Phil Woods

[montg]

There's a lot of material out there, but other than Phil's work in 60s big bands (Oliver Nelson in particular), I really haven't heard much. I don't have any Phil Woods-led sessions in my collection, so I'm wide open for suggestions. Thanks.

[BruceM]

My personal favourite is Musique Du Bois with Jaki Byard.

Another is Alive And Well In Paris with a terrific European group.

Edited July 1, 2007 by BruceM

[DukeCity]

Try "Live from the Showboat"

Or "Phil Talks With Quill" (Gene Quill)

Or some of the "Little Big Band" things with Hal Crook and Tom Harrell.

(Edit: apologies for all the duplicate posts earlier. Last night it didn't look like my posts were showing up...)

Edited July 1, 2007 by DukeCity

[B. Goren.]

Listen to the set of duets he recorded with Jim Mcneely as a tribute to the great Johnny Hodges:

Another favorite of mine is the one with the music of jim Mcneely:

[mailman]

Try Rites Of Swing done for Candid in the 1960s. All Woods composed for a large group. It's available on emusic.com. I know Musique Du Bois was already mentioned so let me just second that one. It's incredible. I don't know if you can find it (it was first out on the Muse label) but if you can jump on it. It dates from the early 1970s.

[B. Goren.]

This one is also great:

[Free For All]

Did "Live from the Showboat" ever get released on CD?

I'll also second the recommendation of this one:

I also like the one he did w/Lew Tabackin.

Edited July 1, 2007 by Free For All

[DukeCity]

Did "Live from the Showboat" ever get released on CD?

Apparently only on BMG Japan

I only have it on vinyl. Worth the extra import bucks to have it in your collection IMHO.

[Chuck Nessa]

I prefer early Woods such as these:

Edited July 1, 2007 by Chuck Nessa

[Peter Friedman]

Two of the early ones that Chuck mentioned are among my favorites.

Pairing Off

The Young Bloods

Some others I like that have not already been mentioned include:

Integrity - Red

Woodlore - Prestige

& Space Jazz Trio - Phil's Mood - Philology

Here's To My Lady - Chesky

Birds Of A Feather - Antilles

[Ted O'Reilly]

Yes to everything Peter Friedman says above, and if you ever run across it, grab a wonderful duo concert recording by Phil with Gordon Beck, his old "European Rhythm Machine" pal. It's a wonderful, intimate set, with some Woods clarinet. I love his clarinet work!

"Live at Wigmore Hall" JMS 18686-2 (2 CDs) Recorded May 5, 1996.

[Don Brown]

And we musn't forget Benny Carter/Phil Woods - My Man Benny, My Man Phil on MusicMasters 5036-2-C. Also the great CD Phil made with Claude Tissendier for the French label IDA.

[JSngry]

Long been curious about this one:

Testament T-4402 (1973)

New Music By The New Phil Woods Quartet

- Charity

- Cumulus

Medley:

- Nefertiti

- Riot

- Yesterdays #

rec. 1973 in Los Angeles; Phil Woods, asax; Pete Robinson, p, synth; Henry 'The Skipper' Franklin, b; Brian Moffatt, dr

# rec. live (poss. at Donte's Jazz Club, 4269 Lankershim Boulevard, Hollywood, Calif.)

I kinda like some of the European Rhythm Machine stuff.

Edited July 1, 2007 by JSngry

[felser]

My personal favourite is Musique Du Bois with Jaki Byard.

Another is Alive And Well In Paris with a terrific European group.

I agree with both of those and also like 'Live at Montreux' with the European group. Woods has always been an ultra-talented bop altoist. His music/playing headed "inside/outside" in the late 60's-early 70's (when all three of these titles were recorded), then back inside, where it has remained.

[JSngry]

My personal favourite is Musique Du Bois with Jaki Byard.

Another is Alive And Well In Paris with a terrific European group.

I agree with both of those and also like 'Live at Montreux' with the European group. Woods has always been an ultra-talented bop altoist. His music/playing headed "inside/outside" in the late 60's-early 70's (when all three of these titles were recorded), then back inside, where it has remained.

