CJ Shearn

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I wonder if the takes of "A Night In Tunisia" consist of that nutty Monkish head that characterizes the Crazy! Baby version. Jimmy played that arrangement up through 1965 to my knowledge if the bonus track from the Salle Pleyel Mai 28th 1965 set on Laserlight that I have is any indication. I always wonder if the Laserlight/RTE/Trema releases of those are legit because if not, I wonder if Zev Feldman could release that or perhaps the 1962 French show that ORTF recorded. I've asked him about contributing a liner essay to a Jimmy Smith package because one of my goals eventually is write a Jimmy Smith bio. I connected with Joey D. after his Jazz Standard gig 2 weeks ago to get in touch with him to yak about Jimmy, get leads on who to talk with who knew him.

At Club Baby Grand is every bit as good as the Smalls date, they are just different. What I love about the Smalls date is the added intensity due to Jimmy's percussion switch not decaying, almost adding a Trane-ish quality to the sound, indeed his ideas then were more in line with the harmonic approach Trane was investigating at the same time. The additional Baby Grand takes haven't survived, thus why they were not included. I just pulled out my TOCJ of vol. 1, was listening to Awase by Nik Bartsch's Ronin but decided to play the JOS. The other thing about the Baby Grand sets is that it's the first to debut Jimmy on record with the first three drawbars out with the third harmonic percussion on and with soft decay. This sound which marked the majority of his career wasn't heard again on a record until Home Cookin' in 1959, so that IMHO is quite significant. He was heard without percussion, with the "paradise switch" (percussion not decaying), and with the last drawbar pulled out in the interim.

Happy birthday!

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Just ordered the deluxe edition

There are plenty of live CTI All Star dates I've gathered from both Doug Payne and Arnaldo deSouteiro's inferences on Doug's CTI discography that exist most likely in Sony's vaults. For example, the entirety of the 1971 Southgate Palace concert, the CTI All Stars brief set at the Felt Forum in 1973, their Seattle show in July 1973 (which I have as an audience recording, smoking show) and in 1975 in NYC. Creed Taylor recorded Stanley Turrentine opening for George Benson at Carnegie Hall and that's in the vaults as well. Most importantly, I want to know if the 1972 Hollywood Bowl show exists sans overdubs.

Wow! Thanks for pointing it out, I didn't realize that other than something seemed off in that performance. It's very strange that a band that lacks so much chemistry, why would they release this other than a money grab?. I wonder Resonance considered how not together many of these performances are at all when releasing these tapes. I'm not sure if the Paris 1969-1970 things will do much to add to his legacy, as much as I enjoy the Resonance catalog, the Young, Evans, Montgomery in Paris, the Getz things and Thad and Mel sets do much to add to their body of official, known, work than the Funk In France set. Yes it adds a piece of the puzzle to the discography officially, but as far as polish? No.

Thanks Robert, I hope my criticism of the drummers on Funk In France wasn't too much but it really stood out to me. Listening to the originals of "Upshot" and "Hurt So Bad" put into context just how great Idris Muhammad's pockets are vs Billy Wilson. Billy Wilson is good, and his approach is halfway between funk and swing, like James Gadson on "Use Me" or Jack DeJohnette on "Two Folk Songs" by Pat Metheny, but in those cases they really work. Wilson is just no Muhammad I'm listening to disc 1 The Round House and that disconnect between Lamond, Ridley and Green is still weird on the JB tune and not sure why he rushed on "Oleo". One of my very good friends, was so dissatisfied with both Funk In France and Slick! he donated them to our local college alma mater station.

You are welcome.

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That's a very interesting, balanced perspective. Grant's playing on Funk In France is fantastic as is Claude Bartee and Clarence Palmer, and he's reveling in what he can get out of the groove where he can. Actually IMO both albums show that GG was a much better player than people give him credit for, that's been discussed here ad naseum.

