Hampton Hawes - Trio & Quartet 1951-1956: Live & Studio (2-Disc Set)

Hampton Hawes (p), Harper Crosby (b), Lawrence Marable (d), Joe Mondragon (b), Red Mitchell (b), Larry Bunker (d,vib), Shelly Manne (d), Clarence Jones (d), Chuck Thompson (d).

Hampton Hawes was one of the finest jazz pianists of the 1950s, a fixture on the Los Angeles scene who brought his own interpretations to the dominant Bud Powell style. In the mid- to late '40s, he played with Sonny Criss, Dexter Gordon, and Wardell Gray, among others on Central Avenue. He was with Howard McGhee's band (1950-1951), played with Shorty Rogers and the Lighthouse All-Stars, served in the Army (1952-1954), and then led trios in the L.A. area, recording many albums for Contemporary. Arrested for heroin possession in 1958, Hawes spent five years in prison until he was pardoned by President Kennedy. He led trios for the remainder of his life, using electric piano (which disturbed his longtime fans) for a period in the early to mid-'70s, but returned to acoustic piano before dying from a stroke in 1977.

Album: Trio & Quartet 1951-1956: Live & Studio (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:39
Size: 164.0 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2010

[4:25] 1. Buzzy
[3:13] 2. What Is This Thing Called Love
[6:32] 3. Bud's Blues
[4:12] 4. Another Air Do
[4:32] 5. All The Things You Are
[6:03] 6. Blue Bird
[4:53] 7. I'll Remember April
[2:36] 8. Where Or When
[2:26] 9. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
[3:14] 10. Jumpin' Jacque
[4:16] 11. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[3:45] 12. Hawes Paws
[3:50] 13. It's You Or No One
[3:09] 14. Buzzy
[3:10] 15. Just One Of Those Things
[2:28] 16. Again
[4:42] 17. What A Difference A Day Makes
[4:06] 18. Blue Bird

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Album: Trio & Quartet 1951-1956: Live & Studio (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:25
Size: 120.0 MB
Styles: Piano jazz
Year: 2010
Art: Front

[2:34] 1. Night And Day
[2:56] 2. Where Or When
[2:48] 3. Jumpin' Jacques
[2:30] 4. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[2:43] 5. It's You Or No One
[2:40] 6. Thou Swell
[2:41] 7. Terrible T
[2:44] 8. Fanfare
[2:55] 9. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
[2:54] 10. I'll Remember April
[2:54] 11. Hamp's Paws
[1:53] 12. Move
[2:32] 13. Once In A While
[2:36] 14. Buzzy
[3:22] 15. I Hear Music
[3:53] 16. All The Things You Are
[3:31] 17. I Got Rhythm
[4:11] 18. How High The Moon

Trio & Quartet 1951-1956: Live & Studio (Disc 1)(Disc 2)

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Zoot Sims - The Swinger

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 43:18
Size: 99.1 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 1981/2007
Art: Front

[6:33] 1. The Moon Is Low
[6:00] 2. Now I Lay Me Down To Dream Of You
[5:33] 3. On The Alamo
[3:31] 4. Danielle
[7:40] 5. Mr. J.R. Blues
[5:35] 6. The Jeep Is Jumpin'
[4:26] 7. She's Funny That Way
[3:56] 8. Dream Of You

Bass – John Heard, Michael Moore; Drums – John Clay, Shelly Manne);Piano – Jimmy Rowles; Tenor Saxophone – Zoot Sims; Trombone, Vocals – Ray Sims.

This Pablo recording gave tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims a rare opportunity to record with his brother Ray, a spirited trombonist who was greatly influenced by Bill Harris. Together they join forces with pianist Jimmy Rowles and one of two rhythm sections (John Heard or Michael Moore on bass and Shelly Manne or John Clay on drums) for a set of standards, obscurities (including Andy Kirk's "Now I Lay Me Down to Dream of You" and Al Cohn's "Danielle"), and Zoot's "Mr. J.R. Blues." The Sims brothers (who should have collaborated more often) blend together quite well and the music often swings quite hard; other highlights include "The Jeep Is Jumping" and "She's Funny That Way." ~Scott Yanow

The Swinger

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Dizzy Gillespie - Groovin' High

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:46
Size: 84.2 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 2009
Art: Front

[2:55] 1. Blue 'n' Boogie
[2:40] 2. Groovin' High
[2:46] 3. Dizzy Atmosphere
[2:47] 4. All The Things You Are
[3:12] 5. Salt Peanuts
[3:09] 6. Hot House
[3:00] 7. Oop Bop Sh'bam
[2:41] 8. That's Earl, Brother
[2:27] 9. Our Delight
[2:52] 10. One Bass Hit, No. 2
[2:44] 11. Things To Come
[2:20] 12. Ray's Idea
[3:06] 13. Emanon

Bass – Curly Russell, Ray Brown, Slam Stewart; Drums – Cozy Cole, Kenny Clarke, Shelly Manne, Sid Catlett; Guitar – Chuck Wayne, Remo Palmieri; Piano – Al Haig, Clyde Hart, Frank Paparelli, John Lewis; Saxophone – Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, James Moody, Sonny Stitt; Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie; Vibraphone – Milt Jackson.