Have you heard the Testament side? I've very curious how Woods acclimated w/Robinson's electronics.

Coulda/Shoulda bought it back in the day, but had other priorities....

[marcello]

Long been curious about this one:

Testament T-4402 (1973)

New Music By The New Phil Woods Quartet

- Charity

- Cumulus

Medley:

- Nefertiti

- Riot

- Yesterdays #

rec. 1973 in Los Angeles; Phil Woods, asax; Pete Robinson, p, synth; Henry 'The Skipper' Franklin, b; Brian Moffatt, dr

# rec. live (poss. at Donte's Jazz Club, 4269 Lankershim Boulevard, Hollywood, Calif.)

I kinda like some of the European Rhythm Machine stuff.

I have this one but the lp I have is unlistenable for several reasons.

It's poorly recorded and mixed.

Balances are off.

Phil plays a electrified alto with a wah-wah sometimes, which is OK by me but the sound they got is horrible.

Even the acoustic numbers (piano, bass and alto) have a mushy sound, but it seems that Woods always plays through some kind of shitty pickup.

There's a horrible, long meandering bass solo ( you know the kind)and all of the songs have a kind of loose, spacey dull/angry kind of organization and vibe.

My copy is absolutly pristine, so it's not that the vinyl has been abused.

To give it another chance I put it on while I'm on the web.

It still sucks!

As I remember, this group didn't last very long at all from non-acceptance. That I can understand.

The liner notes by Phil say that they rehearsed for ten months and only played this gig for four days.

A failed experiment.

It has a photo of hippie Phil with very long hair and headband. I think he was going for that market, but he was a couple of years late!

It's probably a collectors item.

Edited July 2, 2007 by marcello

[montg]

Thank you for the suggestions, they're much appreciated. Plenty to track down!

[thomastreichler]

And we musn't forget Benny Carter/Phil Woods - My Man Benny, My Man Phil on MusicMasters 5036-2-C. Also the great CD Phil made with Claude Tissendier for the French label IDA.

These are excellent records. The CD with Tissendier features the group Saxomania, an all sax front line. I also would recommend the recent CD with Carl Saunders on Jazzed Media, Play Henry Mancini.

[Late]

The only Woods album that I really like is Warm Woods. The Japanese version has excellent sound. Very much worth seeking out.

Woods has always been difficult for me to enjoy. His phrasing, intonation, sense of swing ... they're all perfect. He seems like the perfect alto player to me, and yet a sense of emotion, or there being something at stake in his solos, eludes me every time. I want to like Woods more, but few recordings have really worked for me. Warm Woods has been the only exception so far.

Take Woods' absolute command of the horn and then add something like Julius Hemphill's ideas. That would be near my ideal alto saxophonist.

[John Tapscott]

One alto player who is on fire these days is Bud Shank. It's not often that a man's best work happens when he's in his 80's, but that seems to be the case with Bud. Based on recent recordings, I that he is playing right now with more imagination and inspiration than Phil. (And I'm a big fan of Phil's).

[BruceH]

One alto player who is on fire these days is Bud Shank. It's not often that a man's best work happens when he's in his 80's, but that seems to be the case with Bud. Based on recent recordings, I that he is playing right now with more imagination and inspiration than Phil. (And I'm a big fan of Phil's).

I agree. In fact, I saw both Phil Woods and Bud Shank live at Yoshi's 3 or 4 years ago and Phil was a little on the boring side while Bud was, well, on fire! Shank played with such energy and the audience responded in kind. It was amazing!

[Hot Ptah]

I second "Musique du Bois", with Jaki Byard, Richard Davis and Alan Dawson; and "Live at the Showboat". Those are probably my two favorite Woods albums.

Also, "Side By Side" with Richie Cole is a fun blowing session.

Also, this Lew Tabackin/Phil Woods album opens with an exciting version of "Limehouse Blues".

Edited August 13, 2008 by Hot Ptah

[BillF]

My vote goes for Rites of Swing, as previously mentioned.

[JohnS]

My recommendation would be the Prestige dates.

[Teasing the Korean]

I really like the stuff with Michel Legrand, but the jazz purists among us probably wouldn't like these.