everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
There have been many recordings of the music from the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, but this is one of the more rewarding ones. Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald sing all of the parts, performing 16 of the play’s best melodies. Unfortunately, there is not much Armstrong trumpet to be heard, but the vocals are excellent and occasionally wonderful, making up for the unimaginative Russ Garcia arrangements assigned to the backup orchestra.
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
The incredible Wes Montgomery of 1960 was more discernible and distinctive than the guitarist who would emerge a few years later as a pop stylist and precursor to George Benson in the ’70s. On this landmark recording, Montgomery veered away from his home Indianapolis-based organ combo with Melvin Rhyne, the California-based Montgomery Brothers band, and other studio sidemen he had been placed with briefly. Off to New York City and a date with Tommy Flanagan’s trio, Montgomery seems in his post- to hard bop element, swinging fluently with purpose, drive, and vigor not heard in an electric guitarist since bop progenitor Charlie Christian. Setting him apart from the rest, this recording established Montgomery as the most formidable modern guitarist of the era, and eventually its most influential. Montgomery is clearly talented beyond convention, consistently brilliant, and indeed incredible in the company of his sidemen, and this recording — an essential addition to every jazz guitarist fan’s collection — put him on the map. (allmusic)
Personnel: Wes Montgomery (guitar); Tommy Flanagan (piano); Percy Heath (bass); Albert Heath (drums).
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Dexter Gordon’s mid-’60s period living in Europe also meant coming back to the U.S. for the occasional recording session. His teaming with Bobby Hutcherson was intriguing in that the vibraphonist was marking his territory as a maverick and challenging improviser. Here the two principals prove compatible in that they have a shared sense of how to create sheer beauty in a post-bop world. Add the brilliant Barry Harris to this mix, and that world is fortunate enough to hear these grand masters at their creative peak, stoked by equally extraordinary sidemen like bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins, all on loan from Lee Morgan’s hitmaking combo. The subtle manner in which Gordon plays melodies or caresses the most recognizable standard has always superseded his ability to ramble through rough-and-tumble bebop. While this is not Gordon’s ultimate hard bop date, it is reflective of his cooling out in Europe, adopting a tonal emphasis more under the surface than in your face. It’s not essential, but quite enjoyable, and does mark a turning point in his illustrious career. (allmusic)
Personnel: Dexter Gordon (tenor saxophone); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Barry Harris (piano); Bob Cranshaw (bass); Billy Higgins (drums).
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Dizzy Gillespie was at the peak of his powers throughout the 1950s, still the pacesetter among trumpeters. This albun matches Dizzy with Stan Getz, the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummer Max Roach. Getz, although identified with the “cool” school, thrived on competition and is both relaxed and combative on the uptempo explorations of “It Don’t Mean a Thing” and “Impromptu”.
Personnel: Dizzie Gillespie (trumpet); Stan Getz, Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone); Oscar Peterson, Wade Legge (piano); Herb Ellis (guitar); Ray Brown, Lou Hackney (bass); Max Roach, Charlie Persip (drums).
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Kenny Burrell’s music is a wonderful blend of elegance and conviction, musical inventiveness and thoughtful restraint. On this 1967 session, the guitarist is joined by regular associates–tenorist Stanley Turrentine, conga drummer Ray Barretto, bassist Major Holley, and drummer Bill English–and together they concentrate on the subtlest and deepest hues of the blues, combining strong rhythmic grooves with a feeling of late-night reflection. There’s never a misstep or a superfluous note, from the funky Latin hit “Chitlins Con Carne” to Burrell’s deeply felt solo “Soul Lament” and the concentrated swing of “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good to You.”
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Bobbi Humphrey scored her biggest hit with her third album Blacks and Blues, an utterly delightful jazz-funk classic that helped make her a sensation at Montreux. If it sounds a lot like Donald Byrd’s post-Black Byrd output, it’s no accident; brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell have their fingerprints all over the album, and as on their work with Byrd, Larry handles all the composing and most of the arranging and production duties. It certainly helps that the Mizells were hitting on all cylinders at this point in their careers, but Humphrey is the true star of the show; she actually grabs a good deal more solo space than Byrd did on his Mizell collaborations, and she claims a good deal of responsibility for the album’s light, airy charm. Her playing is indebted to Herbie Mann and, especially, Hubert Laws, but she has a more exclusive affinity for R&B and pop than even those two fusion-minded players, which is why she excels in this setting. Mizell is at the peak of his arranging powers, constructing dense grooves with lots of vintage synths, wah-wah guitars, and rhythmic interplay. Whether the funk runs hot or cool, Humphrey floats over the top with a near-inexhaustible supply of melodic ideas. She also makes her vocal debut on the album’s two ballads, “Just a Love Child” and “Baby’s Gone”; her voice is girlish but stronger than the genre standard, even the backing vocals by the Mizells and keyboardist Fred Perren. Overall, the album’s cumulative effect is like a soft summer breeze, perfect for beaches, barbecues, and cruising with the top down. (allmusic.com)
Peronnel: Bobbi Humphrey (flute, vocals); Chuck Rainey, Ron Brown (bass); Fonce Mizell (clavinet, trumpet, backing vocals); King Erison (congas); Harvey Mason (drums); Jerry Peters (electric piano); David T. Walker, John Rowin (guitar); Stephanie Spruill (percussion); Fred Perren (synthesizer, backing vocals); Larry Mizel (backing vocals).
