Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991)

When I discovered this record I saw who played on it: Pharoah Sanders on sax, Elvin Jones on drums and Charnett Moffett on bass (son of Charles who played drums on several Ornette Coleman records in the 1960s). 

Then there's the inimitable Sonny Sharrock- his playing is fire. 

Sadly, he died a few years after this record so this stands as his final testament.
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (1991; Axiom Records)

Jackie McLean - Destination... Out! (1964)

Saxophonist Jackie McLean did three albums with vibes player Bobby Hutcherson and trombonist Grachan Moncur III all together in the same line-up, 1963's One Step Beyond, Moncur's 1964 record Evolution as well as this gem from '64 credited to McLean. Only the bass and drums were interchangeable; these three played so well off each other that they effectively changed the hard bop landscape into something more freeing- it was a known fact that McLean was enamored with the sounds Ornette Coleman crafted a few years before and the eventual full-on change in John Coltrane's music right around this time would only cement his idea that bop had to change in order to survive.

McLean could be considered one of the major supporting players in the scene; albeit he lived in the shadows behind some of the giants- his teenage friendships with both Kenny Drew and Sonny Rollins; his adoration of Charlie Parker and subsequent meetings with Bird; his lessons with pianist Bud Powell, it seems as if young Jackie was always right on the verge of making it and... He would get his break in the early 1950s, playing with Miles Davis for a few years, then moving on to play with Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Sonny Clark and Hank Mobley before settling into his role as band leader. Drugs and arrests would also plague McLean through these years as well.

The session that produced this record is from September 20th, 1963, from none other than the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ with Larry Ridley on the bass and Roy Haynes on the skins; it's one of the last vestiges of a true hard bop classic before energy music would fully take jazz by storm.

Jackie McLean - Destination... Out! (1964; Blue Note Records)

Albert Heath - Kawaida (1970)

This is one of those records that drives OCD completist/collectors like me insane; there are three different versions of this album floating around- all three have different track listings, different running orders and list different personnel. The only definite thing I know about this record is that it's one of the few perfect examples of the melding between modal jazz and African rhythms, sort of like the ideas Coltrane had on Africa/Brass.

Why this "lost" album caught my eye was the inclusion of both Herbie Hancock and Don Cherry, with the Heath brothers (Jimmy & Albert, listed here as leader for contractual reasons) and Jimmy's son Mtume, who actually should be listed as leader, it was said he arranged the whole thing under the concept of spreading the teachings of Maulana Karenga's Kawaida philosophy.

Here's the actual transcription of the line-up from the 1969 O'Be Records release:

Ed Blackwell - Bells & Percussion

Billy Bonner (Fundi) - Flute, Percussion (track 5 only)

Don Cherry (Msafari) - Trumpet

Herbie Hancock (Mwandishi) - Piano

Albert "Toudie" Heath (Kuumba)- Drums & Percussion

Jimmy Heath (Tayari) - Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)

Mtume - Conga, Voice

Buster Williams (Mchezaji) - Bass

Recorded December 11, 1969. Produced by O'Be Productions. Recorded at The Universe, and Mastered at Town Sound Studios. Released 1970 on O'Be Records, catalogue number OB-301. Trip Records release is catalogue number TLP-5032. Liner notes on the O'Be Records edition written by Amiri Baraka.

Albert Heath - Kawaida (1970; O'Be Records)
-link opens to YouTube video-

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965)

I buy a lot of jazz records based on the line-up; after all- an album is only as good as the sum of its parts.

But I don't need to rattle off a bunch of names here; just one: Eric Dolphy.

He totally steals the show. Yes, it's an Andrew Hill record, but it could be under Dolphy's name just the same because the brother shines. Completely awesome. After Out To Lunch and the stuff he did with Mingus, this is one of Dolphy's finest moments. Apologies to Hill, he's a pretty awesome pianist, too- his compositions are wonderful; but they exist so Dolphy can stretch out his unique voice and imaginative soloing. Listen closely during the track Spectrum, when the bass solo ends and Dolphy takes over- that's as sublime a moment on record you'll ever find. I'd be remiss to not mention Tony Williams' amazing drumming, but you'll just have to listen to understand this...

This is the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder re-issue with alternate takes of three tracks. Check this record out right now!

Andrew Hill - Point Of Departure (1965; Blue Note Records)

Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965)

The best thing about record shopping for jazz albums is that you have plenty of elbow room; no one listens to it anymore. Well, old dudes and guys like Jimmy Mac do. So, every once in a while I find something that I shouldn't in there, some rare out-of-print limited edition original copy of something, but mostly I'm a listener- I'll leave the collecting to the nerds, I need these records to actually listen to.

You might find a Bobby Hutcherson record, or a record he played on every now and again. Buy it. Even this record, his under-rated debut solo outing. It features no numbers written by Hutch, but just take a look at that line-up! Andrew Hill (composed four of these pieces) on piano, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Sam Rivers on sax, Joe Chambers on drums and Richard Davis on bass.

I wish more people listened to jazz...

Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965; Blue Note Records)

Grachan Moncur III - Evolution (1964)

It's my pleasure to bring you one of my favorite albums of all-time; one look at this line-up and your ears should start watering. Grachan Moncur III as leader and on trombone, Lee Morgan on trumpet (sounding uncharacteristically avant-garde dare I say?), Jackie McLean on alto saxophone (him and Moncur play off each other so well, check out McLean's albums Destination Out! and One Step Beyond for more of their interplay), Bobby Hutcherson on vibraphone (the king of the vibes, hands down), Tony Williams on drums (only 18 at the time of this session and already a seasoned pro) and the ever-steady Bob Cranshaw on bass. This is the perfect aural embodiment of the intersection of post-bop and avant-garde out there.

When I think of what the 1960s actually looked like, this album is it.

Grachan Moncur III - Evolution (1964; Blue Note Records)

Sam Rivers - Contours (1965)

Sam Rivers is the man.

This is his second solo album, recorded in '65 right after he left the Miles Davis Quintet (he appears on only one Quintet record, Miles In Tokyo). It wasn't that Rivers wasn't up to snuff with Davis, it was that he was too "free" to play Miles' compositions the way they were intended- that and; frankly, he was too good to be a sideman any longer. Take this record by itself (or as a companion piece to Fuchsia Swing Song, also released in 1965) and you have some of the finest avant-garde post bop of the mid-60s.

The line-up here is spectacular as well, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Joe Chambers (drums).

Sam Rivers - Contours (1965; Blue Note Records)