Jump to content

BFT 243 - Reveal


Recommended Posts

Thanks everyone for taking the time to listen and weigh in with your thoughts and guesses. Here's the reveal for these tracks. Of note, some of these tracks can be found on earlier pressings, but here I'm including the albums that I pulled the songs from: 

Primary

1. Tabu - Complete Roost Recordings Disc 3, March 1952
Bass - Eddie Safranski
Drums - Don Lamond
Guitar - Johnny Smith
Piano - Sanford Gold
Ts - Stan Getz

I love the slow, tense intro to set things up and how Johnny Smith launches into his solo. And then when Getz comes in he wastes no time. This one was fully ID'd very early on which I thought it might be. But I loved it as an opener. 

Primary

2. It Had to Be You - Edmond Hall Quartet with Teddy Wilson, July 1944
Bass - Billy Taylor
Clarinet - Edmond Hall
Drums - Arthur Trappier
PIano - Teddy Wilson

I love Edmond Hall. Probably my favorite clarinet player to listen to. He plays all over the horn with a lot of soul. Teddy bring so much to the table here too, so I had to include it. 

Primary

3. Yellow Fire - Earl Hines & His Orchestra Sessions Disc 7, August 1941
Alto Sax - Leroy Harris
Arranged by Franz Jackson
Bass - Truck Parham
Clarinet/Alto sax - Scoops Carey
Clarinet/ts/alto - Willie Randall
Drums - Rudy Traylor
Guitar - Hurley Ramey
Piano - Earl Hines
Trombone - Joe McLewis, George Hunt, John Ewing
Trumpet - Freddie Webster, Harry Pee Wee Jackson, Tommy Enoch
Trumpet/bari sax/alto sax - George Dixon

Lively, and to me an interesting arrangement and composition esp as the woodwinds answer the brass in the beginning. The song just doesn't let up. 

Primary

4. I Ain't Gonna give Nobody None of my Jelly Roll - Eddie Condon & His Band, Nov 1939
clarinet - Pee Wee Russell
Cornet - Max Kaminsky
Bass - Arite Shapiro
Drums - George Wettling
Guitar - Eddie Condon
Piano - Joe Bushkin
Valve Trombone - Brad Gowans

Pee Wee is the star of course, and the main draw for this song, although credit due to Kaminsky & Gowans as well for playing off e/o & Pee Wee. Trademark Wettling percussion is here as well. 

Primary

5. Red Wing - George Lewis Quartet - Jazz in the Classic New Orleans Tradition, Sept 1953
Banjo - Lawrence Marrero
Bass - Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau
Clarinet - George Lewis
Piano - Lester Santiago

I'm guessing George Lewis wrote this but I'm not 100% sure on that. It's simple, and as @mjzee stated, the rhythm section is archaic. No drummer is credited on this tune, so the rhythm is carried by the banjo, bass and piano, of which Santiago plays in a percussive style. Recorded post-war, with roots much older than that. 
 

Primary

6. Before & After - Muhal Richard Abrams Think All, Focus One, July 1994
Bass - Brad Jones
Drums - Reggie Nicholson
Guitar - David Gilmore
Piano - Muhal Richard Abrams
Tenor sax/Bass clarinet - Eugene Ghee
Trombone - Alfred Patterson
Trumpet - Eddie Allen

There's a lot going on in this tune, and I prefer to listen with headphones on. The non-Pink Floyd David Gilmore does some really interesting things on the guitar, and the various components fit together really nicely. If you didn't like this one so much, I recommend trying it with good speakers/headphones to bring out more. 

Primary

7. Annotations of the Muses Part 3, Johnny Richards, 1955
Bass - Jack Lesberg
Bassoon - Harold P. Goltzer
Clarinet - Vincent J. Abato
Conductor/Composer - Johnny Richards
Flute - Julius Baker
French Horn - John R. Barrows
Guitar - Johnny Smith
Oboe - Robert Bloom
Timpani/Drums - Sol Gubin
Trumpet - Joe Wilder

I bought this early on in my jazz listening and had no idea what to do with it after a brief listening session. This stuff falls way outside of what I like to listen to, but I revisit stuff like that every now and then to see if I can pick up something from the music. After spending some time with this set, there's a lot to like. However, there's stuff around the good parts that can try a modern listener's patience. This is one of those tunes. The meat of the song to me is when Johnny Smith comes in at 2:04 and for about a minute shit gets really good. Joe Wilder's solo is fantastic and Lesberg tears it up. To me, it was worth trying this again to hear that part. 

Primary

8. Prancing - Collin Walcott Cloud Dance, March 1975
Bass - Dave Holland
Tabla - Collin Walcott

Here's the ECM representation. Tabla & bass duet from Dave Holland and Collin Walcott. It's a great groove and well recorded. The whole album is excellent but I dig this track as a standout. 

Primary

9. La Garrone - Medeski, Martin & Wood, Notes From the Underground, Dec 1991/Jan 1992
Drums - Billy Martin
Bass - Chris Wood
Piano - John Medeski

Here's the mystery track. A friend of mine who recently got into jazz hipped me to this record and song, which is the only one in Medeski, Martin & Wood's discography where Medeski plays only acoustic piano. I think it showcases their serious chops and is very well done. It was well regarded by most of you and hopefully you're a little surprised about the source. 

