Effi

Although we first heard "Effi" from Bobby Hutcherson's Patterns several years ago, revisiting classic jazz-waltz tunes reminded us of how great this Stanley Cowell-penned composition was. A live recording from 1965 without Hutcherson is also quite enchanting.

RIP Bobby Hutcherson

Rest in peace, Bobby Hutcherson. Hutcherson is by far my favorite jazz vibraphonist and his ability to bring together or collaborate with many other unique and talented instrumentalists in jazz is a delight. Whether it was Andrew Hill, Grachan Moncur III, or even Eric Dolphy, Hutcherson could keep up with the best. Thank you, Bobby Hutcherson.

Jackie McLean's "Plight"

Jackie McLean’s “Plight” is a deliciously catchy, quirky jazz piece. Bobby Hutcherson’s vibes and the bassist keep it together with a very simple head and nice additional horns from McLean and the trumpeter in a call and response introduction. It’s actually quite deceptively simple, the head and vamp provided by Hutcherson. One can see this as an instance of McLean again experimenting with avant-garde influences in 1960s jazz, almost sounding like a composition by Grachan Moncur III, who was instrumental for the success of McLean albums such as Destination Out!. McLean’s solo, restrained exuberance, goes into the direction of less bop-rooted blowing, and the drummer, Billy Higgins, keeps things funky and utilizing the entirety of the drumset. The subsequent trumpet solo, is also restrained but nothing compared to McLean or Hutcherson’s vibes , who take a melodic route while never straying far from the melody. In some ways, it is a quirky composition one may expect from someone like Andrew Hill or Moncur III. Higgins’ spirited drumming, sounding like Elvin Jones at times, is pleasant to the ears and a sign of his expertise in performing not only in hard bop but modal and avant-garde jazz albums, as his work on Let Freedom Ring or The Shape of Jazz to Come reveals. Furthermore, something about Hutcherson’s playing is reminiscent of his own “Verse,” an introspective composition modeled on Coltrane’s “Spiritual” while featuring McCoy Tyner. As the title suggests, plight or danger or doom seems imminent in this dark tune, although it seems undefined or unknown. The rest of the album is quite good, too, stuck somewhere between hard bop and rousing numbers like "Hootnan" and bebop-based tunes such as the title track.

Eric Dolphy's Hat and Beard: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk

A playful free piece in tribute to Thelonious Monk, though lacking any piano, has a strong walking bassline played by Richard Davis and the rest of the band. Bobby Hutcherson’s vibes are perfect here, representing  quirky, piano-like sound and the needed dissonance comes from the chorus. Dolphy solos first on his bass clarinet, squeaking, scratching, and employing other forms of dissonance while Richard Davis lays down a groovy bassline and Tony Williams swings away, in a strange march-like rhythm. Hutcherson’s input comes  in the form of background on the vibes, and all the while Dolphy keeps on blowing. After his solo, Freddie Hubbard comes in and another bass figure is represented, sounding almost “Spanish,” and Hubbard shows that he can handle himself in the commanding, difficult post-bop, free jazz world of the 1960s. Meanwhile, Williams speeds things up, Hutcherson’s seemingly misplaced vibes kick in, and Hubbard continues blowing his trumpet in all sorts of runs, sounding boppish at times, but Hutcherson takes over in a series of disjointed notes while Davis continues in a similar bassline, possibly using a bow and Williams seems to be using mallets instead of usual drumsticks. Hutcherson’s quirky, almost disjointed playing seems completely random, but goes well with Williams’ drumming, and the ominous bassline of Davis kicks in alone. Though Monk distanced himself from free jazz for its atonality in the 1960s, I like to think he loved hearing this number, so playful, featuring collective improvisation, and a jazz portrait of a legend. Dolphy’s jarring solo, which sounds like he’s enjoying himself and the voice-like sounds he emits, is not too hard on the ears like some free jazz, and Hubbard’s solo is within that ill-defined territory between bop and free jazz, is also having fun with the runs evocative of bop, Spanish themes, and the dissonances one associates with Monk. 

