Let me start by saying that this is the first time I really spent time exploring 1960, so both my albums and songs list are very surface-level. But it's been a lot of fun discovering lots of great stuff.
I commented on my top 50. If this is a difficult format for you, Holden, please tell me and I'll send you a PM with a "normal" list.
ALBUMS
1 |
Max Roach | We Insist! (Candid)
This is more than just a statement. It‘s an unique artistic expression concerning repression and emancipation put into tension-filled music with expressive percussion by Roach and Michael Olatunji and the incredible vocals by Abbey Lincoln who sings and screams her way through these songs. Without a doubt the best album of 1960.
For the playlist: „Driva‘ Man“, „Freedom Day“, „Triptych“, „All Africa“, „Tears for Johannesburg“
2 |
Oscar Brown Jr. | Sin & Soul (Columbia)
The cover features people like Steve Allen or Nina Simone declaring their admiration of this young aspiring newcomer, Oscar Brown Jr. Among the voices on that cover is also Max Roach; Brown actually wrote the lyrics for
We Insist! and deserves all the admiration he gets for that. But he also released his very own debut album the same year where he got to demonstrate not only his lyrical abilities but his musical ones as well. He composed most of the songs here himself; for some songs he took other artists‘ instrumental jazz pieces (for example, Bobby Timmons‘s „Dat Dere“) and wrote lyrics for them that fit incredibly well. The political stance he takes on Max Roach‘s album is also present here; the album features a song about a female slave auction („Bid ‚Em In“). His performance on all of these tracks is exemplary and makes this an absolute masterpiece I‘m glad to have discovered.
For the playlist: „Work Song“, „But I Was Cool“, „Signifyin‘ Monkey“, „Somebody Buy Me a Drink“, „Rags and Old Iron“, „Dat Dere“, „Brown Baby“, „Humdrum Blues“, „Afro-Blue“
3 |
Ahmed Abdul-Malik | East Meets West | 1960
A fusion of jazz with traditional Arabic music. There‘s a few instruments not commonly used in American jazz music like the kanoon, the darabeka or the oud (although the oud is probably the most well-known instrument of the Arabic region), but a lot of the background players are well-known jazz musicians like Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller or Benny Golson playing their usual instruments. This may sound like a mess, but the result is brilliant and the players obviously had a lot of fun. The mission of fusing two distinct musical styles into one has definitely succeeded here.
For the playlist: „El-lail (The Night)“, „La Ibky (Don‘t Cry)“, „Searchin‘“, „Isma‘a (Listen)“, „Mahawara (The Fugue)“, „El Ghada (The Jungle)“
4 |
Charlie Mingus | Blues & Roots (Atlantic)
Bassist Charles Mingus leads a nonet featuring two alto, a tenor and a baritone saxophone, two trombones, drums and a piano. As the title states, they‘re interested in going back to the roots, namely blues and gospel. But what they make out of these influences is powerful music full of raw force, never backing down, with the rhythm section randomly shouting, while the group jams on. Listening to this is just pure joy.
For the playlist: „Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting“, „Cryin‘ Blues“, „Moanin‘“, „Tensions“, „E‘s Flat Ah‘s Flat Too“
5 |
Miles Davis | Sketches of Spain (Columbia)
Miles Davis collaborated with pianist Gil Evans on multiple different albums, but this is definitely the best of them. Evans‘ contributions for this record lie not only in the composition of two original pieces but also in the arrangement of classical works and folk songs for jazz orchestra. The orchestra consists of 27 different musicians, including Paul Chambers from the First Great Quintet. Despite the big orchestra, the songs are very calm and mellow, with Davis providing the main melodies. It‘s a wonderfully pleasant sound and stands as the best album Davis had done at that point.
For the playlist: „Concierto de Aranjuez“, „Will O‘ the Wisp“, „The Pan Piper“, „Saeta“, „Solea“
6 |
Tina Brooks | True Blue (Blue Note)
Brooks was mainly working as a sideman for other musicians, but he also got to record five studio albums in a span of four years (three of which in 1960). The downside is that only one of these albums was actually released during Brooks‘s lifetime. After 1961 he didn‘t record anything, struggling with heroin addiction and general health problems. The remaining four albums were released years after his death. Apparently, Blue Note didn‘t promote
True Blue to focus on Freddie Hubbard‘s debut album
Open Sesame (see below). I do feel like that was the wrong choice. I have nothing against Hubbard (he actually plays trumpet on this album too), but Brooks was a great saxophonist and a great composer. All the songs here are wonderful examples of catching melodies and interesting improvisation. A real gem.
