mhatta

Bought a long time ago (I think in 2006, when it came out). I didn't think it was a bootleg as it was in proper paper packaging and I bought it from a regular CD shop. I think it's called so-called half official or gray market stuff. There are English liner notes and (presumably) Russian translations. It says 'Manufactured in EU / Under license from Universal Music Plc., Russia', so at least they had a contract in Russia, I guess. Musically, the atmosphere is a bit different as Leroy Vinegar plays bass instead of Smith's feet. I quite like it.

This year in Japan there will be a large De Chirico exhibition in Tokyo and Kobe, and I am looking forward to seeing "The Seer", famous for Thelonious Monk's "Misterioso" jacket cover; every time I go to NYC I visit MoMA, where it is housed, but I have not yet to see the actual piece.

From memory, the standalone CD of Vol. 1 has a relatively long tuning, club buzz and laughter before the opening Fire Waltz, while the box set track starts abruptly (I only have the box set now). Maybe it's just me, but I like it better when there is club noise for a while and then the performance.

I think Bill Evans's final live box sets, such as Consecration, recorded just before his death, were valuable in that they highlighted the essence of Evans as a musician -- fundamentally the Bud Powell successor, not a lyrical cocktail pianist. Obviously he was very ill, but It is like a supernova just before it explodes, or a great meteorite just before it burns out.

Bonnie Raitt's Give It Up, produced by Cuscuna, is very good. I think Barbara George cover of I Know is especially great.

Japanese free saxophonist Kaoru Abe may not be well known here, but a 3-CDs compilation of his 1971 shows at several universities and a jazz cafe in the Tohoku region in Japan came out a few years ago and was very moving. It is well comparable to Eric Dolphy, in my opinion.

Sad news, but I think he lived a full life. Rudy Van Gelder once said in an interview or something that he considered himself a messenger of jazz, and Cuscuna has been (at least to a generation like me who did not experience the golden age of modern jazz in real time) also a great messenger of jazz. RIP.

Art Tatum: Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings. https://resonancerecords.org/product/art-tatum-jewels-in-the-treasure-box-cd/ I completely missed the release announcement (the LP is coming out on RSD, and the CD is due next week), but I am very excited about it. The fact that it was recorded live at the Blue Note Club in Chicago implies that it has the exact origin as the recently unearthed recordings of Jeri Southern or Lennie Tristano from Uptown Jazz some years ago, and the sound quality seemed fine when I listened to the samples on Bandcamp. I also liked the atmosphere of the audience at the club, who were in high spirits after witnessing a little miracle. I know there are those who have different opinions, but I personally prefer Art Tatum's group playing to his solo piano playing (piano solos are of course great, but gradually getting tiring) and I prefer the live recordings to the studio recordings. This edition of the Art Tatum Trio with Slam Stewart on bass and Everett Barksdale on guitar is possibly the best unit Tatum ever had. I already have many Art Tatum sources, but still an excellent addition.

Several live recordings from the 1960s remain unreleased (such as the August 15, 1964 Pep's show, w/ Joe Henderson). I heard Horace hated live recordings, but I wonder if they will ever be released to the public.

My personal favorite is 2000's Horace Is Blue (A Silver Noir), similar to what John Zorn did on News For Lulu, but I thought the approach of emphasizing the melancholic aspects of hard bop was interesting.

Although not trumpet, I like J.J. Johnson's "Blue Trombone". I think one-horn trombone quartets are rarer than trumpet quartets. And Flanagan's playing is top-notch.

I am relatively young in this forum, so I was not in an environment where Oscar Peterson naturally came to my ears, but OP was always mentioned in books introducing jazz in Japan, and many libraries and record stores had LOTS of his works. I still like OP and occasionally listen to his The Trio stuff. BTW, I was surprised that Ahmad Jamal is treated like a god in the US. In Japan, he is like just one of them, rarely mentioned, and many people don't know about them. Regardless, I think OP is quite an anomaly. His playing is great in technique and musicality, but I don't think it had the rich, intense power that would make us in awe of him, like Bud Powell did (even Tatum sometimes showed such quality). In a word, he was carefree (that might be one of the reason his ballad playing is exquisite but somewhat dull). I wonder if it is because he is black but from Canada and successful at a young age.

