Poppachubby's Rabbithole

[poppachubby]

Hey My Man! Great thead...looks like I am a little late to the party as I just found this thread.

Hey you know you cant talk about Byrd and Gryce with out Xtacy!



But if you got "The Studio Sessions", you've got Xtacy which is a reissue of The Jazz Lab.....My Man! Thats good stuff....only die hard Jazz fans know about GiGi and what his contribution was.

Heres one for ya My Man! Not to many know about this great drummer, and check out the killer line up!

Dave Bailey Sextet..."GETTIN' INTO SOMETHIN"


Dave Bailey............Drums
Clark Terry..............Trumpet
Charlie Rouse........Tenor Sax
Curtis Fuller............Trombone
Horace Parlan........Piano
Peck Morrison........Bass

EPIC.......................1960

I was wondering when you would show up. Ya that album looks serious, I will look for a copy. Have you listened to much Lucky Thompson? He's my next focus...

[frenchmon]

I was wondering when you would show up. Ya that album looks serious, I will look for a copy. Have you listened to much Lucky Thompson? He's my next focus...

Yeah man...I like Thompson, but never had any of his stuff where he was the leader...always as a side man. I really like his work on Miles album "Walkin" which I do have in my collection. I think I have some other stuff with Lucky as a side man as well. If you do get a copy of Baileys album (s) make sure its labeled stereo...I think all 6 of his albums was both mono and stereo. Most of his stuff is as a side man also as Lucky Thompson.

[poppachubby]

I have 1 more work day, and then 3 off!! Can't wait. Here's my listening for today, the great Nathan Davis and Curtis Amy. Sorry about the giant pics, it's either that or WAY ttoo small.

Curtis Amy - Way Down
Pacific Jazz, 1962

Curtis Amy (ts) Marcus Belgrave (t) Roy Brewster (v-tb)
Roy Ayers (vib) John Houston (p) George Morrow (b)
Tony Bazley (d)

and

Curtis Amy (ts) Roy Brewster (v-tb) Roy Ayers (vib)
Victor Feldman (p) George Morrow (b) Tony Bazley (d)




Curtis Amy and Frank Butler - Groovin Blue
Pacific Jazz, 1961

Curtis Amy (ts) Carmell Jones (t) Bobby Hutcherson (vb)
Frank Strazzeri (p) Jimmy Bond (b) Frank Butler (d)




Nathan Davis - The Hip Walk
SABA, 1965

Bass – Jimmy Woode
Drums – Kenny Clarke
Piano – Francy Boland
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Nathan Davis
Trumpet – Carmell Jones




Nathan Davis - Peace Treaty
SFP, 1965

Baritone Saxophone – Jean-Louis Chautemps
Bass – Jimmy Woode
Drums – Kenny Clarke
Piano – René Urtreger
Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Nathan Davis
Trumpet – Woody Shaw

[poppachubby]

Yeah man...I like Thompson, but never had any of his stuff where he was the leader...always as a side man. I really like his work on Miles album "Walkin" which I do have in my collection. I think I have some other stuff with Lucky as a side man as well. If you do get a copy of Baileys album (s) make sure its labeled stereo...I think all 6 of his albums was both mono and stereo. Most of his stuff is as a side man also as Lucky Thompson.

Thanks frenchy. I called both of the larger record shops and they are flush with titles. Mostly CD but that's fine with me. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Right now I am dissecting the styles of Curtis Amy and Nathan Davis. I was led to both of these guys from my pursuit of two musicians, Carmell Jones and Woody Shaw. My collections of both now include all of their leader dates, so I am onto side appearances.

Once again I am totally baffled at how such genius goes under the radar. Even alot of jazz fans can't recall either of these superb players. It's a shame that the dust bins of jazz history have swallowed up so much amazing and important music, along with all of the forgettable stuff.

[frenchmon]

I can understand how Jones goes under the radar....he played with a lot of big time cats but not much was recorded....he did not have a really big name. I think what hurt his popularity was his stay outside of the USA... but Shaw was setting the standard with his playing....Hmmmm thats news to me Pops that no one knows about Shaw. Another great you dont hear about these days is the great Kenny Dorham.....one hell of a trumpet man who really never got his due from the Jazz crowed.

And while we taking about it....How about the body of work that Shirley Horn did....man you talk about a piano player who was the queen of Ballard singing....she is only for the pure at heart. And I just cant say enough about Charlie Haden who is well respected by those close to Jazz but the normal crowd knows nothing of him. And one more.....we all know Joshua Redman, but the Body of work his dad did with Ornett Coleman, Don Cherry and Ed blackwell was also great....and what about "Jug head" Gene Ammons...what about Sam Rivers....oh man, let me stop.....I could go on and on.

Ok this will be my last complaint....there is one guy who really stood out from the crowd and was a better piano player than his older brother but never really got the hype from the Jazz crowed.....Richie Powell, Buds little brother. His body of work he did with Clifford Brown and Max Roach speaks for it self. McCoy Tyner learned a few things from Richie...thats how good the guy was. Its just to bad he did not live long enough to lead his own band.

TTYL

[poppachubby]

It's been busy, AND, I spilled a coffee into my keyboard making it the most frustrating piece of chit in the world.

I attended TAVE a couple weekends ago. Sadly, most of my pics look like crap but I will put something together to post here. Firstly, here's what's been playing in Casa Del Chubb. I hope you guys know that anything I post up here for regular listening is highly, highly, highly recommended!!

Teddy Edwards - Sunset Eyes
Pacific Jazz, 1959/60

Teddy Edwards (tenor saxophone);
Amos Trice, Joe Castro, Ronnie Ball (piano);
Leroy Vinnegar, Ben Tucker (bass);
Billy Higgins, Hal Levitt (drums).




Teddy Edwards - Nothin' But The Truth
Prestige, 1966

Teddy Edwards (tenor saxophone);
Walter Davis Jr. (piano);
Phil Orlando (guitar);
Paul Chambers (bass);
Billy Higgins (drums);
Montego Joe (bongos, congas).



Joe Gordon - Lookin Good
Contemporary, 1961

Joe Gordon (trumpet);
Jimmy Woods (alto saxophone);
Dick Whittington (piano);
Jimmy Bond (bass);
Milt Turner (drums).





Charlie Rouse - Takin Care Of Business
Jazzland, 1960

Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone);
Blue Mitchell (trumpet);
Walter Bishop, Jr. (piano);
Earl May (acoustic bass);
Art Taylor (drums).



Sonny Red - Breezing
Jazzland, 1960

Blue Mitchell (tp)
Sonny Red (as)
Yusef Lateef (ts)
Barry Harris (p)
Bob Cranshaw (b)
Albert Heath (d)

[poppachubby]

Ok this will be my last complaint....there is one guy who really stood out from the crowd and was a better piano player than his older brother but never really got the hype from the Jazz crowed.....Richie Powell, Buds little brother. His body of work he did with Clifford Brown and Max Roach speaks for it self. McCoy Tyner learned a few things from Richie...thats how good the guy was. Its just to bad he did not live long enough to lead his own band.

TTYL

Hey frenchy, I feel ya man. I will use your post to address the overall plight of so many jazz greats...death! Particularily at an early age. No, not all of them die from OD'ing either. Infact some die so tragically and so young that it's enough to stir emotions for me.

The list is long, but I want to look at one person in particular. Booker Little. In keeping with my "group expose", Booker Little had a wonderful working band which included Max Roach and Eric Dolphy. He also played in the Max Roach + 4 band, an ensemble who managed a couple of years on the road and several excellent albums.

Most music fans, jazz or not, have heard of Lee Morgan. Morgan was blessed with natural virtuosity which blossomed at a very young age. By 18 he was recording for Blue Note and playing with some of the heaviest cats on the scene. In my opinion however, he didn't hold a candle to Booker Little.

He died tragically at the age of 23, but had already recorded prolifically. He was a proven composer/arranger as is best displayed on his album Out Front for Candid Records. His tone is in a sense indescribable, it simply must be heard to be fully understood. To that note I would say his sound was extremely advanced, from the low register right on up to the freak register, Little was distinct.

Simply put Booker Little could do it all and was on a path to be even greater than Miles if you ask me. Don't let me wamboozle ya, check him out for yourself...

With Eric Dolphy, their quintet had a permanent residency at the legendary Five Spot. In the studio, the rhythm seats were often hot. Pick up both volumes!! Far Cry is another wonderful side, all studio.

Eric Dolphy — bass clarinet, alto saxophone
Booker Little — trumpet
Mal Waldron — piano
Richard Davis — bass
Ed Blackwell — drums




Eric Dolphy – alto sax, bass clarinet, flute
Booker Little – trumpet
Jaki Byard – piano
Ron Carter – bass
Roy Haynes – drums




Booker Little only had a handful of albums under his name. I think Out Front best represents his work and sound. All of the songs were composed by him, and his playing is nothing but perfect. Man Of Words is my favorite trumpet ballad, it's an amazingly emotional song. If you had to "youtube" or "Google" a track, that would be the one. Just listen to how he builds it, he was a genius of his instrument.

