Some good charity and estate sale finds as of late
Blossom Dearie - Give Him The Ooh-La-La original press $1.
Nice batch of Impulse titles and a few Cal Tjaders.
I'm about halfway through a (rather indifferent) biography of Clifford Brown - the great 'Brownie' - and have every intention of digging him this evening.
Bud Powell. Often enough accompanied by Bird. Bebop at its finest.
Mingus.
Ah-Um.
But before that -
Jess Stacy
'Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town' - follows the Love Theme from 'Spartacus'. Seems unlikely - but it's still Bill Evans, interpreting the Coots composition. Who knew what went on inside that enigmatic head?
Bill Evans with Bob Brookmeyer, Percy Heath and Connie Kay. Recorded March 1959. Swinging old standards - including 'The Way You Look Tonight' which I guess might have influenced the composition of 'Waltz For Debby'. Delightful listening on a sunny Monday morning.
Live - so plenty of 'Mm-hmm', 'Ah-ha' and 'Mmm-yeah' from Erroll.
Shirley Horn.
Superb.
Highly underrated.
Incidentally, refer to the post above in which Blossom Dearie is mentioned. 'Give Him The Ooh-La-La' will bring a smile to your face on any gloomy Monday morning.
Bobby Jaspar - live in New York.
In the Eighties a lot of exciting jazz was coming out from Holland on the Timeless label.Paul Murphy championed it.
There was a transition going on where some of the US imports started to get seriously expensive. The European labels that were mixing ex-pats with local musicians were much cheaper to buy yet the quality was still good.
Art Blakey recorded a number of superb albums for them. Machito recorded the hard Ronnie Scott Mambo.Cedar Walto crops up as does Pharoah Sanders
I recently discovered that Gilles Peterson issued a compilation in Japan called Timeless Jazz Classic. Whilst that album is expensive I have been listening to a lot of the tracks on Youtube.
Dave Frishberg: 'Let's Eat Home'.
I moved gradually away from hard bop and even bebop some years ago and began to dig instead vocalese, 'supper club' and witty, romantic lyricists like Carolyn Leigh. I still dig Bird, though, but prefer his version of 'Lover Man' to almost everything else.
Frishberg and Bob Dorough displayed good humour. I value that.
Monk on Blue Note: thrifted this a.m. from the local Oxfam. £1.99.
Chap serving was still wearing a blue mask (not periwinkle, therefore not Ivy-approved).
Seen whilst walking: chap pushing eighty wearing a cherry red 'arrington.
I'm listening to Paul Desmond at the moment.
Although I've been listening to Jazz for over 40 years I don't know much about his music.
Because I don't like Dave Brubeck I probably wrote him off.
On a compilation I was listening to, whilst stuck in traffic, Blue Desmond came on and it was suddenly a nicer day!
I am also listening to the mighty London Jazz Classics compilations. Three albums of jazz drenched soul, fusion and latin.
Carlos Franzetti Cocoa Funk from Vol 2 was a massive tune the late seventies and is highly recommended to wake up even the most retired dancing feet.
I didn't want to start a new thread so I thought there was some tenuous link with WJAYLT ,some of you may have already picked up on this, the BBC have made 4 excellent documentaries on the Rolling Stones, each one about the 3 remaining members & Charlie Watts, they showed the Jagger one last Saturday, but you don't have to wait for the CW one, it's on i-player, pleasingly there is a decent amount of time spent on Charlie's clothes & love of jazz , well worth a watch IMO,
Saw the Stones summer 1976. Very hot. Knebworth. Never attended another outdoor event.
I knew nothing of Charlie Watts' interests in jazz until about fifteen or so years ago. But it made sense, considering their Blues-R&B roots. They led me (and my late father suggested this) to Willie Dixon, Robert Wilkins, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson etc. Which led to Parker and Coltrane. And so on.
Rarely listen to Blues now, though.
Good tip, Stax.
I always thought Charlie Watts was the most interesting member of the Stones. The way he played the drums, appearing to not be too enthusiastic about the music and his obvious love of clothes. I did like Mick Jagger as a performer, even though I thought he was a 'poor mans' James Brown (who I really liked).
If you're looking for a couple of outstanding Charlie Watts jazz tracks I recommend the following:
Faction from the album with the Danish Radio Big Band
Airto 2 from the Watts at Scotts album from 2001.
The latter track is a favourite of mine. It's a very accessible tribute to the great Brazilian percussionist.
I have several CDs lined up for when my mansion has ceased to be climbed and jumped over by roofers and scaffolders. I'm certainly going to be listening to Fats Waller playing 'Honeysuckle Rose' JASAP. Then some Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
Can anyone vouch for an entire CD of Jeremy Steig? I've heard a sample of his work with Bill Evans - and liked it. But I've found CDs can be a bit monotonous (not unlike my postings). Twenty five plus tracks of, say, Lonesome Sundown proved just too much for me.
Well thanks to Alvey, Bud Shank - Bossa Nova Jazz Samba