Posts tagged Jazz
Billie Holiday
Freddie Hubbard - Gypsy Blue
Todays song ‘Gypsy Blue’ can be found on Freddie’s debut (as a leader) album ‘Open Sesame’, recorded at Van Gelder’s studio on June 19th, 1960. The recordings were done in one (1) day, mind you. Which was common practice these days, but still…
The real star of ‘Gypsy Blue’ is Tina Brooks, who also wrote the song. Freddie Hubbard said about him: “…Ike Quebec introduced me to Tina at the 845 Club. Ike also introduced me to Alfred Lion. I loved Tina. He had a nice feeling. I got into him before I got into Hank (Mobley). He would write shit out on the spot and it would be beautiful. He wrote Gypsy Blue for me on the first record and I loved it. I just loved it. Tina made my first record date wonderful. He wrote and played beautifully. What a soulful, inspiring cat. I loved him…”
Alas, Brooks did not record after 1961. Plagued by heroin dependency and a gradually deteriorating health, he died of liver failure aged just 42, in 1974.
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
Tina Brooks - Tenor Saxophone
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Sam Jones - Bass
Clifford Jarvis - Drums
Horace Silver
John Coltrane
Chico Hamilton Quartet feat. Eric Dolphy - Theme For A Starlet
A sweet little song from Chico Hamilton’s obscure album ‘Truth’, recorded in 1959.
This album features an early incarnation of Chico Hamilton’s band featuring a then unknown Eric Dolphy. Utilizing cello and guitar in the front line along with Dolphy’s multiple instrumental talents lends an unusual air to the recorded material. Recorded just before Dolphy’s Prestige debut as a leader (‘Outward Bound’, 1960), one can hear his sound already fully formed. In addition to Gershman’s cello stylings, there is an ambience of familiarity for those who’ve admired Dolphy’s recordings with Ron Carter. Nowhere near as challenging as Dolphy’s later recordings, this Hamilton led date is still a joy to hear, and this short but sweet song is a welcome discovery and a boon to Dolphy collectors.
Dennis Budimir - Guitar
Nathan Gershman - Cello
Wyatt Ruther, Ralph Peña - Bass
Eric Dolphy - Reeds
Chico Hamilton - Drums
Thelonious Monk
Ella Fitzgerald
Brad Mehldau - Paranoid Android
After attending an intimate concert by the Brad Mehldau Trio at LantarenVenster last Tuesday (March 7th), I thought it was time for another post about this great, innovative pianist and composer.
They started the concert with a ‘Hey Joe’ cover: not my personal favorite, but a great way for the not-so-trained-jazz listener to discover what makes a well known piece ‘jazz’.
Brad Mehldau is known for turning popular tunes into jazz, as you can also hear in today’s song ‘Paranoid Andriod’ (Radiohead) from ‘Largo’: recorded in 2001 and the first record of Mehldau that departs from either the piano trio or solo format.
Mehldau says on his site: “I heard a lot of terrific singer-songwriters there for the first time – people like Rufus Wainright, Fiona Apple, Elliot Smith and Aimee Mann. I got re-introduced to how beautiful a good pop song can be through hearing them. Its depth is more about pairing something down, chiseling it into a strong, succinct statement – very different than jazz, which for me is often about going out on a limb and staying there.”
Brad Mehldau - Piano
Larry Grenadier - Bass
Matt Chamberlain - Drums
Victor Indrizzo - Percussion
Jon Brion - Guitar, Guitar Synth, Piano Percussion
‘Lost’, by Wayne Shorter
Things were happening big time for Shorter in early 1965, when ’The Soothsayer’ was recorded. After five years with drummer and band leader Art Blakey as musician, composer and, finally, musical director, the saxophonist had recently joined trumpeter Miles Davis’ second great quintet. With Davis, Shorter would record six studio albums over the next three years (the first, E.S.P., 1965, was recorded two months before ’The Soothsayer’) plus a further four under his own name.
’The Soothsayer’ was initially shelved to make way for the release of the more adventurous ‘The All Seeing Eye’, and when Shorter left Davis and joined Weather Report, this beautiful album, temporarily, was overtaken by events. It was finally released in 1979, which is hard to believe because it ranks with the best of his works from this incredibly fertile period.
His unique sense of melody in the modal style of the 60’s is very evident in today’s song ‘Lost’, featuring expressive solo interludes that glide over a gorgeous floating waltz.
Wayne Shorter - Tenor Saxophone
James Spaulding - Alto Saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - Trumpet
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Ron Carter - Bass
Tony Williams - Drums
Johnny Griffin
With all due respect, these recommendations will not be Christmas standards played in a ‘jazzy fashion’. These are some jazz records that require ‘less intense listening’, so you can put them on during a dinner with friends and/or family and still have that ‘jazz atmosphere’.
Unfortunately, I can only play a little jazz around the house, especially during aforementioned dinner parties. My wife doesn’t really like it, my mother and sister honestly hate it, and with the kids running around I can hardly hear it.
Hence my ‘family safe Christmas menu’
First, a drink:
Tony Bennet with Bill Evans - The Tony Bennet Bill Evans Album
Starters:
Astrud Gilberto - The Silver Collection
Main course:
Stan Getz with Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto
Helen Merrill - Dream Of You
Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
Desert:
Chet Baker - Live In Tokyo
Coffee with liquor:
Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours
After that, depending on the mood and the quantities of alcohol being served, you can either:
Bon appétit!
Dizzy Gillespie
‘Snafu’, by Yusef Lateef
‘Eastern Sounds’ isa landmark recording from the versatile Yusef Lateef, who is still performing 50 years later. Lateef, who is equally at home with sax, flute, oboe and a few other instruments, recorded this album at a time in his career when he was well-established in mainstream jazz but was ready to go in a new direction. His long-time fascination with the orient was the driving force behind the development of the album and although it was not his first try at ‘eastern’ sounds it was probably the best known. 
The result is a collection of tracks that retain the pure sounds and rich improvisations of modern jazz while influenced by Lateef’s belief in the mysticism of the orient.
Recorded on September 5th, 1961, Englewood, New Jersey.
Yusef Lateef: Tenor Saxophone
Barry Harris: Piano
Ernie Farrow: Bass
Lex Humphries: Drums
Wes Montgomery
