Miles Davis Quintet – Walkin (1965)

Walkin Appears on “The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965” (Columbia Legacy 1995). It is originally written by R. Carpenter.

Played live at the Plugged Nickel, First Set December 23, 1965 by:

Miles Davis – Trumpet / Wayne Shorter – Tenor Saxophone / Herbie Hancock – Piano / Ron Carter – Bass / Tony Williams – Drums.

Research for a Wayne Shorter biography revealed that drummer Tony Williams, during the plane ride to Chicago, challenged the rest of the band to play anti-jazz, in essence sabotaging the gig by playing whatever one wished rather than the standard versions. The band kept to the challenge, and the tunes were then radically altered for the Plugged Nickel performances. [source]

Miles Davis – Lonely Fire (1970)

Lonely Fire is recorded 27 January 1970 in Columbia Studio B, and appears on the album Big Fun.

Lineup: Miles Davis – trumpet / Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone / Bennie Maupin – bass clarinet / Khalil Balakrishna – sitar, Indian instruments / Chick Corea – electric piano / Joe Zawinul – electric piano, Farfisa organ / Dave Holland – double bass / Harvey Brooks – Fender bass guitar / Jack DeJohnette – drums / Billy Cobham – drums / Airto Moreira – Indian instruments, percussion

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Free For All (1964)

Incredibly high energy level. Free For All is composed by Wayne Shorter and appears on the album Free For All, recorded in Van Gelder Studio in February 1964. Yay!

Shorter’s title track is one of the finest moments in the Jazz Messengers’ history. [source]

Lineup: Art Blakey – drums / Cedar Walton – piano / Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone / Freddie Hubbard – trumpet / Curtis Fuller – trombone / Reggie Workman – bass

Sonny Rollins – The Freedom Suite (1958)

Recorded in New York in February and March 1958.

Personel: Sonny Rollins – Tenor Saxophone / Oscar Pettiford – Bass / Max Roach – Drums

Sun Ra – The Magic City (1965)

The boundaries of Sun Ra’s self-proclaimed “space jazz” underwent a transformation in the mid-’60s. The Magic City is an aural snapshot of that metamorphic process. Many enthusiasts and scholars consider this to be among Ra’s most definitive studio recordings. [source]

Alto Saxophone – Harry Spencer / Alto Saxophone, Flute – Danny Davis / Alto Saxophone, Flute, Oboe, Piccolo Flute – Marshall Allen / Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Timpani – Pat Patrick / Bass – Ronnie Boykins / Bass Clarinet – Robert Cummings / Keyboards [Clavioline], Celesta [Electronic Celeste], Piano, Marimba [Bass], Harp [Sun Harp], Percussion [Dragon Drum], Timpani – Sun Ra / Percussion – Jimmi Johnson, Roger Blank / Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore / Trombone – Ali Hassan, Bernard Pettaway, Teddy Nance / Trumpet – Chris Capers, Walter Miller

Gil Evans – Where Flamingos Fly (1960)

From the albun Out of the Cool.

Out of the Cool is a jazz album by The Gil Evans Orchestra, recorded in 1960 and released on the Impulse! label the following year. The album was one of Impulse!’s first four albums, released together, and featured a gatefold design and high production values. [source]

Gil Evans – piano / Johnny Coles – trumpet / Phil Sunkel – trumpet / Keg Johnson – trombone / Jimmy Knepper – trombone / Tony Studd – bass trombone / Bill Barber – tuba / Ray Beckenstein – alto saxophone, flute, piccolo / Eddie Caine – alto saxophone, flute, piccolo / Budd Johnson – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone / Bob Tricarico – flute, piccolo, bassoon / Ray Crawford – guitar / Ron Carter – bass / Elvin Jones – drums / Charli Persip – drums

John Coltrane Quartet – What’s New? (1962)

From the album Ballads by John Coltrane, Recorded 1961 and 1962.

Critic Gene Lees stated that the quartet had never played the tunes before. “They arrived with music-store sheet music of the songs” and just before the recordings, they “would discuss each tune, write out copies of the changes they’d use, semi-rehearse for a half hour and then do it”. Each piece was recorded in one take, except for “All or Nothing at All” [source]

Personel: John Coltrane – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone / McCoy Tyner – piano / Jimmy Garrison – bass / Elvin Jones – drums