The "New" Thing

In my opinion, the early to mid 1960's produced the best jazz ever made. Still wedded to the great swing of more traditional bop, but fully engaged with the classical avant-garde, committed to both firece improvisation and complex composition and unafraid to prod at the edges of what we consider "music" or "jazz," the musicians of The New Thing were pushing themeslves to produce the most sophisticated music possible, before the forces of free jazz, rock and roll (and jazz-rock fusion) changed the landscape forever.

Much of this music was created by a small core of men recording for the Blue Note label in a variety of settings, with different leaders. The tracks below feature the bulk of the key players (no Herbie Hancock though,) but on some sessions where the leaders are bit less known.

Bobby Hutcherson - Catta (from Dialogue 1965)
Bobby Hutcherson - vibraphone, trumpet - Freddie Hubbard, woodwinds - Sam Rivers, piano - Andrew Hill, bassist - Richard Davis, drums - Joe Chambers
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Grachan Moncur III - Air Raid (from Evolution 1963)
Grachan Moncur III - trombone, Jackie McLean - saxophone, Lee Morgan - trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson - vibraphone, Bob Crenshaw - bass, Tony Williams - drums
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Andrew Hill - Refuge (from Point of Departure 1964)
Andrew Hill - piano, Eric Dolphy - woodwinds, Joe Henderson - saxophone, Kenny Dorham - trumpet, Richard Davis - bass, Tony Williams - drums
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