Jim Hall

[jazzbo]

You know, that has happened to me. . . . I printed out a scanned and sized photo of the cover in color and stuck that in the case. . . . Spruces it up a little bit!

[Jim R]

That definitely would have bothered me too, but it's cool that you at least got your hands on the recording. I can recall seeing that cover before, but never paid very close attention... I've never been too crazy about Hall (though I respect him highly). I've gotten pretty interested in Larry Goldings, though, so I may grab it if it pops up in front of me again.

[Kalo]

Having never been much of a guitar fan (with the exception of Christian and Reinhardt), I first tuned in to Hall on the early-'60s recordings he did with Rollins and Desmond.

The "thinking man's-guitarist."

I've been a fan ever since.

Here's a (relatively) recent review I did for a local rag:

(MUSIC REVIEW)

GUITARIST, BASS PLAYER MAKE AN ENGAGING PAIR

By Kevin Lowenthal, Boston Globe Correspondent | December 4, 2004

CAMBRIDGE -- Guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Dave Holland are two of jazz's finest string players. They have worked over the years with a pantheon of greats, from mainstream icons such as Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis to avant-garde avatars Ornette Coleman and Anthony Braxton. Today they are respected bandleaders in their own right.

On Thursday night at the Real Deal Jazz Club, the two opened a rare three-night stand as a duo, presenting a set of chamber jazz tunes that were alternately thorny and lyrical but always engaging.

To begin, the owlish Hall, slightly hunched over his guitar, plucked a few spare, exploratory chords. His signature muted tone gleamed like a distant bright light on a murky night.

Holland, slim and elegant behind his bass, joined Hall in a speechlike musical dialogue, displaying his rich, woody, centered sound.

A familiar tune emerged as Hall's guitar circled the melody of "My Funny Valentine," the Rodgers and Hart standard. Holland outlined the tune's chords with a bass figure that seemed to skip and run as much as walk. Hall's lines slipped away from the song's center of gravity. Gradually, he switched to ringing chords that became a rhythmic underpinning for a Holland solo -- an impeccable set of variations on the theme.

It was a shifting, mercurial set, as each tune's melody received little more than a peck on the cheek before being left behind. Neither Hall nor Holland settled into the role of soloist or accompanist for long, maintaining a delicately calibrated seesaw of foreground and background.

Hall's "End the Beguine," placed angular, dissonant guitar phrases against a static bass figure. Holland's "Blues for C.M.," dedicated to Charles Mingus, convincingly evoked the metier of that master bassist.

On "All the Things You Are," the Jerome Kern standard that has inspired generations of improvisers, Hall and Holland opened with a loose, uncoordinated gait, then locked into a tight, double-time, swing feel.

On "Ario," Holland's paean to Rio de Janeiro, Hall stated the melody with his patented late-night lyricism, then switched to sweetly dissonant chords while Holland played a beautiful, melodic solo. At times, Hall strummed with so little amplification that the sound of pick against strings became de facto percussion.

The set's final number was Hall's 16-bar blues "Careful." Holland played long, sliding phrases, punctuated by slaps against the fretboard. Hall's theme statement was paradoxically rubbery and angular.

As the two locked in and dug deeper and deeper into the loping beat, their exhilaration was palpable. When the tune came to a skittering halt, Hall maintained his wry deadpan, but Holland's face broke into a wide, satisfied grin.

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

Edited August 2, 2005 by Kalo

[marcello]

This, from Geoffrey Keezer's web site:

Jim Hall & Geoffrey Keezer Duo Recording Project

Jim and I are recording as a duo on June 13-14, 2005 in New York. I love playing duo with Jim - it's an exercise in total freedom and intense communication. In many ways I feel that all of my musical training, on and off the bandstand, has prepared me for collaborations like this. Log in to http://jimhallmusic.com/ to participate in this special ArtistShare project!

Geoffrey Keezer

[Aggie87]

Time for an update. Just got back from a week's vacation in Austin, Killeen (?!), and Houston with the kids, before school starts back up on Monday. Before I left, I had found another copy of "Something Special", online, from a small mom & pop type place in Tuscon.

