Less prolific and overshadowed by other UK tenorists, Dick Morrissey’s tasty mid-1960s brace of quartet LPs on the Mercury label deserve reassessment with a side-dish of factual accuracy.
Author Archives: Martin
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme (Impulse A-77 and EMI/HMV CLP 1869)
What better way to relaunch my blog than with an all-time great LP and a bit of musing over our obsession with first pressings?
Collector’s Field Guide #1: Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’échafaud (Fontana 660.213 MR)
Many 10-inch jazz LPs have an aura about them but Ascenseur Pour L’échafaud seems to possess an even greater degree of je ne sais quoi. This tiny jewel of a collector’s item combines the hipness of New York’s pre-eminent modern jazz personality with the chic of French New Wave cinema.
Ronnie Ross – Cleopatra’s Needle (Fontana SFJL 915)
Ronnie Ross is one of those musicians most people have never heard of but, unwittingly, they have probably heard at least one of his recordings.
Sonny Rollins – The Sound of Sonny (Riverside RLP 12-241)
By 1957, Sonny Rollins was established as the pre-eminent tenor saxophonist in modern jazz. Stints with Miles Davis, the Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet and Thelonious Monk and a stunning series of records under his own name for Prestige Records had provided ample justification for the soubriquet Saxophone Colossus.
McCoy Tyner – Inception (Impulse! A-18)
Inception was McCoy Tyner’s first record as leader and he appears to have been confident enough not to hide behind a band with the added spice of horn players.
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – Indestructible! (Blue Note BLP 4193)
The hardest of hard bop is synonymous with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and both the front cover and the title of Indestructible! leave you in no doubt that the man meant business.
John Coltrane – Giant Steps (Atlantic SD 1311)
Brace yourselves for a story of controversy and revelation! Hardly what you’d expect from a 50+ year old record but sometimes life is surprising. Before all that though, let’s consider the music…
Miles Davis – Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige PRLP 7166)
Discographical Details Artist: Miles Davis. Title: Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet. Label and Catalogue Number: Prestige PRLP 7166. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor sax); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); “Philly” Joe Jones (drums). Side 1: It Never Entered My Mind; Four; In Your Own Sweet Way; The Theme (Take 1). SideContinue reading “Miles Davis – Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige PRLP 7166)”
Blue Mitchell – Blue Soul (Riverside RLP 12-309)
Discographical Details Artist: Blue Mitchell. Title: Blue Soul. Label and Catalogue Number: Riverside RLP 12-309. Personnel: Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Jimmy Heath (tenor sax); Curtis Fuller (trombone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Sam Jones (bass); “Philly” Joe Jones (drums). Side 1: Minor Vamp; The Head; The Way You Look Tonight; Park Avenue Petite; Top Shelf. Side 2: WaverleyContinue reading “Blue Mitchell – Blue Soul (Riverside RLP 12-309)”
into somethin' 