? What Jazz Music Selection are you Listening to in the Now? | Analog, Digital ??????
- Thread starter NorthStar
- Start date
Not available on CD but you can listen to the whole album on YouTube and decide if you like it (I love it):
Last edited:
Hugh Lawson Trio - Casablanca
Here's a nice track from the album: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/samples/11 My Funny Valentine.flac
Sound quality is good (enough)...
Lawson released few records under his own name, but was a longtime collaborator of Yusef Lateef and participated in many recording sessions.
Here's what I have of him in my digital collection (did not yet add this album):
Here's a "solography" written by the late Jan Evensmo: https://www.jazzarcheology.com/hugh-lawson/
He introduces Lawson with these words: "I remember it took us a long time to discover Yusef Lateef, we were all occupied with Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon and had no ideas of his very advanced musical world. And since the key to Hugh Lawson is through his ten years of cowork with Lateef, it is not surprising that we had no idea about this highly underrated piano artist! Hopefully this solography can help a little."
Evensmo did not have the opportunity to listen to "Casablanca" as it is not referenced in his notes, but I am sure he would have appreciated it!
en.wikipedia.org
Here's a nice track from the album: https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/samples/11 My Funny Valentine.flac
Sound quality is good (enough)...
Lawson released few records under his own name, but was a longtime collaborator of Yusef Lateef and participated in many recording sessions.
Here's what I have of him in my digital collection (did not yet add this album):
Here's a "solography" written by the late Jan Evensmo: https://www.jazzarcheology.com/hugh-lawson/
He introduces Lawson with these words: "I remember it took us a long time to discover Yusef Lateef, we were all occupied with Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon and had no ideas of his very advanced musical world. And since the key to Hugh Lawson is through his ten years of cowork with Lateef, it is not surprising that we had no idea about this highly underrated piano artist! Hopefully this solography can help a little."
Evensmo did not have the opportunity to listen to "Casablanca" as it is not referenced in his notes, but I am sure he would have appreciated it!
Hugh Lawson (jazz pianist) - Wikipedia
Last edited:
This Earl Hines 1970 session has only been available on LP (out of print) for a long time and I just saw today that a digital version has been released last year by Chiaroscuro records (the label that issued the original LP):
youtube.com
It is available on Qobuz, Spotify, etc...
The digital version has some surface noise, but the sound quality is pretty good, and its nice to have this in my digital collection. You can hear Hines hum throughout the recording as he plays.
The LP is on the Internet Archive, if you want to see the artwork and read the liner notes, to get some context on these recordings: https://archive.org/details/lp_quintessential-recording-session_earl-hines
In this 1970 session Hines re-recorded songs he originally recorded in December 1928 and that had never been released on LP until 1970:
Dan Morgenstern, who recently passed away, wrote a review in Down Beat at the time (March 4th, 1971), discussing both albums:
""The neatly simultaneous reissue of Hines' fabled 1928 solo piano performances and release of his 1970 reinvestigation of the same material offers a unique perspective on one of the greatest pianists in jazz.
The 1928 solos rank with the greatest achievements of that rich decade, together with the four solos recorded for Columbia later that year. The eight reissued here were made for the QRS label and received only very limited distribution at first ( they were subsequently reissued on 78 by HRS and on 10" LP by Atlantic—in both cases with better sound quality than the Milestone).
Hines, then not quite 23, was the first important pianist to break with the ragtime and Harlem stride traditions and establish a new language for jazz piano. He based his style on the linear playing of jazz horns, due in part to his early training on trumpet, his youthful admiration for trumpeter Joe Smith, and his encounter, in 1926, and subsequent playing experience with Louis Armstrong. Fittingly, Hugues Panassie labeled it "trumpetstyle piano."
However, Hines had already mastered the earlier styles, and utilized elements of them to fashion his new approach. His sparkling technique, ear for unusual harmonies, and uncanny mastery of time, combined with a rich musical imagination and highly developed sense of contrast and drama made his impact on the instrument's future role in jazz decisive.
Forty-two years later, these revolutionary solos still sound fresh and vital, and are often startling in their rhythmic freedom and sudden flights of fancy. How they must have struck the tradition-bound ears of his contemporaries is difficult to imagine!
Perhaps the most beautiful of the pieces (all Hines originals, some of them based on standard patterns) is Blues In Thirds, with its lovely melody and relaxed, reflective mood. Monday Date, a performance charged with vitality, and Panther Rag, an near surrealistic romp through Tiger Rag procedures, are also standouts, and none of the other six is far behind— the high level of inspiration is sustained throughout.
