April 2009

  • Turrentine x Scott

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> I can’t say that there are too many dates that Stanley Turrentine led that I really care about. The live set that finds him paired with Freddie Hubbard is definitely one of them – but with the line up that appears on that disc, it’s not too difficult to figure out why it turned out well. But even if Turrentine didn’t have tremendous leadership qualities, he had good taste in woman. And in 1960 he married organist Shirley Scott. Read more

  • Soul Stew: King Curtis

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> There aren’t too many parts of the recording process that King Curtis didn’t have a hand in. He wrote, orchestrated, directed, produced and played on some of the most important recordings in a variety of genres – some that you wouldn’t even associate the saxophonist with. You know he wrote “Reminiscing” by Buddy Holly, right? That’s crazy. Read more

  • Bird 'n Diz: Live in NYC, 1945

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> Right. So, these two dudes have pretty much defined the way in which to play their individual instruments. I’ve heard tell of Maynard Ferguson having an enormous range – trumping Diz, who I don’t believe was ever touted for such talents. But considering that no one in their right mind cares about Maynard, save for a few drunken trumpet majors, we’ll consider Diz tops. As for Bird – well Coltrane, at this point is probably more important - but without the Charlie Parker style check at the beginning of his career, who knows where Coltrane would have wound up. Read more

  • Consternation: Harold Ousley

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> After the advent of the independent record label – let’s just give the credit to Sam Cooke, since the genre we’re about to take a trip through is as tied to the progress of black folks as any other – a slew of outlets began popping up. Some were more valid than others. But that’s not really the point. The fact that folks without significant ties to the music industry were able to put to tape what they felt was as important a step in civil rights as any other (post angry comments below). Read more

  • Twined: Ornette Coleman

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> The style of playing that’s most often associated with Ornette Coleman is a difficult one. It isn’t necessarily tied to all too much that came before it. It is, of course, related to bop – its closest predecessor. But in that link, there isn’t all too much that can be figured as similar. Part of bop’s apotheosis, though, was as an anti-dance music. And Coleman’s work is certainly that. But beyond that, the way in which the saxophonist perceives what a solo is and should do is drastically removed from the musics’ forbearer. Read more

  • The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue

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    The myth or sensation surrounding a number of players is often more important than what the individual actually achieved. It’s difficult to figure when and where this applies and I can’t say that Eric Dolphy’s career is one of these instances or not, but due to his death at a rather young age, it can surely be said that the spate of inconsistent reissues bearing his name wouldn’t have occurred other wise. Read more

  • Hyperion and Theia: Sun Ra

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> It’s really difficult to discuss Sun Ra – or his music – without using some string of adjectives that basically means weird. Of course, if that’s all one has taken away after listening to his work, than the point of it all has been lost. But still, he’s kinda weird. That’s not good or bad. But it probably informed a vast many decisions that he made regarding composition as well as his choice to use an electric keyboard before most folks in the United States knew what that even was. Read more

  • Harping: Dorothy Ashby

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> As with so many other jazz players, Dorothy Ashby had been perpetually surrounded by music from the time that she was a small child. Her father, guitarist Wiley Thompson, was in the practice of bringing friends back to his family’s home to jam. And on occasion, a young Dorothy would help the combos out by playing piano alongside of them. It was obvious that music would be her career in one way or another. Read more

  • Miles Davis: Live in Copenhagen, 1960

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    <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]--> I’ve been ensnared all too many times in the argument pitting Miles Davis against John Coltrane. And regardless of whether or not there’s an answer as to who was the better player or who impacted the genre to a greater extent, listening to both men play on the same session is more rewarding than the discourse that surrounds either player. Read more

  • McGriff and Parker: Soul Blue

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    By the time he was thirty years old Junior Parker had performed in a group with a young BB King, worked with Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf and was signed by Ike Turner to Modern Records before Sam Phillips swooped in and whisked the singer off to Sun Records. That in and of itself is more than a career. But that would only comprise the first half of his recording career. Read more