Chris Barber was an English jazz bandleader and trombonist best-known for his cover of “Petite Fleur”, a 1952 instrumental by Sidney Bechet.
That song, especially the version of Barber, reminds me of the music of Jacques Tati in his Oncle films. I mean songs such as “Quel temps fait-il à Paris” by Alain Romans and Henri Contet.
Milford Graves was an American musician and artist known for such albums as Nommo (1967), an album featured in the “Top Ten Free Jazz Underground” (1995), a list by Thurston Moore.
Chick Corea was a legendary American composer working in jazz, mainly playing keyboards.
He is a celebrated name in jazz fusion, but he never actively appeared on my radar.
So, I give you “Was Dog a Doughnut?” (1977) by Cat Stevens on which Chick plays keyboards. This did came to my attention in the period when I was researching late 20th century nightclub music.
Stanley Cowell (1941 – 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of Strata-East Records.
Strata-East Records first gained notoriety outside the world of jazz after the British label Soul Jazz Records put out three anthologies of their recordings in the 1994-1997 period.
I give you “Travelin’ Man” (1974) in its first version.
Has anyone besides me noticed the likeness to “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes?
Toshinori Kondo was a Japanese trumpeter.
He worked in avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion.
Kondo also frequently collaborated with Bill Laswell.
The album above also features a a cover of “Sun Is Shining”, around minute 17.
Gary Peacock was an American jazz double-bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as Albert Ayler, Paul Bley, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Tony Williams.
On Life Time (Blue Note, 1964), Gary Peacock plays bass on tracks one to three.
Itaru Oki was a Japanese jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist.
He was part of the French Opération Rhino collective and as such appeared on the famous Nurse with Wound list.
Hal Singer was an American R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist. He was the last surviving male survivor of the Tulsa race massacre.
He is known for such instrumentals as “Malcolm X” on the album Paris Soul Food (1969), produced by Bernard Estardy.
If you are a melomaniac, I’d check the latter’s “Ombilic Contact” en “Cha Tatch Ka”.
Salome Bey was an American-born Canadian composer and singer.
She did solo work but in my book she is famous for having part in an unforgettable version of “Round Midnight” (1944) with the unforgettable lines
“But it really gets bad,
’round midnight.”
She did that version with her brother Andy and her sister Geraldine, both of whom survive her.
Bob Northern was an American jazz French hornist.
Sound Awareness (1972) was one of the nine records David Toop recently posted on his Facebook as documents from the audio recorded stage of an internal war of 400plus years (in which many were complicit).