I'm not familiar with the Jazz A Confronto series (or Horo Records in general) as they were rarely reissued on CD, but Vol. 35 was the last? Personally, I like Enrico Pieranunzi on Vol. 24. ---------- Jazz A Confronto 1 Irio De Paula Jazz A Confronto 2 Marcello Rosa Jazz A Confronto 3 Gianni Basso Jazz A Confronto 4 Frank Rosolino Jazz A Confronto 5 Giancarlo Schiaffini Jazz A Confronto 6 Giancarlo Barigozzi Jazz A Confronto 7 Martin Joseph Jazz A Confronto 8 Mario Schiano w/ Giorgio Gaslini Jazz A Confronto 9 Renato Sellani Jazz A Confronto 10 Johnny Griffin Jazz A Confronto 11 Franco Ambrosetti Jazz A Confronto 12 Teddy Wilson Jazz A Confronto 13 Massimo Urbani Jazz A Confronto 14 Enrico Rava Jazz A Confronto 15 Charlie Mariano Jazz A Confronto 16 Sal Nistico Jazz A Confronto 17 Jac's Anthology Jazz A Confronto 18 Slide Hampton & Dusko Gojkovic Big Band Jazz A Confronto 19 Mal Waldron Jazz A Confronto 20 Kenny Clarke Jazz A Confronto 21 Don Pullen Jazz A Confronto 22 George Adams Jazz A Confronto 23 Steve Grossman Jazz A Confronto 24 Enrico Pieranunzi Jazz A Confronto 25 Dannie Richmond Jazz A Confronto 26 Stafford James Jazz A Confronto 27 Archie Shepp Jazz A Confronto 28 The Paris Quartet Jazz A Confronto 29 Roy Haynes Jazz A Confronto 30 Gerardo Iacoucci Jazz A Confronto 31 Roberto Della Grotta Jazz A Confronto 32 Lee Konitz Jazz A Confronto 33 L. Agudo & A. Vieira Jazz A Confronto 34 O. Valdambrini & D. Piana Jazz A Confronto 35 Piero Umiliani

Strictly Powell (or Bud Plays Bird) is not a bad record (like the worst of Verve), but it is faltering and lackluster. Swingin' With Bud is full of energy and consistency, especially in the second half. IMHO.

I already did that but don't get a reply (yet). Nice! If you can, please ask him. Douglas is a unique player who writes unique songs, although I cannot say that he is on par with John Taylor in terms of ability. Still an interesting figure.

Does anyone know about a pianist named Joe Douglas? There are so-called one-hit wonders, or people who release a single work and then suddenly disappear, not only in jazz but in any other field, but there is really no information on this British pianist Joe Douglas (his name is so ordinary that it is difficult to find in a search). He was recorded and released in 1979, and from the jacket photo, he was in his late 20s, which means he was probably born in the 1950s or thereabouts, so it would not be surprising if he is still alive. However, he must have retired from music early and took up a completely different profession, or died prematurely right after the release of the album. The sidemen are Chris Lawrence on bass and Dave Barry on drums, a good lineup for the British jazz scene at that time, and it seems as if Douglas was a promising newcomer. Incidentally, Barry is still alive and well, and I asked him by e-mail if there was anything he remembered, but he did not reply. In addition, there is no YouTube video as well as music streaming platforms. This kind of thing is quite rare today. In the past, Japanese record companies used to release such things as Japanese CDs. It was a good time. The tunes in "Visage" are all his own compositions, which are in line with his own lyrical piano style and full of the sadness characteristic of British music of this period, not limited to jazz music. I wonder why he disappeared, though he was a talented composer and not bad at the piano.

"The Scene Changes" is Bud's most popular work in Japan, and there is no Japanese jazz fan who does not know a tune called Cleopatra's Dream. I don't like it that much (I heard Toshiko Akiyoshi didn't know it and had to learn for recording). I think the best Bud from the mid-50s is "Swingin' With Bud" on RCA (the counterpart, "Strictly Powell", not so much). By the way, that session has one unreleased song (Lullaby to A Believer), a lullaby written for Bud's son. The tape survives and it is very sweet song (it was on a compilation CD once in Japan.) Borderick in The Scene Changes is another bright, cute song with a similar feel. I guess Bud was somewhat happy at that time.

In Europe 1983 / Yosuke Yamashita Trio + 1 Live at "Heidelberg Jazztag" by Yosuke Yamashita Trio (Yamashita (p) / Kazunori Takeda (ts) / Shota Koyama (ds)) + Eiichi Hayahshi (as) This is the only album by this line up. Open and fun.

Wow, do you own this? It's kinda rare.

There doesn't seem to be any problem with Spotify or Apple Music sources. I don't own CD, I'll get one when I found one. BTW, I found this gem. Flea of RHCP is really something else. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr9rI9ZxctB/

A piano trio that can only be described as "dim." My all-time favorite.

This is my favorite Standards Trio recording. Keith Jarrett's narcissistic sentimentalism is a bit on the nose when he plays solo piano or Miles Davis/Bill Evans repertoire (which also shows that these two were very objective and hard-boiled artists), but when he plays Bud Powell or hard bop repertoire, he seems to be able to balance it out nicely.

Little known live recording by Tethered Moon (Masabumi Kikuchi / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian).

I recently bought it used and cheap, having no interest in Freddie Slack (I had never heard of him in the first place), and was depressed when I realized it was on Spotify (under a different title) after I bought it. But the music is unexpectedly really great. Sweet Swing Music and some white hot boogie woogie piano.

I really love Jackie Mclean's Hipnosis, which AFAIK is only available on CD as a part of this Mosaic Select.