Kenny Drew - This Is New

“‘This Is New’ happens to be more than just one of the song titles here, more even than a visually evocative phrase that suggested a photographic cover idea too good to be passed by. It also happens to be a quite apt description of what is taking place musically in this album:

“This is current jazz played by musicians who are young, but have considerable playing experience. All of them also have much the same sets of jazz roots and attitudes. They are men to whom the jazz revolution preached by Bird and Dizzy and Monk at the start of the 1940s is the important starting point. But in referring to the music that developed primarily out of the early-‘40s experimentation, it must be noted that roughly a decade and a half has gone by since Minton’s. And that is actually more calendar time, for example, than elapsed between the issuance of King Oliver’s earliest records and Benny Goodman’s!

“The fact is that at least a full jazz generation has grown up in that time, and that jazz has changed considerably. But, perhaps because it takes a good deal of time to get perspective on such things, or perhaps because there has been no violent upheaval of -form- (certainly nothing comparable to the differences between Swing or Dixieland and Bop), there is a strong tendency to lump everything recent together as ‘modern’. Well, not quite everything: there is a wide variety of experimentation, and there is the music of the West Coast jazzmen, and most of this gets called ‘cool’, as distinguished from the sort of music you hear in this album, which is usually tagged as ‘post-bop’ or ‘hard bop. Sometimes of course the lines get blurred, as will happen with any over-simplification: Miles Davis’ man-walking-on-eggshells trumpet tone is often singled out as the starting point of cool jazz, yet by background and continuing jazz context he belongs to the boppers, and his influence is surely importantly felt in the work of younger horn men like Donald Byrd.

“But the major point to be made is that by now the music of the disciples of bop has emerged as an entity, as a self-contained style. Giving it names like ‘post-bop’ may obscure this point, making it seem as if this is more-of-the-same, but it’s not all like that. This is jazz with basic distinctive qualities of its own, and these qualities seem to be very effectively and excitingly in evidence here.

“Above all, this is ‘funky’ jazz, taking that word in its current meaning of earthy, almost gutbucket, with a decided overall feeling of the blues. It is a far less frenetic and self-conscious music than much of early bop (which often failed to conceal its dogged determination to be ‘different’). Some critics complain that there is excessive attention to top-speed tempos, but I find a high and effective proportion of swinging middle-tempo material. Wholehearted, unembarrassed ballads are rather rare; but there are occasions, as with ‘You’re My Thrill’ here, when everything jells beautifully and soulfully. It is a rhythmically sound jazz (whereas early bop, busily working out new concepts of the functions of rhythm instruments, was not always so), and one reason for this may well be the emergence of a large crop of outstanding bassists, of whom Wilbur Ware is one of the most impressive. This is a music aware of newer harmonic ideas without being pretentious about it, and capable of re-exploring the basic and ‘old-fashioned’ jazz art of ensemble playing: listen particularly to the big sound of Byrd and Hank Mobley together on ‘This Is New’; and also on ‘It’s Your or No One’, which they had recorded, but quite differently, when both were member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. (The Blakey group, incidentally, has been something of a post-bop training school: its frequently shifting personnel has also included Drew and Ware.)

“Kenny Drew is rapidly maturing into one of the significant younger pianists. Born in New York City in 1928, he has worked with a wide variety of major jazz performers [...]. Although his approach indicates the influence of Bud Powell and, to an extent, Thelonious Monk, he is almost unique among modernists in also appreciating and making use of the heritage of such pre-moderns as Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. Donald Byrd, still in his very early twenties, is quite clearly the coming young man on trumpet; Hank Mobley is among the most highly regarded of current tenor men. Wilbur Ware, since coming to New York from Chicago about a year ago, has quickly established himself as among the more formidable bass players, both in solo work and as a rhythm man. G.T. Hogan, who has worked with Illinois Jacquet and Stan Getz, considers this his jazz record debut, and it is a promising one.” (Orrin Keepnews. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Kenny Drew (pi), Donald Byrd (tp), Wilbur Ware (bs), G.T. Hogan (dr)

A1. This Is New

A2. Carol

A3. It's You Or No One

B1. You're My Thrill

B2. Little T

B3. Paul's Pal

B4. Why Do I Love You

mp3/320kbps

Johnny Griffin - Grab This!

"Johnny Griffin is surely one of the more adventurous, as well as one of the most stimulating, musicians on the current jazz scene. So, although there have been tenor-and-organ albums aplenty before this, it's a likely bet (and, as it turns out, it's a winning one) that Johnny's first such effort would be something much more than a routine example of this sort of thing.

