Kenny Drew / Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson - Duo 2

It's late at night, the lights are off and with only the glow of the streetlamps through the window, the Sandman evades me. This record spins on the turntable, and the warm glass of bourbon feels good in my hand.
I should have been asleep hours ago but I found myself wandering the apartment and this seemed like the best way to settle down.



The other selections are inspired, don't get me wrong. A couple of Drew originals and a couple of standards. They keep the lp grounded.

Kenny Drew/NHO Pederson
Duo 2

1. Jeg Gik Mig Over So
2. Largo
3. My Little Suede Shoes
4 Trubell
5. Bluesology
6. Viking's Blues
7. A Child Is Born
8. It Might As Well Be Spring
9. My Shining Hour

Kenny Drew - piano
Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson - bass

Recorded 2/11-12/74, Copenhagen

IC 2010

Lee Konitz / Red Mitchell - I Concentrate On You

I had been searching for this baby for quite sometime and wouldn't you know, between the time I located it and actually had it sent, someone slipped it into the blogosphere. C'est la Vie!

I know the cat that put it up recently (a great guy) and we both agreed that there was room for both. His, if you locate it, is a flac copy from a cd. Mine once again is a lowly mp3 from the lp spinning on my turntable as I type.

I love way way these two work on this record. I love that Konitz treats the alto almost like a tenor, giving way to slow languorous lines instead of quick flights usually associated with the smaller horn. This lp is as sophisticated as anything Porter portrayed. Both players take this to heart in the probing, sensuous lines that follow along closely with the original melodies. And yet they still manage to not sacrifice the irreverence and wit that Porter cultivated in his songwriting.

And let it be said that this version of "I Concentrate On You" is one of the great seduction tracks of all time. A sure winner any time, but best during the cool down.

Lee Konitz/Red Mitchell
I Concentrate On You
a tribute to Cole Porter

1. Just One Of Those Things
2. Easy To Love
3. It's Alright With Me
4. Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye
5. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
6. Love For Sale
7. In The Still Of The Night
8. Night and Day*
9. I Love You
10. I Love Paris
11. I Concentrate On You

Lee Konitz - alto sax
Red Mitchell - bass, piano*

Recorded 7/30/74, Copenhagen

IC 2018

Stan Getz - Gold..."Happy 50th, Stan"....

Not to be confused with the much later Verve"greatest hits" type cd, also titled Gold.

This would be the Inner City version of the Steeplechase record pictured at the left.

Assuming it got it's title from celebrating Getz' 50th birthday, I salute him. My 50th was a milestone ( and a damn lot of fun) but I didn't document it for the world.

Again we have a couple of ex-pats calling on some of Euro's best to help out on a great outing.

Copenhagen in the early seventies was the place to be, forget the west coast.

Stan Getz - Gold
...Happy 50th, Stan...

1. Morning Star
2. Lady Sings The Blues
3. Cancao Do Sol
4. Lush Life
5. Stan's Blues

6. Infant Eyes
7. Lester Left Town
8. Eiderdown
9. Blues For Dorte

Stan Getz - tenor sax
Joanne brackeen - piano, electric piano
Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - Bass
Billy Hart - drums


recorded live 1/28, 29, &30/77
(Getz celebrated his birthday for 3 days, that's another feather in his cap.)


Disc One
Disc Two

Prestige First Sessions 1949/50

A two-fer set of lps I have had for years.

Some great stuff on these. These lps are responsible for my love of Tristano/Konitz. I originally bought this set for the Fats Navarro tracks. While I was familiar with much of the work of several artists on here, at the time I was familiar with Tristano and Konitz in name only.

When I bought this set in the early '80s much of this stuff was unavailable. Freaking internet takes all the fun outta things! If you're like me, I prefer the vinyl any time.
And if you think there is anyway I can list fully the performers for all these tracks... you're dreaming. That's where the internet comes in. But I will cover the major bases.

Disc One:
Lennie Tristano
1. Tautology
2. Retrospection
3. Subconscious Lee
4. Judy
Lee Konitz
5. Marshmallow
6. Fishin' Around
7. Tautology
8. Sound Lee
Don Lamphere
9. Spider's Web
10. Strike Up The Band
Kai Winding
11. Broadway
12. Waterworks
Fats Navarro
13. Wailing Wall
14. Go
15. Infatuation
16. Stop


Disc Two
J.J. Johnson
1. Afternoon In Paris
2. Elora
3. Tea Pot
4. Blue Mode
Wardell Gray
5. Easy Living
Sonny Stitt
6. Fine and Dandy
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
7. Sweet and Lovely
8. Squattin'
Al Haig
9. Liza
10. Stars Fell On Alabama
11. Stairway To The Stars
12. Opus Caprice
Leo Parker
13. Mona Lisa
14. Who's Mad
15. Darn That Dream
16. I'll Cross My Fingers

Additional performers include Denzel Best, Duke Jordan, Warne Marsh, Shelley Manne, Brew Moore, Gerry Mulligan, George Wallington, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Wynton Kelley, and Oscar Pettiford, among others.

Prestige P-24081 (disc one)
Prestige P-24081 (disc two)

Some Zoot Sims

I guess this would be the first of those oddball posts I was talking about earlier. The ones where sharing the music really is foremost.

You see this post consists of pieces of two lps. Most of the one at your left and another Savoy reissue under Chuck Wayne's banner.

I have never seen either of the two on disc nor hanging around the blogoshpere much.

The first - the Good Ole Zoot lp is culled from two sessions. The first (a) is a quintet recording. Unfortuately one track from this lp was too warped to be salvageable and it was from this session. This missing track is titled Toot No.2.

The players are:
Zoot Sims - tenor
Stu Williamson - trumpet, valve trombone
Kenny Drew - piano
Ralph Pena - bass
Jimmy Pratt - drums

recorded 7/16/54

The second session (b) is actually a Chubby Jackson session. (Damn, I have some great Chubby Jackson on cassette around here that I need to locate.) I still love the big band sound even when it was falling out of style. Actually even more so, when the young dudes tried keeping it alive. Even though Georgie Auld would hardly be considered a hip new guy, and as usual there is the inclusion of a couple of fellows who found this to be their fleeting claim to fame.

The players here are:
Zoot Sims - tenor sax
Chubby Jackson - bass
Al Porcino - trumpet
Don Ferrara - trumpet
Howard McGhee - trumpet
J.J. Johnson - trombone
Kai Winding - trombone
Charlie Kennedy - alto sax
Georgie Auld - tenor sax
Gerry Mulligan - baritone sax
Tony Aless - piano
Don Lamond - drums

Recorded 3/15/50

The final session(c) was actually attributed to Chuck Wayne and also consisted of several sessions. From the lp at left we have culled the only 4 songs thatZoot Sims played on.

The rest of the lp is fairly uneventful, but the Sims songs manage to be a pretty good time. Oddly there were 8 tracks cut this day with Zoot only playing on 4 while relatively unknown Brew Moore blew sax on the other 4. Hmmm, what were they thinking?




The cast:
Chuck Wayne - guitar
Zoot Sims - tenor sax
Harvey Leonard - piano
George Duvivier - bass
Ed Shaughnessy - drums

recorded 4/13/54

The thing you all have been waiting for....

1. Howdy Podner (a)
2. Indian Summer (a)
3. Leavin' Town (b)
4. Flyin' The Coop (b)
5. What's New (a)
6. Hot Dog (b)
7. So What (b)
8. While My Lady Sleeps (c)
9. Tasty Pudding (c)
10. Prospecting (c)
11. Sidewalks of Cuba (c)

(a) & (b) New Jazz 8280
(c) SJL 1144

Sonny Stitt / Zoot Sims - Inter-Action

This is a very short but nice meeting of two underrated tenors.

I can't speak for the backing band as I have never heard of any of them but they all seem to rise to the occasion as needed.

What draws me to this outing is Stitt's Parker influences smack up against Sims' Prez impressions. And the way they co-mingle sometimes to the point where I struggle to tell which tenor is blowing.

Stitt picks up his first horn, the alto on Fools Rush In, but it is undeniably Sims' tenor solo on this song that is the highlight of the lp for me.

Anyway, short lp, short review.

Sonny Stitt and Zoot Sims
Inter-Action

1. My Blue Heaven
2. The Saber
3. Katea
4. Fools Rush In
5. Look Down That Lonesome Road
6. I Want To Go Home

Sonny Stitt - tenor and alto saxes
Zoot Sims - tenor sax
John Young - piano
Sam Kidd - bass
Phil Thomas - drums

recorded Chicago, Jan 1965
in glorious mono!

Cadet LP-760

Dexter Gordon - Something Different

Another great late period Dexter G. record that I never see around. This time with two great European jazz artists and ex-pat Billy Higgins. The inclusion of Philip Catherine on guitar is not something I would generally look forward to, but damn if this isn't a fine set.

Covering Miles is always a risky idea, and covering this classic takes guts, but they pull it off phenomenally.

Once again Dexter shows his masterful interpretation of ballads and that fluid subtlety I love so much on the slow numbers. Throw in a little bossa nova, and you get a well rounded picture of this lp.

Dexter Gordon Quartet
Something Different

1. Freddy Freeloader
2. When Sunny Gets Blue
3.Invitation
4. Winther's Calling
5. Polkadots and Moonbeams
6. Yesterday's Mood

Dexter Gordon - tenor sax
Philip Catherine - guitar
Niels-Henning Orsted Peterson - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

recorded 9/13/75

Steeplechase SCS-1136

Art Tatum - Memories of You

Well I hope Monk's piano and the Black Lion sound got you sufficiently prepared for post number 100!

With it I want to share this awesome Art Tatum box set. 3 discs on Black Lion records!!! Close to 60 tracks of Tatum genius.

The 1st disc is V-discs, those elusive records you could not spin even if you could lay your hands on one. These are trio tracks.

