Afternoon listening: Some Informal Jazz on a sunny Friday

March 17, 2017

Informal Jazz sounds great on this Friday afternoon...

I have taken the day off of work. Sitting here enjoying "Informal Jazz" by The Elmo Hope Sextet on Prestige 7043. It's a nice album. My boy is taking a nap, which he doesn't do much anymore, but I'm seizing the moment and getting some listening done. I'm grabbing every opportunity I can, cause these days it's hard to find the time.

I have some thoughts on what albums I will purchase next. Like I've mentioned, I'm getting hooked on the Bill Evans Trio albums on Riverside. So I'm hoping to add a few more to the collection before long. I only have "Portrait In Jazz", which is fantastic. Fingers crossed..

I'm wondering a bit how much you guys are listening to jazz on vinyl, in let's say a week? How many times, hours? I probably get a couple of hours per week worth of listening to my albums at the moment. Almost exclusively on the weekends. That's bound to change at some point, when the children grow up. Then I'll probably listen almost every day.

Looking forward to posting the next album here before long, stay tuned for that... have a great weekend folks. Cheers!

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BASH! by the Dave Bailey Sextet

September 24, 2015

First, sorry for not posting for a while. I guess I've just enjoyed playing the records too much, huh? Oh, what to say about this album.. This is perhaps one of my favorite albums that I own. It has a lot of the stuff I seek for in jazz. The personnel are a superb bunch: Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Frank Haynes (tenor), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Ben Tucker (bass) and Dave Bailey (drums). There are a nice mix of tunes to be enjoyed here. Two of them are piano trio stuff, "Like Someone In Love" and "Just Friends", where Tommy Flanagan is in the center of attention, and how lovely that is. Makes me want to aquire the Overseas album on Prestige also.

The other tunes are truly great, the first track is a superb version of Sonny Rollins' "Grand Street", which makes you dig along immediately. Kenny Dorham's "An Oscar For Oscar" is an up-tempo piece which delivers some nice blowing by the cats with the horns. The same goes for "Osmosis". When I listen to the opening solo statement by Dorham on that tune, I realize exactly why I hold him in such high regard. That puffy tone is brilliant. I dig his style a lot. Frank Haynes, which I haven't explored a lot up to this point, really blows some good stuff on this tune as well. Curtis Fuller doesn't disappoint either and makes the trombone feel like quite a nice, interesting instrument. The closing track is the bluesy "Soul Support", which is also a joy, with some good, quality work by all.

How about the leader of this splendid session? Well, I like his drumming for sure. I've digged him ever since I saw him in a YouTube video together with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet performing a tune live on a TV-show from 1958 I believe. I need to check out more of his work.

This is an album which musical contents I came across not too long ago actually. I was impressed straight away and almost aquired it from eBay, but lost out on that copy. Then I got an opportunity to aquire a great copy elsewhere and I didn't hesitate for one second. This album was a must-have. So I luckily got it now, and I must say, if you haven't checked this one out yet, give it a shot. You will dig it, I'm quite confident of that. My copy is of course a 1st mono pressing, but it can also be found in stereo. It's quite rare, but is worth the effort and pennies to try and get.

Does anybody else have something they like to say about this album, please, write away! Stay tuned for more nice, rare pieces from the collection.

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Hank Mobley on BLP 1560

August 23, 2015

A truly great and rare vintage jazz vinyl LP.

Beautiful is the condition of this copy. An original 1st pressing of BLP 1560 in M-/M- condition is very rare. This copy is superb, the sound is great and the tunes are all hard bop at it's best. I love Philly Joe Jones drumming on this one. He's always great though. This is the legendary collector/dealer Leon Leavitt's own personal copy. An amazing example of a truly great, rare Blue Note. The personnel on this one is stellar, with Mobley on the tenor, John Jenkins on the alto, Donald Byrd on the trumpet, Bobby Timmons on the piano, Wilbur Ware on the bass and Philly Joe Jones on the drums.

This is quite a catch and is one of my latest acquisitions. My collection of Blue Notes is growing slowly but surely. Some really big titles has been crossed of the list. This is one of the hardest ones to find and I'm happy to have been able to add this to the collection. I wonder how much this copy would be worth in 10 years. I think all rare Blue Notes are going to rise in value in the coming years. It just feels that way right now. That's not important to me though, as I'm playing and enjoying them just for myself, and I'm never going to sell any of them.

Are there any other lucky cats out there owning an original copy of this one? If so, please share. I just received this one and two other extremely nice LP's last week. I've listen to all of them and they are in amazing condition. I will of course put the other ones up here on the site later as well.

Stay tuned for more superb vintage jazz vinyl treasures.

