new metheny

He's still at it. Pat Metheny's latest album, recorded live before the pandemic: Pat Metheny - Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV).

A couple of reviews:

Pat Metheny: Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) review – new talent and wily reinventions

Pat Metheny: Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern) - A review of the guitarist's live album showcasing two gifted rising stars: James Francies and Marcus Gilmore

great jazz

Volunteer Andre Lacerda hosts "The House That Jazz Built" every Sunday from 11 pm to 1 am on KUNM radio here in New Mexico. As KUNM's website (https://www.kunm.org/) describes it:

The House That Jazz Built brings you Avant Garde, Contemporary and Experimental Jazz from the last 50 years with a focus on recent releases.  Includes interviews with local artists, recordings of live shows and current events.

Lacerda (see: https://www.kunm.org/people/andre-lacerda) also serves as substitute host for some other shows at KUNM, including the "All That Jazz" segment, which airs here Monday thru Friday from noon to 1:30 pm. He's been a regular this year on the Monday slot. For "All That Jazz", Lacerda steps back from the "experimental" stuff he plays on Sunday nights, and the result is an hour and a half of some of the finest jazz you'll hear anywhere.

kunm.org has the great "Two Week Archive" feature (I take advantage of it all the time!), for those who can't catch on-air broadcasts (or who want to replay them).

 

enlightenment

Listening to the Enlightenment album by McCoy Tyner, recorded in 1973 at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Alphonse Mouzon on drums (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mouzon). More about the album here.

sweet music

Listening to Iron Starlet, a very nice album by young jazz pianist Connie Han. Here's a link to it at YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Vywx6n3Qzo4&list=OLAK5uy_njjp_GoWQ7v0iRuvuhDeR57KcwYPSu4aE

More info: https://modernjazztoday.com/album/iron-starlet-connie-han/

 

the jazzy one

I used to love listening to WJZZ in the Detroit area, on 105.9 FM. Old-timers might remember this, from the late 70s or early 80s: "The jazzy one -- oh five, point nine."

Check out my Father's Day gift from M.A.L.:

Sweet!

in times like these

In times of difficulty and uncertainty, back to the music. That's how I cope. Here's a link to the Illuminations album by McCoy Tyner, at YouTube.

Personnel

McCoy Tyner – piano
Terence Blanchard – trumpet
Gary Bartz – alto saxophone
Christian McBride – bass
Lewis Nash – drums

I don't have Illuminations on CD or on cassette, but I was playing one of my old minidiscs and found the complete album saved. So I checked the computer and it's saved to the hard drive, too. I'm thinking I must have borrowed the CD from the library and copied it. This album won the Grammy Award for 'Best Instrumental Jazz Album, Individual or Group' in 2005.

1960

A couple of recordings from almost sixty years ago -- both from March, 1960, I think. Miles Davis with John Coltrane.

Konserthuset, Stockholm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_z221y8TOs

Olympia Theatre, Paris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VE_dP90V84

branford

Listening to music by Branford Marsalis today. My home collection:

Random Abstract (1987), cassette tape.
Bloomington (1993), manufactured CD.
Requiem (1999), home CD recording.
Footsteps of Our Fathers (2002), home CD recording.

Branford Marsalis discography at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branford_Marsalis#Discography

piano

Here's one that I have on CD, playing it right now:  Ahmad Jamal, Chicago Revisited - Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase.

Recorded in 1992. I was kinda surprised to see it at YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v783UhX8Zho&list=OLAK5uy_nKuonnPkVPKB6jGfV__GZuXsFqbU3Szis

I was introduced to The Ahmad Jamal Trio way back in the early 70s by my mom, who played (and still plays!) piano.

classic

Herbie Hancock - Takin' Off



Personnel:

Herbie Hancock - piano
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone
Butch Warren - double bass
Billy Higgins - drums




 This was Herbie Hancock's debut album, released in 1962. The first cut, "Watermelon Man", went on to become a jazz standard, but the entire album is a classic.

return to forever

Listening to: Light as a Feather, the second studio album by Chick Corea and Return to Forever (recorded October, 1972, I.B.C. Studios, London).

Tracks:

1. "You're Everything"
2. "Light as a Feather"
3. "Captain Marvel"
4. "500 Miles Hight"
5. "Children's Song"
6. "Spain"

Personnel:

Chick Corea - electric piano
Stanley Clarke - double bass
Joe Farrell - tenor saxophone, flute
Airto Moreira - drums
Flora Purim - vocals, percussion

Info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_as_a_Feather

angie

Still one of my all-time favorite albums:  

Angie, by Angela Bofill, released in 1978. I believe this LP was originally released by GRP Records and (perhaps) re-released by Arista Records, as I recall.

In 2001, I copied this album to CD from vinyl. I still enjoy listening to that CD today.

The complete collection, digitally remastered, can be found at YouTube.



Tracks

Side A:

1. Under the Moon and Over the Sky
2. This Time I'll Be Sweeter
3. Baby, I Need Your Love
4. Rough Times

Side B:

1. The Only Thing I Would Wish For
2. Summer Days
3. Share Your Love
5. Children of the World United


Personnel (as copied from Wikipedia -- I hope this is correct!)

