Paul Chambers: Bass on Top – 1957

In the world of 1950s hard bop, there is no more prominent bassist than Paul Chambers. The man was absolutely everywhere.

He shows up on an astonishing number of jazz classics, including Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Thelonious Monk’s Brilliant Corners, Sonny Rollins’ Tenor Madness and Oliver Nelson’s The Blues and the Abstract Truth. He was a sideman on 200 albums from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

So it’s natural to associate Chambers with a certain kind of jazz – conventional bop with adventurous soloists, always the supporting rhythm man.

Bass on Top turns that convention on its head – and it’s not an easy listen.

Chambers leads on every tune, playing melody and long solos. Credit the bassman for having the guts to try something very different, and Blue Note for supporting an experiment that surely wasn’t very commercial.

But I’m not a fan of Bass on Top. I admire the idea, but not the reality.

Maybe it’s my ears. I have trouble hearing all those low notes. And maybe it’s just an old prejudice. Bass on Top is so far from what I’m used to hearing. I recognize what Chambers is doing – playing the bass as if it were a sax or trumpet. But it feels foreign. I’ve listened several times, but I just can’t connect. The songs are very familiar, but the instrumentation is not.

It’s not all negative. The opening number, Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays,” is actually moving. It starts almost like chamber music, with Chambers playing with a bow, a long, melancholy statement of the melody. It’s beautiful. Then it moves into standard jazz improvisation, and I feel lost at sea with the long, heavy bass solo.

Chambers uses the bow again on Miles Davis’ “The Theme.” Again, the bass solos leave me cold, but Kenny Burrell’s guitar and Hank Jones’ piano play more prominent roles, and drummer Art Taylor playfully trades phrases with Chambers. It’s joyful. In fact, Burrell is, for me, the album’s biggest selling point. He never disappoints.

But whether it’s a toe-tapper like Charlie Parker’s “Chasin’ the Bird” or the old chestnut “Dear Old Stockholm,” I just can’t warm up to those long bass solos. The band is terrific. The song selection is top-notch. The experiment is absolutely worthy. But the execution leaves me cold.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Easy to find

Cost: Around $5 used

 

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin’ Else – 1958

Is there anything new to say about a jazz classic that features one of the greatest two-horn tandems ever to lay down a blue note? How about this: You must own this record. Period.

I suspect that everyone with even a passing interest in jazz owns Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, the best-selling jazz record of all time. Well, Somethin’ Else is Kind of Blue one year earlier. Same two horns – Davis on trumpet, Cannonball Addeley on alto – supported by a five-star rhythm section, with Hank Jones’ piano, Sam Jones’ bass and an unusually subdued Art Blakey on drums.

The original album had just five tunes, but each one is perfect.

This is a Miles Davis’ album in everything but name. Sometimes muted and pensive, sometimes brash and boppy, Somethin’ Else is the equal of anything Miles ever put on record. The opener, “Autumn Leaves,” features Miles at his introspective, minimalist best. There are plenty of great records featuring muted Miles, but this is possibly my favorite. Close your eyes and try not to melt into the soft, bluesy horn. Adderley more than meets the challenge in his own understated way.

“Love for Sale” is another new take on an old standard, featuring more muted Miles. It starts slowly and elegantly, then turns to a scalding-hot boil – seven minutes of inspired improvisations.

And then it gets better. “Somethin’ Else” lights the joint on fire. Davis and Adderley are absolutely spot-on in sync, trading call-and-response phrases as if they were conjoined twins. Was it planned? Was it made up on the spot? Doesn’t matter. It’s as if one person is alternating the two horns. This is jazz on a higher plane.

And then… stop, slow down, and change the mood. “One for Daddy-O” is a Nat Adderley original that is all smoke and smoldering noir. Finally, the original record ends with the ballad standard “Dancing in the Dark,” with Adderley sounding like Charlie Parker reincarnated – sweeter than anything this side of Ben Webster.

The CD adds a final cut from the session, a Hank Jones original called “Bangoon.” It’s not bad – a fast bebop number that could have been lifted from a Parker-Gillespie record. It features a short and tasteful Blakey drum solo – the only one on this record – and then Somethin’ Else is done.

Over a long and varied career, Miles Davis had plenty of great musical partners, so it’s hard to say that Cannonball Adderley was the best ever. But based on Somethin’ Else and Kind of Blue, you could certainly make a very strong case.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Ridiculously easy to find

Cost: Just $3 used, but why not spring for a new CD at only $8?

Dr. Lonnie Smith: Then and Now – Think! (1968) vs Evolution (2016)

The “doctor” with the mysterious turban and manic Hammond B-3 fingers is back. And if you think the old man at 73 can’t possibly match the passion and pyrotechnics of the young man at 26… well, surprise!

Evolution is Dr. Lonnie Smith’s triumphant return to Blue Note. I feared it might be like a Beatles “reunion” of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr – a sentimental experiment that’s bound to disappoint. I bought Evolution and resigned myself to liking Smith’s younger bandmates and pining for the days of yore.

I was wrong.

For this experiment, I played two Smith albums back to back, several times. I picked what is arguably his best record: Think! It’s his Blue Note debut of 1968, when Smith wore love beads and before he became a “doctor.” Then I played the new Lonnie Smith record to see how it compared.

Listening to Think! is pure pleasure – and not just for nostalgic reasons. It is inspired music. The opening cut, Hugh Masekela’s “Son of Ice Bag” is a high-energy 11-minute soul-funk workout. It’s followed by “The Call of the Wild,” 12 minutes of freaky, hot-and-heavy Afro-Cuban rhythms and grooves. And then the title cut – yes, it’s the Aretha Franklin hit song, given a groovy organ-jazz treatment.

If Think! ended there, it would be an unforgettable (but short) Blue Note classic. But wait, as they say on TV; there’s more.

Track 4 is a six-minute improvisation on – would you believe it? – “Three Blind Mice.” (I know what you’re thinking: “Three Blind Mice” has chord changes? I was surprised, too.) And finally, another amazing Latin workout on a Smith original called “Slouchin’.”

And that’s it. Think! is one wild and hairy soul-funk-jazz classic.

Fast forward nearly 50 years.

Evolution starts where Think! left off, with a long funk-jazz jam called “Play It Back,” featuring Robert Glasper on piano, a bunch of hot horns and the good doctor laying down impressive grooves. “Afrodesia” is another fat funkfest, this time featuring Joe Lovano’s horn. (The only down note of the album is Track 3, a smooth jazz tune that is better left unheard.)

And then Evolution lives up to its name. First, there’s an inspired take on Thelonious Monk’s classic “Straight No Chaser,” with a simple organ-guitar-drums trio playing anything but simply. The same trio tackles “My Favorite Things,” but this is not your grandfather’s Richard Rodgers, or even John Coltrane’s. It is something utterly different and intriguing.

Finally, a pair of tunes that truly show the doctor’s evolution. “Talk About This” starts with a hip-hop vibe and vocal that would have been impossible in 1968, then segues into a slow funky vamp. But it’s the last tune, “African Suite,” that clinches it for me — a piece that is utterly unlike anything else on the album, or any other album. “African Suite” is a 10-minute slice of African percussion, elephant trumpets and a sweet flute. Nothing about the funk-heavy Lonnie Smith of 1968 suggests he was capable of this. It’s a joy.

Bottom line: If you liked Lonnie Smith back in the day, you’ll appreciate and enjoy his evolution to 2016. It makes me wonder what new tricks he’ll find at age 74.