Jazz for aficionados
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGfFGw1tIFY I don’t know anything about this guy other than he’s one of the most elegant piano players I’ve heard and I love class ! |
Reading and listening music is a nice way to spend Sunday evening, picking some albums from shelfs that I do not listen often... Evan Bradshaw( trio), was a childhood friend of Phineas Newborn, recorded two albums in 58. and 59. and left no other trace in music world... https://youtu.be/9A6l7e3Rp3c https://youtu.be/rY7g79hLnA8 version of the same song played by Phineas Newborn https://youtu.be/lfsNhl7dHz0 |
Interesting post, Alex. Evans Bradshaw is new to me and I’m really glad to learn about him. I admire your dedication to lesser known players deserving of more attention. The music business is a tough business. Who knows what circumstances led to his very limited success? What I think I do know based on what I heard on the clips is that he was still growing and had tremendous promise. In many ways he sounds fantastic with a lot of chops, good sense of swing and a nice touch on the keyboard; but also a tendency to repeat his favorite licks. I also think that his producer(s) did not serve him particularly well. He and the other players don’t play that well together as a trio; especially on “It’s The Right Place”. Bradshaw takes it a breakneck tempo and the drummer can’t keep up. A producer’s job with new talent is to not let that happen; or, at least, not let that be the final product. Both trios sound like they could have used a little more rehearsal time. This clip came up on YouTube and shows Philly Jo doing a much better job of keeping up with Bradshaw’s exuberance: https://youtu.be/5BU_lrLE408 Loved Newborn’s version. It’s great with a very different slower feel. Very glad to have heard the clips. Thanks! Speaking of little known piano players and elegant playing (per Schubert’s comment), here’s something different. Don Shirley was an incredibly accomplished individual in many ways and worth learning a bit about: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Shirley He didn’t really consider himself a jazz player and was trained as a concert pianist. Not the most swinging player, but played with a nice feel and recorded many jazz standards in a very inventive style which showed his Classical music training and which sometimes came dangerously close to a “Muzak” or “Beautiful Music” style without crossing over the line (for me) into Liberace territory. His playing and inventiveness were very elegant and he produced an especially beautiful tone on the piano: https://youtu.be/yYb6qwzode8 https://youtu.be/SWJJm2WJ-WA Schubert, Gonzalo Rubalcaba was one of the first young Cuban musicians to gain international attention after the first wave of high profile defections of Cuban jazz musicians which included Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo Sandoval. Very elegant player as you say: https://youtu.be/tQQMFRr_e1g |
Frogman, I believe there is a movie in cinemas called ’Green Book’, with Viggo Mortensen based on life of Don Shirley. Have not seen it yet, but planning to. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/11/green-book-movie-true-story-don-shirley-tony-vallelonga (Rock, if you are reading this and if you have watched the movie, would be curious to hear your opinion) As for Bradshaw, its always good to hear your opinion about technical aspects of someones musical performance. I have both albums he recorded, the first one called ’Look out (for B.E.)’ features P.Joe Jones Finding ’forgotten’ musicians or albums does not require some particular dedication, just some reading about jazz, but I am glad if some unknown or forgotten musicians and albums will be listend again, because of my posting. Also, I must admit, its much, much easier with ytube, you can actually listen and check somebody that you think that you might like...not to mention Amazon where you can search and order the album... Sometimes I listen to some album that I already have and if I hear and like some sideman playing I search for him too....like this, for exmp. Johnny Acea, he caught my attention while listening this album of Leo Parker https://youtu.be/kwCmnLpdCXs https://youtu.be/L0M1HKkv-Y0 https://youtu.be/5ax8lPLJ5xs Could not find any album where he plays as leader, but look where he played...(I have quite a few of those albums, as some of you, I believe) https://www.discogs.com/artist/364778-Johnny-Acea?page=1 more about him... https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-johnny-adriano-acea-mn0000652234 |
