Playing Favorites: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s

[Peter Friedman]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Since I didn't post anything on Tuesday, here's a "off-cycle" update.  

 

Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Sonny Fortune – Waves of Dreams (A&M Horizon, 1976)
Bob Degen – Sequoia Song (Enja, 1976)
Warne Marsh – All Music (Nessa, 1976)
Abdullah Ibrahim – Banyana (Enja, 1976)
Charlie Haden & Hampton Hawes – As Long as There's Music (Artists House, 1978)

Ray Bryant – Here's Ray Bryant (Pablo, 1976)
Pat Metheny – Bright Size Life (ECM, 1976)
Cedar Walton – Eastern Rebellion (Timeless, 1976)
Horace Parlan Trio – No Blues (SteepleChase, 1976)
Warne Marsh & Lee Konitz Quintet – Live at the Montmartre Club: Jazz Exchange, Vols. 1 & 3 (Storyville, 1976)
Woody Shaw – Love Dance (Muse, 1976)
Dave Liebman & Richie Beirach – Forgotten Fantasies (A&M Horizon, 1976) 

 

I tried to write at least a sentence or two about each of these on the blog.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and reactions.  

This list includes at least 6 recordings I like a lot. Warne Marsh - All Music, Charlie Haden & Hampton Hawes, Ray Bryant, Cedar Walton, Horace Parlan & Marsh/ Konitz Quintet 

[HutchFan]

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Vic Dickenson – Plays Bessie Smith: 'Trombone Cholly' (Sonet, 1976)
Martial Solal & Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen – Movability (MPS/PAUSA, 1976)
Archie Shepp – Steam (Enja, 1976)
John Lewis & Helen Merill – John Lewis / Helen Merrill (Mercury, 1977)
Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band – Insights (RCA, 1976)
Teddy Edwards – The Inimitable Teddy Edwards (Xanadu/Elemental, 1976)
Sun Ra & His Arkestra – Live at Montreux (Saturn/Inner City, 1976)

 

A solid batch, I think. 

This week, I was able to provide a few sentences and YT videos for each entry.  Be sure to take a peek at the blog.  

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by HutchFan

[felser]

One of many worthy Archie Shepp recordings from the decade.

[JSngry]

That Teddy Edwards record is a solid pick!

[T.D.]

Live at Montreux is an excellent '70s Ra entry.

[Dan Gould]

I've previously been curious about the Dickenson in the past perhaps It will be more in the front of my mind again ...

[HutchFan]

14 hours ago, T.D. said:

Live at Montreux is an excellent '70s Ra entry.

  It's probably the Sun Ra album that I've played the most over the years.

 

 

8 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

I've previously been curious about the Dickenson in the past perhaps It will be more in the front of my mind again ...

Trombone Cholly is good fun.  It's hard to resist with that front-line -- Vic with Frank Wess and Joe Newman.

 

[Peter Friedman]

On 7/27/2020 at 6:03 PM, JSngry said:

That Teddy Edwards record is a solid pick!

Yes, it is very good!

[HutchFan]

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Jim McNeely Quintet – Rain's Dance (SteepleChase, 1978)
Cal Tjader – Guarabe (Fantasy, 1977)
Enrico Pieranunzi – The Day After the Silence (Edi-Pan/Alfa Music, 1976)
Al Grey – Struttin' and Shoutin' (Columbia, 1983)
Charles Sullivan – Re-Entry (Whynot, 1976)
Onaje Allan Gumbs – Onaje (SteepleChase, 1977)
Joanne Brackeen & Clint Houston – New True Illusion (Timeless, 1976)

 

A passel of killer pianists this week.  Along with the leaders Jim McNeely, Enrico Pieranunzi, Onaje Allan Gumbs, and Joanne Brackeen, you've also got: 
- Clare Fischer on Tjader's Guarabe,
- Ray Bryant on Al Grey's Struttin' and Shoutin', and
- Kenny Barron on Charles Sullivan's Re-Entry. 

Also, I don't care which type of jazz is your sweet spot, do not sleep on that Al Grey LP! 

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by HutchFan

[felser]

That Gumbs album is an underrated treasure, one of my favorite solo piano works.  And that is a good Charles Sullivan (I also really like "Genesis" on Strata-East).