Ordered it, but while browsing their website, discover that the owner is none other than Harvey Brooks, the bassist who played on Miles' Bitches Brew, Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and the Doors' Soft Parade!

I sent an email to him asking a few questions (like one prompted by his write-up on allmusic.com suggesting he played on Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" single) but haven't received a response yet. Also mentioned I was a big fan of Bitches Brew.

Well, the Hall disc arrived in the mail while I was gone (it's an original, with colored cover unlike the previous Jazz Heritage disc I purchased). And with the disc is a postcard sized picture of Miles Davis, signed by Harvey. Kinda cool!!! The guy who played on "Like a Rolling Stone"!

Edited August 13, 2005 by Aggie87

[Morganized]

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.

←

So if I have this disc(which I do and love) and I get the RCA box, I should have everything. How many discs in the RCA box?

[mikeweil]

This, from Geoffrey Keezer's web site:

Jim Hall & Geoffrey Keezer Duo Recording Project

Jim and I are recording as a duo on June 13-14, 2005 in New York. I love playing duo with Jim - it's an exercise in total freedom and intense communication. In many ways I feel that all of my musical training, on and off the bandstand, has prepared me for collaborations like this. Log in to http://jimhallmusic.com/ to participate in this special ArtistShare project!

Geoffrey Keezer

I have that one - only fault is that it's a bit short ...

[Alon Marcus]

Jim Hall has been my favorite guitarist for a long time.

He builds improvisations in a logical way, but that’s not the thing which makes him so interesting. His playing is full of surprises. He always keeps a feeling of suspense, the feeling of “What will happen now? What is he going to do next? How he intends to use that new idea he just droped into the solo?”

Such 180 degrees plot twists are thrilling.

Most of his phrases are pretty short and simple. I like to count, sometimes, the number of notes players use in a single phrase and use my fingers for that purpose. With some people you need both your hands and legs and other unusual organs. Hall’s inventivness with only three or four notes is amazing. He plays those notes, then approaches them from a different note, plays them with a different rhythm. It’s so simple one wonders what makes so many musicians play fast and pale technical lines.

Jim Hall is also the “father” of modern guitar. More than other guitarists I think. Actually it will be interesting to analyze the genetics of guitar playing. In my opinion two main branches of that tree grow from Wes Montgomery (with Benson afterwards) and Jim Hall.

I like his recordings with Ron Carter.

Right now I’m listening to the “Complete Recordings of the Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall”.

Edited August 11, 2007 by Alon Marcus

[paul secor]

Jim Hall has been my favorite guitarist for a long time.

He builds improvisations in a logical way, but that’s not the thing which makes him so interesting. His playing is full of surprises. He always keeps a feeling of suspense, the feeling of “What will happen now? What is he going to do next? How he intends to use that new idea he just droped into the solo?”

Such 180 degrees plot twists are thrilling.

Most of his phrases are pretty short and simple, compraised from few notes. I like to count, sometimes, the number of notes players use in a single phrase and use my fingers for that purpose. With some people you need both your hands and legs and other unusual organs. Hall’s inventivness with only three or four notes is amazing. He plays those notes, then approaches them from a different note, plays them with a different rhythm. It’s so simple one wonders what makes so many musicians play fast and pale technical lines.

Jim Hall is also the “father” of modern guitar. More than other guitarists I think. Actually it will be interesting to analyze the genetics of guitar playing. In my opinion two main branches of that tree grow from Wes Montgomery (with Benson afterwards) and Jim Hall.

I like his recordings with Ron Carter.

Right now I’m listening to the “Complete Recordings of the Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall”.

Whatever one's opinion of Jim Hall, I think you might get more than a few differing opinions about him being the "'father' of modern guitar."

[Alon Marcus]

Jim Hall has been my favorite guitarist for a long time.

He builds improvisations in a logical way, but that’s not the thing which makes him so interesting. His playing is full of surprises. He always keeps a feeling of suspense, the feeling of “What will happen now? What is he going to do next? How he intends to use that new idea he just droped into the solo?”

Such 180 degrees plot twists are thrilling.