"To be 'adventurous', of course, one doesn't have to be a dabble in strange, guaranteed-far-out sounds and chord patterns. Griffin, on the contrary, stands pretty firmly in the blues-rooted middle ground of today's music. But he is far past the stage of merely turning out a series of indistinguishable, interchangable 'blowing' dates. He has, rather, turned his attention during the past couple of years to a wide variety of unconventional but also ungimmicky musical offerings - a with-strings album of songs associated with Billie Holiday ('White Gardenia'); the first merging of soul-music with a big band sound ('The Big Soul Band'); an unusual group of originals scored for a background that featured two basses and French horn ('Change of Pace'); and updating of folk songs ('The Kerry Dancers').

"Much the same spirit of soundly-constructed originality is evidence on this LP. There is plenty of the deep-eyed earthiness, the excitement and the blues-drenched atmosphere that the instrumentation here would lead you to expect. What is missing is the honking and wheezing and endless riffing so often found on recordings of this type, the seeming inability to play anything except a 12-bar blues with a back-beat - all the things that make so many such dates sound several degrees raunchier and even more unbuttoned that honest rhythm and blues. In short, Griffin has avoided the nonsense, the corn, and the apparent illiteracy, leaving us with the clean-limbed structure of a swinging, bluesy, emotional and musically valid album.

"It may be of important that, in selecting his accompanying personnel, Johnny moved far afield from the usual Eastern stamping grounds. As it happened, he was to be finishing a job in San Francisco at a time when Riverside A&R chief Orrin Keepnews was also in California. Having set their plans in advance, the two made a swift trip to Los Angeles. Their object: to team Griff with some of the very funky talent that has come along in recent years to destroy the former image of 'West Coast jazz' as meaning only the ultra-cool and rather bloodless music of the late 1950s. Aided by a probably unprecedented amount of cooperation from another record company (Dick Bock of Pacific Jazz made available not only two of his exclusive artists and his recording studio, but also his own services as an engineer!), they spent one afternoon in letting Johnny get the feel of exactly what the other musicians were into, and a second in recording a remarkably happy and, right from the start, relaxed date. A couple of standards ('These Foolish Things' for ballad tempo, and one of Ellington's best to stretch out on); a new tune by organist Paul Bryant with a full quota of 'church' in it; one previously-recorded Griffin number ('63rd Street Theme', which refers to his Chicago origins) and two brand-new ones - and there it was.

"Despite never before having been recorded in exactly this context, Griffin comes quite naturally to this or any other kind of blues feeling. Beginning his career with Lionel Hampton just after graduating from Chicago high school, he then spent some time with trumpeter Joe Morris in what was basically a rhythm-and-blues band, although it had to be an unusual one, since the lineup also included Elmo Hope on piano and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Later training grounds included groups headed by such deep-rooted giants as Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey. From 1960 to '62, Johnny co-led a quintet in which his horn was effectively blended and contrasted with the heavier tenor sound of Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis. (Several albums by this widely successful and excitingly booting group can be heard on the affiliated Jazzland label.)

"Both Paul Bryant and guitarist Joe Pass are young men with bright-looking futures. Bryant was teamed for a while with saxophonist Curtis Amy and has since worked on the West Coast with groups of his own (Doug Sides is his regular drummer); he demonstrates here a more versatiles touch than that of the more frequently encountered nothing-but-the-blues organist, but with a full measure of the right kind of soul. His opening solo on 'Grab This!' proves from the start that Paul's groove is strictly topsoil (which, according to my dictionary, is the richest and darkest kind of earth). Pass hasn't recorded much as yet, but is being carefully brought along by his several strong West Coast enthusiasts. After working with him here, Griffin was insistent in announcing that Pass is ready! Bassist Jimmy Bond, originally from Philadelphia, has for some years been indispensable to a great many Los Angeles dates.

"'Grab This!', as an album title, might sound a bit like hard-sell advertising copy. But once you listen, chances are you'll agree that it's nothing more than good advice!" (Peter Drew. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Joe Pass (gt), Paul Bryant (og), Jimmy Bond (bs), Doug Sides (dr)

A1. Grab This!

A2. 63rd Street Theme

A3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore

B1. Offering Time

B2. These Foolish Things

B3. Cherry Float

mp3/320kbps

Johnny Griffin - Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me

"Recently, releases from tenor saxophone Johnny Griffin have begun to be increasingly more impressive. The reasons, easier to hear than to define, are apparent on this latest Griffin album, which is the most successful and consistently interesting of his that I have heard.

