Just like the old spiritual, you’re gonna lay down your cares and woes down by the Riverside when you hear these 5 reissues from the label that delivered some of the best music from the 50s and 60s and stands up better than most of what is being released these days. I hate to sound like an old curmudgeon, but this stuff has a freshness that shines so brightly that no wonder most of the guys then wore sun glasses!
Soulful alto saxist Cannonball Adderley is caught here just before joining up with Miles Davis for Kind of Blue on a fantastically bopping quintet session from October 1958. In the company of MJQ vibist Milt Jackson as well as the erudite rhythm section of Winton Kelly/p, Percy Heath/b and Art Blakey/dr, Adderley snaps and sizzles through a cooking title track as well as a festive reading of “Groovin’ High.” Front line teammate Jackson is at his sauntering best on “Blues Oriental” and the whole band gels like a Sunday picnic desert salad on “Just One of Those Things.” Things were indeed getting better, and this music made the future look promising. A joy!
These days, Chet Baker is most famous for his languid singing on ballads like “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” while forgetting that he was also a formidable young man with the horn. This collection of show tunes from the pens of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe was part of a trend back in the late 50s to “jazz up” theatre songs. This ’59 session has Baker leading a wonderful collection of all stars such as Herbie Mann, Zoot Sims, Pepper Adams, Earl May/b, Clifford Jarvis/dr and either Bill Evans or Bob Corwin on the piano. Any complaints so far?!? The music itself is wondrous; Baker’s horn is warm, full, macho and yet gracefully lyrical. His tone on “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” or “I Talk To The Trees” is as rich as tapioca, and with Evans on piano, “Thank Heaven For Little Girls” sparkles. Sims takes a rare and welcome solo on alto on “Show Me” while Mann’s flutes create cumulous clouds of coziness throughout the session. First rate!
Speaking of Bill Evans, this 1962 session is part of his return to the jazz scene after dropping out for awhile to recover from the death of his bass player Scott LaFaro a year earlier. Chuck Israels does an excellent job filling the gap, and along with Paul Motian, shows that he can work as a teammate as well as a solo artist within the trio context. This collection of tunes is mostly upbeat (an accompanying album from the same dates emphasized the ballads), with “In Your Own Sweet Way” a delight in displaying Israels’ wares. The sly “Show-Type Tune” as well as “23 Skidoo” display Evans’ more muscular side, and it’s a welcome angle. This is piano playing for the ages.
If you don’t have any Wes Montgomery albums, drop what you’re doing and order this one online NOW NOW NOW! This single disc actually is comprised of two sessions: an April 1961 meeting with Wes, his brothers Buddy/vibes and Monk/b and Paul Humprey/dr, and an August 1964 summit with Hank Jones/p, Ron Carter/b, Lex Humphries/dr and Ray Baretto/congas. Together, the 16 songs make over an hour of the most delightful guitar sounds you’ll ever come across on a Class M Planet. Cooler than a cucumber, Wes sears through “Cottontail” or “Twisted Blues” with a riveting swing that just won’t let go. With his brothers, he agonizes over “Angel Eyes” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” while snapping like snow peas on “Jeannine.” I don’t know what more you’re looking for in a guitarist; if you’re still looking after this one you’re going to have a very frustrated life.
Baritonist Gerry Mulligan pops into the studio with Thelonious Monk’s trio of Wilbur Ware/b and Shadow Wilson for a hip little session in 1957. Mulligan was known for his West Coast Cool sound, but that was just a label to create some fan interest. The thing to pay attention to here is the indelible imprint Mulligan brings to “‘Round Midnight” that gives it a depth and gravitas rarely achieved before or since. The two leaders sound comfy with each other as they skip along on “Rhythm-a-ning” and a fingerpopping “Straight, No Chaser.” It’s amazing how almost 60 years later, this stuff still sounds fresh and challenging. Will that be said of today’s music?
Original Jazz Classics