess. One of the things I find interesting about Salim's records is that he doesn't play on them. What? How does that work? He's the arranger, composer and director of the records. Whatever works I guess. I suppose that's why he looks so scholarly on the cover of "Flute Suite". Duo-Flautist is great and if you've already started listening to it, you'll see I'm right. I recommend checking out any of his recordings. His "The Modern Sounds of A.K. Salim" combines his albums "Flute Suite" and "Blues Suite" and I know you'll like it.

The other track is by the great Wynton Kelly. I know you know the name since I've talked about him a lot and written about him too. His recording of Bobo is the other flute track that popped into my mind. It's a happy little thing isn't it? It's the first track on The Wynton Kelly Trio's "Undiluted"

I must also mention that one of my all-time jazz faves, the Great Paul Chambers, Kelly's longtime partner, is on bass. Jimmy Cobb is solid as ever on drums and then there's the flute, who appears only on one track on the album. It's  Rudy Stevenson.

Who? I hear you. Who indeed. He's not exactly a jazz luminary but he still played with a who's who over the years including Nina Simone, Grant Green, Cedar Walton, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan, Herbie Mann and Junior Mance. He also named his son Wynton Kelly Stevenson, so I guess he loved his brief time with the Trio.

Tonight I'll spin something else and I'll give you a call to talk about it.

Tell Joe I said hello.

Johnny Smith on Guitar

The Intense Mr. Smith

My three year old daughter has had trouble sleeping lately so last night I told her I would put some music playing in her room. I decided on 'The Best of Wynton Kelly' (which is available cheap on iTunes and holds boundless riches).

'I don't like this jazz, daddy,' she tells me. What?? I love Wynton Kelly but perhaps he's not for everyone. I would have tried to convince her of Wynton's many merits, but debating the finer points of jazz with a child is a fruitless task.

Instead I put on one of the great jazz albums of all time: 'Walk, Don't Run' (1954) by Johnny Smith.

Mr. Smith has one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in jazz. If you are a fan of his music (which all of you should be) it only takes a few bars of his superlative playing for you to know to whom that clean smooth tone belongs.

The title track became a hit for The Ventures and it was one of the first songs to usher in the surfer sound in the 60s. It makes one wonder if there would have been a Beach Boys without Johnny Smith...

My daughter loved this gorgeous album and I'm sure you will too. All of his albums are worth seeking out. Enjoy, 'Walk, Don't Run' my friends; a perfect song to fall asleep to, or to drive to work to, or to do just about anything to. It's hard to not love Johnny Smith.