Disc 2 is a solo discs of Standards. Does Art Tatum have extra fingers? It may seem so at times.

Disc 3 is also solo but for a couple of tracks. What this disc does is fill in some blanks spots with some real rarities, if you are so lucky to actually be a Tatum completist. For me, these are great tracks that I know I won't accidentally run across elsewhere. Especially when I get around to uploading more Tatum eventually.

Once again, what can be said about the genius of such a piano player? Goddamn, sometimes this stuff just turns me inside out! It is what the kids refer to as old school jazz. Be it roots jazz, 2nd generation, whatever, this is the shit. Once you understand that you will realize how awesome this stuff is.

Art Tatum
Memories of You

Disc One - The V-discs
1. Sweet Lorraine*
2. Cocktails For Two+
3. Liza+
4. She's Funny That Way
5. Gershwin Medley;
The Man I Love / Summertime / I've Got Plenty Of Nothin' / It Ain't Necessarily So
6. Body and Soul
7. Lover
8. Begin The Beguine
9. Indiana
10. Poor Butterfly
11. Where Or When
12. Song of the Vagabond
13. I'm Beginning To See The Light
14. 9:20 Special

Disc Two - Standards
1. I'll Get By ( As Long As I Have You)
2. Sweet Lorraine
3. Can't we Be Friends
4. I'll Never Be The Same
5. Make Believe
6. Judy
7. Body and Soul
8. Elegy
9. Happy Feet
10. Royal Garden Blues
11. Ain't Misbehavin'
12. Stardust
13. In A Sentimental Mood
14. The Man I Love
15. Running Wild
16. I Can't Get Started
17. Get Happy
18. Begin The Beguine
19. It Had To Be You
20. Humoresque
21. Hallelujah
22. Lullaby In Rhythm
23. Over The Rainbow

Disc Three - Tea For Two
1. Tea For Two+
2. Poor Butterfly
3. I've Got a Right To Sing The Blues
4. Tabu
5. Ain't Misbehavin'
6. Royal Garden Blues~
7. I Got Rhythm
8. Hallelujah
9. Hallelujah
10. Poor Butterfly
11. Song Of The Vagabonds
12. Lover
13. memories Of you
14. Running Wild
15. Yesterdays
16. Kerry Dance
17. Crystal Clear
18. Gang O'Notes
19. Between Midnight and Dawn
20. Apollo Boogie

Art Tatum - piano
Oscar Pettiford - bass*
Sid Catlett - drums*, ~
Tiny Grimes - guitar+
Slam Stewart - bass+, ~
Roy Eldridge - trumpet~
Charlie Shavers - trumpet~
Vic Dickerson - trombone~
Benny Morton - trombone~
Ben Webster - tenor sax~
Edmond Hall - clarinet~

The Standards disc was recorded between '38-'39
All others were recorded between '40 - '46


BL 7608-2
disc 1
disc 2
disc 3


Well there you have it... a minor milestone, but I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far and I hope you will all stick around for more.

Thelonious Monk - the man i love

What can possibly said about a Monk record that hasn't been said already. This one is another in a long line of classics. I was really surprised when I didn't find it uploaded all over the place, and even more surprised when I didn't find it readily available on disc. So this truly a pleasure to share.

But a little back story... I had heard Monks's version of The Man I Love on some cheap lp of Gerswhin covers but never knew where it came from. Not surprisingly, when I ran across this Black lion lp of monks, I snapped it up. It was one I was unfamiliar with and given Black Lions reputation, I was sure not to be disappointed.

During the first spin though was when I realized I had located that Gershwin cover that I loved so much. I'm sure I came as close to dancing as I ever do. Add to it one of the most balls out versions of Misterioso I have heard, and you end up with one first class lp.

Thelonious monk
the man i love

1. I Mean You
2. The Man I Love
3. Ruby My Dear
4. Little Rootie Tootie
5. Misterioso
6. Trinkle Trinkle
7. Crepescule With Nellie

Thelonious Monk - piano
Al McKibbon - bass
Art Blakey - drums

recorded at Chappell Studios, London, 11/15/71

BL-197

Phil Woods Quintet - Heaven

A sorely underrated lp, not that it will set the world on fire, but still...I wonder why I have never seen this around. Phil Woods is like Dexter Gordon in that these later lps ares filled with brilliance as opposed to fire. Each has its place.

Woods worked with this quartet for many years with splendid results, but adding the additional horn was really what makes the difference on this lp.

Not to be missed is the exceptional covering of two of Duke's over looked as well classics, in the title tune and Azure, which I have mistakenly always credited to Strayhorn.

Like I said in the previous post - part of the joy of doing this is finding these gems buried right under my nose.

The Phil Woods Quintet
Heaven

1. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
2. Heaven
3. The Duke
4. Azure
5. 222
6. Occurrence

Phil Woods - alto sax, clarinet
Tom Harrell - trumpet, flugelhorn
Hal Galper - piano
Steve Gilmore - bass
Bill Goodwin - drums

1986
Blackhawk Records BKH 50401-1 D