For the playlist: „Good Old Soul“, „Up Tight‘s Creek“, „Theme for Doris“, „True Blue“, „Miss Hazel“, „Nothing Ever Changes My Love for You“
7 |
Jimmy Giuffre | Western Suite (Atlantic)
An album with a very unique sound, certainly rooted in the country music the title hints at, but becoming far more than just that. Giuffre plays clarinet, tenor sax and baritone sax on this album, while Jim Hall plays guitar and Bob Brookmeyer the trombone. You may notice there‘s no rhythm section, so the music has a rather free-flowing quality. The three musicians perfectly support one another even in the solos. Overall, the sound is incredibly pleasant and relaxing while also providing one of the most unique musical experiences of 1960. I prefer the B-side with the most country-like Thelonious Monk has ever been played.
For the playlist: „Western Suite“, „Topsy“, „Blue Monk“
8 |
John Coltrane | Giant Steps (Atlantic)
Coltrane was part of Miles Davis‘s First Great Quintet for a while, making masterpieces like
Cookin‘… and he had also recorded multiple albums as band leader previous to this one. But
Giant Steps still stands as a singular achievement, perfecting his playing techniques such as the so-called „sheets of sound“ and the Coltrane changes. He had developed an unique way of playing that went up and down the entire register of the tenor saxophone and yet made it seem easy.
His rapid cascades of notes and the swift style of playing make this a rather upbeat, enjoyable listening. There‘s just this one track, „Naima“ that sticks out: It was recorded almost half a year later with a different line-up and the mood it invokes is completely different from the rest of the album. But that‘s not enough to refrain me from declaring this an absolute masterpiece.
For the playlist: „Giant Steps“, „Cousin Mary“, „Countdown“, „Syeeda‘s Song Flute“, „Mr. P.C.“
9 |
Wes Montgomery | The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (Riverside)
Jazz guitar has a wonderfully pleasant sound. As a string instrument it sounds completely different from the often wind-oriented jazz of the time. Wes Montgomery is a master of guitar and is often regarded as one of the best in his respective genre. Here he teams up with Tommy Flanagan (piano) and the brothers Percy and Albert Heath (bass and drums, respectively). Half of the songs are covers, the other half are originals composed by Montgomery. Beautiful music not focused on solos with a nice dose of blues influence mixed in.
For the playlist: „D-Natural Blues“, „Polka Dots and Moonbeams“, „In Your Own Sweet Way“, „Gone with the Wind“
10 |
Olatunji! | Drums of Passion (Columbia)
Not only did Babatunde Olatunji work with Max Roach on
We Insist!, he also released his very own debut album. He plays drum-heavy songs with a call-and-response pattern in the vocals. Despite the music being clearly African, most musicians playing on the album (with the exception of Olatunji himself, who‘s Nigerian) are Americans. The songs are energetic and full of power.
For the playlist: „Akiwowo“, „Odun De! Odun De!“, „Kiyakiya“, „Baba Jinde“, „Shango“
11 |
The Harold Land Quintet | The Fox (HiFi)
It‘s hard to describe what makes this exceptional because from the line-up you would simply expect a normal Hard Bop album. In a way it really
is a normal Hard Bop album, but it features beautiful melodies and catching hooks and inventive solos to a degree that also seems different from „normal“ Hard Bop at the time. The entire quintet is tied together very closely and work with each other while also giving space to each other to do their own thing. Land himself plays the tenor saxophone, while Dupree Bolton plays the trumpet. The highlight, in my opinion, is the rhythm section that normally takes a back position, but proves itself invaluable here: The grooviness of Herbie Lewis‘s bass, the melodic flourishes of Elmo Hope‘s piano and the extrovert drumming by Frank Butler make this a wonderful record, especially the B-side.
