Saturday, August 17, 2013

Max Roach - Percussion Bitter Sweet (1961, Impulse)


Damn, did I see some good jazz tonight... Players working with one another, listening, a mix of individuals styles always contributing to the sound of the whole, rhythm... if you get a chance, see this group when they come to your town.

Jazz is ______:

- Touch, the patience/audacity to work against the beat of the rhythm section, until you burst into sync with arpeggio runs on that sweet sounding hollowbody
- Big ringing McCoy Tyner chords filling it out on baby grand
- The delicacy and deliberation (and wrist control!) on the kit
- Walking bass
- Those BIG open notes jutting out of the trumpet pointed triumphantly at the ceiling/sky
- Green leather boots, polka-dot pocket squares, and a nearly brimless hat 



Going off this rush, I share with you one of my favorite all-around jazz records, one I started thinking of during the evening (probably because of the hand drums on "Garvey's Ghost," a tune that always blows me away thanks to the late, inimitable Ms. Abbey Lincoln). Chances are you know it already, but if not, give it a spin, it'll have you from the start.This is a powerful stuff, with taste at every turn, and the flooring runs of Eric Dolphy on whatever he chooses to blow into at the time. 

A shot of Abbey, just 'cause:


"Garvey's Ghost":





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