jazz guitar nerds gather, it's the long-awaited JIM HALL topic! classic or dud? / search and destroy / general appreciation

Jim Hall is one of my guys on jazz guitar, and I don't have a lot of guys on jazz guitar.

My absolute favorite Hall material is the quartet with Sonny Rollins -- they did an album called The Bridge, and then later there was a release called The Quartets that was basically just a deluxe edition of The Bridge with a couple extra tracks.

The records with Jimmy Giuffre are also essential. He made some good records with Chico Hamilton as well and the Paul Desmond stuff is good too. Love the quartets with Art Farmer.

Oddly I find the Bill Evans duets a little too sleepy but they are nice.

I actually don't know his solo records as well but I like the one in the OP and It's Nice to Be With You. Dialogues is also kind of a neat record (I saw him live around the time it came out with the rhythm section from the record), features collabs with Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Mike Stern.

I attended a clinic he did once. I remember asking him how much he practiced and was kind of surprised that it was *only* 3-4 hours a day. He said he wasn't particularly systematic about practicing. I also remember him saying something about coming from a "hillbilly" background, and he felt that bluegrass and old time music informed his playing approach a lot.

The solo records were just kind of hard to find in my formative jazz years. Now I imagine most are on spotify or youtube.

I had a guitar tab book obnoxiously titled "Jazz Guitar Bible" that got me into Alone Together. The 'St. Thomas' on there is especially good in the context of that book. I am a sleepy duo fan, though.

Alone Together is so good, just a wonderful sound those two guys get.

I also remember him saying something about coming from a "hillbilly" background, and he felt that bluegrass and old time music informed his playing approach a lot.

this is fascinating because he takes a turn on an acoustic nylon string on one his 70s albums and it's mighty impressive.

also rad you got to chat with him.🤘

I think he may have said his uncle was a bluegrass musician and I notice his wiki says his uncle played guitar so I may be remembering right

There's pretty good footage of Rollins and Hall together from 62, including their wonderful God Bless the Child:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2yHRRzDc0I

O_O !!!!!!!!

that's the best thing i've ever seen.

I saw Rollins and Hall play together at Rollins' 80th birthday show, but his style - and that whole style of jazz guitar that he pioneered - does nothing for me.

?

Well, you did say "classic or dud? / search and destroy" in the thread title. I'm a "dud" voter. But I'll shut up now, because it does actually interest me what people hear in this dude.

while we're youtubing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZF74lQ0kMs

my ? was more about:

but his style - and that whole style of jazz guitar that he pioneered

please sum up this style for me in a few words because i don't know what you're referring to.

yeah I also don't know what that means -- I don't really think of him as a guy who is known for "pioneering" a "style" so much

goddamn @ that sonny rollins video ward fowler posted

The Bridge with Sonny Rollins, the trio stuff with Jimmy Giuffre ... i think he's classic.

The guy worked with Bill Evans and Sonny Rollins at 'a' peak in their careers.

This is a cool one to check out. That duet album with Pat Metheny is a good one too.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Charlie_Haden_Jim_Hall.jpg

i mean he’s the least showy jazz guy ever, I can see how some might find his restraint and taste boring

But the bridge is essential for sure

have lost track of how many dozens of times I've played Jimmy Giuffre's 'Western Suite' and it's largely for Jim Hall. the tone is so minimal it's avant, the restraint actually becomes extreme, that's the one I point people to

'undercurrents', 'where would I be' & the art farmer records I like, need to hear 'the bridge' & 'live' / 'live vol 2-4' I think

yeah love Western Suite and same kind of cool restraint from him on The Easy Way as well.

I thought his work on Sonny Rollins the Bridge was pretty great. Always meant to look more into him not sure to waht extent I did since I still don't know much more about him.
Think there was a video on him in the ILAC centre library 25 years ago but might be wrong, there was definitely one there on Tal Farlow.

I discovered Jim Hall through all the nice words from Nels Cline, Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. Also, the ECM album "Within a Song" from John Abercrombie has multiple tunes from Hall, it is really good.

This interview, done by Bill Frisell is a classic.

yeah, i'm reading the absolute fuck out of that.

sorry, i'm geeking out at this conversation!

jim: how did you get so weird?

bill: i don't know. i stole most of it from you.

looooollll

then I heard Charlie Christian, and that was a big thing. I went out and got, on 78s, an album of that music. I don’t even think I had a record player; I would take it to people’s houses. I remember on the cover it said “Benny Goodman Sextet,” and I was on a streetcar or something, and the way my arm was, it just said “Sex,” so I said I better adjust the arm so it said “Sextet.”

he was as pure and nice as his playing makes him sound!

wow, his thoughts on bill evans are pretty surprising!

Bill Evans, of course, is not a bad player, and I got a kick out of what he did. “My Funny Valentine” was usually done as a slow ballad, and so Bill decided that he and I should do it as an uptempo thing. He would mess with tempos until he got it to work. Too bad he wasn’t a better player. That was a lost man, that guy, Jesus.

