Desert Island List no. 2: RIVERSIDE RECORDS

second of three guest posts by Mark Stryker

(For authorship, context and ground rules, see previous post. Again, I have a few comments at the end. — e.i.)

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30 desert island LPs from Riverside Records (plus Jazzland) in alphabetical order

1. Pepper Adams, 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot, Riverside (1958)

2. Cannonball Adderley, Cannonball in Europe! Riverside (1962)

3. Chet Baker, In New York, Riverside (1958)

4. Art Blakey, Ugetsu, Riverside (1963)

5. Tadd Dameron, The Magic Touch, Riverside (1962)

6. Kenny Dorham, Jazz Contrasts, Riverside (1957)

7. Bill Evans, Portrait in Jazz, Riverside (1959)

8. Paul Gonsalves, Gettin’ Together! Jazzland (1960)

9. Johnny Griffin, Johnny Griffin Sextet, Riverside (1958)

10. Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Tough Tenors, Jazzland (1960)

11. Barry Harris, At the Jazz Workshop, Riverside (1960)

12. Barry Harris, Chasin’ the Bird, Riverside (1962)

13. Coleman Hawkins, The Hawk Flies, Riverside (1957)

14. Ernie Henry, Seven Standards and a Blues, Riverside (1957)

15. Milt Jackson, Live at the Village Gate, Riverside (1963)

16. Budd Johnson, Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants, Riverside (1960)

17. Sam Jones, The Chant, Riverside (1961)

18. Elvin Jones, Elvin! Riverside (1961-62)

19. Philly Joe Jones, Drums Around the World, Riverside (1959)

20. Wynton Kelly, Piano, Riverside (1958)

21. Blue Mitchell, Blue’s Moods, Riverside (1960)

22. Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, Riverside (1955)

23. Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane, Jazzland (1957)

24. Wes Montgomery, The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Riverside (1960)

25. Wes Montgomery, Boss Guitar, Riverside (1963)

26. Sonny Red, Breezin’, Jazzland (1960)

27. Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny, Riverside (1957)

28. Sonny Rollins, The Freedom Suite, Riverside (1958)

29. Frank Strozier, Long Night, Jazzland (1961)

30. Ben Webster & Joe Zawinul, Soulmates, Riverside (1963)

Bonus Tracks

1 Chris Anderson, “Only One,” Jazzland (1961)

2. Art Blakey, “Skylark,” Riverside (1962)

3. Cannonball Adderley, “People Will Say We’re in Love,” Riverside (1958)

4. Cannonball Adderley, “Easy to Love,” Riverside (1963)

5. Bill Evans, “Gloria’s Step,” Riverside (1961)

6. Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, “Blues Up and Down,” Jazzland (1961)

7. Barry Harris, “My Heart Stood Still,” Riverside (1960 or ‘61)

8. Barry Harris, “Ascension,” Riverside (1960)

9. Jimmy Heath, “More Than You Know,” Riverside (1963)

10. Clifford Jordan, “Sunrise in Mexico,” Riverside (1961)

11. Wynton Kelly, “On Green Dolphin Street,” Riverside (1959)

12. Yusef Lateef, “Summer Song,” Riverside (1960)

13. Blue Mitchell, “Smooth as the Wind,” Riverside (1961)

14. Thelonious Monk, “Ruby My Dear” (with Coleman Hawkins), Riverside (1957)

Mark does not put the whole MONK’S MUSIC album on his list, but he does have “Ruby My Dear” as a bonus track. The story goes that when Coleman Hawkins passed away, Thelonious Monk played Hawk’s wonderful rendition of “Ruby” over and over on his home stereo.

15. Thelonious Monk, “Jackie-ing,” Riverside (1959)

16. Wes Montgomery, “‘Round Midnight,” Riverside (1959)

17. Julian Priester, “24-Hour Leave,” Riverside (1960)

18. George Russell, “You Are My Sunshine,” Riverside (1962)

19. Sonny Red, “Blue Sonny,” Jazzland (1961)

20. Freddie Redd, “San Francisco Suite,” Riverside (1957)

21. Max Roach, “Conversation,” Riverside (1958)

22. Frank Strozier, “Don’t Follow the Crowd,” Jazzland (1962)

23. Clark Terry, “Boomerang,” Riverside (1957)

24. Teri Thornton, “What’s Your Story, Morning Glory?” Riverside (1961)

25. Bobby Timmons, “Autumn Leaves,” Riverside (1961)

— Mark Stryker

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Compared with Prestige, Riverside has a bit more of a curated perspective, thanks to producer Orrin Keepnews. Keepnews got into the music as a fan of traditional jazz, and alongside Bill Grauer (who was also his business partner for Riverside) produced an early essential text, A Pictorial History of Jazz (1955). It is fair to say that Riverside did wonders for the careers of Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, and Wes Montgomery; these notable successes undoubtedly encouraged Keepnews to stay active in the business after the Riverside years: First he launched Milestone, which was a major player in the 1970s, while his last label was Landmark, which also put out some excellent things. There are also hundreds of Keepnews liner notes, many collected in The View From Within: Jazz Writings, 1948-1987. Between all these sources, you can get a pretty good idea of what Keepnews was thinking about—if you trust what he says (he also had an enormous ego).

So many great records on Mark’s second list—and again, many I don’t know. However, I could use a bit more soulful Bobby Timmons, either Cannonball In San Francisco or the trio This Here is Bobby Timmons, which is my choice for top date of Timmons as a leader. However, Mark does lead off (alphabetically) with Pepper Adams’s 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot, which has some of the most outstanding Timmons in a purely bebop mood.

A couple of anecdotes from insiders: Tootie Heath told me he thought Milt Jackson At the Village Gate was particularly good, also because he got to play with Hank Jones on that one. Paul Motian downplayed the famous Sunday at Village Vanguard record, Motian said that his favorite Bill Evans trio LP was Explorations. Charlie Haden raved about the Adderley/Evans Know What I Mean? as one of the greatest of all time—“symphonic” was the word Charlie used. To be honest, I don’t quite hear what Charlie was talking about. Know What I Mean? is not on Mark’s list, and it wouldn’t go on mine, either. However, Cannonball, Evans, and the MJQ rhythm section of Percy Heath and Connie Kay is certainly a good idea on paper, and I applaud Keepnews for setting it up. — e.i.