Shawn Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 I was listening to "Out Of The Forrest" and was struck yet again by what a GORGEOUS player Jimmy was. An absolutely lovely tone (especially on the upper end of the tenor's range) and a distinctive vibrato. Not to mention the fact that he can really tear it up when he wants. I'm especially fond of his work on blues, but the man sounded good in pretty much any context. I was looking through the short bio on AMG and he had quite a long career, there does seem to be a gap of about 10 years (1962-1972) but then he picked up again relatively steady throughout the 70s. What are your thoughts on Jimmy Forrest? Favorite albums? Quote
thomastreichler Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 A superb, but underrated tenor player in the mainstream tradition. He made some fine recordings with Harry Edison's Quintet in 58-60 and with the Count Basie Big Band in the 70's. Quote
Big Beat Steve Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 No matter what his later recordings may have achieved, his definitive recording of NIGHT TRAIN will grant him a place in jazz and R&B history! Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 I love Jimmy Forrest. His Prestige/New Jazz albums from the early sixties are all very good indeed. How can one choose between "Forrest fire", with Larry Young and Thornel Schwartz, and "Sit down and relax" with Calvin Newborn and Hugh Lawson? Those Prestige recordings became early goals of my soul jazz collection. Jimmy didn't record much as a leader. These are all the ones I know about. Night train (1951-53) - Delmark (featuring his R&B #1 hit single from 1952 and other wonderful stuff) All the gin is gone (1959) - Delmark (with the Sweets Edison rhythm section + Grant Green) Black Forrest - Delmark (same session) Forrest fire (1960) - New Jazz Soul Battle (1960) – Prestige (jointly led with Oliver Nelson & King Curtis) Out of the Forrest (1961) - Prestige Sit down & relax (1961) - Prestige Most much (1962) - Prestige Soul street - New Jazz (unissued bits and pieces from Prestige sessions) Live at Ricks (1978) - Aviva (jointly led with Al Grey) Truly wonderful (1978) - Stash (jointly led with Al Grey) Night train revisited (1978) - Storyville (jointly led with Al Grey) (the Storyville and Stash releases are from the same session as the Aviva, with extra tracks and duplicates) Heart of the Forrest (1978) - Palo Alto (and give the drummer some! Randy Marsh) OD (Out dere) (1980) - Greyforrest (jointly led with Al Grey) Two others to mention are Jack McDuff - Tuff Duff (1960) - Prestige Jack McDuff – The honeydripper (1961) - Prestige I guess my favourites of all of these (the Stash LP is the only one I haven't got) are Forrest fire Honeydripper Sit down and relax Heart of the Forrest OD (out 'dere) (also Don Patterson's last recording) But the most special moment on them all is on "The moon was yellow" from "Sit down and relax. The sound he gets as he approaches the climax is the most gloriously soupy and yet powerful sound I've ever heard from a tenor player. And of course, it should be mentioned that he worked with both Ellington and Basie. "Night train" is based on an Ellington tune - "Happy go lucky local". MG Quote
Niko Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 played All the Gin is Gone a lot in the last few months... tough to describe it but it was much more of a hard bop album than i had expected, and a gorgeous one, such a beautiful tone indeed btw wasn't john simon's legacy don patterson's last recording? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-John-Simon/...8652&sr=1-1 Quote
JohnS Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 I find the Prestige items very enjoyable but for me it's the Delmarks which are the most interesting and get the most playing. It's along time since I had anything by the Edison Quintet with Forest, I know I didn't keep the album I had very long. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 played All the Gin is Gone a lot in the last few months... tough to describe it but it was much more of a hard bop album than i had expected, and a gorgeous one, such a beautiful tone indeed btw wasn't john simon's legacy don patterson's last recording? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-John-Simon/...8652&sr=1-1 It's hard to see on my copy, but I just took it over to the window and, indeed it is - 1986, not 1980. Thanks Niko. MG Quote
king ubu Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 MG, the Verve Elite Edition twofer "Swinger/Mr. Swing" is another sideman appearance worth metnioning! Superb music, as the other guy from Zurich (not Lake Zurich, Illinois... we have a lake and a city, we don't need to have it all in one!) already mentioned. I have three of the OJCs, grabbed them when Concord started clearing the warehouse, haven't played them very often yet, but they all sounded good to me! They are "Forrest Fire", "Sit Down and Relax", and "Most Much!" I've wondered about this one - worth hearing? For Forrest and/or Miles? Barrel Club, St. Louis MO Commercial for Prestige Jimmy Forrest Quintet with Miles Davis Miles Davis (tpt); Jimmy Forrest (ts, voc); Charles Fox (p); Johnny Mixon (b); Oscar Oldham (d); Unknown (cga) 1 All the Things You Are (J. Kern-O. Hammerstein) 10:04 2 Our Delight (T. Dameron) 7:24 3 Lady Bird (T. Dameron) 6:43 4 Lady Be Good (G. Gershwin-I. Gershwin) 4:16 Forrest voc 2:58-3:38: "Super Suds, Super Suds, lots of suds with Super Suds... I love the lady in red..." 5 Ray's Idea (R. Brown-W.G. Fuller) 8:34 6 A Night in Tunisia (D. Gillespie-F. Paparelli) 8:22 Cut at 7:01 at the beginning of p solo to tpt/d exchanges and closing theme. 7 Wee Dot (J.J. Johnson) 10:49 8 What's New? (J. Burke-B. Haggart) 7:26 9 Wahoo (T. Dameron) [Perdido] 9:20 Forrest quotes the "Country Gardens" theme in his exchanges with Davis (7:40). 10 52nd Street Theme (T. Monk) (fragment) 0:02 11 Wee Dot (J.J. Johnson) 5:44 12 Closing announcement 0:05 "Thank you very much. ladies and gentlemen. And now for a brief intermission..." source: http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=520000 Quote
Big Beat Steve Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 (edited) This was out on two Prestige LPs back in the 80s. Haven't listened to them very often yet; IIRC the fidelity is just so-so but the music is fine and does have a lot of "blowing" atmosphere. If you like on-location recordings from that period, go grab it! Edited January 20, 2009 by Big Beat Steve Quote
Shawn Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Posted January 20, 2009 Highly recommended! Very sparse quartet recording with Joe Zawinul, Tommy Potter & Clarence Johnston. He re-visits his early hit "Bolo Blues" and there's a stunning take on "Yesterdays". Not a bad moment on the record. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 MG, the Verve Elite Edition twofer "Swinger/Mr. Swing" is another sideman appearance worth metnioning! Who's this by? MG Quote
Aggie87 Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 MG, the Verve Elite Edition twofer "Swinger/Mr. Swing" is another sideman appearance worth metnioning! Who's this by? MG Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Thanks folks. More for next month MG Quote
king ubu Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Sorry, forgot to say it was by Edison, but I see others jumped in. It has Jimmy Jones on piano, just in case you don't like him (some seem to not like him very strongly here). Quote
Victor Christensen Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Listening to him right now as a sideman with Bennie Green as leader, Sonny Clark, Georg Tucker, Alfred Dreares, Joseph Gorgas(Bongos). Jimmy Forrest is really a forcefull player, I like him very much, but I don't have any of the recordings under his own name. Vic Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Yeah! I forgot about those splendid albums with Bennie Green. Very worthwhile seeking out. MG Quote
king ubu Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 Yes, that Bennie Green album is great! Still have some vinyl of that one (Bainbridge reissue I think, ugly green cover), but by now also got it on CD... Quote
mikeweil Posted January 20, 2009 Report Posted January 20, 2009 btw wasn't john simon's legacy don patterson's last recording? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-John-Simon/...8652&sr=1-1 Yep! Quote
Peter Friedman Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 A lot of good recordings featuring Jimmy Forrest have been mentioned. Here are some others that I like quite a bit. Mainstream Jazz - RCA This one has one lengthy tune by Andy Gibson, and three tunes by a sextet with Jimmy Forrest. Al Grey featuring Arnett Cobb and Jimmy Forrest - Black & Blue This CD has some nice Jimmy Forrest on just 2 of the ten tracks. Jimmy Forrest gets very good solo opportunities on many of the Pablo recordings by Count Basie and his Orchestra. Waymon Reed - 46th & 8th - Artists House Unfortunately this very good session has not been re-issued on CD. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 Thanks to this thread for reminding me I needed to order Sit Down and Relax. Thanks to Newbury to shipping the disc today. Quote
Don Brown Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 I remember seeing Jimmy Forrest as a sideman with Harry 'Sweets' Edison's quintet in the late 1950s at the Town Tavern here in Toronto. The group had an impressive rhyhm section - Tommy Flanagan, piano; Tommy Potter, bass, and Elvin Jones, drums. Of course Flanagan and Jones were relatively new on the international scene at the time. Some time in the 1980s I mentioned to Flanagan that this had been the first time I'd seen him and Elvin Jones in person. "Tell me,' he asked "did we sound promising?" Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 Mainstream Jazz - RCA This one has one lengthy tune by Andy Gibson, and three tunes by a sextet with Jimmy Forrest. I don't know this one. Could you post some more details please? Al Grey featuring Arnett Cobb and Jimmy Forrest - Black & Blue This CD has some nice Jimmy Forrest on just 2 of the ten tracks. Oh yes, I have that, too. Still wish that B&B had issued both LPs complete. Waymon Reed - 46th & 8th - Artists House Unfortunately this very good session has not been re-issued on CD. Oh, yes! Another I forgot about. Really nice swingin' session. MG Quote
Niko Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 btw wasn't john simon's legacy don patterson's last recording? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-John-Simon/...8652&sr=1-1 Yep! could you maybe upload your great don patterson discography again? it was apparently lost in the updates... btw, i might even have an addition for you; the version i last saw didn't have this prestige christmas compilation which has iirc two tracks from patterson's christmas album http://www.amazon.de/Christmas-Collection-...4320&sr=8-2 Quote
king ubu Posted January 21, 2009 Report Posted January 21, 2009 I just got "All the Gin Is Gone" to listen from a friend at work... looking forward! Also I might have to look for "Out of the Forrest"... Quote
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