Here's little Sunday something from a classic Blue Note recording of trumpeter Lee Morgan along with saxophonist Joe Henderson, pianist Barry Harris, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins.
Prior to his solo deal with Blue Note for whom he recorded some 25 albums, he played with Art Blakely and Dizzie Gillespie.
The tune here was actually a pretty big hit throughout 1964 and may have saved the label from bankruptcy at the time. Recorded in December 21, 1963, it's got a timeless presuasive sructure and ranks up there with the all time jams.
here's from the original Blue Note 4157 liner notes written by jazz critic Leonard Feather:
The title number might best be described as a long meter blues ( 24 measures to the chorus). "the tune kind of put me in mind of the sidewinder - you know, the "bad guy" on television," says Lee. "There's a snake called the sidewinder, but I was thinking of the bad guy." If the character and mood seems a little different from that of the aveerage blues, you can attribute it to the the unexpected change at bars 17-18 of each chorus, when a minor chord is introduced.
The fascinating rhythm section figure established during the opening ensembles is sustained throughout the solos, giving the performance a deep blue tinge as wellas a Latin touch. Lee's solo, fluent and sensitively constructed, never becomes grandstandy and relies at times on essentially simple devices, such as the repeated B flat in the last of his three choruses. Henderson's solo is rich in melodic variety (note the contrast between the busy opening and simple continuation in his second chorus). Harris piano picks up in the intensity as it goes along, aided on his third chorus by the horns' backing. Cranshaw bears out Lee's complimentary observations in a fine solo that owe part of it's success to the continued pulsing of Billy Higgins percussion figures.
Uh, what he said... You tell 'em Leonard...
Being a short attention span un-analytical cat myself, I have to say there are few recordings that seem more enjoyable all the way through. I ain't gonna complain a bit here that the whole 10 minute sonic enchilda here just goes on too long, in fact ya almost wish for more.... jam on boys.
Here's a cut from Branford Marsalis' hip hop influenced project Buckshot leFonque a few years back...these cuts are a tribute to Mr. James Brown
Buckshot LeFonque - James Brown pts 1 & 2
Speaking of James Brown, and horn players, why not a little Maceo eh?
Starting with his work in James Brown's backing band and then onto his work with Parliament/Funkadelic, few modern sax players have reached and deeply pleased a larger audience...
(save for say Kenny G... aaaackkk!)
Here's something from a fairly recent Maceo solo release via What Are Records called Funk Overload...
Download Maceo Parker - "Elephant's Foot" (MP3, 192kbps)
Maceo Parker, What Are Records
Awhile back I got turned onto a site called Mog.com, which sorta attempts to combine the appeal of MySpace with Last.fm and is attempting to build an online music community.
The only thing I didn't like about it was the somewhat intrusive software aplication that seemed to cause problems with my windoze pooter hanging on the shutdown, and some hesher marketing lackey contacting me telling me to place their ad higher on my blog...
yeah right dude... you listen to Boston and Alice In Chains, go see Y&T tribute bands and you wanna give me advice?
But, hey check it out if ya have the time...
Speaking of Moggs... or whatver
hae ya checked out the Moggs?
A quirky duo act based out of the tidy lil butter & egg loving town of Petaluma CA.
Heres some tunes from their debut CD
Moggs - Disco"
Moggs - Interglacial Marriages
The White Belt Is Not Enough
Moggs
Absolutely Kosher
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody
Buy at eMusic
1 comment:
I will admit that the Sidewinder is up there on my jazz favorites list. Good call.
I also have been known to blare Boston with the windows down.
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