Little Known Gems

blutto · « **Reply #20 on:** 19 Dec 2010, 03:43 pm »

..will mention some overlooked artists whose entire catalog should be explored as well as the specific selections named below...

...Phineas Newborn Jr....Here is Phineas...

...Tiny Grimes...Callin' the Blues...

...Jack Wilkins...Merge...

...Lucky Thompson...Lucky Strikes...

....Sonny Criss...Saturday Morning...

...Lloyd Glenn...Old Time Shuffle...

...Herbie Nichols...The Third World...

Cheers

blutto

neobop · « **Reply #21 on:** 20 Dec 2010, 05:27 am »

This is great. We get a bit of everything, from hard core bop to smooth, fusion, and outside. Speaking of out, anybody get into Anthony Braxton? I must admit, sometimes I find him hard to get into. Maybe Ornette Coleman is a little easier to relate. I like his stuff on Atlantic, around 1960? The Shape of Jazz to come and about 5 or 6 of those are really good. There's a lot of humor in the playing too.

I was kind of saving Phineas Newborn, one of the lesser known piano players. Some criticized his playing for being simplistic or basic. I found it to be concise and relaxed rather than elaborate.

When I think of Tommy Flanagan, for some reason I think of Kenny Drew. Maybe it's cause I discovered them around the same time. They did both play the piano, and play it quite well. Kenny though was one of those American jazzers who lived in Europe. Lots of American musicians lived in Europe in the '60s and '70s, where they were appreciated and could make a living. Kenny lived in Copenhagen and played with Niels Pederson much of the time. Their album Dark Beauty is wonderful. It has Niels and Tootie on it, the same as those Tete albums on Steeplechase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Drew

neo

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 Dec 2010, 06:44 am »

+1 on Kenny Drew....

I own most of his work....good recordings.....a recent buy...10 from Japan...

One of my favorite albums of his.... "Impressions"...the track "Last Tango In Paris"...they "burn it up" !!

Levi · « **Reply #23 on:** 20 Dec 2010, 01:23 pm »

Congrats Chris! That is a great find.

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 20 Dec 2010, 06:44 am

+1 on Kenny Drew....

I own most of his work....good recordings.....a recent buy...10 from Japan...

One of my favorite albums of his.... "Impressions"...the track "Last Tango In Paris"...they "burn it up" !!

Levi · « **Reply #24 on:** 20 Dec 2010, 01:26 pm »

Anyone heard the Clayton Brothers Brothers to Brother Album 2008?

This is one excellent recording CD.

blutto · « **Reply #25 on:** 20 Dec 2010, 03:18 pm »

....agreed, Braxton can be ever so hard to get into sometimes...I keep telling myself that field hollers are modal as well and that helps a bit...oddly the only stuff that I still listen to regularly from my squeaky and squwaky period is Eric Dolphy and Sun Ra...admittedly not quite the same but kinda from the same neighborhood and a lot more accessible (and could become a figurative backdoor to getting into Braxton)....

...long story short, Phineas was recommended to me by none other than Oscar Peterson who praised him for his simple and direct approach to jazz...he then laughed about getting into jazz thru Chopin as opposed to going the more straight forward route through the blues as did Phineas ( or words to that effect )...still blown away that I was blessed with the opportunity to talk to him...he was such a gentleman...

...another overlooked great piano player is Walter Davis Jr., whose album, Davis Cup, has been recently re-released on vinyl....highly recommended...

Cheers

blutto

neobop · « **Reply #26 on:** 21 Dec 2010, 02:24 pm »

Wow, recommended by Oscar Peterson!!! I've known a few jazz musicians and I must say, they tend to be the nicest, most down to earth people you'll ever meet. Many have one thing in common, perfect pitch. Ella wasn't the only one with perfect pitch. Art Tatum had perfect pitch, as did Slam Stewart who played with him for awhile. It was almost a requirement for a bassist to keep up with Art. I read, on the back of an album cover, that Art taught himself to play by listening to piano rolls, learning to play both parts at the same time. Not sure it's true, but you'll hear why it was said. I like his solo work the best. You'll find some nice collections out there, if you look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzRcfJr1DW0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaPeks0H3_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxadblDT6zI&feature=related

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Tatum

neo

blutto · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Dec 2010, 03:03 pm »

...the Art Tatum Pablo collection is quite good...especially recommended are the group recordings, one, with Ben Webster, and the other with Roy Eldridge ( a great under-rated player whose recording output contains some real gems...such as The Nifty Cat...)

