The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    This arrived yesterday from Discogs. More to follow once it’s imported to my music library (I don’t own a CD player!)

    New (to me) Ed Bickert-402d22a5-4191-48fd-9535-2ba96b12d9b8-jpg

    New (to me) Ed Bickert-538f657d-dbd5-40ed-b44f-3e9fba22185f-jpeg

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Cool...looks like it's on YouTube too...did a quick scan, didn't hear too much of Ed's masterful comping, but any new to me Ed is a good thing, and Ken sounds great. Gonna listen closer later.

  4. #3

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    He takes some nice solos on that record. "Lava", as I think the liner notes mention, is an "Avalon" contrafact. He gets to comp more on some tunes than others...

    "Segment" is pretty hot for Ed . "Don't You Know I Care" and "Careless Love" have some good, laid-back bluesy solos from Ed too.

    Two years earlier, Concord put him in the rhythm section for Benny Carter's "A Gentleman and His Music". I'd say he gets less spotlight there than on the Peplowski date. Other than the Rosemary Clooney albums, he doesn't show up as a backing musician on Concord all that much, unfortunately. The Rob McConnell Jive 5 album is one more Concord small-group date with Ed, and he doesn't have to fight for space with a pianist.

    Yesterday I found a place selling a download of the 1996 tribute album "Portraits In Jazz: A Tribute To Wes Montgomery" (which is so rare there's not even a listing for it on discogs.com).

    Ed fronts a trio for "September Song" and "Twisted Blues", and they are brilliant. I have no idea who is on bass and drums--probably some of his regular associates like Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke or Barry Elmes--but they do a great job too. The site is based in the U.K. and looks legit to me (and my transaction went smoothly, via PayPal), but I'd never heard of it. No liner notes were included in my download, just a cover image.

    VARIOUS / 7 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT - Portraits In Jazz: A Tribute To Wes Montgomery - Boomkat

    I've been wanting to hear this Wes tribute album ever since I read this story shortly after Ed died (which kind of stands out from most other remembrances that appeared after his death):

    Bill King - The Radioland Jazz Session

    The stage had been set and microphones strategically placed. This would be the setting for a significant undertaking between me and my Jazz Report Magazine/Radioland Records partner Greg Sutherland. From 1995 – 1997 we recorded three tributes to giants of jazz: Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery and Stan Getz. This began as a wish list and cause to bring together some of Canada’s finest jazz musicians to a specific project. In every sense, the projects succeeded beyond expectation.

    The Wes Montgomery tribute – Portraits in Jazz in its own universe, is consequential. Over two sessions the east side of Canada was represented by six distinctive stylists: Peter Leitch, Reg Schwager, Rob Piltch, Ted Quinlan, Sonny Greenwich, and Ed Bickert. Each artist came with a rhythm section of their choosing; an original or standard with Wes in mind and a reinterpretation of a Montgomery classic.

    Every musician has a routine, and at times a peculiar set of rituals that play out before the audio engineer is set to press record. On this evening in 1996, Ed Bickert was “game on.” We worked 6-midnight – two songs in three-hour segments. Ed was slotted in the middle. With amp in place and his “living/breathing” Fender Telecaster perfectly situated on a chair next to him, we anticipated it would only be “punch the button and roll.”

    Not the case!

    Ed may have physically been in the room, but elsewhere in thought. A good portion of time passes when Ed returns to his seat, lifts the guitar and fiddles with the dials to his amp. While listening, we notice Ed’s sound growing darker and darker – more bass colouring and less treble – nothing that matched the previous players. Rather than interfere, Greg and I decided we’d leave all production fixes to mixdown sessions.

    With rhythm section in place, two songs were chosen – “September Song” and Wes Montgomery’s “Twisted Blues,” we were ready to roll. Then comes the lighting of the Marlboro. Ed smoked the hard stuff – not those chemically enhanced menthol types or cigarette “lites.” Bickert gently places the Telecaster aside, steps in front of the wood paneling then raises the glorious pleasure stick to the lips, lights and drifts out of reach of the session at hand. Meanwhile, Greg and I begin to estimate the length of time this journey will require.

    Both of us lose track.

    Ed was now on “planet Ed”, and Greg was more than willing to enlist a search party to rescue. I cautioned and suggested we wait, knowing the recording will most likely be a “one take” situation. That it was! Ed eventually found his comfort zone and delivered two remarkable responses. To this day, I can’t help but marvel at the ingenuity in those tracks. The chordal patterns and sweet, sweet improvised patches are note-to-note perfection.

