JUNE 18

                     JOE LOVANO
               Tenor Legacy
        
                 Recording Date: 
                     June 18, 1993

                 Personnel:
                     Don Alias             Per 
                    Joe Lovano           TS
                    Christian McBride   B 
                    Mulgrew Miller       P
                    Lewis Nash            D 
                    Joshua Redman     TS


       

Review by Scott Yanow
Joe Lovano welcomes Joshua Redman to his sextet set (which also features pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash and percussionist Don Alias) and, rather than jam on standards, Joe Lovano composed five new originals, revived three obscurities and only chose to perform two familiar pieces. By varying the styles and instrumentation (for example "Bread and Wine" does not have piano or bass), Lovano has created a set with a great deal of variety and some surprising moments. The two tenors (who have distinctive sounds) work together fine and some chances are taken. This matchup works well.
 

JUNE 17

          HERBIE HANCOCK
            Empyrean Isles

                 Recording Date: 
                     June 17, 1964

                 Personnel:
                     Ron Carter           B
                     Herbie Hancock    P 
                     Freddie Hubbard  CT,FG 
                     Tony Williams      D


    

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
My Point of View and Inventions and Dimensions found Herbie Hancock exploring the fringes of hard bop, working with a big band and a Latin-flavored percussion section, respectively. On Empyrean Isles, he returns to hard bop, but the results are anything but conventional. Working with cornetist Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams — a trio just as young and adventurous as he was — Hancock pushes at the borders of hard bop, finding a brilliantly evocative balance between traditional bop, soul-injected grooves, and experimental, post-modal jazz. Hancock's four original concepts are loosely based on the myths of the Empyrean Isles, and they are designed to push the limits of the band and of hard bop. Even "Cantaloupe Island," well-known for its funky piano riff, takes chances and doesn't just ride the groove. "The Egg," with its minimal melody and extended solo improvisations, is the riskiest number on the record, but it works because each musician spins inventive, challenging solos that defy convention. In comparison, "One Finger Snap" and "Oliloqui Valley" (alternate takes of both tracks are included as bonuses on the CD reissue) adhere to hard bop conventions, but each song finds the quartet vigorously searching for new sonic territory with convincing fire. That passion informs all of Empyrean Isles, a record that officially established Hancock as a major artist in his own right.

JUNE 16

          LOUIS ARMSTRONG
            Hot Five session

                Recording Date:
                     June 15, 1926
                     Chicago

                Personnel:
                     Louie Armstrong  CT,Vo
                     Kid Ory                TB
                     Johnny Dodds       CL
                     Johnny St. Cyr      BJ

Don't Forget To Mess Around (Barbarin, P.; Armstrong, Louis) [master 9729-A] -- OKeh 8343
I'm Gonna Gitcha (Hardin, Lil) [master 9730-A] -- OKeh 8343
Droppin' Shucks (Hardin, Lil) [master 9731-A] -- OKeh 8357
Who'sit (Jones) [master 9732-A] -- OKeh 8357

Review by Scott Yanow
To say that the performances on this CD (plus the ones on volumes two through four) are classic would be an extreme understatement. With these first 16 recordings by Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, the trumpeter revolutionized jazz, changing it from an ensemble-oriented music into an art form dominated by virtuoso soloists. The most powerful jazz improviser of the 1920s, Louis Armstrong's beautiful tone, his sense of swing (which set the stage for the big band era), and his chance-taking yet melodic improvisations amazed his contemporaries and permanently altered the future of jazz. With clarinetist Johnny Dodds (the pacesetter on his instrument), trombonist Kid Ory, pianist Lil Armstrong, and banjoist Johnny St. Cyr all making strong contributions, the music is consistently memorable and innovative.

JUNE 15

                       SUN RA

            Gods on Safari

            The Cellar Cafe, NYC
                  June 15, 1964

             Personnel:
                  Sun Ra                  P,CS
                  Al Evans               TP,FG
                  Chris Capers         TP
                  Teddy Nance         TB
                  Bernard Pettaway  TB
                  Robert Northern     FH
                  Marshall Allen        AS,FL
                  Pharoah Sanders    T
                  Danny Davis            AS,FG

Robert Cummings BCL
Pat Patrick           BS
Black Harold         FL
Alan Silva              B
Clifford Jarvis       D
Art Jenkins - space voice

LINK RETIRED

Wikipedia
Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold is a jazz album by Sun Ra, recorded live in 1964, but not released until 1976, on Ra and Alton Abraham's El Saturn label. The record documents the earliest known recorded performance of "The Shadow World" (here reverse-named as "The World Shadow"), a complex structured piece which was to feature on several of Ra's better known records of subsequent years, notably The Magic City.

It is an unusual item in the Ra discography, because tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders replaces John Gilmore, a mainstay of the Arkestra for most of its existence; at the time, he was working in other contexts, with the pianists Paul Bley and Andrew Hill, and drummer Art Blakey.[1] Before releasing the recording, Sun Ra said "It should be very interesting to the world to show what the pre-Coltrane Pharoah Sanders was like" [2]  Also featured is the obscure flautist, Black Harold (Harold Murray) [3], who takes a solo, vocalising through his flute, Rashaan Roland Kirk-style, on 'The Voice of Pan' (continuing into 'Dawn over Israel.')

