John Lee Hooker - It Serve You Right to Suffer (1966)

John Lee Hooker's raw, stripped down electric blues have more power than a locomotive barreling down the track at 90 mph- somebody done him wrong here and he's got eight tracks to let you know. 

Featuring the a barest of bones for a backing band- stalwart session men Barry Galbraith on rhythm guitar, Milt Hinton on the bass and Panama Francis on drums as well as Dicky Wells on the trombone for a track (Money) and the inimitable Billy Preston on the keys for a few songs. 

The name of this record was eventually changed from the colloquial to the proper use of the word "serves" but I'm leaving the spelling as it appears on the original release.

Check this one out!

John Lee Hooker - It Serve You Right to Suffer (1996; Impulse Records)

John Coltrane - Ascension (1966)

"John Coltrane began using LSD fairly regularly some time in 1965. Although it has been stated by some that he took it only when he recorded OM later that year, he actually took it far more often during the last few years of his life, according to a number of people, including a member of his quartet who would prefer, like others, not to be quoted directly on this subject." 

- Coltrane biographer Eric Nisenson

John Coltrane - Ascension (1966; Impulse! Records)

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965)

Archie Shepp was one of the cats back in the early-60's doing that "new thing" and earned his stripes playing with Cecil Taylor's band. He would go on to play with the New York Contemporary Five alongside Don Cherry and ultimately catch the attention of some of the vanguards of the new school; most notably Ornette (Shepp would play a Coleman composition on his first "solo" record, credited alongside the Bill Dixon Quartet) and Coltrane (playing on the Love Supreme sessions but not making the final cut- he would appear on the 2002 out-takes of that record), playing on John's Ascension album as well as a split with the 'Trane titled New Thing at Newport from 1965.

Shepp's finest moment would be this record, Fire Music; cut at a time when his political consciousness and burgeoning Afrocentricity was reaching a fever pitch- Archie would include an homage to Malcolm X as well as a Duke Ellington standard and the premier bossa nova song of all-time (The Girl from Ipanema). Considered groundbreaking as well as erratic, it showcases a legend at the height of his creativity- done right after his Four for Trane sessions (revolutionary reworkings of some Coltrane tunes from earlier in the decade).

Archie Shepp - Fire Music (1965; Impulse! Records)

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

Probably my favorite jazz record of all-time; either this or A Love Supreme depending on what kind of mood I'm in. This is actually a lot more than just straight jazz, and if you've never heard this one your ears probably hate you in advance. It's an album that sits at the crossroads between the avant-garde, big band music and that whole Third Stream movement that incorporated classical elements into free jazz by using traditional classical instrumentation (an eleven-piece "orchestra" performed this record) by experimenting and improvising, definitely not trademarks of classical music.

Charles Mingus was at the forefront of this school of thought, his friend Gunther Schuller coined the term after Mingus' 1955 record Jazzical Moods. Here on The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Charlie took it a step further than ever before; re-imagining this suite as a free jazz-classical ballet piece to actually be performed by dancers (it never was because it was considered too emotionally intense!).

This is why Mingus is the greatest composer in the history of modern music; he could swing like Bird and Ellington, but he had Mozart and Beethoven in his blood...

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963; Impulse! Records) 

Oliver Nelson - The Blues and The Abstract Truth (1961)

This album is another one of those overlooked gems that people should be kicking themselves when they hear it and say, "Damn, where's this been?" That was pretty much my reaction when I first heard it a few months ago. The line-up, for one, is one the most spectacular ever assembled; it's like the intersection of four different distinct styles. Let's take a look at the players: George Barrow on baritone sax, Paul Chambers on bass, Eric Dolphy on flute and alto sax, Bill Evans on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and then the leader, Oliver Nelson as arranger and on alto and tenor saxes.

We can discuss each musicians respective resumés; everyone should know about Bill Evans, more for his trio work with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian (check out their 1961 album Explorations), but also for his contributions to the Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue sessions.

Next, Paul Chambers; known as Mr. P.C., and probably the second most influential jazz bassist after Charles Mingus, period. He's literally played with everybody and anybody between 1954 until his death in 1969 at age 33.

Freddie Hubbard? Probably my second favorite trumpeter (after Lee Morgan and miles ahead of Miles); another guy with a list of credentials that go on and on- started in 1960 with Eric Dolphy, then recorded his debut as a leader then went on to play on Ornette's landmark Free Jazz album. That's just in his first year of recording, the man went hard right up until he passed in 2008.

I'll skip Roy Jones and George Barrow (they aren't credited on the album cover!) and get to Eric Dolphy. If Dolphy didn't die at 36, he'd be mentioned alongside Coltrane as the two best saxmen ever; his Out To Lunch is not only one of my favorite records of all time, it's the artwork I'm using behind this very website's main banner and the inspiration for the site's name as well. He's also one of the best jazz flautists ever, and did I mention he also played clarinet? C'mon, the man was an absolute virtuoso. I'd post Out To Lunch on here, but that's an album you better have if you're into jazz, no ifs ands or buts around that.

Oliver Nelson gained notoriety playing alongside Quincy Jones in the late '50s and made a big splash with this record. He found plenty of work as a highly sought after arranger, eventually working with James Brown and Diana Ross, but Nelson would get his biggest paychecks from composing music for TV and film (The Six Million Dollar Man, Columbo, The Bionic Woman and Last Tango In Paris).

So there you go. An album that features some of the best performers at various stages of their careers, all coming together to create a marvelous, almost forgotten record...

Oliver Nelson - The Blues and The Abstract Truth (1961; Impulse! Records)