For the playlist: „The Fox“; „Sims A-Plenty“, „Little Chris“, „One Down“
12 |
Miriam Makeba | Miriam Makeba (RCA Victor)
Makeba‘s debut album and it presents her as a brilliant vocalist who is able to perform in multiple styles. There‘s songs here that are slower and calmer (but none that are sad), then there‘s songs that are upbeat and danceable and then there‘s novelty songs that are actually quite funny (I confess to adoring „One More Dance“, quite specifically because of Charles Coleman‘s behavior). Overall a great album.
For the playlist: „Suliram“, „The Click Song“, „Holilili“, „Mbube“, „House of the Rising Sun“, „One More Dance“
13 |
Art Blakey, Bud Powell, Barney Wilen and The Jazz Messengers | Paris Jam Session (Fontana)
Recorded in Paris on December 18th, 1959, this is an amazing performance by seven talentend musicians. Art Blakey plays the drums, The Jazz Messengers, his backing band, consist of Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Walter Davis Jr. on piano and Jimmy Meritt on bass. Pianist Bud Powell and alto saxophonist Barney Wilen are sitting on the A-side. It‘s fast-paced, joyous Hard Bop with impressive solos and exciting chemistry. A wonderful live album worthy of more acclaim.
For the playlist: „Dance of the Infidels“, „Bouncing with Bud“, „The Midget“, „A Night in Tunisia“
14 |
Ornette Coleman | Change of the Century (Atlantic)
Following 1959‘s masterpiece
The Shape of Jazz to Come and preceding the genre-defining
Free Jazz, this album sees Coleman moving away from traditional jazz to create something rather new (and he was totally aware of that, just look at the title). I can‘t really explain what is different, because I don‘t have extensive knowledge in music theory, but I can hear it and the way jazz normally sounds in the 50s is different from the way Coleman does it. Here he teams up with Don Cherry on trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass and Billy Higgins on drums for seven tunes that – despite them being signified „avant-garde“ - groove with the best of them. Every one of them gives their best – Haden even gets his own tune, „The Face of the Bass“. Worth noting is the stereo mix which has Coleman on the left side and Cherry on the right.
For the playlist: „Ramblin‘“, „Free“, „The Face of the Bass“, „Una Muy Bonita“
15 |
George Russell and His Orchestra | Jazz in the Space Age (Decca)
George Russell is one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. In 1957 he released a book called
Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization which served as the foundation for Modal Jazz. I won‘t get into the theory behind it, largely because I don‘t really understand it (there is a reason you can study music theory), but Modal Jazz is a concept Miles Davis took up in 1958 with „Milestones“ and perfected with 1959‘s
Kind of Blue, which happens to be one of the most well-known and -liked jazz albums ever.
But make no mistake: This album sounds nothing like
Kind of Blue. Russell was way more experimental than Davis was at this point. Russell, who was a trained pianist, doesn‘t play a single instrument on the album, he composed, arranged and conducted the music that was played by a big band including people like Bill Evans, Paul Bley and Bob Brookmeyer. The songs consist of a three-part suite called „Chromatic Universe“ split over the record and three longer compositions that show a lot of free solos and rather experimental percussion.
For the playlist: „Dimensions“, „The Lydiot“, „Chromatic Universe, Part 3“
16 |
The Modern Jazz Quartet & Guests | Third Stream Music (Atlantic)
Third stream music refers to a certain sub-genre of jazz that uses a lot of classical elements. The Modern Jazz Quartet consisted of pianist John Lewis, bassist Percy Heath, drummer Connie Kay and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. Many people don‘t like the vibraphone, because they say it sounds like elevator music, but they‘re wrong. They team up with the Jimmy Giuffre 3 on two tracks, with a variety of different musicians on „Exposure“ (including a bassoonist, a harpist and a cellist) and the Beaux Arts String Quartet on the B-side. This results in layered, comforting music.
For the playlist: „Finé“, „Exposure“, „Sketch“
17 |
Wayne Shorter | Introducing Wayne Shorter (Vee Jay)
Not the first album featuring Shorter, but the first one with him as a band leader. And what a leader he is! Shorter‘s compositions here are rather standard but the quintet fills them with life and the solos are simply amazing. The rhythm section (Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums) are especially worth noting. There‘s also an instrumental jazz version of „Mack the Knife“, one of those songs where you can rarely go wrong. A really good debut and a sign for the great stuff to come.