- Angela Bofill: lead and backing vocals
- Dave Grusin: electric piano, piano, percussion
- Eric Gale: electric guitar
- Buddy Williams, Steve Gadd: drums
- Dave Valentin: flute, bass guitar
- Richie Resnicoff: acoustic guitar
- George Young: alto saxophone
- Ralph MacDonald, Roger Squitero: percussion
- Eddie Daniels, George Young, Howard Johnson, Jim Pugh, Irvin Markowitz, Marvin Stamm, Michael Brecker, Philip Bodner, Walt Levinsky: horns
- Barry Finclair, Charles Libove, Charles McCracken, Diana Halprin, Emanuel Vardi, Harry Cykman, John Pintavalle, Jonathon Abramowitz, K. La Mar Alsop, Matthew Raimondi, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Richard Sortomme: strings
- Arthur Woodley, Cheryl Freeman, Clara Antoine, Members of the Dance Theater of Harlem Choral Ensemble, Irma LaGuerre, Lorraine Baucum, Raj McIntyre, Stacy Gaines, Sylvia Bhourne, Wilbur Archie: choir
- David Nadien: concertmaster
- Gwen Guthrie, Patti Austin, Vivian Cherry: backing vocals

black byrd

Donald Byrd, R.I.P.

A discography from Wikipedia (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Byrd):


Discography

As leader:

Blue Note Records

Off to the Races (1959)
Byrd in Hand (1959)
Fuego (1959)
Byrd in Flight (1960)
At the Half Note Cafe (1960)
Chant (1961)
The Cat Walk (1961)
Royal Flush (1961)
Free Form (1961)
A New Perspective (1963)
I'm Tryin' to Get Home (1964)
Mustang (1966)
Blackjack (1967)
Slow Drag (1967)
The Creeper (1967)
Fancy Free (1969)
Electric Byrd (1969–70)
Kofi (1969)
Ethiopian Knights (1971)
Black Byrd (1973)
Street Lady (1973)
Stepping into Tomorrow (1974)
Places and Spaces (1975)
Caricatures (1976)
Landmark Records
Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes (1983)
Harlem Blues (1987)
Getting Down to Business (1989)
A City Called Heaven (1991)

Other labels

Byrd Jazz (Transition, 1955) - also released as First Flight (Delmark)
Byrd's Word (Savoy, 1955)
Byrd's Eye View (Transition, 1955)
Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill (Transition, 1956)
2 Trumpets (Prestige, 1956) - with Art Farmer
The Young Bloods (Prestige, 1956) - with Phil Woods
Jazz Lab (Columbia, 1957) - with Gigi Gryce
At Newport (Verve, 1957) - with Gigi Gryce
Modern Jazz Perspective (Columbia, 1957) - with Gigi Gryce and Jackie Paris
Jazz Eyes (Regent, 1957) - with John Jenkins
Byrd in Paris (Bethlehem, 1958)
Parisian Thoroughfare (1958)
Live Au Chat Qui Peche (1958), Fresh Sound Records
Motor City Scene - with Pepper Adams (1960), Bethlehem
Up with Donald Byrd (1964), Verve
Thank You... for F.U.M.L. (Funking Up My Life) (1978), Elektra
Love Byrd (1981), Elektra
Touchstone (2000) Pepper Adams, Herbie Hancock, Teddy Charles, Jimmy Cobb

