Ten Vinyl LPs I Would Not Like to be Without by Mike Farmer

1 Gene Ammons—Boss Tenor (Prestige-mono).  I bought this in Berlin from Walter Artles record stall during the Jazz Festival for 5 DMs a real bargain!  There is a great version of Canadian Sunset which makes me wonder why more jazz musicians don’t feature this tune.

2 Chet Baker---Once upon a Summertime (Artists House).  This is worth keeping if only because the  booklet that came with it is so incredible, containing rare photos of Baker playing in Army bands and at gigs with Bird and Mulligan etc. The fine reedsman Greg Herbert on this record passed away a year later in 1978, also in Amsterdam in similar circumstances to Chet’s.

3 Art Blakey—Buttercorn Lady (Limelight-mono).  This 1966 album was sub-titled   “And the New Jazz Messengers” and was recorded live at the famous Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California. It contains some outstanding solos by 19 years-old Frank Mitchell on tenor and 21 years old Keith Jarrett. They do a great version of the standard Secret Love on which trumpeter Chuck Mangione excels.

4 Ray Bryant---Alone with the Blues (Esquire—mono).   This is one of the greatest solo piano albums ever recorded and though some of the tunes are not strictly blues i.e. Lover Man and Rockin’ Chair it does not matter when Ray works his magic.   Anyone who saw him play solo at Burnley, Lancs, years ago will never forget it! 

5 The Art Farmer - Benny Golson Jazztet—Meet the Jazztet  (Pye mono).      There are 10 tunes on this debut LP and every one a gem. The later line-ups of this band never quite reached the heights of this one- Golson has some fantastic tenor work-outs- e.g. Blues March and Killer Joe.   

6 Lee Morgan—The Lee Morgan Quintet   (Joy mono). UK edition of the original Vee-Jay recording this has Lee Morgan in fine form alongside the tenor player Cliff Jordan and with Art Blakey on drums it is bound to appeal to hard bop fans. Just listen to Morgan’s work on Easy Living and marvel at his soulful sound.

7 Max Roach---The Many Sides of Max Roach (Mercury mono). Booker Little is awesome here and Max shows that he can write well. I also love the agile playing of George Coleman on tenor and the trombone work of Julian Priester. Roach always gets a superb sound on his drums!   

8 Sonny Rollins---Whats New?  (RCA Victor stereo).  This is Sonny in a bossa/Latin groove with calypso thrown into the mix. Jim Hall is along for the ride and I‘m surprised this album is not more well-known.      

9 Horace Silver--- Doin’ the Thing – The Horace Silver Quintet Live at the Village Gate (Blue Note stereo). Here we have a live recording at the iconic New York   jazz venue  and if you see that the engineer is Rudy Van Gelder you know the sound is going to be first class. Blue Mitchell was ideal for this group and together with tenorman Junior Cook they make this one of the best working bands of the era.              

10 Michel Legrand---Legrand Jazz   (Philips mono).  This goes back to 1958 recorded over three days in New York City involving thirty-three of best jazz musicians around at the time. All eleven tunes have plenty of solo work by the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Phil Woods, Ben Webster, Hank Jones; the list goes on. I need to replace this copy as I’ve played so often.

Mike Farmer