Late Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 One of my favorite trumpet players, along with Kenny Dorham, paired with Jackie McLean. Certainly not as polished as Art Farmer or Clifford Brown, but good ideas, and sometimes a pleasingly sassy edge. He reminds me at times (especially when muted) of Clarence Shaw. Other fans out there? A few random Hardman-related questions: • How's Hardman's Savoy session? (Nothing special? Special?) • Ira Gitler writes that Hardman was a "diminutive" man. How tall was he? • What's your favorite Hardman appearance on record? Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 No memory of the Savoy date (I'm an old guy, ok). One time I met Bill, Junior Cook and Lou Donaldson at the airport - didn't have a ruler but they were all shorter than I was at the time. B-) I've always been bummed the Hardman/Muse sessions didn't make it to cd. Home is a favorite and I kept a pressing. Quote
marcello Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 I agree Chuck! I have that one put aside to burn on my CD recorder, I once saw the Junior Cook/ Bill Hardman group at the New York Jazz Museum. The band included Mickey Tucker on piano and Billy Higgins on drums. They played a mean "Jordu"! And yea, Hardman was small. About 5' 5"? Bill Hardman HOME: Yoshio "Chin" Suzuki Bass Victor Jones Drums Lawrence Killian Percussion Junior Cook Sax (Tenor) Slide Hampton Trombone Bill Hardman Flugelhorn, Main Performer, Trumpet Mickey Tucker Piano Quote
BFrank Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 The only Hardman I have, actually, is the Savoy LP - "Saying Something". It's really good. I enjoy it a lot. He has a great tone and a nice sense of melody. The rest of the band is: Sonny Redd (Kyner) - alto Ronnie Matthews - piano Bob Cunningham/Doug Watkins - bass Jimmy Cobb - drums Quote
Larry Kart Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 When I think of Hardman I think of the title of a piece on the Jazz Messengers' "Hard Bop" album (Columbia) -- "Stanley's Stiff Chickens." There was a wonderful stiff-legged "strut" feel to his playing, when he wanted to go that way. Quote
AllenLowe Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) Hardman appeared in Hartford with Junior Cook sometime in the 1980s, I recall. I knew the bass player he was working with, so I got to meet him briefly - I heard him talking about Blakey backstage. Boy, if someone had a tape recorder, it would have been almost as good as the Buddy Rich tapes. Let's just say he was hostile for financial reasons - Edited January 24, 2005 by AllenLowe Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) There's a nice live recording of Art Blakey and the JM's in 1968, with Billy Harper(!), Hardman, Julian Priester, Ronnie Mathews, and a bassist I'd never otherwise heard of - Lawrence Evans. AMG says it was on Laserlight, but my copy is on LRC. (Both issues are called MOANIN'.) Anyway, this recording is really far more interesting than most other "Laserlight/LRC"-type things (or at least those I've heard). Sound quality is surprisingly top-drawer too. It's definitely recorded live, but the audience doesn't intrude one bit (not even clapping after solos - EDIT: they do clap after many of the solos, but the applause is pretty distant, again like it was in a big hall) - so it was probably not a in club. My copy says it was recorded "in Europe", with no more specific date than "1968" (anybody got better details??). Harper's obviously the biggest draw here (at least for me, and I'm guessing for most of us), but Hardman gets in several great solos too. The up-tempo ones have some of that "bite" in the tone that I like in so many other trumpeters, like Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Charles Tolliver, etc... Recomended... Especially since you can usually find it for about $5 or $6. (I think I got mine at Barnes and Noble, maybe Borders.) Listening to it now. Edited January 24, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote
JSngry Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 More material by the same band was issued in the late-70s on Trip, and then reissued in the early-80s on Everest. Those albums list the time/place as August, 1968 @ Slug's. Quote
Brad Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 He did a nice session for SteepleChase that I like quite a bit (although I haven't listened to it in a while) called "What's Up" that features Junior Cook among others. Quote