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Informal Jazz by the Elmo Hope Sextet on PRLP 7043

June 19, 2015

This is a nice album. Four tunes, no hassle, just straight up hard bop to enjoy on a rainy midsummer's eve like this. This album features both John Coltrane and Hank Mobley on tenor saxes. How cool is that? Very cool. Two of my favorite tenor players on one album. And the other cats on this are a formidable bunch; Elmo Hope on piano, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on double bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. I must say, I really dig the piano playing of Elmo Hope. I haven't really started to explore his other stuff in depth, but I know there's some really nice stuff to check out. For example BLP 5044, a nice 10". I'm quite keen on purchasing some more Blue Note 10" records.

But back to Informal Jazz. The tunes are great, I dig them all a lot. The favorites perhaps being the ballad "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and the up-tempo "Weeja". This LP is quite rare. I bought it quite a long time ago, when the covers where less important to me. The cover is a bit worn but that's ok. The LP plays beautifully. I'm happy with my copy. A really nice album to have in the collection. It's always nice to be reminded when I flip through the collection that I have this and when I see it I always get tempted to put it on the turntable. I guess, when I start to concentrate on collecting all the nice stuff Coltrane recorded, I'll be happy to already have one of the rarer ones he's on.

I would recommend this one to all of you rare jazz vinyl collectors out there. A 1st pressing won't come cheap, but it's probably in the low medium range on the value chart of rare vintage jazz vinyl.

I'm heading off to Mexico next week for a summer vacation which will also include Florida. At last, some relaxation. Looking forward to that. The weather at the start of the summer here in Sweden hasn't been the best, but Mexico will provide some much needed warmth and sunshine. I will post stuff during that time as well. After the vacation some new arrivals will be coming in. Some very, very nice stuff which I will put up on the site as soon as possible.

Have a nice weekend and stay tuned for more rare vintage jazz vinyl.

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Hank Mobley with Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan on BLP 1540

June 7, 2015

A nice Lexington label Blue Note that will not disappoint.

High energy blowing session with Hank Mobley joined by two of the greatest trumpet players of the golden era, namely Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan. As you've probably already gathered by now, I love jazz trumpet and Lee Morgan in particular, which makes this LP a real treat for me. It's one of those beautiful, early Blue Notes with the famous Lexington labels and the vinyl weighs a ton. All the other attributes which a 1st pressing should have are also there. It has got the wonderful coated frame cover as well. All the things that makes collecting original 1st pressing Blue Notes such a lovely thing. You can really feel the history breathing when you play and hold this historical artifact. A great feeling.

This LP is very rare. Quite difficult to find in it's original form with the coated frame cover present as well. My copy is in great condition and sounds awesome. I'm playing it right now. It's been a while since I last put it on the turntable. It's a great record. You feel happy when you listen to these tunes. Hank Mobley is truly one of the great tenor saxophonists. His tone is smooth, dark and luscious. Like a high cocoa content piece of dark chocolate. You just sip some bourbon, enjoy these amazing artists and let them take you away to a distant place.

All tunes are very enjoyable. I dig "Barrel of Funk" a lot, as it plays at this moment in the background. The personnel on this LP are absolutely outstanding. Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan on trumpets, Horace Silver on piano, Paul Chambers on double bass and the fantastic Charlie Persip on drums. Could it get better than that? You'd be hard pressed to find a tighter ensemble.

This is a LP from the era that you would want in your collection, no doubt. Straight forward hard bop at it's finest. Check it out if you haven't already.

Really looking forward to add some new pieces to the collection, but they will have to wait a bit, but not very long. I have some really nice stuff coming up. Really good music. Really rare.

More beautiful pieces from my collection are coming up, so as always, stay tuned. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know your opinion on this album or anything else. Cheers!

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"Playboys" by The Chet Baker & Art Pepper Sextet PJ-1234

January 11, 2015

Two of my absolute favorite jazz artists of all time together here on this wonderful album from 1956. Chet Baker, the artist I have the most records of, but I still need to get me some of the early ones on Pacific Jazz, for example. Chet is my first love when it comes to jazz trumpet. I love his style, both the early, more cleaner, brilliant sound as well as the later, drug-hazed, false teeth sound. Art Pepper, my favorite alto saxophonist after Bird also graces this recording. He and Chet has to be on my top 5 all time jazz artists list. I'm trying to collect all the early Pepper material also, and I have some of the good stuff in my collection now, but I'm still missing a couple of albums.

This LP is fantastic, with lots of nice tunes. Favorite pick on this is, without a doubt "Minor-Yours". A superb original composition by Art Pepper. Great, swinging cool jazz that makes you wanna move around a bit. This copy I have is in very nice, clean condition. With a NM-, or thereabouts, jacket and a M- record. This is among Chet Baker's and Art Pepper's greatest work I think.

I love west coast/cool jazz and the labels of the era that released that music, such as Pacific Jazz/World Pacific Records, Jazz:West and so on. If you don't have this particular album, I suggest you look it up, and that you try and find a decent original copy. Great stuff.

More nice records coming up, stay tuned. Feel free to comment and offer your own opinion on this LP or any other post on the site, cheers!