"Not that he has changed his style; he hasn't. As a fascinating interview with him in June 1963 issue of 'Jazz' indicated, Griffin is one of the few players not stylistically overhauled during a stay with Thelonious Monk, and is somewhat proud of the fact. But the interview was held by a Frenchman, and since the French tend to take our musicians as seriously as we take their critics, Griffin was given more of a chance to expound on his theories than usual. 'People should try to feel jazz more', he said, speaking of those who 'tried to listen to jazz in a too analytical state of mind instead of with the heart'. He also deplored 'the new thing', saying, 'Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I have heard too much good music - with beautiful tone, good intonation [...] too much. I guess jazz is very personal.' And most significant, in terms of this album, Griffin said, 'Nothing is happening in the States. I can't go out and listen to jazz anymore. Well, except Dizzy on a good night.'

I would not necessarily agree with Griffin's assessment of the scene, but his singling out of Gillespie for praise has more than casual reverence. In recent years, Gillespie has become a gifted editor. If he chooses to play only three or four notes on a given measure, we know that those few notes have been selected as most telling from among the torrent he -might- have played, for we have heard him do it. Those few notes leave a powerful impression of strength in reserve, as of a great miler laying back, an effect which, to use an example among vocalists, Peggy Lee has made into a coy cliché.

"Similarly, it is not longer necessary for Griffin to prove how many notes he can play, or how fast. It is possible that he did not feel it proper to exercise this sort of blue-pencil privilege on himself during his partnership with Eddie Davis, for the power of that group lay in the competition between the two tenors, but on his own he, too, has developed into an excellent self-editor.

"The most striking instance of the quality I am attempting to pinpoint occurs in Griffin's light and lyrical solo on Quincy Jones's 'The Midnight Sun will Never Set'. It is the kind of solo that one would ordinarily associate more with Stan Getz than with Griffin - that delicate, nostalgic filigree - but there is also an easeful suggestion of the kind of fullness and power that Getz seldom achieves. And it is achieved with admirable economy. Perhaps Griffin did learn from Monk, after all - what -not- to play.

"To say that an album does not attempt to prove anything is actually a rather sneaky cliché, by use of which the annotator or reviewer attempts to condemn other kinds of music by implication. Despite Griffin's unusually outspoken remarks in France, it would be unfair to him to emphasize such statements here, for on the whole Johnny tries to live in sort of playful, mocking peace with his fellows, and has survived in a ruthless business with a notable lack of enemies. Nevertheless, his pretensions on this album have been limited to the selections of good tunes from diverse sources, the writing of a few original lines, the choosing of good, compatible musicians and a congenial place to record, and playing as well as he can.

"The compatible place to record was Tsubo, a California coffeehouse which had served just the night before as the site for a West Montgomery album, 'Full House' (Riverside 343), on which Griffin was featured. The audience and Wes are missing from the present effort, but in their place are the rest of the Montgomery borthers: vibraphonist and pianist Buddy, and bassist Monk. Completing the contingent is one of the most ubiquitous of the post-bop recording drummers, Arthur Taylor.

"Two of the numbers are written by Griffin: 'Heads Up' (with its simultaneous suggestion of 'Autumn Leaves' and 'Dear Old Stockholm') and a blues line, 'Slow Burn', which is one of Buddy's two vibes tracks (the other being 'Midnight Sun'). The four standards, each of which contains strong potential for improvisation, come from a wide variety of sources. The title track, 'Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me', is, of course, from Ellington. Quincy Jones's 'Midnight Sun' was written for a Scandinavian recording band. 'That's All' is by Bob Haymes, brother of vocalist Dick. 'Wonder Why' is from a Jane Powell musical, a souvenir of the days when she and José Iturbi were elevating the masses for MGM.

"All of these varied elements have gone into making a successful album. But the catalyst is Johnny Griffin. It is gratifying that by seeming to play less, the world's fastest tenor player has finally shown how much consummate taste and musicianship he really has. (Joe Goldberg. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Buddy Montgomery (vb/pi), Monk Montgomery (bs), Art Taylor (dr)

A1. Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me

A2. The Midnight Sun Will Never Set

A3. That's All

B1. Slow Burn

B2. Wonder Why

B3. Heads Up

mp3/320kbps

Johnny Griffin - Way Out

"Although 'Way Out!' was recorded in New York, the album's accent is on tenor titan Johnny Griffin's native Chicago. Windy City bassist Wilbur Ware plays, in the words of  'Down Beat' reviewer Richard Hadlock, 'uncommonly creative solos', and fine of the six selections are from the pens of Chicagoans. Griffin, producer Orrin Keepnews notes, 'puts across the full impact of his intricacy and dexterity of ideas and of fingering here without having to resort to blazing tempos. But just to show what he can do way up there, he takes on that durable old warhorse, 'Cherokee', for a fresh and dazzling display of fireworks.'" (From the liner notes to the 1994 OJC reissue.)

