[Harp-L] top 5

[MICHAEL ZAKLAN <tinsandwich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

     Sticking to harmonica recordings, I would go with:
   
  1)  "Chicago Bound" Jimmy Rogers----Little Walter at the peak of his powers.
  2)  "Hoodoo Man Blues" Jr. Wells---A perfect intro to Junior's spitting, staccato, trumpet-style harp playing.  Tough, gritty, urban blues.
  3)  "Johnny Young and His Chicago Blues Band--featuring James Cotton and Otis Spann"---A sentimental pick for me; I was lucky enough to play a dozen gigs with the great blues mandolinist during the last year of his life. One of Muddy's greatest back-up bands driven hard and put away wet by the big man.  Great tunes and lots of nasty, violent harp playing from James Cotton.
  4)  "Affinity" Bill Evans and Toots Theilmans---I think to this day Toots feels this is his finest work and I still consider it the greatest harmonica jazz recording ever done.  Perfect album for a rainy day.
  5)  "Works for Harmonica and Orchestra" Larry Adler/Morton Gould and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra--Still my favorite classical harmonica recording.  Nobody ever leaned on a reed harder or sounded more like a human voice than Larry.
   
  Non-harmonica favorite 5
   
  1)  "Tune-up" Sonny Stitt---Stitt, probably still the most recorded jazz musician in history, had a habit of loafing or coasting through plenty of his own sessions.  Not this time.  A bebop masterpiece.
  2)  "A Meeting of the Times" Roland Kirk and Al Hibbler---The Coltrane/Hartman recording is rightly considered a classic, but I've always preferred this pairing.  Two brilliant musicians, both blind, in rare form.
  3)  "Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley"  Just a great vocal album, with Adderley on fire and Wilson singing beautifully.
  4)  "Concert by the Sea" Errol Garner---The next time someone tries to tell you that sight-reading is an absolute pre-requisite to musical greatness or even competency, well, point them to non-reader Garner.  Or the greatest jazz guitarist who ever lived--Django Reinhardt.  "Concert" is the best example of "swinging" that I know of! 
  5)  "The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album"  Sparse and beautiful. 
   
  tinsandwich