Great Jazz on Video and Vinyl
Rather than listening to records last night, I did some random searches through YouTube and found a few really cool clips to share. It’s a fun thing to do, plug in an artist’s name and see what comes up, but before you know it three or four hours could pass by. Anyway, there’s this clip of the Horace Silver Quintet doing Song for My Father. This is nearly 19 minutes, with great long solos by Horace, Bill Hardman and Bennie Maupin. Horace was one creative, brilliant musician and Hardman is a revelation. Interesting how “outside” the playing gets during Maupin’s solo, and how comfortable Horace and the rest of the band are in that style. Here are two more to enjoy. No need to comment from me, they speak for themselves:
John Coltrane and Stan Getz with Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, Hackensack
Thelonious Monk, Don’t Blame Me
I’m sure those of you who explore these things have your own favorites, so please share. I have others as well, but I happened to find these last night and they are fresh on my mind this morning.
Meanwhile, back on eBay:
Lee Morgan, Volume 3, Blue Note 1557. This is an original pressing with the New York 23 address. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $360 range with more than four days left on the auction.
Curtis Fuller, the Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. If the grading is accurate, this looks like a very nice copy. The start price is $1,000 and so far there are no bidders, but I would definitely expect this record to sell, and perhaps set a new high-water mark. This seller has a lot of nice stuff on eBay now, so it’s worth taking a look even if, like me, you have no intention of bidding but just like to watch.
While we’re on Blue Note, here’s one more auction from the list that CeeDee sent me the other day: Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note 4194. This was an original New York USA pressing that was listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It also had the original shrink wrap, which may or may not have influenced the bidding. In either case, the bidding was intense, with 15 bidders and 52 bids pushing the price up to $737.
Great Horace video. Thanks for sharing!
On a related note did Horace have some kind of control over the cover art for his Blue Note albums? For the most part it’s all down hill after “The Stylings of Silver” (which I don’t think is great either), and “The Jody Grind” is just…yikes!
Perhaps it’s just me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry3_wiiH4Pc Everyone in top form.
@ GST
I respectfully disagree, I think Horace Silver album’s show some fantastic art work, even past “The Stylings of Silver.” I like “Further Explorations,” “Blowin’ the Blues Away” is fantastic, and so is “Doin’ the Thing.” The cover of “Song for my Father” is a great homage to his dad and an excellent photo, and “Jody Grind” is up with the times. “You gotta take a little love,” however, that cover is hideous, and whoever did that must have been smokin’ crack (had that been a thing in the late ’60s.)
Artists usually have little creative input over cover design, although in Silver’s case, he was known to have been a little bit more hands on so I wouldn’t be surprised if his views were at least considered.
Slightly off-topic, but I know there are a couple of Bob Gordon fans in here. I’ve been looking for this record a long, long time, and I’ll never see one in this shape ever again, but it’s over my limit, so unless I sell some game used autographed baseball bats, I’m not going to buy it. But for those of you who like Bob Gordon and collect his records, this IS the grail record: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HALL-DANIELS-SEPTET-Playing-10-BLUE-VINYL-1955-EX-LP-Zoot-Sims-Jump-JL-9/352349431920?hash=item5209a9a870:g:wKEAAOSw61haeMSf
I like watching Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKOoxgI_xfQ
@DJ
Some aren’t bad, but none are great (obviously just my opinion). Finger Poppin and Blowing the Blues are the best of the bunch, but I’m not a fan of albums like Songs, Tokyo or Cape Verdean and Doin’ the Thing looks like a lazy version of the classic Blue Note style. Of course what do I know as I actually like Lee Morgan’s Candy cover 😉
Hey Joc, had this one for over 20 years. It’s a swinger ! Hope you get it….Hooray forBob Gordon.
Yeah, I remember Silver saying in an older Blue Note documentary that while most artists didn’t much care about the cover designs of their albums he prided himself on actively busying himself with it, as well as making them promote as many of his previous albums on the back cover as possible.
@GST “Of course what do I know as I actually like Lee Morgan’s Candy cover”
This right here is a major disqualifier LOL