Blue Note Obscurities Part 1: Some Other Avant-Cool Stuff

Blue Note is an iconic record label, like Motown or Sun, and people who get into Jazz can hardly fail to discover it. The label in its lengthy heyday featured a phenomenal and stylistically varied roster of talent, but runs of albums in the Hard Bop style by the likes of Grant Green, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Lee Morgan have come to define its signature sound for many. There is plenty of relatively obscure, but hardly less brilliant, music waiting for those curious enough to dig a little deeper into the catalog.



Some Other Stuff by composer and trombonist Grachan Moncur III is one such gem. Featuring a superb roster of Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Cecil McBee, it is part of a series of 1960's albums on Blue Note that explored what was known then as the New Thing: the Avant Garde Jazz style godfathered by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. The record contains four lengthy renditions of Moncur originals, which are explored in an unhurried, cool-toned yet exciting manner. It's highly original, with plenty of great moments, and it still sounds incredibly fresh and vivid.

Highly recommended for adventurous listeners.