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Purists howled with indignation when Donald Byrd released Black Byrd, a full-fledged foray into R&B that erupted into a popular phenomenon. Byrd was branded a sellout and a traitor to his hard bop credentials, especially after Black Byrd became the biggest-selling album in Blue Note history. What the elitists missed, though, was that Black Byrd was the moment when Byrd’s brand of fusion finally stepped out from under the shadow of his chief influence, Miles Davis, and found a distinctive voice of its own. Never before had a jazz musician embraced the celebratory sound and style of contemporary funk as fully as Byrd did here — not even Davis, whose dark, chaotic jungle-funk stood in sharp contrast to the bright, breezy, danceable music on Black Byrd. Byrd gives free rein to producer/arranger/composer Larry Mizell, who crafts a series of tightly focused, melodic pieces often indebted to the lengthier orchestrations of Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield. They’re built on the most straightforward funk rhythms Byrd had yet tackled, and if the structures aren’t as loose or complex as his earlier fusion material, they make up for it with a funky sense of groove that’s damn near irresistible. Byrd’s solos are mostly melodic and in-the-pocket, but that allows the funk to take center stage. Sure, maybe the electric piano, sound effects, and Roger Glenn’s ubiquitous flute date the music somewhat, but that’s really part of its charm. Black Byrd was state-of-the-art for its time, and it set a new standard for all future jazz/R&B/funk fusions — of which there were many. Byrd would continue to refine this sound on equally essential albums like Street Lady and the fantastic Places and Spaces, but Black Byrd stands as his groundbreaking signature statement. (allmusic.com)
Personnel: Donald Byrd (vocals, trumpet, electric trumpet, flugelhorn); Fonce Mizell (vocals, trumpet); Freddie Perren (vocals, electric piano, synthesizer); Larry Mizell (vocals); David T. Walker, Dean Parks, Barney Perry (guitar); Allan Curtis Barnes (flute, oboe, saxophone); Roger Glenn (flute, saxophone); Joe Sample (piano, electric piano); Kevin Toney (piano); Chuck Rainey, Wilton Felder (electric bass); Harvey Mason, Sr. , Keith Killgo (drums); Perk Jacobs, Stephanie Spruill, Bobbye Hall, Bobbye Porter (percussion).
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
With their second album, Miles Smiles, the second Miles Davis Quintet really began to hit their stride, delving deeper into the more adventurous, exploratory side of their signature sound. This is clear as soon as “Orbits” comes crashing out the gate, but it’s not just the fast, manic material that has an edge — slower, quieter numbers are mercurial, not just in how they shift melodies and chords, but how the voicing and phrasing never settles into a comfortable groove. This is music that demands attention, never taking predictable paths or easy choices. Its greatest triumph is that it masks this adventurousness within music that is warm and accessible — it just never acts that way. No matter how accessible this is, what’s so utterly brilliant about it is that the group never brings it forth to the audience. They’re playing for each other, pushing and prodding each other in an effort to discover new territory. As such, this crackles with vitality, sounding fresh decades after its release. And, like its predecessor, ESP, this freshness informs the writing as well, as the originals are memorable, yet open-ended and nervy, setting (and creating) standards for modern bop that were emulated well into the new century. Arguably, this quintet was never better than they are here, when all their strengths are in full bloom. (allmusic)
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
Monk’s Dream is the Columbia Records debut release featuring the Thelonious Monk Quartet: Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (drums). Jazz scholars and enthusiasts alike also heralded this combo as the best Monk had been involved with for several years. Although he would perform and record supported by various other musicians, the tight — almost telepathic — dimensions that these four shared has rarely been equalled in any genre. By the early ’60s, bop had become considered passé by artists as well as fans looking for the next musical trend. This is coupled with the fact that discerning Monk fans would have undoubtedly recognized many of these titles from several live recordings issued at the end of his tenure on Riverside. Not to belabor the point, however, but precious few musicians understood the layer upon layer of complexities and challenges that Monk’s music created. On tracks such as “Five Spot Blues” and “Bolivar Blues,” Rouse and Dunlop demonstrate their uncanny abilities by squeezing in well-placed instrumental fills, while never getting hit by the unpredictable rhythmic frisbees being tossed about by Monk. Augmenting the six quartet recordings are two solo sides: “Just a Gigolo” and “Body and Soul.” Most notable about Monk’s solo work is how much he retained the same extreme level of intuition throughout the nearly two decades that separate these recordings from his initial renderings in the late ’40s. Monk’s Dream is recommended, with something for every degree of Monk enthusiast. (allmusic)
everybodydigs# is a series of posts about Jazz, Funk, Soul & R’n’b albums released from the 20s to the 90s, you can read a brief description/review and listen to a small preview (when it’s possible). everybodydigs# is like when someone tells you “hey you should listen to this album!” and nothing less, enjoy!
When Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers expanded to a sextet with the addition of Curtis Fuller on trombone, the group took on the character of a small big band propelled by Blakey’s forceful drumming. Buhaina’s Delight, another session in the long line of great Blue Note dates from this period, displays that classic line-up in pristine form. With Freddie Hubbard replacing Lee Morgan, Cedar Walton replacing Bobby Timmons and musical director Wayne Shorter, the Messengers were full of fresh sounds and vibrant with energy.
Uncharacteristically for a Messengers session, the relaxed shuffle “Backstage Sally” opens the disc in a laid back groove. Shorter’s brilliant playing is featured prominently on this session on the delicate ballad “Contemplation” and many stunning solo spots. The title track (dubbed for Blakey’s Islamic name, Buhaina) and a dynamic arrangement of the standard “Moon River” are excellent examples of the classic Messengers sound: challenging horn arrangements, expressive soloing and assertive drumming by the leader. Also included on this set are bonus takes of all but two of the original tunes. For any Messengers fan, this is a delightful package, indeed.
Personnel: Art Blakey (drums); Jymie Merritt (bass instrument); Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone); Freddie Hubbard (trumpet); Curtis Fuller (trombone); Cedar Walton (piano).
