Straight up and down (Eric Dolphy) (LP 2620 - 2621)

Keith Jarrett  Eyes Of The Heart (Vinyl, ECM Records, 1979) ****  

Eric Dolphy  Out To Lunch! (Vinyl, Blue Note Records, 1964) ****  

Genre: Jazz 

Places I remember: My Music Taupo

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Eyes Of The Heart (part 1)

Gear costume: Out To Lunch (Eric Dolphy)

Active compensatory factors: Eyes Of The Heart is a live album (from a concert in Austria) featuring Keith Jarrett on piano (obviously) and soprano sax (less obviously).

He is joined by three brilliant musicians: Paul Motian on drums; Charlie Haden on bass, and Dewey Redman on tenor sax. All three have a sizable catalogue of their own albums.

I was thrilled to find a copy of this in the secondhand bins at My Music Taupo. It's an unusual record - three sides are from the live concert and the fourth side is blank.

It's basically two songs - Eyes Of The Heart takes over the first two sides and Encore is on side 3. Both start off in one direction but each one twists, turns, and launches off in different directions. I was hooked from the start of the title track.

Out To Lunch! is a jazz classic from the year of Beatlemania and, previously, a glaring omission from my collection. Interestingly, it's his only album for Blue Note as a leader.

It's a challenging album to listen in some regards but, like Trout Mask Replica, when you settle in and accept that Dolphy is doing his free form thing and don't fight it, the music opens up. Multiple listens are required. I can see myself coming back to this one many times for the interplay between the instruments. 

Normally, I find the trumpet and vibes a challenge, but Freddy Hubbard and Bobby Hutcherson respectively, embellish Dolphy's bass clarinet and alto sax brilliantly.

Where do they all belong? A couple of great additions to my jazz collection.

Tribal dance (Charles Lloyd) (LP 2357)

The Charles Lloyd Quartet  Love-In (Vinyl, Atlantic Records, 1967) ****  

Genre: Jazz 

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caterham on the hill)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Is It Really The Same?

Gear costume: Tribal Dance 

Active compensatory factors: I was attracted to this in Chaldon Books and Records for many reasons.

• It was recorded live in San Francisco, 1967
• It's Live at The Fillmore, 1967
• The band includes Keith Jarrett on piano and Jack DeJohnette on drums
• It's in mint condition
• The Quartet is my favourite jazz formation - tenor sax, piano, bass, drums
• Charles Lloyd looks cool!
• It's an original pressing on Atlantic
• It was a good price - ten pounds.
• The cover is suitably of the time

It doesn't disappoint, although I could live without the version of the Fabs Here There And Everywhere, and Charles is better on tenor sax than flute.

The 1967 San Franciscan hippies certainly seemed to lap it up!

Where do they all belong? A one off

Knockin' on your door (Old And In The Way) (LP 932 - 938)

Various Old & In The Way (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records, 1975) ****  

Genre: San Francisco, country rock 

John Mayall The World Of John Mayall Vol. 2 (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1968) ****  

Genre: Blues rock 

Claude Bolling, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Alexandre Lagoya Picnic Suite (Vinyl, CBS, 1980) ****  

Genre: Piano jazz

Sonny Terry Whoopin' (Vinyl, Alligator Records, 1984) ****  

Genre: Blues

Deep Purple/ Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto For Group and Orchestra (Vinyl, Harvest Records, 1970) ** 

Genre: Pop/rock

Keith Jarrett Solo - Concerts (Vinyl, ECM Records, 1973) ****  

Genre: Piano jazz

Canned Heat Historical Figures And Ancient Heads (Vinyl, United Artists Records, 1971) ***  

Genre: Blues rock 

Places I remember: Record fair in Waipukarau (Oct 15, 2022)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: She's Too Young (John Mayall)

Gear costume: Sonny's Whoopin' the Doop (Sonny Terry)

Active compensatory factors: An eclectic bunch, right, but that's me - wide ranging taste has been a feature of my music collecting from the very beginning.

All of these albums are bunched together because it kind of made sense. For this very recent record fair, I allowed myself a budget of $150.  I did pretty well. All of those albums came to $152.

Most expensive was the Keith Jarrett triple album boxed set at $40 and the cheapest was the Claude Bolling at $12. Both of them, and the rest actually, I consider bargains. All are in excellent condition, too.

