Tuesday, June 02, 2015

NEW RELEASES: WES MONTGOMERY - THE CLASSIC RECORDINGS 1960-1962; CARMELL JONES QUARTET WITH FORREST WESTBROOK - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LOS ANGELES SESSION; OTIS TAYLOR - HEY JOE OPUS RED MEAT

WES MONTGOMERY - THE CLASSIC RECORDINGS 1960-1962

In 1959 Montgomery was signed to the Riverside Records label, and remained there until late 1963, just before the company went bankrupt. The recordings made during this period are widely considered by fans and jazz historians to be Montgomery's best and most influential. Two sessions in January 1960 yielded the record, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, which was recorded as a quartet with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Tootie Heath. The album featured two of Montgomery's best known compositions, Four on Six and West Coast Blues. This album is included on the first volume of this two x four CD series, The Complete Recordings 1958 - 1960. Was Montgomery received many awards and accolades throughout his career; he was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Bumpin' in 1965 and received a Grammy for Goin' Out of My Head as Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by Large Group or Soloist with Large Group, in 1966. He was nominated again for his version of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby and the LP Down Here on the Ground in 1968, and posthumously for Willow, Weep for Me in '69. His second album, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, earned him Down Beat magazine's 'New Star' award in 1960. In addition, he won the Down Beat Critic's Poll award for best Jazz guitarist in 1960, '61, '62,'63, '66, and '67. Jazz purists relish Montgomery's recordings up through 1965, and sometimes complain that he abandoned hard-bop for pop jazz toward the end of his career, although it is arguable that he gained a wider audience for his earlier work with his soft jazz from 1965-1968. During this late period he would occasionally turn out original material alongside jazzy orchestral arrangements of pop songs. In sum, this late period earned him considerable wealth and created a platform for a new audience to hear his earlier recordings. ~ Amazon

CARMELL JONES QUARTET WITH FORREST WESTBROOK - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LOS ANGELES SESSION

In August 1960, 24-year old trumpet player Carmell Jones left his Kansas City home-town and hopped a bus to Los Angeles, intent on hitting the West Coast jazz scene. There, his impact was immediate and would prove to be memorable. He was quickly part of a quartet with pianist Forrest Westbrook, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Bill Schwemmer. They rehearsed at Westbrook s apartment at 2021 Sta. Monica Blvd, Hollywood, where this unreleased material was recorded at the end of that month. It was an amazing session, in which Carmell, oozing confi- dence and assertiveness, demonstrated a fresh, virile and imaginative style, with a warm ballad tone and an authoritatively implacable swing at up tempo. The highly responsive rhythm section locked right on him all the way, and also revealed Forrest Westbrook as a highly talented and sensi- tive pianist, with an advanced concept of improvisation, and a built-in propensity for swinging hard. Along with the pungently powerful Peacock and the driving Schwemmer, they provided an ideally vigor- ous support for Carmell Jones, who, unbelievably soon, would come to be regarded as among the finest trumpeters on the West Coast. These never-before- released recordings, his first on the Coast, show why. ~ Amazon


OTIS TAYLOR - HEY JOE OPUS RED MEAT

With Otis Taylor, it's best to expect the unexpected. While his music, an amalgamation of roots styles in their rawest form, discusses heavyweight issues like murder, homelessness, tyranny, and injustice, his personal style is lighthearted. "I'm good at dark, but I'm not a particularly unhappy person," he says. "I'd just like to make enough money to buy a Porsche." -- -- Part of Taylor's appeal is his contrasting character traits. But it is precisely this element of surprise that makes him one of the most compelling artists to emerge in recent years. Whether it's his unique instrumentation (he fancies banjo and cello), or it's the sudden sound of a female vocal, or a seemingly upbeat opti remains consistent is poignant storytelling based in truth and history. -- -- Otis Mark Taylor was born in Chicago in "My dad worked for the railroad and knew a lot of jazz people. He was a socialist and real bebopper." His mother, Sarah, a tough as nails woman with liberal leanings, had a penchant for Etta James and Pat Boone. Young Otis spent time at the Denver Folklore Center where he bought his first instrument, a banjo. He used to play it while riding his unicycle to high school. The Folklore Center was also the place where he first heard Mississippi John Hurt and country blues. He learned to play guitar and harmonica and by his mid-teens, he formed his first groups' the Butterscotch Fire Department Blues Band and later the Otis Taylor Blues Band. -- (Source: artist website) -- UPC 725543191526 -- The Amazon ASIN for the mp3 version of this CD is B00X5BRSZG -- Another listing by Zip ~ Amazon


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