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| 10 albums of 1962
The 60s keep delivering, with the Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln theme still going strong. Jazz is still dominating the playlist but there are some interesting additions. | | 1 |  | Max Roach
It's Time
Impulse! // August, 1962
Max Roach and his team were on an absolute state of grace during the first half of the 60s (I still have to find out how they weathered the last half). Coming from the Freedom Suit, Abbey Lincoln's "Straight Ahead" and "Percussion Bitter Sweet", the gang gathers again to record even more jazz bangers, now with a goddamn 16 VOICES CHORUS, Maxwell, you absolute madman. The results are, to no one's surprise, unbelievable. The first track is without a doubt the wildest rise I had on this run so far anything tops it. 16 voices conducted by Coleridge Perkinson and spill into "Another Valley" for another dose of African mysticism, accompanied by Clifford Brown on the tenor sax, Julian Priester on trombone, Mal Waldron on the keys and Art Davis on bass. Max's drumming here is sensational, and even Abbey gets the spotlight in the closing track "Lonesome Lover". Crazy album. | | 2 |  | Francoise Hardy
Tous les Garcons et les Filles
Vogue // November, 1962
Yes, my hunch was right, this is now my favorite Chanson singer and possibly my favorite 62' record. I've had this on repeat for days now, and I just don't can't seem to get tired of it. The album is rather simple, french pop with subtle instrumentation, super digestible tunes, and great vocal melodies sang effortlessly by Hardy's candy-tone voice. There's a bit of a bluesy influence here too, a bit of jazz, but tracks like "La fille avec toi" and my favorite, the moody "Le temps de l'amour", are what really make this album quite special. Considering this is her debut I'm really excited to delve deeper into her catalogue. I've also heard very recently that she's been convalescent with throat cancer for years, asking to go out on her terms, which the French legislation doesn't allow. It's deeply saddening to discover such an artist just to learn that she's in deep pain right now and at the twilight of her life. Really heart-breaking. | | 3 |  | Freddie Hubbard
Ready for Freddie
Blue Note // April, 1962
Right off the bat, I didn't feel this as strongly as "Open Sesame", even if the line-up for this recording is quite insane. A certain Wayne Shorter is credited as co-composer with Hubbard, as well as the man behind the sax. Add Elvin Jones on drums and McCoy Tyner on piano, half of Coltrane's gang right there, Art Davis on bass, who also plays in the Max Roach album above, and Bernard McKinney on the euphonium. Hubbard was still quite young when he composed and recorded this and again, it doesn't feel like it. "Arietis" is a perfect way to open the album , a lively bop running on the usual "here but not here" beat of Jones. "Weaver of Dreams" starts slow tempo, gets nocturnal and then gets tipsy. "Crisis" is an interesting closer but hasn't quite connected with me yet. I feel the compositions here as solid as those in "Open Sesame" but I also feel they lack the immediacy of those in his debut which, in the long run, it might be a good thing. | | 4 |  | The Supremes
Meet The Supremes
Motown // December 2nd, 1962
Well, here we go Motown. Pleasant, decent debut by The Supremes with a couple of songs that really made my skeleton shake, namely "Buttered popcorn" (Oooaahaaaa) and "I Want a Guy", which is a strange track thrown in there to glue the middle of the album. Some people hate it, I honestly think it's a great track. The album sounds surprisingly good for 1962, so whoever engineered this really know what they were doing (I think it was William Robinson?). Anyway, a bit too many yawn inducing ballads but also a few really hard bops. | | 5 |  | Dick Dale
Surfer's Choice
Deltone / November, 1962
You know, I didn't know "Miserlou" was an original Greek song from the 20s about an Egyptian lover until a few days ago. The fact that Dick Dale, the godfather of rock and heavy metal, as some like to claim, managed to adapt it to his particular style and make Quentin Tarantino obsessed with it says everything you need to know about the man. Dale was a terminator. He existed to destroy amps so they can build bigger and better ones and make guitar strings manufacters suffer, forcing them to make their strings thicker so they could withstand Dale's unrelenting punishment. This album, well, it has its moment, not gonna lie. Dale was an ok singer, and some of these songs are just ok, but even the version of "Miserlou" with the strings have its charm. The production has a nice live feel but the room ambience ruins it for the most part. Keep the instrumentals, scrap the rest. | | 6 |  | Bill Evans and Jim Hall
Undercurrent
United Artists // August, 1962
I was in between this and Moon Beams with the Bill Evans Trio but eventually the artwork of this won me over. What an amazing cover, right? Piano master Bill Evans teams up here with jazz guitar wizard Jim Hall to create... not what I expected, to be honest. Not that I was expecting doom metal in 1962 but this is quite a standard jazz record with no rythm section. think about it like a conversation between a piano and a guitar, sometimes a bit more enthusiastic, but mostly laid back and soulful. It's a very good record for having it as a background during dinner or while doing something but the moment I tried to focus on it, I entered Morpheus' realm in no time. Every single time. There's probably more theory about why this album is actually great but if you were to trust my visceral reaction to it, my takeway would be that: Great background music. | | 7 |  | The Modern Jazz Quartet
Lonely Woman
Atlantic // July, 1962
Not sure if these are all jazz standards but "Lonely Woman" is a pretty inconsequential record that is only saved by Milt Jackson's vibraphone playing, and even that overstays its welcome by the second half. The album is a mood, much like the Bill Evans album above. It doesn't need much attention so it works well when it floats around the room but try to focus on it too much and soon you'll be able to tell their interpretations are rather hollow and devoid of emotions. Very standard, technically apt jazz recording for a cup of tea, but don't expect Mingus levels of creativity here. | | 8 |  | Sun Ra
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
Savoy // May, 1962
I think this recording belongs or precedes his actual futuristic records. There's not much of that explosion and weirdness he would bring to the genre in later albums. The middle section with "The Beginning" and "China Gates" are maybe the most "out there" performances, but the rest is mostly tamed. I was definitely expecting more from that title, and it somehow points at that like he's ready to lift, but the engines are still warming up for Sun Ra here. | | 9 |  | Ravi Shankar
Improvisations
World Pacific // One day in 1962
Ravi Shankar, the man that talked to the Beatles like they were men, not gods, at a time where they probably needed it. That's the only thing I knew about Ravi Shankar, the man behind the spiritual rebirth of the Liverpool 4-piece. Obviously, there's so much more, and it's daunting. I decided to try the waters with this record. It's interesting, the sitar is an instrument that, I feel, it sounds great no matter what you play on it. Hence, it's not surprising to say that this is a fine recording, pretty good to put on headphones before going to sleep and I might even say, a good remedy for insomniacs. I'm not sure I'll go deeper within Ravi Shankar's discography, but at least this first experience was rather gratifying. | | 10 |  | Ornette Coleman
Ornette!
Atlantic // February, 1962
Coming from "Free Jazz", this felt a bit underwhelming, since it's the (I think) same band Coleman played with in one of the channels, with Don Cherry on cornet, Ed Blackwell on drums and Scott Lafaro on bass. It's also a tragic aftertaste, since Lafaro passed away at a very young age months after this record. The album is Ornette just being Ornette. I still don't have the head structure to understand the complexity and shape-shifting nature of his works so I can't really say I enjoyed listening to this. Maybe one day I will? | |
Dewinged
12.21.23 | Guess I better fix that Max Roach artwork | ToSmokMuzyki
12.21.23 | only 10 albums were produced in 1962? damn rough year for music
edit: and only 5 of them survived?!?! yikes | Dewinged
12.21.23 | It's a work in progress Smok, tsk tsk | bighubbabuddha
12.21.23 | Moon beams by Bill Evans Trio
Hugs! | Azazzel
12.21.23 | you're telling me #5 art isn't a 2011 post-metal album? | Dewinged
12.21.23 | Tx hubba, noted!
@Azazzel Crazy cover right? Let's say if u take out drums, bass, distortion, add a piano and shred everything through jazz patterns, this is how post metal would sound in 62. | Dewinged
12.25.23 | Ok, all jammed, so blurb time! |
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