Tommy Flanagan Positive Intensity

At the end of the 1970s, Ella was in her early sixties (on this particular recording she was 60).
Ella starts with a swinging rendition of `Too Close For Comfort', which was already on her repertoire in the mid-fifties (she first recorded it in duet with Joe Williams accompanied by Count Basies Band). Here her voice has grown older but she proves that doesn't mean her singing qualities have decreased! ~ Amazon

This CD reissue (put out in 1990) may be hard to find, now that Savoy has been sold to the Japanese Denon label. Originally issued under flugelhornist Wilbur Harden's name, the 1958 quartet (which also includes pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Granville T. Hogan) performs nine Rodgers & Hammerstein songs mostly taken from The King and I, plus a reprise and an alternate take of "Hello Young Lovers." The interpretations are tasteful yet swinging, and include such familiar tunes as "Getting to Know You" and "We Kiss In a Shadow," along with some obscurities. Enjoyable music.

Rodney Jones & Tommy Flanagan - My Funny Valentine (1981) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
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© 1981, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6340
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Guitar / Piano Trio

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. That's kind of a creepy cover on the front – and it hardly does justice to an album with so much lyrical beauty as this – a great meeting between piano giant Tommy Flanagan and younger guitarist Rodney Jones! The record's got a feel that's a bit like a Flanagan trio session with added guitar – not to imply that Jones is just some extra element thrown into the mix, but just that Tommy's inherent sense of soulful swing really drives the proceedings right from the start – giving the whole thing maybe more focus than some of Jones' other records from the time, at a level that really opens him up as an old school-styled jazz guitarist!

This CD reissues a session that teams together three "super" players: pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Elvin Jones. On two of Flanagan's better originals ("Minor Perhaps" and "Rachel's Rondo") and four jazz standards (including "Django" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"), the musicians communicate quite well (Flanagan and Jones had played together back in the mid-'50s in Detroit) and often think as one. Fine straight-ahead music.

Tommy Flanagan - Something Borrowed, Something Blue (1978) {Galaxy OJCCD-473-2 rel 1990}
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© 1978, 1990 Galaxy Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-473-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

This is a typically flawless trio set from the tasteful and swinging bop-based pianist Tommy Flanagan. With the assistance of bassist Keter Betts and drummer Jimmie Smith on this CD reissue, Flanagan plays his original title cut and jazz originals by Thad Jones ("Bird Song"), Tadd Dameron, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk ("Friday the 13th"), Wes Montgomery and Dizzy Gillespie. If Flanagan had not recorded so many equally rewarding sets during the past 20 years, this fine CD would have received a higher rating; virtually every one of his recordings is well worth picking up.

Tommy Flanagan - Trio & Sextet (1961) {Prevue CDPR11 rel 1998}
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© 1961, 1998 Xanadu / Prevue | CD PR 11
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Piano

This release by Tommy Flanagan was originally recorded in England for the short-lived Jazzline label, though all seven tracks didn't appear together until a 1973 Xanadu reissue. The sextet tracks include tenor saxophonist Frank Haynes (whose career ended prematurely in 1965 with his death from cancer), the always dependable trumpeter Kenny Dorham, trombonist Curtis Fuller, bassist Ben Tucker, and drummer Dave Bailey.