[Dan Gould]

9 hours ago, HutchFan said:

 

Also, I don't care which type of jazz is your sweet spot, do not sleep on that Al Grey LP! 

 

I will second that.

[HutchFan]

 

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Randy Weston - Vishnu Wood Duo – Perspective (Denon, 1977)
Hal Galper Quintet – Reach Out! (SteepleChase/Inner City, 1977)
Jimmy Knepper – Cunningbird (SteepleChase, 1977)
Albert Mangelsdorff, Jaco Pastorius, Alphonse Mouzon – Trilogue: Live! (MPS, 1977)
Arild Andersen – Shimri (ECM, 1977)
Anthony Braxton – Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
Don Pullen – Healing Force (Black Saint, 1976)

 

I'd happily recommend all seven of these to anyone.  But the recordings by Randy Weston, Anthony Braxton and Don Pullen are EXTRA special.  If you haven't heard them, do yourself a favor and check them out.

What say you???

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by HutchFan

[felser]

I love that Randy Weston, and that is my favorite Hal Galper group (and favorite Brecker Bros. for that matter).  All the albums they recorded 1976-1978 are fabulous, and I wouldn't want to have to select one.  Galper was something very very different back then as compared to the craftsman he has been since sometime in the 80's.

[T.D.]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

 

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Randy Weston - Vishnu Wood Duo – Perspective (Denon, 1977)
Hal Galper Quintet – Reach Out! (SteepleChase/Inner City, 1977)
Jimmy Knepper – Cunningbird (SteepleChase, 1977)
Albert Mangelsdorff, Jaco Pastorius, Alphonse Mouzon – Trilogue: Live! (MPS, 1977)
Arild Andersen – Shimri (ECM, 1977)
Anthony Braxton – Dortmund (Quartet) 1977 (hatART, 1991)
Don Pullen – Healing Force (Black Saint, 1976)

 

I'd happily recommend all seven of these to anyone.  But the recordings by Randy Weston, Anthony Braxton and Don Pullen are EXTRA special.  If you haven't heard them, do yourself a favor and check them out.

What say you???

 

I'll vouch for the Pullen, one of the incredible solo albums included in the Black Saint / Soul Note box.

Edited August 9, 2020 by T.D.

[HutchFan]

1 minute ago, T.D. said:

I'll vouch for the Pullen, one of the incredible solo albums included in the Black Saint / Soul Note box.

Yes!  Evidence of Things Unseen and Healing Force are both amazing. 

 

13 minutes ago, felser said:

I love that Randy Weston, and that is my favorite Hal Galper group (and favorite Brecker Bros. for that matter).  All the albums they recorded 1976-1978 are fabulous, and I wouldn't want to have to select one.  Galper was something very very different back then as compared to the craftsman he has been since sometime in the 80's.

Agree with you, felser, regarding that Galper group with the Brecker brothers.  One helluva band!

 

[HutchFan]

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Clark Terry's Big B-A-D Band – Live! At Buddy's Place (Vanguard, 1976)
Bucky Pizzarelli & Bud Freeman – Buck & Bud (Flying Dutchman, 1976)
Carmen McRae – At the Great American Music Hall (Blue Note, 1977)
Richie Kamuca Quartet – Richie (Concord); originally issued as Richard Kamuca Quartet 1976
Irakere – Grupo Irakere (Areito, 1976)
Graciela y Mario – La Botánica (Lamp/Coco, 1976)
Sam Most – Flute Flight (Xanadu, 1977)

 

This week's list might not scream, "Hey, I'm sexy!" -- but hold on.  You just might want to give it another look ... 

- Not one but TWO superb Latin Jazz recordings.  Blazing hot.

- The Carmen McRae is on my short-list of all-time favorite vocal jazz albums. 

- The Pizzarelli/Freeman disc is one of those albums where everything just WORKS.

- That Richie Kamuca LP is probably the best record he ever made.  Anyone who loves Lestorian saxmen NEEDS to hear this.  

- Sam Most?  Sinatra invited Most to his house in Vegas and gave him a gold friggin' flute. ... I'm just sayin'.  

- And Clark Terry?  I l-o-v-e the sound he makes.  He's one of my guys, an Ellingtonian who's close to my heart. 

 

There's some really good stuff here.  Seriously.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

What's your preference for Buddy's Place over Wichita from a few years earlier?