I've been after Old And In The Way (the Jerry Garcia led bunch of friends) since I admired it in Marbecks nearly 40 years ago. It's a fantastic country/bluegrass album played by musicians who love the genre.

I lost the Claude Bolling along my collecting journey so it was great to be reunited with that one, especially at that price.

I didn't realise the World of John Mayall even had a Vol. 2 sequel until I saw it at the fair. I needed to complete the set and this is an original Decca NZ pressing, just like my copy of The World of John Mayall, so a no-brainer at $15. Nor had I a clue that Sonny Terry did this album with Johnny Winter and Willie Dixon. It's as good as that combination sounds.

The Canned Heat album is an oddity in their catalogue with even Little Richard singing/playing on one track. Overall I love the familiar Canned Heat boogie tracks (bonus fab and gear track - Cherokee Dance).

That leaves a Deep Purple album which I've shied away from in the past - a rock band and a philharmonic orchestra seem too many poles apart. And you know what? I was right to avoid it for all these years - it has its moments but it's a Jon Lord album more than it is a Deep Purple one. Just sayin'.

And finally, the triple Keith Jarrett. I was hoping for something as great as The Koln Concert. Solo - Concerts takes in two dates in 1973 - Bremen and Lausanne. It's not quite as epic as the Koln Concert double peak, but over six sides Jarrett extemporizes superbly. I get a gospelly R'n'B vibe from time to time during these two shows which is intriguing and rewarding.

Where do they all belong? Until the next Record Fair comes to town, it's back to the regular run of posts for the next one.

The sun whose rays (Keith Jarrett) (LP 691 - 692)

Keith Jarrett  The Köln Concert (CD, ECM Records, 1975) ***** 

Keith Jarrett  La Fernice (CD, ECM Records, 2018) ***

Genre: ECM Jazz 

Places I remember: Music shop in Paris - by the lower entrance to the Louvre (Köln Concert); HMV - Oxford St. (La Fernice)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles/ Gear costume: All of Köln Concert. 

Active compensatory factors: I have mentioned Jarrett's legendary live concert in Cologne on Goo Goo before but not this live in Italy album from 2018 - La Fernice.

Although both concerts rank high on the amazing-o-meter, live in Cologne is particularly breathtaking.

It's really odd how a double album of solo piano playing can be so mesmerising, but it manages it. I never get tired of hearing it and it's never less than thrilling to chuck it on.

The comparative variety of approaches on La Fernice doesn't have that immediate impact for me, and I sense that I will need to come back to it quite a few times for it to seep into my consciousness.

Where do they all belong? It's in the ECM jazz section. These albums are sort of jazz and sort of not so grouping them together makes sense to me.

Rocking the boat and unrolling the note (Roy Harper)

A work colleague asked me recently, when looking at my CD collection, what my current favourite was.

I couldn't think of any one fav at the time, maybe because I was trying to think of something current.

But then, when I thought about it afterwards, I realised that I have been playing two CDs pretty much every day since I got back from holiday.

Not only that but I've been listening to them on and off since I first heard them in the late 70s.

I'm talking about Roy Harper's Stormcock and Keith Jarrett's The Koln Concert.





I have old cassette tape copies of each one and I found CD versions of them in the UK and France on my recent holiday.

Each album has four tracks on it that link to each other thematically and musically. None of which will ever be played on the radio so they won't ever feature on Gregarious' blog of the seventies. The instrumentation is pretty sparse on each one. Jarrett is playing solo on his piano. Harper is largely singing and playing acoustic guitar. Curiously, it is the only album in their respective catalogues that does it for me too. I have tried but these two are special because they each reveal a degree of individual brilliance and passion and connectiveness that is missing in their other albums for me.

My cassette of Stormcock was recorded by me from a mate's album in the late 70s. He had a lot of Genesis and Harper albums that he wanted me to tape for him (no idea why) and of all the albums he gave me to record only Stormcock shone through with it's brilliance.

Roger Marbeck gave me a cassette recording of the Koln Concert. I never would have listened to it otherwise. Solo piano and a double album?? No way! I think it was part of a large number of cassettes he didn't want anymore. There was some good stuff in the pile but Jarrett's concert was the one that stuck.

With both albums it doesn't matter how many times I hear them, I always hear something new. I think this will continue to be the case.