Peter Friedman

I am a bit late in reading this thread, but feel the need (or just desire) to throw in my thoughts on the various players that have been discussed. First, I wonder why Al Cohn, one of the three tenor players on the recording THE BROTHERS, was left out of the discussion? Over the long haul, I find Al Cohn to be the most interesting tenor player of the three. Al's sound deepened over time, but he seemed to keep his basic style in tact. His creativity in his solos improved with greater depth in his playing. Any influence from Rollins was minimal at best , and I don't hear any Coltrane influence at all. I especially love his quartet sessions with Barry Harris for Xanadu, though all of his later recordings are very good in my view. Kamuca died way too young. He was a real swinger who never made a poor recording. Leaving aside his alto work on the tribute to Bird album, Richie's sound also deepened over time and his solos took on a heaviness that showed he had been listening to many of the hard boppers. Nonetheless, the Prez influence was still there though slightly modified. I share the view that we NEED CD re-issues of Richie's Concord albums. I am old enough to have heard Bill Perkins early recordings when they were first released, and to have heard him live with the Kenton Orchestra. Perkins playing with Kenton, Woody Herman, Shorty Rogers Big Band and Terry Gibbs Dream Band thrilled me. His small group work as well as his big band roles in the '50's up to about 1964 led me to consider Perkins one of my very favorite living tenor players. Albums such as , On Stage, Tenors Head On, Just Friends, 2 Degrees East with John Lewis, and his sideman work with Lennie Niehaus, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, and others were strong favorites in my collection alongside the Hard Bop albums by Rollins, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley and many others. It was a major disappointment to me when Perkins so dramatically changed his style and sound. As has been mentioned by some, his changes led to playing that was unconvincing. As a desciple of Lester Young, Perkins was in my view a masterful player who combined beautiful sound, fluent ideas and graceful swing. Once he decided to take on Rollins, Trane and perhaps Paul Gonsalves as his inspiration his playing usually sounded clumsy, and dull to these ears. Once in a while he made a recording I could enjoy, but from about 1965 on until his death they were few and far between. I saw Perkins live many times in the last 6 or 7 years of his life and most often found his playing barely tolerable. His tenor playing was to my mind a disaster most of the time and I considered his soprano sax playing just slightly better. I liked him best in his later years on baritone sax. I know that Bill had many fans who thought highly of him, but I was greatly saddened by what I observed as a marvelous player who made (in my opinion) a series a bad musical decisions that resulted in music that I found very unsatisfying. Bob Cooper got mentioned in passing. Bob did stick to doing what he did best. His playing throughout his entire career was terrific. He never achieved the recognition he deserved, and perhaps it was in part because he chose to stay with Prez rather than jump on the Trane or Rollins wagon. But he left us with a highly enjoyable set of recordings over a period of more than 40 years.

In honor of Jackie's birthday I am going to play next his Septet CD - FIRE & LOVE - on Blue Note.

Some other nice Cecil Payne CDs that I don't think were mentioned include: Cecil Payne - Performing Charlie Parker Music - Collectables Cecil Payne - Stop And Listen To ... - Fresh Sound The Cecil Payne Quartet - Casbah - Stash

All the best to Johnny Griffin for speedy recovery. The last time I saw him live was about 10 or 11 years ago at the Vail Jazz Party. He was playing great at that time. I recall one set where Roy Hargrove played with JG. Roy watched Griff carefully throughout the entire set with a look in his eyes that indicated great respect and admiration. Johnny Griffin brought a spirit of enthusiasm and excitement every time I have seen him. One of the Giants of jazz during the past 50 years or so.

I like "The Bill Mays Trio - Summer Sketches".

It's a very nice CD. Flip plays quite differently from his wilder JATP outings.

The two CDs that I would recommend to hear Chuck Mangione as a bebopper would be: Chuck And Gap Mangione: The Jazz Brothers - Hey Baby - Riverside OJC Chuck And Gap Mangione: The Jazz brothers - Spring Fever - Riverside OJC These are both quintet sessions from 1961 featuring some fine tenor playing by Sal Nistico.

A wonderful session. Tadd was a marvelous writer. Kenny Dorham on trumpet is a big plus as he is on almost every recording on which he plays.

Two Roy Haynes albums (CD's) that I very much like have not been mentioned yet. Sugar Roy on the Japanese Kitty label. This one is a trio session from 1976 that has Tommy Flanagan and Ron Carter. The other one is a 1994 recording on Storyville titled My Shining Hour. It's a quartet date with all Danish sidemen. They are tenor player Tomas Franck, pianist Thomas Clausen, and NHOP on bass.

