Alexander Hawkins Posted July 10, 2011 Report Posted July 10, 2011 I enjoy Amina Claudine Myers on that one track from Threadgill's 'Song Out Of My Trees' (a favourite Threadgill album for me...) - although it does sound to me like it might be an electric harpsichord... Quote
paul secor Posted July 10, 2011 Report Posted July 10, 2011 I enjoy Amina Claudine Myers on that one track from Threadgill's 'Song Out Of My Trees' (a favourite Threadgill album for me...) - although it does sound to me like it might be an electric harpsichord... Good catch. Forgot about that one completely. Quote
mracz Posted July 11, 2011 Report Posted July 11, 2011 Freddie Hubbard's Blue Spirits has Herbie Hancock playing (rather inconsequentially) some harpsichord on one track. The liner notes refer to a celeste... Also, I don't have my CDs to hand but I think Jack Wilson plays some tracks on harpsichord on the Earl Anderza Pacific Jazz album. I agree with the majority view here that it usually doesn't seem to work very well. I can imagine some interesting uses of harpsichord in free improvisation (Ligeti's solo harpsichord piece, sorry I can't remember the name, gives some indication of the directions one could take the instrument). Quote
king ubu Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah, Wilson on the Anderza - one of the good examples, to my ears! Quote
brownie Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Cal Cobbs playing the harpsichord at Albert Ayler's 'Spirits Rejoice' recording session in 1965. Gary Peacock is on bass. The great photographer W. Eugene Smith, at right, pays close attention to the proceedings. An image I took when the musicians were in between takes at the session. Quote
paul secor Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Cal Cobbs playing the harpsichord at Albert Ayler's 'Spirits Rejoice' recording session in 1965. Gary Peacock is on bass. The great photographer W. Eugene Smith, at right, pays close attention to the proceedings. An image I took when the musicians were in between takes at the session. Thanks for posting that, brownie. Helps to fill in some lost history. Quote
clifford_thornton Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Wonderful. Suppose the Jazz Loft Project is aware of Smith's session photos? Quote
mikeweil Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Technically, that's a spinet Cal Cobbs plays. Same sound producing mechanism, but the case is shaped differently and the strings are much shorter - initially this was invented for amateur players of harpsichord music who wanted to save on money and had less space. Good harpsichords are as big as a piano. Most spinets sound rather thin in comparison. Quote
mikeweil Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah, Wilson on the Anderza - one of the good examples, to my ears! Wilson also played some harpsichord on Gerald Wilson's Pacific LP, Everywhere. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted July 12, 2011 Report Posted July 12, 2011 How could I possibly have missed that album????? I need to find a copy immediately. Quote
brownie Posted July 13, 2011 Report Posted July 13, 2011 Wonderful. Suppose the Jazz Loft Project is aware of Smith's session photos? I would say yes. Smith photos (including the ones from the Ayler session) are available from The University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted July 13, 2011 Report Posted July 13, 2011 This appears to be through-composed, but certainly close enough for inclusion here... Jimi Hendrix on Harpsichord HEY JOE! Another (professional) recording of the same thing here, a better recorded and perhaps a better performance. Quote
colllin Posted July 13, 2011 Report Posted July 13, 2011 For a jazz album with harpsichord used throughout, try any one of these answers to "What if jazz had come about in a much earlier era?" I like each of them a lot! Eighteenth Century Jazz by The Jack Marshall Sextet Silhouettes in Jazz by Michael Coldin Septet Jazz 1755 by The Harris-Leigh Baroque Band and Brass Choir All are available in vinyl only. Quote
mikeweil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Posted July 13, 2011 This appears to be through-composed, but certainly close enough for inclusion here... Jimi Hendrix on Harpsichord HEY JOE! Another (professional) recording of the same thing here, a better recorded and perhaps a better performance. Nice idea, but his timing is too sloppy - no real groove. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted July 14, 2011 Report Posted July 14, 2011 Jack Marshall's "18th Century Jazz" on Capitol is a real gem. It has my very favorite version of "Invitation." Quote
medjuck Posted July 14, 2011 Report Posted July 14, 2011 Garner?? Garner played harpsichord on two cuts of each volume of a 2 volume Columbia release entitled Paris Impressions. Quote
dankarlsberg Posted July 30, 2011 Report Posted July 30, 2011 I have always enjoyed Gene Harris playing celeste on "Introducing the Three Sounds" and "Bottom's Up!". Also Monk plays it on "Pannonica" from the "Brilliant Corners" album. I think Andrew Hill plays some harpsichord on the Blue Note session with Sam Rivers (i think it was released on CD as "Change"). Quote
bichos Posted July 19, 2012 Report Posted July 19, 2012 gordon beck playing the harpsichord on the title "gut bucket" from the wonderful album "whole lotta tony" by tony crombie from 1961. i love this album. there is a tune called "brazilia" that sounds like the microscopic septet 25 years later!!!! keep boppin´ marcel Quote
Pete C Posted July 19, 2012 Report Posted July 19, 2012 I've always hated those harpsichord tracks on See You at the Fair. In general, I think harpsichord sounds awful on any music that postdates the advent of the piano. Landowska playing Bach is another matter. Quote
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