Jazz Record Buyer's Guide
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Chicago youngsters who dug Oliver, Noone, a Middle Eastern flavor; Flamenco and All Schroeder, piano; Milt Hinton bass; Cliff I . cmu Panama Francis, drums. and Armstrong on the south side. Blues reflect ■ strong Ravel influence. Rating: + Ar + lhe two instrumentalists who seem to Flamenco and Freeloader are both blues, This is a new label stemming from stand out on these sides and whose plating but each is of a different mood and con Grand Award and commandeered bv for is good listening, regardless of the year, ception Sketches is in (i/8. which achieves mer commercial bandleader Enoch I ight. arc Russell and Freeman Otherwise, as a rolling, highly charged effect, while Free There is definite concentration on an effort Thomas Wolfe said, "you can't go home loader is more in the conventional blues to improve sound reproduction, sound again. ’ Even musically. l he jazz excite vein, l he presence of kellv on / rceloader fidelity is achieved with multiple tvpes of ment is gone unless vou coniine your in- mav account partly for the difference be- microphones, custom typing the mikes to terest statistically to a period, certain tween the two. the particular instruments. jazz soloists exclusively. And that is not Miles’ 'playing throughout thc album is Doolev is a well known Dixieland horn too rewarding. poignant, sensitive, and, at times, almost man around New \otk who has bis own the The thing that amazes is that in morose:. his linear concept never falters. band, lhe striking back feature apparent two pictures on the back of the album Coltrane has some interesting solos; his ly is a crack at such bands as the Dukes cover, Condon looks younger in 1959 than angrv solo on Freeloader is in marked con of Dixieland that have made n on sound he did in 1939. I hat preservative he uses trast to his Ivrical romanticism on All Blues. reproduction The Rebels claim lheirs is is sure working. the true Dixieland sound. I he musical mistake on this record is Miles Davis repressible joie <le vivre bubbles forth. the repetition of the tired Dixie tunes g MILES DAVIS AND THE MODERN JAZZ that have been recorded over and over GIANTS— Prestige 7150: The Man I Love (Take 2); Swing Sprint; Round About Midnight Bem sympathetic backdrop toi the horns. from 1920 to date bv the greatest mstru- sha Swing; The .Man I Love (Take ll. mentaliits in the business. Personnel: Tracks 1. 2. 4. 5: Davis, trumpet; Milt Jackson, vibes; Thelonious Monk, piano; a beautiful soul. The most impressive soloist on these Percy Heath, bass Kenny Clarke, drums. Track 3: sides is trombonist McGarity whose horn Davis, trumpet John Coltrane, tenor; RcJ Gar is good to hear again. land. piano: Paul Chambers, bass: Philly Joe The Dixie Rebels Jones, drums. ft THE DIXIE REBELS STRIKE BACK WITH Red Garland TRUE DIXIELAND SOUND—Command RS 33 ■ REI) IN’ BLUESVILLE—Prestige 7157: Het There are feu jazzmen whose creative re 801: When The Saints Go Marching In Saint James Infirmary; Dixieland Bund, Royal Garden I hat’s Your Red Wagon; Trouble in Mind: St. sources are so great that any recorded exam Blues; Tin Roof Blues; Clarinet Marmuuide; Louis Blues. ple of their work is of interest This reissue Hindustan: Basin Street Blues; Panama; That’s Personnel: Red Garland, piano; Sam Joan Aplenty; Fidgety Feet; South Rampart Street baas; Arthur Taylor, drums. of 1954 and 1956 Davis sessions includes at Parade least three »uth men: Milt Jackson I helon- Personnel Big Jeb Dooley trumpet: Lou Mc ious Monk and Davis himself. Garity, trombone: Kenny Davern. clarinet; Gene In this LP, pianist Garland explores I he earlier date (all titles but Midnight), which also produced Bags' Groove, reveals a somewhat uncomfortable Miles, blowing with and against a free-wheeling, but only half-"mpaUietic. group. Davis approach to JAZZ RECORD BUYER’S GUIDE livitv of his pianist is left tattered by the jarring individualism of pianist Monk, For the benefit of jazz record buyers, Down Beat provides a listing of whose playing is not designed to Hatter or jazz LPs rated lour stai s or more din ing the preceding five-issue period. inspire Miles. In spite of all this, enough LPs so rated in this issue will be included in the next listing. memorable moments came from the session Suing Spring. in particular, demonstrates that Davis was reads to lead the wav out of Bill Potts, The ¡azz Soul of Porgy and Bess (United Artists 1032) the cliche-ridden 1 tan-blow-stronger-than- vou arena into which many jazzmen had stampeded bv the mid-50s. Midnight, perfoimed bv the most esthet- Stan Getz, Award II inner Stan Getz (Verve MG V-8296) icallv satisfying of all Davis groups, is a musical cssav on the virtues of lyricism and Ruby Braff, Easy Now (RC\ Victor LSP-1966) horizontal structure, combined with har Isambert-Hendricks Ross, The Swingers (World Pacific 1261) monic insight, a classic performance that Oscai Peterson Trio, The Oscar Peterson Trio at the Concertgebouw should be in anv thoughtful collector's (Verve MG-V8268) library. Bud Shank I am indo Almeida, Holiday in Brazil (World Pacific ST-1018) Mile» Davis KIND OF BLUE—Columbia CI. 1355 So Hiatt Freddie Freeloader; Blue in Green; Fla menco Sketches; All Blues. Personnel: Davis, trumpet: Julian Adderley, alto: John Coltrane. Bill Evans, piano Ray Bryant, Alone with the Blues (New Jazz 82l3:Blues #3) < all tracks except F reeloader I; Wynton Kelly. Kenny Denham, Blue Spring (Riverside RLP 12-297) piano (Track 2); Paul Chambers, bass; James Cobb, drums. Duke Ellington, Ellington /azz Party (Columbia CL 1323) Johnny Hodges, Duke’s in Bed (MG V-8203) This is a remarkable album. Using very Billie Holiday, Billie Holiday (MGM E3764) simple but effective devices. Miles has con |. J Johnson, Blue Trombone (Columbia CL 1303) structed an album of extreme bcautv and Barney Kessel. Some Like It Hot (Contemporary M8565) Lee Konitz, Tranquility (Verve MG V-8281) is a simple one—far from it. What is re Lou McGarity, Some Like ll Hot (Jubilee SDJLP 1108) markable is that the men have done so Seven Ages of Jazz Concert, 7 he Seven Ages of Jazz (Metrojazz 2-E much with the stark, skeletal material 1009) All the <om|>ositions bear the mark of the Impressionists and touches of Kela Sonny Stitt, Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (Verve Bartok. For example So What? is built on MG V-8309) two scales, which sound somewhat like the Buddy Tate, Swinging Like Tate (Felsted FAJ 7001) Hungarian minor, giving the performance The Three Sounds, Bottoms Up (Blue Note 4011) 28 • DOWN BEAT.