Tag: Kevin Gray
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Herbie Hancock, My Point of View, 1963 on Blue Note
Hancock’s sophomore album as a leader, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs NJ. Hancock joined by Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gracham Moncur III (trombone), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Grant Green (guitar), Chuck Isreals (bass), and Anthony Williams (drums). Herbie Hancock is a master, and it is wonderful to find the early Blue Note albums…
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Grant Green, Green is Beautiful, 1970 on Blue Note
Green joined here by Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Claude Bartee (tenor sax), Emmanuel Riggens (organ), Jimmy Lewis (bass), and Idris Muhammad (drums) plus Richard Lendrum (bongos) and Candido Camero (congas). Recorded in 1970 by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. My copy—via Salem Flea Marketplace—is the 2023 Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series reissue, mastered by…
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Freddie Roach, Good Move!, 1964 on Blue Note
Freddie Roach’s third album as a leader, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliff with Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Hank Mobley (tenor sax), Eddie Wright (guitar), and Clarence Johnston (drums). Tunes include “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (Gerswhin) and Pastel (Garner) as well as “T’Ain’t What You Do (It’s The Way That You Do It).” Great…
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Big John Patton, Let ‘Em Roll, 1966 on Blue Note
Patton joined by Otis Finch (drums), Grant Green (guitar), and Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Fantastic Hammond B3 driven mid-sixties Blue Note jazz – can’t go wrong. My copy—direct from Amazon, which often has deals on these—is the Blue Note Tone Poet series reissue from 2023, with…
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Lou Donaldson, Midnight Creeper, 1968 on Blue Note
Donaldson joined here by Leo Morris (drums), George Benson (guitar), Lonnie Smith (organ) and Blue Mitchell (trumpet). Very groovy soul-jazz LP from late sixties Blue Note. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs and produced by Francis Wolff. My copy—via Amazon—is the Blue Note Tone Poet reissue from 2024, mastered by Kevin Gray and…
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Booker Ervin, The Freedom Book, 1964 on Prestige
Sixth full-length with Ervin as leader, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1963, for Prestige. Ervin is joined here by Jaki Byard (piano), Richard Davis (bass), and Alan Dawson (who was a drum instructor at Berklee in Boston) (drums). My copy—via a private sale—is the 2023 Analogue Productions / Craft Recordings reissue, in the Prestige…
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Blue Mitchell, Down With It, 1966 on Blue Note
Another fantastic Blue Note jazz LP, this came out originally in 1966. It features Mitchell (trumpet) with Junior Cook (tenor sax), Chick Corea (piano), Gene Taylor (bass), and Aloysius Foster (drums), and was recorded at Van Gelder Studios in New Jersey. My copy- via a private sale – is the Blue Note Tone Poet reissue…
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Bud Powell, Time Waits (The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume 4), 1958 on Blue Note
Powell joined by Sam Jones and Philly Joe Jones, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack NJ, and produced by Alfred Lion. Sleeve notes by Leonard Feather. My copy is the 2022 Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series reissue, pressed at Optimal GmbH and mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent – wonderful pressing.
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Herbie Hancock, Inventions and Dimensions, 1964 on Blue Note
Hancock is joined by Paul Chambers, Willie Bobo and Chihuahua Martinez—though it’s not really what you’d call a Latin jazz album so much as post-bop or modal. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his Englewood Cliffs studio. My copy—direct from Blue Note—is the 2019 Blue Note 80 Vinyl Series reissue mastered for vinyl by Kevin…
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Sonny Clark Trio, Sonny Clark Trio, 1958 on Blue Note
Sonny Clark with Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums – recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1957 in Hackensack. Liner notes by Leonard Feather, cover designed by Reid Miles. Love these renditions of “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” and “Two Bass Hit” – and the “I’ll Remember April” with…
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Lou Donaldson, Blues Walk, 1958 on Blue Note
Great late 50s Blue Note album, with Donaldson joined by Peck Morrison on bass, Ray Barretto on congas, Dave Bailey on drums, and Herman Foster on piano. Sleeve notes by Ira Gitler. (Donaldson died last month – November 2024). I wasn’t as familiar with Donaldson as some of his better known contemporaries, but he started…
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Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes (box set), 2024 on Craft Recordings
This was one of my favorite albums of the 1980s (it came out on Slash Records in 1983), and I’ve been looking forever for a decent copy on vinyl. This box set, as you’d expect from Craft, is amazing. It includes a newly remastered version of the self-titled album itself, plus additional LPs of demos…
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Joe Henderson, Mode for Joe, 1966 on Blue Note
This was Henderson’s fifth studio album (as a band leader), joined by: Lee Morgan (trumpet), Chris Fuller (trombone), Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Cedar Walton (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Joe Chambers (drums). Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. Really wonderful Blue Note 60s jazz. My copy is a 2024 reissue in the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series…
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Chet Baker, Chet Baker Sings, 1956 on World Pacific Records
Chet Baker is on of my all time favorite jazz trumpeters and singers. The tone in both his trumpet and his voice is just amazing – subtle, warm, smooth. This recorded was recorded in LA (the Forum Teater & Capitol Studios) by Allan Emig and Phil Turetsky. Sleeve notes by Gerald Heard, pictured on the…