John Abercrombie · Dan Wall · Adam Nussbaum - Tactics (1996)

John Abercrombie (b. 1944) has been an uncompromising jazz guitar innovator since day one. A restless worker who shuns stereotypes, he has helped push the envelope on modern guitar playing in his own, discreet way. Here's a live trio recording from New York's Visiones club in July 1996 in the company of Dan Wall on Hammond B-3 organ and Adam Nussbaum on drums for the German ECM label, and this is what Down Beat had to say:

"Each new album from Abercrombie provides reason to celebrate....All the songs on the album seem to have a certain coherence and connectedness. The music flows wonderfully - 4.5 Stars (out of 5) Down Beat (4/97, pp.54-55)"


personnel:

John Abercrombie - g
Dan Wall - org
Adam Nussbaum - d


tracklisting:

1. Sweet Sixteen
2. Last Waltz
3. Bo Diddy
4. You and the Night and the Music
5. Chumbida
6. Dear Rain
7. Mr. Magoo
8. Long Ago (And Far Away)

rec. live at Visiones, NYC, Jyly 13-15 1996

Lester Young - Teddy Wilson : Pres and Teddy 1956

Any tribute to Teddy Wilson without citation of this recording would be remiss. The 'Pres' Lester Young on tenor sax in the company of Messrs. Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and 'Papa' Jo Jones on drums give us some of the finest jazz ever put on record on this 1956 historic date, one of those rare, magical moments where everything falls into place magnificently, enjoy.

personnel:
Lester Young ts
Teddy Wilson p
Gene Ramey b
Jo Jones d

tracklisting:
1. All of Me
2. Prisoner of Love
3. Louise
4. Love Me or Leave Me
5. Taking a Chance on Love
6. Love Is Here to Stay
7. Pres Returns

rec. Jan. 13, 1956

Teddy Wilson - Gentleman of Keyboard

Gentleman of Keyboard, a Giants of Jazz compilation released in 1990, is a jumbled assemblage of great jazz recordings made between May 1934 and July 1957 by pianist and bandleader Teddy Wilson (1912-1986). The list of collective personnel on this one disc is staggering, as Wilson consistently worked with innovators and individualists who decisively shaped the evolution of jazz over the years. Among literally dozens of noteworthy participants are vocalists Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald as well as tenor saxophonists Ben Webster and Lester Young. Wilson is also heard in his famous role as a member of the Benny Goodman Quartet and Sextet [these performances alone warrant the admission fee - d3lta]. Though it would take quite a number of Wilson collections to accurately demonstrate the magnitude of his contribution to the history of jazz, Gentleman of Keyboard is as good a place to begin as any. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

track listing:

1. Somebody Loves Me
2. I'm Painting the Town Red
3. All My Life
4. Why Do I Lie to Myself About You?
5. Way You Look Tonight
6. Sailin'
7. I've Found a New Baby
8. Just a Mood
9. If Dreams Come True
10. I Got Rhythm
11. Jumpin' for Joy
12. Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam)
13. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
14. 71
15. China Boy
16. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
17. I Want to Be Happy - Edmond Hall, Teddy Wilson
18. Rose Room
19. Just Like a Butterfly (That's Caught in the Rain)
20. Fine and Dandy
21. Under a Blanket of Blue
22. Sweet Lorraine
23. Air Mail Special

running time: 72:37

Teddy Wilson - Three Little Words (1976)

This post focuses on jazz piano giant Teddy Wilson (1912-86) whose sophisticated and elegant style graced many a record of jazz's biggest names including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Noted jazz musicologist Gunter Schuller argues in his authoritative History of Jazz - The Swing Era that Wilson's approach to the jazz piano was the predecessor of the Red Garland - Wynton Kelly school of jazz piano; he is right.

This late Wilson offering from 1976 was recorded at an unusual setting: an open-air studio in Nice, France. As a result, the ambience is a bit different outdoors, while birds can be heard occasionally in the background. This is hardly a distraction for seasoned veterans of the stature of Wilson and his cohorts Milt Hinton on bass and Oliver Jackson on drums who navigate through 14 standards that they had likely played hundreds of times during their long careers with great aplomb and finesse. Highlights include a lush treatment of "You Go to My Head," a cheerful midtempo romp through "Flying Home" (with a superb solo by Hinton), and a blistering take of "Undecided." While Teddy Wilson didn't modify his style much during his career, this outdoor recording is one of his most interesting studio efforts.

personnel:

