Feb 16, 2012

The Teddy Charles Tentet


barabara sounds sez:
I'll come clean: I don't know much (well, I didn't until I lucked on this album) about the 'legendary' Teddy Charles. But I do know good album art when I see it. And I do know that if you've got arrangements of Gil Evans and George Russell, and you've got Art Farmer and Mal Waldron in the band, it's got to be more than just good. And it is. And looking at who he played with and produced (see down below), that's enough to want to make you explore his whole back catalog. Highlights (IMHO) on this album are The Emperor and the final track, the Russell number. 

amg sez:
Most of this CD features vibraphonist Teddy Charles heading an advanced tentet in 1956, a unit including the likes of trumpeter Art Farmer, altoist Gigi Gryce, tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose, pianist Mal Waldron, and guitarist Jimmy Raney. The arrangements of George Russell ("Lydian M-1"), Gil Evans (a year before Miles Ahead), Jimmy Giuffre, Mal Waldron, and Charles are quite advanced but often leave room for some swinging spots. The final three selections on the CD are actually taken from a slightly later album. Of these, "Blue Greens" is a change of pace, a quartet outing for Charles, pianist Hall Overton, bassist Charles Mingus, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy. All in all, this CD is pretty definitive of Teddy Charles' more adventurous music of the 1950s and it grows in interest with each listening. 

The legendary Teddy Charles, considered to be one of the great jazz vibraphonists and composers of all time, makes his Atlas debut with his tentet...The legendary performer has played with jazz icons such as Charlie Mingus, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis in addition to recording numerous albums. In 2008, after an extended hiatus in which Charles lived at sea, he returned full force to the jazz scene with performances in the US, a tour in the Netherlands and a new studio recording, Dances with Bulls.

Trivia
On the original album release, Art Farmer was listed under the peudonym Peter Urban.

Plenty more on Teddy Charles' current projects at
his own web site here...

30 comments:

taro nombei said...

Jazz to the power of ten...

http://www.mediafire.com/?9vkp58oiat8cp45

and remember, comments please (indeed they do!)

bugel said...

thx alot for this

g.raf said...

Hi Taro Nombei,

Thanks for this , looks good.
Just to let you know, i have tried to extract from the file twice now and failed. Could just be a problem my end, not sure.

taro nombei said...

Hi g.raf
Just checked and it should be OK.
Let me know if you're still having problems...

boogieman said...

Thanks Taro, Teddy Charles is often overlooked. I like his work with Mingus and, in a more commercial vein, with Earl Bostic.
Cheers

g.raf said...

Sorry T.N. you are right, file is perfectly good.
Many thanks for introducing me to Teddy Charles. I am a sucker for vibe players and he had certainly slipped by me.

taro nombei said...

@ g.raf
No prob. A great discovery for me too.

@ boogieman
Like I said, I'm keen to discover the man's back catalog. Thanks for the pointers!

Miles said...

I'd nearly forgotten about this recording. It was in my collection at one time, but lost to a purge evidently. A pretty remarkable line-up, wouldn't you say? And if memory serves, an engaging listen. Thanks for the reminder and chance to rediscover this.

Anonymous said...

Thank you....much appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much. Much appreciated

taro nombei said...

@ Miles
It was the line-up that first grabbed my eye. Anything with Mal is going to be interesting.
All in all, there's some top playing on this album, and some great compositions.
Glad you dropped by!

taro nombei said...

@ Anon & Anon
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
;-)

Je re mi said...

Thank you Taro San!!! Your blog conceals lots of good music.

Bonner Springs Movers said...

I am totally agree with you all of commenter nice ideas you have posted.
Thank you.

Adam See said...

Many thanks for this! Never heard this recording before. Excited to give it a spin tonight.

Eric said...

Thank you for this and whatever other musical delights I might find here this evening.

rulitos said...

great...thanks so much

Anonymous said...

Thank you
-Frankie Mules

Anonymous said...

R.I.P. Teddy

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/arts/music/teddy-charles-jazz-musician-turned-sea-captain-dies-at-84.html?_r=1&hpw

taro nombei said...

That's too bad. RIP indeed.
And thanks anon for posting — I hadn't seen that.

a real mf said...

love the tracks with mingus!!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful, AMAZING blog you have here! Thank you for this awesome Teddy Charles, I'm beyond thrilled I was able to find this, to listen to for my research project. Also, The Sarah Vaughn Sings Michel Legrand...BIG props to you for that, also! I must say, in searching for musical examples in the course of my research, I was on the verge of despair, and suddenly, beyond all hope, I found it in Barbara Sounds, more than a few times. You have given me a number of thrills through the content here, and for that I am really, really grateful! Keep up the GREAT work!
Yours,
Dragn.

taro nombei said...

@ Dragn
Now that is the sort of comment I really like :-)

Seriously, I am really pleased if this little corner of the blogosphere can help bring bring pleasure, educate or — best of all — inspire.

Good luck with your research project — glad to be been of assistance!!

Baron said...

Taro Nombei - thank you

BarryB said...

Damn. Dead linked. I read through all the intro, and it really got me interested in the Tentet album, too! Wish Mediafire hadn't scrubbed so much good material back last year.

taro nombei said...

Is that a request for a re-up?
Not impossible, although I may not get there for a while. But do stay tuned...

Anonymous said...

Yes it is, and thanks. I will keep in touch.

taro nombei said...

@ Barry B

jazz to the power of ten:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/6pxq1asjnvga04p/TC_tentet.zip

Anonymous said...

Taro, the link is still dead. Can we have another re-up? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, very much! --Justin