Jazz for aficionados

Jimmy Blanton was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of more complex pizzicato and arco bass solos in a jazz context than previous bassists.

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Blanton originally learned to play the violin, but took up the bass while at Tennessee State University, performing with the Tennessee State Collegians from 1936 to 1937, and during the vacations with Fate Marable. After leaving university to play full-time in St Louis with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra (with whom he made his first recordings), he joined Duke Ellington's band in 1939.

Though he stayed with Ellington for only two years, Blanton made an incalculable contribution in changing the way the double bass was used in jazz. Previously the double bass was rarely used to play anything but quarter notes in ensemble or solos but by soloing on the bass more in a 'horn like' fashion, Blanton began sliding into eighth- and sixteenth-note runs, introducing melodic and harmonic ideas that were totally new to jazz bass playing. His virtuosity put him in a different class from his predecessors, making him the first true master of the jazz bass and demonstrating the instrument's unsuspected potential as a solo instrument. Ellington put Blanton front-and-center on the bandstand nightly, unheard of for a bassist at the time. Such was his importance to Ellington's band at the time, together with the tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, that it became known as the Blanton–Webster band. Blanton also recorded a series of bass and piano duets with Ellington and played in the "small group" sessions led by Barney Bigard, Rex Stewart, Johnny Hodges, and Cootie Williams in 1940-41.

In 1941, Blanton was diagnosed with tuberculosis, cutting short his tenure with Ellington. His last recording session was cut on September 26, 1941 in Hollywood. Blanton died the following year after retiring to a sanatorium in California, aged 23.

Jimmy Blanton is a bassist I've been hearing about since I can remember, but he was before my time; meaning jazz time when I started collecting records. Since I only collected AB records (AB stands for "After Bird") I don't know if I have him in my collection, but that can be remedied.

                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrvHckvHj90


                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPB7hBU6oj0




Here are two cuts by Mr. Blanton, You be the judge.


Enjoy the music

Folks...try Bosko Petrovic Quartet - Tiffany Girl...you wont be sorry...you will hear how Croatian jazz band play world class session....and good sound too....

O–10, the KOB documentary should be required viewing for every jazz fan.  I seem to recall a debate here about the relative merit of KOB.  If the comments by the various jazz giants in that documentary don't dispel any notions that KOB is "audiophile candy" and nothing more, then I don't know what will.  It is a monumental recording in jazz, and the fact that it has been adopted by the audiophile community as a fave should be applauded.  Imagine if the closest that audiophile favorites got to jazz were Diana Krall!  It's a fascinating video offering many interesting insights.  The comments about music are actually pretty basic and, imo, every serious music lover should strive to understand, at minimum, what is talked about in the documentary;  I think it would be a great goal.  Thanks for posting it.

Alex, nice clips featuring Horace Parlan; very good player and probably underrated although he is highly regarded by musicians. Have always loved Stanley Turrentine with his distinctive sound and vibrato.  One of the players who "went commercial" but whose work always had a lot of integrity; hard not to love the way he played a pop ballad.

I agree completely with Acman3 about the importance and role of bassists and drummers; and love the football analogy.  I would even say he is being a bit gentle with his dissent.  While the contribution of a bassist or drummer MAY be more subtle than that of the player in the frontline, it may be as important or even more important.  I can't imagine Mile's 60's band with any other drummer than Tony Williams and his unique synergy with Ron Carter, or Trane's "A Love Supreme" without Elvin, or the Thad Jones big band with any other drummer besides Mel Lewis?  All added, in their way, just as much to the sound of the band as the headliner did.  Speaking of Scott LaFaro, what would the whole concept of the modern jazz trio be without his huge contribution in developing the "conversational" style of playing (as opposed to mostly "time keeper") that became the sound of the Bill Evans trio and would influence just about every other jazz bassist that followed?  Listen to Herbie Hancock talk about that single cymbal crash in the intro to "So What" on KOB.  

Great clips of Blanton with Ellington, and while they show how far jazz bass players have come in the virtuosity and conceptual departments, there's not much one can say when the playing is simply "right" for the music at hand; simple, tasteful and great sound.  Great stuff.  On the other hand Abdul Malik just doesn't do it for me.  Very rudimentary player who in my opinion is riding the "lets do something different" wave; probably with a bit of political correctness to support his efforts.  Some of the improvisation on those clips is almost embarrasing.  It's not the choice of instrument (oud) that's a problem; it's the command of the jazz  language that is.  Quaint, in a way, for its marriage of jazz and a Middle Eastern vibe, but its not good jazz nor good Middle Eastern.

Speaking of marriages, Rok, that of Johnny Hodges and Lawrence Welk is indeed a strange one.  I have that record and when I first bought it, I had high hopes for it in spite of the Lawrence Welk presence.  Don't get me wrong, I think Welk's band could sound great for what they do, but this just doesn't work.  Simply a little too much grease in Hodges' playing for that band's vibe.  As much as I hate to say it, I think the problem is Hodges and not Welk.  On the other hand, I have always felt you shortchange Metheny.  He is a great musician with a very wide range and his partnering with Ornette is really not that much of a stretch.