For the playlist: „Harry‘s Last Stand“, „Down in the Depths“, „Mack the Knife“
18 |
Art Pepper Quintet | Smack Up (Contemporary)
Alto saxophonist Pepper teams up with Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Pete Jolly (piano), Frank Butler (drums) and Jimmy Bond (bass) to play six compositions written by saxophonists, one of them an original by Pepper himself. It‘s upbeat, joyful jazz. The absolute standout is Bond on bass.
For the playlist: „Smack Up“, „Las Cuevas de Mario“, „A Bit of Basie“, „How Can You Lose“, „Tears Inside“
19 |
Hank Mobley | Soul Station
Tenor saxophonist Mobley has a very smooth sound to his saxophone and plays it with passion and joy. He leads a quartet with Art Blakey, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers, who happens to be one of my favorite bassists ever. Mobley is the band leader in a very literal sense of the word; I would like to hear more of the rhythm section, but only Mobley and Blakey get solos. The solos they do have are very pleasant and enjoyable though.
For the playlist: „Remember“, „This I Dig of You“, „Dig Dis“, „If I Should Lose You“
20 |
Charles Mingus | Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid)
Mingus teams up with Ted Curson (trumpet), Dannie Richmond (drums) and Eric Dolphy (woodwinds) to play four longer pieces. The album pretends to be a live record by having Mingus tell the audience not to clap and not to make any sound at all, so as not to disturb the recording. It‘s not really necessary, but it does contribute to the feeling of a live performance in a jazz club. The pieces are all rather fast-paced and a lot of fun.
For the playlist: „What Love“, „All the Things You Could Be By Now If Sigmund Freud‘s Wife Was Your Mother“ (what a title!)
21 |
Muddy Waters | Muddy Waters at Newport 1960 (Chess)
As far as I can tell (and I only have the information the Internet offers me, which might be wrong), this is only the second album Muddy Waters released. It‘s a live album featuring versions of well-known classics. Especially the performance of „Got My Mojo Working“ in two parts (the second one serving as a kind of encore) is great.
For the playlist: „I Got My Brand on You“, „Soon Forgotten“ (I
think these are originally from 1960, at least
this document seems to imply as much)
22 |
Nino Rota | La Dolce Vita (RCA)
The movie is clearly a masterpiece, but the score can stand on its own and doesn‘t really need the music to work. Rota mixes his jazzy lounge themes with popular music like marching bands and „Jingle Bells“ in the same song. These medleys do feel disjointed, but that‘s the point. It‘s not about the creation of a consistent mood; Rota is far more interested in exploring how completely different tunes can complement each other.
For the playlist: „La Dolce Vita / Arrivederci Roma / Caracalla‘s la Bersagliera“, „Patricia / Canzonetta / Entrata Dei Gladiatori / Parlami Di Me (Valzer)“, „Lola (Yes Sir, That‘s My Baby) / Parlami Di Me (Valzer) / Stormy Weather“, „Blues / La Dolce Vita Dei Nobili“, „La Dolce Vita Nella Villa di Fregene / Can Can / Jingle Bells / Blues / La Dolce Vita / Why Wait“, „La Dolce Vita – Finale“
23 |
Eric Dolphy Quintet | Outward Bound (New Jazz)
Dolphy plays three different woodwinds on this album that all have a very different, but distinct sound: On three tracks he plays the alto saxophone which is probably the most well-known of the three, but he also plays bass clarinet on two tracks and flute on another. He‘s supported by Jaki Byard on piano, George Tucker on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. Freddie Hubbard joins him on five of the six tracks playing the trumpet. The result is a good Hard Bop album with interesting changes in style.
For the playlist: „On Green Dolphin Street“, „Les“, „Glad to Be Unhappy“
24 |
Charles Mingus and His Jazz Groups | Mingus Dynasty (Columbia)
Mingus is basically trying to create a cohesive whole out of different approaches. The group
s in the title refer to a smaller sextet (piano – bass – drums – two saxes – trombone) that makes up the core group; you can only find that line-up on „New Now Know How“. But he incorporates different instruments where they seem to fit the composition, including a baritone saxophone, a flute, a vibraphone, two cellos and trumpets. Additionally, the players aren‘t the same in the different tracks. This makes for a very adventurous album with different songs; not every one of them is great but you have to admire the dedication.
