Art Farmer - To Sweden With Love

barabara sounds sez:

Two reasons why Art Farmer is not as well known as he should be: a) he joined the jazz diaspora in Europe, settling eventually in Austria; b) while he may have blown a beautiful horn — flugelhorn in this particular case — he didn't write much memorable material of his own. That's not a problem here, because he's taken traditional Swedish folk melodies and rendered them in very cool versions that swing very nicely indeed. He's also got some top top sidemen with him here including Jim Hall and the great Pete LaRoca. Jazztime calls it a "minor masterpiece" and that's not overstating the case. Short (not much over 30 minutes) but sweet indeed.

cd universe sez:

…the band transforms the melodies, making each one swing gently, and opening up the tunes to intense, meditative explorations. Farmer's flugelhorn and Hall's guitar lines are perfect foils, unfurling quiet, complex lines around each other like twin wisps of smoke.

jazztimes.com sez:

After the 1962 breakup of the Jazztet that he'd co-founded with Benny Golson, flugelhornist Farmer formed a pianoless quartet with Jim Hall that made three LPs for Atlantic before disbanding in 1964. Recorded in Sweden with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete La Roca, this inventive group rises to the challenge of playing a program of Swedish folk songs, all but one arranged by Farmer. The unfamiliar tunes means zero reliance on standard chord progressions and the sort of automatic reactions a familiar set of tunes might engender. The combination of Farmer's lustrous, lyrical horn with Hall's magical touch on guitar makes this short count CD the minor masterpiece it is.

amazon.com sez:

Farmer and his crew use Swedish folk melodies as the basis for each of the six songs here, and at points it begins to sound like modal jazz in the 1960s had some odd Nordic strain that's gone heretofore unremarked upon. Farmer's never allowed himself to be bullied or hurried, favoring wide swaths of tone over speed or even exactness. Hall's perfect at this game, playing clean and pristine single notes and then ripping into a grit-filled series of riffs that precede an unerringly risky solo of bent corners and blunted runs.

personnel:

Art Farmer flugelhorn; Steve Swallow double bass; Jim Hall guitar; Pete La Roca drums

Charles Mingus - Mingus At Carnegie Hall

barabara sounds sez:

The great great Mingus jamming live with an all-star cast featuring five — count them — top sax players (Hamiet Bluiett was in the Mingus band at the time; the other four were guests), not to mention the greatest stritch player that ever lived... Enjoy it! You can tell the musicians themselves did!

AMG sez:

Atlantic Records, somewhat perversely, chose to release two performances from this concert that had the strongest aura of "jam session" about them. But the show included a solid opening set by the working band of the time, as well as a freer finale, all of which remains unissued. This is a fun 45 minutes, particularly for the jovial interplay between saxophonists Kirk and Adams, but in its released form, only hints at the strength of The Jazz Workshop in 1974.

an amazon reviewer sez:

This live recording captures the essence of Mingus' larger band excursions and is somewhat more improvised than many of his other larger band dates. For one the inclusion of Hamiet Bluiett adds a free sense that is not usually evident in a Mingus recording. Also the ever changing Rahsaan Roland Kirk equally adds color to this Mingus' lineup. The band takes Duke Ellingtons "C Jam Blues" and changes the whole texture and face of the song turning it into a partially improvised tour de force that features Bluietts baritone sax work and kirks tenor and stritch. The other tune is a masterfull take on "Perdido" and it is equally exciting. The amazing thing about this date is Mingus' ability to assemble the best players in jazz in one band and come up with something as good as this. I only wish that I had been there to witness this incredible live performance.

Track listing:

SIde 1. C Jam Blues (24:32)

Side 2. Perdido (21:53)

Personnel:

Charles Mingus bass; Georges Adams tenor sax; Hamiet Bluiett baritone sax; Don Pullen piano; Dannie Richmond drums

Guest artists: Jon Faddis trumpet; John Handy alto and tenor sax; Rahsaan Roland Kirk tenor sax, stritch; Charles McPherson alto sax

Recorded January 19, 1974 at Carnegie Hall, NYC

Ornette Coleman Double Quartet- Free Jazz

barabara sounds sez:

One of those albums that have iconic status but few people have actually listened to much. Ornette from 1961 in full flight, with a double crew of kindred spirits on board, including Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry and Freddie Hubbard. Obviously this is not easy listening music. But nor is it 'diffficult'. It demands your attention — and rewards you for it. No hesitation here: it's a classic.

Dusty sez:

The title gets it right — as the album's easily the closest thing to free jazz that Ornette Coleman ever recorded — an album-length improvisation played by a "double quartet" that's overflowing with classic players! The style here is a fair bit like John Coltrane's Ascension album for Impulse — and like that one, the session features Ornette and his contemporaries really stretching out — blowing like never heard before on record, and working in a highly unstructured setting! Other players include Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Scott LaFaro on bass -- alongside regular group members Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, and both Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins on drums. One long track -- just titled "Free Jazz"!

Wiki sez:

The original release embodied a painting by Jackson Pollock on the front of the cover, and its title gave the name for the whole free jazz movement. It involves two separate quartets, one to each stereo channel; the rhythm sections play simultaneously, and though there is a succession of solos as is usual in jazz, they are peppered with freeform commentaries by the other horns that often turn into full-scale collective improvisation. The pre-composed material is a series of brief, dissonant fanfares for the horns which serve as interludes between solos. Not least among the album's achievements was that it was the first LP-length improvisation, nearly forty minutes in length, which was unheard of at the time.

Track listing

1. "Free Jazz" (37:10); 2. "First Take" (17:02)

Personnel

Left channel: Ornette Coleman alto sax; Don Cherry pocket trumpet; Scott LaFaro bass; Billy Higgins drums

Right channel: Eric Dolphy bass clarinet; Freddie Hubbard trumpet; Charlie Haden bass; Ed Blackwell drums

And this is the Jackson Pollock painting that apparently inspired it all: