Chamber Music Of The New Jazz

[Free For All]

I hadn't heard this one before. It's really good!

It's fascinating to hear the original version of New Rumba and realize what Gil borrowed for his arrangement for Miles.

This one is a real treat!!

[LarryCurleyMoe]

I agree! have had this on vinyl... great to see the chess/argo/cadet trickle out!

Also want to comment on the Ramsy Lewis "Another Voyage" reissue here (rather than starting another thread),....really a SOUL-R&B album...can hear roots of EW&F...

It's a GROOVY session, but not ground breaking...Ramsey also plays electric piano, which I happen to dig - sort of a "pre-Sungoddess" sound.

[Shrdlu]

Truly a superb album.

What's the sound like on the CD, and did they use the original Parrot LP cover that Mike Weil posted (do a search) or the Argo one with the old car? I'm asking because I have a reasonable LP. That raises another question - does the CD sound as if it was taken from vinyl?

I can't find it on either the Verve or Amazon websites.

[Free For All]

Nice to have AMG up and running finally!

[Shrdlu]

Here is a link, with sound samples:

Chamber Music of the New Jazz

It seems that they found some nice tapes (but my computer speakers are not very good). The samples that I heard are way better than my scratchy old LP.

[mikeweil]

Will give this a try as soon as it is out here.

[Brad]

I like this sound and this cd. It's very swinging nice renditions of standards. It doesn't blow your socks off with any new stuff hanging but it's very good and well worth the money. Too bad it's not a little longer.

[Shrdlu]

Brad, are you aware that there are two CDs' worth of recordings by the trio with guitar on the Columbia label (Epic and Okeh, originally) - if you can find them, that is? They are matchmates for this Argo (Parrot) album, and are real good listening, especially with grits and thrology by the campfire.

[mikeweil]

Too bad they didn't add the four sides Jamal recorded for Parrot 78's, with Ray Crawford and Richard Davis, immediately before the LP. Must be the rarest Jamal ever!

[Shrdlu]

Agreed. Are we to assume that these are rarer than Fats Waller's accompaniments for various singers in the 20s, all of which were reissued by Classics in France?

[Dave James]

I was watching Disc 2 of "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever" DVD the other night (it was the first time I'd watched it) primarily for the 1955 film of Ben Webster along with a sextet of Basie-ites. However, the group that played right before Webster featured Ahmad Jamal with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier. They did a couple of tunes, one of which was the most swinging and tasty version of "Darn That Dream" I've ever heard. I found it particularly interesting to watch Hank Jones (who was there for the Webster session) stand right next to the piano and react to what Jamal was doing.

I only have a couple of Jamals in my collection, so when I was at Border's the other day, I noticed the Chamber Jazz release and picked it up. Very nice stuff. My only quibble (and it's a small one) is that there's no drummer. Some nice brush work would have made this one even better than it already is. Ray Crawford is an interesting player. Those bongo-like percussive touches he adds to several of the tunes remind me of that old TV commercial with the coffee percolator...the one they ended up making a song out of...something like "The Syncopated Coffee Pot."

Anyhow, this is a good and very listenable release that captures early on Jamal and gives you a sense of what the buzz was all about.

Up over and out.

[Brad]

Brad, are you aware that there are two CDs' worth of recordings by the trio with guitar on the Columbia label (Epic and Okeh, originally) - if you can find them, that is? They are matchmates for this Argo (Parrot) album, and are real good listening, especially with grits and thrology by the campfire.

Shrdlu,

I wasn't aware of that. I'll have to scout around somehow. Thanks for the tip.

[JSngry]

Jamal was so FRESH back then.

He's still doing some tough work, but that trio w/Crawford & Crosby was like the first day of spring or someting. You can literally feel the sunshine and smell the green grass beginning to grow.

Shrdlu - all I have of the Okeh material is an old Epic LP. Is there a "complete" CD collection of all this stuff?