Reinvestigating these youthful achievements 42 years later, Hines brings to them a lifetime of musical experience and a pair of hands even nimbler at 64 than at 23. Though he consistently has surrounded himself at every opportunity with bands big and small, with vocalists, and with the trappings of showmanship so dear to him, Hines is and was at his greatest when he works with just a piano and his own boundless imagination.
Thus we must be grateful to Marian McPartland, who produced the date, for coming up with this brilliant idea and realizing it. There can be no doubt that Hines enjoyed the task hugely—among the many solo albums he has cut in the past seven years, none seems as charged with enthusiasm and spirit.
The album abounds with staggering displays of virtuosity. At times, indeed, the music threatens to overflow boundaries of form and development and spill over into unrestrained excess, but whenever this is about to happen, Hines pulls in the reins and returns to the structure of the piece, only to take off again.
Since the 1928 solos were restricted to the 3 minutes-plus limit of 78 recording, they have more consistent formal structure. In that sense, and that sense only, they are superior, each seems to stand as the last word on its theme.
The contemporary versions, on the other hand, though not as well thought out or rounded off, enable the pianist to stretch his powers to, the limit—and they are awesome powers. If, at times, there are lapses of taste ( the introduction of a superficial riff here, of a run for run's sake there) where the older versions were unblemished, the many moments of brilliance and true inspiration more than make up for this, and there is the added spice of freedom to do as he pleases.
Essentially, Hines has remained himself. The most striking change is the much greater independence of the left hand. There are also things here and there that Hines has picked up from others—a Tatum run, a locked-hands pasage, a Bud Powell lick, a Garnerism. But all are synthesized into pure Hines, with that remarkable touch and dynamic range that no other hands can duplicate.
...
The music Earl Hines has here — yesterday and today — is music for the ages."
Quintessential Recording Session (Remastered for Digital)
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtube.com
It is available on Qobuz, Spotify, etc...
Best Jazz Albums | Classic Jazz Albums | Chiaroscuro Jazz
Here at Chiaroscuro Jazz you have access to hundreds of the best Jazz albums ever created. See what jazz albums we have here!
chiaroscurojazz.org
The digital version has some surface noise, but the sound quality is pretty good, and its nice to have this in my digital collection. You can hear Hines hum throughout the recording as he plays.
The LP is on the Internet Archive, if you want to see the artwork and read the liner notes, to get some context on these recordings: https://archive.org/details/lp_quintessential-recording-session_earl-hines
In this 1970 session Hines re-recorded songs he originally recorded in December 1928 and that had never been released on LP until 1970:
A Monday Date: 1928 : Earl Hines : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Tracklist: 1. A Monday Date 2. Chicago High Life 3. Stowaway 4. Chimes In Blues 5. Dear Old Southland 6. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child 7....
archive.org
Dan Morgenstern, who recently passed away, wrote a review in Down Beat at the time (March 4th, 1971), discussing both albums:
""The neatly simultaneous reissue of Hines' fabled 1928 solo piano performances and release of his 1970 reinvestigation of the same material offers a unique perspective on one of the greatest pianists in jazz.
The 1928 solos rank with the greatest achievements of that rich decade, together with the four solos recorded for Columbia later that year. The eight reissued here were made for the QRS label and received only very limited distribution at first ( they were subsequently reissued on 78 by HRS and on 10" LP by Atlantic—in both cases with better sound quality than the Milestone).
Hines, then not quite 23, was the first important pianist to break with the ragtime and Harlem stride traditions and establish a new language for jazz piano. He based his style on the linear playing of jazz horns, due in part to his early training on trumpet, his youthful admiration for trumpeter Joe Smith, and his encounter, in 1926, and subsequent playing experience with Louis Armstrong. Fittingly, Hugues Panassie labeled it "trumpetstyle piano."
However, Hines had already mastered the earlier styles, and utilized elements of them to fashion his new approach. His sparkling technique, ear for unusual harmonies, and uncanny mastery of time, combined with a rich musical imagination and highly developed sense of contrast and drama made his impact on the instrument's future role in jazz decisive.
Forty-two years later, these revolutionary solos still sound fresh and vital, and are often startling in their rhythmic freedom and sudden flights of fancy. How they must have struck the tradition-bound ears of his contemporaries is difficult to imagine!