Personally, Hutcherson and Dolphy steal the show here, with the former’s child-like innocence on the vibraphone, accompanied by Williams’ inventive drumming and bowed bass from Davis, keeps one on one’s foot. My favourite moment may be those two long, high-pitched wails in the beginning of Dolphy’s solo, a feature of free jazz I sometimes especially enjoy: fun little notes and sounds almost randomly assorted or seemingly incongruent. Richard Davis, a professor at UW-Madison I have had the pleasure of meeting, deserves praise for his arco and pizzicato bass playing, keeping the song from falling apart as each soloist takes off into different directions and Tony Williams experiments with the rhythms. This is otherworldly, and, though vastly different from anything Monk ever recorded, shares his playful spirit and dissonance. Moreover, Williams gets down with Hutcherson, playing some interesting rhythms, an indication of the young drummer's prowess and ability to keep up with older, more established musicians. Fans of this will probably like "Straight Up and Down" from the same album, which evokes a drunken stagger with another disjointed, melody. Dolphy's brilliant, wailing solo does sound like a pathetic, drunkard, falling through the streets while the rest of the band keeps things going during the twists and turns of the drunken protagonist. Indeed, these two tracks, my favorites from the album, Out To Lunch!, are necessary listens for any and every fan of jazz.

Two Versions of Catta

Bobby Hutcherson was the first to compose the Andrew Hill number in 1965, on Dialogue. Listen!

Andrew Hill recorded his composition with a large band in 1969 as "Noon Tide." Definitely worth a listen for taking the song into more interesting directions, particularly the brass.

Of the two versions, I actually prefer the latter. Something about experimental larger ensembles playing jazz moves me, like Coltrane's Africa/Brass or Oliver Nelson's The Blues and The Abstract Truth.

McCoy Tyner's Best Piano Work

Here are some of my favorite songs featuring the great Philadelphia-raised jazz pianist I saw perform at in high school. I wish I was into jazz back then, so I would have a much better recollection of Tyner's amazing performance. Anywho, here are some of my favorite recorded moments featuring his unique piano voice.

Ole  from Ole Coltrane

Juju from Wayne Shorter's Juju

Spiritual (Coltrane)

Dahomey Dance 

Aisha

Africa

My Favorite Things

Greensleeves

Impressions

Afro Blue

Deluge 

Mahjong

Resolution (A Love Supreme)

Pursuance

Passion Dance

Contemplation

Blues on the Corner

Ebony Queen

Liberia

Dear Lord

Verse

Una Muy Bonita

8/4 Beat

El Barrio

House of Jade

Crisis

Mr. Knight

India

Brazilia, parts 1 and 2

Central Park West

Naima

Isotope

Equinox

Syeeda's Song Flute

Mr. P.C.

Bobby Hutcherson's Dialogue

1. "Catta" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHcmTwoa51A
2. "Idle While" (Chambers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HApGq9sttbs
3. "Les Noirs Marchant" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnu2ChBcd7U
4. "Dialogue" (Chambers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZycoxXNgI&
5. "Ghetto Lights" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ppFgyIqw0
6. "Jasper" (Hill) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiokA9LSJ4

Although listed as a Bobby Hutcherson album, pianist Andrew Hill wrote 4 of the 6 songs on the album and might as well get the credit for this fascinating avant-garde jazz gem. Though not quite free jazz, it strays lightyears away from conventional hard bop, probably due to the fact that most of the album was composed by post-bop master, Andrew Hill. This recording session from 1965 also includes  trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers, Richard Davis, a jazz bassist and professor at UW-Madison, and Joe Chambers, an excellent drummer. Hill and Chambers contribute compositions that fuse Latin jazz, blues, bop, march music, and a ballad to create inventive jazz and a piece of art. Hutcherson also plays marimba in addition to the vibraphone, Sam Rivers switches it up by playing flute on some tracks, and somehow it all meshes together well, even though it may not be nearly as accessible as his later album, Stick-Up! which is reviewed here. http://ryfigueroa.blogspot.com/2012/08/bobby-hutchersons-stick-up.html

Beginning with "Catta," Hill's Latin jazz piece, the group lays down a descarga, or Latin jam session with the characteristic clave rhythm provided by percussionist Joe Chambers in the intro. After the short, but catchy and angular theme, Sam Rivers takes off into his saxophone solo while Hill plays the essential vamp or ostinato on the piano as the foundation of the tune and Chambers provides the polyrhythmic Afro-Cuban swing needed. Sam Rivers' sax solo sounds, at times, like Eric Dolphy while approaching free jazz because of its rapid shifts between tonality and near-atonality. Freddie Hubbard's trumpet solo is far more tonal and conventional, though his longer notes around 3:20 and lines are quite catchy and danceable, unlike Rivers' solo. Hutcherson then rolls in on the vibes, playing a solo more rooted in bop that would not sound of out place in a Latin jazz jam song, partly because vibraphones and marimba are common instruments in the genre. His solo around 5:40 takes the song into interesting directions and the theme repeats itself again.