[HutchFan]

54 minutes ago, JSngry said:

What's your preference for Buddy's Place over Wichita from a few years earlier?

The LP from Buddy's just feels more together, more like a nightclub vibe than a festival.  (Not that there's anything wrong with festivals in general or that LP from Wichita specifically.) 

Also, I like the compositions from Buddy's a bit more.

I think picking the LP from Buddy's might have something to do with the rhythm section too.   I think Ronnie Mathews and Victor Sproles sound great here.  (Not that Duke Jordan and Wilber Little are slouches.  Gawd no.  I just prefer Mathews & Sproles in a big band context -- or at least on this LP.)

Also, maybe it's this most of all: I heard and knew the Wichita Festival record for many years, and I got the LP from Buddy's, say, five or six years ago.  When I heard the LP from Buddy's, I was like, "Damn, I think this is even better than Wichita." 

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

Now you've got me curious about being curious...I bought the Wichita album right when it was released, loved it in a flush of infatuation with all things "lab-band"-y (and CT was a HUGE presence on that scene in those days, hell, he came to NT once or twice to recruit/audition for a road band/tour he had before, but got tired of it in about a semester and a half, mostly because of Phil Woods (playing and writing, poor guy, always did his best, but...), but also because Ernie Wilkins' writing has yet to grab me like so many others of his time/place did. Maybe.

But - that's a hella good lineup on your record there, so...maybe I'll look into it.

So let me ask you this - have you ever heard that first record, the one on Etoile? That's one's a club date in NYC also....

 

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

So let me ask you this - have you ever heard that first record, the one on Etoile? That's one's a club date in NYC also....

Nope. I know the LP that you're talking about, but I haven't ever heard it.

I would love to hear it though...

[HutchFan]

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 

Mal Waldron Quintet with Steve Lacy – One-Upmanship (Enja/Inner City, 1977)
Barry Altschul – You Can't Name Your Own Tune (Muse/32 Jazz, 1977)
Tommy Flanagan Trio – Eclypso (Enja/Inner City, 1977)
Count Basie & Dizzy Gillespie – The Gifted Ones (Pablo, 1979)
Gary Peacock – Tales of Another (ECM, 1977)
Art Hodes – Tribute to the Greats (Delmark, 2001)
Mike Wofford – Scott Joplin: Interpretations '76 (Flying Dutchman, 1976)

 

I dig all of these records, but I gotta say ...  If I were to slash my survey of 366 recording to a very short list, One-Upmanship would be on it.

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by HutchFan

[felser]

That's a great Mal Waldron.  No idea how I cold pick just one of his from the decade.  The Peacock is also one of the greatest Keith Jarrett albums, greatly aided by Peacock's writing, opening different vistas for the Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette trio.

[Rabshakeh]

11 hours ago, HutchFan said:

I dig all of these records, but I gotta say ...  If I were to slash my survey of 366 recording to a very short list, One-Upmanship would be on it.

I was looking for an excuse to put this one on...

[JSngry]

11 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Barry Altschul – You Can't Name Your Own Tune (Muse/32 Jazz, 1977)

That's a record of which can honestly be said - there's nothing quite like it, before or since. And it is a great record, a GREAT record.

Most records, you can find a variant of, somehow, somewhere, at least a sort of a variant. But not this one, nope.

I've played the title tune as well, one of THE great "freebop" heads, it give you so much to work with in so many ways.

This records belongs on every list, if it's a list, it should be on it, I don't care what kind of a list it is, grocery list, prayer list, hit list, if it's a list, this record should be on it.

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, felser said:

That's a great Mal Waldron.  No idea how I cold pick just one of his from the decade.  The Peacock is also one of the greatest Keith Jarrett albums, greatly aided by Peacock's writing, opening different vistas for the Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette trio.

"Opening different vistas" ...  Yes, perfect description.  Wish I'd written that.   

 

 

52 minutes ago, JSngry said:

That's a record of which can honestly be said - there's nothing quite like it, before or since. And it is a great record, a GREAT record.

Most records, you can find a variant of, somehow, somewhere, at least a sort of a variant. But not this one, nope.

I've played the title tune as well, one of THE great "freebop" heads, it give you so much to work with in so many ways.

This records belongs on every list, if it's a list, it should be on it, I don't care what kind of a list it is, grocery list, prayer list, hit list, if it's a list, this record should be on it.

I agree!