To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.
Album 79
Oliver Nelson - Blues And The Abstract Truth
Drinking: Amaretto Sour
- "Stolen Moments": There's something very familiar about this piece. Whatever it is, I can't put my place on it, but this is the Jazz I live for. It's both stripped down and simple, while still being textured and complex. The trumpet solo at 1:25 is timeless. Every piece of this puzzle feels like it's exactly as it should be. If someone asked me for a quintessential jazz moment, I'd give them one of Paul Desmond's solos in "Blue Rondo A La Turk" and I'd give them this track. Given the 8:45 run time on this song, I'm interested to see where it goes. A flute solo joins in at around the three minute mark, and it's also an excellent offering. This transitions into a saxophone solo, and it feels effortless. The performance reminds me of Desmond, even though I know there isn't. There's a hint of an echo behind the saxophone, and I feel like it's ringing off the piano strings. Regardless of how it's achieved, it's a great sound. We segue to a piano solo at around 5:55. The piano feels like it's further back in the mix compared to where the saxophone just was, which does take away from the experience, but it's still a classic solo. The moment changes briefly at around 7:05 with this cool swelling piece between the horns and saxes, with the drums rolling fiercely underneath. This transitions immediately into a great little passage where the instruments toy with the dynamic ranges of their respective volume. This track raced passed, it's hard to believe 8 minutes has already gone by. A beautiful chord to end on.
- "Hoe Down": This piece opens with a great, pointed intro. The instruments are panned in to each side excellently, and it creates this excellent call and response moment. the trumpet takes off into a solo over an excellent walking bass line. The drums are tight, and the piano is quietly filling in the space between the instruments. I still wish the piano was mixed a little louder. A tenor sax solo takes the stage at ~1:48 and it comes in swinging. It's mixed quite loud and hard right in the mix. It's an interesting choice, and I think bigger speakers it would make for a concert like experience in my living room. Baritone sax takes over around the 2:50 mark. It's got a swing to it, and this one is panned hard left. The piano can barely make it over the baritone, which too bad because the chords they're playing are excellent. And finally! A quick drum solo at 3:50 before we return to the riffing from the beginning, which is quite catchy. This was a fun piece to be sure!
- "Cascades": Drums open this piece and clear the stage for a pretty tight saxophone riff. Again, this is some classic jazz sounds. The winds/brass playing under the solo is tight. Bass and drums are in the pocket. This train is rambling down the rail in the best way possible. We segue into a trumpet solo, and things continue to cook as this player has chops! We get a piano solo near 2:48. I'm going to sound like a broken record but I wish it was louder. Everyone else gets a respectable level of noise, this feels like it's being recorded several feet away, and it suffers for it. Truly a loss too, because it's a great solo. The band starts playing again as a whole and play out the song to a long form fade out.
- "Yearnin'": The tempo is slowed down for this sound. It opens with that classic trio sound of piano, drums, and upright bass. The feeling is cool, calm, collected, and classy. The riff work in this song is excellent, especially the harmony work utilized. This is followed by a saxophone solo. There's something very Bop about this album, without feeling like it's ripping anything off. The rhythm work works extremely well, the solos are free yet so very tight, it's all happening. It's hard to keep focus on sharing the feelings and experience of listening to it because I keep getting sucked into the moments created by these musicians. Don't skip this song.
- "Butch And Butch": This harmonized duet is excellent, and gives me Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra vibes, but I couldn't tell you why. I see what the sax solo at roughly 0:38 is trying to do, but it isn't working for me. It moves away from this meditation and on to other things, but still fails to wow me. Thankfully I'm not struggling to hear the piano as much as previously, though it can still use a bump in volume. These moments segue to a trumpet solo. Again, I see where it's going and trying to do, and it's not doing it for me. It's not bad, per say, but it's not for me. The sax cuts back in for another go at soloing, and it's alright. A piano solo takes over around 3:15, and it's my favorite solo so far. This track has been my least favorite on the album so far. Make it in the back half of an album before hitting one that doesn't land with you is pretty excellent though, well done! The end is a revisitation of the intro with some slight tweaks, and was quite enjoyable.
- "Teenie's Blues": Opens with an excellent bass line over a single hi-hat and the occasional snare work. It's so classy, so true to the moment. Some excellent bluesy brass and sax join in over this walking bass-line. To say it's so good would be an understatement. A tenor saxophone tears into the moment and shreds its bell off. Unlike the previous track (in my humble opinion), each choice seems to fit into the moment in a strange but meaningful way. This segues to a different sax, and they play a much cooler, softer solo. There's some good runs, but it doesn't present nearly as in your face. Part of me feels like these solos are weird flexes of skill, but I don't get that vibe from this piece. It's a reinterpretation of what blues and jazz can mean to each other. The piano is back for another solo, and again could be higher in the mix, but the playing is skillful. It's truly excellent. This is quickly followed by a bass solo that is quite punctuated. I do wonder why more bass solos aren't bowed. After the solo we're taken back to the brass and sax riffs from the intro, and we ride this moment to the end of the album.
Overall Thoughts: If you didn't pick up the trend, I wish Bill Evans' piano playing was mixed higher. It was excellent playing but it was hard to pick out over the saxophones and trumpets. This felt like a quintessential jazz album that had truly missed my radar. Looking at various articles and reviews, "Stolen Moments" quickly became a jazz standard after this performance, and it is totally clear to me as to why. Definitely check this album out!
Info: This album was released in August of 1961 through the Impulse! record label. It was recorded at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, and features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, Oliver Nelson on tenor saxophone, George Barrow on baritone saxophone, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums.
If you'd like to pick up this album, you can find it here!
No comments:
Post a Comment