T.h.u.m.b.s.c.r.e.w. - 'O.u.r.s.' (2018)
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T.h.u.m.b.s.c.r.e.w. - 'T.h.e.i.r.s.' (2018)
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C.h.a.d. T.a.y.l.o.r. - 'C.i.r.c.l.e. D.o.w.n.' (2009)
seriously dope session from some of my favorite players in the game... don't sleep on this... i had to teach myself how to use audacity to bring this rip to your ears... true story.
_DJ Alibi
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A.r.t. F.a.r.m.e.r. - 'T.o. S.w.e.d.e.n. W.i.t.h. L.o.v.e.' (1964)
ever think about art farmer? ART. FARMER. pretty perfect name for a guy who's constantly growing, cultivating, fertilizing + pulling tasty morsel masterpieces out of the deep soil. knowing yr growing appreciation for quartets, especially those fronted by trumpet geniuses like booker, charles + ambrose, i want to share the art farmer quartet: "to sweden with love" - one of the most stellar albums of all time, dedicated to all the swiss misses.
_DJ Grape Ape
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J.o.e. H.e.n.d.e.r.s.o.n. - 'T.e.t.r.a.g.o.n.' (1968)
it's hard to choose just one joe henderson record.
_DJ Galvatron
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S.u.l.l.i.v.a.n. F.o.r.t.n.e.r. - 'A.r.i.a.' (2015)
i want to start by telling you that this album features a cover of a song by fred rogers. yes, mister rogers. so, that fact could lead you to some interesting conclusions about this music. the smooth jazz sax tone on this record could almost lead you to believe that this guy's got kenny g in his band. so, um. what is this record doing on promise and warning, you ask? why has this jazz obsession on the part of this site's curators landed us here, at this record? well. i was introduced to this record via listening to kris davis curating a radio show on wkcr, columbia university's station. simulataneously, i happened to be getting into some feel good types of classic jazz piano trios. this site features postings of records by tommy flanagan, jaki byard and barry harris. those old classics are upbeat and swinging, and this record by this young blood hailing from new orleans is interesting by comparison in that it shows how this tradition is being kept alive. this music is the opposite of edgy. and, that, to me, makes it vastly different than a lot of music that i listen to. that's fine, the same could be said about polka music. what is it that makes this compelling to me at this point in time? well, it's roots in the african american classical cannon makes it interesting, for starters. it is all at once very virtuosic and totally unpretentious. it's not showy, but the energy of the music is really bright and highly focused and not in any way dull. this all seems to be happening in spite of all the major key melodies and seemingly pat song structures, so that becomes in a way interesting, to see how one can breathe life into this type of fare. i will be interested to revisit this one six months from now. by then i'll be able to tell if i'd simply spent too much time at the perfume counter when i encountered this particular slice of mainstream jazz.
_DJ Scat Cat
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B.a.r.r.y. H.a.r.r.i.s. T.r.i.o. - 'M.a.g.n.i.f.i.c.e.n.t.!' (1969)
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bringing it back to the subgenre of feel-good jazz trios, at the top of my list would be "magnificent!" by barry harris. a detroit peer of flanagan + mentor to many including a yung alice mcleod (pre-coltrane), barry continues to walk the earth, a straight-ahead god among us, dishing out wisdom on music + life to mere mortals. "magnificent!" also features ron carter in prime form + leroy williams keeping the flowers fresh with deep soil. _DJ Galvatron
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W.a.y.n.e. S.h.o.r.t.e.r. - 'E.t. C.e.t.e.r.a.' (1965)
wayne's world has spun off into many different wormholes, and his currently active quartet is its own spaceship hurling through the cosmos. but it's easy to single out "etcetera" since the names speak for themselves + the tunes capture his mysterious essence as a composer. this record always stuns me, just like the first time i heard it on left-of-the-dial radio late at night driving around LA. i had to pull the car over to wait until the DJ named the buckwild 11-min. cut in 5/4 as "indian song," sending me towards the full-length masterpiece while securing my joe chambers fandom for life.
_DJ Grape Ape
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J.a.k.i. B.y.a.r.d. - 'H.e.r.e.'s. J.a.k.i.' (1961)
old school piano trio records such as this fine date started to broaden my horizons to help me realize that upbeat sun dappled music can still be really killing. this type of tradition is continued today with musicians like sullivan fortner, whose debut i will post on this site as well. swing, baby!
_DJ Fancy Dan
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T.o.m.m.y. F.l.a.n.a.g.a.n. - 'G.i.a.n.t. S.t.e.p.s.' (1982)
speaking of piano geniuses, shortly after coltrane recorded his landmark tune giant steps, a tune usually associated with its complicated brainiac theoretical exercise of rapidly changing chords + key centers, jaki byard recorded a version on which he just swings the fuck out of it like he's whistling dixie while strolling in central park. part of the lore surrounding that tune is that, on the original recording, the shit was so complex that tommy flanagan, no slouch himself, couldn't really hang with the then-state-of-the-art changes (which are now standard curriculum). it always bugged him to have his mistakes forever on record, and perhaps it was byard's version that showed flanagan how it could be done. 23 years later, he finally felt ready to take it for his own spin around the park.
ain't no half-steppin',
_DJ Grape Ape
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