Late Posted February 18, 2015 Report Posted February 18, 2015 • Recommend a favorite version of this Sonny Rollins composition. Familiar or obscure. AND/OR • Who would you like to hear cover "Airegin"? Any combination of musicians. Any genre. Quote
JSngry Posted February 18, 2015 Report Posted February 18, 2015 "Hate" to say it, but I like Maynard's version, just not Maynard's (collective) contribution. Talking about the Mainstream version, not the Columbia one. I really like that band as a band. some solos were better than others, but as a band? THAT kind of a band? Hey...motherfuckers be MOVIN' that air, and you with it. You want "depth", look elsewhere. You want benevolent (the key factor right there, benevolent intent) taste-be-damned-as-needed (another key component, setting appropriate expectations relative to intent) AIR MOVING, well, there it was. Drunk on Air Moving, Air Gin, perhaps, even if not Airegin (spell it backwards, as they used to say) and play it loud (play it VERY loud) as they also used to say. Quote
Larry Kart Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 I like it, too. Mike Abene arrangement, Lanny Morgan on alto. Quote
Peter Friedman Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 There have been many really good versions of Airegin. But I especially like the first 2 recordings by Miles Davis, both on Prestige. The first from 1954 with Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Percy Heath, Kenny Clarke. The second from 1956 with Coltrane, Red garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones. Quote
paul secor Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 I've always liked Lyn Halliday's version of "Airegin" on his CD of the same name. He plays with some of Sonny's moves and feeling. Quote
Late Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Posted February 19, 2015 I know this sounds somewhat ridiculous, but I can almost hear a bluegrass version. I'd stick around to hear it through. Quote
Steve Reynolds Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 Grant Green with Sonny Clark, Sam Jones and Art Blakey Quote
Milestones Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 Mostly a fan of the two Miles Davis versions. Grant Green's version is rather good, and so is Wes Montgomery's. Quote
Joe Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 Not my favorite (I'll take the original, ultimately), but a very, very, very nice jam on this tune regardless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf7VrutWYRA Quote
BillF Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 I like it, too. Mike Abene arrangement, Lanny Morgan on alto. A third vote for that one! Not my favorite (I'll take the original, ultimately), but a very, very, very nice jam on this tune regardless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf7VrutWYRA Quote
Buddha the Magnificent Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) I second Steve Reynolds' suggestion of the Grant Green recording, which can be found on The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark album. This is available on YouTube. Another favorite version is Mal Waldron's on his Left Alone album, but then I'm kind of a Mal whore; Mal wrings the mother out, and Julian Euell walks (make that) runs his bass off. Edited February 19, 2015 by Buddha the Magnificent Quote
Mark Stryker Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) Re: Lin Halliday. I specifically remember hearing him play "Airegin" twice, once around 1982-83 in Urbana and then a few years later at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago. That first time he was having a (not atypical) weird night, turning his back to the audience, nervously adjusting his reed, playing a few lines, then re-adjusting all during the course of the tune in real time. Just wiggy. But I will never forget that somewhere in the middle of the solo he focused for maybe two or three choruses and what came out was like he was channeling Sonny Rollins in 1957. Not copying or aping or playing licks of whatever, but truly IMPROVISING in that language with so much authority and electricity it was, well, profound is the only word that comes to mind. At times like those the idea of "originality" gets very slippery and kinda meaningless when you're right there feeling the air move in the room. I think Jon Hendricks sounds amazing in this version. Lambert sounds great too, but not like Jon. God DAMN. I know someone who has good ears who thinks Lambert cuts him, but I don't really think it's even close. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul54NWmwLxs Edited February 20, 2015 by Mark Stryker Quote
Mark Stryker Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 I like this Stan Getz version. It's kind of a mess in a way but an early sign that Stan was always going to stay in the present tense and really push himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qomPl60BT1E Quote
Mark Stryker Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 It was mentioned earlier, but the 1956 Miles quintet version is just really incredible. Everyone at their best, but it's not the individuals so much as the whole band locked in as a BAND. So casual yet so fucking locked in -- the rhythm section hits behind the solos, the way PC and Philly Joe are up on the beat yet so relaxed, Miles and Trane just their bad selves. All in 4.25 minutes. A masterpiece by midnight, indeed. Quote
Mark Stryker Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) Would have loved to hear Joe Henderson stretch out on "Airegin" at a medium bright clip ... Also would have loved to hear Sonny tackle it again later in his career. I recall hearing him play "Strode Rode" in concert either in the fall of 1980 or spring of '81 -- another minor bebop tune -- and he was playing it at least as recently as 2009. But I don't think he ever resurrected "Airegin." Anyone know of evidence to the contrary? Edited February 19, 2015 by Mark Stryker Quote
Milestones Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 I know Sonny revisited "Oleo," another iconic tune from the a 1954 Miles session. There is a 60s version with Don Cherry. Don't know about "Airegin." Quote
Milestones Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 There is a rather odd duet with Hubert Laws on "Airegin," supposedly from 1986. Available on YouTube. Quote
colinmce Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 Re: Lin Halliday. I specifically remember hearing him play "Airegin" twice, once around 1982-83 in Urbana and then a few years later at the Get Me High Lounge in Chicago. That first time he was having a (not atypical) weird night, turning his back to the audience, nervously adjusting his reed, playing a few lines, then re-adjusting all during the course of the tune in real time. Just wiggy. But I will never forget that somewhere in the middle of the solo he focused for maybe two or three choruses and what came out was like hes was channeling Sonny Rollins in 1957. Not copying or aping or playing licks of whatever, but truly IMPROVISING in that language with so much authority and electricity it was, well, profound is the only word that comes to mind. At times like those the idea of "originality" gets very slippery and kinda of meaningless when you're right there feeling the air move in the room. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul54NWmwLxs I was thinking this as well. Will have to pull out the album of the same name tomorrow. Quote
JSngry Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 I'd like to hear Lee Konitz do it solo. Quote
JSngry Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 This one is a bit oddish, but does have some no small bits of flayvah. Quote
kh1958 Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 Seven versions in my iTunes library: Don Patterson, Grant Green, Miles Davis, two by Phil Woods (from Phil and Quill and Musique Du Bois), Tubby Hayes, and Wes Montgomery. Quote
Mark Stryker Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) There is a rather odd duet with Hubert Laws on "Airegin," supposedly from 1986. Available on YouTube. [/quote Oh yeah! I forgot this existed. Sonny's solo, just shy of two full choruses, is brief but beautiful. Sounds like the inspiration was there for him to go longer, but this was surely an encore. Edited February 20, 2015 by Mark Stryker Quote
Milestones Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 Yes, it's odd this one is so brief. Quote
Peter Friedman Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 Just came across this version of Airegin. It comes from this CD. Stan Getz Quartet - Live In Paris - Dreyfus Jazz with Jim McNeely, Marc Johnson, Victor Lewis Recorded in 1982 This is terrific, I much prefer it to the 1961Getz version that Mark posted. Quote
johnblitweiler Posted February 26, 2015 Report Posted February 26, 2015 I forget - where did Sonny Rollins get those chord changes to Airegin? Quote
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