Home Music Jazz Archive by category "Jazz By Instrument" (Page 19)

Category: Jazz By Instrument

Jazzy Morning – Wes and the Wynton Kelly Trio

So this morning was as jazzy kind of morning as I was out and about doing some errands I had Smokin’ at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly playing on the iPod! The album was recorded live in late June 1965 at the Half Note Club in New York City, and September 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and released by Verve.

The album features Montgomery teamed with the Wynton Kelly Trio.
The Wynton Kelly Trio is basically Kelly with bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. Cobb and bassist Paul Chambers had already appeared on other Montgomery albums for Riverside Records such as Bags Meets Wes and Full House.. Both of those great albums are in my collection. Kelly had worked with Montgomery previously but in 1965, he began his association with the Wynton Kelly Trio in the summer of 1965. Together they toured the major jazz clubs in the US and also appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival on the afternoon of Sunday, 4 July. Kelly also appears with Montgomery on the album Willow Weep For Me another favorite album of mine and the track “Four on Six” is included on both albums! read more

A Jazz Interlude – The Oscar Peterson Trio

So I listened to a lot of bluegrass on this Twang Tuesday but at one point this morning when I was doing some writing and the bluegrass was put on hold and I listened to some jazz. I put on something different and listened to A Night on the Town an album by the Oscar Peterson Trio featuring Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and of course Oscar Peterson on piano. Now I have listened to Oscar Peterson before and am not really a big fan mostly because I really don’t jazz piano all that much, but this album most have caught me in the right mood because I thought it was exceptional. Throughout the album both Ellis’ guitar and Peterson’s piano were great and a few times Brown’s bass playing was pretty darn good, too! All I know when I listen to bluegrass my foot is usually a tappin’ which it was also doing with this album read more

Blue and Silver – Mitchell and Horace – Good Jazz!

In the early 70’s John Mayall released those two albums that I always talk about Jazz Blues Fusion and Movin’ On Blue Mitchell played some great trumpet on those two albums today I listened to a nice album of Blue’s titled Blue’s Blues. The album was released in 1972 between the two Mayall albums and Mayall played harmonica on the album and another featured player on Mayall’s albums Freddy Robinson added some great guitar. The album only has five tracks but the shortest track is 7 minutes long and the longest is over ten minutes. read more

Thursday Jazz – Stanton Moore Trio

So since Thursdays have turned into a jazz day I checked the Roots Music Charts for some names and checked out a few artist. At the top of the list and the first album I listen to was Stanton Moore’s new release Groove Alchemy and I didn’t get to listen to much beyond that but I do have a new jazz artist to listen to! It took me a while to remember where I heard the name but Stanton Moore played on and co-produced Anders Osborne’s new album American Patchwork.From Wikipedia:

Stanton Moore is a drummer raised in Metairie, Louisiana. Most widely known as a founding member of Galactic, Moore has also pursued a solo recording career (beginning with his 1998 debut All Kooked Out!) and recorded with bands as diverse as jazz-funk keyboardist Robert Walter and heavy metal act Corrosion of Conformity. He also travels internationally to teach New Orleans drumming, writes a regular column for drumming magazines, and releases instructional books and videos. read more

Friday AM – Some Jazz! – Fourmost – Jimmy Smith

Ok so one of my favorite jazz artists is the incredible organist Jimmy Smith and another is guitarist Kenny Burrell. Sit;’s no wonder that the album Fourmost is a favorite! Fourmost joins Jimmy Smith on organ and Kenny Burrell on guitar with other jazz greats Stanley Turentine on sax and Grady Tate on drums. The set was recorded live in 1990 at Fat Tuesday’s in New York City

One of my favorite tracks on the album is one of the two Ellington songs covered on the album  “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be”. The other Ellington cover is “Main Stem” .Kenny Burrel’s guitar is as always great especially on his composition “Soulful Brother.” From most reviews I read of the album the closing track “Quiet Night of Quiet Stars,” may be  record’s highlight. It’s a textured bossa nova jam that has Smith shouting “Oh, my God!” by the end of the track! read more

More Jazz -New Vibes – Steve Hobbs – Spring Cycle

So I spent this evening multitasking , with part of me watching the Phils squeak one out against the Diamondbacks, another part reading C.J. Box’s new book Nowhere to Run and part of me still looking for new jazz musicians (at least to me). This time I was looking for new vibraphonists!

Last night I was looking for young vibes players and came across Stefon Harris and Blackout and I listened to some of their album Urbanus. Liking what I heard I was planning on listening to the whole album tonight, but in true Edward fashion I looked back at the Roots Music Chart and saw that at number 19 and rising was an album Vibes: Straight Up by Steve Hobbs so I went to Rhapsody and while they didn’t have that album they did have the his album Spring Cycle released in 2005. The players forming the Steve Hobbs Quartet in addition to Hobbs include: pianist Bill O’Connell, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer John Riley. The following from Steve’s website tells about the album better than I can: read more

Saturday Quick Pick – organissimo

So the other day I was thinking about the jazz that I listen to and the title of an older  Milt Jackson album  popped into my head Ain’t But a Few of Us Left. Which made me think, who are the new jazz artists out there making the type of jazz I like who are the younger Milt Jacksons, Jimmy Smiths and Wes Montgomerys? So I went to the Roots Music Chart for jazz and looked down the chart and there at number 16 sat an interesting band name organissimo. The album listed was Alive and Kickin’. So then I went to Rhapsody and the first album listed was Groovapdelphia. So I downloaded it onto the mp3 player and set off to visit Toms River. I was not disappointed organissimo is a jazz trio from Michigan featuring  Jim Alfredson on Hammond organ, Joe Gloss on guitar and drummer Randy Marsh. On Rhapsody they are listed as Acid Jazz but to they are just a great funky jazz trio with great organ and guitar interplay! From their website were you can find out more about the band read more

Good Vibes from Gary Burton!

So last night I mentioned that I love the vibraphone and the three musicians that I’ve listen to the most are Gary Burton, Milt Jackson and Cal Tjader. I love all three  and probably in the order I listed. I’ve also listened to Bobby Hutcherson and Walt Dickinson and like them also. Here is a video of Gary Burton and Makoto Ozone (see Thursday Mix Part 2) – doing a Cal Tjader song “Afro Blue”  A version of that song can be found on my favorite Gary Burton CD For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal

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Thursday Night – Live at Tsubo!

So I’ve written about the folk music I listen to and the blues, bluegrass, and some rock but I haven’t really written about the jazz I listen to. So tonight spinning in the CD player is one of my favorite jazz musicians the incomparable Wes Montgomery. I was still in high school when I started to listen to Wes Montgomery. He recorded three albums on A&M records that were the most commercially successful of his short career. (He died in 1968 of a heart attack). Those three albums A Day in the Life , Down Here on the Ground, and Road Song. all of which contained covers of pop hits along with Wes’ great guitar work were my introduction to his music. read more