I had no idea this was a national holiday but it is… Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, invented the saxophone in 1841. He may have invented it but Coleman Hawkins birthed it as a modern instrument. Here is a look at a few my all-time favorite sax players to celebrate this idiosyncratic holiday.
Coleman Hawkins
Don Byas
Charlie Rouse
John Coltrane
Categories: Jazz · Music
Tagged: adolphe sax, charlie rouse, coleman hawkins, don byas, john coltrane, national saxophone day
Tomorrow would’ve marked Thelonious Monk’s 92nd birthday. Without Monk so much would be different for me. I came to jazz through Miles Davis. Nothing unusual there. But my affinity for jazz beyond a casual interest came from the unusual. For no matter how mainstream and accepted Monk’s music has become, it is unusual and will forever remain so. What Monk did is still little understood. He was tight-lipped, difficult, and seemingly belligerent. An outward austerity beneath which lurked a prickly, sensitive, slightly unstable man capable for great artistic leaps and personal generosity. For Monk was generous. He gave his sidemen, those who could hang with his challenging music, near unlimited amounts of room with which to showcase and improve themselves. And those who were truly with it took advantage of it. We can thank Monk for the vast improvements in the abilities of such legends as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. But these were men destined to reap their many bountiful gifts. Monk just softly pushed them along. But when I listen to the Five Spot recordings from August 7th, 1958 and I listen to Johnny Griffin just devour Monk’s music, that’s when I’m feeling the shepherding influence of Monk the most. Nearly every tenor who has come through Monk’s school of music has left their own idiosyncratic stamp on the music. The shuffling, snuffling tone of Charlie Rouse, instantly identifiable, became perhaps the most sympathetic to Monk’s cause. Rouse is continually overlooked most likely because he lingered with Monk too long. But in doing so, he became Monk’s greatest champion. Only Coleman Hawkins could be said to interpret a Monk ballad better. Listening to Harold Land tear through Monk tunes at The Blackhawk in San Francisco on a literal moment’s notice is a joy. That is baptism by fire. I knew Land was a great tenor but those recordings proved it. So many other players would’ve caved under the pressure of learning Monk’s tunes on the spot (while having to battle Rouse at the same moment). Billy Higgins sparkles on that record. I wish he’d recorded with Monk more. He could’ve been his definitive drummer (no disrespect to Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, and Shadow Wilson). I love all of Monk’s recordings, particularly those for Riverside and Columbia. When people ask me for Monk recommendations — man, that’s tough. I usually stick with my three perennial favorites: Monk’s Music (the meeting of Trane and Hawkins could only have occurred within the context of Monk’s music); Monk (the Columbia one that is so super playful with great Rouse solos); and those Five Spot Recordings with Griffin because they are exuberant. Of course, immediately afterward, I want to thrust the Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, and early recordings into their hands, and well… it just continues forever.
Without Thelonious Monk, I would never have started down the path that brought me to jazz radio and a jazz blog. I really owe it all to him.
Categories: Jazz · Music
Tagged: Billy Higgins, carnegie hall, charlie rouse, coleman hawkins, columbia records, harold land, john coltrane, johnny griffin, riverside records, roy haynes, shadow wilson, sonny rollins, the blackhawk, thelonious monk, town hall
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
Celebrate the music of Stanley Turrentine and Charlie Rouse with Bop and Beyond’s 3rd Annual Back-to-Back Birthday Bash– now available for download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TIW10LQM
Categories: Jazz · Jazz radio · Music · internet radio · radio
Tagged: louis smith, blue note records, tommy turrentine, paul chambers, stanley turrentine, sonny clark, ike quebec, horace parlan, Dave Bailey, barry harris, george tucker, charlie rouse, howard mcghee, max roach, julian priester, al harewood, bennie green, clark terry, jazzbrothers, epic records, storyville
Certain shows have become an annual tradition here at Bop and Beyond. This Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 6pm, Bop and Beyond celebrates it’s 3rd Annual Back-To-Back Birthday Bash in honor of two of my all-time favorite tenor sax players:
We’ll be hearing from both men’s work as leaders and sidemen for various labels.
Bop and Beyond, Fridays at 6pm on WSVA Radio.
———————————————————————————————————-
(A download of this program will be made available within a week of initial broadcast)
Categories: Jazz · Jazz radio · Music · internet radio · radio
Tagged: louis smith, blue note records, tommy turrentine, paul chambers, stanley turrentine, sonny clark, ike quebec, horace parlan, Dave Bailey, barry harris, george tucker, charlie rouse, howard mcghee, max roach, julian priester, al harewood, bennie green, clark terry, jazzbrothers, epic records, storyville
