Requisites
Free For All ~ Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers | By Eddie Carter
A few years ago, in a discussion of Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, I stated that every record collector has a few titles in their library that mean the world to them. Free For All (Blue Note BLP 4170/BST 84170) by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers is one of those for me. I’ve listened to it countless times over the years whenever I was down or feeling sad, and it always makes me happy. Art Blakey was not only one of the most energetic drummers in jazz but also the leader of one of the best ensembles for over three decades. His group on this date had been together for three years: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Cedar Walton on piano, and Reginald Workman on bass. Free For All initially hit the stores in 1965, and my copy is the 1984 Pathé Marconi French Stereo reissue, sharing the original catalog number.
The title tune, Free For All by Wayne Shorter, starts briskly with the rhythm section’s introduction to the sextet’s aggressive theme. Wayne is up first and swings fiercely in a heated interpretation; then Curtis follows with a vigorously energetic solo. Lee takes over to give a high-octane reading, and Art adds an explosively swinging finale preceding the group’s rousing climax. Wayne Shorter’s Hammer Head slows the beat down to mid-tempo for the ensemble’s leisurely-paced melody. Shorter starts things off with a relaxing interpretation, and then Hubbard treats the listener to an exquisitely beautiful solo. Fuller follows with an excellent reading next, and Walton has the final say before the sextet returns to take the song out.
The Core by Freddie Hubbard is his tribute to the organization CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). It opens with the trio’s introduction ahead of the ensemble’s spirited melody. Wayne launches the first solo like a rocket soaring skyward. Freddie turns up the heat next; then Curtis seamlessly weaves his way through the third interpretation like a flow of electricity. Cedar offers the final adrenaline rush into the sextet’s theme reprise and the trio’s fadeout. Clare Fisher’s Pensativa is a beautiful ballad that Freddie arranged for this date. The group begins in a relaxed groove, setting the stage for Hubbard’s gorgeous opening solo. Shorter expresses so many feelings in the second statement; then Walton’s reading is a delight to hear until the theme returns and the rhythm section dissolves slowly into nothingness.
Alfred Lion produced Free For All, and Rudy Van Gelder was the recording engineer. The front cover displays a Mono catalog number, but this album is a Stereo release. The sound quality on this Pathé Marconi reissue has an amazing soundstage that brings the sextet to your listening room with stunning fidelity. Art Blakey worked with some of the best musicians during his lifetime, and The Jazz Messengers were the springboard for dozens of careers. He was one of the great teachers, and the music his groups made still brings pleasure to jazz fans worldwide. If you’re in the mood for an album that still sounds as fresh as the day it was released, I invite you to check out Free For All by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers the next time you’re out record shopping. It’s a great starting point to explore their comprehensive discography and an album filled with energy and fire that’s as good as it gets for those who enjoy hard bop!
~ Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (Columbia CL 1612/CS 8612) – Source: Discogs.com © 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Jazz Poems
THE BLUES OF THIS DAY The blues of this day are as elegant and as sad as the minor thirds and we all try to sing it. What we want is to be brass The horn-scratched voice blown through. Valves as golden as his. Lord as crazy sex or first real heartbreak. It was always his back slightly bent away from all of us who adored him, gazing across his shoulders as the band jumped into the party one solo at a ti Or they could be rocking way off-ke going as far away from the melody as Venus to Mars. Funk can be as easy as t getting together in the dark. And as hard as the breaking light that catches the throat of sated lovers, the morning after. The talk the night before by the last of his men who knew the way of the world and then some, about Miles and his two steps ahead of the century like the first Black man to leave the Delta humming I gotta go, but I can’t take you. I gotta go, but I can’t take you. If you want to follow, then do what you want to do. Patricia Spears Jonesfrom Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young
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Requisites
Byrd in Paris, Volume 1 ~ The Donald Byrd Quintet Featuring Bobby Jaspar | By Eddie Carter
The Donald Byrd Quintet enters this morning’s spotlight with Byrd in Paris, Volume 1 (Brunswick 87 903), the first of two albums taken from the group’s 1958 appearance at The Olympia Theatre. Its companion release is Parisian Thoroughfare, and both were recorded at the conclusion of the quintet’s tour to Europe. Byrd in Paris was initially a French release in 1958 and would make its way to the U.S. two years later. The personnel is Donald Byrd (tracks: A1, A2, B3) on trumpet, Bobby Jaspar on flute (B1) and tenor sax (A1, A2, B3), Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Doug Watkins on double bass, and Art Taylor (A1, A2, B2, B3) on drums. My copy is the 2014 Sam Records French Mono audiophile reissue, sharing the original catalog number.
The set opens with Dear Old Stockholm, and as the song begins, Donald is off in the distance behind the quintet. He brings the horn into the forefront as he walks to the microphone, and the ensemble completes the melody. Bobby opens with a marvelous first solo. Donald is equally loose and free in the following reading. Doug offers one of the song’s best musical moments in the closing statement preceding the theme’s reprise and finale. Donald introduces Paul’s Pal by Sonny Rollins next and all the remaining tunes. The group begins with a mid-tempo melody. Bobby starts the solos with an easygoing statement. Donald follows with a neatly paced reading, and then Walter greets the finale like an old friend before the group takes it out.
Side Two gets underway with Bobby Jaspar on flute for his tune, Flute Blues. Bobby and Doug introduce the song’s first chorus with a two-instrument conversation before Walter joins them. Bobby dives into the opening statement with a consummate feeling. Doug finds a few new things to say in the second solo, and then Bobby and Doug are in complete agreement in the closing interpretation, leading back to the theme. The spotlight is on the rhythm section in Ray’s Idea by Ray Brown. Donald and Bobby sit this one out, and the trio works in perfect balance on the song’s speedy melody. Walter is the first to solo and puts the piano through a vigorous workout, then he and Art share an energetic exchange into the theme’s reprise, climax and audience’s approval.
