08-11-2020 JAZZ:MiX # 33 jazz tracks on the the JAZZ_line 1963-1975 # Johnny Hartman, Jimmy Smith, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Gábor Szabó, Lalo Schifrin, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Les McCann, Joe Henderson, Milt Jackson, Harry Beckett
J A Z Z M U S I C
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.JAZZ_line on deezer
1963-1975
A superior ballad singer with a warm baritone, best known for his classic full-length collaboration with John Coltrane.
Stairway to the Stars (Matty Malneck / Mitchell Parish / Frank Signorelli)
Charade (Henry Mancini / Johnny Mercer)
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Bob Hilliard / David Mann)
from I Just Dropped By to Say Hello 1963
The second Impulse! session for ballad singer Johnny Hartman followed his classic collaboration with John Coltrane. Hartman is heard in peak form throughout these 11 pieces, which include "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," "Stairway to the Stars," and even "Charade." Tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet is on five of the songs, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall help out on a few tunes, and Hartman is consistently accompanied by pianist Hank Jones, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Elvin Jones. This is one of his finest recordings.
A pioneer of soul-jazz who revolutionized the Hammond organ, turning it into one of the most incisive, dynamic jazz instruments of its time.
Jimmy Smith
Prayer Meeting (Jimmy Smith)
I Almost Lost My Mind (Ivory Joe Hunter)
Lonesome Road (Gene Austin / Nat Shilkret)
from Prayer Meetin' 1964
Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ, Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-'50s and early '60s, and arguably his best albums for Blue Note during this period were the ones he did with tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine. Recorded on February 8, 1963, at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, and featuring Quentin Warren on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums in addition to Smith and Turrentine, Prayer Meetin' is a delight from start to finish... The blues roots are obvious here, and the Smith-penned title track might even be called jazz-gospel, but the single most striking cut is a version of Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind," with both Smith and Turrentine building wonderful solos, suggesting new pathways for organ and sax as complementary instruments.
Voted by Miles Davis as the greatest tenor ever, an inventive saxophonist and an astonishing soloist.
Sonny Rollins
On Green Dolphin Street (Bronislaw Kaper / Ned Washington)
Hold 'Em Joe (Harry Thomas)
Three Little Words (Bert Kalmar / Harry Ruby)
from On Impulse! 1965
In 1965 and 1966 tenor giant Sonny Rollins issued three albums for the Impulse label. They would be his last until 1972 when he re-emerged on the scene from a self-imposed retirement. This date is significant for the manner in which Rollins attacks five standards with a quartet that included pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Mickey Roker. Rollins, who's been recording for RCA and its Bluebird subsidiary, had spent the previous three years (after emerging from his first retirement) concentrating on standards and focusing deeply on intimate, intricate aspects of melody and harmony. He inverts the approach here, and digs deeply into pulse and rhythm and leaving melody to take care of itself...
One of the outstanding tenor saxophonists in jazz history, and a major figure in bop known for his heavy doses of swing.
Dexter Gordon
Manha de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá / Antônio Maria)
Heartaches (Al Hoffman / John Klenner)
Everybody's Somebody's Fool (Howard Greenfield / Jack Keller)
from Gettin' Around 1966
Dexter Gordon's mid-'60s period living in Europe also meant coming back to the U.S. for the occasional recording session. His teaming with Bobby Hutcherson was intriguing in that the vibraphonist was marking his territory as a maverick and challenging improviser. Here the two principals prove compatible in that they have a shared sense of how to create sheer beauty in a post-bop world. Add the brilliant Barry Harris to this mix, and that world is fortunate enough to hear these grand masters at their creative peak, stoked by equally extraordinary sidemen like bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins, all on loan from Lee Morgan's hitmaking combo. The subtle manner in which Gordon plays melodies or caresses the most recognizable standard has always superseded his ability to ramble through rough-and-tumble bebop...
