Carmell Jones – trumpet; Barry Harris – piano; George Tucker – bass; Roger Humphries – drums / Riverside Records, 1965
Carmell Jones was a supremely underrated West Coast trumpeter, whose sideman work with Harold Land, Booker Ervin, and Horace Silver went largely unnoticed in his era. The Mosaic Records Select three-disc box set did a lot to remedy this. Not included was Jay Hawk Talk, a Riverside Date that I believe is Jones’s only gig as a leader. It is magnificent — funky where it needs to be, tender as well. His reading of “Willow Weep For Me” above is hauntingly beautiful, one of my favorite renditions.
Today would’ve been Carmell Jones’s 74th birthday. He died in 1996, a near total unknown. Many dazzling trumpeters from his era somehow never managed to break through, which is a shame really. I’d take Carmell Jones and Tommy Turrentine and Dupree Bolton and Louis Smith over many of their more famous peers and colleagues.
Nice article on one of my favorite trumpet players. Thanks for reminding
Best Michael Hamburg/Germany
Hey man. I recently ran into a Jackie McLean track on Pandora, “Hip Strut.” Its featuring a tuba (or at least that’s what it sounds like on my shitty work speakers) played by Paul Chambers. I was wondering if you knew of any other hard bop that incorporated a tuba. I really liked the sound.
Look for recordings featuring Ray Draper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Draper
Wow, great stuff! Thanks.
Carmell is/was great.
He cut two as a leader for Pacific Jazz as well as one co-led session with Tricky Lofton. There is also a later date for the Revelation label, which is quite hard to find. Jay Hawk Talk was on Prestige, and Prestige also repackaged some Nathan Davis tracks (done for Saba) under Carmell’s name.
Thanks for posting on this under-documented and excellent player.
Carmell’s version of “Willow Weep For Me” was on his 1965 LP: “Jay Hawk Talk” on the Prestige label.
I heard Carmell at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1963. He was fantastic. He
was with Gerald Wilson’s great big band.