The Blues Walk by Sonny Stitt is off and running from the ensemble’s theme. Donald opens at a blistering pace; then Bobby continues blowing up a storm. Walter communicates his ideas confidently next, and then Doug makes a few quick remarks. Art generates considerable heat in an aggressive conversation with Donald and Bobby, leading to the song’s climax and a huge ovation from the audience. Bruno Coquatrix produced the original session, and the reissue was remastered from the original tapes. This Sam Records audiophile reissue was also pressed at Pallas in Germany on 180 grams of audiophile vinyl, and the front and rear covers are sturdy. The album possesses an excellent soundstage, placing the listener in the audience. Also included is an additional insert with a photo of Donald Byrd.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Byrd in Paris, Volume 1. After hearing this Sam Records reissue, I’m going to revisit a few other titles I have in the library and feature them in future columns. If you’re in the mood for a live hard bop album with great tunes and tight musicianship. I invite you to consider Byrd in Paris, Volume 1 by The Donald Byrd Quintet Featuring Bobby Jaspar, on your next record treasure hunt. It’s a wonderful live album that still sounds great over six decades later and shouldn’t be missed for a spot in any jazz library!
~ Parisian Thoroughfare (Brunswick 87 904) – Source: Discogs.com ~ Dear Old Stockholm – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter
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Jazz Poems
WALKING PARKER HOME
Sweet beats of jazz impaled on slivers of wind Kansas Black Morning/First Horn Eyes/ Historical sound pictures on New Bird wings People shouts/ boy alto dreams/ Tomorrow’s Gold belled pipe of stops and future Blues Times Lurking Hawkins/ shadows of Lester/ realization Bronzer fingers–brain extensions seeking trapped sounds Ghetto thoughts/ bandstand courage/ solo flight Nerve-wracked suspicions of never songs and doubts New York altar city/ black tears/ secret disciples Hammer horn pounding soul markson unswinging gates Cultural gods/ mob sounds/ visions of spikes Panic excursions to tribal Jazz wombs and transfusions Heroin nights of birth/ and soaring/ over boppy new ground Smothered rage covering pyramids of notes spontaneously exploding Cool revelations/ shrill hopes/beauty speared into greedy ears Birdland nights on bop mountains, windy saxophone revolutions. Dayrooms of junk/ and melting walls and circling vultures/ Money cancer/ remembered pain/ terror flights/ Death and indestructible existence In that Jazz corner of life Wrapped in a mist of sound His legacy, our Jazz-tinted dawn Wailing his triumphs of oddly begotten dreams Inviting the nerveless to feel once more That fierce dying of humans consumed In raging fires of Love.
BOB KAUFMAN
from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young
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Requisites
The Meeting, Vol. 1 ~ Jackie McLean Featuring Dexter Gordon | By Eddie Carter
I was looking for something to listen to after dinner a few nights ago when I came across a title I hadn’t heard in a while by two of my favorite saxophonists, Jackie McLean and Dexter Gordon. This morning’s record from the library is The Meeting, Vol. 1 (SteepleChase SCS-1006). It hit the Danish and Japanese stores in 1974 and is the first of two live albums recorded a year earlier on July 20 and 21 at Montmartre Jazzhus in Copenhagen. The front line is Jackie McLean on the alto sax and Dexter Gordon on the tenor sax. The supporting cast for both sets is a magical rhythm section: Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums. My copy is the 1976 U.S. Stereo reissue (Inner City IC 2006).
Side One opens with Jackie’s introduction of the quintet ahead of the rhythm section’s introduction to All Clean by Dexter Gordon. Both horns enter next to introduce the vibrant melody. Dexter goes to work first on a lengthy opening solo. Jackie checks in next and keeps the flame burning. Kenny makes a vigorous contribution next, and then Niels-Henning takes a brisk walk in the following reading. Dexter and Jackie return to have a spirited conversation, leading to the song’s conclusion. Rue De La Harpe by Sahib Shihab begins with the ensemble’s mid-tempo theme. Jackie has the opening chorus and takes command effectively. Dexter flies straight ahead into the following solo, and Kenny keeps things moving with considerable passion until the theme’s climax.
Side Two starts with Sunset, a hauntingly beautiful ballad by Kenny Drew that he initially recorded on Everything I Love. Both horns introduce the song, proceeding to the ensemble’s delicately tender melody. Jackie begins the opening statement gently. Dexter follows with an extremely personal interpretation, and Kenny adds a meaningful comment preceding the theme’s restatement. On The Trail by Ferdé Grofé is the third of five movements in his Grand Canyon Suite. Jackie kicks off the theme’s first chorus. Dexter takes the baton in the second chorus and then makes a distinctive impression on the first solo. Jackie speaks with captivating inspiration in the following reading. Kenny executes a rewarding performance in the closer ahead of the finale.
Nils Winther did double duty on this release. He produced and recorded The Meeting, Vol. 1. The reissue’s sound quality is excellent, with a superb soundstage that transports the listener to a front-row seat in the Montmartre audience as the musicians are performing. Since I have this album in my library, I’ll be on the lookout for its companion, The Source, Vol. 2. If you’re a fan of Jackie McLean and Dexter Gordon, I invite you to attend The Meeting, Vol. 1 on your next record shopping trip. It’s a stellar lineup with great playing from each member of the quintet and a wonderful document of a live set that anyone can revisit anytime the album is on the turntable!
~ Everything I Love (SteepleChase Records SCS-1007), The Source, Vol. 2 (SteepleChase Records SCS-1020) – Source: Discogs.com ~ On The Trail – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter
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