More Favorites: Reflections on Jazz in the 1980s

[HutchFan]

Here are my posts for the last two weeks:

- Leandro "Gato" Barbieri - Gato... Para Los Amigos!! (Doctor Jazz/CBS Special Products, 1983)
- Billy Bang Quintet - Rainbow Gladiator (Soul Note, 1981)
- The Ballad Artistry of Buddy Tate featuring the Ed Bickert Trio (Sackville, 1982)

- David Friedman - Of the Wind's Eye (Enja, 1981)
- Art Pepper Quartet - APQ: The Maiden Voyage Sessions, Vol. 3 (Galaxy, 1984)
- Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan - Spirit Within (Elektra Musician, 1982)

No commentary for any of these on the blog. ...  Not enough gas in the tank in the tank lately.  In a dry patch.  

Maybe I'll get 'round to them at some point.

 

[Rabshakeh]

2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Here are my posts for the last two weeks:

- Leandro "Gato" Barbieri - Gato... Para Los Amigos!! (Doctor Jazz/CBS Special Products, 1983)
- Billy Bang Quintet - Rainbow Gladiator (Soul Note, 1981)
- The Ballad Artistry of Buddy Tate featuring the Ed Bickert Trio (Sackville, 1982)

- David Friedman - Of the Wind's Eye (Enja, 1981)
- Art Pepper Quartet - APQ: The Maiden Voyage Sessions, Vol. 3 (Galaxy, 1984)
- Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan - Spirit Within (Elektra Musician, 1982)

No commentary for any of these on the blog. ...  Not enough gas in the tank in the tank lately.  In a dry patch.  

Maybe I'll get 'round to them at some point.

 

What's the Gato?

[HutchFan]

15 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

What's the Gato?

A 2-LP live album with (among others) Edy Martinez, Bernard Purdie, and Guillerme Franco.  It has a "pre-A&M" vibe.

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

Back with ,Bob Thiele, right?

[HutchFan]

29 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Back with ,Bob Thiele, right?

Yep. On Thiele's Doctor Jazz label.

 

[felser]

It's a really good album.

[danasgoodstuff]

Why this particular Art Pepper album, as opposed to any other he did in this period?

[HutchFan]

14 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:

Why this particular Art Pepper album, as opposed to any other he did in this period?

dana - It's just one of those records that works perfectly as an "album," a very satisfying listening experience.  Back in the day, there were three LPs released from the Maiden Voyage sessions.  Roadgame was the first, the only one issued while Pepper was still living.  (It was also the first one that I heard.)  Art Lives was the second, and APQ was the third.   All three of them are excellent, IMO.  And I love the band -- and it is a band -- with George Cables, David Williams, and Carl Burnett. 

I suppose it's odd that I'm most drawn to the third release.  Most of the time, the earliest issues from a gig are the best.  When I was making my selections for this project, I went back to the first two volumes to double-check my impressions.  Listening again re-affirmed my initial choice.  APQ is my favorite.

Art Lives and APQ have never been issued on CD -- but the recordings are all available on the Galaxy box set, and Craft/Concord has issued "The Complete Maiden Voyage Sessions" as downloads.  So folks can easily create a playlist if they don't spin vinyl.

Even though Pepper died in June 1982, he made some really wonderful records the last 2.5 years of his life.  I could have easily chosen several other releases.  Laurie Pepper's releases on Widow's Taste are excellent -- especially the Ronnie Scott's gig with Milcho Leviev.  Winter Moon.  One September Afternoon. The duo records with George Cables.  I dig it all. 

But, if I had to pick ONE...

 

EDIT:
If anyone would like to give it a listen, I just made an APQ: The Maiden Voyage Sessions, Vol. 3 playlist on YouTube.  I noticed that these cuts are longer than the versions released on LP.  I assume that they were edited to accomodate LP time constraints.  So this playlist is APQ "Uncut."   

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by HutchFan

[kh1958]

On 2/27/2022 at 10:37 PM, HutchFan said:

- Art Pepper Quartet - APQ: The Maiden Voyage Sessions, Vol. 3 (Galaxy, 1984)
- Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan - Spirit Within (Elektra Musician, 1982)

 

For a couple of years, Elektra Musician was a very good label. Their new releases were something to look forward to.

