***No one talks much about (blank) but I love his/her stuff...
Lew Green
John Wright, piano
I just got in mood to listen to something I haven't in a while... Started from
the back of the alphabet and pulled out my John Wright LPs...
"Makin Out"
"South Side Soul"
"Nice n Tasty"
Haven't listened to them for a year and a half... And even after a lot of
evolving of my musical taste buds... they still hold up for me... Just
excellent music to listen to... Hard to sit still to...
Anyway, I thought it might be interesting for a thread on peoples favorite
lessor know or less talked about artists...
Lew
Dennis Whelan
Well, since you brought it up, I thought I'd mention one of my favorites
that I have yet to see mentioned on rmb in the 2 years I've been reading
it:
John Coates Jr. - Piano
An incredibly inventive pianist who first emerged in 1956 with an obscure
date on Savoy called "Portraits" (recently re-issued on CD).
Then...nothing until 1974 when he began a series of suberb albums for the
Omnisound label:
The Jazz Piano Of John Coates Jr.
Alone And Live At The Deer Head
After The Before
In The Open Space
Rainbow Road
Tokyo Concert
Pocono Friends
Pocono Friends Encore
Then....nothing again from the early 80's until last year with:
Piano...forte!
and this year with:
The Trio Sessions both on Pacific Street Records.
Keith Jarrett was strongly influenced by Coates (Jarrett grew up in the
area surrounding the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap Pa. where Coates
was a fixture for many years, and he (Jarrett) played some of his first
gigs there) If you want a good indication of where Jarrett came from,
check out "Alone And Live At The Deer Head" John does not travel much, but
if you ever see him listed for a gig near you, don't miss it. I guarantee
you will not be disappointed.
Dennis Whelan
David Tenner
I love his/her stuff...>, 'l...@primenet.com (Lew Green)' wrote:
>Anyway, I thought it might be interesting for a thread on peoples favorite
>lessor know or less talked about artists...
I haven't noticed people talking much about Milt Buckner--yet he invented
the "locked hands" or "block chord" style that Garner, Brubeck, Shearing,
etc., made so popular in the '50s.
Cecil Taylor once remarked that some critics who attacked the avant-garde
for neglect of jazz tradition didn't have that great an understanding of
the tradition themselves, because they neglected people like Buckner.
--
David Tenner
Loren Schoenberg
>On Apr 21, 1996 18:16:01 in article <***No one talks much about (blank) but
>I love his/her stuff...>, 'l...@primenet.com (Lew Green)' wrote:
>
>
>>John Wright, piano
>>
>y
>>
>>Lew
>
>Well, since you brought it up, I thought I'd mention one of my favorites
>that I have yet to see mentioned on rmb in the 2 years I've been reading
>it:
>
>John Coates Jr. - Piano
>
>
>Dennis Whelan
How about Frankie Newton among the deceased or, more to the point, the
incredibly inventive and original Ruby Braff? His two recent duo CD's
(w/ Ellis Larkins on ARBORS and w/Roger Kellaway on CONCORD) are among
the best he's ever done, and that's quite an accomplishemnt, given all
the superlative recordings he's made over the last 45 years.
Loren Schoenberg
Thomas M Keith
Billy Harper. It's amazing how few people seem to know this guy. He is
*scary*. And, as is par w/most Jazz musicians, he is improving,
mellowing, with age.
In the same category would be pianist Rahn Burton (on some albums as Ron
Burton) who (based on chronological evidence) seems to be the first of
the post-Tyner piano stylists (eg--Joe Bonner, John Hicks, etc.)
Harvey J. Cormier
two-trumpets "boptet" with Fats Navarro recorded breathtaking sides on
Blue Note; and his fifties album "That Bop Thing" on Bethlehem, with Sahib
Shihab playing baritone and alto saxes and Philly Joe Jones (I think) on
drums, is an underappreciated classic.
Harvey
--
Harvey Cormier
Philosophy Dept.