As sideman

1955 Kenny Clarke - Bohemia After Dark
1955 Cannonball Adderley - Discoveries
1955 Oscar Pettiford - Another One
1955 Hank Jones - Quartet-Quintet
1955 Hank Jones - Bluebird - one track only
1955 Ernie Wilkins - Top Brass
1956 George Wallington - Jazz for the Carriage Trade
1956 Jackie McLean - Lights Out!
1956 Hank Mobley - The Jazz Message of Hank Mobley
1956 Kenny Clarke - Klook's Clique
1956 Art Blakey - The Jazz Messengers
1956 Rita Reys - The Cool Voice of Rita Reys
1956 Elmo Hope - Informal Jazz
1956 Phil Woods - Pairing Off
1956 Jackie McLean - 4, 5 and 6
1956 Gene Ammons - Jammin' with Gene
1956 Horace Silver - Silver's Blue
1956 Hank Mobley - Mobley's Message
1956 Hank Mobley - Jazz Message No. 2
1956 Art Farmer - 2 Trumpets
1956 Paul Chambers - Whims of Chambers
1956 Phil Woods/Donald Byrd - The Young Bloods
1956 Horace Silver - 6 Pieces of Silver
1956 Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley Sextet
1956 Doug Watkins - Watkins at Larg]
1956 Sonny Rollins - Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1
1956 Kenny Burrell - All Night Long
1957 Kenny Burrell - All Day Long
1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Jazz Lab
1957 Art Farmer/Donald Byrd/Idrees Sulieman - Three Trumpets
1957 Lou Donaldson - Wailing with Lou
1957 Jimmy Smith - A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One
1957 Art Taylor - Taylor's Wailers
1957 Gigi Gryce - Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet
1957 George Wallington - The New York Scene
1957 Various Artists - American Jazzmen Play Andre Hodeir's Essais
1957 Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Raney - 2 Guitars
1957 Kenny Drew - This Is New (Riverside)
1957 Hank Mobley - Hank
1957 Paul Chambers - Paul Chambers Quintet
1957 The Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd Jazz Lab - At Newport - One side of LP which also features Cecil Taylor
1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - New Formulas from the Jazz Lab
1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Modern Jazz Perspective
1957 Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib
1957 John Jenkins - Star Eyes
1957 Oscar Pettiford - Winner's Circle
1957 George Wallington - Jazz at Hotchkiss
1957 Red Garland - All Mornin' Long
1957 Red Garland - Soul Junction
1957 Red Garland - High Pressure
1957 Lou Donaldson - Lou Takes Off
1958 John Coltrane - Lush Life - one track only
1958 John Coltrane - The Believer - two tracks
1958 John Coltrane - The Last Trane - two tracks
1958 Johnny Griffin - Johnny Griffin Sextet
1958 Pepper Adams - 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot (Riverside)
1958 John Coltrane - Black Pearls
1958 Michel Legrand - Legrand Jazz
1958 Dizzy Reece - Blues in Trinity
1958 Art Blakey - Holiday for Skins
1958 Jim Timmens - Gilbert and Sullivan Revisited
1959 Mundell Lowe - TV Action Jazz!
1959 Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag
1959 Thelonious Monk - The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall
1959 Chris Connor - Ballads of the Sad Cafe
1959 Sonny Clark - My Conception
1959 Manny Albam/Teo Macero - Something New, Something Blue
1959 Jackie McLean - Vertigo
1959 Jackie McLean - New Soil
1959 Walter Davis Jr. - Davis Cup
1961 Pepper Adams - Out of This World
1962 Duke Pearson - Hush!
1963 Hank Mobley - No Room for Squares
1963 Hank Mobley - Straight No Filter - released 1986
1963 Hank Mobley - The Turnaround
1963 Jimmy Heath - Swamp Seed
1963 Herbie Hancock - My Point of View
1964 Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up
1964 Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce
1964 Solomon Ilori - African High Life
1964 Duke Pearson - Wahoo!
1965 Dexter Gordon - Ladybird
1965 Wes Montgomery - Goin' Out of My Head
1967 Stanley Turrentine - A Bluish Bag
1967 Sam Rivers - Dimensions & Extensions
1967 Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands
1977 Gene Harris - Tone Tantrum
1978 Sonny Rollins - Don't Stop the Carnival
1993 Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
1994 Various - Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool
1995 Guru - Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality
1995 Ahmad Jamal - Big Byrd: The Essence Part 2

public radio

Plugging my favorite public radio stations...


The local stations I listen to over the airwaves:

- KUNM (89.9 FM) and KANW (89.1 FM), out of Albuquerque, NM.


And, a couple I pick up via the internet:

- KJZZ (91.5 FM), broadcast from the Phoenix, AZ area, a service of Rio Salado College and Maricopa Community Colleges.

- WEMU (89.1 FM), from the campus of Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, MI.

jazz, blues on wemu

If you get the chance, and if you like jazz, blues, etc., or if you're generally a public radio fan, check out WEMU radio, streaming online from Ypsilanti, Michigan. It's 89.1 FM if you're in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area. Long-time host Michael Jewett is the son of a family friend. Great stuff!

gil

Got the tune "We Almost Lost Detroit" playing through my mind as I write this.

And, "The Bottle."

see that black boy over there, runnin' scared
his old man's in a bottle

And, "Lady Day and John Coltrane."

you could call on lady day
you could call on john coltrane
they'll wash your troubles, your troubles away


Locked up for a large part of the past decade, looking and sounding like the years and the drugs and the smoking have taken their toll, Gil Scott-Heron is back.

Check out his website: http://gilscottheron.net/


Then, let me leave you with the words to one of my favorite cuts of his, "Is That Jazz?"

Basie was never really commonplace
He was always measures ahead.
Ellington was more than number one
For the music and things that he said.
Bird was the word back when tenors were heard
From Kansas right up to the Prez (Lester Young)
And Billie was really the Queen of a scene
That keeps echoing on in my head.

What it has will surely last but is that Jazz?

Miles had a style that amazes and raises
The spirits from deep in your soul.
'Trane struck a vein of laughter and pain
Adventures the mind could explore.
Stevie and Bob talk of freedom and 'Jah'
In their own individual ways.
Playing and singing as long as its bringing
A message is all that it says.

What is has will surely last but is that Jazz?

We overanaylze we let others define
A thousand precious feelings from our past.
When we express love and tenderness
Is that Jazz? Is that Jazz? Is that Jazz? Is that Jazz?
Dizzy's been busy while Grover gets us over
With notes that go straight to the heart.
Brother Ron gets it on with a bassline so strong
That the sounds seem to glow in the dark.
I take pride in what's mine - is that really a crime -
When you know I ain't got nothing else?
Only millions of sounds picks me up when I'm down;
Let me salvage a piece of myself.

What it has will surely last but is that Jazz?