Bill Evans' "Interplay" album with a larger group (including Jim Hall) is very nice too.

I think when Hall says "Too bad he wasn't a better player" he means the opposite ... the interview is almost 30 years after Evans' death and it sounds like Hall is still mourning him

Yeah, I think it might be a slightly wonky transcription and that Hall is really talking about Evans not being good at playing the game of life - "that was a lost man"

I hear it as sarcasm: too bad DiMaggio wasn't a better player

yeah, i didn't take it in the way that jim meant bill needed to practice more. i understood it as him thinking bill got lost in himself to the point of maybe sacrificing his playing.

by every account I've read Evans was an amiable mess his entire life

he was. he joked about his own destructive drug dependency constantly =(

hey, thank you everyone who mentioned sonny rollins' the bridge. my rollins collection and knowledge is admittedly lacking, so i picked up that album yesterday and yeah: that shit jams hard. especially the ballads \m/

the bossa nova influenced What's New album with Sony Rollins/Jim Hall is worth checking out as well imo.

Both "What's New" and "The Bridge" are in this box set:

https://images.app.goo.gl/h7qaNGto7GNwXj5e7

https://s.s-bol.com/imgbase0/imagebase3/large/FC/4/9/1/7/9200000063827194.jpg

see that's my problem right there: EIGHTTEEN FLIPPIN` ALBUMS????

this one's a more manageable set with the Hall / Rollins stuff (plus a lot more): https://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Classics-Sonny-Rollins/dp/B003JA5MKQ

yeah, that's more my speed. thank you for the link!

these rooms feat. tom harrell, from 1988, sounds like the loveliest record in the world, featuring naked city's joey baron on brushed drums

everyone listen to this record now holy shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLisDURVowU

Whoa, definitely will! Admittedly I've never much liked Joey Baron, but so far the brushes on this track are v nice.

I feel like there's a transition in Hall's sound somewhere along the way where his tone starts to sound fatter and a little bit more acoustic-like. This one definitely leans more in that direction. I wonder where it started.

It gets that very slightly spanky acoustic-ish thing

Wow, Steve LaSpina absolutely crushing it on bass

I heard Jay Leonhart was originally offered that gig but turned it down because he didn’t want to be away from his kids too long.

That version of "With a Song in My Heart" is really nice. I like how Hall's soloing feels like it grows organically and comfortably out of the tune, never rushed, and the sense of dialogue between guitar and trumpet.

one I've been enjoying lately is the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall bossa nova album Take Ten, really nice and also it features one of Warhol's less famous album cover commissions.

Today I'm enjoying 'Jim Hall & Basses', a record of duets and trios with different bass players (Dave Holland, Christian McBride, George Mraz, Scott Colley), after listening to an interview with Scott Colley.

how have i never posted here? i love jim hall.

have lost track of how many dozens of times I've played Jimmy Giuffre's 'Western Suite' and it's largely for Jim Hall.

otm

It's sweater & Jim Hall season.

I was lucky to find a copy of Jim Hall's Live Vol.2-4 some time ago. There are 2 books of sheet music out too, one has more writing from Hall about music, composing and constructing solos than it has actual sheet music but it reads almost like a diary, just great stuff.

oh, what's the diary-like one called?

It's sweater & Jim Hall season.

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, October 10, 2023 1:17 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Oh my gawd, pumpkin spice jim hawl

oh, what's the diary-like one called?

The book is called 'Exploring Jazz Guitar'. This Marciac 2000 concert is also highly recommended (it used to be on YouTube, but someone saved it and republished it on FB).

His duet album with Joey Baron is really really nice (although oddly enough the drums are the louder element in the mix, which I like but you know Joey Baron can be one of the softest drummers in the biz).

Also "Where Would I Be?" ('71) is new to me, probably old hat to you Jim Hall stans. Airto on percussion and drums, with some really cool & contemporary sounding minimal arrangements.

look at this king

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6af2eed2-e5bb-4730-9c54-9fc5b8d2136f_749x499.jpeg

His duet album with Joey Baron is really really nice (although oddly enough the drums are the louder element in the mix, which I like but you know Joey Baron can be one of the softest drummers in the biz).

I assume this one is called Conversations? "Something Special" is also recommended as is the Trio album with Tom Harrell.

i put this cd on without looking at it and i wondered who he was playing with and it was just overdubs he had done. still think he should have called it Jim Hall Plays With Himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lemu5HwjLRk

Uniquities is a collection of never before released live performances by Jim, Scott Colley and Joey Baron. It has been carefully curated to demonstrate how incredibly innovative Jim was and to reflect his unrelenting search for that combination of stunning beauty and an ever-evolving modern approach to music.

More info here.

Thank you, putting this on now. I love his duos with Colley & Baron so I'm sure this will be great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQeB8rCUHcE