hard bop Archives - JAZZ IMPRESSIONS

Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast – Episode 3

Episode 3 of Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast features a pair of classic tracks from a duo of Detroit jazz legends. Along the way we discuss kalimbas, the history of Strata East Records and Slugs’ Saloon in New York, as well as the historic Fillmore West and the San Francisco hippie scene.

Also available on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts!

Tracklists below (SPOILERS!)

Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast – Episode 2

Welcome back to Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast! In this Blue Note heavy episode, we discuss an underappreciated gem from master vibesman Bobby Hutcherson, the compositional talents of Joe Chambers, the lyrical side of Freddie Hubbard and the legacy of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Also, there’s a special guest appearance from a squeaky garage door trying to imitate Wayne Shorter.

Alternatively find us on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts!

Tracklists below (SPOILERS!)

Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast – Episode 1

Welcome to the first episode of Routes: A Jazz Impressions Podcast, where we connect two of our favourite tracks via a selection of musical stepping stones. Today marks Blue Note Records’ 83rd birthday so what better place to start than a swinging classic from the legendary label, plus an auspicious debut from a pioneering pianist.

You can also find us on Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Tracklists below (SPOILERS!)

The Horace Silver Quintet – Song For My Father

In October 1963, coinciding with the recent release of his debut album as leader on Blue Note, a young Joe Henderson was scouted by influential pianist Horace Silver to play in a new quintet he was putting together. From the sessions which followed came Song For My Father (1965), Silver’s most famous album and a bona fide Blue Note classic.

Grant Green – Lazy Afternoon

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Bobby Hutcherson’s genius graced some of Blue Note’s finest sessions, from McCoy Tyner’s Time for Tyner (1969) to Grant Green’s Street of Dreams (1967).

Andrew Hill – MC

Idris Muhammad only recorded one date with the great pianist/composer/teacher Andrew Hill (last heard from on Jazz Impressions on Bobby Hutcherson’s Dialogue (1965)) and it nearly never saw the light of day. Many of Hill’s 1960s Blue Note recordings were shelved by the commercially-minded Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, and although 1968’s Grass Roots was released at the time, a “first draft” recorded 4 months earlier sat in the vaults until the CD release in 2000. The quality of these unissued sessions tells you as much about Blue Note as the albums they actually released, if not more.

Freddie Hubbard – Red Clay

Holding the world record for the most recording sessions of any jazz bassist in history (2,221 as of 2015), Ron Carter has provided some of the world’s greatest bass lines: Joe Henderson’s ‘Power to the People’ (1969), Alice Coltrane’s ‘Blue Nile’ (1970) and Freddie Hubbard’s ‘Red Clay’ (1970).

Joe Henderson – Power To The People

From two great tenor sax players to another, today’s post focusses on Joe Henderson’s politically titled track ‘Power To The People’ from his album of the same name, released on Milestone in 1969. Mainly compromised of Henderson originals, this album was the first in a string of political albums Henderson released in the late 60s and early 70s which were inspired by an increased awareness of black issues and the Black Power movement which reached its peak at the beginning of the 70s.

Jackie McLean – Sweet Love Of Mine

At first glance, it could be easy to mistake Jackie McLean’s album Demon’s Dance as a close sibling of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. Both were released in the same year and sport psychedelic cover artwork by Mati Klarwein but the similarity ends there. Whereas Bitches Brew was a mind-bending concoction of jazz, rock and funk, Demon’s Dance is beautiful example of modal hard bop, recorded three years earlier in 1967 and was the last of 21 albums that McLean recorded for Blue Note Records.