Earlier I posted the inner liner from Bobby Hutcherson’s 1978 LP “Highway One” (Columbia), which includes five lead sheets from the material on the record. An inadvertent nudge by @natechinen led me to pull a lot more examples of the genre.
2. Most of these are from a handful of labels that did this a lot — Enja, Artists House, Horizon (A&M), but other labels sometimes got in on the action. I’m not posting the transcribed solos that were sometimes included, because, well, this has already taken up WAY too much time.
3. Let’s start with a reposting of the Bobby Hutcherson and George Cables songs included with “Highway One.” Columbia, 1978.
4. Horace Parlan’s “Lament for Booker” from Booker Ervin’s album of the same name, issued in 1977. Enja.
5. Dave Liebman’s “Picadilly Lilly” and Richie Beirach’s “Pendulum,” from Lieb’s “Pendulum.” Artists House, 1978.
6. Sonny Fortune’s “For Duke and Cannon, “ from Fortune’s “Awakening.” Horizon, 1975.
8. Jim Hall’s “Walk Soft” and “Lament for a Fallen Matador,” from Hall’s “Commitment.” Horizon, 1976.
9. Tommy Flanagan’s “Eclypso,” from Flanagan’s LP of the same name. Enja/Inner City, 1977.
10. Roland Hanna’s “A Child is Born” and Thad Jones’ “Sho’ Nuff Did,” from Mel Lewis and Friends.” Horizon. 1976.
11. Footnote 1. See the chapter on Roland Hanna in my book “Jazz from Detroit” for discussion about the authorship of “A Child Is Born” which Hanna actually wrote, not Thad Jones.
Footnote 2. You’ll see that a Michael Brecker transcription snuck in there. Consider it a bonus.
12. Dave Liebman and Badal Roy’s “Sweet Hand Roy,” from Lieb’s “Sweet Hands.” Horizon, 1975.
13. Charlie Haden’s “O.C.” and “Ellen David,” from Haden’s “Closeness.” Horizon, 1976.
14. Charlie Haden’s “The Golden Number,” “Shepp’s Way,” and “Out of Focus,” from Haden’s “ The Golden Number.” Horizon, 1976
15. Benny Wallace’s “Back Door Beauty,” from Wallace’s “The Free Will.” Enja, 1980.
16. Excerpt from the full score of Thad Jones’ “Forever Lasting,” from Jones/Mel Lewis’ “New Life.” Horizon, 1975-76.
17. “Julian,” by Pepper Adams, from Pepper’s LP of the same name. Enja/Inner City, 1975.
18. Andrew Hill’s “From California with Love” and Reverend Du Bop,” from Hill’s “From California with Love.” Artists House, 1978.
19. “Shadow Waltz” by Hal Galper, from “Now Hear This.” Enja, 1977.
20. “Layla-Joy” by Billy Hart and “Corner Culture” by Dewey Redman, from Hart’s “Enchance.” Horizon, 1977.
21. “What Does it Matter?” by George Mraz, from “Surge” by the New York Jazz Quartet. Enja/Inner City, 1977.
22. Excerpts from Wayne Shorter’s “The Three Marias” and “On the Eve of Departure,” from Wayne’s “Atlantis.” Columbia, 1985.
23. Art Pepper’s “Diane” and “Blues for Blanche” from Peoper’s “So in Love.” Artists House, 1979.
24. Finally, to close, a series of Tweets covering all 10 of Steve Swallow’s compositions from “Real Book. XTRAWATT/BMG, 1993. — extra nod of appreciation for making this happen in a CD booklet and for using the typography of the real Real Book.
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1. The Sage and Soul of Detroit and The Conscience of Jazz
My obituary for maestro Barry Harris has posted at npr.org/2021/12/08/106…. What follows is an annotated playlist of recordings & videos. As always, the music survives. It's all here: Truth and Beauty.