For the playlist: „Diane“, „Gunslinging Bird“, „Far Wells, Mill Valley“, „Mood Indigo“
25 |
The Horace Silver Quintet | Horace-Scope (Blue Note)
The bright yellow color of the cover indicates the tone of the album: It‘s joyful, happy Hard Bop, beautifully composed by Silver and performed admirably by the quintet (Horace Silver on piano, Blue Mitchell on the trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor saxophone, Gene Taylor on bass and Roy Brooks on drums). The structure steps away from the „rhythm section provides background and wind instruments do solos“ way and instead sees saxophone and trumpet weaving their way through solos and periods of joint playing. „Without You“ is not composed by Silver and works a bit differently, but is still pretty enough for me not to find fault in that.
For the playlist: „Where You At?“, „Without You“, „Yeah!“, „Me and My Baby“
26 |
Nat Adderley | Work Song (Riverside)
The line-up here is interesting and unusual. Next to Adderley‘s cornet, there‘s Montgomery‘s guitar and Sam Jones on cello (and occassionally on bass). Timmons plays piano as usual and Percy Heath is responsible for the bass. The title and the red-heavy cover may imply an album of critical songs, but it‘s more or less a straightforward Hard Bop album with a mixture of original compositions and standards. That‘s not really a criticism, because the artistry on display here is wonderful, especially on the title track.
For the playlist: „Work Song“, „Mean to Me“, „Fallout“, „My Heart Stood Still“
27 |
Duke Ellington | Blues in Orbit (Columbia)
According to producer Teo Macero‘s liner notes this album is primarily a blues album. The music is indeed firmly rooted in the blues style, but the approach (as it seems to me) is primarily a jazz one. The album primarily features compositions by Ellington, but there‘s one by Jimmy Hamilton and one by Billy Strayhorn (and multiple ones where Ellington collaborated with someone else). Some of these tracks are jazz standards, like „C Jam Blues“ which had already been recorded by Ellington previously. The special thing about this album is the big band instrumentation. Occasionally it is very squawking, but that gives it a nice tone. It‘s not as orchestral as Miles Davis‘s collaborations with Gil Evans, but it‘s also not as powerful as many more modern big band albums. The general tone remains rooted in the blues, so the music stays subdued even in its louder moments.
For the playlist: „Sweet & Pungent“, „Blues in Blueprint“, „The Swingers Get the Blues, Too“, „The Swinger‘s Jump“
28 |
Raymond Scott & The Secret 7 | The Unexpected (Top Rank)
This is a weird one. The backing band, „The Secret 7“ was actually secret and nobody knew who the people were who played on the album (later it was revealed by Jean Thielemans who besides him played on the album). The instrumentation (piano, harmonica, trumpet, guitar, saxophone, bass, organ, drums) implies a jazz record, but certainly an uneven one. The result is certainly „jazz“, but it‘s unlike other records from the genre that were around at the time. It‘s playful and experiments with sped-up vocals (blasphemy for purists!). I have no idea about the continuity of this idea, but it really sounds like a precursor of what Frank Zappa would later do in the ‚60s; even the melodies and the way of singing on the vocal tracks remind me of his Mothers of Invention albums. An unexpected pleasure.
For the playlist: „And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon“, „In the Beginning“, „March of the Diddles“, „And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon“
29 |
The Modern Jazz Quartet | Pyramid (Atlantic)
For any jazz combo that includes a vibraphone, there‘s a certain danger that it overtakes all the other instruments with its clear, high-pitched sound and, in moments this is almost the case here. But the other members of the quartet are skilled enough to keep this album from becoming a Jackson solo show. It‘s very cool jazz, so don‘t look for complicated solos or rhythm-focused dance tracks. The songs are mostly calm and quiet, but feature a lot of interesting ideas.