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Bob Hilliard / David Mann)
from I Just Dropped By to Say Hello 1963
The second Impulse! session for ballad singer Johnny Hartman followed his classic collaboration with John Coltrane. Hartman is heard in peak form throughout these 11 pieces, which include "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," "Stairway to the Stars," and even "Charade." Tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet is on five of the songs, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall help out on a few tunes, and Hartman is consistently accompanied by pianist Hank Jones, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Elvin Jones. This is one of his finest recordings.
Jimmy Smith
Prayer Meeting (Jimmy Smith)
I Almost Lost My Mind (Ivory Joe Hunter)
Lonesome Road (Gene Austin / Nat Shilkret)
from Prayer Meetin' 1964
Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ, Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-'50s and early '60s, and arguably his best albums for Blue Note during this period were the ones he did with tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine. Recorded on February 8, 1963, at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, and featuring Quentin Warren on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums in addition to Smith and Turrentine, Prayer Meetin' is a delight from start to finish... The blues roots are obvious here, and the Smith-penned title track might even be called jazz-gospel, but the single most striking cut is a version of Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind," with both Smith and Turrentine building wonderful solos, suggesting new pathways for organ and sax as complementary instruments.
Sonny Rollins
On Green Dolphin Street (Bronislaw Kaper / Ned Washington)
Hold 'Em Joe (Harry Thomas)
Three Little Words (Bert Kalmar / Harry Ruby)
from On Impulse! 1965
In 1965 and 1966 tenor giant Sonny Rollins issued three albums for the Impulse label. They would be his last until 1972 when he re-emerged on the scene from a self-imposed retirement. This date is significant for the manner in which Rollins attacks five standards with a quartet that included pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Mickey Roker. Rollins, who's been recording for RCA and its Bluebird subsidiary, had spent the previous three years (after emerging from his first retirement) concentrating on standards and focusing deeply on intimate, intricate aspects of melody and harmony. He inverts the approach here, and digs deeply into pulse and rhythm and leaving melody to take care of itself...
Dexter Gordon
Manha de Carnaval (Luiz Bonfá / Antônio Maria)
Heartaches (Al Hoffman / John Klenner)
Everybody's Somebody's Fool (Howard Greenfield / Jack Keller)
from Gettin' Around 1966
Dexter Gordon's mid-'60s period living in Europe also meant coming back to the U.S. for the occasional recording session. His teaming with Bobby Hutcherson was intriguing in that the vibraphonist was marking his territory as a maverick and challenging improviser. Here the two principals prove compatible in that they have a shared sense of how to create sheer beauty in a post-bop world. Add the brilliant Barry Harris to this mix, and that world is fortunate enough to hear these grand masters at their creative peak, stoked by equally extraordinary sidemen like bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins, all on loan from Lee Morgan's hitmaking combo. The subtle manner in which Gordon plays melodies or caresses the most recognizable standard has always superseded his ability to ramble through rough-and-tumble bebop...
Litha (Chick Corea)
Sweet Rain (Mike Gibbs)
from Sweet Rain 1967
One of Stan Getz's all-time greatest albums, Sweet Rain was his first major artistic coup after he closed the book on his bossa nova period, featuring an adventurous young group that pushed him to new heights in his solo statements. Pianist Chick Corea, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Grady Tate were all schooled in '60s concepts of rhythm-section freedom, and their continually stimulating interplay helps open things up for Getz to embark on some long, soulful explorations (four of the five tracks are over seven minutes). The neat trick of Sweet Rain is that the advanced rhythm section work remains balanced with Getz's customary loveliness and lyricism. Indeed, Getz plays with a searching, aching passion throughout the date, which undoubtedly helped Mike Gibbs' title track become a standard after Getz's tender treatment here...
Three King Fishers
Sunshine Superman (Donovan)
Bacchanal (Gabor Szabo)
from Bacchanal 1968
After recording four albums for Impulse in 1967, the distinctive guitarist Gabor Szabo cut three records for the Skye label in 1968, of which this LP, Bacchanal, is the strongest. Szabo's regular group of the era is heard on record for the last time: guitarist Jimmy Stewart, bassist Louis Kabok, drummer Jim Keltner and percussionist Hal Gordon. With the exception of two Szabo originals, the material is comprised of current pop tunes... Despite what should have been a complete lack of potential, the Hungarian guitarist uplifts the material and mostly turns the pieces into worthwhile jazz.
