Jim Hall

[garthsj]

Yes, the 12" version of The Chico Hamilton Trio (PJ 1220) has three Jim Hall cuts, recorded February 8, 1956:

Autumn Landscape

Porch Light

Blues on the Rocks

Skinned Strings (JH out)

The earlier 10" album (PJLP 17) with Hamilton, Duvivier, and Howard Roberts had eight cuts:

(December 6, 1953)

Broadway

Street of Dreams

What is There to Say

Nuttye

(October2, 1954)

Buddy Boo

Uganda

Lollypop

We'll Be Together Again..

A wonderful swinging album, and the subject of much speculation as to why it has never been reissued in this country.

Garth.

Edited March 12, 2004 by garthsj

[brownie]

Hall's on some of the Hamilton Trio album. I think the 10" was originally w/Roberts only, but the 12" added some (later) cuts w/Hall. It's been on CD in Japan (what HASN'T? ), and is indeed an outstanding album, one which would likely raise more than a few eyebrows were it more widely available.

This was the Chico Hamilton Trio on Pacific Jazz. I have the Japanese LP reissue of that one. Easy to find in my mess, it was filed right next to the Jim Hall vinyls. The 12 incher had six tracks with Howard Roberts plus four with Jim Hall(including the superb 'Blues on the Rocks'). The great George Duvivier on bass throughout.

Outstanding! indeed!

[skeith]

I like Jim Hall too.

One of my favorite Jim Hall moments and a Sonny Rollins moment too is from The Bridge. After Hall's solo on "Where are you" he plays a chord expecting Rollins's return with more of Sonny's solo, but Sonny comes in so, so late, agonizingly so, you wonder if Sonny was rushing back from another room. The reality is more probably that Sonny is just showing his mastery of stretching the time. But does Jim Hall get flustered, lose his place or stumble at all? Not in the least. 2 masters in action.

Edited March 12, 2004 by skeith

[BruceH]

Speaking of desert island albums, how about John Lewis's The Wonderful World of Jazz, which features Jim Hall with a few other notables. A truly great album with a somewhat regrettable title.

And about a million for the Jim Hall/Paul Desmond Mosaic! The more recent RCA CD box is not as inclusive but worth getting. It truly is amazing the variety and caliber of groups and artists that Hall recorded with.

[king ubu]

Speaking of desert island albums, how about John Lewis's The Wonderful World of Jazz, which features Jim Hall with a few other notables. A truly great album with a somewhat regrettable title.

And about a million for the Jim Hall/Paul Desmond Mosaic! The more recent RCA CD box is not as inclusive but worth getting. It truly is amazing the variety and caliber of groups and artists that Hall recorded with.

to the "Wonderful World of Jazz"!

Bruce, what's missing form the RCA set?

And does the Mosaic include the Strings date the RCA has? I think not, right?

ubu

[A Lark Ascending]

Hall was the first 'real' jazz guitarist I came to love back in the 70s. What really won me over was the Commitment disc mentioned above:

A very arranged disc with deliberately varied tracks with different musicians but compelling from start to finish. With the Live A&M disc appearing recently there's hope this will get out too.

I've seen Hall a couple of times in trio settings and he's always been totally absorbing.

It's great to see a player so far into his career still taking risks and being open to different ways of doing things.

[mgraham333]

...One of my favorite Jim Hall moments and a Sonny Rollins moment too is from The Bridge. After Hall's solo on "Where are you" he plays a chord expecting Rollins's return with more of Sonny's solo, but Sonny comes in so, so late, agonizingly so, you wonder if Sonny was rushing back from another room...

skeith:

I played this disc a few weeks ago, I'll have to go back and listen to the part you mention. A thought did hit me though, based on your description and the title of the song.

Do you think he comes in late intentionally, as if to make the listener ask of Rollins, "Where Are You?"

Not sure, but that would be a really cool explanation.

[Sundog]

Rollins is renowned for coming in late and sneaking up on the beat. Not sure it's the case on the particular tune mentioned. However, it certainly wouldn't be uncharacteristic of Sonny's style.