Joe Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) Maybe my pick of Jackie's Prestige output, and my introduction to Hardman's "running" trumpet, as I believe one critic called it. I think he plays extremely well but with a slightly different edge on Lou Donaldson's SUNNY SIDE UP. For some unfathomable reason, a portion of SAYING SOMETHING, but not the entire session, has been reissued along with Blakey's MIDNIGHT SESSION in this package: Edited January 24, 2005 by Joe Quote
Michael Fitzgerald Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 The 1968 Moanin' album is reportedly from Berlin (originally a radio broadcast) - Lord 5.0 gives date as November 6, but on that date Blakey was in Paris. According to Down Beat 10/31/68 p.10 the Berlin performance (at the Kongresshalle) was on November 8, 1968. Mike Quote
Michael Weiss Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 Bill was around 5'5". The Savoy date is very good - worth having. He played me a cassette of a gig with Bu that included Billy Harper, Slide Hampton and McCoy Tyner. They played Passion Dance! Could have been from Slugs. I played a gig with Junior and Bill at the Village Gate around 1987. Might have been a benefit for Barry Harris' Jazz Cultural Theater. Dig the band that played after us: Tommy Turrentine, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, Tommy Flanagan, Art Taylor. Forgot who was playing bass. Can you imagine that? This is a photo from a gig we played in Ancona in 1986. Quote
Dan Gould Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) I seem to recall some dissenting voices on Hardman's talents ... was it DEEP who was cutting him down, maybe on the AAJ site? Not way up there on my list but I do enjoy his Savoy side, and I have one of the Muse dates also, Focus. Brad, I think I may have to talk to my wife about my Dexter Valentine requests, and tell her if she orders three from Peter Crawford, shipping is free, so why don't you throw in this Bill Hardman disc, too? Edited January 24, 2005 by Dan Gould Quote
brownie Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 I heard Bill Hardman on a couple of occasions when he played with the Junior Cook quintet at the Jazz Forum on NY's 23rd Street in the '70s. Walter Bishop was the pianist. Found some lively Hardman a while ago when I got the recently reissued 'Sonny Stitt with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' on Sonet! Quote
Clunky Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 There's a nice Dodo Marmarosa set on Argo with Bill Hardman given plenty of room. It's a fairly subdued session but worth hearing. Quote
jlhoots Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 My take on Hardman is that while he was not the world's greatest trumpeter (whatever that means), he did have a very original sound & style that I could always identify immediately. Quote
sidewinder Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 There's also that extremely interesting session that Hardman recorded with Dolphy which sounds as if it was recorded in someones bathroom ! (featured on a past BFT I think) Quote
Brandon Burke Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 The only Hardman I have, actually, is the Savoy LP - "Saying Something". It's really good. I enjoy it a lot. He has a great tone and a nice sense of melody. The rest of the band is: Sonny Redd (Kyner) - alto Ronnie Matthews - piano Bob Cunningham/Doug Watkins - bass Jimmy Cobb - drums I like this record as well. Quote
Chrome Posted January 24, 2005 Report Posted January 24, 2005 (edited) I've got a live Lou Donaldson disc called "Fried Buzzard" with Hardman that showed off a surprisingly funky side to him ... Edited January 24, 2005 by Chrome Quote
Late Posted January 24, 2005 Author Report Posted January 24, 2005 Gonna have to track it down ... Quote
BFrank Posted January 25, 2005 Report Posted January 25, 2005 Gonna have to track it down ... GREAT cover! Quote
brownie Posted January 25, 2005 Report Posted January 25, 2005 (edited) Bill Hardman recorded three albums for Muse. The first one Home has already been mentioned. There was also Focus with Slide Hampton, Junior Cook and Walter Bishop, then Politely with Junior Cook, Walter Bishop, Paul Brown and Leroy Williams. Never heard 'Focus' but 'Politely' is a very nice date. None of these Muse albums seem to have been reissued! Edited January 25, 2005 by brownie Quote
kh1958 Posted January 25, 2005 Report Posted January 25, 2005 You can see and hear him on the DVD, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, TDK Jazz Club, in 1976. Quote
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