Primary

10. Tough Truckin' - Duke Ellington Sextet, The Duke's Men: Small Groups Vol 1, disc 1, March 1935
Bari sax - Harry Carney
Bass - Billy Taylor/Wellman Braud
Cornet - Rex Stewart
Soprano/Alto sax - Johnny Hodges
piano - Duke Ellington

I love a good dirge, and I love it even more when Duke is involved. So I love everything about this tune. From Duke's intro to Hodges on soprano, etc. I do want to take @JSngry's lead and make a playlist of Hodges on soprano. Should be worthwhile...

 

Edited by Dub Modal
Deleted words
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Primary

11. Sposin' - Bill Russo Orchestra, Deep People, August 1951
Trumpet - Gail Brockman
Trombone - Bill Russo
French Horn - Chris Leuba, Ralph Macciochi, Leon Mendelsohn, Ralph Metzer
BT - Clyde Bachand
alto sax - Don Carone
Tenor sax - Kenny Mann
bari sax - Don Hanby
Flute - Martin Lerner, Larry Molinelli
Oboe - Robert Meyer
Bassoon - Walter Simpson
Piano - Lloyd Lofton
Guitar - Robert Lesher
Bass - Max Wayne
Drums - Dominic Simonetta
Vocals - Shelby Davis

This is the second BFT track I've had from this album. The other was a contribution in Feb's BFT. When I first picked this up, the sound quality stymied me a bit from enjoying it. Once I got around that, there's a lot to love on this Savoy comp. This one drew my attention for a couple of reasons, one being a rare recording of Shelby Davis who I think sounds great here. Then the fact that they gave the bass player (Max Wayne) a solo, which was unexpected for such a short tune, and he makes the most of it. 

Primary

12. Black Betty - Clifford Jordon, These are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly, 1965
Banjo - Chuck Wayne
Bass -Richard Davis
Drums - Al Heath
Piano - Cedar Walton
Tenor sax - Clifford Jordan
Trombone - Julian Priester
Trumpet - Roy Burrowes

This whole album smokes, and this tune is a burner. Jordan gets in that high range right in the beginning and Richard Davis is very present throughout. Great song. Great album. Highly recommended to everyone. 

Primary

13. It's All a Joke - Brother Jack McDuff, Down Home Style, June 1969
B3 - Jack McDuff
Tenor sax - Jay Arnold
Guitar - Charlie Freeman
Bass - James Alexander
Drums - Sammy Creason

The playing here isn't revelatory, but it's a fun song and the album cover always makes me hungry.  

Primary

14. Contemplation - Joe McPhee, The Vassar Sessions, 1970 Unreleased Tracks, Nation Time The complete Recordings, December 1970
Alto sax - Otis Greene
Bass - Tyrone Crabb
Guitar - Davey Jones
Organ - Herbie Lehman
Percussion - Ernest Bostic/Bruce Thompson
Piano - Mike Kull
Tenor sax/trumpet - Joe McPhee

I almost ended this with the McDuff tune, but I had plenty of time and didn't want to settle on just 13 tracks. This was a good option I thought, and most seemed to enjoy it. It's got that intense buildup that remains throughout the song, and while the sound quality ain't great, the communication comes through loud and clear here. 

So that's it. Thanks everyone for checking this out. Hope yall have some good July 4th plans 👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I honestly didn't realize there were some sensitivities to clarinet around here. I love it, but also didn't mean to include so many clarinet tracks...it just kind of happened. As did the 2 Johnny Smith songs 🤷‍♂️

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, JSngry said:

I like that you've shone some sun on that Savoy record, which is all(?) stuff originally on the Dee Gee label. I was unaware of any of this and an now on the hunt for that record. Thanks!

I was unaware of the Dee Gee origin too. I wonder if the sound on those would be a bit better than this CD comp. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck finding the actual Dee Gee sides....

There was a Savoy 2-fer LP of Dizzy's output (Dee Gee Days) but I don't know about this stuff.

34 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

I was unaware of the Dee Gee origin too. I wonder if the sound on those would be a bit better than this CD comp. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting BFT.  As usual, I have some in my collection but didn't ID them (Earl Hines, Eddie Condon, Muhal, Ellington).  When I bought Atlantic LPs as a teen I'd see the Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly album pictured on the inner sleeve and think "What an odd combination - how would that work?"  Glad to know it works well.  Great band, too.  Finally, I was not aware of the Deep People album - looks interesting.  Thanks for putting this together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Interesting BFT.  As usual, I have some in my collection but didn't ID them (Earl Hines, Eddie Condon, Muhal, Ellington).  When I bought Atlantic LPs as a teen I'd see the Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly album pictured on the inner sleeve and think "What an odd combination - how would that work?"  Glad to know it works well.  Great band, too.  Finally, I was not aware of the Deep People album - looks interesting.  Thanks for putting this together.

Thanks for taking a listen. Definitely check the Deep People album out 👍

 

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

Good luck finding the actual Dee Gee sides....

There was a Savoy 2-fer LP of Dizzy's output (Dee Gee Days) but I don't know about this stuff.

 

Interesting that it's so rare. Kudos to Savoy for putting this material out. 

9 hours ago, tkeith said:

Okay, I definitely need to get that extended McPhee set.  LOVE that guy.

It's worth it. Great box set IMO 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...