Booker Little - trumpet
Julian Priester - trombone
Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
Don Friedman - piano
Art Davis - bass
Max Roach - drums, timpani, vibraphone





It should be noted that when Dolphy wasn't around, Little had a wonderful working relationship with the tenor Goerge Coleman. Coleman is a name which many aren't familiar with, but that doesn't reflect on his craftsmanship. Miles Davis "almost" selected him for the sax chair in his second great quintet. Wayne Shorter beat him out presumably on the strength of his compositional skill. Coleman can be heard with the second great quintet, right before Shorter joined, on the live album "Four And More". Booker Little cut a couple of sides with Coleman on the Bethlehem imprint. Here's my fave...

Booker Little - trumpet
George Coleman - tenor saxophone
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Art Davis - bass
Max Roach - drums, timpani, vibraphone




Anyhow gang, Booker Little is more than a footnote, he is jazz royalty. For anyone who is without at least one side, I hope this evidence is enough to motivate a purchase.

[poppachubby]

[poppachubby]

Lately, I have been eating up sessions from Riverside/Jazzland like they are going out of style. I have been attempting to collect all of the Jazzland titles I can get my hands on, CD or vinyl. In case anyone doesn't know, Jazzland was basically a series of albums put out by Riverside. You could say it was a subsidiary, but I think Orrin Keepnews had a vision other than business when he set about creating it.

The most appealing thing I am finding with Riverside is the overall lack of a house sound. Indeed, the use of house players and repeated combos imprinted somewhat of a "sound", but nothing as compared to Blue Note or Pacific. Keepnews obviously allowed the players as much artistic licence as he possibly could, after all, the records had to sell.

There are many, but a couple of stand out examples in my mind would include Sonny Red, the great altoist. His one session for Blue Note is wonderful, but extremely distinct as just that...a Blue Note session. If you reach for his Jazzland output, you will find something shockingly different. This difference is more of the artist, less of the producer.

I am not writing this to trash Alfred Lion or Blue Note, but I think the amount of romantic notion given to both is overdone. Lion was about his label first and foremost. I think this is evident in the amount of wonderful sessions which ended up vaulted. Not only were many of these sessions in the can, they were fully completed with cover art, liner notes and all the necessary marketing of the time. Now sure, some of the sides were not up to snuff from a musical point of view, but many were. So why no release? In my mind, Lion did not feel they had the "sound" which he needed.

Another artist I would like to mention is Joe Henderson. His Blue Note sessions are legendary, and still sought after. Many people who hear his later work and then his Blue Notes tend to say "man...what a difference!" Infact I disagree, although I understand the notion. You can hear Henderson's special style and ferociously large personality beaming through the music of an album like Inner Urge or Our Thing. As "outside" as those albums may have been, I still feel like Henderson was somewhat limited to the demands of Blue Note's image.

When listening to his playing over the course of the 60's and into the 70's, you can hear tons of development. That said, he always had a distinct style. I feel like this was somewhat curbed at Blue Note, yet set free once he arrived at Milestone. His split from Lion was inevitable if you ask me. The Blue Note sides are wonderful but I feel like we got more of Henderson once he left.

Anyhow, Orrin Keepnews isn't given all the due he deserves. An incredible jazz mind and huge producing talent.

Any of you guys have some Riverside or Jazzland favorites? Here are some of mine at the moment...

[nobody]

I've got a couple favorites on Riverside.


Sonny Rollins: The Sound of Sonny
My personal favorite Sonny Rollins album. I know it's not as heralded as Saxophone Colossus, but its more laid back sound appeals to me a bit more.

&


Chet Baker: Chet
I'm a fan of Baker's vocal and instrumental sides and this is my favorite of his instrumental work as a headliner. Lyrical as always. I play this one quite a lot.


Lately though, for jazz I've been going back a bit further in time. Going through the great Louis Armstrong compilations on Mosaic, fantastic stuff from the 30s through the 50s. Also playing a lot of Artie Shaw and Fats Waller stuff from the 30s and 40s. I like the whole bop period and all the golden age stuff from the late 50s early 60s that gets a lot of play, but I think it's good to check out early stuff as well. Some really great music was happening in the earlier days.

[poppachubby]

Hey nobody, thanks for the reply. That's a great Chet LP by the way, features Bill Evans in a great sideman session.

As you know I have been diggin the Basie. I found his "Best Of" on Roullette recently, vinyl of course. I really want to get the JSP set of "Complete Hot Fives And Sevens", the Columbia is torture to listen to.

The other thing I have been doing is following many of the Basie band members as they went into their solo careers. Joe Newman, Al Grey, and Frank Foster to name a couple. I find they inject alot of that old school feel into the swing.

Someone you may enjoy is Wycliffe Gordon. He got his start with Marsalis but has put out several albums with his own band. His style is 100% from the 30's and 40's era, it's really great and fun.

