Mike Taylor Trio: LSD Jazz

By cobwebsandstrange on 6/3/10 4:53pm
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In the endless line of unsung jazz heroes Mike Taylor is kind of unique. It’s not that his brief recording career so far surpasses others that were his contemporaries. A great deal of his music is simply augmented, weirdo post-bop stuff in small settings. That’s not to say the music doesn’t have merit, it does. But while the pianist’s jazz recordings haven’t become widely available or popular – copies of Trio, though, do go for hundreds of dollars – Taylor’s compositions have been heard by millions of people.

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Walter Bishop, Jr's Speak Low (1961)

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/30/10 6:18pm
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There are some players who easily figure into jazz’s development, but remain known only to musicians and folks a bit too nerdy and find themselves digging through books on the genre and scrolling through web pages. It’s hard to understand why some folks are relegated to this particular sphere of renown, but that’s how it goes. Walter Bishop, Jr. is one of those players.

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Doug Watkins: Dead Guy Jazz

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/30/10 2:14pm
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Looking back at dates featuring players who would soon go on to be huge names, its interesting to see what sort of freedom each is given on any given recording. Yusef Lateef is probably one of the better known out-players of the sixties even if he wasn’t really too experimental apart from his choice of instrumentation. But he had to begin somewhere and as a fellow Detroit native led a 1960 session called Soulnik, the young multi-instrumentalist was taped to contribute a few compositions and play flute, oboe and sax.

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Herbie Hancock Gets Fat (Albert)

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/27/10 6:01pm
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Herbie Hancock, pianist and composer, is known for such a huge assortment of accomplishments, there’s no way to distill any of it. Of course, Chris Farley confusing Herbie with John probably ranks pretty high up there. But before that occurrence or having a deejay perform with his ensemble, Hancock sought to work the line between well wrought jazz stuffs and popular music.

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Ella Fitzgerald - "When I Get Low, I Get High" (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/23/10 3:40pm
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Unnecessary intro to this version, but what should we expect from YouTube. Either way, Ella goes in one about the human condition. There're obviously different ways to deal with troubled times, but she figures it pretty well.

Ted Lewis Band with Fats Waller - "Dallas Blues" (Video)

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/23/10 3:38pm
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Fats Waller was a man that bridged eras. On this track he works out some group improvisation with the Ted Lewis Band. On his own dates, it was always a mix of good time songs and interesting piano led instrumentals. And if nothing else 'Be Kind, Rewind' was kind of about the guy.

Mongo Santamaria Covers a Lot of Ground

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/16/10 7:25pm
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The most respected folks in any field are those capacious enough to craft something completely new – or at least something that masquerades as new and fools enough people along the way. And while those people obviously deserve a huge amount of fawning and any accolades that go along with it all, there are folks who possess an equal amount of bravura for interpreting other’s works.

Granted, people who base their entire career on interpreting work others’ have produced most likely won’t be around until the end of time or even necessarily be remembered a few years one. Sinatra – regardless of what folks think about his actual singing ability, which was negligible – was able to work up an enormously successful stint in jazz and lounge musics based solely on his ability to render other’s songs in familiar terms. Maybe that’s why the singer possessed a talent for acting as well.

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Jack McDuff: Orchestrated Funk...

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/13/10 5:15pm
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I blame Miles Davis for a vast many problems in music. Seeing as the man innovated roughly three different times, though, everything should be forgiven. But I just can’t let it go. Apart from Miles helping to establish the West Coast cool thing that pretty much gave way to smooth jazz during ensuing decades, the trumpeter was responsible for re-introducing huge ensemble support during the bop era. Obviously, big bands from years back endeavored to use as many different instruments and sections as possible, but Miles’ work on fair like Porgy and Bess could be seen as a step away from the most artful playing while moving towards a more pop oriented style. His playing didn’t change when accompanied by these groups – Miles realized he’d be able to play roughly the same way no matter who backed him, thus the fusion groups. Regardless of that, though, there was a ratcheting up of big band support after the trumpeter’s work with Gil Evans.

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Charlie Rouse as Monk's Straight Man...

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/12/10 5:20pm
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There’re endless stories of children rebelling against their parents in any way that might trouble the older set. Hippies’ children might go off and buy a suit so that office jobs fall into their laps. There’s even the son of Dead Moon’s husband and wife duo who's a lawyer. Of course, if your dad’s only job since roughly the mid ‘60s was to play guitar, a briefcase might be a welcome change.

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Gabor Szabo: Gets It All...

By cobwebsandstrange on 5/11/10 12:23pm
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The guitar theatrics of Gabor Szabo are some of the most inventive and free from whatever else was going on in the jazz world during the sixties as anyone else in the field – that actually applies to any player on any instrument. Even the man’s forays into pop music can’t be matched for the creativity that it seemingly oozed. The fact that no one really cared about any of his music, though, is pretty problematic.

With George Benson, Donald Byrd and any number of other once respectable players taking jazz into its most pop related forms and garnering some decent pay days, it’s understandable as to why Szabo was a bit miffed about the situation. He was actually able to participate in some of the more far reaching jazz and rock ensembles of the decade before Miles came along and convinced everyone that he’d been the one ahead of the curve the entire time.

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