Marshall Crenshaw is working on a film about producer Tom Wilson

Marshall Crenshaw is doing a documentary about Tom Wilson who produced recordings by Bob Dylan, Sun Ra, The Velvet Underground and others

 

Writes Marshall Crenshaw...

Producer Tom Wilson, whose name is on lots of records by Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Simon & Garfunkel,  The Mothers Of Invention, Eric Burdon and The Animals, et. al., was also an important producer of Modern Jazz, and an important discoverer of jazz talent, starting with the establishment of his own Transition Records label in 1955. Here are a few examples thereof!...

I put this list together for private consumption, but have been encouraged to take it public, so here goes!.. Hopefully you can listen to these great sounds on some decent speakers or headphones.

Cheers,

MC

Check out Marshall Crenshaw's Tom Wilson jazz recordings playlist right here (track list below). 

Read a New York Times Magazine interview with Tom Wilson from Sept. 29, 1968 over here. And a brief profile on Tom Wilson by Michael Cocoran from 2015 right here.  

TRACKS:

Perry Robinson- Farmer Alfalfa - (Perry Robinson; clarinet, Kenny Barron; piano,  Henry Grimes; bass, Paul Motian; drums) from “Funk Dumpling”- Savoy LP (1962)

Herbie Mann- African Suite, Bedouin Pt. 1 (Herbie Mann; flute,  Johnny Rae; vibraphone, Bob Corwin; piano, Jack Six; bass, Carlos “Patata” Valdes; congas, Jose Mangual; bongos) from “Herbie Mann’s African Suite”- United Artists LP (1959)

Walt Dickerson- Bacon and Eggs - (Walt Dickerson; vibraphone, Sun Ra; piano, Bob Cunningham; bass, Roger Blank; drums) from “Impressions of ’A Patch Of Blue’”- MGM LP (1965)

Bill Hardman- Capers - (Bill Hardman; trumpet, Sonny Red; alto saxophone, Ronnie Matthews; piano, Bob Cunningham; bass, Jimmy Cobb; drums) from “Saying Something”- Savoy LP (1962) 

Sun Ra- Where Is Tomorrow? - (Sun Ra; piano, Bernard McKinney; trombone, euphonium, Marshall Allen; alto sax, flute, John Gilmore; tenor sax, bass clarinet, Pat Patrick; bass saxophone, Willie Jones; drums, Leah Ananda; conga) from “The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra”- Savoy LP (1961)

Cecil Taylor/John Coltrane- Just Friends - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Kenny Dorham; trumpet, John Coltrane; tenor saxophone, Chuck Israels; bass, Louis Hayes; drums) from “Hard Driving Jazz”- United Artists LP (1959), reissued in 1963 as “Coltrane Time”  

Hugh Masekela- Unhlanhia - (Hugh Masekela; cornet, Hal Dotson; bass, Larry Willis; piano, Henry Jenkins; drums) from “The Americanization of Ooga Booga”- MGM LP (1966)

Donald Byrd- El Sino - (Donald Byrd; trumpet, Joe Gordon; trumpet, Horace Silver; piano, Doug Watkins; bass, Art Blakey; drums) from “Byrd’s Eye View”- Transition LP (1956)

Curtis Fuller- I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone - (Curtis Fuller; trombone, Lee Morgan; trumpet, Hank Mobley; tenor saxophone, Tommy Flanagan; piano, Paul Chambers; bass, Elvin Jones; drums, Benny Golson; arranger) from “Sliding Easy”- United Artists LP (1959)

Cecil Taylor- Little Lees - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Buell Neidlinger; bass, Denis Charles; drums, Bill Barron; tenor saxophone, Ted Curson; trumpet) from “Love For Sale”- United Artists LP (1959)

Art Farmer- Stella By Starlight - (Art Farmer; trumpet, Lee Morgan; trumpet, Ernie Royal; trumpet, Julius Watkins; French horn, Jimmy Cleveland; trombone, Curtis Fuller; trombone, James Haughton; baritone horn, Don Butterfield; tuba, Percy Heath; bass, Philly Joe Jones; drums, Benny Golson; arranger and conductor)

from “Brass Shout”- United Artists LP (1959)

Eddie Harris- Hip Hoppin’ - (Eddie Harris; tenor saxophone, Warren Stephens; guitar, Melvin Jackson; bass, Bucky Taylor; drums, unidentified organist) from “Cool Sax, Warm Heart”- Columbia LP (1964) 

Cecil Taylor- Aure - (Cecil Taylor; piano, Buell Neidlinger; bass, Denis Charles; drums) from “Jazz Advance”- Transition LP (1956)

Sun Ra and His Arkestra- Future - (Sun Ra; piano, Art Hoyle; trumpet, percussion, Dave Young; trumpet, percussion, Julian Priester; trombone, percussion, James Scales; alto saxophone, John Gilmore; tenor saxophone, percussion, Pat Patrick; baritone saxophone, percussion, Richard Evans; bass, Wilbur Green; Fender bass, percussion, Robert Barry; drums, Jim Herndon; tympani) from “Jazz by Sun Ra”- Transition LP (1957)

One For The Weekend: Your Old Droog w/ Edan & Wiki

"Help" appears on Your Old Droog's new PACKS album. Check Matt Lubansky's dope video following the press release. 

Your Old Droog - "PACKS" out March 10

After seemingly coming out of nowhere, Your Old Droog lit up the interweb in 2014 with his self-titled debut EP, catching the attention of bloggers all over the web from New York Magazine’s Vulture to NahRight. Before long, conspiracy theories started and people began to posit that Droog was another older, legendary New York rapper in disguise.

Profiled in The New Yorker, Droog (meaning “friend” in Russian) set the record straight about who he was: a twenty-something Ukrainian immigrant who fell in love with hip-hop when he arrived in South Brooklyn as a small child. The timbre of his voice resembled that of a hip-hop legend but Droog’s content had more to it than street dreams or observations from a project window. His music reflected his own unique life experience as he referenced everything from sports, to crime, to Seinfeld and C-Span in his rhymes. He was an intelligent hoodlum with a stand-up comedian’s sense of humor—unafraid to be as self-deprecating as he was self-aggrandizing.

On his much hyped debut, Your Old Droog, he vowed to “bring back storytelling” and now on his sophomore album, PACKS, Droog delivers on that promise. In addition to the raw rhyme displays on songs like the Alchemist-produced “Winston Red,” Droog flexes his narrative muscles both comically (“My Girl Is A Boy”) and dramatically (“G.K.A.C”). The single “You Can Do It (Give Up)” is an ode to practicality over fantasy told in three vignettes. Co-produced by Edan, and Y.O.D. himself “You Can Do It (Give Up)” is almost the bizarro version of Biz Markie’s “Vapors.” The reclusive Edan also produces and appears on the raucous posse cut “Help” (watch the inventive video clip below) with Ratking frontman Wiki. The three MC’s trade bars over an explosive beat for those who don't mind a little psychedelic (Help, I'm a) rock with their hip hop.

Droog also shares mic duties with fellow rap iconoclasts Danny Brown (“Grandma Hips”) and Heems (“Bangladesh”) and, for good measure, comedian Anthony Jeselnik lends his dark humor to skits between songs. Besides the return of Droog’s go-to production partner El RTNC, PACKS also features production from platinum producers ID Labs (Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller) and 88 Keys (Watch The Throne, Action Bronson, Mos Def). The sum of it all is an album that stands out from the predictable offerings of mainstream rappers today. PACKS is a project for fans of hip hop’s fundamentals and those who are interested in the progress of the artform.