James Clay was a bad mofo. He went to school at Huston-Tillotson here in Austin when the east side was thriving and I heard he used to throw down with Kenny Dorham whenever Kenny came back into town. (Kenny grew up here and though about 10 years James Clay's senior would come through every once in a while in the early-mid 50's.)

 

Check out "A Double Dose of Soul," "The Sound of Wide Open Spaces," or the Wes Montgomery album, "Movin' Along."

 

Cool

I've got Cookin at the Continental and I let a song go out of my heart

R.

 

Thanks Rory. I like hearing about a player I didn't know about. Great music!

All of those albums can be streamed on Rhapsody, by the way--a good resource for fans and students of jazz. I hear about some music and seconds later I'm listening to it. I just wish I'd had that when I was first learning to play!

 

There's a Don Cherry record from the late '80s/early '90s called Art Deco that has Clay on it, with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. Clay sounds a little out of breath in spots (I don't think he was in the best of health by that point), but still he sounds great all the same. If you can find it (good luck) his playing on this record makes for a good comparison against his earlier, far more aggressive style.

 

JAMES CLAY !! Now your talkin' my language....JAMES is it. CLAY- was awsome. Ever hear that stuff he did with Don Cherry ? WOW !~

Think about it; JAMES CLAY. What a sound.
Listen for the conception he brought to the music. Listen for the way this
jazz master emphasized the individuality of sound. This is an ultimate form of
expression. Ear development as a listener and player is a necessity for good understanding of musical styles, and improvising. In short, the more advanced you are from a listening standpoint, the more you will be able to hear where things are coming from. While your listening try to build a framework of recognizing the elements of a players' style. You must remember to practice listening as well as performance and study issues.

With that said, please check out the following tenor players' cd's.If you play tenor yo need to hear these guys; I've made it relatively simple to find since everything is based on
Prestige-O.J.C reissues.

- Oliver Nelson, Jimmy Forrest, King Curtis, 'Soul Battle" .

- Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, "Going to the Meeting"

- David "Fathead" Newman and James Clay, "The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces"

- Teddy Edwards, "Teddy's Ready" This recording has one of the most
incredible versions of "Scrapple from the Apple" in addition, Billy Higgins is
on it .

- Benny Golson "Gone with Golson"

- Booker Ervin "The Song Book"

- Frank Foster and Frank Wess, "Two for the Blues"

This short list should be used for a starting point for those of you who are
interested. I could also add any Johnny Griffin records on Riverside.
I hope this provides some assistance and understanding of these important and necessary artists. I avoided the obivious cats like Prez , Jug, Hawk , Rollins etc due to the fact that I'm sure they are the more accessiable
from this standpoint.

OK- Back to Clay.....

 

Check this out. I forgot about this record, he made it right after the Cherry LP.

 

That's some seriously beautiful, soulful playing.

 

Hey Tim,

I've been listening to Groovin' with Golson a lot lately too. "My Blues House" followed by "Drum Boogie." I'm not sure there is any tenor playing better than that: totally sublime sound.

Cheers,
Rory

 

It's hard to find much biographical information on Clay.

This was the best I could come up with on the internet:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=5745

There seems to be a sense of tragedy around him?

 

He doesn't play in it, but Clay is interviewed (along with many others) in the American Masters Ray Charles documentary. He has the best line in the whole thing, when asked about Ray and drummers, Clay looks right into the camera and says "I wouldn't play drums for Ray Charles for love nor money". Hah! If you ever run into Jeff Ballard or Paul Kreibach or Peter Turre, or any other guy who played drums for RC, ask them what Clay was talking about!

 

Lawrence Marable's Tenorman on jazzwest .
Tenorman IS James Clay.One of the best tenor quartet records ever.
Look for a Fresh Sounds reissue.

 

Lawrence Marable's Tenorman on jazzwest .
Tenorman IS James Clay.One of the best tenor quartet records ever.
Look for a Fresh Sounds reissue.

A great one that everyone else here forgot, and was James' debut recording.

He was only 21 on that session, and like many in his age bracket was
influenced by the [slightly older] Sonny Rollins !

 

Cookin' At The Continental is ha good one too, one of Clay's last. He reunites with Fathead Newman. Good swinging set.

 

Lovin' this thread. I've got all his albums. I grew up studying from Randy Lee (another great texas tenor). He always talked about how great james played and how nice he was. Killer flute player too. Unfortunately, I was too young to hear it for myself. I would love to hear more stories....