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Trombonist Grachan Moncur recorded relatively few albums in his career and only two for Blue Note in addition to sideman duties for Jackie McLean and the delightfull ‘All seeing eye’ for Wayne Shorter who shares horn duties here. Primarily associated with the avant garde, but a highly melodic player nonetheless, Moncur was at first tentatively recorded by Alfred Lion at Blue Note, but as time went on some of the decisive moments of the avant garde were chronicled by the label, notably the albums of Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor and Larry Young not to mention individual projects for Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. Moncur had previously recorded the superb ‘Evolution’ for Blue Note a year previously, but ‘Some other stuff’ in its content and line up resembles far more Tony Williams’ ‘Spring’, also from 1964. The classic mid-1960s Miles Davis Quartet was showcased here before officially recording with Davis and this is the major part of the interest for jazz fans. Four extended pieces stretch the band members. Most akin to ‘Evolution’ in form is the more conventional ‘Thandiwa’ where the quartet play beautifully as an ensemble while ‘The Twins’ last almost thirteen minutes and allows Moncur to stretch out. Certainly ‘Some other stuff’ does not have the same immediacy as ‘Evolution However, it more than repays the effort of repeated listening, and historically is an important precursor to the mid-1960s musings of Miles Davis.

Underrated pianist Horace Parlan became most familiar to Blue Note cognoscenti mainly as a result of his sideman duties on the early 1960s reocrdings, notably for Dexter Gordon and Stanley Turrentine. Trio outings cemented his reputation and rivalled those of the Three Sounds. This 1961 album catches him in peak form with a dream rhythm section comprising Texan tenorist Booker Ervin, who seldom recorded for Blue Note (though returned for ‘Grass Roots’ for Andrew Hill in the late 1960s), but cut a series of key albums for Prestige, the established rhythm section of Al Harewood and George Tucker and of course the bluesy guitar licks of Grant Green. If this is only marginally short of a five star rating, it is because the original compositions themselves never really caught on. Strange when one listens to key tracks such as ‘The book’s beat’ and the title track. However, the playing is impeccable throughout. A very welcome re-issue and one hopes that the Latin-influenced ‘Movin’ South’, long sought after by collectors, will be among future re-releases.

Altoist Jackie McLean was one of the most consistent performers on the Blue Note label during the 1960s and unquestionably his very best recordings were cut for the label after a somewhat checkered career in the 1950s. Of his early tenure at Blue Note, ‘Bluesnik’ is by far the most accomplished before he changed direction with ‘Destination out’ and One step beyond’, and features a crack rhythm section of pianist Kenny Drew and drummer Pete La Roca plus a dream pairing of McLean with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The tone is set by the opening title track which starts at a blistering pace with Hubbard and McLean trading licks. In contrast ‘Cool Green’ exudes blues-inflected hues and the album bubbles with red hot passion throughout on composiitons such as ‘Blues function’ and ‘Goin’ way blues’. Given the success of the partnership between Hubbard and McLean, one wonders why they never recorded together for the label again. Only Lee Morgan on ‘Consequence’ got anywhere this degree of intensity with Woody Shaw playing the role of Hubbard sound alike. Superlative hard bop.

10) Duke Pearson ‘The Phantom’ (84293 LP/Toshiba Japan CD/US CD Water 2004)

To some jazz fans Duke Pearson may appear a strange choice in a heavyweight top ten of Blue Note albums. However, in his various capacities as composer, band leader, studio pianist, producer of other artists and a-and-r man, Duke was a Blue Note man through and through, and typified the Blue Note sound in its myriad forms: piano trio; horn led sextet; big band. What differentiates ‘The Phantom’ from the other albums Pearson recorded on the label is the highly original line up of musicians. After a series of critically acclaimed sextet and big band albums (’Right Touch (4267, 1967), ‘Introducing Duke Pearson’s Big Band’(4276, 1967), he could have been forgiven for continuing in the same vein. Instead Pearson opted for a hornless larger ensemble that comprised two guitarists, a rhythm section of drummer and two percussionists, flutist Jerry Dodgion and the highly unsual addition of vibraphinst Bobby Hutcherson, who it should be remembered at this stage had become increasingly involved in what became known as the avant-garde. The result was a total one-off in the Blue Note catalogue that, while different in line up, most closely resembles the impressionistic ‘Speak like a child’ album by Herbie Hancock from the same year in its use of layered orchestral texture, yet achieves an entirely different sound with a distinct nod to Latin rhythms. Interestingly a common thread in both albums is the participation of Jerry Dodgion on flute. Duke Pearson had clearly been influenced by composers in Latin America, notably Antonio Carlos Jobim, yet ‘The Phantom’ is no mere pastiche of bossa nova and incorporates elements of Afro-Cuban music into the overall sound.

An early milestone in Pearson’s career had been achieved in 1964 with the release of ‘Wahoo’ which could easily have been a candidate for the top ten selection. Compositionally ‘Wahoo’(4191, 1964) was a masterpiece in its evoking of Eastern and Latin musical sounds in pieces such as ‘Bedouin’ and ‘Amanda’ and in general portraying far off places in musical form was a particular passion of Duke’s. Equally in the same year Pearson was part of the Grant Green album ‘Idle Moments’ (featuring Bobby Hutcherson) that featured a larger ensemble in more reflective mood and it was possibly both these recordings that convinced Pearson that new sounds could be explored with larger ensembles. The album ‘The Phantom’ begins with the lengthy, languid title track which sets the tone for the rest of the album and is a favourite of DJ Gilles Peterson who enthuses thus in his sleeve notes to the Japanese CD release: ‘The rhythm grooves with both stabbing ridim guitar and piano nudged along by Patato’s [Valdes] guiro. The flute floats bu conjuring up the melodies and Hutcherson drops the vibes on the dark side. Dangerous’. In a more conventional vein and taking a leaf out of the Jobim songbook is ‘Bunda Amerela’, yet even this has an unusual time theme. In between these two compositions is an older piece, ‘Blue for Alvina’, that Duke recorded previously and here is a vehicle for the trio only to shine. Side two goes into Afro-Cuban mode with the lengthy ‘Los Ojos Alegres’. However, for this listener the best is reserved for last with the highly unusual ‘The Moana Surf’, an extended piece in which Hutcherson and Dodgion stretch out with incessant percussion provided by Pantojo and Valdes. After recording this Duke Pearson was obviously bitten by the Brazilian bug and went on to record another two albums in a similar vein with ‘Now hear this’ (4308, 1968) and ‘How Insensitive’ (4344, 1969). Nonetheless, as fine as these two were (and a third unreleased session would later emerge from the same period), they do not come near to eclipsing the uniqueness of ‘The Phantom’. Sadly, multiple sclerosis cut short both his musical career and ultimately life and Duke Pearson passed away at the young age of fifty-eight. However, the music will live on forever and ‘The Phantom’ deserves a place in the pantheon of Blue Note albums because of its innovations in arrangement, composition and texture.