[mikeweil]

Shrdlu - all I have of the Okeh material is an old Epic LP. Is there a "complete" CD collection of all this stuff?

There were two long OOP CDs on French CBS covering all the Epic/Okeh titles. Only half of this was on a US CD. Shall I include them in my next shipment?

Shrdlu informed me these CBS CDs used second generation master tapes (with some reverb added?), but except for 8 tracks in the Mosaic Jazz Piano Masters box and the US CD I mentioned, this was the only way to get these so far.

Edited September 22, 2004 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

My only quibble (and it's a small one) is that there's no drummer. Some nice brush work would have made this one even better than it already is. Ray Crawford is an interesting player. Those bongo-like percussive touches he adds to several of the tunes remind me of that old TV commercial with the coffee percolator...the one they ended up making a song out of...something like "The Syncopated Coffee Pot."

I have to disagree here. If you want the Jamal trio with a drummer, go for the subsequent edition with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier.

But one of the many unique aspect of the early Jamal trio with Ray Crawford was their interplay, avoiding the danger of clashes between guitar and piano by defining the respective roles of both instruments under rhythmic aspects just as much as harmonic conception. Jamal, as lean as his piano style was opposed to e.g. Tatum, who led a piano/guitar/bass trio after Jamal's and Nat King Cole's success, had a lot more freedom when Crawford played rhythm in a percussive way - Jamal did the same for him in a similar fashion - and a drummer would have filled up all the space left open by this role definition. The use of space was perhaps the most startling aspect of that trio - Miles admired it, and noticed how much Crawford would swing the trio with his percussion effects, and encouraged Philly Joe Jones to use the same accents. If I'm correct, Crawford may have introduced these bongo patterns on the guitar - Herb Ellis picked that up while with the Oscar Peterson trio. But Crawford does it in a very precise fashion, using different sounds fitting with the changes, and using variations he picked up from Cuban bongoceros, whereas the others stuck to the basic pattern.

Ray Crawford is a very underrated guitarist, IMHO.

[Shrdlu]

Shrdlu informed me these CBS CDs used second generation master tapes (with some reverb added?), but except for 8 tracks in the Mosaic Jazz Piano Masters box and the US CD I mentioned, this was the only way to get these so far.

No, it isn't.

I found a mono, not rechanelled for stereo, Epic LP in very good shape with these. (Epic 3212). The contents of this are exactly the tracks that have reverb on the French 2 CD set. These LPs don't seem to be hard to find. I think I got mine from Gemm, but it might have been eBay.

[Shrdlu]

Ray Crawford is an interesting player. Those bongo-like percussive touches he adds to several of the tunes remind me of that old TV commercial with the coffee percolator...the one they ended up making a song out of...something like "The Syncopated Coffee Pot."

Har, har, har! That's a classic, Dave. Made my day! I remember that tune on the radio, but not what it was called.

But I have to agree with Mike's comments. Mike, you described that superbly.

And, it is not that there is any shortage of albums with Vernell - whom I also like, by the way.

My preference is for the original, drumless trio.

[mikeweil]

Thanks for the compliment.

I got the new Argo/Universal CD today and it seems they used the same tape as for the LP you sent me a copy of some months ago.

Maybe we will see some good sounding Legacy CD reissue of the Epic sides some day? I have the French CDs, anyway, and they still sound good enough for me. Glad I have them.

[Shrdlu]

Thanks a lot for the report, Mike. Based on that, I think I will stay with the LP. As you say, it would be nice if someone found some better-sounding tapes.

As it happens, I'm having a vinyl revival at the moment, anyway, after years of CD-chasing. It's a ball to hear some classic Columbia LPs again. The engineering is terrific!

[JSngry]

As it happens, I'm having a vinyl revival at the moment...

So THAT'S what the tent was for!

[Shrdlu]

There you go, Jim!

"Say amen if you're expecting a miracle under the big tent tonight!"

My last actual tent was used at Strathcona Park, near Campbell River, on Vancouver Island. Great place if you can make it up there.