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 last two years of the 1950s and early years of the ’60s saw Ornette Coleman exert a profound influence on the future direction of jazz. It was a remarkably fertile time for him as a composer. This set amply demonstrates his composing skill. Tunes like “Tears Inside,” “Turnaround,” and the aching beauty of “Lorraine” are brilliant and, in a perfect world, should be standard jazz repertoire today. Coleman quickly broke through to a new freedom in jazz. He would soon find more receptive players to work alongside than on this recording; however, the playing is still of high caliber and the tunes are now justly legendary. –Michael Monhart

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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!

It’s easy and perhaps unfair to take any later jazz album by a trendy, “hot” trumpeter and compare it to a classic like Have Trumpet, Will Excite!. Critics and fans have been afforded the luxury of time to weed out half-efforts. Still, even without former knowledge of who Dizzy Gillespie is, Have Trumpet, Will Excite! separates itself from the crowd pretty quickly. The Latin up-tempo arrangement of “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” thrusts the song into an entirely different realm. Junior Mance’s piano kicks things of with a quirky, forceful rhythm, and after Gillespie’s trumpet lays down the bare bones of the melody, it’s pretty much forgotten. From there, the band takes off on a creative surge. The same is true of “My Man.” A brave arrangement, kicked off by piano and outlined by trumpet, completely rewrites the piece. “Sure,” Gillespie and the band, seem to say, “We can play old swing tunes, but wouldn’t it be cool if we turned them inside out?” This approach, along with sharp solos, gives the material an exciting edge. Gillespie’s solo on “St. Louis Blues” just soars, while Les Spann, who plays both flute and guitar on the album, follows him with a bristly guitar solo. Mance offers distinctive piano work that matches Gillespie’s enthusiasm on tunes like “Woody ‘N’ You,” while bassist Sam Jones and drummer Lex Humphries keep a high-octane rhythm in constant motion. Have Trumpet, Will Excite! more than measures up to its promise and stands as a cornerstone of Gillespie’s ’50s work. (allmusic)

Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet); Les Spann (flute, guitar); Junior Mance (piano); Sam Jones (bass).

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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!

On this highly influential 1959 album, Ornette Coleman’s unique writing style and idiosyncratic solo language forever changed the jazz landscape. On classics such as “Lonely Woman,” “Congeniality,” and “Focus on Sanity,” Coleman used the tunes’ moods and melodic contours, rather than their chords, as a basis for his improvisations. In so doing, he opened up jazz soloing immensely and ushered in new freedoms–both individually and collectively. Lest these innovations sound too dry or abstract, it must be noted that both Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry play with a deep-felt emotion and joy that is as infectious today as it was then. This is truly an essential jazz recording, marking the end of one era, providing the blueprint for the next. –Wally Shoup

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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!

Fuego — a title that might be somewhat misleading — is the final Blue Note recording exclusively pairing Donald Byrd with Jackie McLean, a fruitful partnership that set the yin of the (in this case) restrained trumpeter, against the yang of the tart and extroverted alto saxophonist. While not quite a unified whole, the two were involved in turf battles that were based on mutual respect, here exuding a quieter fire that toned down McLean and muted Byrd to attain an intriguing harmonic balance. Duke Pearson’s clever piano in the middle, with Doug Watkins playing bass and favored drummer Lex Humphries, made for one of the more diverse sounds in modern jazz circa 1959-1960. Of course hard bop is at the core of this band, but Byrd is moving further into post-bop, as served up heartily by the two horns during the modal, rambling, and staggered theme of the title selection. On the front cover, a contemplative Donald Byrd is depicted, perhaps pondering his next move and his band five years after successfully joining the New York City jazz scene from his native Detroit. It also represents his thoughtful role in Fuego, as he takes a break from forceful interaction to play a more democratic role on this refined and mature album that is less brash, a prelude for his more powerful statements yet to come. (allmusic)

Rappamelo’s favorite track:

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!

Kind of Blue isn’t merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it’s an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Why does Kind of Blue posses such a mystique? Perhaps because this music never flaunts its genius. It lures listeners in with the slow, luxurious bassline and gentle piano chords of “So What.” From that moment on, the record never really changes pace — each tune has a similar relaxed feel, as the music flows easily. Yet Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It’s the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn’t quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they’ve memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band — Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb — one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you don’t like Kind of Blue, you don’t like jazz — but it’s hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection.

Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly (piano); Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Paul Chambers (bass); Jimmy Cobb (drums).

Rappamelo’s favorite track:

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!

Lyric and thoughtful, pianist Bill Evans proved an urbane bridge between the early bop style of Bud Powell and playful funk of Horace Silver, and the later, modern approach of pianists like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett (indeed, Jarrett went as far as to record with Evans’s backup band of drummer Paul Motian and bassist Gary Peacock). Evans’s second album as a leader, Portrait in Jazz combines a pair of originals–“Blue in Green” and “Peri’s Scope”–with a handful of show tunes and standards, including a version of “Someday My Prince Will Come” that pre-dates Miles Davis’s adaptation. With a preference for irregular phrasing and a taste for unusual chord spellings, Evans was frequently able to recast old chestnuts and tired warhorses into new gems and spirited charges, as he does here with “Witchcraft,” “Spring Is Here,” and “When I Fall in Love.” And although he recorded in many different formats throughout his career, including duets with himself, the power and beauty of Evans’s trios helped him lay a special claim to that grouping. –Fred Goodman

Personnel: Bill Evans (piano); Scott LaFaro (bass); Paul Motian (drums).

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