Gerald Izzard had the whistle and it didn't bother me. Well, it is jazz and some mistakes can be thrilling (i.e. Tain Watts going against the time on "Knozzsmoeking" by Wynton Marsalis) but the gaffes by Lamond and Wilson are very noticeable. And since "Oleo" for all intents and purposes is a bop tune and in Lamond's wheelhouse, it's odd he was rushing, particularly when Grant's time feel is so relaxed and behind the beat. The JB tune is way out of his element and it's a clear case of a jazz guy trying to play a funk beat with little authenticity. That surprises me b/c Lamond did a lot of session work, right? It's not like today where drummers like say, Johnathan Blake can sound as authentic funky as he can swinging. Lenny White of course sounds legit in any context, whether it be jazz, R&B, funk, or pop. Will spin again tommorrow. Both albums have terrific cover art though!

These 2 chapters in Grant's legacy are NOT gonna do what the Evans, Montgomery In Paris, and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis did as viable statements that truly add to it. Nice for collectors like us and the energy of the performances but the execution from Lamond and Wilson is lacking. Slick is sloppy as well but at least they lock into a groove and stay there. Gotta listen more before writing but those are my impressions.

Jim, I hear you. It's pretty clear that both drummers on Funk In France were picked for the occasions of those gigs. The liners state Willie Bivens on vibes couldn't make the gig for Antibes, but Billy Wilson seems to be a pick up drummer and the parts I mentioned are just odd. He sounds best on "Hurt So Bad", and the second "Upshot" but there are some bits of weirdness going. My friend indicated he's dragging on "Hi Heel Sneakers" but he was pretty explicit Lamond turns the beat around on the JB tune. I'm not a musician, but I have good ears and even caught how weird it was he started on the 2nd beat of the 2nd bar. Next time I listen I'm going to count the "and". Lamond sounds like he's playing a "commercial beat" if that makes any sense, and doesn't feel it at all. The other anomaly that Clarence Palmer discussed in the notes is that they requested a B-3 but he was provide an M-3, so that changes his approach to bass lines and tone colors. I love bits of Funk in France, the packaging and annotation are superb, but as an album, Slick!: Live At Oil Can Harry's works way better. Idris Muhammad, Hugh Walker, Billy Cobham, Grady Tate or Jack DeJohnette, would have made better drummers for the two Antibes gigs.

I posted this on Facebook, and a friend of mine for 24 years who is a drummer confirmed the issues I was hearing: Preliminary thoughts on Grant Green "Funk In France" and "Slick: Live At Oil Can Harry's". On the first album, the drummers are a weak link: here's why-- On the James Brown tune that opens "Funk in France", "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door and I'll Get It Myself) Don Lamond enters on the second bar of beat 2, and Grant has to hesitate a minute to see if the beat flips around to the correct sequence. What do JB's grooves do? they hit on the 1, and Lamond who usually played big band and bop, has trouble feeling the groove. It's only until Larry Ridley's bass grounds it where things get a bit better. On "Oleo" Lamond is rushing horribly, I actually like when some guys rush, but here it doesn't quite work and his 4 bar exchanges with Green playing Gene Krupa/Buddy Rich/Louie Bellson style phrases is a stylistic clash that is odd. Lamond settles in later and the rest of the set is fine. Make no mistake, Green and Ridley sound FANTASTIC, it's just that these hiccups, especially if you are tuned into drumming nuances like I am, are VERY noticeable. It's very likely my review will be the first to point it out, A friend of mine and I were shocked that no reviews mentioned this. Billy Wilson on the Antibes sets on the first take of "Upshot" and "Hi Heel Sneakers" loses the groove twice in some strange places. Sometimes, a drummer drops out by design, and comes back a few beats later, perhaps he had to stop and pull his bass drum that maybe moved? On Oil Can Harry's the band is TIGHT. This was a working band, Greg Williams who is on the seminal "Live at the Lighthouse" understands and tunes into Green's rhythmic subtleties and plays off them in a way that allowed the guitarist to bloom. He always tuned into drummers. Both albums are a fun listen if you love groove, and "Funk in France" is recommended for straight ahead Green purists, it's just the above flaws for me are quite glaring. Again, Grant sounds GREAT on both, as do Claude Bartee, Clarence Palmer and especially Emmanuel Riggins, more to come in a VERY in depth official review.