Here's a couple I have been diggin...

[nobody]

I love that Armstrong-Ellington disc. I pretty much actually like damn near anything Ellington did, especially his small group stuff. I've been a big fan of Johnny Hodges from his orchestra for quite a while. The albums they did as a duo are a couple of my all time favorites.

Another amazing release from Mosaic is the Duke Ellington 1936-40 Small Group Sessions:


I really should check into the Basie sidemen.

[nobody]

And, mas long as we're talking Armstrong and older jazz, I'll mention probably my favorite tribute album of all time...


Satch Plays Fats
Armstrong doing a virtuoso run through of the biggest Fats Waller hits. An excellent record both by virtue of just being a fine performance and also a way to hear Fats Waller tunes played wonderfully without having to rely on scratchy older recordings.

[noddin0ff]

I'm pretty bad about tracking studios and names and things. It's just a fluke that I sort of mentally linked Monk to Riverside/Jazzland just now. I've got a several Monk works but here's a relevant top 3.


Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane


Brilliant Corners


Himself
I really enjoy this one

[poppachubby]

Brilliant Corners is a masterpiece, featuring Ernie Henry. Now there's another underated name. Although Alfred Lion gave Monk his break, he flourished at Riverside.

nobody, love the Hodge. I bought his Mosaic box, it's a real treat. Here's my favorite Ellington small group...

Dukes Big 4
Pablo, 1973
Duke Ellington – piano
Joe Pass - guitar
Ray Brown - bass
Louie Bellson - drums

[poppachubby]

Hey guys, have to make this short and sweet. I am in the midst of working 3 - 12's, all night shift. I do this every second weekend.

Been diggin some live stuff. Mostly post bop, but all really inspired, authentic jazz.

Mal Waldron Live at The Vanguard
Mal Waldron (piano),
Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone),
Woody Shaw (trumpet),
Reggie Workman (acoustic bass),
Ed Blackwell (drums).




Benny Bailey Sextet Live at the Domicile Munich

Benny Bailey, trumpet
Nathan Davis, tenor saxophone
Mal Waldron, piano
Jimmy Woode, bass
Makaya Ntshoko, drums
Charly Campbell, congas (2 & 4)

[frenchmon]

Thanks frenchy. I called both of the larger record shops and they are flush with titles. Mostly CD but that's fine with me. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Right now I am dissecting the styles of Curtis Amy and Nathan Davis. I was led to both of these guys from my pursuit of two musicians, Carmell Jones and Woody Shaw. My collections of both now include all of their leader dates, so I am onto side appearances.

Once again I am totally baffled at how such genius goes under the radar. Even alot of jazz fans can't recall either of these superb players. It's a shame that the dust bins of jazz history have swallowed up so much amazing and important music, along with all of the forgettable stuff.

Hey man..the populous dont have a clue to how important this art form is to America or who laid the historical tracts to what we have now in music. Some are to afraid to branch out into history...its all about the now. Jazz musicians are many over the years... and many had brief careers for various reasons. At one time in her history it was the in thing. But one only knows this if they go back and look at Americas jazz history, or if you lived during that time. Jazz and Blues laid the path for other types of music. And Blues sprang first and then Jazz. They both sprang from the spiritual music laid down by the slaves who got the rhythms from the cities of Africa.

Us today who go back can really appreciate the art form of the pioneers...it was their way of life back then. I love some of the earliest recorded acoustic blues we have as much as Jazz.

I alone with you Pops, respect those jazz musicians today who love the music enough and appreciate it enough to continue to play this art form and keep it alive, while not getting rich like some of those in Rock or Pop or Rap music.

How many people today know and understand what Jazz meant to the great depression of the 30's? People had no money, hardly any food, soup lines all over the place, but they scraped their pennies and saved them until the weekend to go to the clubs to buy a beer and dance to the swing music of the big bands. This was very important to people back then who had nothing....it was their way of escape from all their sorrow, from all their pain and suffering during this time. It was the only fun they really had. I'm talking not only black folk but white folk as well. The great depression hurt them all.

I've never heard of Curtis Amy or Nathan Davis. what are they like? I'm sure they are great.

[3LB]

For those you looking to get started in the world jazz I'd suggest starting in the year 1958. There's some great stuff before '58, but it's a great place to start because of all the experimentation going on.

I skimmed the thread so forgive me, but I didn't notice Ornette Coleman yet.

[frenchmon]

For those you looking to get started in the world jazz I'd suggest starting in the year 1958. There's some great stuff before '58, but it's a great place to start because of all the experimentation going on.

I skimmed the thread so forgive me, but I didn't notice Ornette Coleman yet.

I am a Coleman fan, but I will give you the honors of posting him. so feel free.