Best Three Sounds Album

[Peter Friedman]

I have never been a fan of the Three Sounds. Their trio albums never were appealing to me. I do like the session with Stanley Turrentine. The funny thing is that I do like the most of the Gene Harris recordings he made for Concord.

Thought I might like to give the Three Sounds another try. Which of their trio albums would you most highly recommend?

[Shrdlu]

I like all of their 1958-1962 recordings for Blue Note. My favorite is "Moods", from June 28, 1960.

And I want to hear all of their unissued tracks from that period. There are about three CDs worth.

[Holy Ghost]

1 hour ago, Shrdlu said:

I like all of their 1958-1962 recordings for Blue Note. My favorite is "Moods", from June 28, 1960.

And I want to hear all of their unissued tracks from that period. There are about three CDs worth.

Fair. A "best of" would do me fine. And to explain, I've owned several cd's from the period mentioned above, and one kinda sounds like another. My opinion, of course. 

[Rabshakeh]

I like the 3 Sounds a lot. A big fat wide swing. I'd go with the highly original choice of Introducing... as my favourite.

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, Shrdlu said:

I like all of their 1958-1962 recordings for Blue Note. My favorite is "Moods", from June 28, 1960.

And I want to hear all of their unissued tracks from that period. There are about three CDs worth.

I'd second Shrdlu's recommendation, especially given Peter's stated enjoyment of the Blue Hour disc. There are several tracks on this that are similarly down-tempo. Aside from that one, Feelin Good and Here We Come also get strong thumbs up here.

Note: The domestic CD of Black Orchid is strong and also good value - something like six additional tracks added.

Note:  You might want to edit your Topic to "Best" not "Beat".

[Rabshakeh]

Gene Harris really was quite magical. 

[Peter Friedman]

Thanks for the recommendations.

[JSngry]

Architecture!

My favorite single track by them, period, still, now, probably forever. No, the entire album's not like this. But this is the album it's on.

[Brad]

I’m a big fan, even tried to get Michael Cuscuna to do a Mosaic, and I’d go with Moods although I also like Good Deal.

If you like Blue Hour, you might like LD + 3 

[Shrdlu]

For me, the session with Lou Donaldson destroys the concept. It is very nice, but it becomes Lou Donaldson with a rhythm section. It is also not on a par with Lou's own sessions of that era, with Herman Foster, Horace Parlan and Baby Face Willette.

[Brad]

The concept of them alone? True but then what about Blue Hour?

[Holy Ghost]

4 hours ago, Brad said:

The concept of them alone? True but then what about Blue Hour?

Sleeper. Up there with Grant Green's Am I Blue, yawn. 

[Gheorghe]

9 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

I have never been a fan of the Three Sounds. Their trio albums never were appealing to me. I do like the session with Stanley Turrentine. The funny thing is that I do like the most of the Gene Harris recordings he made for Concord.

Thought I might like to give the Three Sounds another try. Which of their trio albums would you most highly recommend?

Exactly like me. Never was a fan of them, since I always thought a standard type piano trio is a step back during a time where things start happening.... away from the old hard bop clichés , slowly opening up things like McLean or Hubbard or Shorter would do. 
But I have the LD+3 and think I listened 2 or 3 times to it when I wanted just to have some fun with some easy music.
The thing I don´t really like on trios like this is the lesser implication of the drums and the bass also. Just timekeepers don´t make me happy, especially on drums....but also on bass. So you have a high and mighty piano player and two supporting musicians......

[mhatta]

Maybe a bit of an oddball (and obscure), but I always like Anita O'Day and the Three Sounds.  I guess it was a kind of rush job (I think it was her last for Verve), but Anita is in a good shape and the accompaniment by the 3 Sounds is simple and superb.  There are also very swinging trio tracks (better than most of Blue Note's, IMHO), too.

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by mhatta

[soulpope]

36 minutes ago, mhatta said:

Maybe a bit of an oddball (and obscure), but I always like Anita O'Day and the Three Sounds.  I guess it was a kind of rush job (I think it was her last for Verve), but Anita is in a good shape and the accompaniment by the 3 Sounds is simple and superb.  There are also very swinging trio tracks (better than most of Blue Note's, IMHO), too.