Bullitt (Main Title) )Lalo Schifrin)
Ice Pick Mike (Lalo Schifrin)
The Aftermath of Love (Lalo Schifrin)
from Bullitt 1969
After establishing himself in the television world with the classic Mission: Impossible theme, Lalo Schifrin soon made himself equally famous in the world of film music with his work on the soundtrack of the Steve MacQueen cop thriller Bullitt. This classic soundtrack found Schifrin combining the skills he honed as an arranger for jazzmen like Count Basie with the gift he developed for writing tight, punchy themes on television soundtracks like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Mission: Impossible... This combination is perfectly presented on "Bullitt (Main Title)," a jazz-pop instrumental that starts with an angular, staccato bass line and quickly layers on jazz guitar and controlled bursts of brass to create a tune that swings and thrills all at once... and "Ice Pick Mike," a chase theme that builds from piano and percussion to a full-blown jazz instrumental complete with a wild horn section... Elsewhere, Schifrin effectively slows down the rhythms to craft lush instrumentals that manage to create a lighter, more pensive mood without losing their jazz edge: "The Aftermath of Love" layers gentle trumpet and flute lines over string-sweetened rhythms...
Transition (John Coltrane)
Suite: Prayer and Meditation - Day/Peace and After/Prayer and Meditation - Evening/Affirmation /Prayer and Meditation - 4 A.M. (John Coltrane)
from Transition 1970
Recorded in June of 1965 and released posthumously in 1970, Transition acts as a neat perforation mark between Coltrane's classic quartet and the cosmic explorations that would follow until Trane's passing in 1967. Recorded seven months after the standard-setting A Love Supreme, Transition's first half bears much in common with that groundbreaking set. Spiritually reaching and burningly intense, the quartet is playing at full steam, but still shy of the total free exploration that would follow mere months later...McCoy Tyner's gloriously roaming piano chord clusters add depth and counterpoint to Coltrane's ferocious lyrical runs on the five-part suite that makes up the album's second half. In particular on "Peace and After," Tyner matches Trane's range of expression...
The Emperor (Donald Byrd)
The Little Rasti (Donald Byrd)
from Ethiopian Knights 1971
Right from the stop-start bass groove that opens "The Emperor," it's immediately clear that Ethiopian Knights is more indebted to funk -- not just funky jazz, but the straight-up James Brown/Sly Stone variety -- than any previous Donald Byrd project. And, like a true funk band, Byrd and his group work the same driving, polyrhythmic grooves over and over, making rhythm the focal point of the music. Although the musicians do improvise, their main objective is to keep the grooves pumping, using their solos more to create texture than harmonic complexity... in truth, even though Ethiopian Knights did move Byrd closer to R&B, it's still more jazz than funk, and didn't completely foreshadow his crossover... Byrd again leads a large ensemble, but with mostly different players than on his recent sessions; some come from the group assembled for Bobby Hutcherson's Head On album, others from the Jazz Crusaders. That's part of the reason there are fewer traces of hard bop here, but it's also clear from the title that Byrd's emerging Afrocentric consciousness was leading him -- like Davis -- to seek ways of renewing jazz's connection to the people who created it... Ethiopian Knights is another intriguing transitional effort that deepens the portrait of Byrd the acid jazz legend.
The Lovers (Les McCann)
from Invitation to Openness 1972
Label M has reissued the classic 1972 Les McCann album Invitation to Openness on CD with the majority of the tunes receiving the benefit of advanced technology. On this recording, the 26-minute "The Lovers" is more illustrative, freer in its essence and translation of the predominant free love theme of the '60s and '70s. Every nuance of McCann's stream of consciousness comes through loud and clear, as do the excellent solos by Yusef Lateef on a wide array of reeds, flutes, and percussion. David Spinozza's electric guitar chops and Alphonse Mouzon's drum and percussion feelings on McCann's completely improvised composition are an auditory delight for fusion fans. McCann adds a couple of piano melody lines and a couple of basslines, but other than that this composition is freely improvised by the musicians...
