10 Jazz Genius Moments (Pt. 1)

There are jazz albums I can't live without. There are jazz tracks I adore. And then there are mere moments in jazz recordings that blow me away. Some of these thrilling phrases and passages were planned out ahead of time by recording artists or arrangers. Others were improvised and turned out brilliantly. In either case, these subtle touches are the reasons why particular songs stand out for me and hit their target.

In Part 1 of my two-parter on "Moments of Genius" in jazz recordings, here are 10 you may or may not know or have overlooked. They're in no particular order, and all can be found as downloads at iTunes or Amazon:

Roy Haynes' drum figure that opens Charlie Parker's I Get a Kick Out of You. Roy delivers this figure on the master take just before Parker comes in on alto sax to state the melody. Roy's drumming throughout is crisp and inventive, as always. But the way he sets up Bird's entrance is fabulous. From Charlie Parker Plays Cole Porter (1954) or Charlie Parker: The Cole Porter Songbook.

Jimmy Carroll's final bars on his arrangement for Charlie Parker's Everything Happens to Me. Here, Carroll had the string section bow a single note while the piano and harp play the exact same "Big Ben" line on top of each other. A wonderful musical sigh. From Charlie Parker With Strings (1949)

Don Bagley's meaty bass solo on Bags, a Bill Holman arrangement for Stan Kenton's orchestra. The entire track is a winner, but Bagley's powerful solo backed by different instrumental configurations is terrific. One of Bill's personal early favorites for Kenton. From Kenton Showcase (1953).

Sonny Rollins' unaccompanied solo run on the opening to You Do Something to Me. A terrific straight reading with improvisational touches that hesitates, then swings forward, and virtually sings the melody line before Jim Hall, Bob Cranshaw and Harry Saunders join in. From The Bridge (1962).

Horace Silver's first eight measures of Lonely Woman. This is one of Silver's finest trio compositions. The way he sets up the feeling of imposed isolation is as touching as it is artful. From Song For My Father (1964).

Jelly Roll Morton's vocal on I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say. While Morton's piano playing is incomparable on any track, including this one, his "whiskey, neat" vocal here gets me every time. "Get him a good broom to sweep with, take him away." From Jelly Roll Morton: Last Sessions, The Complete General Recordings (1938).

Erroll Garner's piano intro to Talk of the Town. Garner's descending attack sounds like someone hurtling down a flight of stairs two at a time. After the intro, Garner springs into a rollicking block-chord rendition of this standard. From Body and Soul (1951).

Chris Connor's very first word sung on About the Blues. Listen how Chris hits three notes on one word, going from "Ah" up to "bow" downshifting subtly to "ou" before using the "t" as a springboard to add "...the blues." From the Ralph Burns-arranged He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (1956).

Johnny Williams' monster harpsichord attack on the intro to Swing Lightly. Funky, jazzy, swinging and hugely impressive delivery on such a delicate, normally well-mannered instrument. From Henry Mancini's Combo! (1960).

Dexter Gordon's first chorus on Broadway. Gordon's urgency here sounds like the No. 2 subway train rushing into the Times Square station as viewed from the first car. From Our Man in Paris (1963).

Comments

[David Evans]

JazzWax is a daily pleasure. Thank you for that.
Just 10? Impossible. But here are 10 off the top of my head, in no particular order, with the first coffee of the morning:
1. Coltrane's opening cadenza on "Like Someone in Love"
2. "I Should Care" from Solo Monk (it's just one chorus)
3. Frank Wess' solo on "Splanky" (Atomic Basie)
4. Kenny Barron's coda on "Soul Eyes" from Getz' "People Time"
5. Coltrane's entrance on "Someday My Prince Will Come" w/Miles
6. Lockjaw's chorus of "Don't Worry "Bout Me" (w/Zoot and Oscar Peterson)
7. Jimmie Rowles' smoky, confidential vocal on "My Buddy" from "The Peacocks" w/Getz
8. George Coleman's solo on "Stella" w/Miles
9. Lester Young's return for a second helping on "I Want To Be Happy" w/Nat Cole and Buddy Rich
10. Getz' tone on the opening phrase of "The Peacocks" from "But Beautiful" with Bill Evans
I just sat back to see what would spring to mind. If I tried to be more consciously inclusive of my favorite players and recordings, I would be here all day and the list would stretch into the thousands.

[Larry Kart]

I love this kind of stuff. Off the top of my head:

Lester Young and Dickie Wells's solos on the Basie band's "Taxi War Dance"

Johnny Dodds's solo on "Perdido St. Blues" by the New Orleans Wanderers

Louis Armstrong's solo on on the Decca "Struttin' With Some Barbecue"

Monk's solo on "Little Rootie Tootie" (Prestige)

Sonny Rollins' solo on "St. Thomas" (Prestige)

[MICHAEL TRAMBLE]

Me too!! I love this kind of stuff. So here goes...

Tony Willaims drumming on "Nefertiti"--throughout really, but for a moment of genius I'm talking about that moment near the end when all the muscians are playing and everybody is just kind of going wild and that drumming is the main thing you hear! Wow!

Mingus's bass solo on "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love." I generally don't like bass solos much but This one is...um...sublime.

Gil Evans' arrangement at the end of "Moon Dreams." All those soft, low horns wrapping in and out and around each other...

Coltane's solo in "Teo" Toward the end of the solo with all those fast fingerings--I've rarely heard virtuosity sound so musical--this thing stuns me.

Rashaan Roland Kirk--the intro to Mingus's "Peggy's Blue Skylight" Jesus Christ it is so loud and soulful and powerful! I love the whole song but oftentimes I just listen to that intro over and over and over again.

Monk's solo in "Bag's Groove."

Getz. "Blood Count" Pure Getz. The first few notes. Just listen to it.

Cootie Williams on Ellington's "Chelsea Bridge." Pick any monent.

Oliver Nelson's solo--those long, slow beautiful lines in "Stolen Moments"

Sonny Rollins--"You Don't Know What Love Is." Man, he just tears that thing up--the solo right before Tommy Flanagan comes in on the piano--I mean, I can't get that out of my head. One of the most powerful things I've ever heard in jazz.

These are 10 off the top of my head. but wait a minute--this list includes no Lester Young. Every list of Jazz Genius should include some Lester Young! Maybe I'll do a second list tomorrow...