Bill & Ted

Bill Barron - Quintet & Sextet (1961-1962) {2012 2CD Savoy Jazz-Fresh Sound Records FSR-CD 707}
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© 1961-62, 2012 Savoy / Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 707 | 24bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

The three albums tenorman Bill Barron made as a leader for Savoy Records in early 60s embody every facet of this accomplished jazzman as a talented soloist, composer and arranger. And, despite the similarities in their harmonic ideas, Barron was not a slavish disciple of John Coltrane.

With this subtly provocative solo recital, Ted Rosenthal merges three very different streams of piano history, putting his personal stamp on all of them. He pays homage to Bill Evans with "I Loves You Porgy," "Turn out the Stars," and "Waltz for Debby," playing the last in 5/4 but reverting to 4/4 only on his second solo chorus. The Bud Powell portion is more extensive, consisting of "Tempus Fugit," "Wail," "I'll Keep Loving You," "Celia," "Parisian Thoroughfare," and, in another 5/4 interpretation, the closing "Tea for Two." Last but not least, Rosenthal unveils his improvisational approach to Beethoven with the latter two movements of the "Pathetique" sonata, as well as the third movement of "Opus 109," which inspires a full nine minutes of spirited invention. In Rosenthal's hands all this music sounds as though it sprang from the same muse, and that's the sign of a skilled, imaginative artist.

With Ted Curson's magnificent Black Lion CD "Tears For Dolphy" no longer available (and alas my review of that title for Amazon as well), it is great to see that other excellent 60s Curson recordings have resurfaced in recent years. "The New Thing & The Blue Thing," originally issued on Atlantic in 1965 and now reissued on Koch Jazz, is one of these albums. This disc features the same lineup as "Tears For Dolphy" – Curson on trumpet, Bill Barron on tenor sax, Herb Bushler on bass and Dick Berk on drums – with the addition of Georges Arvanitas on piano. ~ Amazon Customer's Review

Archie Shepp & Bill Dixon - Quartet (1962-64) + Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965)
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© 2009, 1995 FreeFactory / Impulse! | FF 065 / 051 158-2
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

The unique quartet recordings by Archie Shepp and Bill Dixon. Their only known recorded works together consist of the studio quartet album made for Savoy in October 1962 - presented here on CD for the first time ever. As a bonus to this interesting album, we have added Archie Shepp’s only other recording session for the Savoy label, with the New York Contemporary Five including Don Cherry on one track; and Bill Dixon’s second recording session, in a septet format.

Bill Evans and Orchestra - Brandeis Jazz Festival (1957) {Gambit Records 69214 rel 2005}
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© 1957, 2005 Gambit Records | 69214
Jazz / Post Bop / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz / Piano

The 1957 Brandeis Jazz Festival featured the work of 6 of the finest composers from the jazz and 20th Century Classical avant-garde. George Russell, Charles Mingus and Jimmy Giuffre represented the jazz contingency. These outstanding concerts featured the finest musicians of the day performing some extremely difficult and highly rewarding charts that tested theirs mettle as both improvisers and sight readers. Among the brightest stars of the concerts was pianist Bill Evans, whose considerable talents were tested in a variety of styles to great results. His excellent performances here gained him a reputation as a top-notch pianist which would directly lead to an invitation to join Miles Davis' legendary sextet. The 3 rare bonus tracks of Bill Evans with Don Elliott at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival showcase the pianist's fluid versatility in an unusual quartet setting featuring Elliot alternating between the mellophone and vibraphone.

Ted Curson - The New Thing & The Blue Thing (1965) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27071}
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© 1965, 2012 Atlantic / Rhino / Warner Japan / WEA | WPCR-27071 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Trumpet

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Few musicians have gotten as much continued recognition from one sideman appearance as Curson has from his participation on the stupendous Mingus Presents Mingus record. Even as the weak link in that superhuman quartet, he played some great jazz. His post-Mingus career was on a more mortal level, but the recordings he made in groups featuring tenorman Bill Barron are well worth checking out.

Ted Curson - Tears For Dolphy (1964) {Black Lion BLCD760190 rel 1993}
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© 1964, 1993 Fontana / Black Lion | BLCD760190
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Trumpet

Although the term "avant-garde" is used several times in the liner notes, this quartet outing by trumpeter Ted Curson, tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, bassist Herb Bushler and drummer Dick Berk actually falls between hard bop and free bop. Curson and Barron in particular made for a potent team and their interplay on nine originals (five by Curson, four by Barron) is quite impressive, swinging and occasionally witty. This CD reissue brings back the entire Tears for Dolphy album plus three of the six songs from the Flip Top LP, all recorded the same day. Although the title cut does not live up to its potential, such tunes as "Kassim," "7/4 Funny Time," "Quicksand" and "Searchin' for the Blues" manage to be both explorative and surprisingly accessible.