My sister, Amy, and her husband came over for dinner a few nights back and they brought a short stack of fresh vinyl – shrink-wrapped, re-releases and some newly released. We listened to all of one, one side of two others and just one track from a fourth. Not every record works as a setting for conversation and isn’t that really what “over for dinner” means? We need a pretext for conversation.
The next morning I asked Howie” if he could send me a photo of the eight records so we could stream them. He sent this video and I made a playlist of the songs. I couldn’t find the compilation, “When the Rain Turns Into Snow” (I like it when some things just aren’t available to stream). We listened in our living room, in the car and in the kitchen while we separated cardamom seeds from their pods for a recipe.
Andrew Hill “Judgement” on the fabled Blue Note label featuring Bobby Hutchinson on vibes, Richard Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. The way Andrew Hill plays piano he could’ve almost done this date himself. He states the melody, goes on flights of fancy while staying fiercely grounded and carries on a dialog with his own counter-rhythmic, melodic lines. The earthy Elvin Jones and Richard Davis on drums and bass are a perfect compliment and they make this release a masterwork.
Coleman Hawkins “and confreres” (Oscar Peterson Trio and Roy Eldridge) is a curious release. Hawkins horn sounds so rich and the natural reverb they used on it makes it a study in late fifties recording techniques but the bass and drums get lost on some tracks. Almost sounds like they were doing overdubbing back then. The song “Cocktails for Two” transports you and your date to one of those small tables in a smokey, late fifties nightclub .
I had never heard of Muriel Grossmann. Her “Breakthrough” lp is dated 2025 but the opening song, “Already Here,” had me convinced this was something I missed back in the modal jazz heyday of spiritual jazz – Alice Coltrane, Joe Henderson and Pharaoh Sanders etc.
Albums like Jackie McLean’s “One Step Beyond” with Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams are the reason students still study jazz at schools like Eastman. I particularly like the expressive, shape-shifting “Ghost Town” where they slowed things down.
Leroy Vinnegar’s “Leroy Walks Again” reminds you that a band is only as good as their bass player. Known as “The Walker,” he leads his quartet through a solid set of really enjoyable songs. I particularly liked “For Carl.”
Another bass player led disc, Emma Dayhuff’s “Innovation & Lineage: The Chicago Project,” is a live recording with Kahil El’Zabar drums, Dee Alexander on vocals and Isaiah Collier on sax and piano. This is right up my alley, a contemporary version of spiritual jazz. I love this record.
Saxophonist Charlie Mariano’s “Mirror” lp could have only been made in 1972, that cusp when jazz went rock and rock went jazz. Tony Levin plays electric bass, Airto Moreira play percussion and Asha Puthil (from Ornette’s “What Reason Could I Give” and “I’ve Waited All My Life”) sings on the title song. Here is a verse from the back of the lp.
MIRROR
Mirror
Of your mind
Wheels and gears
Spinning ’round and ’round Look out for diamonds
You don’t need them
What for?
They can’t help you
Find the rainbow’s end
Open your third eye
You might hear some of these records on Magic Records.
1 Comment
That’s a sweet selection of music for dinner. Wife got me Hutcherson’s Total Eclipse for my birthday. Howard Land on sax on that. Sweet album. If I was made of money I’d get more of his earlier albums.