Recordings
Allen Blairman can be heard on many recordings - unfortunately most of them are out of print...
His first major label recording was with the Charles Bell Contemporary Quartet for CBS produced by John Hammond in 1959. His legendary recordings with Albert Ayler (live at Fondation Maeght at
the Cote d'Azur, France) were reissued in several editions - but unfortunately those are bootleg recordings who were never authorized by the band...
He also recorded for ECM records (with Mal Waldron) and the label "Enja Records" (with a.o. Karl Berger and Albert Mangelsdorff).
Here is further information about his most recent recordings for Rodenstein Records:
Allen Blairman
brand new release!
Allen Blairman is not just an incredible drummer, but also arranger and composer. For many years he wanted to do an album with his original tunes. This CD features five of his own songs, with Allen also doing all the vocals and programming of the beats and Olaf Schönborn playing saxophone and keyboards. Five songs, five stories in wonderful flowing grooves.
Trio Variety
For more than 15 years Trio Variety has been touring all over Europe - but somehow they never got together in a recording studio. There are, however, many recordings done live in their practice room, a former chicken shack out in the fields (remember Jimmy Smith?) and in Allen Blairman's living room. Some of these will be published here in a series of CDs giving you an intimate live experience of the trio's energy , their groove and the spontaneity in their improvisation . As the band name suggests, Trio Variety is crossing all the stylistical boundaries: from swing to funk and soul, from beautiful standards to unknown treasures and pop songs, from straight ahead to open and free. Come along on their musical journey - all you need is an open mind! Enjoy!
Blairman, Schönborn, Simpson
onefinalnote.com
These days, drummer Allen Blairman is perhaps best known for his part in Albert Ayler’s last working band, documented on recent live releases such as Live on the Riviera. But it’s interesting to note that, before he submerged himself in the avant-garde of the late 1960s, he’d been gigging on the Pittsburgh jazz scene since the mid-50s, playing with a wide range of movers including George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Horace Parlan, Joe Alexander, Groove Holmes, Cat Anderson, and Jimmy Smith.
It’s this last legendary name that has the most resonance for this collection, as we find Blairman returning to his roots in an organ trio, featuring fellow American James Simpson on the Hammond B3 and German saxophonist Olaf Schönborn, blasting through nine cuts—recorded in one day—with an infectious, honest, unpretentious energy and passion....Highlight of the album is Reuben Wilson’s hard-driving, acid-jazz classic “Orange Peel”, delivered with such verve that it could probably fill any dance floor even today.