Art Pepper and Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan were artists I really wish I had been able to see live in this era, but I never had the opportunity

[Peter Friedman]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:37 PM, HutchFan said:

Here are my posts for the last two weeks:

-
- The Ballad Artistry of Buddy Tate featuring the Ed Bickert Trio (Sackville, 1982)

-

No commentary for any of these on the blog. ...  Not enough gas in the tank in the tank lately.  In a dry patch.  

Maybe I'll get 'round to them at some point.

 

This is the one from the recent selections that I most enjoy. Buddy Tate blends perfectly with the great Ed Bickert Trio.

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, kh1958 said:

For a couple of years, Elektra Musician was a very good label. Their new releases were something to look forward to.

Yeah, I agree.  Woody Shaw.  The Lenny White-produced Griffith Park Collection LPs.  The Bill Evans recordings from Paris.  Lots of interesting stuff for a short while there. 

I understand that it all went out the window when Lundvall left for Blue Note.

 

2 hours ago, kh1958 said:

Art Pepper and Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan were artists I really wish I had been able to see live in this era, but I never had the opportunity

I never had that chance to see them live either.    ... OTOH, at least we have the records. 

 

29 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

This is the one from the recent selections that I most enjoy. Buddy Tate blends perfectly with the great Ed Bickert Trio.

Yes, it's a felicitous pairing for sure.  

 

[danasgoodstuff]

6 hours ago, HutchFan said:

dana - It's just one of those records that works perfectly as an "album," a very satisfying listening experience.  Back in the day, there were three LPs released from the Maiden Voyage sessions.  Roadgame was the first, the only one issued while Pepper was still living.  (It was also the first one that I heard.)  Art Lives was the second, and APQ was the third.   All three of them are excellent, IMO.  And I love the band -- and it is a band -- with George Cables, David Williams, and Carl Burnett. 

I suppose it's odd that I'm most drawn to the third release.  Most of the time, the earliest issues from a gig are the best.  When I was making my selections for this project, I went back to the first two volumes to double-check my impressions.  Listening again re-affirmed my initial choice.  APQ is my favorite.

Art Lives and APQ have never been issued on CD -- but the recordings are all available on the Galaxy box set, and Craft/Concord has issued "The Complete Maiden Voyage Sessions" as downloads.  So folks can easily create a playlist if they don't spin vinyl.

Even though Pepper died in June 1982, he made some really wonderful records the last 2.5 years of his life.  I could have easily chosen several other releases.  Laurie Pepper's releases on Widow's Taste are excellent -- especially the Ronnie Scott's gig with Milcho Leviev.  Winter Moon.  One September Afternoon. The duo records with George Cables.  I dig it all. 

But, if I had to pick ONE...

 

EDIT:
If anyone would like to give it a listen, I just made an APQ: The Maiden Voyage Sessions, Vol. 3 playlist on YouTube.  I noticed that these cuts are longer than the versions released on LP.  I assume that they were edited to accomodate LP time constraints.  So this playlist is APQ "Uncut."   

 

I have the Galaxy box, so I tend to think of the live recordings of that band as all one thing.  If I was making a jazz albums of the '80s list there would be some Pepper, but I'm not sure which I'd go with - maybe the duets with Cables.

[HutchFan]

On 2/28/2022 at 4:12 PM, danasgoodstuff said:

I have the Galaxy box, so I tend to think of the live recordings of that band as all one thing.  If I was making a jazz albums of the '80s list there would be some Pepper, but I'm not sure which I'd go with - maybe the duets with Cables.

I wouldn't argue with that.  I think those two LPs are great.   

 

[Gheorghe]

Galaxy is somehow a strange label. There were a lot out then in the late 70s, it was the comeback of Griffin, it was Red Garland, and I think some stuff recorded in Japan, something like Galaxy Allstars. A lot of Art Pepper, but I don´t remember if the individual LPs made it into CD. I could purchase a CD  "Return of the Griffin" for expensive money but boxes are not my ideal choice since I seldom listen to the whole output of an artist. I had a 1979 Art Pepper in Japan with George Cables, Tony Dumas and Billy Higgins, and bought two Widow´s taste, I think Londra 1981 and Stuttgard 1981 becauses I wanted to hear how he´s interpretation of "Your´s my Heart Only" from Lehár Ferenc, and it was helpful, they played it as a bossa, and I used it when we were booked for a wedding where they wanted a jazz combo. So we started with "Your´s my Heart Only" fitting to the event...

[felser]

Galaxy was trying to sell mainstream jazz in the late 70s, a tough push.  I thought Keepnews did a nice job with the label.  Seems like most of the albums came out on Fantasy OJC series CD's in the 80s and 90s.