"Idle While" is the ballad on the album, and interestingly composed by Joe Chambers. It begins with the beautiful melody played by Sam Rivers on flute and Hubbard accompanying. It almost sounds too surreal or fantastical, especially with Hutcherson's vibraphones. Hubbard leads the improvisation on the tune, playing a great conventional hard bop-style solo that plays within the melody of the composition. Hutcherson's proceeding solo adds a surreal, almost dream-like quality to the song that remains, like Hubbard, within the conventions of hard bop. Richard Davis's bass, however, provides some great accompaniment until his next solo, which plays around the melody. This song would have been much better with a flute solo from Sam Rivers and perhaps piano solo by Andrew Hill, who mysteriously sits out on this track.

"Les Noirs Marchant" is Andrew Hill's ode to the Civil Rights Movement with a theme and rhythm influenced by marching bands, an early source for jazz music. The title, meaning "The Blacks Marching," is probably the most avant-garde composition on Dialogue. Andrew Hill plays some ominous lines, as does Sam Rivers and Freddie Hubbard, suggesting the conflict and turmoil of contemporary Civil Rights Movement. The conflict and search for peace represented in the march is matched by the military-style marching rhythm, which, when combined with Hutcherson's vibes and shifts in tempo symbolize the conflict between whites and blacks, between love and hate. The group improvises collectively to bring to fruition Andrew Hill's fascinating paean to the African American Civil Rights Movement, and Richard Davis provides a bass solo searing through the accompaniment of Hill's piano briefly like a saw during his pizzicato solo. Then the song moves toward chaos as everyone plays simultaneously and Chambers adds some frantic percussion. The song, which could have been better organized as a suite, then slows down, repeats the theme at the military-drums and concludes, with an ambivalent message on the success of the Civil Rights Movement.

The title track also veers toward avant-garde and free jazz. The piece has an ominous beginning, with Hutcherson's vibes and Andrew Hill's piano playing dark riffs while everyone plays together as an ensemble in collective improvisation. Hutcherson even brings out the African-sounding marimba to add to the dialogue, playing a melodic solo as Hill's piano returns and moves Chambers' composition to a further ominous direction. Like human dialogue, voices represented in this song seem to respond to each other, while simultaneously straying away from civil dialogue at times as some instrumentalists break into screams around 5:00, mainly Freddie Hubbard and Sam Rivers. Perhaps the "dialogue" aurally depicted in this song alludes to dialogue of the civil rights era and and should be seen as a comment on race relations in 1965, though the title lacks the obvious allusion in "Les Noirs Marchant."

"Ghetto Lights" and "Jasper" are the blues-rooted Andrew Hill compositions on this fine album. "Ghetto Lights" is a blues featuring a memorable Freddie Hubbard solo. An obvious reference to urban black American in 1965 and the proliferation of black ghettoization after white flight, Hubbard's soulful solo catches the desperation and hope of ghetto black America. Sam Rivers also catches that in his own bluesy clarinet solo. Chambers, Hill and Davis do a great job as rhythm section, Chambers' groove setting the stage and Davis playing some great bass licks. "Jasper" on the other hand, is a more conventional hard bop song with blues influences, but a swingin' number. Hutcherson takes off at a swinging vibraphone solo while Hill's provides accompanying blues piano riffing. Unfortunately, this album does not coalesce well with other tracks, largely because it is a bonus track added to the album, but taken alone is quite good, especially Freddie Hubbard's bop solo and Sam Rivers, who again sounds like the utterly unique Eric Dolphy.

Overall, another jazz classic featuring a veritable mix of conventional hard bop and avant-garde. Once again, it should have been listed as an Andrew Hill album because the bulk of it was written by him and he's largely responsible for the avant-garde sound that made Dialogue so unique in Blue Note's catalogue. The album's political subtext and keen attention shown toward civil rights activism and urban life for African-Americans also makes it an interesting historical record of the 1960s and shifts in jazz aesthetics, with freer and avant-garde jazz, often linked with black nationalism, becoming the predominant trend in 1960s jazz.

Bobby Hutcherson's Stick-Up!

On this great, accessible post-bop album released in 1966 (and featuring a great cover), Bobby Hutcherson is joined by jazz legends Joe Henderson and McCoy Tyner. Tyner, known as the pianist for John Coltrane's legendary quartet, brings in Coltrane-esque influences and his own stamp of piano block chords, especially on "Verse," which sounds like Coltrane's "Spiritual." Hutcherson's vibes and Billy Higgins' expert drumming also enhance the Caribbean and Latin influences on Ornette Coleman's original composition, which was disjointed and lacked the bop-oriented groove one finds on Hutcherson's excellent cover. Joe Henderson's tenor sax is also bringing the hard-bop, bluesy flavor to "Una Muy Bonita," making what was surprisingly melodic and danceable in the Coleman original to something one must get down to. Unfortunately, it lacks the original's sweet, Caribbean folk-inflected improvisation from Ornette's alto sax or Billy Higgins' freer drumming on the Coleman take, but nevertheless brings some blues into the piece. McCoy Tyner's piano solo also brings some soul and his characteristic block chords on one hand, and great single note soloing with the other.

