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 Horace Silver Blue Note catalog would not be complete without Six Pieces Of Silver, a session that put the pianist on the map as a leader. After leaving the Jazz Messengers to Art Blakey, this session gave Silver a solid foothold as a solo hard bop contender, as witnessed by the ultra-funky “Senor Blues.” Though his classic quintet was a few years off, SIX PIECES features many of Silver’s Messengers cohorts including Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, and the drummer that best suited the funky pianist, Louis Hayes.

The session gets off to a rocking start with “Cool Eyes,” a swinging testament to Silver’s writing and arranging strengths. Switching gears drastically, the somber ballad “Shirl” is one of his most introspective works. The often-covered hit “Senor Blues” is presented here in three versions: the regular album-length take, a shorter single version, and a vocal rendition by singer Bill Henderson, who was then a newcomer on the New York scene. The only standard of the set, the classic “For Heaven’s Sake,” is a touching ballad that remains a favorite of many pianists, and Silver performs it here with his usual superb taste.

Personnel: Horace Silver (piano); Bill Henderson (vocals); Hank Mobley, Junior Cook (tenor saxophone); Donald Byrd (trumpet); Doug Watkins, Gene Taylor (bass); Louis Hayes (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!

Donald Byrd, a talented hard bop trumpeter during his prime (although rarely reaching the technical heights of Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard), performs a varied repertoire on Mustang!. “Dixie Lee” has dated rhythms, and “Mustang” was an attempt to achieve a hit on the level of Morgan’s “The Sidewinder.” However, Byrd sounds fine on those numbers; he digs into the complex chord changes of “Fly Little Bird Fly,” is sensitive on “I Got It Bad,” swings on his “I’m So Excited by You,” and performs his memorable countermelody to “On the Trail,” which had been recorded earlier by several other musicians. Teamed with a typically impressive Blue Note crew (altoist Sonny Red, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Walter Booker, and drummer Freddie Waits), Byrd performs high-quality straight-ahead jazz that fits the modern mainstream of the era. (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!

This two-LP set, which was released in 1979 as part of United Artists’ Blue Note reissue series, brought back trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s early album Hub Cap, a sextet session with tenor-saxophonist Jimmy Heath, trombonist Julian Priester, and pianist Cedar Walton. Although that session (comprised of four Hubbard compositions, one of Walton’s songs, and Randy Weston’s “Cry Me Not”) is excellent, it is the full album of previously unreleased material from an all-star quintet that is of greatest interest. Hubbard teams up with fellow Jazz Messengers Wayne Shorter (on tenor), Walton, bassist Reggie Workman, and (in Blakey’s spot) drummer Philly Joe Jones for some advanced hard bop. Highpoints include the fiery “Philly Mignon” and a strong version of “Body and Soul.” (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!

Tenor-saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s Blue Note debut found him well prepared to enter the big time. With an impressive quintet that includes trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Elvin Jones, Shorter performed a well-rounded program consisting of five of his originals plus an adaptation of an “Oriental Folk Song.” Whether it be the brooding title cut, the Coltranish ballad “Virgo” or the jams on “Black Nile” and “Charcoal Blues,” this is a memorable set of high-quality and still fresh music. (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!

Pianist Oscar Peterson joins up with his old friends, vibraphonist Milt Jackson and bassist Ray Brown, in addition to his drummer of the period, Louis Hayes, for a particularly enjoyable outing. After a throwaway version of the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the all-star quartet performs Jackson’s title cut, Benny Carter’s ballad “Dream of You,” and four standards. Although not up to the excitement of Peterson’s best Pablo recordings of the 1970s, this is an enjoyable album. ~ Scott Yanow

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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!

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

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!

