From Jackie McLean’s Destination Out comes my all-time favorite Moncur composition, “Love and Hate” — featuring Jackie McLean on alto, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Larry Ridley on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums. Recorded in 1963 for Blue Note Records
“Air Raid” from Moncur’s classic album Evolution (also 1963 for Blue Note) again featuring McLean, Moncur, Hutcherson, and adding Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Tony Williams on drums.
Categories: Jazz · Music
Tagged: blue note records, bob cranshaw, bobby hutcherson, grachan moncur III, jackie mclean, larry ridley, lee morgan, roy haynes, tony williams
The cancelation of this year’s JVC Jazz Festival is a major blow to the music.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/arts/music/20jazz.html?pagewanted=all
Categories: Jazz · Music · jazz concerts · news
Grachan Moncur III is one of jazz’s most startling and unique composers. He is a living legend of post-bop and free jazz, whose music for Blue Note in the early 60’s helped push the genre forward. Those albums, Evolution and Some Other Stuff, are classics, still in-print and readily available. But it is Moncur’s later albums for BYG Actuel that I want to highlight here. They are slightly more “inside” than his earlier albums for Blue Note and are almost painterly in their composition.
We begin with the heart-renderingly beautiful and meditative “Aco Dei De Madrugada (One Morning I Woke Up Very Early),” a jazz interpretation of a Brazilian folk song with guest vocals by pianist Fernando Martins.
Next is “When” from Moncur’s lost classic New Africa, a hypnotic modal piece featuring Coltrane acolyte Archie Shepp on tenor.
A fascinating account of the dubious circumstances under which these recordings were made is given here (a must-read):
http://surrealdocuments.blogspot.com/2007/10/grachan-moncur-iii-new-africa-one.html
Categories: Jazz · Music
Tagged: archie shepp, blue note records, byg actuel, fernando martins, grachan moncur III
WKCR, 89.9 FM in NYC, is celebrating the centenary of Benny Goodman’s birth with a multi-week Benny Goodman marathon. The Benny Goodman Festival runs through until June and can be heard both on the dial and on-line.
Categories: Jazz · Jazz radio · Music · internet radio · radio
Tagged: benny goodman, wkcr
Monty challenged me to come up with my own list of 50 personally indispensable jazz albums in response to the Amazon 100 list.
The criteria was simple, name the 50 jazz albums I personally could not live without. That’s it… a list of favorite albums (not necessarily the greatest albums either). Anyone who has followed this site knows my taste so most of these albums won’t come as much of a surprise anyway.
Monty’s list is posted here: http://rightheredude.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-top-50-jazz-albums-of-all-time.html
In the meantime, here’s mine…
01. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
02. Duke Ellington – Money Jungle
03. Clifford Brown & Max Roach – A Study In Brown
04. Thelonious Monk – Monk’s Dream
05. Billie Holiday – Lady Day: The Master Takes
06. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington – The Great Summit
07. Coleman Hawkins – Body and Soul
08. Ornette Coleman – At The Golden Circle
09. Miles Davis – In A Silent Way
10. Peggy Lee – Black Coffee
11. John Coltrane – Coltrane’s Sound
12. Alice Coltrane – Ptah, the El Daoud
13. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Like Someone In Love
14. Ahmad Jamal – The Legendary Okeh and Epic Recordings
15. Curtis Amy – Katanga!
16. Von Freeman – The Great Divide
17. Mary Lou Williams – Black Christ of the Andes
18. Paul Chambers – Bass on Top
19. Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidananda
20. Charlie Rouse – Bossa Nova Bacchanal
21. Thelonious Monk – Misterioso
22. Booker Ervin – The Freedom Book
23. Ike Quebec – Blue and Sentimental
24. Sonny Rollins – Saxophone Colossus
25. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
26. Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold)
27. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Au Club St. Germain
28. Duke Ellington – Fargo, 1940
29. Coleman Hawkins – Night Hawk
30. Mal Waldron – The Seagulls of Kristiansund
31. Herbie Nichols – Love, Gloom, Cash, Love
32. Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack
33. Pharoah Sanders – Jewels of Thought
34. The Jazz Crusaders – Freedom Sound
35. Django Reinhardt – Paris and London
36. Dexter Gordon – Our Man In Paris
37. Andrew Hill – Smokestack
38. Stanley Turrentine – Jubilee Shout!!!
39. Don Byas – Laura
40. Clifford Brown – With Strings
41. Grachan Moncur III – Evolution
42. Earl Hines – Once Upon A Time
43. Horace Parlan – Speakin’ My Piece
44. Lou Blackburn – The Complete Imperial Sessions
45. Sonny Rollins – East Broadway Run Down
46. Carmell Jones – Jay Hawk Talk
47. The Curtis Counce Group – Carl’s Blues
48. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Free For All
49. Paul Gonsalves – Boom Jackie Boom Chick
50. Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue
Categories: Jazz · Music
Tagged: 100 Greatest Jazz Albums, 50 personally indispensable jazz albums, ahmad jamal, alice coltrane, andrew hill, art blakey, billie holiday, Booker Ervin, carmell jones', charlie rouse, Clifford Brown, coleman hawkins, curtis amy, curtis counce, dexter gordon, django reinhardt, don byas, duke ellington, earl hines, grachan moncur III, herbie nichols, horace parlan, ike quebec, jazz crusaders, jimmy smith, john coltrane, kenny burrell, lou blackburn, louis armstrong, mal waldron, mary lou williams, max roach, miles davis, ornette coleman, paul chambers, paul gonsalves, peggy lee, pharoah sanders, sonny rollins, stanley turrentine, thelonious monk, von freeman
