Tom Harrell -- Live at the Village Vanguard

[Muskrat Ramble]

Here's some post-bop in the finest tradition. This disc features Jimmy Greene (ts), Xavier Davis (p), Ugonna Okegwo (B), Quincy Davis (d). These guys are all good, though Greene resorts to overblowing at some inopportune times--he seems a bit infatuated with the techniqe, like "Look what I just discovered! Cool!"

Harrell's trumpet sound is dry and a bit brittle (think along the lines of Miles); some might even think it too flaccid and unfocused at times. But even if his tone won't be to everone's liking (I dig it), he more than makes up for it in other ways. Lots of cats can play jazz well, but what I love about this disc is that between his compositions and playing, Harrell creates his own unique, personal sound-world. His tunes create a dreamy, exotic, melancholy vibe while still swinging hard, which is no mean feat, and they feature some truly beautiful melodies--not to mention intriguing harmonic and rhythmic ideas. Two of the many standouts include "Asia Minor," which sounds a bit like a long-lost foreign cousin of McCoy Tyner's "Passion Dance," and "Where the Rain Begins," with its gentle and haunting theme.

Harrell isn't merely a great composer, but he's a damn fine soloist, too, with a distinctive rhythmic conception and colorful sense of harmony. He also passes two of the greatest tests of a musician with flying colors: he can play a slow ballad with real feeling (without instinctively resorting to the old double-time crutch), and he knows when not to play, letting the music breathe. Knowing when to shut up is a mark of a mature musician.

Overall, a great disc--well recorded and a generous 70-minute running time, too. Another good one by Harrell: his big band disc Time's Mirror.

[Jazzmoose]

I haven't managed to pick this one up yet, although it's on my list. Just posting to second the recommendation of Times Mirror. That's the one that hooked me on Harrell's writing and led to my discovery of a lot of interesting music by him.

[street singer]

I recently picked this one up cheap ($2.99 + s/h) from Columbia House's Outlet Store. Believe it is still available...

[Muskrat Ramble]

The BMG Club has it too.

[Hank]

I've just been listening to this one in the last week or so. Excellent album. Neat that it kicks off with a Harrell composition called Asia Minor (a nod to Dizzy Reece?).

[kh1958]

I was lucky to get to see Tom Harrell this past Friday and Sunday at the Village Vanguard. He was playing at a very high level. as was his group. He played mostly flugelhorn for the three sets I saw--there was no inconsistency in his playing at all. I guess you would call the music hard bop, but it sounded completely fresh and without cliches. Every song they played was a Tom Harrell original (mostly from the new release, Prana Dance). A duet performance between Harrell and the pianist was a striking divergence from the quintet performances. The group was Wayne Escoffrey on tenor, Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Ukegwo on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums--they were really in tune and sounded great in the Village Vanguard. It was a thrilling musical experience.

[Free For All]

I heard Wayne Escoffrey w/the Mingus big band last spring. He's a bad MF.

[Mark Stryker]

I was lucky to get to see Tom Harrell this past Friday and Sunday at the Village Vanguard. He was playing at a very high level. as was his group. He played mostly flugelhorn for the three sets I saw--there was no inconsistency in his playing at all. I guess you would call the music hard bop, but it sounded completely fresh and without cliches. Every song they played was a Tom Harrell original (mostly from the new release, Prana Dance). A duet performance between Harrell and the pianist was a striking divergence from the quintet performances. The group was Wayne Escoffrey on tenor, Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Ukegwo on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums--they were really in tune and sounded great in the Village Vanguard. It was a thrilling musical experience.

I saw this exact band in Detroit about a year-and-a-half ago and it matches this description in every detail. (Though I'd call it post-bop rather than hard-bop.) Anyway, to add one thing I really found interesting. I had previously heard every one of the sidemen in person, except for Grissett, whom I knew from records, but without exception, they all sounded like stronger, more mature and individualistic players in the context of Harrell's band than in any other situation. To me, that says something profound about the strength of the material and Harrell's ability to craft a band in his own image.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Mark Stryker

[fasstrack]

I was lucky to get to see Tom Harrell this past Friday and Sunday at the Village Vanguard. He was playing at a very high level. as was his group. He played mostly flugelhorn for the three sets I saw--there was no inconsistency in his playing at all. I guess you would call the music hard bop, but it sounded completely fresh and without cliches. Every song they played was a Tom Harrell original (mostly from the new release, Prana Dance). A duet performance between Harrell and the pianist was a striking divergence from the quintet performances. The group was Wayne Escoffrey on tenor, Danny Grissett on piano, Ugonna Ukegwo on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums--they were really in tune and sounded great in the Village Vanguard. It was a thrilling musical experience.

That's what Tom does---and he just keeps going. I planned to go Sunday but couldn't spare the $35. I have plenty of thrilling memories of Tom, though. Been hearing him in NY since the late 70s---you should have heard him then. He messed everyone up! (Go find the youtube videos w/Horace ca '74-'76 to get an idea.