Max Roach Plus Four on the Chicago Scene on Emarcy MG-36132

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Superb album on which Booker Little excels.

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Booker Little steals the show on this. Morgan has been my favorite trumpeter for ages but Booker Little has slowly overtaken first spot for me. His playing is so brilliant and his compositions are so innovative. On this album he hasn’t composed any tunes but the playing is outstanding. Fiery and lyrical. His solo on “My Old Flame”, especially after about 02:10 in, is completely out of this world.

Roach and Little recorded several albums together just like Roach and Brownie did. The same outcome tragically occurred in the end for both of these virtuosic trumpeters, as they died very young.

The stuff Max Roach released as a leader is highly enjoyable. I will try and find some more albums as they are often reasonably priced as well, which complies nicely with my new philosophy of focusing on cheaper titles.

I got to mention Roach’s drumming on this album as well, he plays so good. Very lyrical and tasteful in his appROACH. ‘Nuff said.

Do you have a favorite Max Roach album? Please share.

Cheers!

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"Study in Brown" by Clifford Brown and Max Roach on Emarcy MG-36037

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All time classic by one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time.

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This is actually my first original pressing which features Clifford Brown which is completely nuts, considering I love his playing. Well, I’ve tried to secure both this title and Brown & Roach Incorporated, also on Emarcy, for a very long time. So it’s not like I haven’t tried, but it’s been difficult to find these titles in top condition and with all the 1st pressing details present, like the blue tinted back slick. I finally found this copy a few months back and it’s in absolutely top condition and sounds lovely. So happy to now have one of the very best Brownie titles secured and filed. The search continues after more titles in his catalogue. Excited to try and find some of them.

The music is so well executed and the original compositions are top notch. Clifford Brown is of course a jazz trumpet legend and to me, one of the very best trumpeters of all time. If I had to make a top 5 list of my favorite jazz trumpeters he would definitely be on that. Max Roach, another jazz legend, is a drummer who plays with such finesse, love him. The whole group is so good. Dig the individual styles of all of them and especially the chemistry they share with one another. They sound so tight and overall it’s a pity there aren’t more titles available except for the handful they recorded together before the tragic deaths of Brownie and Powell.

Favorite picks from this album include “Cherokee”, ”Lands End” and “George’s Dilemma”. All tunes on here are wonderful and highly enjoyable.

Enjoying the new listening space and the new house. It’s so nice to have my own space, never had that before. Will try and post more regularly and also begin to make some more YouTube videos. Hope you are all enjoying your collections, cheers!