Bobby Hutcherson sounding great here...

I'll second the vote for Hampton Hawes, although one of my favorite HH trios is in fact a quartet: Red Mitchell on bass and Bruz Freeman (brother of Von and George) on drums, plus Jim Hall on guitar. They did the excellent "All Night Sessions" that yielded Volumes 1-3 on LP. Steve Kuhn is ...

I discovered Liliana Herrero when I came across her singing on "Domador de Huellas" by Guillermo Klein (also Argentinian). She's a major figure in Argentinian popular music, singing traditional music and things by contemporary songwriters, in a sophisticated and passionate style, full of f...

I got this one from eMusic:



Francy Boland and Kenny Clarke in a trio with Jimmy Woode on bass--you can imagine that this swings.

About that Mark Turner quartet album: will that be his quartet with Avishaï Cohen on trumpet? I saw them in a superb concert last year.

Yes. Let's keep it going, dramas and all. Time heals all wounds. (or wounds all heels)

I also function by surges of enthusiasm that are more or less quickly replaced. But there are musicians I come back to regularly: Ellington, Miles, Armstrong, Lester, Lee Konitz... no doubt a few others. I used to cycle through Mingus quite a bit, but haven't been back to him in quite some time. Hmm...

If Shorter's recent performance on the time-warp re-do of the Arsenio Hall show is an indication I didn't see it so I don't know, but Shorter admits his quartet has good nights and bad. there is nothing bad you could say about his music that isn't warranted. So, you, uh, didn't like it? Boring with...

Yes, the Alex Hoffman scandal raged over Facebook and the jazz blogosphere for two or three weeks. Most commentary was outrage at his effrontery, most of the rest was debate over whether Shorter's current quartet is the most brilliant evolution of jazz or the emperor's new clothes. I don't recall an...

Great stuff!

I'm 55. By next year John and I will be the same age.

Oh, wait a minute...

I'll vote for Ahmad Jamal's trio with Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier. And Evans/LaFaro/Motian, of course. The version of the Great Jazz Trio that had Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams was wonderful. Also Hank's trio with George Mraz and Elvin Jones, the one that recorded that record of Th...

Funnily enough, solo piano is not really a favorite listening scenario of mine. Of course there are many recordings that are fantastic, but I find it's not something I spontaneously want to put on very often. One of my favorite solo piano recordings is "Jimmy Rowles Plays Ellington and Strayhor...

Why, you ****** can ******* my ********! I've never heard such ********. As a matter of fact, I was once with a *********and an ******* and I ******* his ********* while she *********. Never have I seen any ******* more *****, and now to read this ******** on this ******** board just makes me *******.

Now, throwing Jarrett in the mix.... nothing better than the Jarrett Trio with Peacock and DeJohnette..... Now there's a debatable assertion! It's obviously hard to quibble about the skills of any of those three. That each is a top-notch musician is un debatable. But to me, the whole is less than t...

I'm glad I don't have to pick.

But if I had to, Herbie.

I'm on a Carmen McRae kick, using Spotify to discover albums I either hadn't known or rediscover ones I had known. "Carmen McRae Sings 'Lover Man' and Other Billie Holiday Classics" from 1961 is a killer. I'm also impressed with another 1961 album, "Take Five Live," which she rec...

I think James Carter and Regina Carter (no relation) were each hyped a great deal and then went on to merely average careers. They're successful, all right, but they aren't reference points. Agree that they aren't reference points. But for jazz artists, I think their careers would be considered abo...

I think James Carter and Regina Carter (no relation) were each hyped a great deal and then went on to merely average careers. They're successful, all right, but they aren't reference points.

In fact, it's air dryers that are more unsanitary. I know this because I read an article that said so, so it must be true. The gist was this: when you dry your hands with a towel, cloth or paper, you physically wipe microbes off your skin. When you dry your hands in warm air, the microbes do not blo...

Rita, you're right--by what criteria? Chris Potter and Nasheet Waits are about as successful as modern jazz musicians get these days. They're in constant demand. Maybe they don't get magazine covers as they once did?

For several years in the 60's and 70's, Donald Bailey lived down the street from me in Greenburgh, New York. The street was called Alan Place. I was a kid; even after I was in high school and was listening to jazz, I had no idea that "Mr. Bailey," as he was known to me, was anything other ...

In the restrooms at my place of employment, next to the sink is one of those things that loops a cloth towel in a big roll--pulling it down brings out enough for a typical hand-drying operation. http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00YvnEylTbhckg/Automatic-Hand-Towel-Dispenser.jpg My feeling is that a...

I've been a fan of Cassandra Wilson since her 1983 album of standards, "Blue Skies." Haven't liked every record but in general admire her singing and career. I've seen a video of a concert she did a few years ago when she was touring with a band including Marvin Sewell, Jonathan Baptiste, ...