Most of his phrases are pretty short and simple, compraised from few notes. I like to count, sometimes, the number of notes players use in a single phrase and use my fingers for that purpose. With some people you need both your hands and legs and other unusual organs. Hall’s inventivness with only three or four notes is amazing. He plays those notes, then approaches them from a different note, plays them with a different rhythm. It’s so simple one wonders what makes so many musicians play fast and pale technical lines.

Jim Hall is also the “father” of modern guitar. More than other guitarists I think. Actually it will be interesting to analyze the genetics of guitar playing. In my opinion two main branches of that tree grow from Wes Montgomery (with Benson afterwards) and Jim Hall.

I like his recordings with Ron Carter.

Right now I’m listening to the “Complete Recordings of the Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall”.

Whatever one's opinion of Jim Hall, I think you might get more than a few differing opinions about him being the "'father' of modern guitar."

It could be a nice thread.

[7/4]

Time for me to dig my ears in and check it all out. I own a bunch of Jim Hall, but never really got into it.

dB

[medjuck]

The Jim Hall/Bill Frissell collaboration is now available from Artists Choice. I pre-ordered it as a download so I'd get it right away. Like it a lot. Sort of wish I'd been more patient and waited for the hard copy.

[six string]

I've been slowly acquiring a taste for Jim Hall's albums over the recent years. Most of the reasons for trying is that I love his playing with Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, John Lewis and Chico Hamilton to name a few. I don't listen to many jazz guitarists and I prefer Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, early Wes Montgomery and whether he is jazzy or not, Bill Frissell. I did pick this one up a few months ago because it was made with the same rhythm section as the Paul Desmond albums from the same venue which I love.

It's good but I think some of his subtlety is lost on me for some reason and I play guitar, though not jazz.

Based on the artists I mentioned above that Hall plays with, which of his albums would be recomended for me to try. I know he's a good guitarist and I like most of what I hear by him but some of his stuff, especially in a trio or duo setting bores me silly. That album he did with Pat Metheny was snoozeville imo. I could not get into that one at all.

The John Lewis album, 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West is a favorite album of mine and Jim Hall is one of the reasons. His playing with John Lewis is exquisite. All of those albums with Paul Desmond are classics to me as well as those he did with Sonny Rollins.

[.:.impossible]

I recently got Hollywood & Newport Live under the Jimmy Giuffre Three.

Half of the record is

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax); Jim Hall (guitar); Ralph Pena (bass)

The other half is

Jimmy Giuffre (clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax); Jim Hall (guitar); Bob Brookmeyer (trombone)

Really fantastic stuff.

I don't have that much Jim Hall, but I really love what I have.

[BillF]

I've been slowly acquiring a taste for Jim Hall's albums over the recent years. Most of the reasons for trying is that I love his playing with Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, John Lewis and Chico Hamilton to name a few. I don't listen to many jazz guitarists and I prefer Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, early Wes Montgomery and whether he is jazzy or not, Bill Frissell. I did pick this one up a few months ago because it was made with the same rhythm section as the Paul Desmond albums from the same venue which I love.

It's good but I think some of his subtlety is lost on me for some reason and I play guitar, though not jazz.

Based on the artists I mentioned above that Hall plays with, which of his albums would be recomended for me to try. I know he's a good guitarist and I like most of what I hear by him but some of his stuff, especially in a trio or duo setting bores me silly. That album he did with Pat Metheny was snoozeville imo. I could not get into that one at all.

The John Lewis album, 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West is a favorite album of mine and Jim Hall is one of the reasons. His playing with John Lewis is exquisite. All of those albums with Paul Desmond are classics to me as well as those he did with Sonny Rollins.

Jim Hall takes a sensationally swinging solo on "Stompin' at the Savoy" from The Art Farmer Quartet Featuring Jim Hall: Live at the Half Note (Atlantic). Trouble is, this record seems to be something of a rarity now.

Edited December 22, 2008 by BillF

[AndrewHill]

The two Hall discs that I have (Jazz Guitar and Its Nice to be With You) are quite good. A friend of mine had Concierto and I dug that quite a bit too. I also really like him with Rollins and Mulligan (Night Lights) as well. The Telarcs though, frankly, have bored me to tears and I have sold them all. I think the thing with Hall is that he has a flawless technique and there is very little variation to his technique and style, and that's why I dig the stuff I have, and have little desire to seek out more.