Landing in ten minutes, so want to post one of my favorite bass players (as a sideman):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y8PjvxET91U

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zgmUWTAhsa8

Frogman, I really appreciated the comments on your last post. Pepper Adams is my favorite baritone sax man, and I had to play those cuts twice. Your bass player has eluded me in the past, consequently, I don't have anything meaningful to say about him.

My collection is full of Pat Metheny; he hit's the ball out of the park one time, and then fouls out the next time; but all in all I like Pat Metheny.

Next we'll be comparing Miles quintets to Art Blakey's jazz messengers.



Enjoy the music.

I decided to play a game called; Miles Davis vs The Jazz Messengers. I can't see why everyone is so "ga ga" over Miles, when Blakey's Jazz Messengers had the best music and musicians by far.

Let's investigate; Jazz Messengers were an influential jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the outset. "Art Blakey" and "Jazz Messengers" became synonymous over the years, though Blakey did lead non-Messenger recording sessions and played as a sideman for other groups throughout his career.

Yes sir, I'm gonna to stay with the youngsters. When these get too old, I'm gonna get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active.

Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland, Vol.2 (CD),
The group evolved into a proving ground for young jazz talent. While veterans occasionally re-appeared in the group, by and large, each iteration of the Messengers included a lineup of new young players. Having the Messengers on one's resume was a rite of passage in the jazz world, and conveyed immediate bona fides.

Many Messenger alumni went on to become jazz stars in their own right, such as: Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Timmons, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Chuck Mangione, Keith Jarrett, Joanne Brackeen, Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Mulgrew Miller.


Miles Davis's quintets:   Miles Davis Quintet was an American jazz band from 1955 to early 1969 led by Miles Davis. The quintet underwent frequent personnel changes toward its metamorphosis into a different ensemble in 1969. Most references pertain to two distinct and relatively stable bands: the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1958; and the Second Great Quintet from late 1964 to early 1969, Davis being the only constant throughout.


1 First Great Quintet/Sextet (1955-58)
2 Second Great Quintet (1964-68)
3.1 First great quintet (1955-58)
3.2 Second great quintet (1964-69)

In the summer of 1955, Davis performed a noted set at the Newport Jazz Festival, and had been approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, offering a contract with the label if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

At the recommendation of drummer Jones, Davis replaced Rollins with John Coltrane, beginning a partnership that would last five years and finalizing the Quintet's first line-up. Expanded to a sextet with the addition of Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone in 1958, the First Great Quintet was one of the definitive hard bop groups along with the Brown-Roach Quintet and the Jazz Messengers, recording the Columbia albums Round About Midnight, Milestones, and the marathon sessions for Prestige Records resulting in five albums collected on The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions.

In mid-1958, Bill Evans replaced Garland on piano and Jimmy Cobb replaced Jones on drums, but Evans only lasted about six months, in turn replaced by Wynton Kelly as 1958 turned into 1959. This group backing Davis, Coltrane, and Adderley, with Evans returning for the recording sessions, recorded Kind of Blue, considered "one of the most important, influential and popular albums in jazz". Adderley left the band in September 1959 to pursue his own career, returning the line-up to a quintet. Coltrane departed in the spring of 1960, and after interim replacements Jimmy Heath and Sonny Stitt, Davis plus Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb continued through 1961 and 1962 with Hank Mobley on tenor sax.


Second Great Quintet (1964-68)
Mobley, Kelly, Chambers, and Cobb all left Davis by the end of 1962, and during 1963 he struggled to maintain a steady line-up. By the late spring, he had hired the core of the Second Quintet with Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and wunderkind Tony Williams on drums. Initially with George Coleman or Sam Rivers on tenor sax, the final piece of the puzzle would arrive in late 1964 with saxophonist Wayne Shorter.

The performance style of the Second Great Quintet was often referred to by Davis as "time, no changes", incorporating elements of free jazz without completely surrendering to the approach, allowing the five men to contribute to the group as equals rather than as a leader and sidemen peeling off unrelated solos. This band recorded the albums E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro, and the live set considered by The Penguin Guide to Jazz to be their crowning achievement, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965.


Discography is where the rubber meets the road, or the sound reaches the ear; or any other euphemism you can invent for evaluating which one is the best.


Let's compare 55-58 "Jazz Messengers"; Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2 (11/23/55)
Horace Silver - Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (11/13/54, 2/6/55)
Horace Silver and Art Blakey / Sabu (10/9/52, 11/23/53)                                 Art Blakey - A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 (2/21/54)
Art Blakey - A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2                                                 Art Blakey - Orgy in Rhythm, Volume 1 (3/7/57)                                           Art Blakey - Orgy in Rhythm, Volume 2 (3/7/57)



Now we'll go to Miles 55-58
First great quintet (1955-58)
Miles Davis — trumpet
John Coltrane — tenor saxophone
Red Garland — piano
Paul Chambers — bass
Philly Joe Jones — drums
increased to Sextet in 1958 with Cannonball Adderly — alto saxophone
 


Now that I've thrown my 50 cents worth, you can throw in your 2 cents worth.






Enjoy the music