Clarke/Corea/Henderson/Hubbard/White - The Griffith Park Collection 2: In Concert (1983)

A 2 CD live version of the group's 1982 studio album, recorded Friday, April 3, 1982 at the Circle Star Theater, near San Francisco. The band performs 4 of the tunes from that first album and takes the opportunity to stretch out - everybody gets a solo! - doubling and sometimes tripling the length of the tunes: the shortest track clocks in at 12 minutes, the longest almost 20. As drummer/producer Lenny White writes in his liner notes, Freddie Hubbard steals the show and "reaffirms his claim to fame as the premier trumpeter in the world." I could use less saxophone, but think it's a better overall album than the earlier studio release. Plus we're treated to great cover art, a 1937 oil painting entitled "Sheridan Theatre" by one of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper.

Stanley Clarke - bass
Chick Corea - piano
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet & flugelhorn
Lenny White - drums

Press of the time:

• Downbeat (★★★★½): "It's great to hear these guys hitting their stride on some fiercely creative extended jamming."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• CashBox Jazz: #29

Tracks: The first four tracks are taken from the first album and includes what I think is the group's best original, Why Wait. The final two tracks are I Mean You, written by Thelonious Monk, and Here's That Rainy Day, a 1953 standard written by Jimmy Van Heusen for the short-lived, quickly forgotten musical Carnival In Flanders. 

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but on April 3, 1982, I was recovering from a bad case of the measles. More on those adventures here: Adventures in One Act Play - Spring 1982. But that really doesn't have much to do with this live album other than coincidental timing, so never mind. As you were.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Griffith Park Collection (1982)

Clarke/Corea/Henderson/Hubbard/White - The Griffith Park Collection (1982)

It's the old rhythm section from Return To Forever, but this time they've gone acoustic with the help of the addition of a couple of notable horn players. More post-bop and hard-bop instead of RTF's usual fusion. The same personnel on this album, plus singer Chaka Khan, recorded the throwback standards album, Echoes Of An Era, during the same recording sessions. The recording for The Griffith Park Collection was more spontaneous as the musicians played with minimal rehearsal. As described by the Elektra/Musician label:

and from the February 13, 1982 issue of CashBox magazine, p. 27:

I don't love it and that's because of the inconsistent material, not the performances (except when the musicians inexplicably try to coax nonidiomatic sounds out of their instruments). Maybe they should have stuck with standards?

Original album liner notes by Lenny White.

Stanley Clarke - bass
Chick Corea - piano
Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet & flugelhorn
Lenny White - drums

Reviews/ratings:

• Musician: "I for one would like to see more of this"
• Downbeat (★★★): "a good album that could be much better"
• Stereo Review: "An invigorating exercise in the arts of improvisation and teamwork." Also designated a Recording of Special Merit and received 'honorable mention' by the magazine in its Record of the Year Awards for 1982.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #35
• CashBox Jazz: #26
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #29

Tracks: The better cuts are Why Wait (written by Stanley Clarke) and Remember (written by Steve Swallow).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. This CD was purchased in an effort to collect all the releases on the Elektra/Musician label, 1982-84. Best estimates have me currently at 45 of 55 releases on either vinyl, CD, or both formats.

Joe Henderson - In 'N Out (1965)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2004 Rudy Van Gelder Edition which includes a bonus track.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not Henderson's biggest fan - I find him to be an overly busy soloist but, then again, I'm sure I'm just not hearing something I probably should. So why even bother to pick up this album? The presence of relatively overlooked Texas trumpeter Kenny Dorham, who was once called an “eternally underrated bebop trumpet icon” by critic Will Friedwald.

Slowly breaking away from Horace Silver's group, Henderson wisely put together a great band (see below). With players like that, the music was never going to be unoriginal. The hard bop here is energetic sometimes cool, quirky sometimes hip. A good album that somehow becomes even better when I think of it as a Dorham's instead of Henderson's. Bias can be a cruel mistress.

Plus another essential Blue Note album cover from the mind of Reid Miles.

Henderson - tenor saxophone
Kenny Dorham - trumpet
McCoy Tyner - piano
Richard Davis - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

Original liner notes written by Don Heckman and reissue liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

Reviews/ratings:

• Downbeat (★★★): "The major moments on this album are contributed by trumpeter Dorham"
• Billboard: ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Tyner and Dorham shine on their solo work throughout. Compositionally, my favorite cuts are Punjab and Short Story. The bonus track is simply an alternate take of the the title track.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Mode For Joe (1966)

Joe Henderson - Mode For Joe (1966)

Note: the CD I listened to was the UK import 2003 Rudy Van Gelder Edition with a bonus track.

I'm not the biggest fan of Joe Henderson's playing, but I'm certainly a fan of the remainder of the band - in particular Lee Morgan, Bobby Hutcherson, and Ron Carter - plus the tunes here are well-written. While I don't like the album as much as the critics, it is still an enjoyable, worthwhile hard bop disc for me.

Original album liner notes by Leonard Feather.

Henderson - tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan - trumpet
Curtis Fuller - trombone
Bobby Hutcherson - vibes
Cedar Walton - piano
Ron Carter - bass
Joe Chambers - drums

Reviews/ratings:

• Downbeat (★★★★): "Henderson is out on his own now; this record proves he is ready."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★½
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

In 2024, uDiscover Music ranked this album at #19 on its list of The 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: My favorite cut today is the title track which is described in label press as "the standout of the set, a modal masterpiece where the leader summons one of his most transcendent and visceral solo statements." And don't sleep on the stellar solo turns from Hutcherson, Fuller, then Carter. Also track 3, Black, with great solos from Morgan and Walton. I like the Latin groove of Caribbean Fire Dance, but I think it has the least enjoyable soloing.

Bonus track: An alternate take of track 3, Black.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None