    Before playback, we tinkered with Ed’s sound. Oh man, were we setting ourselves up for the “misplay of the century.” I asked the engineer “can we get a sound something closer to Pat Metheny”- and that he did. Ed arrives with Marlboro burning, listens, then nods his approval. Fuck me! He went for it. To this day, those two tracks are crystalline in their sound and utterly brilliant.


    UPDATE: A similar tribute record was recorded for Stan Getz as part of the same series, and Bickert backs up Rick Wilkins in a quartet for 2 tracks. Also available for download from Boomkat.com:
    VARIOUS / 7 ARTS ENTERTAINMENT - The Power Of Beauty: A Tribute To Stan Getz - Boomkat

    Ed plays on "I'm All for You" (a Wilkins original that sounds kind of like Blue Note hard bop from 64-66) and "You Go to My Head", with Ron Collins on bass and Barry Elmes on drums. The tracks naturally sound like outtakes from Ed's "I Wished on the Moon" album. Ed gets decent amount of space on these tracks, which are both 6+ minutes.
    Last edited by 44lombard; 01-22-2021 at 08:50 PM.

  5. #4

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    Wow! Thank you, I never expected to hear those recordings with Ed. Hopefully Mosaic or someone like that will someday put out an Ed Bickert box set.

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    Wow! Thank you, I never expected to hear those recordings with Ed. Hopefully Mosaic or someone like that will someday put out an Ed Bickert box set.
    I hope the same. Ed's Concord and Sackville leader & co-leader dates would make a great set. Concord has a few live Bickert Trio odds and ends (I've found 3 so far on "Concord All Stars" albums), and they may have a few others in the vault.

    I also hold out hope that Don Thompson might be sitting on more live tapes of Bickert backing up various touring stars. Supposedly Zoot Sims played Bourbon Street backed by the Bickert trio...I'd be in heaven if a set or two from that gig existed and was released. Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, and Clark Terry are other names that could have conceivably been taped by Thompson at Bourbon St. with Bickert.

    Trudy Desmond's 1988 "RSVP" album is interesting because it seems to just be her and the Bickert Trio. More like a Bourbon Street gig than the more heavily arranged Rosemary Clooney sessions where Ed shared the spotlight with a piano and horns. [EDIT: Don Thompson plays some piano one the album, but no horns] Here's a track:


  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by 44lombard


    The Wes Montgomery tribute – Portraits in Jazz in its own universe, is consequential. Over two sessions the east side of Canada was represented by six distinctive stylists: Peter Leitch, Reg Schwager, Rob Piltch, Ted Quinlan, Sonny Greenwich, and Ed Bickert. Each artist came with a rhythm section of their choosing; an original or standard with Wes in mind and a reinterpretation of a Montgomery classic.
    peter leitch is another under the radar monster player!!..he has career hindering health problems these days, but was great player and composer


    nice find!

    cheers

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by BickertRules
    This arrived yesterday from Discogs. More to follow once it’s imported to my music library (I don’t own a CD player!)

    New (to me) Ed Bickert-402d22a5-4191-48fd-9535-2ba96b12d9b8-jpg

    New (to me) Ed Bickert-538f657d-dbd5-40ed-b44f-3e9fba22185f-jpeg
    I did a bunch of gigs with Kenny when he first moved to NY, and played on an album that we were both sidemen on- great player! I prefer EB without a pianist, Concord seemed to always put him with a pianist, unless Rob McConnell led the date. He knew who Ed was, and that he didn't need a pianist. Besides the Jive Five album, they also made "Trio Sketches. In Canada they knew who he was, and most of the Sackville records don't have a pianist on them.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    peter leitch is another under the radar monster player!!..he has career hindering health problems these days, but was great player and composer


    nice find!

    cheers
    I recently got an email announcing a new album by Peter Leitch, where he leads a large group, playing his compositions. He can't play guitar anymore because of health problems, so he just conducts.

  10. #9

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    really excellent recording from peter l...he was still playing!

    colours & dimensions...some great players as well




    cheers
    Last edited by neatomic; 01-23-2021 at 10:47 PM.

  11. #10

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    Great album recommended to me by a young Canadian virtuoso:


  12. #11

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    Love Ed Bickert's playing .. I have a couple of records of his outstanding playing. Keep an eye out for them
    New (to me) Ed Bickert-bickert-jpg
    New (to me) Ed Bickert-desmond-jpg