Ray Bryant Swings

I recently discovered a great record called the "Ray Bryant Trio," with Ike Isaacs on bass, and Charles "Specs" Wright on drums, recorded in 1957.


I had heard Ray on two of my all-time favorite drum records, "Papa Joe Jones Trio" and "Max Roach +4," but this record is much different, very mellow and tasty, with some nice brush playing by Charles "Specs" Wright.

Ray Bryant is a terrific composer, and you can find some very nice compositions of his here:

http://www.jazzleadsheets.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=71

Papa Jo!

Some hard swinging stuff today from one the all-time greats, Papa Jo Jones, shown here in this video with the Basie band.  Incredible soloists from Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge among many others.  Talk about a strong beat!  You can't help but tap the foot on this one.

Check back soon for some Papa Jo Jones transcriptions!