In addition to bringing some more accessible takes on an Ornette Coleman classic, "Verse" exemplifies McCoy Tyner's and Coltrane's influence. The original "Spiritual," based on a lesser-known arrangement of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See," uses the same vamp present in "Verse," which cannot be a coincidence. Likewise, both begin with religious, church-inspired intros before entering into the melody with what sounds like the same bassline. Hutcherson begins the solos with a searching tone, bringing to mind one looking resolutely for spiritual enlightenment or deliverance. Billy Higgins drumming on the song also sounds eerily similar to Elvin Jones on Coltrane's original, which is not a band thing at all since Jones contributed such a unique, polyrhythmic approach to jazz percussion that used the entire drumset and incorporated Latin or other influences. Tyner, as usual, excels as an accompanist with the chords for the vamp during Joe Henderson's solo, which is quite distinct from John Coltrane in tone but clearly carrying on the Coltrane approach to modal compositions. Tyner's proceeding piano solo also resembles his playing on Coltrane's multiple takes of "Spiritual," though not emphasizing blues-inspired licks he used in some live recordings.

Other memorable and interesting tracks include "Summer Night," "8/4 Beat," and "Black Circle." The first is a lovely ballad where Hutcherson shows off his skills on the vibraphone in slow number. Tyner accompanies him excellently, and both come together excellently when stating the melody, really making one wish that Tyner and Hutcherson recorded together more often (Andrew Hill, another brilliant jazz pianist recorded more often with Hutcherson, essentially writing most of Hutcherson's acclaimed Dialogue). Beautiful playing by both makes this piece stick to one's ears like glue. "8/4 Beat" on the other hand is a swinging tune with a short theme and played at a frantic tempo, as alluded to by the song's title. Henderson begins the solos here with some great playing, that like other solos in the song, avoids atonality. Indeed, this is also an almost danceable number, with Hutcherson's solo after Henderson's playing around with the melody of the piece. 

"Black Circle," on the other hand, is a more difficult piece that requires more concentration from the listener and uses an odd, disjointed theme one associates with post-bop and freer jazz. Henderson's beginning solo, however, soars at the song's fast tempo and remains accessible. Tyner's solo takes the song in interesting directions with different twists and turns an a willingness to play outside of the melody that may strike others as too much. In truth, his solo is the best moment on the song, featuring colorations from Billy Higgins, who gets a little solo afterwards that is actually melodic and shows off his skills. The final song, "Blues Mind Matter," a short bluesy piece also influenced by Coltrane in Henderson's solo.

Overall, an interesting post-bop album that straddles the world of hard bop and more experimental, newer trends in 1960s jazz. Tyner and Henderson also bring in influences from Coltrane and Wayne Shorter's styles, surprisingly fusing well with the bop-oriented styles and compositions of other musicians in the session. Furthermore, it is always interesting to see how someone interprets an Ornette Coleman song, and Hutcherson's take, while diverging clearly in some ways, remains loyal to the spirit of the original's Latin inflections. Fans of this album should check out other Bobby Hutcherson albums as well as looking into Andrew Hill, especially his Black Fire.

1. "Una Muy Bonita" (Ornette Coleman) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdzTWHEdTLQ&
2. "8/4 Beat" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSJeSFH1b3s
3. "Summer Nights" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnWLvo9nRXk
4. "Black Circle" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYk1G9j9uh0
5. "Verse" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEYzxzrg2D4
6. "Blues Mind Matter" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtwYNr8FR1E

Great live versions of "Spiritual" featuring Eric Dolphy's bass clarinet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7m5joZPP0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLEqFpri1t8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7NrCslSRNg

Ornette Coleman's "Una Muy Bonita"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=405MdvmBoAU

Sonny Rollins' "Saint Thomas" is another great instance of Caribbean-influenced jazz, featuring a memorable Max Roach drum solo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2XIWZxMKM

Bobby Hutcherson's work with Andrew Hill includes several jazz jams favored by the author.

"Ghetto Lights" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2mYaOkKQtI

"Catta" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHcmTwoa51A

Joe Henderson's "Caribbean Fire Dance" to hear him play in another Latin/Caribbean-influenced piece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbquuL5Kamk

Charlie Parker's "Barbados" is really a blues with Latin rhythms brought by Max Roach. Probably not Barbadian but rooted in Afro-Cuban music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0FJ1SdS-ts