Cheers

blutto

neobop · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 Dec 2010, 02:31 pm »

John Hicks played piano with the Messengers for a couple of yrs in the mid '60s. He also played with Woody Herman for a couple of yrs after that. He made around 20 records, or so, under his own name. I have a few and they're good. Do yourself a favor. If you ever see a copy of Hell's Bells on Strata-East, buy it. It's a trio with Clint Houston and Cliff Barbaro. It kills.

neo

neobop · « **Reply #29 on:** 26 Dec 2010, 01:01 pm »

I didn't know this was ever made into a CD:
http://www.amazon.com/Hells-Bells-John-Hicks/dp/B000057EJF/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_lnk

It really is smokin. Looks like they have a bunch of other Hick's albums too. NICE

neo

blutto · « **Reply #30 on:** 26 Dec 2010, 05:00 pm »

...and speaking of the Strata-East label, one of the founders, Charles Tolliver is a stellar trumpet player and sadly, very under-appreciated ( in a style that is broadly speaking a wonderfully modern reading of Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown )...the album Impact and the live performances from Slug's are a great place to start...

Cheers

blutto

neobop · « **Reply #31 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 03:33 am »

Cyrus Chestnut and Benny Green (piano) are the same age, born in 1963. I'm not sure if Cyrus is as well known. He's a really interesting player with a masterful command of the keyboard. Sometimes Benny will throw an ethnic sort of tune in his set and kind of catch you off guard. Cyrus is more likely to incorporate that within a tune, and make it work. Actually, not only make it work, but make it feel good and right.

I have a couple of trio albums by Cyrus, The Dark Before the Dawn, and Another Direction. They're both really good. He has a bunch more that I look forward to picking up. If you're not familiar with Cyrus Chestnut, you should check him out.

neo.

jazdoc · « **Reply #32 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 04:49 pm »

I heartily second the recommendations of Benny Green and Cyrus Chestnut.

I've been fortunate enough to have seen Benny Green multiple times as well as owning many of his CDs. He is a technically amazing pianist. My favorite Benny Green CD is 'Testifyin'. Most recently I heard him with Anat Cohen at Jazz Alley -- a remarkable show which you can get a flavor of on Anat's release 'Clarientwork: Live At the Village Vanguard'. I know he teaches up at Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington.

I also own a number of Cyrus Chestnut CDs and was lucky enough to catch him live once. These are two of the premier young pianists working today.

jhm731 · « **Reply #33 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 05:55 pm »

I asked SoundByte Productions, Inc what ADC/DAC and sample rate were used
'Clarientwork: Live At the Village Vanguard'

Found out the original recording was done with a Mytek 8X192 for the drums, and Metric Halo ULN-8 for everything else. Original sample rate was 88.2KHz.

Can you hear a difference between the drum set and the rest of the group?

neobop · « **Reply #34 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 06:06 pm »

Hi Jazdoc,
I guess we date ourselves with with these posts. "These are two of the premier young pianists working today" Both of these guys are around 47. I guess that's young, at least compared to me.

Benny came up working in NY. In the late '80s I caught him at a club uptown, on Amsterdam Ave. Also saw him in Philly. Back then he worked with different bass players and drummers. I think Peter and Kenny Washington were with him for awhile. But later Chris McBride & Carl Allen mostly. Chris McBride is a great bass player. Carl Allen isn't exactly a slouch either.

Seems like most of these guys get teaching gigs when they get tired of being on the road and performing full time. Cyrus Chestnut lives in Easton, PA and teaches.

Geoff Keezer is another excellent pianist. I think he's a little younger. How about Kenny Kirkland?

neo

jazzcourier · « **Reply #35 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 07:03 pm »

How about Kenny Kirkland? He died in 1998!

neobop · « **Reply #36 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 08:36 pm »

Quote from: jazzcourier on 3 Jan 2011, 07:03 pm

How about Kenny Kirkland? He died in 1998!

