Studying to live by the State

Hi all...as some of you know, I’m preparing for a few public exams. These will be in October and will finish at this year ending. This is my second time and I've to take it more serious and study really hard so I won't release many albums until I finish them. I know you will understand. Stay tuned and have nice holidays.

Arthur Taylor - Taylor's Tenors (1959) [New Jazz]

Legendary drummer Art Taylor played on a multitude of classic jazz sessions, but only managed to release a few dates as a leader before he passed away in 1995. His second, Taylor's Tenors, from mid-1959, features two straight-ahead tenor saxophonists, Charlie Rouse and Frank Foster, engaging in an insightful yet swinging hard bop conversation. Rouse would shortly become Thelonious Monk's tenor of choice, while Foster continued his tenure with Count Basie's band for another five years. These six hard bop pieces include two by Monk, Jackie McLean's "Fidel," and originals each from Rouse, pianist Walter Davis, and Taylor. (Al Campbell)

1. Rhythm-A-Ning
2. Little Chico
3. Cape Millie
4. Straight, No Chaser
5. Fidel
6. Dacor


Arthur Taylor (drums); Charlie Rouse & Frank Foster (tenor saxophones); Walter Davis (piano); Sam Jones (bass).


Recorded in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 3, 1959.

Gigi Gryce Quintet - Saying Somethin' ! (1960)

Altoist Gigi Gryce's last regular group before moving to Africa and largely retiring from music was the quintet featured on this CD, two other Prestige/New Jazz sessions and an album for Trip. Gryce's alto matched well with Richard Williams's impressive trumpet and, with fine support from pianist Richard Wyands, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Mickey Roker, the two horns explore mostly blues-based originals by Gryce, Curtis Fuller and Hank Jones. There is more variety than expected and the contrast between Gryce's lyricism and the extroverted nature of Williams's solos make this set fairly memorable. (Scott Yanow)

1.- Back Breaker
2.- Leila's Blues
3.- Blues In The Jungle
4.- Down Home
5.- Let Me Know
6.- Jones Bones


Gigi Gryce (alto saxophone); Richard Williams (trumpet); Richard Wyands (piano); Reggie Workman (bass); Mickey Roker (drums)


Recorded in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 11, 196o.

Chico Freeman & Mal Waldron - Up And Down (1989)

"...Waldron controls pace and phrase through placement and volume of dissonant chords and contrary motion...he gently supports [vocalist] Ghiglioni's whispery scat effort and ballad reading, and applies a heavy-rocking waltz to Freeman's soprano..."(Down Beat)

"...Remarkably smooth is this encounter between the rough and ready Chicagoan tenor-player and that archdeacon of anti-Monk..." JazzTimes


1.- Battleground
2.- Hiromi
3.- Tyrolean Waltz
4.- Aftermath
5.- My One and Only Love
6.- Up and Down


Chico Freeman (soprano & tenor saxophones); Mal Waldron (piano); Tiziana Ghiglioni (vocals); Ricky Knauer (bass).


Recorded at Barigozzi Studio, Milan, Italy on July 26 & 27, 1989.

Eric Dolphy & Booker Little - At The Five Spot, vol. 1 (RVG Remasters)

After having left the ensemble of Charles Mingus and upon working with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy formed a short-lived but potent quintet with trumpeter Booker Little, who would pass away three months after this recording. Despite all of the obstacles and subsequent tragedy, this quintet became legendary over the years -- justifiably so -- and developed into a role model for all progressive jazz combos to come. The combined power of Dolphy and Little -- exploring overt but in retrospect not excessive dissonance and atonality -- made them a target for critics but admired among the burgeoning progressive post-bop scene. With the always stunning shadings of pianist Mal Waldron, the classical-cum-daring bass playing of Richard Davis, and the colorful drumming of alchemistic Ed Blackwell, there was no stopping this group. Live at the legendary Five Spot Café in New York City, this band set the Apple, and the entire jazz world on their collective ears. "Fire Waltz" demonstrates perfectly how the bonfire burns from inside the soul of these five brilliant provocateurs, as Dolphy's sour alto and Little's dour trumpet signify their new thing. Dolphy's solo is positively furious, while Blackwell nimbly switches up sounds within the steady 3/4 beat. "Bee Vamp" does not buzz so much as it roars in hard bop trim. A heavy tandem line breaks and separates in the horn parts like booster rockets. Blackwell is even more amazing, and Dolphy's ribald bass clarinet set standards that still influences players of the instrument. Where "The Prophet" is a puckery blues, it is also open armed with minor phrasings and stretched harmonics. This is where Waldron and Davis shine in their terra cotta facades of roughly hewn accompaniments to Dolphy and Little's bold flavored statements. A shorter alternate take of "Bee Vamp" is newly available, shorter by two-and-a-half minutes and with a clipped introductory melody. Most hail this first volume, and a second companion album from the same sessions, as music that changed the jazz world as much as Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane's innovative excursions of the same era. All forward thinking and challenged listeners need to own these epic club dates.


1.- Fire Waltz
2.- Bee Vamp
3.- The Prophet
4.- Bee Vamp (alternate take)


Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone & bass clarinet); Booker Little (trumpet); Mal Waldron (piano); Richard Davis (bass); Eddie Blackwell (drums).

Recorded at The Five Spot, NYC, on July 16, 1961.

David Friesen & Mal Waldron - Remembering Mal (1985)

1. If I Were A Bell
2. Fire Waltz
3. Round About Midnight
4. With A Song In My Heart
5. You Mean Me
6. Someday My Prince Will Come
7. All God's Chillung Got Rhythm


Mal Waldron (piano); David Friesen (bass)

Recorded Live on July, 1985 at the Hyatt on Sunset, L.A, California.