FEBRUARY 12

                   KENNY DORHAM

                 Jazz Contemporary

                   Recording Date:
                       February 11, 1960 tk 3,7,8,10

                       February 12, 1960  tk 1,4,5,6,9

                   Personnel:
                      Charles Davis    BS
                      Kenny Dorham   TP
                      Buddy Enlow     D
                      Jimmy Garrison B [2/11]
                      Steve Kuhn     P
                      Butch Warren   B [2/12]

                                                                                                    LINK Retired

Review by Scott Yanow

Originally on the Time label, this LP features the excellent (but always underrated) trumpeter Kenny Dorham heading a quintet that also includes baritonist Charles Davis, pianist Steve Kuhn, either Jimmy Garrison or Butch Warren on bass, and drummer Buddy Enlow. The results are not quite essential but everyone plays up to par, performing three of Dorham's originals plus "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Monk's Mood," and "This Love of Mine." It's fine hard bop, the modern mainstream music of the period.

FEBRUARY 11

                     SONNY ROLLINS
                      Freedom Suite

                    Recording Date: 
                         February 11, 1958  tk 2-6
                         March 7, 1958        tk 1

                    Personnel:
                         Oscar Pettiford    B 
                         Max Roach           D 
                         Sonny Rollins        TS 

                     LINK Retired

Review by Scott Yanow

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins' last Riverside album was reissued on this Original Jazz Classics CD. Jamming in a pianoless trio with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Max Roach, Rollins is very creative, stretching out on his lengthy "Freedom Suite," clearly enjoying investigating the obscure Noel Coward melody "Someday I'll Find You," turning the show tune "Till There Was You" into jazz, and finding beauty in "Shadow Waltz" and "Will You Still Be Mine?" A near masterpiece.

FEBRUARY 10

 

               ORNETTE COLEMAN

                  Something Else!

                Recording Date:
                    February 10, 1958  tk 1-3
                    February 22, 1958  tk 4-6
                    March 24, 1958      tk 7-9

               Personnel:

                   Don Cherry           CT
                   Ornette Coleman   AS
                   Walter Norris        P
                   Don Payne            B
                   Billy Higgins          D

                 LINK Retired

Review by Thom Jurek
This 1958 debut recording by the Ornette Coleman Quintet, which featured Coleman on his trademark white plastic alto, Don Cherry on trumpet, Billy Higgins on drums, Walter Norris on piano, and Don Payne on bass, shook up the jazz world — particularly those musicians and critics who had entered the hard bop era with such verve and were busy using the blues as a way of creating vast solo spaces inside tight and short melody lines. Something Else!!!! is anathema to that entire idea, and must have sounded like it came from outer space at the time. First, Coleman's interest was in pitch, not "being in tune." His use of pitch could take him all over — and outside of — a composition, as it does on "Invisible," which begins in D flat. The intervals are standard, but the melodic component of the tune — despite its hard bop tempo — is, for the most part, free. But what is most compelling is evident in abundance here and on the next two tunes, "The Blessing" and "Jayne": a revitalization of the blues as it expressed itself in jazz. Coleman refurbished the blues framework, threaded it through his jazz without getting rid of its folk-like, simplistic milieu. In other words, the groove Coleman was getting here was a people's groove that only confounded intellectuals at the time. Coleman restored blues to their "classic" beginnings in African music and unhooked their harmonies. Whether the key was D flat, A, G, whatever, Coleman revisited the 17- and 25-bar blues. There are normal signatures, however, such as "Chippie" in F and in eight-bar form, and "The Disguise" is in D, but in a strange 13-bar form where the first and the last change places, altering the talking-like voice inherent in the melodic line. But the most important thing about Something Else! was that, in its angular, almost totally oppositional way, it swung and still does; like a finger-poppin' daddy on a Saturday night, this record swings from the rafters of the human heart with the most unusually gifted, emotional, and lyrical line since Bill Evans first hit the scene.