Maybe I didn't phrase that too good. I meant as an under recognised musician, not a younger one. Actually, he died young, in his early '40s. I first heard him on a Kenny Garrett or Wynton Marsalis album. Good player.

Marcus Roberts is another really good piano player that I heard first on a Wynton album. Funny, he was born in 1963 too. A good year for piano players!! Marcus has a bunch of albums. I have a couple and they're great. I'm really into The Truth is Spoken Here. I think Kenny Kirkland only had a couple of albums under his own name. I have a double LP that just says Kenny Kirkland. It's quite good.

neo

jazzcourier · « **Reply #37 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 09:11 pm »

Those first few Marcus Roberts LP's were kicking in a new direction."Deep in the shed" was,and still is,in my estimation a good listen and was pushing the music forward at the time of it's release and does not sound too dated now.He is a classic example of great start out of the gate and not enough legs to finish in the money.You can add Jackie Terrason to that list of auspicious debuts but somewhat disappointing current works.
Kenny Kirkland was a very good pianist in the Cedar Walton vein and could really put it together when pushed.He did work some of the smaller clubs here in L.A. in a quartet with Ralph Moore,that was a good band.Kenny got the big gig with Sting and got lazy on all those electronics.That was good for Kenny but not good for the Jazz.He was a gentle,warm and positive guy who had very big ears and left the scene well too early.

jazzcourier · « **Reply #38 on:** 3 Jan 2011, 11:41 pm »

1982 was a decent year for Jazz.The big "hit" was Pat Metheny "offramp",it won a Grammy but so did Count Basie,Phil Woods and "We want Miles",as in Davis.He could have cleared his spit valve in those days and won a grammy,but of course,that was Miles and we WANTED Miles regardless of what he wanted to give us.
Bubbling well under the hot 100,as they used to say in Billboard,and flying well beneath the radar was the Seven member sextet of multi-reedist and composer Henry Threadgill's About Time release "When was that".
Fueled by two drummers,bass and piccolo bass (later cello) and the front line of Henry's acid tongued,swaggering alto saxophone and pensive flute,the cornet of the effusive Olu Dara and the trombone,more gutsy but still gutbucket trombone of Craig Harris.The lines Threadgill wove took us well off the beaten path.Past post-modern ancient moss covered graveyards,the tombstones read "Dolphy" "the Mississippi fife and drum bands" and on and on through the Ragtime to no time to upbeat to down south dirges.
You cleared away the ashes of the fire and found the ending notes of the 20th century,all dressed up and everywhere to go.Imagination and origination staring each other in the face.
Inside the compositions lived hard blowing and reaching back and getting it right.This was Jazz' air balloon traveling over mysterious island in 1982.
1983 followed with the magnum opus "Just the facts and pass the bucket" and '84 with the final about time release "Subject to change".
By '86 RCA's Novus label latched onto to the HTS and some more goodness poured out,but by this time the beasts had been caged and the claws dulled.Not bad mind you,but a picnic,not a banquet that the 3 about times offered.
You can still find the about time lp's and take that wonderful bumpy ride down that road,but as they say,keep you hands and feet inside,these little known gems have sharp edges!

neobop · « **Reply #39 on:** 4 Jan 2011, 05:26 am »

that was Miles and we WANTED Miles regardless of what he wanted to give us.

Miles was a star, not just another musician. But even a star can get sick and addicted and gradually lose it. Miles laid off the entire 2nd half of the '70s. He had sickle cell and arthritis, had a hip replacement We wondered if he'd ever come back. Started going downhill in the early '70s. Not just stretching out in diff genres - seemed like he was losing his chops. From bop days through the second great quintet, and modal, Miles was the man. He changed jazz and changed the sound of the horn.

You're Under Arrest was out in the mid '80s. Had some pop tunes - Cindy Lauper and Michael Jackson. By then, Wynton Marsalis was recording for Columbia, Miles' label. Wynton made a statement that Miles stuff wasn't real jazz. Later, he walked on the stage during Miles set. Said that someone told him to. Prob some bonehead at Columbia. Miles kicked him off the stage. They wanted Miles to drop in on Wyntons birthday. Miles signed with Warner and made two of his best later albums, Tutu and Amandala.

neo