Tag: jazz
-
Gil Evans, Gil Evans & Ten, 1957 on Prestige
My copy is the 2023 reissue by Craft Recordings for Record Store Day. Players: Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, this was Gil Evan’s fist recording as a pianist. Not sure if Lee Konitz couldn’t appear under his own name for contractual reasons (he was recording with Gerry Mulligan Quartet and solo at this same time).…
-
John Coltrane, Sun Ship, 1971 on Impulse!
Recorded in August of 1965 at RCA Victor studios in NYC, and released (posthumously) in 1971. Jimmy Garrison (bass), Elvin Jones (drums), and McCoy Tyner (piano) with Coltrane. All song s written by Coltrane. Produced (“Prepared for release”) by Alice Coltrane and Ed Michel. Engineered by Bob Simpson (not Rudy Gelder like the other quartet…
-
Gerry Mulligan Quartet, self-titled, 1962 on Verve
The Mulligan Quartet with Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Crow, and Gus Johnson – mostly recorded at Tom Nola’s studio in New York in May 1962, with one live track from The Village Vanguard, February 1962. Love how full of character liner notes on old jazz records are – on this one Willis Conover describes Mulligan: [Mulligan]…
-
Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Spring is Spring, 1963 on Philips
I’m a huge fan of Gerry Mulligan, from his days with Miles Davis and Chet Baker and all the various quartets and orchestras. This is Mulligan with Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone), Bill Crow (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums), recorded in 1962. Philips as a label (you may know them more from health care technology) was…
-
Ella Fitzgerald, Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook, 2022 on Verve
Recorded in August 1958, but not released until 2022, this concert followed the release of the Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook LP. The concert was conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, who had played the same role in the LP. There’s an animated video for Puttin’ on the Ritz, one of the songs…
-
Erroll Garner, Feeling is Believing, 1970 on Mercury
Garner’s first album in the 1970s, with five of his own compositions plus recordings of the Beatle’s “Yesterday;” Blood, Sweat, & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel;” “For Once In My Life;” “Strangers in the Night;” and the Hal David Burt Bacharach “The Look Of Love.” Listed as “A Product of Octave Records” – who are currently reissuing…
-
Art Farmer, The Many Faces of Art Farmer, Scepter Records, 1964
My copy (as you can see from the images) is an UpFront records reissue from the 70s, retitled as just Art Farmer. UpFront was a sublabel of Springboard International out of New Jersey, which reissued lots of compilation jazz and blues records from artists originally released on other labels (some are advertised on the rear…
-
The Oscar Peterson Trio, In a Mellow Mood, 1973 on MPS-BASF
This 2xLP set is actually a reissue of The Way I Really Play and Mellow Mood, which were volumes III and V of the Exclusively For My Friends series. Makes it very confusing when I’m in a record store and trying to determine whether I’ve completed the series or not. (I have not – still…
-
Weather Report, I Sing The Body Electric, 1972 on Columbia
Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Miroslav Vitous, Eric Gravatt, and guests, in a foundational fusion album from the early 70s. This was their second album after a self-titled debut. Side A is new studio work, Side B is live from a concert in Tokyo. I’m certain I actually had a copy of this back in the…
-
Jelly Roll Morton, Mr. Jelly Lord, RCA Victor, 1967
My copy is a slightly later pressing – 1973 – but this compilation first came out in 1967 as part of the RCA Victor Vintage Series. These tracks were originally recorded between 1927 and 1930. Yes, this is the Jelly Roll of “stoned me just like Jelly Roll” in Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me.”…
-
Stephane Grappelli, Just One of Those Things: Recorded Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1973 on Black Lion Records
Recorded July 4th, 1973, this is Grappelli with Jack Sewing, Daniel Humair, and Marc Hemmeier. My copy via Mystery Train records in Gloucester MA. Black Lion was a label Alan Bates created in 1968 – in 1973 they started to have distribution through Audiofidelity (the AFE logo on the rear cover here). Lots of great…
-
The New Stan Getz Quartet Featuring Astrud Gilberto, Getz Au Go Go, 1964 on Verve
Sadly, Gilberto died this summer (June 5, 2023) – I tend to buy any albums I run across from the Getz / Gilberto collaborations or that feature her. Recorded at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village and Carnegie Hall in 1964 – how great it would have been to have seen these shows!…
-
James Blood Ulmer, Free Lancing, 1981 on Columbia.
A happy and accidental find at Academy Records in New York. Ulmer had played on several Ornette Coleman releases before going out on his own – this was his third solo LP and first on Columbia.
-
Clark Terry, It’s What’s Happenin’: The Varitone Sound of Clark Terry, 1967 on Impulse
Clark Terry with George Duvivier, Dave Bailey, and Don Friedman. Liner notes by Nat Hentoff, produced by Bob Thiele. Impulse was an imprint of ABC Records: “The New Wave in Jazz . . . Feel It On Impulse!” Love this: What’s happening with Clark Terry is what some have called the life force. He digs…
-
Johnny Hodges and Earl “Fatha” Hines, Stride Right, 1966 on Verve.
Produced by Creed Taylor, and recorded January 14th, 1966 at Rudy Van Gelder’s in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Hodges (alto sax) and Hines (piano & organ) are joined by Kenny Burrell (guitar), Richard Davis (bass), and Joe Marshall (drums). My cop via Beverly Coin & Jewelry, which has a surprisingly strong and curated vinyl selection.
-
Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Paris Concert, 1955 on World Pacific Records
Great find via Mel’s Record Shop in Amesbury MA. Recorded live at the Pleyel Hall June 1st, 1954, with the valve trombone of Bob Brookmeyer replacing Chet Baker’s trumpet, with Red Mitchell on bass and Frank Isola on drums. I especially love the sequence of Moonlight in Vermont followed by The Lady is a Tramp and…
-
Thelonious Monk, Paris 1969, 2023 on Blue Note.
This was first released as In Paris on Laserdisc in 1991 (Japan) / 1992 (US), then as Paris 1969 on Blue Note in 2013 (with a CD/DVD as well as vinyl release). My copy is the Vinyl Me, Please reissue from 2023, which sounds pretty decent – it’s a somewhat lofi recording to begin with…
-
Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker, Groovin’ High, 1974 on EMUS
EMUS was a label that bought rights from bankrupt (or nearly so) labels and reissued them. These recordings were made in 1947 in NYC. Personnel here also includes Miles Davis, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, Duke Jordan, and others. My copy via a vinyl fair (Thread & Groove) at Mill No. 5 in Lowell MA.