[paul secor]

I don't think that anyone's mentioned the Jim Hall/Red Mitchell duo LP on Artists House - some very fine listening.

[mikeweil]

All the dates mentioned are great. What strikes me about Hall is that he has so much good taste and lyricism, and rhythmic drive at the same time without getting superficial. I think it was Hall taking modern jazz guitar to the next level after the Charlie Christian innovations - he was the reference point for John Abercrombie and the likes.

He belongs among the top ten jazz guitarists, in my opinion.

First time he made me prick up my ears was with his solo in A Little Boy on helen Merrill's LP A Shade Of Difference.

[medjuck]

......  and let's not forget Jim Hall's contribution to the some of the greatest 34.41 minutes of jazz available on CD... GRAND ENCOUNTER - 2 Degrees East / 3 Degrees West , with John Lewis, Bill Perkins, Chico Hamlton, and Percy Heath.  One of my all-time favorite desert island discs..

Garth.

Hell I WISH this was available still!

That track on the BFT disc is great!

Is this OOP!!!??? I've always thought that the reason I could never find this on cd was that I

didn't know under who's name to look. Or under what title (Is it called "Grand Encounter" or

"2 Degrees East/ 3 Degrees West"?). I guess the true reason I can't find it is that I'm an idiot. And what's "the BFT disc"?

[Guest ariceffron]

who did hall play w/ before chico--- any recordings? also, who can link a discography?

[JSngry]

Pretty sure that Chico was Hall's first "name" gig.

[Sundog]

FYI- Jim Hall is being featured this week on the Nancy Wilson hosted, jazz profiles show on NPR. As always check your local listings for details.

[marcoliv]

i forgot to mention Jazz Impressions of Japan and Youkali too

MCO

[garthsj]

......  and let's not forget Jim Hall's contribution to the some of the greatest 34.41 minutes of jazz available on CD... GRAND ENCOUNTER - 2 Degrees East / 3 Degrees West , with John Lewis, Bill Perkins, Chico Hamlton, and Percy Heath.  One of my all-time favorite desert island discs..

Garth.

Hell I WISH this was available still!

That track on the BFT disc is great!

Is this OOP!!!??? I've always thought that the reason I could never find this on cd was that I

didn't know under who's name to look. Or under what title (Is it called "Grand Encounter" or

"2 Degrees East/ 3 Degrees West"?). I guess the true reason I can't find it is that I'm an idiot. And what's "the BFT disc"?

Medjuck .. The album is called GRAND ENCOUNTER, subtitled "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West" (two musicians from the east, and three from the west) which, of course, is one the major titles on the disc ... and which later became a staple in the MJQ repertoire ... It is currently available on CD only as an expensive Japanese import. I assume, given this album's importance that it will resurface sometime soon in a 24 bit restored edition. It is, as you probably know, a wonderful album, unfortunately limited to just that 34 minutes of sublime improvisation by all concerned.

Garth.

[MartyJazz]

Bruce, what's missing form the RCA set?

And does the Mosaic include the Strings date the RCA has? I think not, right?

ubu

The RCA box set is definitely missing, and understandably so, the first session made by the Desmond-Hall quartet which was originally issued by Warner Brothers. The CD of that recording has been issued by Discovery under the title EAST OF THE SUN. Great versions of standards, e.g., "I Get a Kick Out of You" as well as a version of "2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West".

[Guest ariceffron]

well how did chico discover him? I missed the 1st 10 min of the NPR show!!!

[BruceH]

Bruce, what's missing form the RCA set?

And does the Mosaic include the Strings date the RCA has? I think not, right?

ubu

The RCA box set is definitely missing, and understandably so, the first session made by the Desmond-Hall quartet which was originally issued by Warner Brothers. The CD of that recording has been issued by Discovery under the title EAST OF THE SUN. Great versions of standards, e.g., "I Get a Kick Out of You" as well as a version of "2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West".