Performers: Johnny Griffin (t-sx), Kenny Drew (pi), Wilbur Ware (bs), Philly Joe Jones (dr)

A1. Where's Your Overcoat, Boy?

A2. Hot Sausage

A3. Sunny Monday

B1. Cherokee

B2. Teri's Tune

B3. Little John

mp3/320kbps

Bill Evans - Explorations

"Explorations was recorded at a point when Evans was still dividing time between his own band and various sessions for others. But what sessions: through the winter of ’60-’61, he was called on to contribute to now classic albums like 'The Great Kai & J.J.' and 'The Kai Winding Trombone Choir', and Oliver Nelson’s groundbreaking exercise in substitute harmony, 'Blues and The Abstract Truth'—all three for Creed Taylor’s Impulse Records. For Riverside, Evans’s home label, he appeared on Cannonball Adderley’s 'Know What I Mean?'—the pianist’s 'moody delicacy' a focal point on a reunion of two members of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue sextet that, on the title track, revisited modal territory.

"Though Evans underplayed his own flexibility ('I think it was a good thing I didn’t have a great aptitude for mimicry [...] because I had to build my own musical style,' he commented in 1960), he proved his ability to step outside his own style and ably handle a wide, musical range—especially on the Johnson-Winding album. But when it came to his own group, Evans’s sound and approach was his own by '61. His piano style had fully matured, as had the interplay of the trio. The road had helped. Evans had kept up a steady flow of work in and outside of New York City through the previous year. Upon entering Bell Sound’s studio on February 2, 1961, producer Orrin Keepnews immediately noted the three had 'made giant strides towards the goal of becoming a three-voice unit rather than a piano player and his accompanists [...] [Bill’s] interweaving with Scotty and the freedom this truly unusual bassist was afforded were very much up front.'

"Despite a couple of troublesome issues—a simmering argument between Evans and LaFaro, a lingering headache bothering Evans—the date went smoothly. The choice of material was typical of the pianist. He liked to balance old and new, with an 'emphasis on the reworking of standard tunes,' Keepnews recalls.

"Evans revived a few ballads that many might have dismissed as overplayed or trite—'How Deep Is the Ocean?,' 'Sweet and Lovely'—revealing new harmonic and emotional possibilities in their oft-played themes. He favored vocal numbers popular during his teens and twenties—like 'The Boy Next Door' and 'Beautiful Love'—and introduced a melody not yet part of the modern jazz canon: 'Haunted Heart.' He also turned to tunes from his personal circle, including Earl Zindars’s 'Elsa' (which he also brought to Adderley’s 'Know What I Mean?' project), Miles Davis’s 'Nardis' (originally recorded on Adderley’s Riverside debut in 1958), and John Carisi’s blues number 'Israel' (covered by Davis’s legendary 'Birth of the Cool' ensemble in 1949.)

"Looking back, Keepnews marvels at 'the relaxed pace that predominates here. 'The performances do, as a whole, share a laid-back energy, yet closer inspection reveals the approach to tempo to be subtly varied, often within the same performance. Energy rises and ebbs throughout. Motian crackles and with the deliberative feel of a painter’s strokes, defines both swing and structure. Evans reveals his growing reliance on, and adept use of block chords. Check out how LaFaro subtly shifts the mood when he steps forward on 'Beautiful Love,' or shares the wheel with Evans on the giddily upbeat 'Sweet and Lovely.' Or his extended solo on 'Nardis,' an exemplar of full-range flexibility on bass—then check his long, legato notes that support Evans’s ensuing statement.

"Other tracks merit repeated listening: The refined bebop flavor and hip contours of 'Israel'; small surprise it was chosen to open the album. The slowly unveiled melody of 'Haunted Heart,' dazzling in its simplicity as Evans feels his way through it, avoiding needless embellishment or sentimentality. The way he jumps into his own inventions right at the start of 'How Deep Is The Ocean?,' getting around to clearly stating the melody at the end.

"Keepnews recalls that 'Evans was full of openly expressed negative feelings during the date,' and admits 'I felt equally negative [...] Although I kept insisting that the music sounded just fine, that was mostly pep talk.' Weeks later, when the two sat down to playback the tracks and plan the album, 'we were equally surprised when later listening proved my words to have been accurate,' Keepnews adds." (Ashley Kahn. From the liner notes to the 2011 OJC reissue.)

Performers: Bill Evans (pi), Scott LaFaro (bs), Paul Motian (dr)

1. Israel
2. Haunted Heart
3. Beautiful Love
4. Elsa
5. Nardis
6. How Deep Is The Ocean
7. I Wish I Knew
8. Sweet And Lovely

flac/16-bit