Kiyoshi Kitagawa has been on the scene a long time. He was the bassist on Kenny Garrett's Triology in 1995. Johnathan Blake has been terrific with Tom Harrell (back when I heard Light On years ago) and was great on Dr. Lonnie Smith's In The Beginning, Vols 1&2 (which nearly comes close to matching Live at the Club Mozambique) Personally while I like what I heard from David Binney on Criss Cross (certainly some of their more adventurous music) aside from the two Tenor Triangle releases that's all I feel I need to have on that label.

Very nice!

Thanks everyone! I don't do vinyl personally,,. but hearing my friend's system was an eye opener. After Travels, he put on Bem Gosin, an independently produced Funana record he bought in Portugal and the difference was stunning, very quiet pressing.

Yesterday I was at a friend's listening to his Focal Aria 948 speakers with a Marantz pre amp and Rotel amp. His vinyl set up is a Pro Jeff Debut Carbon Esprit turntable with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge powered by qProject Phono Box S Black pre amp and Audioquest Evergreen RCA cables, out of the pre amp connected to the Marantz. Now we played his brand new 180g pressing of PMG's "Travels" it sounded awful, so noisy, like Rice Krispies. When I bought original Metheny ECM's in college on vinyl, they were all in terrific condition but sounded so noisy. I recall some ECM vinyl at WHRW my college radio station when I at Binghamton University living up to the pristine sound reputation, but the 180g vinyl reissues, where are they pressed? Pallas? Is this just a case of him getting just a dud pressing?

Exactly this. We are at a point where exposing people getting into jazz to a Bud Powell or Barry Harris album as great as they are, will sound old fashioned. This is from someone who grew up on hard bop. This is why what people like Robert Glasper and Mark Giuliana are doing musically is so important because they draw on source material new listeners relate to. While many here objected to what Grace Kelly is doing, guess what? It exposes more people to the music.

Very interesting! Apart from the religious aspects, it's very interesting how the music could captivate someone from the other side of the world. I think more than ever Japanese artists are expressing their own voice.

Sampling "Sisko" from "Audacity" on Youtube, killing stuff!

Definitely right on some worthwhile albums with Elvin.

I am not a purist either anymore, I didn't mean to imply you were specifically,so sorry for that. That era of Blue Note on this board, the feelings are well known. I read a paper I wrote on jazz history from the 40's to the present when I was in high school when I was a hard bop snob, it was hilarious! Less than a year later, I got into Metheny and the rest is history. Actually the Mizell Brothers stuff has never spoken to me though my friend loves it and my stance has softened over the years on that stuff. "Caliente" is a good album, I am acquaintances with Gato's wife, there are definite moments in the arrangements where things get cheesy, but he definitely FEELS "I Want You" and it rubs off on the listener. The cheesiest part of Herb Alpert/Hugh Masekela stuff on "Main Event" are the overdubs and "Besame Mucho", but that's an album I grew up with and still like. The grooves and playing are fantastic and it has me wanting to dig deeper into South African jazz. Mosa Jonas Gwanga is one hell of a player. The dark era of Blue Note, I hide no shame in owning "Blue Note Live At The Roxy", another discovery in childhood, and I get a kick out of listening to it sometimes just for how DATED it is!. More than anything I loved that UA era logo. "Blue Note Meets The LA Philharmonic" is far worse once the Earl Klugh portion hits, but the Hutcherson and McRae stuff is ok. I'd recommend the Ronnie Foster, the CD is now OOP, but discogs has it listed fairly cheap. I like how he has the Moog connected to the Leslie. Really, as I've said here before, thinking historically, we are back in the Blue Note hits a new note era, except the music now seems to be much better. I feel like that's what the label has been under Don Was.