"That's It!" by Booker Ervin on Candid CJM 8014

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Another great Booker Ervin title.

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Like every other Ervin album I’ve heard this one is lovely. I’ve been after it for a long time. It’s quite difficult to find in great shape so I’m happy to have found this copy which is in top shape for sure.

Ervin had a very unique style and one that is immediately recognizable. Like I’ve mentioned before, his approach is fiery and very skilful. Always connected with the blues, always soulful, whether it’s a beautiful ballad or a real cooker.

I’m aiming to collect plenty more by Ervin and I’ve managed to find several of his titles on Prestige already. I really dig those later groups.

This album is of course highly recommended.

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"New Horn in Town" by the Richard Williams Quintet on Candid CJM 8003

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A treat on Candid.

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This is a highly enjoyable session with trumpeter Richard Williams. It would be his only date as the leader. He recorded as a sideman on quite a few albums, perhaps most notably on some legendary Mingus albums. I’ll be honest, I haven’t explored his output much, but from what I’ve heard so far his style is right up my alley. He both has lovely technique as well as plenty of lyricism. And with my love for jazz trumpet in general, I feel this album has plenty to offer.

Lee Morgan is my favorite trumpeter and his rendition of Benny Golsons ”I Remember Clifford” on BLP 1557 is one of my favorite ballads of all time. Richard Williams performs his own take on the beautiful threnody to Brownie here, and he delivers some trumpet candy for sure. 

It’s always a real treat to dive deeper into an artists work, when said artist perhaps has been on the periphery of ones jazz explorations. I’ll eventually take that deep dive into Williams’ output, but for now, this session as well as some other sideman stuff with Mingus on ”Black Saint…” and ”Mingus x 5” and Oliver Nelsons ”Screamin’ the Blues” will do just fine.

Do you have any opinion on this album or Richard Williams’ other work, or as a trumpeter in general? Write away guys.

Take care and enjoy the summer and some jazz on vinyl. Cheers!

Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus on Candid CJM 8005

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Mingus with this small group is fantastic.

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Starts with a great introduction by Mingus himself. And then we’re off. Love the “live” feeling of the sound and approach to this album. It’s very special jazz, as you’d expect from Mingus. Full of soul, fire and a dedication to preserving sounds of the past and making it sound fresh and progressive. I really enjoy this small group, consisting of Mingus on double bass, Eric Dolphy on alto sax and bass clarinet, Ted Curson on trumpet and Dannie Richmond on drums. It’s a nice change to the larger ensembles often employed by the bassist.

Highlight of the album is the tune “What Love” on which Dolphy’s bass clarinet and Mingus’ bass interacts with each other in a beautiful way.

I love Mingus and this is just another great album that I’m very happy to have in the collection. There are plenty of Mingus titles that I still miss, and of course I will try and hopefully secure some more when the opportunity arises.

Got some titles on Candid now, and I think it’s a very enjoyable label. You can find some real bargains as supposed to some of the other classic labels. Will keep my eye out for more titles.

I’m in the process of deciding on some titles that I’d like to acquire. We’ll see which ones I’ll go for. Exciting to get some new stuff into the collection for sure.

I hope you’re enjoying your collections and staying safe. Stay tuned… cheers!

"Out Front" by Booker Little on Candid CJM 8027

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Here’s some unique and highly pleasurable jazz.

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This albums contains quite a special brand of jazz. It’s very suggestive and creative. It’s smooth but challenging and full of inspiring passages. Booker Little has composed all the tunes, very impressive. These originals are highly interesting and far from your regular hard bop tunes. What a great trumpeter Booker is. Eric Dolphy is also present, and we know what a fabulous combination those two cats are together. Both are true masters of their craft and they complement each other in a superb way. Just listen to this album, Far Cry and the Five Spot albums to get a sense of what that partnership was all about. I also dig the playing and approach by Max Roach and his tympani. The other cats are Julian Priester on trombone, Art Davis and Ron Carter on double bass and Don Friedman on piano. A very nice group.

I have two copies of this album. Both copies has some flaws but I’m just happy to own this music on original vinyl. Maybe I’ll be able to upgrade to a NM copy someday, but for now these copies will do and they are very enjoyable to listen to. Loud and clear sound with superb detail, just some intermittent pops and clicks. After all, we’re talking 60 year old vintage vinyl…

I‘ll keep my eye out for an even better copy of this title, and also some other Booker Little titles on other labels. I’ve always held the trumpet as my favorite instrument in jazz and Booker Little is in my top 10 list of greatest trumpeters of all time, despite his short career. And in addition to being a master trumpeter this album really displays his wonderful compositional skills as well. A set of very unique tunes for sure. Another instrument that I find very interesting in jazz is the double bass. I find it very expressive, I love the sound and I’m so in awe of all the master bassists and their skills on this big instrument. Just now for example I’ve watched some instructional videos on YouTube featuring Gary Peacock and I’ve watched “An Evening with Eddie Gomez” as well, and I find it fascinating.

Question for my readers: As this is a trumpeter-led session, could you give me your top 5 albums which features a trumpeter as a leader? Think I’ve asked this before, but let’s do it again; favorite instrument in jazz?

I have 3 new albums coming to me on Tuesday next week. Looking forward to that. Some new blood into the collection. I hope you guys have added some great stuff to your collections so far this year as well. Enjoy your weekend, stay safe and stay tuned for more original vintage jazz vinyl… cheers!

"Mingus" by Charles Mingus on Candid CJM 8021

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Listening to Mingus is always a very rewarding experience.

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Eric Dolphy with Mingus, it’s sublime. I can watch the live videos on YouTube from Mingus’ 1964 European Tour over and over again. It’s such a passionate, fiery and deeply interesting brand of jazz. This is my first Candid LP. The label has some great titles to be enjoyed. I have already secured another one just a few days ago. I’m still looking for two very special titles; one with Booker Little as a leader and one with Booker Ervin. I’m sure there are more great titles on Candid which I will of course investigate.

Very happy to have secured the album on display here. It features a couple of wonderful Mingus originals. The band consists of some great musicians, like Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson, Booker Ervin and Dannie Richmond to name a few. I truly love Mingus’ music. It’s so full of life, joy, anger, fire, romance, empathy, artistic expression, compositional excellence and so on. This album is no exception. A wonderful session worth seeking out. I’m aiming to collect a lot more of Mingus’ work. I have a couple more albums of his which I haven’t posted yet, stay tuned for those. I have posted “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” and “Mingus Ah Um” before, so check those two posts out if you haven’t already.

This year has been quite productive in getting more titles onto my shelves. I have been fortunate enough to been able to add some great titles in superb condition. I’ve largely stayed away from super high-end stuff on Blue Note for example, and instead focused on some cheaper originals (relatively, compared to the more expensive Blue Notes) like this Candid release and other stuff on New Jazz, Atlantic and Impulse. I have managed to add some heavy hitters as well. It’s been a nice mix of interesting albums from different labels. I’m expecting a couple of newcomers. One hopefully today or tomorrow and one later in the week. Both are superb albums, but one is so outstanding that I can’t wait for it to arrive, so I can put it on the turntable and be blown away. It’s a live session and it has become one of my absolute favorite albums. Stay tuned for that one coming up.

Some questions for my readers: What’s your take on this album? Does it make your Mingus top 10? Top 3 Candid releases? Please share your thoughts guys.

As I write this I just got a note that one of my incoming albums has arrived. I will go out and fetch it. This turned out to be a really good Monday. Stay safe and enjoy your records. Cheers!