Despite being Sanders' only recording with Sun Ra, he is not a major presence, taking only one solo on the first track. Ra himself plays several short piano solos and introductions. Alan Silva also has a brief bass solo, and alto saxophonist Marshall Allen provides his customary fireworks. The music is mostly in the experimental, free-jazz mould, and though not quite as radical and challenging as 'The Magic City', it is mostly dense and uncompromising (though that is not to say there is no variety - there are plenty of quiet interludes as well).

The recording is criticised by Pierro Scaruffi, who writes: "[During the 60s, Ra's] albums became more irrational and experimental. Strange Strings (1966)...was still accessible compared with Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold (June 1964), released in 1976, whose The Voice of Pan and Dawn Over Israel were childish orgies of random sounds."[4] Sean Westergaard's review on allmusic.com similarly describes it as "more of a curio than a great listening experinece, and probably best left for the Ra and Pharoah Sanders completists." [5]

JUNE 14

             WAYNE SHORTER
                   Etcetera
               
                   Recording Date:
                       June 14, 1965

                   Personnel:
                      Joe Chambers     D 
                      Herbie Hancock   P 
                      Cecil McBee        B 
                      Wayne Shorter    TS
 







LINK RETIRED

Review by Stacia Proefrock
Recorded in 1965 but not released until 1980, Et Cetera holds its own against the flurry of albums Wayne Shorter released during the mid-'60s, a time when he was at the peak of his powers. It is hard to imagine why Blue Note might have chosen to shelve the album, as it shows Shorter in a very favorable light with an incredibly responsive rhythm section performing four of his originals and a cover of Gil Evans' "Barracudas." The low-key nature of the album as a whole, especially the title track, might have contributed to Blue Note's lack of attention, but there are definitely gems here, especially the closing track, "Indian Song." At times the rest of the album seems like a warm-up for that amazing tune, where Shorter swirls around in a hypnotizing dance with Herbie Hancock's piano, grounded by the nocturnal bass of Cecil McBee and the airy structure of Joe Chambers' drumming. The short, repetitive themes and passionate, soulful playing echo John Coltrane, but this quartet has its own flavor, and the perfect, intricate web they weave here helps pull the whole session up to a higher level.
 

JUNE 13

                       ART BLAKEY

          Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

 
                Recording Date:
                    June 13, 1961 tk 3,5
                    June 14, 1961 tk 1,2,4,6
 
                Personnel:
                     Art Blakey              D
                     Curtis Fuller           TB 
                     Jymie Merritt         B
                     Lee Morgan            TP 
                     Wayne Shorter       TS
                     Robert H. Timmons P  

LINK RETIRED

Review by Steven McDonald
An absolutely wonderful 1961 set from Blakey and company, who demonstrate here how to be note-perfect without leeching away the emotion of a performance. Aside from Blakey's divine drum work, the standouts include Jaymie Merritt's trippy bass fingerwork, and Wayne Shorter blowing his heart out on tenor sax. Beautifully remastered, well worth having in this edition.
 

JUNE 12

                   SONNY ROLLINS
               The Sound of Sonny
          
                    Recording Date: 
                       June 11-12, 1957 tk 1-7
                       June 19, 1957 tk 8-10


                    Personnel:
                         Sonny Rollins    TS 
                         Percy Heath      B
                         Sonny Clark       P
                         Bob Cranshaw    B
                         Roy Haynes        D
                         Paul Chambers   B tk 8-10



 LINK RETIRED

Review by Lindsay Planer
A new phase in Sonny Rollins' career began in 1957. He started what was at the time an almost blasphemous trend of recording for a number of different labels. His pioneering spirit yielded a few genre-defining albums, including this disc. His performances were also at a peak during 1957 as Down Beat magazine proclaimed him the Critics' Poll winner under the category of "New Star" of the tenor saxophone. This newfound freedom can be heard throughout the innovations on The Sound of Sonny. Not only are Rollins' fluid solos reaching newly obtained zeniths of melodic brilliance, but he has also begun experimenting with alterations in the personnel from tune to tune. Most evident on this platter is "The Last Time I Saw Paris" — which is piano-less — and most stunning of all is Rollins' unaccompanied tenor solo performance on "It Could Happen to You." Indeed, this rendering of the Jimmy Van Heusen standard is the highlight of the disc. That isn't to say that the interaction between Sonny Clark (piano), Roy Haynes (drums), and bassists Percy Heath and Paul Chambers — who is featured on "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "What Is There to Say" — is not top-shelf. Arguably, it is Rollins and Heath — the latter, incidentally, makes his East Coast debut on this album — who set the ambience for The Sound of Sonny. There is an instinctually pervasive nature as they weave into and back out of each others' melody lines, only to emerge with a solo that liberates the structure of the mostly pop standards. This is a key component in understanding the multiplicities beginning to surface in Rollins' highly underappreciated smooth bop style.