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Reuben Wilson: Blue Mode – 1969
by Marc Davis
1969 was the grooviest year in a very groovy decade. The Beatles, on the verge of a breakup, urged everyone to get back and come together. The Temptations couldn't get next to you. And Sly Stone took everyone higher at Woodstock. At that very moment, in the waning days of 1969, Reuben Wilson funked ...
Freddie Redd: Music from The Connection – 1960
by Marc Davis
What sweet music from what sounds like a perfectly harrowing stage play! Freddie Redd is one of those long-forgotten names in Blue Note history. He was a pianist in the bebop tradition of Bud Powell, with a tinge of Thelonious Monk. He recorded exactly two albums as a Blue Note leader, a few more ...
Hank Mobley: Soul Station - 1960
by Marc Davis
Hank Mobley is a mystery to me. On the one hand, I mostly love his relaxed style of bop. Sometimes it's round and smooth, sometimes rock hard, sometimes full of soul and funk. What's not to like? On the other hand, the same relaxed style can sometimes seem lazy. Critics sure thought ...
Not Feelin’ All Right: Guilt and Those Cheap Imported Box Sets
by Marc Davis
When I was in high school in the '70s, I bought a jazz record with an unusual request in the liner notes. The artist--I think it was Chick Corea--asked fans not to tape his record and pass it around to friends. He said (and I'm paraphrasing from memory): “If you like jazz and you ...
Earl Hines, Pete Johnson and James P. Johnson: Reminiscing at Blue Note – 1939-43
by Marc Davis
In the beginning, there was the piano--if not in jazz generally, then definitely at Blue Note Records. From the start, Blue Note founder Alfred Lion was obsessed with the piano. Blue Note's very first recordings, in 1939, were 19 tunes by boogie-woogie pianists Meade “Lux" Lewis and Albert Ammons. You can hear them all ...
Big John Patton: Along Came John - 1963
by Marc Davis
If you like Booker T and MG's, you'll love Big John Patton's Along Came John. It is, without a doubt, the funkiest, bluesiest, most soulful organ jazz record of all time, bar none. And that includes everything ever done by the legendary Jimmy Smith. Along Came John is a great party record, and once ...
Dizzy Reece: Star Bright – 1959
by Marc Davis
In the 1950s and '60s, there were two jazz trumpeters named Dizzy. One was famous. This is the other guy. Dizzy Reece is a pretty obscure name, even among Blue Note fans. He was a young hard bop trumpeter from Jamaica who spent most of the 1950s playing in Europe, recorded four very good ...
In Praise of Liner Notes
by Marc Davis
Joni Mitchell was onto something. You don't miss liner notes until you don't have them. I admit: Many liner notes leave me cold, for two reasons. First, they're way too detailed, especially in jazz. Every take has to be scrupulously annotated. Who played third trumpet in that big band? Was that Bird's second or ...
Duke Jordan: Flight to Jordan - 1960
by Marc Davis
If this isn't a perfect hard bop record, it comes awfully close. And coming from an artist who is virtually forgotten, it's all the sweeter. Duke Jordan was an A-list pianist who was there at the birth of bebop. He was part of Charlie Parker's classic quintet in 1947. So why don't we know ...
Tina Brooks: True Blue - 1960
by Marc Davis
I love finding little-known records by almost-unknown artists. There's nothing wrong with soaking in the comfortable pool of guys you know oh-so-well. I can listen to Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell all day. But even the greats can wear you out. How many times can you listen to the Beatles' “Hey Jude" ...