Bill Hardman does not seem to get much in the way of positive comments. A few days ago I listened to the Blakey/Jazz Messengers CD titled RITUAL . It was originally issued on Pacific Jazz and reissued on Blue Note. Bill Hardman sounds absolutely terrific on this CD. He plays in a Clifford Brown style. While he does not have the technical facility of Clifford and some other Messenger trumpet players, his solos are put together with great logic. Each one tells a story. Hardman is, in my view one of the most underrated trumpet players from the Hard Bop period. I recall seeing him live one night at a club in New York City playing in a quintet with Junior Cook, Walter Bishop,Jr., Paul Brown, and Leroy Williams. It was a marvelous musical experience. Every time Bill Hardman took a solo he knocked me out. This player is deserving of much greater recognition for the many fine recordings on which he played.

Jackie McLean - Fat Jazz - Fresh Sound/Jubilee with: Webster Young. Ray Draper, Gil Coggins, George Tucker, Larrie Ritchie

I have always liked the two albums by this big band recorded at Ronnie Scott's Club in London. The excitement on those recordings is contagious. I also like" Sax No End" a great deal. Johnny Griffin's solos on this band are highlights for me. The one criticism I have is that when they added a second drummer the sound gets somewhat muddy at times.

I prefer harold Land's playing during the period that he was recording for the Contemporary label. His playing on the Curtis Counce Group sessions was particularly fine. I also think he played great on the Hampton Hawes recording -For Real-. Also check out his recording on the Jazzland label titled WEST COAST BLUES where he is joined by such excellent players as Wes Montgomery, Joe Gordon, and Barry Harris.

This was terrible news. There are so few top level players left from that era. Jackie has been one of my favorite musicians from about 1956 up to the present. I bought an original copy of his first Lp as leader on the Ad Lib label when it was first released. Just played the Fresh Sound CD reissue of that session. When it came to playing the blues Jackie Mclean could not be beat. An original sound and conception. We have lost a jazz giant.

My confession is that I have way too many items in my collection. The things I am missing are of music I don't care for such as Free Jazz, Electric Jazz, Smooth Jazz. Having a very large and complete collection is to a large extent a function of beginning my collection about 50 years ago !!!

Here are some Kenny Burrell recordings that I like which have not yet been mentioned. Introducing Kenny Burrell - Blue Note Bluesey Burrell - Prestige/Moodsville Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Raney - Two Guitars - Prestige Kenny Burrell - Prestige (w. cecil payne, Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Elvin Jones)

The Modern Jazz Quartet occupies a special place in my collection. They were a very unique group who were able to build a special niche for themselves within the jazz world.Each member of the quartet fit in perfectly, and that includes both Kenny Clarke and Connie Kay. I agree with Stereojack who indicated that their music from all periods is terrific. I have just about everything they ever recorded in my own collection. It is wonderful to be able to have such diversity within jazz so that we can listen to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers hard driving, gritty music and then turn to The MJQ for a very different type of listening experience.(Just an example) It would be a very difficult task to select just one or two of their albums as my favorites. I would need to spend many hours re-listening to most of them before coming up with my desert island picks.

I have seen Steve Nelson live and found him to be a very swinging, blues oriented player. It may depend on the context in which he is playing, but I strongly recommend the following CD's to demonstrate the way Nelson can play with emotion and soulfulness. Steve Nelson - Communications - Criss Cross Steve Nelson - Fuller Nelson - Sunnyside Mike LeDonne - Bags Groove - Double-Time

Dave Bailey

Many excellent Buck Clayton recordings have already been mentioned. Here are some others on CD I also like. Buck Clayton - Baden, Switzerland 1966 - Sackville Buck Clayton - Olympia Concert 22 April 1961 - Vogue Buck Clayton - 1945-1947 - Classics Buck Clayton/Tommy Gwaltney's Kansas City Nine - Goin' To Kansas City - Riverside OJC Ben Webster & Buck Clayton - Ben and Buck - Sackville Ben Webster & Buck Clayton - Ben and Buck - Storyville (this is totally different from the Sackville CD) Harry Edison Swings Buck Clayton and Vice Versa - This session is on the 2 CD set called Swing Trumpet Kings on Verve.