For the playlist: „Pyramid“, „How High the Moon“, „Romaine“
30 |
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra | Piano in the Background (Columbia)
I adore big bands mostly for the power they‘re able to infuse into musical material. When there‘s four trumpets, four trombones and five woodwind players it will be loud of course, but Ellington manages his band very well, making everything seem consistent. The title makes it seem like he has a small role, which is not really true. The piano is not in the background (it is more quiet than the winds, but that‘s normal) and he leads the orchestra while he‘s playing. So the title seems like false modesty. Anways, it‘s really a lot of fun.
For the playlist: „What Am I Here For“, „Kinda Dukish / Rockin‘ in Rhythm“, „Mid-Riff“
31 |
Bobby Timmons | This Here Is Bobby Timmons (Riverside)
Pianist Timmons plays four original compositions and five covers of well-known and not-so-well-known standards with Jimmy Cobb on drums and Sam Jones on bass. The focus is clearly on Timmons though; his playing is not subdued, but confident and decorated (in „My Funny Valentine“ maybe a bit too much). The songs on here are all rather short for a jazz album which enables him to put nine tracks on a 37-minute-long album. The strong pieces are the fast ones where the rhythm section provides the propelling rhythm, and Timmons plays his embellishing melodies.
For the playlist: „This Here“, „Moanin‘“, „The Party‘s Over“, „Dat Dere“, „Come Rain or Come Shine“, „Joyride“
32 |
Joan Baez | Joan Baez (Vanguard)
Interpretations of traditional folk songs with very sparse instrumentation; in most cases it‘s just Baez singing and accompanying herself with the acoustic guitar. On a few tracks, John Hellerman joins her with his acoustic guitar. This mostly works because of Baez‘s unique voice, so if you have problems with that you will certainly not get into this album.
For the playlist: „Silver Dagger“, „House of the Rising Sun“, „All My Trials“, „Donna Donna“
33 |
Freddie Hubbard | Open Sesame (Blue Note)
I haven‘t had time to listen to Hubbard, but I love 1971‘s
Sing Me a Song of Songmy. This is not in that vein. It‘s a fairly standard Hard Bop album with originals and standards played by a quintet. Next to Hubbard‘s trumpet, there‘s Clifford Jarvis on drums, Sam Jones on bass, Tina Brooks on tenor sax and McCoy Tyner on piano. Tyner would of course go on to do enormously great things. The title track is the most interesting one.
For the playlist: „Open Sesame“, „But Beautiful“, „One Mint Julep“
34 |
Gerry Mulligan & Ben Webster | Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (Verve)
A meeting of two saxophones: Mulligan plays the baritone and Webster the tenor. They bring out the best in each other, making beautifully smooth cool jazz.
For the playlist: „Chelsea Bridge“, „Sunday“, „Who‘s Got Rhythm“, „Go Home“
35 |
Etta James | At Last! (Argo)
This album consists mostly of covers of well-known standards, but each of these versions is unique by James‘s great wonderful vocal performances that range from quiet crooning to powerful shouting. The orchestrals stay support her vocals and stay in the background, which is a very good thing, because music like this with a lot of orchestra runs the high risk of being cheesy. But that danger is fortunately averted. James makes these songs her own and creates a consistent album. The biggest problem is the weird chorus in „Tough Mary“, but that‘s just one of ten songs.
For the playlist: „Trust in Me“, „I Just Want to Make Love to You“, „At Last“
36 |
Yusef Lateef | The Centaur and the Phoenix (Riverside)
Lateef plays four different woodwind instruments on this album: the tenor saxophone, the flute, the oboe and the arghul, a traditional instrument from Egypt. He‘s supported by a band of piano, bass, drums, three brass and two woodwinds. The music is beautiful, but the big band character is missing a bit for me. It just seems like he didn‘t need a larger ensemble to play these songs in this fashion.
For the playlist: „Ev‘ry Day (I Fall in Love)“, „The Centaur and the Phoenix“, „Iqbal“, „The Philanthropist“
37 |
Ray Charles | Ray Charles in Person (Atlantic)
A live album recorded on May 28th, 1959 in the Alonzo Herndon Stadium in Atlanta. Considering its live nature (and the recording date) the sound quality here is astounding. Charles‘s vocals, the background singers and the instruments sound very clear. Of course it features „What‘d I Say“ in a very good version, but the highlights for me are the two completely instrumental tracks in the middle that have a jazz-y nature I didn‘t expect from Charles.