Perhaps the most beautiful of the pieces (all Hines originals, some of them based on standard patterns) is Blues In Thirds, with its lovely melody and relaxed, reflective mood. Monday Date, a performance charged with vitality, and Panther Rag, an near surrealistic romp through Tiger Rag procedures, are also standouts, and none of the other six is far behind— the high level of inspiration is sustained throughout.
Reinvestigating these youthful achievements 42 years later, Hines brings to them a lifetime of musical experience and a pair of hands even nimbler at 64 than at 23. Though he consistently has surrounded himself at every opportunity with bands big and small, with vocalists, and with the trappings of showmanship so dear to him, Hines is and was at his greatest when he works with just a piano and his own boundless imagination.
Thus we must be grateful to Marian McPartland, who produced the date, for coming up with this brilliant idea and realizing it. There can be no doubt that Hines enjoyed the task hugely—among the many solo albums he has cut in the past seven years, none seems as charged with enthusiasm and spirit.
The album abounds with staggering displays of virtuosity. At times, indeed, the music threatens to overflow boundaries of form and development and spill over into unrestrained excess, but whenever this is about to happen, Hines pulls in the reins and returns to the structure of the piece, only to take off again.
Since the 1928 solos were restricted to the 3 minutes-plus limit of 78 recording, they have more consistent formal structure. In that sense, and that sense only, they are superior, each seems to stand as the last word on its theme.
The contemporary versions, on the other hand, though not as well thought out or rounded off, enable the pianist to stretch his powers to, the limit—and they are awesome powers. If, at times, there are lapses of taste ( the introduction of a superficial riff here, of a run for run's sake there) where the older versions were unblemished, the many moments of brilliance and true inspiration more than make up for this, and there is the added spice of freedom to do as he pleases.
Essentially, Hines has remained himself. The most striking change is the much greater independence of the left hand. There are also things here and there that Hines has picked up from others—a Tatum run, a locked-hands pasage, a Bud Powell lick, a Garnerism. But all are synthesized into pure Hines, with that remarkable touch and dynamic range that no other hands can duplicate.
...
The music Earl Hines has here — yesterday and today — is music for the ages."
Last edited:
Anyone listening to the Bill Chalap Trio? I now have two of his recent releases, "Street of Dreams," + "And then again," both on Blue Note. There've been some glowing reviews (Downbeat, et al) that brought his music to our attention. A classic New York piano trio. Chalap is a tender dancer on the keyboard. Recommended!
Nice, informative, and well-written overview of the great Earl 'Fatha' Hines' legacy from the 1920s when he showed, "a youthful display of brilliance, which has seldom been surpassed." (Cook & Morton, The Penguin Guide to Jazz)..This Earl Hines 1970 session has only been available on LP (out of print) for a long time and I just saw today that a digital version has been released last year by Chiaroscuro records (the label that issued the original LP):
Quintessential Recording Session (Remastered for Digital)
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
It is available on Qobuz, Spotify, etc...
Best Jazz Albums | Classic Jazz Albums | Chiaroscuro Jazz
Here at Chiaroscuro Jazz you have access to hundreds of the best Jazz albums ever created. See what jazz albums we have here!chiaroscurojazz.org
The digital version has some surface noise, but the sound quality is pretty good, and its nice to have this in my digital collection. You can hear Hines hum throughout the recording as he plays.
The LP is on the Internet Archive, if you want to see the artwork and read the liner notes, to get some context on these recordings: https://archive.org/details/lp_quintessential-recording-session_earl-hines
In this 1970 session Hines re-recorded songs he originally recorded in December 1928 and that had never been released on LP until 1970:
A Monday Date: 1928 : Earl Hines : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Tracklist: 1. A Monday Date 2. Chicago High Life 3. Stowaway 4. Chimes In Blues 5. Dear Old Southland 6. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child 7....archive.org
Dan Morgenstern, who recently passed away, wrote a review in Down Beat at the time (March 4th, 1971), discussing both albums:
""The neatly simultaneous reissue of Hines' fabled 1928 solo piano performances and release of his 1970 reinvestigation of the same material offers a unique perspective on one of the greatest pianists in jazz.
The 1928 solos rank with the greatest achievements of that rich decade, together with the four solos recorded for Columbia later that year. The eight reissued here were made for the QRS label and received only very limited distribution at first ( they were subsequently reissued on 78 by HRS and on 10" LP by Atlantic—in both cases with better sound quality than the Milestone).
