The Dave Brubeck Quartet featuring Paul Desmond   “Jazz Red Hot and Cool”   Columbia Records   An intimate live recording of a small club date at Basin Street in New York City in 1955.   Set includes Lover, Little Girl Blue, Sometimes I’m Happy, The Duke, Indiana, and Love Walked In. This version of the quartet included Bob Bates on Bass and Joe Dodge on Drums.   This is still early Brubeck, with Desmond (blurred there on the left of the cover), but before the “classic” Quartet with Eugene Wright on bass and Joe Morello on Drums in 1958.   (That is the group that played on “Time Out” and the classic sixties “time signature” series of popular Brubeck releases.   Perhaps the last, big sellers in the genre prior to Motown and The Beatles invasion which knocked so many brilliant, jazz musicians to the sidelines of popular culture.)   On a personal note, I pulled this out of my stepfather’s collection at twelve, so the cover is burned in my memory.     Once – perhaps still – you could find this cover in 9 out of 10 dollar bins.

(69 votes, average: 3.86 out of 5)

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“Cockels and Mussels” With vocal and full orchestra     A Record Guild of America Flexi-Disc

(73 votes, average: 4.32 out of 5)

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“Como me besabas tu…Trio Quisqueya   MarVeen Records

(52 votes, average: 3.15 out of 5)

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Richard “Groove” Holmes   “Six Million Dollar Man” (1975) Flying Dutchman Records   Arrangements by Oliver Nelson.     300 lps of funky organ jazz from the big man behind the B3!

One of Groove Holmes’ best albums of the 70s — thanks to some electric blacksploitation arrangements from the great Oliver Nelson! The format’s a bit tighter here than on some of Holmes’ Groove Merchant albums from the earlier part of the decade — an approach that’s almost like soundtrack scoring at times, but which allows Groove to stretch out a bit more on the solos, and take things way past the already-funky head arrangements penned by Nelson. Mike Wofford’s also on the record, throwing in some great electric piano and Arp in underneath Holmes’ own funky Hammond — and other players include Tom Scott, David T Walker, and Oscar Brashear — who all contribute nicely to the record. Titles include “Disc-o-Mite”, “Salsa de Alma”, “Dumpy Mama”, “Mama’s Groove”, “125th & 7th Ave”, and “Six Million Dollar Man”, the theme from the TV show! © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

(59 votes, average: 2.95 out of 5)

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A “concept” album for:   Swingers, flingers and ring-a-ding-dingers.   Losers, choosers and credit card boozers.   Psychotics, neurotics and whacked out erotics.   Mismates, blind dates and turned on roomates.

“Music for RAT FINK Lovers”   Jackie Kannon Rat Fink Records (1964) A new musical experience in social decadence.   Copyright by Cockamamie Enterprises     When to Play This Album:   When she says “Yes”   When she says “No   When your wife is out of town …

(59 votes, average: 3.73 out of 5)

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Randy Weston Trio with Cecil Payne   “With These Hands…”   Riverside Records   (1956)   Standards from Downbeat’s 1955 New Star Pianist including “I Can’t Get Started”, “The Man I Love”, “These Foolish Things” and “This Can’t Be Love”.   Also includes his original “Little Niles,” the title of his 1958 LP and a song associated with Weston throughout his long career.   Randy Weston, Piano; Cecil Payne, Baritone Sax;   Ahmed-Abdul Malik, Bass; Wilbert G.T. Hogan, Drums.

Bill Grauer, Producer;   Orrin Keepnews, Producer, Liner Notes;   Rudy Van Gelder Engineer; Hank Parker, Photography.

(48 votes, average: 3.40 out of 5)

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A double-sided Hopalong Cassidy ep – “The Story of Topper”   and “Hoppy’s Happy Birthday”   Starring William Boyd.     Bozo Approved Capitol Records.   Nice old-timey children’s illustrations here.   This looks like an early 50’s release to me.   Hopalong was before my time.   Neal Cassady was more my speed.   But that’s a whole other kinda “hopped up”.

(46 votes, average: 3.17 out of 5)

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