For the playlist: „The Spirit-Feel“ (apparently released for the first time in 1960)
38 |
Bill Evans Trio | Portrait in Jazz (Riverside)
Bill Evans was the pianist on Miles Davis‘s famous album
Kind of Blue, released in 1959. He also co-wrote „Flamenco Sketches“ and „Blue in Green“; a rendition of the latter can be found on this album, but with much sparser instrumentation. The Bill Evans Trio consisted of himself at the piano, of course, Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums. Evans is not a very playful pianist, meaning he doesn‘t feel the need to show off, but the way he carries these songs (almost all of which are covers of well-known standards) deserves recommendation. LaFaro also gets a few solos, but Motian seems to stay in the background (in my opinion maybe a bit too much). The selection of songs is quite good and interesting; apparently Evans decided to cover the Snow White song „Someday My Prince Will Come“ before Miles Davis had the same idea the year later. Overall, a pleasant piano trio but not very surprising.
For the playlist: „Witch Craft“, „Peri‘s Scope“, „Blue in Green“
39 |
Georges Brassens | N° 7 [Les funérailles d‘antan] (Philips)
Considering that I can barely understand any of the lyrics, this works very well for me.
For the playlist: „Les funérailles d‘antan“, „Embrasse-les tous“, „L‘orage“
40 |
The Jazztet | Meet the Jazztet (Argo)
A sextet consisting of Art Farmer on trumpet, Benny Golson on tenor saxophone (both are explicity mentioned on the cover as well), Curtis Fuller on trombone, Addison Farmer on bass, Lex Humphries on drums and the great McCoy Tyner on piano. Half the tracks were composed by Golson, the other half are standards. The highlight here are the solos, especially by Humphries and Tyner (especially the latter).
For the playlist: „Serenata“, „Avalon“, „Blues March“, „Mox Nix“, „Easy Living“
41 |
Ben Webster & Oscar Peterson | Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson (Verve)
Webster‘s playing style on the tenor saxophone is one of the smoothest I‘ve heard. The entire cool mood is supported by the Oscar Peterson Trio, here complete with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. They only play standards, but their versions are very nice and the musicians complement each other well.
For the playlist: „When Your Lover Has Gone“, „How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky)“, „Sunday“
42 |
Bernard Herrmann | Psycho (Unicorn-Kanchana)
Technically this is a 1975 release, but I think I can justify its inclusion by the release date of the movie. The score is a significant part of the movie and gives it a chilling atmosphere. The piercing violins are legendary of course, but the best part for me is the foreboding atmosphere prevalent in tracks like „Prelude“.
For the playlist: „Prelude“, „Temptation“, „The Bathroom / The Murder / The Body“
43 |
Curtis Fuller‘s Quintet | Blues-ette (Savoy)
The trombone is certainly not the instrument anyone immediately thinks about when talking about jazz instruments. Indeed there‘s quite a number of trombonists in jazz music. Fuller being on eof the most famous. Joining him here are Tommy Flanagan on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, Al Harewood on drums and Benny Golson on tenor saxophone. Fuller and Golson would later be part of Art Blakey‘s Jazz Messengers. The stereo mix doesn‘t really work here, at least not on headphones. The trombone is on the left side, the saxophone on the right side, but they firmly stay there even during longer solos which is quite unnerving. But the moments when Fuller and Golson play the exact same melody, that only sounds different because of the instruments, are very interesting. Golson and Garrison are the MVPs here.
For the playlist: „Undecided“, „Minor Vamp“
44 |
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | The Big Beat (Blue Note)
Another album by Art Blakey, but this one is not quite as good as the live album from Paris. It‘s a studio album featuring a quintet of notable musicians. There‘s the band leader Blakey himself of course, but we also have Jymie Merritt on basss, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax and Bobby Timmons on the piano. Shorter provided three of the six compositions on the album, there‘s also a standard and Timmons‘s „Dat Dere“, making this the third album of 1960 I‘ve heard featuring some version of that song. It seems to have been quite popular. Timmons and Blakey have the most notable solos, on „Dat Dere“ and „Sakeena‘s Vision“, respectively.