Hines, then not quite 23, was the first important pianist to break with the ragtime and Harlem stride traditions and establish a new language for jazz piano. He based his style on the linear playing of jazz horns, due in part to his early training on trumpet, his youthful admiration for trumpeter Joe Smith, and his encounter, in 1926, and subsequent playing experience with Louis Armstrong. Fittingly, Hugues Panassie labeled it "trumpetstyle piano."
However, Hines had already mastered the earlier styles, and utilized elements of them to fashion his new approach. His sparkling technique, ear for unusual harmonies, and uncanny mastery of time, combined with a rich musical imagination and highly developed sense of contrast and drama made his impact on the instrument's future role in jazz decisive.
Forty-two years later, these revolutionary solos still sound fresh and vital, and are often startling in their rhythmic freedom and sudden flights of fancy. How they must have struck the tradition-bound ears of his contemporaries is difficult to imagine!
Perhaps the most beautiful of the pieces (all Hines originals, some of them based on standard patterns) is Blues In Thirds, with its lovely melody and relaxed, reflective mood. Monday Date, a performance charged with vitality, and Panther Rag, an near surrealistic romp through Tiger Rag procedures, are also standouts, and none of the other six is far behind— the high level of inspiration is sustained throughout.
Reinvestigating these youthful achievements 42 years later, Hines brings to them a lifetime of musical experience and a pair of hands even nimbler at 64 than at 23. Though he consistently has surrounded himself at every opportunity with bands big and small, with vocalists, and with the trappings of showmanship so dear to him, Hines is and was at his greatest when he works with just a piano and his own boundless imagination.
Thus we must be grateful to Marian McPartland, who produced the date, for coming up with this brilliant idea and realizing it. There can be no doubt that Hines enjoyed the task hugely—among the many solo albums he has cut in the past seven years, none seems as charged with enthusiasm and spirit.
The album abounds with staggering displays of virtuosity. At times, indeed, the music threatens to overflow boundaries of form and development and spill over into unrestrained excess, but whenever this is about to happen, Hines pulls in the reins and returns to the structure of the piece, only to take off again.
Since the 1928 solos were restricted to the 3 minutes-plus limit of 78 recording, they have more consistent formal structure. In that sense, and that sense only, they are superior, each seems to stand as the last word on its theme.
The contemporary versions, on the other hand, though not as well thought out or rounded off, enable the pianist to stretch his powers to, the limit—and they are awesome powers. If, at times, there are lapses of taste ( the introduction of a superficial riff here, of a run for run's sake there) where the older versions were unblemished, the many moments of brilliance and true inspiration more than make up for this, and there is the added spice of freedom to do as he pleases.
Essentially, Hines has remained himself. The most striking change is the much greater independence of the left hand. There are also things here and there that Hines has picked up from others—a Tatum run, a locked-hands pasage, a Bud Powell lick, a Garnerism. But all are synthesized into pure Hines, with that remarkable touch and dynamic range that no other hands can duplicate.
...
The music Earl Hines has here — yesterday and today — is music for the ages."
This afternoon I have been listening to Arnold Ross, specifically this album which was re-issued on CD by Fresh Sound Records in 2009:
www.freshsoundrecords.com
It is available on Qobuz: https://open.qobuz.com/album/8427328603133
The album was originally issued in 1976 on LP by the "Jazz Chronicles" label (which according to Discogs released 28 LPs):
According to the line notes, the Jazz Chronicles label was sponsored by the Los Angeles Theaseum - no idea what that is, and a google search gave no hits.
The album contains three recording sessions. The album liner notes state:
I don't know what that "Live on Tape" recording technique refers to, but it does sound "live"! I assume it is just a recording in one take - so not "direct to disc" but "direct to tape".
Someone put up a needle drop of the original album on YouTube:
The digital version actually sounds better, IMO - of course a needle drop heard on YouTube will not sound like the LP played at home, but I am satisfied with the digital version.
Funny to note that there are currently two mint, sealed, copies selling on discogs: one for 4$, the other for 199$!!
