“The Hard Swing”   The Sonny Stitt Quartet   Verve Records (1959)   Recorded in Los Angeles with a band Stitt had picked up and worked with for a week at a club in Watts.     On alto for the the first seven tunes, then on tenor for the final four. Stitt is backed by the obscure and rarely recorded pianist Amos Trice.   George Morrow, who had just left Max Roach’s band is on bass and drummer Lenny McBrowne keeps the fires burning.   Stitt is in inspired form on this date and the ideas pour out of his horns.

(54 votes, average: 4.37 out of 5)

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“Jazz West Coast Volume 3”   Another cool cover photo by William Claxton on this Pacific Jazz Records compilation.

(47 votes, average: 3.28 out of 5)

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Roberto Faz Y Su Conjunto Puchito Records

(61 votes, average: 3.89 out of 5)

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Les Beatles Odeon EP “I Want To Hold Your Hand” “It Won’t Be Long” “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Till There Was You”

(54 votes, average: 3.61 out of 5)

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“Malaguena” The 4 Colortones Audiola

(50 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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Baby-Face Willette “Behind the 8 Ball”   Argo.   (1964)   Gene Barge (Sax (Alto), Baby Face Willette (Organ),   Jerold Donavon (Drums), Ben White (Guitar)   Esmond Edwards (Producer), Ron Malo (Engineer), Don Bronstein (Design), Don Bronstein (Cover Photo)   His masterpiece, and one of the greatest Hammond organ albums ever, is his Blue Note release “Face to Face.”   This is his second LP for Argo and his last as a leader.   Baby-Face soon after disappeared and, while unconfirmed, is said to have passed away in 1971.

(68 votes, average: 4.74 out of 5)

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“Wheelin’ and Dealin'” Prestige Records   Cover photo by Esmond Edwards. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on September 20, 1957.   Liner notes written by Ira Gitler.   Personnel: John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Frank Wess (tenor saxophone, flute); Paul Quinichette (tenor saxophones); Mal Waldron (piano); Doug Watkins (bass); Art Taylor (drums). Includes “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be,” “Wheelin’,” “Robbin’s Nest,” and “Dealin'”.

(43 votes, average: 3.70 out of 5)

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On the Swiss Tell Record Label.   Can anyone put a name to these things?

(49 votes, average: 3.94 out of 5)

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The great photographer William Claxton passed away this week.   His work captured most of the musical legends of the mid-Twentieth Century and appeared on many Pacific and Contemporary album covers.   Working from the West Coast, he often brought his subjects out of the dark nightclubs they inhabited and into the California sun.   For example, this very un-jazzlike shot of Sonny Rollins on “Way Out West” for Contemporary Records (1957)   With Shelly Manne and Ray Brown.

(53 votes, average: 4.09 out of 5)

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Jeder Hahn braucht mal ‘ne Pause Hoppe, hoppe Reiter Die wilden Reiter

(38 votes, average: 2.87 out of 5)

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