For the playlist: „Sakeena‘s Vision“, „Politely“
45 |
João Gilberto | O amor, o sorriso e a flor (Odeon)
This album has the reputation of being an important step in popularizing Brazilian music outside of Brazil, specifically Bossa nova that would stay relevant during the coming years. It features twelve songs in just twenty minutes, meaning that each song is incredibly short which in itself wouldn‘t be a problem, but I do think that the length of the songs does not benefit them at all. Instead it feels like song ideas that could turn into great songs were recorded and they just left it at that. The music itself is basically the classic bossa nova sound with very emphasized string arrangements, but the individual songs fail to make an impact for me.
For the playlist: „Só em teus braços“, „Meditação“
46 |
Eden Ahbez „Nature Boy“ | Eden‘s Island: The Music of an Enchanted Isle (Del-Fi)
I won‘t use this space here to talk about the exploitative nature of Exotica that certainly exists, but this album is a bit different from the rest of the genre. The name „Nature Boy“ on the cover comes from his most famous composition, which was made popular by Nat „King“ Cole. There‘s also a photograph of Ahbez with Brian Wilson during the recording sessions for
Smile. Ahbez was sort of a forefather of the hippie movement despite him basically just copying ideas that were around for far longer („back to nature“ has always been a trend). This album features instrumentals that evoke the feeling of being on an isolated, peaceful island, complete with fitting sound effects. Ahbez recites some rather generic „all is one“ poetry, but the result is actually rather pleasant. There‘s also a pretty horrible song called „Mongoose“ which is unfortunate at best. I don‘t like saying people are „ahead of their time“, because I believe that isn‘t possible. It‘s the other way around: Mass movements have their roots in smaller movements or even individuals. I do think Ahbez can be seen as one (of many) roots for the second half of the ‚60s, showing that what happened there, didn‘t just appear from thin air.
For the playlist: „Eden‘s Cove“, „Full Moon“, „The Old Boat“
47 |
Gene Ammons | Boss Tenor (Prestige)
Ammons leads a quintet consisting of himself, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, Arthur Taylor on drums and Ray Barretto on congas. This means that there‘s a rather large rhythm section mostly focused on providing him the background so he can show that he‘s the boss of the tenor saxophone. Problem is, he‘s not. He‘s good, but he‘s not the boss. But the album isn‘t bad.
For the playlist: „Hittin‘ the Jug“, „My Romance“, „Canadian Sunset“
48 |
Elvis Presley | Elvis Is Back! (RCA Victor)
After Presley came back from the army on March 2 and was discharged on March 5, he recorded these twelve songs in just four days over two weeks (March 20 & 21, April 3 & 4) and four days after the last session (April 8), the album was already released. That‘s incredibly fast work but the result doesn‘t seem rushed. The production is smooth and the songs sound good. The album goes a bit more into the pop direction, which works very well with the instrumentation and Presley‘s improved vocals. But to me, it‘s mostly fine; there are only few tracks that I really like and the rest mostly leaves me cold. But it‘s certainly a nice album.
For the playlist: „Fever“, „Thrill of Your Love“, „Like a Baby“
49 |
Mel Tormé & The Marty Paich Orchestra | Swings Shubert Alley (Verve)
Jazz versions of famous Broadway songs with orchestral backing. The comparison to Sinatra, who is probably more well-known than Tormé is not too far off, but I feel like this album relies more on the orchestra than most Vocal Jazz albums do. It‘s one of those cases where an occasional song from the album works better for me than the entire thing at once, not because it gets repetitive, which it doesn‘t, but rather because this style just seems better suited for „song listening“ (at least to me).
For the playlist: „Too Close for Comfort“, „All I Need Is a Girl“, „Old Devil Moon“
50 |
Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs from the Soundtrack of „Let No Man Write My Epitaph“ (Verve)
I haven‘t seen the movie but I doubt that matters because what this boils down to is a rather typical album of standards. The mood is maybe a bit too consistently mellow.
For the playlist: „Angel Eyes“, „I Cried for You“, „September Song“, „One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)“