According to Wikipedia, Arnold Ross only issued another LP under his name (which I just ordered, it was reissued on CD in Japan), but he did record often:
en.wikipedia.org
Here's where he appears in my collection (there may be a few more, I am not done documenting all my albums...):
Arnold Ross - Just You & He & Me - Blue Sounds
Buy Just You & He & Me by Arnold Ross on Blue Sounds Store. Released by Fresh Sound Records.
www.freshsoundrecords.com
It is available on Qobuz: https://open.qobuz.com/album/8427328603133
The album was originally issued in 1976 on LP by the "Jazz Chronicles" label (which according to Discogs released 28 LPs):
Barbed Wire, Bums, And Beans : Arnold Ross Trio : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Tracklist: 1. N S A 2. Just You He & Me 3. Reliable Source 4. Then Or Now 5. Hugo 6. Barbed Wire, Bums, & Beans 7. Silver Lining 8. Might Be 9. Love...
archive.org
According to the line notes, the Jazz Chronicles label was sponsored by the Los Angeles Theaseum - no idea what that is, and a google search gave no hits.
The album contains three recording sessions. The album liner notes state:
I don't know what that "Live on Tape" recording technique refers to, but it does sound "live"! I assume it is just a recording in one take - so not "direct to disc" but "direct to tape".
Someone put up a needle drop of the original album on YouTube:
The digital version actually sounds better, IMO - of course a needle drop heard on YouTube will not sound like the LP played at home, but I am satisfied with the digital version.
Funny to note that there are currently two mint, sealed, copies selling on discogs: one for 4$, the other for 199$!!
According to Wikipedia, Arnold Ross only issued another LP under his name (which I just ordered, it was reissued on CD in Japan), but he did record often:
Arnold Ross (musician) - Wikipedia
Here's where he appears in my collection (there may be a few more, I am not done documenting all my albums...):
Attachments
Last edited:
Here's Arnold Ross in 1945 in a broadcast from Billy Berg's Vine Street Supper Club (love the name...), with two solos on this track:
Orders of solos: Ross, Corcoran, Ross, Berry, Smith.
Billy Berg's club, according to Wikipedia, was "one of the first integrated jazz clubs in Hollywood", meaning that the public was "integrated" and an "integrated" band could work there as well, which was clearly not the case in so many parts of the country at the time:
en.wikipedia.org
Different times, in so many ways. In terms of the music, they "don't make it like this" anymore
- Emmett Berry - trumpet
- Willie Smith - alto saxophone
- Corky Corcoran - tenor saxophone
- Arnold Ross - piano
- Allan Reuss - guitar
- Ed Mihelich - bass
- Zutty Singleton - drums
Orders of solos: Ross, Corcoran, Ross, Berry, Smith.
Billy Berg's club, according to Wikipedia, was "one of the first integrated jazz clubs in Hollywood", meaning that the public was "integrated" and an "integrated" band could work there as well, which was clearly not the case in so many parts of the country at the time:
Billy Berg's - Wikipedia
Different times, in so many ways. In terms of the music, they "don't make it like this" anymore
Last edited:
Here's Arnold Ross in 1945 in a broadcast from Billy Berg's Vine Street Supper Club (love the name...), with two solos on this track:
Nice swinging session!
- Emmett Berry - trumpet
- Willie Smith - alto saxophone
- Corky Corcoran - tenor saxophone
- Arnold Ross - piano
- Allan Reuss - guitar
- Ed Mihelich - bass
- Zutty Singleton - drums
Orders of solos: Ross, Corcoran, Ross, Berry, Smith.
Billy Berg's club, according to Wikipedia, was "one of the first integrated jazz clubs in Hollywood", meaning that the public was "integrated" and an "integrated" band could work there as well, which was clearly not the case in so many parts of the country at the time:
Billy Berg's - Wikipedia
Different times, in so many ways. In terms of the music, they "don't make it like this" anymore
By the way, this is exactly the type of recording (1945 broadcast) that defies conventional wisdom about sound quality. In a way, it is obviously "inferior" to what we are used to in modern recordings, yet it still sounds fresh, sharp. Maybe it's a question of expectations? Or maybe when we are really into the music the sound becomes secondary. You can download the track from the link I posted and give it a listen in your system (if you have a way of playing Flac files).
P.S. the track is available on Qobuz on this album: Listen to the release The Lamplighter All Star Broadcasts ~ 1945 by Corky Corcoran on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/album/h9shuzwyadr8b
Last edited:
Listening to this album as I just read that Benny Golson had passed away yesterday.
RIP
en.m.wikipedia.org
Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins were the two remaining jazz artists alive among the 58 who were pictured in this famous 1958 picture:
Now only Sonny Rollins remains.
RIP
Benny Golson - Wikipedia
Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins were the two remaining jazz artists alive among the 58 who were pictured in this famous 1958 picture:
Now only Sonny Rollins remains.
Last edited:
Jazzman53
Well-Known Member
Similar threads