2 “Hopper Topper,” 1950. Barry’s debut record. “Cherokee” changes with no theme. Striking confidence for a 20-year-old. The even attack, precise beat & jabbing left hand remind me of Horace Silver. The young Frank Foster comes directly out of Sonny Stitt.
3 “All The Things You Are" (1958). Will Austin/Frank Gant. Barry’s first LP as a leader opens w/ a ballad at a walking tempo. Improvised curtains of lovely double-time melody. All-Detroit trio, produced for Argo in Chicago by another Detroiter, Dave Usher.
1. Greg Tate (1957--2021)
Greg Tate was a heavyweight champ among American cultural critics. There was nobody like him. Not his voice on the page nor the synapses in his brain that made supple and insightful connections nobody else would think of and at lightening speed.
2. He once said, "I have come to occupy a somewhat unique position in the constellation of African American writing by keeping one ear to the street, one ear to the academy & a phantom third hearing organ to my own little artsy-fartsy corner of Gotham & Brooklyn’s Black bohemia."
3. He was inimitable. As always, the work survives. His essay collections "Flyboy in the Buttermilk" and Flyboy 2" are an imposing legacy -- especially the former, which belongs on the shelf with Ellison, Baldwin, Murray, Crouch, and Baraka.
1. Alert! There's video of Elvin Jones w/Duke Ellington. I've heard audio of Elvin's brief post-Coltrane stint w/ Duke in 1966, but I've never seen video until today. Now, where the hell is the rest of this concert? (Skeets Marsh is the second drummer.)
2. There's a backstory (natch). Elvin's experience with Duke was not a happy one. Elvin spoke about it with Whitney Balliett of the New Yorker for an essential profile in the magazine in 1968, published under the title "A Walk to the Park."
3. "I joined him in Frankfurt, and my stay with him lasted just a week and a half, through Nuremberg and Paris and Italy and Switzerland. I was new. It was difficult for the band to adapt to my style and I had to do everything in a big hurry, trying to adapt to them.
Happy birthday to the innovative bassist Oscar Pettiford, born Sept. 30, 1922, and gone in 1960 at the tragically young age of 37 (viral infection). Here his is in 1959, playing his composition "The Gentle Art of Love."
Pettiford often gets overlooked -- he's namechecked perhaps but not often studied. When folks think about the development of the bass they often go from Blanton to Ray Brown, maybe a quick sidestep for Mingus, and then on to Paul Chambers. But Oscar is critical.
He was on the scene a little before Brown, and O.P. was the first to grasp the chromatic language of Bird and Dizzy and their rhythmic phrasing. He really played bebop. Ray is right in there too of course. But no Oscar, no PC -- and no Ron Carter.
1. Maestro @herbiehancock turns 81 today. Herbie is great in so many ways, but perhaps this doesn't get said enough: He's one of the best accompanists in jazz history. What are the greatest examples of Herbie "comping" on record? Please chime in with faves. I'll start with a few.
2. Stella by Starlight w/Miles, 1964. What an intro! 4 rubato bars of perfection. Telepathy w/Miles is off the charts, Herbie playing in the cracks. Harmony, touch, melodies & rhythms link Miles phrases in ballad or swing time. Same thing behind George.
3. Snuff w/JMac, 1964. 32-bar modal structure. B-flat minor for 8 bars, B-flat 7 for 8, chromatic bridge, then back to B flat 7. Herbie’s rhythmic hook up w/Roy Haynes--whew! He's alert to the blues behind Jackie but wanders harmonically behind Tolliver.
1 Thread: Jazz Drummers on Record (Take 2)
Here's an extensively revised list of the most-recorded drummers I posted earlier. Many thanks to the numerous folks who alerted me to players I overlooked. I also dug deeper into my own memory banks to think of others I may have missed.
2 Reminder: These numbers come from The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord. They represent the total number of sessions, not individual records. They also include only jazz as defined by Lord. No pop/R&B/film/TV/jingles. They do include broadcasts and bootlegs that have been released.
3 I’m sure I still missed some folks, but this is a fairly comprehensive list. Ready? Splendid.