Dexter Gordon - Homecoming

Live At The Village Vanguard 

"Homecoming", featuring the famous American tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, was recorded live at the famed New York jazz venue the Village Vanguard over the course of two evenings, December 11 and 12, 1976. The original release was a double album. Dexter had just signed with Columbia, a major American record label and this recording coincided with his return to America after over a dozen years in Europe. Dexter had supporting him the Woody Shaw-Louis Hayes group, a group he had already spent some time working with. The personnel consisted of Woody Shaw on trumpet and flugelhorn, Ronnie Matthews on pano, Stafford James on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. This was no slap-dash affair; as indicated earlier Dexter had already spent some time working with the supporting musicians, and prior to the week long engagement at the Village Vanguard (during which this album was recorded), rehearsals began. The result was an exhilarating performance, deeply steeped in the "bop" tradition of jazz. Of the eight tracks on the records (each side has two tracks), two are Dexter's compositions, two are Woody's compositions, and one was written by the pianist Ronnie Matthews. The other tracks were well known compositions suited to extended performances. The band drives hard behind the soloists, and everyone seems to recognize this is an important event (no coasting allowed). Dexter is in fine form, and seems ecstatic to be back home. According to the notes, he received a rapturous welcome as well. Good, solid, live jazz played with passion and verve.     

Lennie Tristano

New York Improvisations

 

"Jazz is not a style. To me, jazz is a feeling" - Lennie Tristano

New York Improvisations is not the product of a club date or a studio session. Rather, the album is a series of home recordings made by Lennie in his home studio over the two year period of 1955 and 56. The songs on the record had not been previously released, and so with the technical assistance of Lenny Popkin (preparation of the master) and Don Pulse (technical assistant, Columbia Recording Studio), the original tapes of Lennie Tristano playing with bassist Peter Ind and drummer Tom Weyburn were for the first time made available to the general public. The record itself is an Elektra Musician Jazz Masters Edition, released in 1983 (about 28 years after the tapes themselves were made). The listener needs to be reminded that these recordings were made by Lennie for personal consumption, and probably as teaching aids, as much of is career was focused on teaching. Therefore they don't have the polish one would expect from the studio, with abrupt endings and fades. Nevertheless, they are a valuable record of one of jazz music's most enigmatic artists.      

 

The Stan Getz Quartet 

Pure Getz

"Pure Getz" is (by my admittedly dubious counting skills) the 90th recording by Stan as either a leader or co-leader. This is by any standard an incredible legacy, and there were more to come. Stan made this recording around the time he turned 55. Although older, none of his skills had diminished; in fact the 1980's would be a decade during which some of his best recordings would be made. 

"Pure Getz" was recorded in January and February of 1982. The rythym section was composed of Jim McNeely (piano), Marc Johnson (bass), and either Victor Lewis or Billy Hart on drums. McNeely, Johnson and Lewis would go on to record several more times with Stan, both live and in the studio. These were all younger men than Stan, and so would have grown up being exposed to his earlier recordings. There is certainly no lack of empathy with the musicians; everyone seems very in tune with the arrangements and the song structures. This is a first rate band that plays with both verve and delicacy, using the appropriate style depending on the number. Marc Johnson, who had been part of the Bill Evan's trio prior to this album, has a tremendous tone and solos with complete aplomb. Stan's tone is magnificent throughout as he moves between ballads, regular tempos and real burners. No hesitation whatsoever in recommending this excellent album.  

The Hod O'Brien Trio - Fine and Dandy 

Hod O'Brien was an American jazz pianist born in Chicago in 1936. His family moved to Connecticut and while there he studied at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville. From there he moved onto Oberlin College and The Manhattan School of Music from 1954 to 1957. According to the excellent and thorough liner notes contained in "Fine and Dandy" (compiled by Alun Morgan), "Throughout the late Fifties and early Sixties Hod led small groups of his own, worked in Oscar Pettiford's sextet and became house pianist at the Toten Villa on Staten Island, a long-running gig under under bassist Teddy Kotick's leadership which gave him plenty of opportunities to play with such soloists as Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer and Stan Getz." Hod started recording for the Fresh Sound label in 1998 after meeting with producer Dick Bank. The album being reviewed here was his second effort with Fresh Sounds. On this session, Hod is accompanied by bassist Tom Warrington and drummer Paul Kreibich, two well known and very experienced jazz musicians located on the West Coast of the US. The album itself was recorded over two days (December 19 - 20, 2000) at Entourage Studios in Hollywood. The selection of songs was taken with due care and attention, with all being well regarded compositions by a number of noted composers such as Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan and Todd Dameron. The liner notes, which are comprised of an eight page booklet, are exceptionally detailed and very thorough, and deserve mention. The music itself is outstanding, with two of my favourite tracks being "The Squirrel", a blues written by Todd Dameron and "I Waited For You", written by Bob Russell and Dizzy Gillespie. This was one of five cd's I found at a thrift store that were being sold for a dollar each. I hope to review each one. I have already reviewed "So In Love" by Gene DiNovi, and this is my second review.  

