Music Monday: Charles McPherson

When I listen to late 1960s and early 1970s jazz, I tend to listen to freer and even more avant-garde offerings. Occasionally, I’ll listen to the soul jazz and fusion, but rarely do I listen to boppy, hard bop from these years (other than, say, Blue Mitchel) and when I do listen to something more traditional it tends to be folks like Lee Morgan or Woody Shaw.

Every now and then, I decide that I want to listen to something more conventional. This past week, I was enjoying some Clifford Brown and it got me thinking about bop and hard hop. So I decided to put on some Charles McPherson who I hadn’t listened to in many years.   

So here’s a trio of Charles McPherson albums that I’ve enjoyed: 

From this Moment On! (1968) puts McPherson with Cedar Walton and Pat Martino on guitar. 

Martino and Walton also joined McPherson on Horizons (1969) with Walter Booker on bass and Billy Higgins on drums.

McPherson’s Mood (1969) with Roy Brooks on drums, Barry Harris on piano, and Buster Williams on bass feels a bit tighter than his sets with Walton and company.

Finally Charles McPherson (1971) with Lonnie Hillyer on trumpet as well as Barry Harris on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Leroy Williams. If the previous two follow pretty conventional hard bop formula (with Cedar Walton’s and Barry Harris’s distinctive swing), this album shows McPherson’s ability to blend pop (“What’s Going On” which in a matter of years became a minor standard in its own right) and standards (including a swingin’ version of “Love for Sale”)