I just listened to Side One of Sonny Rollins, Rollins Plays for Bird, Prestige 7095. The personnel is Newk with Kenny Dorham, Wade Legge, George Morrow and Max Roach. This side features a medley of songs played by Bird and inspired by Bird and was recorded about 18 months after Bird’s death. I’ve always loved this record. It seemed all of the musicians were inspired by the concept of doing an album in Bird’s honor and they all play extremely well.

The other day I was sitting and listening with The Lovely Mrs. JC and I played some sides that are her favorites. “What do you want to listen to?” I asked. Her response, as it often is: “Bill Evans.” Anything in particular? “Waltz for Debby.” Side One, My Foolish Heart, Waltz for Debby, Detour Ahead. Always the same. What can I say, she has good taste. From there I was on my own, with the proviso that it had to be relatively soft and not too intrusive.

I started with Paul Desmond, Glad to Be Unhappy, RCA 3407. This features Jim Hall prominently, along with Gene Wright and Connie Kay, with Gene Cherico taking over for Wright on one track. I did the first side with Glad to Be Unhappy, Poor Butterfly and Stranger in Town and she liked it so much she asked me to play side two, which was A Taste of Honey, Any Other Time, Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo and Angel Eyes. Both sides are equally great. Then I did both sides of Getz/Gilberto, which I can still listen to all day, every day, even after all of these years. In this particular close, mindful listen, I was blown away, again, by Getz’s solo on So Danco Samba. Listen yourself, if you have the record. And, if you don’t you can probably stream it from anywhere. It was as if he had been part of the invention of the Bossa Nova music, he was so expressive and creative and natural with it.

Then I did a couple of vocal albums. Carmen McRae, Bittersweet, Focus 334, Side One, When Sonny Gets Blue; How Did He Look?; Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry; The Meaning of the Blues; If You Could Love Me; Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most. Great album, and probably not one that gets played often. I happened to notice in the liner notes, the great Ralph J. Gleason described her as “the greatest interpreter of ballads and the greatest woman jazz singer of our time.” High, praise, indeed. If you are not that familiar with her work, this album is a great place to start.

Then I got a little less soft and understated and put on a bit of a barn burner, which was La Vern Baker Sings Bessie Smith, Atlantic 1281. This is a real favorite of mine, swinging, funky, bluesy and jazzy. Features a great jazz band with, among others, Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Paul Quinichette and Sahib Shihab. Check it out if you don’t know it. I just did one side, which happened to be Side Two with Empty Bed Blues; There’ll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight; Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out; After You’ve Gone; Young Woman’s Blues; Preaching the Blues. I even pulled out the old guitar and played along, particularly on the blues. I surprised myself by finding the keys pretty easily. Or at least, I think I found the right keys.

I closed the evening with Dexter Gordon, Gettin’ Around, Blue Note 4204, Side One, Manha de Carnaval, Who Can I Turn To?, and Heartaches. What a great side, featuring Dexter with Bobby Hutcherson, Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins. Dexter is so patient, letting the solos build up and tell stories. Who Can I Turn To is a classic Dexter ballad performance, mostly playing the melody with beautiful, powerful flourishes, and simple accompaniment by Hutcherson.

To be continued . . . . (I hope)

generally don’t distinguish that clearly between different versions, but I heard a clear difference between these two recordings. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me on an Atlantic LP. I much prefer the stereo version of Coltrane Jazz versus the mono version. On the La Vern Baker LP, the upshot is that I’m keeping the stereo version in my collection. As for the black-label mono version: I’m keeping that as well. As I said, this is a record I like a lot. Here’s a clip to show you why, in stereo, of course:

There\’ll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight