Another in an occasional series…
Paul Pieper, Stories of Before (Bright Orange)
A strong guitar player from Maryland. He placed second in the 1995 Monk competition. I first heard him on the Relax CD, by 79-year-old tenor saxist Buck Hill (who is apparently a mail carrier by day). After hearing Pieper’s adept, snaky lines I felt I had to investigate. My efforts paid off: This beautiful solo acoustic disc finds Pieper on steel and nylon strings, playing originals as well as Stevie Wonder’s “The Secret Life of Plants” and Brian Wilson’s “Caroline, No.”
4Hero, The Remix Album, Volume 1 (Raw Canvas)
Jazzy British electronica spread over two discs. The first is 4Hero’s take on the work of Nuyorican Soul, Courtney Pine, Metalheadz and more. The second features 4Hero tracks remixed by the likes of Jazzanova, Bugz in the Attic and so forth. 4Hero’s Two Pages album had a big impact on me.
Dave Liebman & Phil Markowitz, Manhattan Dialogues (Zoho)
An impressive set of saxophone/piano duets from 2005, with Liebman on soprano and tenor. Originals by both players; Monk’s “‘Round Midnight” as the finale. Markowitz, an overlooked master, throws in some fantastic reharmonization on “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes.” On the whole this is more satisfying than Vienna Dialogues, Liebman’s 2006 encounter with pianist Bobby Avey.
Blue Mitchell, Boss Horn (Blue Note)
An octet session released in 1967, reissued as part of Blue Note’s RVG series in 2005. Trumpeter Mitchell is joined by rhythm section and four other horns, including Julian Priester on trombone and Pepper Adams on baritone sax. On the last two tracks, a young Chick Corea replaces Cedar Walton on piano, and the band plays Chick’s groundbreaking “Tones for Joan’s Bones” and “Straight Up and Down.” These tunes also appeared on Corea’s debut album, Tones for Joan’s Bones, which he recorded a mere two weeks after the Boss Horn sessions in November 1966. Essentially, the Blue Mitchell takes were a workshop experience for Corea. They survive as an important bit of jazz genealogy.
Tones, produced by Herbie Mann (one of Corea’s early mentors), was reissued in 1999 as a twofer with bassist Miroslav Vitous’s Mountain in the Clouds (not to be confused with Infinite Search, which contains some of the same Vitous material).
Oscar Peterson & Ella Fitzgerald, JATP Lausanne 1953 (TCB)
This is Volume 15 of TCB’s “Swiss Radio Days” series, capturing a Jazz at the Philharmonic performance from March 14, 1953. Ella sings on the first half only and is joined by Lester Young and Charlie Shavers on “Lester Leaps In.” Oscar holds court on the latter five cuts, with Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. There’s a severe drop in sound quality during “Oscar’s Tune,” the penultimate track. But even so, this is some of the best playing from Kessel (1923-2004) that I’ve heard. Ideas leap from the guitar, relentlessly. In the absence of drums, Kessel becomes the drummer.
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