Fast and winding jazz tones, crunching and whining country tones.
We have a couple of real stunners on the wall to start this new week as part of the Blue Note Classic series.
Like Someone in Love is a 1960 set from Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, recorded during the same sessions that produced the iconic A Night in Tunisia (although not released until 1967). The band really is something else, with Blakey behind the kit, joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merritt. There are so many really gratifying moments, but the pace at which Noise In The Attic starts is just sublime, especially when Morgan and Shorter lock into sync. Fast and graceful stuff.
Recorded around the same time (and then subsequently shelved all the way until 1976), Here To Stay is an equally thrilling collection from trumpeter supreme, Freddie Hubbard. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter again appears and has some quite amazing lead lines. The rest of the band were pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Philly Joe Jones, working through different paces with so much complexity. It swings and it drives, really good stuff.
+ Both of these handsome new pressings are stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
A more contemporary reissue is Greg Freeman’s 2022 I Looked Out LP, reissued in full with two bonus tracks this week Transgressive. The Vermont country rocker has been championed pretty hard over the last few years and this is one of those rattling word of mouth albums. Riffs that crunch and steel strings that whine and sing, it’s got it going on and his voice in particular is a rough diamond.
+ Pressed on limited Coke bottle Clear vinyl.
Elsewhere, the delayed "Babbacombe" Lee from Fairport Convention has just this minute landed, and we should also have Karen Dalton’s Shuckin' Sugar with us too. Both are excellent and would benefit any collection.