What Marty said. And yes, the Mosaic doesn't include the "w/strings" date that the RCA has. To my mind this is another point in the Mosaic's favor, but I've got them both. (In a perfect world the RCA box would cost $10 so you could give it to friends and family for Christmas.)

Edited March 14, 2004 by BruceH

[Sundog]

well how did chico discover him?  I missed the 1st 10 min of the NPR show!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't catch any of the show. Hoping for a rerun on the local NPR station.

[medjuck]

Is this OOP!!!??? I've always thought that the reason I could never find this on cd was that I

didn't know under who's name to look. Or under what title (Is it called "Grand Encounter" or

"2 Degrees East/ 3 Degrees West"?). I guess the true reason I can't find it is that I'm an idiot. And what's "the BFT disc"?

[robviti]

The RCA box set is definitely missing, and understandably so, the first session made by the Desmond-Hall quartet which was originally issued by Warner Brothers.  The CD of that recording has been issued by Discovery under the title EAST OF THE SUN.  Great versions of standards, e.g., "I Get a Kick Out of You"  as well as a version of "2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West".

I bought the Japanese reissue of that date:

The RCA box seems to be getting a few knocks on this thread. I'd be surprised if the sound wasn't an improvement over the earlier Mosaic. I also like the packaging of the RCA - sturdy construction, informative essays, etc. Also, the tracks are laid out so that each cd corresponds with one of the original albums, with additional bonus tracks - a definate plus in my book. Of course, in the past few years the original recordings have been reissued individually by BMG. No matter how you get it, get it! These recordings are wonderful.

Edited March 15, 2004 by jazzshrink

[king ubu]

There's some real nice Jim Hall up to listen here.

Here's the info:

Festival AMR 1999

Jim Hall Trio

Jim Hall g

Scott Colley b

Terry Clarke d

March 4, 1999, Geneva, Switzerland

1. Hide and seek (Hall)

2. Steel blues (Hall)

3. Bon ami (Hall)

4. Painted pig (Hall)

5. Panorama (Hall)

6. Sentimental mood (Ellington)

There's around 4-5 minutes of talking before the concert starts, you can skip that once you have the thing playing with RealPlayer. Of course you can also record it...

ubu

Edited October 22, 2004 by king ubu

[Alon Marcus]

It took me sometime to like him. At first his playing seemed a bit slow for me. I was young and foolish (now I'm not that young!) and preferred more technique like in the playing of George Benson, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass. I still think they are great players but the fact is their playing is denser than Jim's.

A few recommendations had been given previously on the thread and I can only say once again that the recordings with Bill Evans, Art Farmer, Petrucciani ("The power of three"), Desmond and Ron Carter are all great.

Hall contributed immensely to guitar players. Personally I consider him as one of the greatest guitar innovators after Christian and Django (together with Pass and Wes). First of all is his sound: Jim has been always giving this aspect of his playing a special care. Second is his phrasing: in that respect every single guitarist on the scene probably owns him something, especially; Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie and Frisell. Third are his imaginative improvisations that seem to expand the sonic and harmonic possibilities of his instrument. Beautiful lines, extensive use of countermelodies, clusters of sounds (he said he was influenced by Pullen) etc.

My recommendations will be two albums he recorded on Telarc. The first is a duo with Metheny, which contains great playing and compositions by both and the second is his "Dialogues" album with Harrell, Lovano, Frisell and more.

[Aggie87]

So, I've been looking for a Hall CD titled "Something Special" for a while now. It's a 1993 trio recording, with Larry Goldings on piano, and Steve Laspina on bass. Also has a cool cover drawn by Gary Larson

Well, turns out it's a little more difficult to find that I had expected. But a copy finally shows up on half.com for a great price, and I snatched it up last week. The package arrives today, and I tear into it, only to find that it's a Jazz Heritage disc. Meaning the cover is a black & white reproduction of the original art. Wouldn't have been that big a deal, except now that I have something that feels kind of "inferior" it bothers me. I guess in the big scheme of things this isn't tha big a deal, because it's the music that matters, right?

Edited August 2, 2005 by Aggie87