Al Cohn and Jimmy Rowles- Heavy Love

"Heavy Love" by Al Cohn and Jimmy Rowles is one of the great duo albums in jazz. Overlooked by most, it holds many hours of enjoyable listening in its grooves. "Heavy Love" was recorded 15 March 1977 for the Xanadu label. If you have a friend (or enemy for that matter) who argues that jazz went into hiding in the 70s, this record will surely put them in their place (there are many other examples, but thats another blog). This record has the atmosphere of two old friends playing beautiful tunes with nothing to prove. Not to imply that this is a haphazard affair, quite the contrary. Cohn (Saxophone) and Rowles (Piano) weave in and out of each other's phrases and ideas like (insert cliched simile here...) If you have had the joy of listening to this record, I'm preaching to the choir.

The thing about the playing on this record that blows me away every time I hear it is the phrasing and creative ideas Cohn and Rowles come up with on every tune, chorus after chorus. Rowles never resorts to a stock accompaniment figure. He constantly creates fresh back drops for Cohn to play his beautiful swinging lines over. It may be a stride figure, stop time, or a Monkish bit of acerbic wit; Rowles shows why he is known as one of the greatest accompanists. Al Cohn's sound on his 70s recordings (some of his finest) has deepened from his Lestorian roots (much like Getz and Sims) and his ideas bubble out of the horn as fresh as ever. I like that word when I think about Cohn. Fresh. I can barely remember him playing a cliche. Anyway, I digress.

This record is worth every penny. I found my copy at the Jazz Record Center in New York (also a great place to find jazz books). The CD reissue has a bonus track (For All We Know) but I'm not sure how easy it is to find. Emusic has it for download but is missing a track. They also have many other Xanadu releases. Anyway, if you dug the recent Joe Lovano and Hank Jones record "Kids" or are a fan of the Zoot Sims and Jimmy Rowles albums you would love this album.

Al Cohn and Jimmy Rowles- "Heavy Love"
Xanadu 145

Side A
1. Them There Eyes
2. Sweet and Lovely
3. I Hadn't Anyone Till You

Side B
1. Taking A Chance On Love
2. These Foolish Things
3. Bar Talk

CD Bonus- For All We Know

Happy Listening,

The Sides Junkie

Welcome to the sides junkie

Welcome to my new blog. I am extremely technologically UN-savvy so this is semi-exciting for me. Basically I am going to talk about jazz albums (the sides in sides junkie refers to record sides, you dig?) that mean a lot to me. Mostly, I will look at things that don't lie squarely within the traditional canon of jazz. No disrespect to the masters, but I feel there is room for everyone. And there are a lot of great resources already available.

A little bit about my background, I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and spent the better part of a decade in New Orleans, LA. I have spent the last few years in Nashville, TN where I am completing my masters degree in jazz studies and saxophone. I am looking forward to returning to New Orleans in the coming months.

You can expect to see writings about cats like Warne Marsh, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Stan Getz, Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Andrew Hill, Ben Allison, Frank Kimbrough, Michael Blake, John Ellis, Mark Turner, etc, etc. . Like I said, I am a saxophonist. You can also look for New Orleans music, up and coming musicians, avant garde, etc, you get the picture. In addition to discussing recordings, I will also address different books, articles, and various writings on jazz.

Enjoy,
The Sides Junkie