[JSngry]

The name "Galaxy" was previously that of an old R&B label that Fantasy owned. I have a 45 by Little Johnny Taylor on that label.

But here, let the professional web tell the story!

https://www.discogs.com/label/33126-Galaxy

Like its parent company Fantasy, Galaxy was named after a science-fiction magazine. The label led three lives...twice as a jazz label and once as an R&B label. It was launched in 1951 as a vehicle for jazz recordings but ceased activity after a handful of 78-RPM releases by Cal Tjader, Vido Musso, and others.

Galaxy was revived in 1961 to issue two 45s by a gospel group known as the Apollos but then switched its focus to rhythm and blues under the A&R direction of producer Cliff Goldsmith and arranger Ray Shanklin. Of the many R&B artists who appeared on Galaxy between 1962 and 1973 including Charles Brown, Bill Coday, Rodger Collins and Big Mama Thornton; blues singer Little Johnny Taylor was the most successful artist as his 1963 recording of "Part Time Love" rose to Number 1 on Billboard's R&B chart.

Galaxy sprang to life again five years later in 1977 as a jazz label with a roster that included Tommy Flanagan, Red Garland, Johnny Griffin, Hank Jones, and Art Pepper; the label has been dormant outside reissues and Bill Evans archive material since the mid-Eighties.

 

[HutchFan]

Don't overlook the two superb Ira Sullivan LPs on Galaxy!  with Billy Higgins.

[Rabshakeh]

Missing the write ups and recommendations this week.

[HutchFan]

On 3/3/2022 at 2:45 AM, Rabshakeh said:

Missing the write ups and recommendations this week.

This week's set:

 - Joanne Brackeen - Special Identity (Antilles, 1982)
 - Paquito D'Rivera - Mariel (Columbia, 1982)
 - Odean Pope - Almost Like Me (Moers, 1982)

I've haven't posted these to the blog yet.  I plan to do it tomorrow or Sunday.  So this is a "preview."   

 

[JSngry]

That Odean thing is one for the ages, not just the 80s!!!!!

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

 - Odean Pope - Almost Like Me (Moers, 1982)

Gerald Veasley + Cornell Rochester brewing up a storm ....

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

That Odean thing is one for the ages, not just the 80s!!!!!

I agree.

An interesting thing: Around this same time, Sam Rivers was moving in similar sorta directions with electric instruments (definitely NOT fusion, for those who haven't heard it) -- for example, "Crosscurrent": Live At Jazz Unité on Blue Marge. ...  But I think Odean's trio as heard on Almost Like Me is much more powerful. 

... All influenced more or less by Ornette's harmolodic thing, I suppose.

I'm thinking too of Blood Ulmer (with Blythe & George Adams), Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Lonnie Plaxico, et al.  A definite thing in the 80s. 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by HutchFan

[mjazzg]

54 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I agree.

An interesting thing: Around this same time, Sam Rivers was moving in similar sorta directions with electric instruments (definitely NOT fusion, for those who haven't heard it) -- for example, "Crosscurrent": Live At Jazz Unité on Blue Marge. ...  But I think Odean's trio as heard on Almost Like Me is much more powerful. 

... All influenced more or less by Ornette's harmolodic thing, I suppose.

I'm thinking too of Blood Ulmer with Blythe & George Adams, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Lonnie Plaxico, et al.  A definite thing in the 80s. 

 

Interesting thoughts.  Coincidentally I listened to two LPs today from the 80s, both with electric bass players which took me right back to that decade.  Both also on Moers

and they made me think of The Decoding Society.  These are bands that I was coming across when I was first listening to Jazz.

Edited March 4, 2022 by mjazzg

[JSngry]

Can't understand the Odean thing without also knowing Catalyst. Didn't always make the best records, but the ideas/concepts were always there.

[Gheorghe]

12 hours ago, HutchFan said:

This week's set:

 - Joanne Brackeen - Special Identity (Antilles, 1982)
 - Paquito D'Rivera - Mariel (Columbia, 1982)
 - Odean Pope - Almost Like Me (Moers, 1982)

I've haven't posted these to the blog yet.  I plan to do it tomorrow or Sunday.  So this is a "preview."   

 

I saw them all live at one or the other occasion, Joanne with Joe Henderson, Paquito with a Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Odean Pope several times with Max Roach....