Tress-Cun-Deo-La (Joe Henderson)
Turned Around (Joe Henderson / Dave Holland)
from Multiple 1973
Multiple is a bellwether album for jazz fans. You can tell a lot about listeners' ear and where their tastes reside based on whether they're big fans of Multiple, indifferent toward it, or don't like it at all. Joe Henderson's career arc has three major nodes -- his hard bopping '60s era, his '70s fusion stint, and his later reincarnation as a Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed, standard-blowing sage. Of these three, Henderson's '70s run is often underappreciated or, in some cases, dismissed and even mildly maligned. The detractors are usually those with more traditional and, at times, stodgy ears. Hip cats -- "with-it cats," as they said in the '70s -- loved Multiple Joe, Afrocentric Joe, semi-militant Joe, grooving Joe, burnin' Joe. Multiple is probably Henderson's greatest album from this era and its fans share a cult-kinship. Whereas most fusion artists of the day were spiking their jazz with rock guitar and "elements" of funk, there was a certain set (Gary Bartz, for example) who offered concentrated, pungent funk. You won't find a bassline like Dave Holland's "Turned Around" on a Return to Forever album. It's the Multiple rhythm section (Holland, a maniacally drumming Jack DeJohnette, and pianist Larry Willis) that makes it such a nasty set. The album's classic cut, "Tress-Cum-Deo-La," doesn't walk or bop; it struts with a pronounced limp, like the fellas who swaggered up urban avenues with tilted fedoras...
Olinga (Dizzy Gillespie)
Lost April (Eddie DeLange / Emil Newman / Herbert W. Spencer)
The Steel Bender (Milt Jackson)
from Olinga 1974
Originally out on the CTI label, this set features vibraphonist Milt Jackson with some of his favorite musicians (pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter, drummer Mickey Roker, and Jimmy Heath on tenor and soprano) along with an occasional string section. The performances are pretty straight-ahead for CTI, with Bags and company performing the ballad "Lost April," Dizzy Gillespie's "Olinga," a Walton original, and three recent songs by Jackson. Although Cedar Walton does not sound as formidable on electric piano as on acoustic and the other solos overall are a bit safe, this is a nice album.
No Time for Hello (Harry Beckett)
Changes Are Still Happening (Harry Beckett)
Bracelets of Sound (Harry Beckett)
Joy Unlimited 1975
Trumpeter and flugelhornist Harry Beckett was a Barbados-born British émigré whose gorgeous tone almost always put him in historic company. He played with Mingus and the leading lights of the '60s, '70s, and '80s British jazz scene, including Graham Collier, Mike Westbrook, John Surman, Stan Tracey, Courtney Pine, and Django Bates. He also worked with rock musicians and electronic, dub, and reggae producer Adrian Sherwood, who helmed Beckett's final album in 2008. 1975's Joy Unlimited is Beckett's classic... Produced by John Jack for Cadillac Records, Joy Unlimited's title aptly reflects its creator's always cheerful persona. Its six Beckett-composed tracks offer an indelible portrait of his hearing and playing of jazz, as well as where he wanted to take it. He's backed by a quintet that includes guitarist Ray Russell, bassist Daryl Runswick, pianist/synthesist Brian Miller, drummer Nigel Morris, and conguero Martin David. "No Time for Hello" kicks off with a fleet pizzicato run from Runswick's upright, establishing a bluesy, minor mode that draws heavily on rock and Latin rhythms. Beckett's solo reaches for high notes immediately atop fat Rhodes piano chords and crisp, accelerated interplay from the drummers. Russell's scorching wah-wah guitar break underscores Beckett's own solo before Runswick moves his bass into arco territory, meeting the band in the outro... "Changes Are Still Happening" is brief, elegiac ballad, with Russell playing acoustic guitar and Beckett's warm, expressive horn. "Bracelets of Sound," with its spooky, spacy, electric guitar introduces the band, who erase the vibe with a midtempo funk vamp. Russell's soulful solo trades fours with Miller's punchy Rhodes..
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