[six string]

The two Hall discs that I have (Jazz Guitar and Its Nice to be With You) are quite good. A friend of mine had Concierto and I dug that quite a bit too. I also really like him with Rollins and Mulligan (Night Lights) as well. The Telarcs though, frankly, have bored me to tears and I have sold them all. I think the thing with Hall is that he has a flawless technique and there is very little variation to his technique and style, and that's why I dig the stuff I have, and have little desire to seek out more.

I think you make a good point here. I get a little bored when technique becomes very noticeable and doesn't seem to leave the spotlight. Also, I forgot that I have Cocnierto too and really like it. It's one of the few CTI albums I do like.

[fasstrack]

Sure would like to hear your opinions of his work as a leader and as a sideman, or anything else "JH-related".

Jim---no secret---is a great listener. He figures out, as accompanist, what the leader (or whoever he's supporting) needs and gives that. If someone like Paul Desmond or Art Farmer wants the chord first he'll play the chord first. If Sonny Rollins wants to lead and be in the moment he will stay out of the way and respond only when a response is musically required. This is, I believe, why so many people have wanted to work with him over the years. He just makes it so easy and so little has to be explained.

The secret of his soloing IMO is that he has great time. Listen to any example of him playing 4/4 and you can hear where his soloing comes from. He's right out of the swing era and adds harmonically as he hears things.

Then there is his quietness--increasingly rare these days---and the motific development---also increasingly rare.

[BillF]

Hall's work with Rollins on The Bridge is superb: comping, suggesting harmonic directions, adding tone colour.

There's also something of a Jim Hall school of guitarists. Britain's Dave Cliff is clearly influenced by him, as is probably Canada's Ed Bickert

[AndrewHill]

Hall's work with Rollins on The Bridge is superb: comping, suggesting harmonic directions, adding tone colour.

In total agreement. In fact, I think I like Hall more as a contributor than as leader, I think in that context, is where Hall gets interesting.

[7/4]

If you don't have this one, it needs to be on your short list! It's a fantastic live trio recording from 1976, and was released on CD for the first time last year (Verve mini-LP). I don't have all that many of his recordings as a leader, but this one is my favorite.

And don't forget his fantastic CTI recording, Concierto, with Chet Baker & Paul Desmond!

I finally got that last week, so I've been listening to it quite a bit.

[RiRiIII]

Agree! I just received and listened to the CTI Cd "Big Blues" with Art Farmer: MARVELOUS!! I really enjoyed it a lot. Highly recommended.

Long Live Jim Hall

Alex

I've been listening to a lot of Jim Hall recently. All of it quite by accident, since none of the dates have been under his name. I'm constantly amazed by the beauty of his solo lines, and the uniqueness of his accompaniment. The guy has that "Midas Touch". Sure would like to hear your opinions of his work as a leader and as a sideman, or anything else "JH-related".

P.S. Just finished listening to Without A Song from Sonny Rollin's The Bridge. That song sums up everything about Jim Hall that I like, better than any words could ever say. Give it a spin if it's been awhile.

[Aggie87]

If you don't have this one, it needs to be on your short list! It's a fantastic live trio recording from 1976, and was released on CD for the first time last year (Verve mini-LP). I don't have all that many of his recordings as a leader, but this one is my favorite.

And don't forget his fantastic CTI recording, Concierto, with Chet Baker & Paul Desmond!

I finally got that last week, so I've been listening to it quite a bit.

Glad you finally got that, 5 years later!

[Free For All]

I recently acquired this one and have been enjoying it.

[7/4]

If you don't have this one, it needs to be on your short list! It's a fantastic live trio recording from 1976, and was released on CD for the first time last year (Verve mini-LP). I don't have all that many of his recordings as a leader, but this one is my favorite.

And don't forget his fantastic CTI recording, Concierto, with Chet Baker & Paul Desmond!

I finally got that last week, so I've been listening to it quite a bit.

Glad you finally got that, 5 years later!

This what happens when I read a thread from the beginning.