Sunday, September 4, 2011

Great Jazz Albums (IMO) #49

Miles Davis All Stars  Walkin' (1954).  1954, as previously noted, was the year that gave birth to hard bop, with the release of A Night In Birdland With The Art Blakey Quintet, featuring Horace Silver on piano.  At the end of 1954, Blakey and Silver recorded another important album, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers.  Sandwiched between these two is a record perhaps equally influential in the development of hard bop, which also, not coincidentally, found Horace Silver on piano:  Walkin' by the Miles Davis All Stars.  Davis was at the forefront of so many revolutionary jazz styles that it should come as no surprise that he recorded one of the first great hard bop albums.  These sessions occurred soon after Davis had conquered his heroin addiction.  It also marked a departure from his "cool jazz" recordings.  As one reviewer wrote, "the undeniable strength and conviction present in Miles Davis' performance on Walkin', underscores the urgency and passion with which he would rightfully reclaim his status as a primary architect of bop."  In addition to Silver, the rhythm section included Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums.  With J.J. Johnson on trombone and Lucky Thompson on sax, this truly was an All Star Team.

[Related posts:  Great Jazz Albums  #1 (Hank Mobley), #2 (Horace Silver), #3 (Sonny Rollins), #4 (Sonny Clark), #5 (Dexter Gordon), #6 (Cannonball Adderley); #7 (Bill Evans), #8 (McCoy Tyner), #9 (Clifford Brown), #10 (Sinatra), #11 (Monk), #12 (Kenny Dorham), #13 (Coltrane), #14 (Duke Ellington), #15 (Miles Davis), #16 (Wayne Shorter), #17 (Dinah Washington); #18 (Sarah Vaughan); #19 (Stan Getz); #20 (Blue Mitchell); #21 (Gene Ammons); #22 (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers); #23 (Red Garland); #24 (Ella Fitzgerald); #25 (Charlie Parker); #26 (Art Pepper); #27 (Bud Powell); #28 (John Hicks); #29 (Kenny Barron); #30 (Coleman Hawkins); #31 (Count Basie) #32 (Benny Carter w/ Ben Webster and Barney Bigard); #33 (Chet Baker); #34 (Thad  Jones); #35 (The Great Jazz Trio); #36 (Ahmad Jamal); #37 (Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond); #38 (Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis); #39 (Charles McPherson)#40 (Harold Land); #41 Booker Little); #42 (Elis Regina & Antonio Carlos Jobim); #43 (Art Farmer & Benny Golson); #44 (Wynton Kelly); #45 (Tony Bennett/Bill Evans; # 46 (Barry Harris); #47 (Elmo Hope)]; #48 (Mel Torme)]

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