Duke meets Sinatra

You would think Duke Ellington meets Sinatra would be brilliant album, right? But "Francis A. and Edward K." sucks.The problem is with the songwritng. For whatever reason, they just did not use great Ellington or Strayhorn songs. Sinatra had better luck with Basie.

Maybe the problem was the title.

Duke had brilliant collaborations with Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins. Ella at Duke's Place is a bit disappointing, but ok. Once again, the song selection is weaker than expected.

In rotation

I am listening to "Tierra de calma," a flamenco record by Miguel Póveda, basically one of the major stars today in the genre (2007). After that is "Now he sings, now he sobs," a Chick Corea trio recording with Roy Haynes (!) and Miroslav Vitous, a wonderful bassist.

Old and New Dreams

I saw Old and New Dreams once in person, when I was in college. It is like Ornette without Ornette: Dewey Redmon, Ed Blackwell, Charlie Haden, and Don Cherry, if I remember correctly. I'll google it later to make sure. Anyway, it is nice that they are coming up on my rotation now, right before the Ned Rorem. I'm going to have to see if they have other albums aside from the one I have, called simply "Old and New Dreams."

UPDATE: I was right about the personnel. The wikipedia article depressed me by telling me all the members were deceased. Even though I knew that (except for Dewey R.). Redmon is the father of Joshua Redmon, also a prominent tenor sax.

Haden is one of my favorite bass players ever, next to Paul Chambers & Mingus. I am hearing a solo by Haden as we speak.

Coleman Hawkins. The bebop years

This is slightly out of order, but it is what I am listening today. It is a four cd box set of Hawkins that I bought on the cheap, including a lot of things that are not bebop at all, of course. That thump on the floor of the bass drum on all four beats in a lot of jazz of this period is really noticeable. The pulse is really fat with the rhythm guitar and walking bass strumming on those beats too. It makes the music square up without being "square." Hawkins hits notes squarely on the beats too, without that behind the beat feel introduced by Lester Young.

Bill Evans: New Jazz Conceptions

This 1956 Riverside album is Evans's debut as a leader and thus has historical interest though it is not the Evans I return to most often. He was already playing with Paul Motian on drums. His "Waltz for Debbie" only lasts about 1:18, so it is not as satisfying as other versions.

Bill Evans, Jazz Showcase

This is simply a compilation of Evans's Riverside period, his first albums as a leader produced with Orrin Keepnews. It is a valuable period of his development, as he is already playing with people like Paul Motian and had already written "Waltz for Debbie."

Keepnews was a great impetus for this crucial period of jazz, recording Evans and Monk, among many others. I listened to some video podcasts of Keepnews a few years back, and then acquired a lot of the records he was talking about. I never regretted that.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Here is 1959 trio outing with Bill Evans and Sam Jones (b), Philly Joe Jones (d). It is his second album as a leader, with a fairly straight-ahead feel, lots of block chords. I really like Jones's warm drum sound on this. It came out on Riverside when Keepknews was putting out some marvelous sides.

Benny Carter / 3-4-5 The Verve Small Group Sessions

This is probably the best that small group swing ever gets, with Carter (as) and people like Teddy Wilson on piano and Jo Jones on drums. Benny Carter plays beautifully, fluently, throughout, even on the kitschy "The Birth of the Blues."

Twenty Best of Artie Shaw

This is one of those junky compilations that are useful for me with artists I don't know very well. "A Foggy Day" has a hip seven-measure intro that brings me up short every time. You expect the phrase to end in that 8th measure and instead another phrase begins. The arrangments are very hip for their time, as on "Stardust."

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section (1957)

The Rhythm Section is that of the Miles Davis quintet. The section of Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b), and Philly Joe (d). I like the knowingness of the title! Art is fluent and meshes well with this section. They play Dizzy's "Tin Tin Deo," some standards and some straight-ahead blues.

All my albums have been clustering in the late 50s and early 60s so far.

Paris Jam Session

Art Blakey's Paris Jam Session features the legendary drummer with Wayne Shorter and Lee Morgan. Bud Powell appears, brilliantly, on two tracks, "Dance of the Infidels" and "Bouncing With Bud." Recorded 1959. What stands out here is Powell and Shorter playing a fairly straight-ahead bop style. I've owned this for many years and played it endlessly at one point.

The Best of the Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces / Complete Capitol Recordings of Art Tatum

These two compilations from Art Tatum give you enough Art Tatum, about 48 songs, for almost everyone. I'm partial to the Capitol sides, because they were my introduction to Tatum.

Anthony Braxton, Seven Standards Vol 1, 1985

This is the first jazz cd I got, when making the transition between vinyl and cds. It has Victor Lewis, Rufus Reid, Hank Jones. I knew Braxton as an avant-garde player: here he starts off with standard statement of theme, and then gets gradually more out-there in successive choruses, bringing it back to the melody again at the end. This isn't a famous album that everyone already knows, but is worth checking out.

Moanin' / A Night at Birdland

Art Blakey's 1958 Moanin' is the classic hard bop album. It has Benny Golson (ts), Lee Morgan (t), Bobby Timmons (p), and Jymie Merritt (b). This is probably essential listening just for being most typical of a particular style or mode.

***

A Night at Birdland (1954), though, is even better. It has Clifford Brown, Horace Silver, and Lou Donaldson, and is in a more boppish mode, with "Night in Tunisia."

This list will amount to a discography of essential jazz music, with some omissions and biases, of course.

Smokestack

Smokestack is from '66, but recorded earlier. Still Blue Note, still Andrew Hill. It has Roy Haynes and Richard Davis, plus another bassist, Eddie Khan. No horns. The use of two basses is a bit unusual, though not unheard of for a more experimental period. It makes the music bottom-heavy. Haynes is brilliant on this album. That does it for Andrew Hill. I have another one I don't like quite as much, Spiral, that didn't make the cut.

Point of Departure

Andrew Hill's Point of Departure is roughly equivalent to Black Fire, with Hill originals, Richard Davis on bass, and Henderson, but adding Eric Dolphy and Kenny Dorham. It has a more avant-garde feeling because of Dolphy's playing. Tony Williams on drums gives a different feel than Roy Haynes, but it is hard to prefer one to the other. Williams's cymbal sound is the best there is, and he is more fluid, less "jerky," than Haynes. More ride-cymbal and less hats.

Richard Davis, I discover, is a professor at U of Wisconsin. He is certainly one of the best bass players of the 60s (and much beyond).

I like the feeling of consistency from Hill's music. It all sounds like him. It is excellent music to think to, as you might dance to other music. But it is a dance-like thinking.

Black Fire

I am starting on a series of posts on the best jazz albums I have in my possession, using my itunes library as a guide. I am going alphabetically by first name of artist and title of album. My only choice will be whether to include an album or no, and will be arbitrary. I won't skip over a masterpiece, but might be selective with artists of whom I have more than five albums.

Andrew Hill's Black Fire came out in 1964, with Richard Davis (b), Joe Henderson (ts), Roy Haynes (d). The tunes are all (or mostly) by pianist, composer Hill. I love the sound of Blue Note jazz from this period. My itunes tells me I have played each of these songs many times, though often I have done so as background while working.

This is an album you could listen to just to hear Roy Haynes's drums, if you were so inclined.