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Im sorry to admit, but im not real familiar with Jim Halls stuff. Just listened to other folks. Jack Wilkins told me i should listen to the album with Hampton Hawes because he said its different from a lot of his other stuff.
Besides that album, what would be a great starting point or quinessential "Jim Hall"?
Thanks!
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10-10-2024 05:49 PM
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Don't hesitate. Just jump in.
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Originally Posted by DMgolf66
Live
Undercurrent and Intermodulation duo recordings w/ Bill Evans
The quartet recordings w/ Paul Desmond
Then maybe the trio recordings w/ Jimmy Giuffre
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Ten to get you started:
Early Jim:
The Jimmy Giuffre Three - 'The Jimmy Giuffre Three' (1957)
Bill Evans and Jim Hall - 'Undercurrent' (1962)
Sonny Rollins - 'The Bridge' (1962)
Jim Hall Trio - Jazz Guitar (1963)
Art Farmer Quartet - 'Live at the Half-Note' (1964)
Jimmy Raney - 'Two Jims and a Zoot' (1964)
Mid-period Jim:
Jim Hall and Ron Carter - 'Alone Together' (1973)
Jim Hall - 'Jim Hall Live!' (1975)
Late-period Jim:
Jim Hall - 'By Arrangement' (1998)
Charlie Haden and Jim Hall - 'Charlie Haden and Jim Hall' (2014)
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I was listening to his version of How Deep Is The Ocean, the opening track of 'Jim Hall Live, Vol 2-4' yesterday. It comes from a limited edition ArtistShare project released back in 2012 and it struck me as containing some of Jim's finest playing despite the recording not making the official Jim Hall Live album from 1975.
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I would suggest the first three on the list from David B. Starting with The Bridge because I like Sonny Rollins.
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In trying to recommend ONE, I became aware that it seems that anything in his catalogue is worth listening to and any album has tons you can learn from.
There are a lot of people who it took time to acquire a taste for his understated way of playing. I hear a lot of "I don't get it. His music is easy to play compared with somebody like Joe Pass, or Pat Martino" and I think Jim's music becomes iconic when you, as a player, begin to see things like building a solo, or telling a story, or solo development as the important aspect.
So given that push, I'd say my two favourites are Undercurrents, because his solo construction in My Funny Valentine is a masterclass in rhythmic mastery, melodic thoughtful phrasing and always being in control of the way the solo unfolds.
Equal recommendations go to the trio recording LIVE! recorded in Toronto (a box set also completes the set). On that LIVE! recording listen to Angel Eyes. A ton to be learned from that.
Everyone else's recommendations get a big +1 from me too. Can't go wrong.
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I have ... thoughts ...
Jim Hall “Jazz Guitar”
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I really like his collab album with Metheny - Jim Hall & Pat Metheny
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There are so many. Here are a few, in no particular order.
Concierto (1975) [the one with Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Paul Desmond, Steve Gadd, and Roland Hanna]
Jim Hall Live! (and ArtistShare Jim Hall Live vols 2-4) (1975) [with Don Thompson and Terry Clarke]
Jazz Impressions of Japan, Live in Tokyo, and Mugonuta (1977) [with Don Thompson and Terry Clarke]
Michel Petrucciani – Power Of Three (1987) [Michel Petrucciani, Wayne Shorter, and Jim Hall]
All of the albums with Paul Desmond [and for comparison, look up Desmond's albums with Ed Bickert on guitar]
Bill Evans - Intermodulation, Interplay
Sonny Rollins - The Bridge, and others
Telephone [with Ron Carter]
Look on discogs.org for extensive bibliography
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Yeah, what those guys said.
There is so much Jim Hall over so many years. I particularly like his playing with Art Farmer and Paul Desmond, and I adore the Live! and Live Vols 2-4. Nobody's recommended Hemispheres with Bill Frisell, which is not actually a favorite of mine but it frames Jim in a different light than just about anything else in his catalog. And puts two really thoughtful musicians together.
I have recently been listening to his duo recording with Louis Stewart, which frames both of them a little differently than anything else. Especially Louis, who plays freer than I have heard him before.
The Dublin Concert | Louis Stewart with Jim Hall | Livia Records
Watch "A Life In Progress," too. Good overview and sampler of who Jim was.
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Originally Posted by jazzloverfat
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My personal favorite is Glad To Be Unhappy, which was released under Paul Desmond‘s name. This is a piano-less quartet. Jim Hall's comping is beyond sublime. Tempos are very reasonable for trying to figure out what he's doing.
If I had to pick one additional album, I might pick The Bridge with Sonny Rollins.
That said, Jim Hall was great with Jimmy Giuffre early on and continued to be great throughout his career.Last edited by rpjazzguitar; 10-11-2024 at 02:35 PM.
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I’m a big fan of his Japanese live recordings.
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All his recordings with Paul Desmond have fantastic solos.
also Interplay with Bill Evans and Freddie Hubbard is great.
The Bridge and What’s New with Rollins.
I would say start with Take Ten, The Bridge and Interplay.
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There is so much good Jim Hall. At this point, I'm as overwhelmed as OP
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If this isn't a desert island disc I don't know what is.
Jim Hall Trio Featuring Tom Harrell - These Rooms
It's just a testament to his stature as an artist that there are all of those prior recommendations, AND this one! AND the more that will surely follow.
I would start here. I mean, the tunes are straightforward, he's operating in a quartet without a piano. You get to hear him comp and improvise single notes, throughout. If you want a model for what to shoot for while playing guitar in a group, you cannot beat this.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
1. Jim Hall, Jazz Guitar. .... I believe this is the objectively correct starting point. Swings like a mother, it's his debut as a leader, all standards.
2. Paul Desmond, Easy Living and Glad to Be Unhappy. Just absolutely incredible music all around, but also probably his most palatable stuff for the casual listener.
3. Bill Evans, Undercurrents and Interplay. Lots of standards, super swinging. Undercurrents of course also getting into that duo thing that became so big for him.
4. Live!, Alone Together, Concierto ...These three all kind of show the breadth of what he can do. I think Live! is peak Jim, but that's just me. Still it's got to be his most adventurous solo album. Super weird, but also super swinging. Alone Together gets you further into that duo territory that was such a huge part of his body of work. And Concierto is also killer but gets into the sort of third stream thing that he dug too.
From there all bets are off. So much unbelievable music as a sideman––Sonny, Art, all his later years with the odd duos and trios he'd put together. But I feel like if you listened to that stuff, you'd have a good idea of what Jim was about.
This list is fact. No quibbling allowed. Joking of course, except kind of the first one.
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Originally Posted by enalnitram
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Originally Posted by burchyk
So, what you end up with is a simple set of chord changes which Jim treats with amazing creativity, harmonically and rhythmically -- melodically too, since I find that I can sing his comped part.
Glad To Be Unhappy (referring to the title tune of that abum) follows a similar approach. Changes are simple enough, but Jim finds a way to comp them that takes only a few well-chosen notes and creates brilliance.
There are transcriptions of each floating around on line.
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Growing up on the American 50s guitarist (Farlow, Raney, Kessell, Lowe, etc..), it took me a while to discover Jim Hall. A friend did provide me Jazz Guitar, and I liked that, but this is because it was in that 50s guitarist style.
It wasn't until I got Two Jims and Zoot (for Raney), that I finally discovered how his approach was different than those 50s guitarists I mostly listened to at the time. So, I purchased Concierto and after hearing You're Be So Nice to Come Home To, I was all in.
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^ Here
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