Listening Logs #2

Jason Jung

October 31 2016

6. Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet - "George's Dilemma" - Album: Study in Brown, 1955 EmArcy

Personnel: Clifford Brown - Trumpet, Harold Land - Tenor Sax, Richie Powell - Piano, George Morrow -
Bass, Max Roach - Drums

Clifford's music is very new to me since I didn't really listen to any of his stuff until this year after reading
the Miles' bio. His life being cut short and the "what could have been" really intrigued me, especially the
sound he was getting with Max Roach. This album seemed to be the perfect candidate for that reason. I
really enjoyed the melody of Sandu, which I have definitely heard being played before, as well as
Swingin' and Land's End. Upon further research and listening, it seems that his solo on Cherokee is one
of the most acclaimed solos in jazz. On this piece, I really dug the bass riff intro/latin groove. The call and
response B section was such a tasteful part of the song I thought. I found similarities from this song to
Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream" by the Jazz Messengers, from the obvious latin to swing and back, even
the harmonic feel. Clifford's solo inspired me to really think about phrasing, as his lines and ideas were
so singable and "well placed". Phrasing is something I'm working on lately so this tune was a pleasure
and a great study.

7. Wayne Shorter - "Virgo" - Album: Night Dreamer, 1964 Blue Note

Personnel: Wayne Shorter - Tenor, Lee Morgan - Piano, McCoy Tyner - Piano, Reggie Workman - Bass,
Elvin Jones - Drums

After having a conversation with a friend about Wayne Shorter and the biography, the topic of his music
came up and I was embarrassed with a fact that I didn't know any of his music besides "Footprints". I
asked around and this album was recommended by most. After listening, I came to listen to this tune
over and over again, mostly because the melody is so beautiful and McCoy Tyner does an amazing job
"filling the spaces" that it became a study of what I should be hearing and playing on tunes like this. This
song felt more bright compared to the other tunes in the album even though it's a slow tempo tune.
Generally I felt this tune was very easy listening and I found myself keeping it on while doing menial
things a lot. I'm not too familiar with Wayne's work in Weather Report either but on this specific piece,
he felt very melodic and I loved the way he was gradually building the tune with his playing.

8. Joe Henderson Quartet - "Serenity" - Live at Fat Tuesday's, 1989 Live Recording
Personnel: Joe Henderson - Tenor, Mike Richmond - Bass, Kenny Barron - Piano, Roy Haynes - Drums

Basically the theme of my listening logs so far is tunes with awesome melodies and this one is no
different. I came about this tune because of Steve Kaldestad. I believe he mentioned it in combo one day
and on the way home I listened to this exact version and not the album version. Joe Henderson is also
someone who's very new to my playlist and I really dig his aggressive style. It feels to me like he's always
"on offense", always moving things forward and not sitting back, and I love that. One thing I really loved
about this performance was that I was hearing Joe do some cool things and few minutes later I heard
Kenny Barron reiterate what he heard, I thought that was very clever and tasteful. Kenny's solo was full
of ideas being repeated and flipped around to seem new which I also loved. This tune has been a
gateway for me to check out Joe and Kenny's music.

9. John Coltrane - "Moment's Notice" - Album: Blue Train, 1958 Blue Note

Personnel: John Coltrane - Tenor, Lee Morgan - Trumpet, Curtis Fuller - Trombone, Kenny Drew - Piano,
Paul Chambers - Bass, Philly Joe Jones - Drums

After listening to it and checking out the lead sheet, I feel like this must be one of the hardest tunes to
learn and play on. So many twists and turns in harmony, it almost sounds like an exercise but I guess
that's not new to Coltrane's writing, a la Countdown and Giant Steps. I felt like Lee Morgan and Curtis
Fuller made it musical for me with their improvisations. I could hear they weren't playing every change
but were focused on creating melodic lines that made sense as well as musical. I had a deep thought
listening to this song about the balance of logic and art of music; the brain versus the ears and the heart.
I'm starting to realize that it's such a fine line and the best of the best really knew how to balance it even
at blazing tempos. This tune was an inspiration not only to practice hard and difficult tunes but also to
practice making art.

10. Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery - "Maybe September" - Album: Further Adventures of Jimmy
and Wes, 1966 Verve

Personnel: Jimmy Smith - Hammond Organ, Wes Montgomery - Guitar, Grady Tate - Drums, Ray
Barretto - Percussion

I have been listening to Joey DeFrancesco recently and I believe one of his main inspirations was Jimmy
Smith so I decided to go to the source. I was pulled into this song by the intro - where Jimmy almost
plays a playground tease type of diminished riff. The song then settles into this beautiful organ music
that puts everything into ease. Once Wes begins playing, the magic begins. Such taste and control are
displayed especially having checked out their killing faster, aggressive styles, compares so well musically
and is a display or when it really is best to play more subtle. Sure, it is a ballad tempo but their solos
really displayed what "making a melody" really is.