University of Texas @ Austin
cor...@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu
"One never knows, do one?" --Fats Waller
Myron Bennett
first showed up on records, I was sort of surprised I liked him so
much, because I have a deep seated aversion to too much vibrato; but I
found Blythe's vibrato such an essential part of his very distinctive
voice. And I liked him best on his own stuff, the cello & tuba
ensembles, and his contributions to Gil Evans recordings; less so
doing others' compositions.
I've wondered what he was doing lately besides WSQ a while back, and
The Leaders.
Just last night on the radio I heard a cut from a Chico Freeman CD
with Blythe on it, and I think if it was announced beforehand, I
wouldn't have recognized Blythe - he sounded less like the old Blythe
that I loved, more like just any alto player.
Any comments?
--
Myron Bennett mben...@tso.cin.ix.net or mben...@iglou.com
David Tenner
Loren Schoenberg wrote:
>
> How about Frankie Newton among the deceased or, more to the point, the
> incredibly inventive and original Ruby Braff? His two recent duo CD's
> (w/ Ellis Larkins on ARBORS and w/Roger Kellaway on CONCORD) are among
> the best he's ever done, and that's quite an accomplishemnt, given all
> the superlative recordings he's made over the last 45 years.
>
> Loren Schoenberg
On the subject of underrated trumpet players, let's not forget Joe
Thomas. Check out his mid-1940's recordings with Tatum, especially
Stomping at the Savoy.
--
David Tenner
Dr. Don Koldon
Let me nominate two great pianists:
1) From the past: Herbie Nichols (subject of a "Complete Recordings of"
set on Mosaic, and a single "Art of Herbie Nichols" disc on Blue Note).
Very distinctive compositional style, and a great player. His personal
history (lack of recognition, surviving by playing god-awful gigs, death
at a relatively early age) was, even by jazz standards, heart-breaking.
Buell Neidlinger recently put out a tribute disc called "Blue Chopsticks"
with a very quirky instrumentation. As good as that disc is, you might
check out Herbie himself first.
2) From the present: Jessica Williams Formerly SF Bay area based
(appears to have done a lot of gigs backing up touring jazz headliners
when they came to town). She has blossomed over the last couple of years
into an awesome musician. She has a number of solo piano and trio discs
released in the 90's, almost any of which are worth hearing. Newest is
"Intuition" (solo piano) on Jazz Focus Records, but any of her other solo
discs ("Arrival" on Jazz Focus, "The Next Step" on Hep Jazz --a Scottish
label-- or her "At Maybeck" on Concord) are fine.
Trio discs: My favorites are "In the Pocket" and "A Song That I Heard"
(both on Hep Jazz), but "Momentum" and "Inventions" (both on Jazz Focus)
are very nice as well. All of these show up at Tower from time to time,
or are available from Tower mail order, and the labels themselves. Check
her out, if you haven't already.
Stephen Bayer
Bill Lee, bassist and composer.
He's recorded with (among others) Max Roach, Johnny Griffin, and his sister,
Consuela Lee Moorehead.
He founded the New York Bass Violin Choir.
Most people will know him from Clifford Jordan's classic "Glass Bead Games"
for which he contributed three compositions: "John Coltrane", "Eddie Harris"
and "Biskit", or for the soundtrack for his son Spike's movie "She's Gotta Have It".
Incidentally the signature piece from that soundtrack "Nola" is from a Bill
Lee opera "One Mile East". Surely, this belongs on a record in its entirety.
Regards,
Steve Bayer
Lew Green
bum...@usa.pipeline.com(Dennis Whelan) wrote:
>Well, since you brought it up, I thought I'd mention one of my favorites
>that I have yet to see mentioned on rmb in the 2 years I've been reading
>it:
>
>John Coates Jr. - Piano
>
>An incredibly inventive pianist who first emerged in 1956 with an obscure
>date on Savoy called "Portraits" (recently re-issued on CD).
>Then...nothing until 1974 when he began a series of suberb albums for the
>Omnisound label:
<snip>
>In The Open Space
Just found this... 2LP set... and got it because of your post... I'm not that
experienced at listening to solo piano -- have to admit that -- I do crave the
familiarity of a trio... But on playing just one song so far it sounded quite
good... different... And my girlfriend came up the stairs going "what was that?
I want a tape..."
Thanks... I'll keep trying more...
Lew