Dizzy Gillespie took a sextet into the studio on February 9, 1945, and recorded two new compositions, “Groovin’ High,” a medium tempo tune based on the chord changes of “Whispering” (written in 1920), and “Blue ‘N’ Boogie.” In his book Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie, Donald L. Maggin says, “Dizzy created a complex arrangement for ‘Groovin’ High,’ which became one of his most enduring hits; it encompasses a six-bar introduction, three key changes, transition passages between solos, and a half-speed coda as it demonstrates his skill in fashioning interesting textures using only six instruments.”

Groovin' High

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Ornette Coleman - Tomorrow Is The Question!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:43
Size: 98,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:12)  1. Tomorrow Is The Question!
(5:03)  2. Tears Inside
(3:11)  3. Mind And Time
(4:38)  4. Compassion
(3:21)  5. Giggin'
(4:04)  6. Rejoicing
(5:58)  7. Lorraine
(7:54)  8. Turnaround
(5:19)  9. Endless

Shaking out of the contractual obligation forcing him to employ a pianist on his debut, Something Else!!!! (Contemporary, 1958), alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman dispensed with the instrument altogether on 1959's Tomorrow is the Question!, causing a bit of consternation on the part of the mainstream jazz media. This was Coleman's committed step forward toward a harmonically less restrictive sound, en route to the joyful chaos of Free Jazz (Atlantic, 1961). Following, in form, Gerry Mulligan's famous piano-less quartet of the early 1950s, Coleman greatly liberated his solo and rhythm instruments, taking a quantum greater advantage of this freedom compared with Mulligan, had the baritone saxophonist been so inclined. At the same time, the ensemble writing on Tomorrow is the Question! comes off more precise and filigreed than on Something Else!!!! and considerably more musical. Heard by today's ears, it is not so jarring a progression. Novel at the time was Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry's tearing loose from harmonic convention in their solos, like Coleman's refractive muse on the title piece (sounding like a Jungian analysis of traditional New Orleans jazz) and, "Mind and Time" (an angular Thelonious Monk-like piece taken to the next level). Coleman shares his space with Cherry, who tends to stay melodically closer to home, providing a tether to Coleman's dissonant flights of fancy and imagination. Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane's later path to harmonic freedom followed approximately this same arc, from Live at Birdland (Impulse!, 1963) through A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1964),, on to Ascension (Impulse!, 1965).

"Tears Inside" approximates the funk achieved by tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley on his "Funk in the Deep Freeze," from Hank Mobley Quintet (Blue Note, 1957). A jangling head gives way to a blues well-grounded by drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Jimmy Heath, both playing more conservatively than Coleman or Cherry. The piece was also covered shortly after by saxophonist Art Pepper on his ironically titled Smack Up (Contemporary, 1960), the altoist straightening out Coleman's crooks, casting the piece as a straight-ahead blues and possibly offering a window into Coleman's otherwise enigmatic composing and playing. "Compassion" echoes pianist Dave Brubeck's 1959 "Blue Rondo a la Turk," From Time Out (Columbia, 1959), with its off-time playing alternating with the straight 4/4. 

It is a bit of complicated playing that mixes up the rhythm direction without steering the show off the road. The presence of Manne and Heath somewhat grounds Coleman in a way bassist Don Payne and drummer Billy Higgins resisted on Something Else!!!!, with the pair finally loosening up on the jubilant "Rejoicing." Bassist Red Mitchell replaces Heath on the disc's final three cuts. "Lorraine" could be classified as a ballad, but it would be one of a new variety, differing in temperament to the conventional ballad. Coleman's alto playing turns blue on this piece, with Cherry's tart trumpet curling the edges of the charts. "Lorraine" prepares the recording for its bluest moment, "Turnabout." Coleman elongates his solo notes into primal screams as opposed to furious flurries of manically expressed ideas, reaching a groove and maintaining it.

The disc closer, "Endless," bounces back to bebop, while breaking completely from the clean turnarounds and brief, pungent solos. Coleman and Cherry reveal that they are not going back to the old ways, but that they are carefully considering where they are going and how they are changing jazz music. Much here sounds like standard bebop/hard bop of the period, but there is an undercurrent of creative anxiety, a nervous tension that continues to build progressively and would be heard more clearly in Coleman's later recordings. ~ C.Michael Bailey http://www.allaboutjazz.com/ornette-coleman-tomorrow-is-the-question-ornette-coleman-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel: Ornette Coleman: alto saxophone; Don Cherry: trumpet; Percy Heath: bass (1-6); Red Mitchell: bass (7-9); Shelly Mann: drums.

Tomorrow Is The Question!

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