Teddy Wilson: piano
Milt Hinton: bass
Oliver Jackson: drums

track listing:

I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (3:33)
Flying Home (3:47)
I Didn't Know What Time It Was (4:17)
Sweet Lorraine (3:41)
Sugar (3:25)
Undecided (3:55)
St. Louis Blues (4:13)
Three Little Words (2:39)
I've Got the World on a String (4:07)
Don't Be That Way (3:05)
You Go to My Head (4:24)
My Heart Stood Still (2:38)
Where or When (4:32)
Basin Street Blues (3:50)

rec. July 14, 1976 in Nice, southern France

Oscar Moore

According to Barney Kessel, Oscar Moore (1916 - 1981) practically invented the role of the guitarist in small combo jazz. We don't know if this is true as is often the case with claims of this kind. What we do know however is that Moore's role in shaping the sound of the Nat King Cole Trio, the first drummerless trio in jazz, was of paramount importance. It is Oscar Moore's guitar we cherish on these 1937-1947 immortal sides the Cole Trio cut for various small labels. Unfortunately, Moore's solo career after leaving Cole never took off and he cut just a handful of records for the Verve and Tampa labels before retiting from the music business altogether and ending up working as a bricklayer in Los Angeles - a cryin' shame. This 1954 recording for the Tampa label with Carl Perkins amply demonstrates what an enormous talent and elegance in delivery Moore possessed.

personnel:
Oscar Moore: guitar
Carl Perkins: piano
Joe Comfort: bass
Mike Pacheco: bongos
Lee Young: drums


track listing:
1. Roulette
2. The Nearness Of You
3. Love For Sale
4. Body And Soul
5. Kenya
6. Blues In B Flat
7. Up Tempo
8. Buddy Can You Spare A Dime
9. There'll Never Be Another You
10. April In Paris
11. Samson And Delilah Theme
12. Moonlight In Vermont
13. Kiss Me Again
14. Dinner For One
15. Walkin Home
16. Warm Up

Rec. 1954 in Hollywood, CA

PS track #2 from this very album can be heard on youtube here (unfortunately the uploader has disabled embedding giving us all a hard time, but we'll cope somehow)

Wes Montgomery - Live at Jorgies (1961)

The small VGM label issued two valuable LPs back in the '80s (VGM 0001 and VGM 0008) featuring Wes Montgomery in a live setting at Jorgies Jazz Club in St. Louis, MO, on August 19, 1961. In them we could hear Wes stretching out on four pieces in a quartet setting with brothers Buddy (on piano and vibes) and Monk (bass) along with drummer Billy Hart. These versions of "All of You," Milt Jackson's "Heartstrings," "Summertime" and Wes's "Bock to Bock" range from six to fourteen minutes, are reasonably well-recorded and contain stirring improvisations. This CD reissue contains the first LP plus four additional tracks, recorded in New York in 1963 with Billy Taylor on piano, Grady Tate on drums and vocalist Joe Williams on two of them. Fans of the great guitarist rejoice!

track listing:
1. All Of You
2. Heartstrings
3. Summertime
4. Back To Bach To Bock
5. There Will Never Be Another You
6. A Beautiful Thing*
7. The More I See You
8. More Than Likely*

tracks 1-4 rec. 1961, tracks 5-8 rec. 1963
(*) Joe Williams, vcl

Barney Wilen - New York Romance (1994)

Sumptuous blowing from the old master on soprano, baritone and tenor saxophones accompanied by stalwarts Kenny Barron on piano, Ira Coleman on bass and Lewis Nash on drums in a set consisting of mostly ballads and mid-tempo numbers, ideal vehicles for the group to display what good jazz is all about through this seminar in group empathy and interplay. Recorded at the historic Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, on June 19 & 20, 1994. Highly recommended.

1. No Problem '94
2. Cry Me a River
3. Blues Walk
4. You've Changed
5. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To
6. Mack the Knife
7. Don't Fence Me In
8. Old Devil Moon
9. I Will Say Goodbye

Barney Wilen - Newport '59

This great record displays Barney Wilen in three different musical settings: Tracks 1 through 4 are from Wilen's first visit to the US in 1959 and his appearance at the renown Newport, RI, Jazz Festival , maybe the first non-US musician to appear there. He is accompanied by a stellar band consisting of Toshiko Akiyoshi, fresh out of Berklee and eager to please US audiences, Tommy Bryant on bass and legend Roy Haynes on drums. Tracks 5 and 6 are recorded in Paris in the company of Clark Terry on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Eric Peter on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums - these gentlemen need no introduction. And finally, Thelonious Monk's masterpiece 'Round Midnight is recorded in the company of a local German band while Wilen visited there. Savvy listeners will no doubt notice how mature and original Wilen sounds at such an early age as well as his ability to adapt to the musical situation at hand.

