All Categories — LPs  

One of the rare few albums that Jon Hendricks cut on his own during the early 60s, and a very tasty batch of jazz vocal tracks recorded with backing by Pony Poindexter, Gildo Mahones, Ike Isaacs, and other unsung early 60s soul jazz greats. Hendricks is hitting a style here that adds some 50s R&B roots into his usual bop vocalese approach. Titles include "I'll Die Happy", "Do You Call That A Buddy", "Stop & Go Blues", "I Never Get Enough of You", "What Would You Do?", and "Fast Livin Blues".

An amazing album that has Art Blakey completely reinventing himself for the 70s! Blakey shifts from straight hardbop to kind of a modal soul jazz groove, touched with some of the electric playing of the younger jazz generation, but not enough to qualify as fusion or funk. Instead, he's working with some great younger players – like Carter Jefferson, Woody Shaw, and Michael Howell – hitting a groove that reminds us of some of the best underground soul jazz on labels like Muse or Strata East. Includes the amazing long groovers "Mission Eternal" and "Chant For Bu", a famous Tribe Called Quest sample – plus new electric piano versions of "Moanin" and "Along Came Betty", both of which feature vocals by Jon Hendricks.

An obscure late 60s rock opera – but a pretty great one too, and a set with some rougher, more soulful moments than Hair, Oh Calcutta, or any of its contemporaries! The instrumentation here is really great – almost in a Melvin Van Peebles mode at times, with basslines that step around in odd, almost skittish rhythms – and guitar bits and keyboards that get funky, but often in a way that's kind of quirky. Vocals are by both the authors, as well as actor Joe Morton and Yolande Bavan – the latter of whom makes one of her few rare appearances on record after working with Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks! Tracks themselves have a definite Hair influence – slightly hippieish, but a bit more soulful – and produced here by Nik Venet with a style that lets in plenty of the "space" that made similar contemporaneous projects at Capitol so great. Titles include "Salvation", "1001", "Honest Confession Is Good For The Soul", "Ballin", "For Ever", "Deadalus", "Let's Get Lost In Now", "Back To Genesis", and the hit "If You Let Me Make Love To You Then Why Can't I Touch You".

Great early work by Mark Murphy – a set that's different than the cool breeziness of his 70s work, and done with an approach that's a lot hipper than most of his 60s contemporaries! Ernie Wilkins handles the arrangements, and there's a rollicking soul jazz groove here that's a bit unusual for Murphy – but which makes for a nice change from his earlier work for Decca or Capitol. As with most of Mark's records, the tunes are very well-chosen, and go way past the obvious – a set list that includes Fran Landesman's great "Stoppin The Clock", Jon Hendricks' lyrics to Horace Silver's "Doodlin", Annie Ross' famous vocalese version of "Twisted", and hip takes on jazz standards "Green Dolphin Street", "Milestones", and "Out Of This World".

Wild! The Nutty Squirrels were an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Alvin & The Chipmunks during the late 50s – a studio-trickery session handled with the voices of Don Elliott and Sascha Burland – but to our ears, honestly, the album's a lot better! You see, both Elliott and Burland had their jazz chops down pretty tight – and the record is less an album of novelty pop numbers, than it is a set of jazz vocal tunes, scatted along over small combo backing, with the voices sped up on tape so that they sound like a pair of jazzy squirrels! The album's got none of the cloying aspects of The Chimpunks' work – and if you can get past the squeakiness of the vocals, you'll actually find the record pretty appealing from a jazz perspective. Titles include "Bob White", "That's Owl, Brother", "Yardbird Suite", "Flamingo", "Bird Watching", "Sparrow In The Treetop", and "Didee Bird". Imagine Jon Hendricks and Dave Lambert locked in a studio with a tank of helium – and you'll get the idea!

How can we even begin to describe the genius of Lambert Hendricks and Ross? The group was a jazz vocal supergroup that merged three talents that had already made a big name in the bebop vocalese field – Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and the lovely Annie Ross – and the project was an attempt to completely work the emerging vocalese style onto a full-blown jazz group. This album wasn't their first – but it was the first to really break them with the masses, and it's a vocal jazz classic if there ever was one. Backings are by the Ike Isaacs Trio, plus Harry Edison on trumpet – and titles include "Moanin", "Twisted", "Cloudburst", "Everybody's Boppin", and "Sermonette".

Trend-setting vocal work from Oscar Brown Jr – one of the hippest singers of his generation, and a vocalist who really took things to the next level in the 60s! Brown's got a sound that's partially influenced by the vocalese of Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, and other singers of the 50s – but his groove here is also a bit more fluid and lyrical too – thanks to some great lyrics penned by Oscar, some of which went on to become classics over the years. Like his predecessors, many of the tunes chosen by Brown got their start as jazz instrumentals, but sparkle anew here with fresh lyrics that really liven them up a lot – tales of sin and soul and a lot more, often delivered with a good sense of wit. Titles include great vocal versions of "Dat Dere", "Work Song", and "Afro-Blue", plus some of his great original compositions, like "Brown Baby", "But I Was Cool", and "Rags and Old Iron". The arrangements are great, with a nice jazzy sound – and the group includes the excellent Floyd Morris on piano!

One of our favorite of Verve's "genius of" collections of Charlie Parker's work – largely because it includes some wonderful and oft-overlooked vocal tunes! 4 of the tracks on the set feature Bird blowing with a vocal chorus arranged by Dave Lambert – in a style that shouldn't work, but does – thanks to Lambert's keen bop sensibilities (heard here before his Lambert Hendricks & Ross years), and to players in the group that include Hal McKusick, Max Roach, and Charles Mingus. Other tracks have Parker either playing in a quartet with Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, and Hank Jones – or in a different group with Kenny Dorham and Tommy Turk. Titles include "Cardboard", "Visa", "Segment", "Passport", "Diverse", "I'm In the Mood For Love", "If I Love Again", and "Star Eyes".