      

Gene DiNovi - So In Love

 So In Love - Gene DiNovi

"So In Love" is a compact disc recorded on the Marshmallow label from Japan featuring the highly regarded pianist Gene DiNovi. Gene has been a mainstay on the Canadian jazz scene for many years, after moving to Toronto in the early 1970's. This was a trio album, with two other well known Canadian jazzers helping out. Neil Swainson provides the bottom end on double bass, and Terry Clarke brings his distinctive talents as a drummer to the session. According to the liner notes, (at least the ones in English, the album was manufactured and released in Japan so most of the notes are in Japanese), Gene was a favourite of Mitsuo Johfu, owner of the Marshmallow label and "a jazz enthusiast of impeccable taste and with fine feeling for the music". Gene and Mitsuo worked together collaboratively, with Mitsuo as producer, and released three CD's during the 1990's. A decision was made to record another, and "So In Love" was recorded at Lydian Sound Studio in Richmond Hill Ontario on March 21 & 22, 2001.  This recording was also produced by Mitsuo. The CD has 11 tracks in total with most being standards and Gene contributing three original compositions. Gene mentions in the liner notes that two successive days of recording - 12 hours of concentrated music-making "was very challenging, but very satisfying musically".  Gene also said that while he worked out a few things ahead of time with Neil, otherwise it was straight ahead, and that with "musicians of this calibre, you don't need too much rehearsal. I had the benefit of a 7 foot Yamaha Grand (piano) and a very good recording engineer, so conditions could not have been better". 

My impressions of the recording after listening to it for start to finish were uniformly positive. The piano sound is outstanding, having been brilliantly captured during the recording. The bass and drums mixed perfectly, providing all of the required support, while at the same time complimenting Gene's playing. I particularly enjoyed the trio's rendition of "All Or Nothing At All". 

The CD was released in 2001. The actual packaging is that of a hard cover book with tray inside to hold the disc, and the liner notes attached as pages. the front has a black and white photo of an attractive young lady and the back has a colour photo of Gene, along with information about the recording itself. I actually found this CD along with four others at a thrift store where I paid one dollar each (!) for them. I have no hesitation in recommending this excellent recording.  

 Montreux Alexander

The Monty Alexander Trio Live at the Montreux Festival

The Monty Alexander Trio Live at the Montreux Festival was recorded on June 10, 1976. This particular version is a special limited edition (1000 units) pressed and released for Record Store Day 2024, remastered from the original tapes. The release is on the MPS label (the label the original recording was released on) and the record is on 180 gram vinyl. The reissue was overseen by Dirk Sommer, noted German audio journalist and record producer, with the assistance of master engineer Christoph Stickel. It is apparent a great deal of care and attention went into this project after listening to the record. The sound is outstanding, particularly concerning the piano. The album (mint green coloured vinyl) comes with an insert containing comments from Monty himself, Stefan Franzen and Dirk Sommer. 

The trio that day in July performed at that time was comprised of Monty Alexander (piano), John Clayton (double bass) and Jeff Hamilton (drums). Monty describes the recording as "A magical moment." The trio had been working together for a while (most recently in London, England) and the musical communication is readily apparent. The dynamics, the tightness and the virtuosity is displayed throughout the recording. There is a great deal of detail on the back of the album jacket itself, as well as in the liner notes, about the artists, the song selection for the concert and the reissue. Of the six tracks (all of which are amazing), I really enjoyed "Work Song" and "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" the best. There was no shortage of enthusiasm and energy that day back at the Montreux Festival almost 50 years ago. I'm very happy it is now available in the best vinyl format available. 

 Quiet Kenny - Kenny Dorham

McKinley (Kenny) Howard Dorham was born on August 30, 1924. He achieved fame as a trumpet player and composer during the 1950's and 1960's performing with other musicians and also as a band leader. While he usually performed in a quintet or sextet with other reed or brass players, in this case he led a quartet with himself as a the lead instrument. He had a stellar rhythm section supporting him with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. The album was recorded on November 13, 1959 (a Friday, as it turns out) at Rudy Van Gelder's studio and was produced by Esmond Edwards. It was released on the New Jazz label, a subsidiary of Prestige Records. 

The album was received warmly, and has gone on to be very highly regarded, with the 3rd Edition of the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calling it "a minor masterpiece". There is a Miles Davis influence discernable both in Kenny's sound and the tempos of the songs. There are no bebop style "burners", rather there is an emphasis on melody and sound, with the supporting cast providing Kenny with lots of room to explore. His sound is rich and pure with definition in his tone. Tommy Flanagan gets an opportunity to solo on most of the songs, with Paul Chambers also getting a few chances to step out and show what an outstanding bassist he was. Art Taylor's drums are well recorded as well. Rudy Van Gelder was one of the best recording engineers when it came jazz, and he built his own studio in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey earlier in 1959, prior to the recording of this record. Of the eight tracks on the record, three were originals composed by Kenny, with the other five being well known standards that Kenny personally selected based on his preference. A very good example of the cooler style of jazz that became popular in the lay 1950's and early 1960's.