Good call ....

[Milestones]

In 4 decades of being a jazz lover, I have never really explored The Three Sounds.  I've had the feeling that they were too light--the usual accusation, it would seem.  Like most, I am attracted to music with more fire and originality.   But I have done some listening this morning, and I find there is a nice grooving and joyous feel to the music.  Plus they recorded some Randy Weston pieces.

   

Edited January 12, 2022 by Milestones

[JSngry]

Coldwater Flat with Oliver Nelson is another favorite of mine.

 

[Rabshakeh]

13 minutes ago, Milestones said:

nice grooving and joyous feel to the music. 

Sometimes this is what you need.

[Milestones]

In 4 decades of being a jazz lover, I have never really explored The Three Sounds.  I've had the feeling that they were too light--the usual accusation, it would seem.  Like most, I am attracted to music with more fire and originality.   But I have done some listening this morning, and I find there is nice grooving and joyous feel to the music.  Plus they sometimes recorded Randy Weston pieces.

   

[Dan Gould]

25 minutes ago, Milestones said:

 But I have done some listening this morning, and I find there is a nice grooving and joyous feel to the music.  

   

 

11 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

Sometimes this is what you need.

Indeed.  And while albums may sound alike, I think that's more a testament to their consistency and simpatico feel among the members, honed by years on the road.  

For me The Three Sounds function as high-level jazz as well as "pleasant" background jazz.  Like Houston Person's many HighNote CDs, this is legit jazz that can be played at a gathering with non-jazz fans.

[JSngry]

I get the unenthusiastic statements about "sameness", but it's a superficial sameness. Like any piano trio (as opposed to a pianist with accompaniment) worth a damn, they were all about arrangement, architecture, not simply solos. I have a lot of their stuff on LP, and a serious listen to one side of any given LP is, if you really listen, very satisfying.

It's not unlike Ahmad Jamal's trios in this regard, although, of course functioning with a totally different polarity. It's true trio music.

[Dub Modal]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It's true trio music

Indeed. The mind-meld, coming together as one organism type thing. They play together and with feeling and you can hear that, and feel it yourself. Good stuff. 

[Peter Friedman]

Just played the Three Sounds session "Moods" recommended by many on this thread.

What it reminded me of the most were many of the trio dates by Red Garland. Pleasant music, easy to listen to, but lacking (for me) the musical depth I hear from many other piano trio recordings.

When I think about the many piano trio CDs in my collection by (for example) Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant, John Hicks, Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, Hank Jones, Steve Kuhn, Barry Harris and Jimmy Rowles, to name just a few, the Three Sounds album is at a much lower level.

Of course, just my opinion, yours may differ. 

[Dan Gould]

22 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

Just played the Three Sounds session "Moods" recommended by many on this thread.

What it reminded me of the most were many of the trio dates by Red Garland. Pleasant music, easy to listen to, but lacking (for me) the musical depth I hear from many other piano trio recordings.

When I think about the many piano trio CDs in my collection by (for example) Kenny Barron, Ray Bryant, John Hicks, Tommy Flanagan, George Cables, Hank Jones, Steve Kuhn, Barry Harris and Jimmy Rowles, to name just a few, the Three Sounds album is at a much lower level.

Of course, just my opinion, yours may differ. 

From your list Peter I would think that you are more interested in boppish to post-bop trios, but that really leaves me wondering what Ray Bryant has that Gene doesn't.

But as you say to each their own.

[Peter Friedman]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

From your list Peter I would think that you are more interested in boppish to post-bop trios, but that really leaves me wondering what Ray Bryant has that Gene doesn't.

But as you say to each their own.

Dan, you may recall that I said that I liked most of the Gene Harris albums on Concord quite a lot. My sense is that the Three Sounds albums were much more arranged with more restrained and less creative solos by Gene as compared with his playing on the Concord recordings.