FEBRUARY 9

                    LARRY YOUNG

               Heaven on Earth

                Recording Date:

                     February 9, 1968

            
                Personnel: 

                     Byard Lancaster   AS
                     Herbert Morngan  TS
                     George Benson    G
                     Larry Young         ORG
                     Edward Gladden   D

                 Featured track on

                     Blue Note Rare Grooves

                  LINK Retired

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Balancing previously unreleased tracks with obscure gems

 from out-of-print albums, Blue Note Rare Grooves is an excellent collection of extremely funky soul-jazz. All of the tracks were recorded between 1967 and 1971, with the majority dating between 1968 and 1969. Though some of the tracks on the disc have been featured on other Blue Note collections, none of the albums they were pulled from are easily available, which makes Blue Note Rare Grooves all the more valuable. A good cross-section of artists — featuring John Patton, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Larry Young, Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Donald Byrd, Candido, Reuben Wilson, and several others — are included and every single track has a raw, intoxicating groove. Blue Note Rare Grooves may not be for jazz purists, but for listeners looking for a first-rate jazz-funk sampler, it's essential.

FEBRUARY 8

                                                                                                             LESTER YOUNG

         Laughin' to Keep from Cryin'

                   Recording Date:
                       February 8, 1958

                        Personnel:
                       George Duvivier         B 
                       Harry "Sweets" Edison TP 
                       Roy Eldridge              TP 
                       Herb Ellis                   G 
                       Hank Jones                 P 
                       Mickey Sheen             D 
                       Lester Young              TS, CL 

                   LINK Retired

Review by Scott Yanow  

One of tenor-saxophonist Lester Young's final studio sessions (he died a year later), this date apparently had a lot of difficulties but the recorded results are excellent. Prez was joined by two great swing trumpeters (Roy Eldridge and Harry "Sweets" Edison) and a fine rhythm section for two standards, two originals and the ballad "Gypsy in My Soul." Young takes rare clarinet solos on two of the selections with his emotional statement on "They Can't Take That Away from Me" being one of the highpoints of his career.

FEBRUARY 7

                   HANK MOBLEY

                    Soul Station

                      Recording Date:
                          February 7, 1960

                      Personnel:
                          Art Blakey         D 
                          Paul Chambers   B 
                          Wynton Kelly     P 
                          Hank Mobley      TS

                        LINK Retired

Review by Stacia Proefrock
Often overlooked, perhaps because he wasn't a great innovator in jazz but merely a stellar performer, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was at the peak of his powers on Soul Station. Recorded with a superstar quartet including Art Blakey on drums, Paul Chambers on bass, and Wynton Kelly on piano, it was the first album since Mobley's 1955 debut to feature him as a leader without any other accompanying horns. The clean, uncomplicated sound that resulted from that grouping helps make it the best among his albums and a peak moment during a particularly strong period in his career. Mobley has no problem running the show here, and he does it without being flashy or burying the strong work of his sidemen. The solidness of his technique means that he can handle material that is occasionally rhythmically intricate, while still maintaining the kind of easy roundness and warmth displayed by the best players of the swing era. Two carefully chosen standards, "Remember" and "If I Should Lose You," help to reinforce that impression by casting an eye back to the classic jazz era. They bookend four Mobley originals that, in contrast, reflect the best of small-group composition with their lightness and tight dynamics. Overall, this is a stellar set from one of the more underrated musicians of the bop era.

FEBRUARY 6

                                                                                                 CANNONBALL ADDERLEY

             Sophisticated Swing

             Recording Date:
                  February 6, 1957 tk 2,4,5,9

                  February 8, 1957 tk 6

                  February 11, 1957 tk 1,3,7,8

             Personnel:
                 Cannonball Adderley  AS
                 Nat Adderley            CT
                 Jimmy Cobb             D
                 Sam Jones                B
                 Junior Mance            P

             LINK Retired

 

Wikipedia: Sophisticated Swing is the fifth album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his fourth released on the EmArcy label, featuring performances with Nat Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb.[1] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and states "The music is quite bop-oriented, bluesy but not as soulful as it would be when Cannonball put together a new group in 1959".