Tommy Flanagan Comu

In 1957, the greatest year for recorded music including modern jazz, Detroit was a hot spot, a centerpiece to many hometown heroes as well as short-term residents like John Coltrane and Miles Davis. It was here that Trane connected with pianist Tommy Flanagan, subsequently headed for the East Coast, and recorded this seminal hard bop album. In tow were fellow Detroiters - drummer Louis Hayes, bassist Doug Watkins, and guitarist Kenny Burrell, with the fine trumpeter from modern big bands Idrees Sulieman as the sixth wheel...

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.

Known for his flawless and tasteful playing, Tommy Flanagan received long overdue recognition for his talents in the 1980s. He played clarinet when he was six and switched to piano five years later. Flanagan was an important part of the fertile Detroit jazz scene (other than 1951-1953 when he was in the Army) until he moved to New York in 1956. He was used for many recordings after his arrival during that era; cut sessions as a leader for New Jazz, Prestige, Savoy, and Moodsville; and worked regularly with Oscar Pettiford, J.J. Johnson (1956-1958), Harry "Sweets" Edison (1959-1960), and Coleman Hawkins (1961).

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.