What jazz music are you listening to?

[bart]

Harold Mabern - Mabern Plays Coltrane
Qobuz 24/48




Equally enjoyable.

Given the rapturous response to every new "undiscovered" John Coltrane album, reverence for his singular playing and composing genius has continued to evolve and intensify since his 1967 passing. Along with his working quartet, the late pianist Harold Mabern—a Coltrane fan since the '60s—posthumously adds a voice of praise to the continuing parade of post-obit Coltrane hosannas. Mabern, who died in 2019 at the age of 83, was a Memphis native who played with Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan and George Coleman among many others. While there may be more Mabern records to be released, Mabern Plays Coltrane is a solid post-bop, nothing fancy session filled with talented players and an inviting soul. Recorded during a 2018 Coltrane Festival at the Smoke Jazz Club in Upper Manhattan, the sonics here, like the sound inside the club itself, are fairly compact but clear cut with good balance between instruments, lots of low-end response and a merciful few channels devoted to audience reactions. It's clear from the set list, which is all Coltrane originals except for "My Favorite Things," that Mabern worshipped him. Mabern's long post-bop take of this epic song is livelier than Coltrane's version, slowing considerably in the middle for bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth to take their respective solos. "Blue Trane" opens with tenor Eric Alexander wending his smooth way through a big-toned opening solo before trombonist Steve Davis and alto sax player Vincent Herring have their say. When Mabern digs deeper into the Coltrane catalog, like on the ballad "Dear Lord" (originally released on the Transitions album), he's at his lyrical best. Son Michael Mabern writes in the liner notes that his father gave up his one chance to play with Coltrane when one night before a Birdland gig, Trane's regular pianist McCoy Tyner had car trouble. The elder Mabern refused to sit in out of respect for Tyner. There are flashes of Tyner's bold chords and innate swing throughout Mabern's playing in tunes like the closer "Straight Street" (also the title of an excellent though often overlooked Mabern album from 1989). A jazz elder, recently gone, finally pays tribute to his long-lost hero. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

[bart]

Bill Evans - Quintessence
Qobuz 24/192

[bart]

Originally Posted by bart

Bill Evans & Jim Hall - Undercurrent
via Qobuz




Fantastic interplay, it's almost magical.

Other than four piano solos from April 4, 1962, this set was pianist Bill Evans' first recordings after a hiatus caused by bassist Scott LaFaro's tragic death in a car accident. The first of two meetings on record in a duo format with guitarist Jim Hall, the collaborations are often exquisite. Both Evans and Hall had introspective and harmonically advanced styles along with roots in hard-swinging bebop. There is more variety than expected on the fine set with some cookers, ballads, waltzes, and even some hints at classical music. Recommended. [Some reissues include four bonus tracks, including two alternate takes and previously unheard versions of "Stairway to the Stars" and "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You."] ~ Scott Yanow

Formidable!

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by bart

Harold Mabern - Mabern Plays Coltrane

Qobuz 24/48









Equally enjoyable.

[emoji106] yes indeed.

[bart]

Abdullah Ibrahim - Solotude
My Journey, My Vision
via Qobuz




Very intimate, beautiful album.
The piano player, formerly named Dollar Brand, is now 87.

[joel_hifi]

Originally Posted by bart

Abdullah Ibrahim - Solotude

My Journey, My Vision

via Qobuz









Very intimate, beautiful album.

The piano player, formerly named Dollar Brand, is now 87.

Beautiful indeed

[joel_hifi]

[QUOTE=bart;1050058]Harold Mabern - Mabern Plays Coltrane

Qobuz 24/48









Equally enjoyable.



Pretty good reinterpretations [emoji108]

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Stanley Turrentine - Comin’ Your Way
Blue Note Tone Poet (1987/2021), vinyl

With:
Tommy Turrentine, trumpet
Horace Parlan, piano
George Tucker, bass
Al Harewood, drums

Recorded in 1961 but not released as an individual album until 1987.

This is such a great album.

[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Lee Morgan - The Cooker
Blue Note (1957), via Qobuz

This time playing the Blue Note Tone Poet vinyl reissue - splendid. The way he attacks sometimes, e.g. on Dizzy’s “A Night in Tunisia,” Morgan’s horn has almost a percussive quality.

[joel_hifi]

Saxophone night, remasters via Qobuz

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else

Recorded in 1958 (Blue Note), via Qobuz (remastered)

Cannonball Adderley - Alto Sax
Miles Davis - Trumpet
Hank Jones - Piano
Samuel Jones - Bass
Art Blakey - Drums




Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up

Recorded in 1964 (Blue Note)

Dexter Gordon - Tenor Sax
Donald Byrd - Trumpet
Kenny Drew - Piano
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen - Bass
Art Taylor - Drums