When this album was recorded in February of 1961, it had been more than year since the Portrait in Jazz was issued, the disc that won the critics over. By the time of this issue, Evans had released four albums in six years, a pace unheard of during that time. Most musicians were issuing two, three, and even four records a year during the same era. Many speculate on Evans’ personal problems at the time, but the truth of the matter lies in the recordings themselves, and Explorations proves that the artist was worth waiting for no matter what else was going on out there. Evans, with Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro, was onto something as a trio, exploring the undersides of melodic and rhythmic constructions that had never been considered by most. For one thing, Evans resurrects a number of tunes that had been considered hopelessly played out, and literally reinvents them — “How Deep Is the Ocean” and “Sweet and Lovely.” His harmonic richness that extends the melodic and color palette of these numbers literally revived them from obscurity and brought them back into the canon. He also introduced “Haunted Heart” into the jazz repertoire, with a wonderfully impressionistic melodic structure, offered space, and depth by the understatement of Motian and extension by LaFaro’s canny use of intervals. Also noteworthy is Miles Davis’ “Nardis,” which Evans first played on a Cannonball Adderley set a couple of years before. The rhythmic workout by the Motian and LaFaro places Evans’ own playing in a new context, with shorter lines, chopping up the meter, and a series of arpeggios that open the ground for revelatory solo in counterpoint by LaFaro. Explorations is an extraordinary example of the reach and breadth of this trio at its peak. (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!

A classic album, one of the finest of drummer Max Roach’s very productive career. The illustrious sidemen (trumpeter Booker Little; trombonist Julian Priester; Eric Dolphy on alto, bass clarinet, and flute; tenorman Clifford Jordan; pianist Mal Waldron; and bassist Art Davis, in addition to some guest percussionists) all have opportunities to make strong contributions and Dolphy’s pleading alto solo on “Mendacity” is particularly memorable. Abbey Lincoln has two emotional and very effective vocals, but it is the overall sound of the ensembles and the political nature of the music that make this set (along with Roach’s Freedom Now Suite) quite unique in jazz history. (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!

Underground was recorded in 1967, about 20 years into the career of this wholly distinctive and unorthodox pianist-composer. Whenever the understated saxophone talents of Charlie Rouse accompany Thelonious Monk, one is assured of an invigorating set of music–and this collection is no exception. Supported by Larry Gales on bass and the inimitable Ben Riley on drums, Monk and Rouse elaborate on immortal compositions like “Ugly Beauty.” On “In Walked Bud,” the quartet is joined by vocalist Jon Hendricks. With jagged themes and unusual variations of meter and key, Underground showcases an aging Monk’s still-brilliant eccentricity on the piano. A good bit looser than much of Monk’s earlier work, he and Rouse infuse this date with their tag-team humor and unrelenting musical enthusiasm. –Mitch Myers

Personnel: Thelonious Monk (piano); Jon Hendricks (vocals); Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Larry Gales (bass); Ben Riley (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!

Dizzy Gillespie brings together tenor saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins for four extended cuts, and in the process comes up with one of the most exciting “jam session” records in the jazz catalog. While the rhythm section of pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Tommy Bryant, and drummer Charlie Persip provides solid rhythmic support, Stitt and Rollins get down to business trading fours and reeling off solo fireworks. Apparently, Gillespie had stoked the competitive fires before the session with phone calls and some gossip, the fallout of which becomes palpable as the album progresses. On “The Eternal Triangle,” in particular, Stitt and Rollins impress in their roles as tenor titans, with Stitt going in for sheer muscle as that most stout of bebop cutters and Rollins opting for some pacing as a more thematic player. In the midst of the rivalry (certainly some torch was being passed, since Rollins was soon to become the top tenor saxophonist in jazz), an embarrassment of solo riches comes tumbling out of both these men’s horns. Gillespie adds his own split commentary on the proceedings with a casual solo on “After Hours” and a competitively blistering statement on “I Know That You Know.” With an at ease rendition of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” rounding things out, Sonny Side Up comes off as both a highly enjoyable jazz set and something of an approximation of the music’s once-revered live cutting session. (allmusic)

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