As this disc consists of three dates, sound is a bit sketchy at places, but as a testament to Wilen's genius this is essential listening.

Barney Wilen Quartet
Featuring: Barney Wilen (ts, ss), Toshiko Akiyoshi (p), Tommy Bryant (b), Roy Haynes (d), Clark Terry (tp), Bud Powell (p), Eric Peter (b), Kenny Clarke (d), Evald Heideprim (p), Karl Theodore Geier (b), Eberhard Stengel (d)

Track listing:

Newport Jazz Festival, July 4th, 1959
1. Introduction By Willis Conover
2. Passport (Parker)
3. 'Round Midnight (Monk-Hanighen)
4. Barney's Tune (Wilen)

Paris, 1959
5. No Problem (Jordan)
6. Miguel's Party (Powell)

Düsseldorff, late 50's
7. 'Round Midnight (Monk-Hanighen)

Barney Wilen - Tilt (1957)

Amazing debut as leader for French tenor sax superhero Barney Wilen (1937-1996) who was not even 20 at the time! Recorded in Paris in January 1957 with Maurice Vander (piano), Bibi Rovère (bass) and Al Levitt (drums) on the first side and Jack Cnudde (piano), Bibi Rovère (bass) and Charles Saudrais (drums) on the side two. Probably the rarest and definitely the most sought-after french jazz record of all time in its LP form (pictured below); the playing is to die for, of course.



track listing:

1.Blue n' Boogie
2.Nature boy
3.Melancholy baby
4.Night in Tunisia
5.The way you look tonight
6.Hackensack
7.Blue monk
8.Mysterioso
9.Think of one
10.Blue n' Boogie - alt. take previously unreleased
11.Nature boy - alt. take previously unreleased
12.Hackensack - alt. take previously unreleased
13.Blue Monk - alt. take previously unreleased
14.We see - previously unreleased
15.Let's call this - previously unreleased

Gato Barbieri - Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Steeped in controversy upon its release in 1973, director Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris has since been called everything from nonutilitarian pornography to a cinematic masterpiece. Two key elements that Bertolucci utilized to breath life into Tango's nihilistic themes and the dark, obsessive relationship at its core were Marlon Brando's harrowing, largely improvised performance and the erotically charged jazz score of self-taught Latin sax virtuoso Gato Barbieri. While the musician's main theme has become a much-covered jazz standard, it's but a tantalizingly sexy sample of the cross-cultural stylings at work in this masterful score. While Barbieri rerecorded the core of his Tango music in lush, fleshier arrangements for the soundtrack album's initial release, this Ryko edition (nearly twice the length of the original) augments those tracks with a compelling half-hour suite of cues culled directly from the film's scoring sessions. By turns stark and sentimental, erotic and experimental, these previously unreleased cues form a revelatory new "second movement" to Barbieri's hauntingly familiar score. ~Jerry McCulley

personnel:
Gato Barbieri (ts, f, vcl); Franco D'Andrea (p); Franco Goldani, Wolmer Beltrani (accor); Jean-Francois Jenny Clark, Giovanni Tommaso (b); Piero Munari (d); Afonso Vieira (perc, berimbau); Ivanir "Mandrake" do Nascimento (perc, tamb) + 32-piece string orchestra, Oliver Nelson (arr, cond).

track listing:
a. Last Tango In Paris - Tango (Gato Barbieri) - 3:22
b. Jeanne (Gato Barbieri) - 2:33
c. Girl In Black - Tango (Para Mi Negra) (Gato Barbieri) - 2:08
d. Last Tango In Paris - Ballad (Gato Barbieri) - 3:42
e. Fake Ophelia (Gato Barbieri) - 2:56
f. Picture In The Rain (Gato Barbieri) - 1:51
g. Return - Tango (La Vuelta) (Gato Barbieri) - 3:03
h. It’s Over (Gato Barbieri) - 3:14
i. Goodbye (Un Largo Adios) (Gato Barbieri) - 2:31
j. Why Did She Choose You? (Gato Barbieri) - 3:00
k. Last Tango In Paris - Jazz (Gato Barbieri) - 5:43
l. The Last Tango In Paris Suite (Gato Barbieri) - 27:33