I do like Cal Tjader's - Live At The Blackhawk - album and wish it was available on CD. I also like his session with Getz. Other than those two, Cal never impressed me much. He also made some commercially oriented albums that turned me off a bit. Roy Ayers is another guy who started out (recording-wise) playing straight ahead jazz that I liked, but moved into a heavily commercial direction and I lost interest in his playing. Bags on the other hand had a lengthy career that was 99% pure jazz. Milt's was a blues player par-excellence, and a great ballad player as well. When it came to swinging, he could not be beat, in my opinion. It was extremely rare when Bags did not sound terrific. Some of Bobby Hutcherson's recordings are ones I very much like, but as my personal taste leans to straight ahead jazz, there are quite a few times when Hutcherson's playing doesn't do much for me. Lem Winchester is a player I very much liked. Unfortunately, his early death left us a limited number of recordings. It, as usual, all boils down to personal taste.

The Joe Locke- Kenny Barron CD on Steeplechase is a real beauty. I can't say anything except if you like these players you NEED this one!!!!!!!! Milt Jackson is by far my favorite vibes player. In fact, I consider him one of the alltime great jazz musicians regardless of instrument. He recorded a huge number of times during his career and it is hard to find more than a tiny number that are not damn fine. I would probably select Dave Pike as my second choice. Pike recorded three albums during the 60's that are very very good. IT'S TIME FOR PIKE - Riverside (w. Barry Harris, Reggie Workman, Billy Higgins) PIKE'S PEAK - already mentioned more than once JAZZ VERSION OF OLIVER - Moodsville (w. Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, George Tucker, Walter Perkins) Unfortunately, the JAZZ VERSION OF OLIVER session has not been re-issued on CD. Pike in the late 60's and 70's went on to play a more rock oriented type of jazz that I did not care for at all However, in the late 80's he returned to playing straight ahead Hard Bop. Pike recorded PIKE"S GROOVE with the Cedar Walton Trio for Criss Cross in 1986, and with Charles McPherson and a Dutch rhythm section - BLUEBIRD - on Timeless in 1988. Just a few years ago a very good Dave Pike CD was issued on the Ubiquity label titled BOPHEAD. Teddy Edwards and Anthony Wilson are also on this CD. I like some of Bobby Hutcherson's playing, but at times he leaves me cold. Gary Burton is frequently too "sterile" sounding for my taste. Most of what I have heard from Cal Tjader strikes me as rather "lightweight". Tjader does not seem to dig into the music with the depth I hear from Bags (or Pike). Johnny Lytle has been a disappointment. I have owned a few of his recordings and ultimately disposed of them. I found them basically uninteresting. Eddie Costa, Victor Feldman and Buddy Montgomery are three piano/ vibes players whose work on vibes I prefer to many on the list.

Just checked my TOM LORD and no other version of "Blues For Mr. Tatum" is listed other than on the unissued Lee Morgan session. Listening right now to the three unissued tracks. BLUES FOR MR. TATUM - Lee Morgan, Frank Mitchell, and Harold Mabern all take decent solos, but nothing really special happens. This track is on the dull side. THE SLEEPWALKER - A nice Hard Bop unison head gets this track underway. Mabern gets the first solo which is far more interesting than on the previous track. Frank Mitchell comes next and his playing here also surpasses the earlier track. Lee may not be at his best here, but certainly plays a better solo than on the first tune. THE CHIEF - Frank Mitchell is the first soloist and seems a bit shakey in spots. Nonetheless, with so little by him available this is worth hearing. Morgan follows Mitchell with a short but perfectly ok solo. Harold Mabern has a short but rather sweet solo spot. Lee Morgan trades eight's with Billy Higgins before the theme returns ending this tune. In summary, it is my view that not issuing the track "Blues For Mr. Tatum" is no real loss. However, "The Sleepwalker' and "The Chief" are well worth being commercially released.

I have a copy of this session with Kenny Dorham, Charles Davis, Kenny Drew, Grant Green, Wilbur Ware, and Philly Joe Jones. I even have a traycard and booklet that looks very much like an official Blue Note production, though it is doubtful that it was done by Blue Note. Personally, I consider the music to be worthy of release. In fact, I find this session to be as good if not better than some other Blue Note recordings that have been issued.

I was listening to the Jackie McLean tune "Great Rainstreet Blues". It is on the Steeplechase recording called ODE TO SUPER. That tune sounded extremely familiar. I was able to rather quickly identify it as the title tune of the Blue Note recording BLUESNIK. It is not totally shocking to have tunes re-titled. It would be interesting to have a listing of such tunes. It usually happens when composer credit is given to a different person. It happens less frequently when, as in the Mclean case, the composer credit remains the same with both titles.