FW Rare Jazz Vinyl Collector

It starts off with lovely Caribbean flavors. The sound is crisp and clean. Blue Mitchell was a wonderful player. I’ve got to get some more of his stuff into the collection. Another earlier one of his that I love and have on the shelf is “Blue’s Moods” released on Riverside in 1960. There are many more to keep my eyes out for. On the featured album he is backed by Junior Cook on tenor (a cat I haven’t explored at all), Chick Corea on piano (got to dive into his catalogue as well), Gene Taylor on double bass and Al Foster on drums. A great group, very cohesive.

I quite enjoy the tenor playing of Junior Cook, he’s got a nice approach. He is yet another example for me, even though I’ve listened to jazz for so many years, that there is still so much more to explore and wonderful artists to discover more in depth. Chick Corea is another one. I must admit, I take things slowly. The benefit then being that the flow of unexplored jazz artists and albums will not dry up anytime soon for me.

The music on this album is very easy to grasp. It offers no big surprises, just good jazz. Perfect for a lazy afternoon. The sound of this original mono pressing, which was an eBay grab for a very fair price, is lovely.

Hope you guys are doing great and that you are enjoying your collections. Christmas is not far away now, looking forward to some time off with the family. Cheers!

3 Comments

I love the Riverside label. So many great albums. I like the sound as well. On this album the drums for example sound a bit low-fi at times, but natural and I like that. I was after this Blue Mitchell album for a long time. Had some opportunities to acquire it though but never pulled the trigger. Then I realized that one of my go-to contacts had this and felt the time was right to get it. It’s a great hard bop date with finesse and some superb tunes and wonderful trumpet playing by Blue. It features a great cast of players with Wynton Kelly on piano, Sam Jones on double bass and Roy Brooks on drums. This rhythm section is very interesting and I would very much like to hear them in a trio setting.

It’s a great mix of tunes supplying a lot of what I’m looking for in a hard-bop album. It’s quite relaxed and smooth. All the tunes are highly enjoyable. If I had to choose some favorites it would be the whole of Side 1. Side 2 is also great, but the first side is really doing it for me. I especially love the slow blues “Kinda Vague” which features some interesting stuff on the hi-hat by Roy Brooks. The 1st track on Side 1 is the great “I’ll Close My Eyes” which has been my ring tone on my mobile phone for years.

A lot of questions for my readers: What’s your thoughts on this album? Where do you place Blue Mitchell among all the great trumpet players of jazz? Do you have a favorite Blue Mitchell album? Any tips?

For me, Blue Mitchell really is a top cat and I’m planning to try and get a lot more albums featuring him. He released quite a few more on Riverside where he also made his debut as a leader in 1958. I will be looking at those for sure as well as his Blue Note output.

The status on getting hold of new arrivals is on hold, due to the corona crisis, which makes getting stuff from overseas tricky and maybe not completely reliable. I will maybe buy some stuff but telling the sellers to wait to send the packages until the worst of this is over. I’m not sure how reliable it is to send parcels right now across the world. Are any of you guys taking the risk or have had any experience of sending/receiving stuff during this period?

I’m hoping you’re staying safe and healthy and that you enjoy your collections. Maybe put a Blue Mitchell album on the turntable, relax and just enjoy the music.

If you’re looking for a section containing all my earlier posts sorted by month and year, click on “Post History” in the top menu. Stay tuned for more vintage treasures coming up. Cheers!

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"Blue's Moods" by Blue Mitchell on Riverside RLP 336