Playing it now, and while I don’t quite know what you mean about “traded licks”, this definitely jams. I love how it starts with just that bass line too.
I looked up Seamus Blake, and while Spotify doesn’t have the track you mentioned, I’m very intrigued to listen to this *Dark Side of the Moon *tribute album after the Mingus. What a cool idea! (I mean, it could easily go horribly wrong, but still.)
That sounds cool.
SlackerInc - serious question: you really don’t know what “traded licks” means? As someone aware enough to know they like hard bop - and good on you for that! - I have to believe you have encountered it before…? It means one or more soloists playing leads, typicaly one after the other, but sometimes overlapping. Sometimes they will egg each other on - starting a phrase and expecting someone else to finish it; going for the highest note; etc. You’ve heard this type of thing, yes?
On the Mingus Black Saint album, Track B is really fun. Totally different from anything else I’ve heard, but a hoot (literally and figuratively).
Queued this up just now–just finished “Billie’s Bounce”, which has great energy. Thanks!
Cool, yeah, I think so. But no: I really hadn’t heard the term. I am just not very knowledgeable about music terminology. I’ve never played an instrument, unless you count the recorder in fifth grade, or a harmonica I used to goof around with and figured out how to play “Silent Night” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on. And I haven’t read anything about jazz, haven’t even seen the Ken Burns special.
So up until just the past few days, all I knew just came from listening (and the Jazz After Hours host always named the musicians, but didn’t seem to talk about the kinds of elements you guys do). Other than that show, I have been to jazz clubs twice (once in Greenwich Village, once in Kansas City), and have seen jazz ensembles a few times at the local bars where I live now, headed by a music professor at the university. But I would just watch them play and listen, so it still didn’t teach me how to talk/write about the music.
I had never even heard of “hard bop” until this past weekend, when I did the research I described in the OP and figured out that was the name for the style I preferred. I guess it’s kind of weird to be into jazz this way!
Unless you’re listening to that tune on a good set of stereo speakers, with good channel separation, the “traded licks” will be difficult (if not impossible) to make out. In fact the reason I love the track so much is that it helped me to sell stereo equipment back in the day! The liner notes on the album (which I have not been able to locate online) called special attention to the duel between Booker Ervin, tenor saxophone and John Handy, alto saxophone, as they went from alternating 8-bars, to 4-bars, to 2-bars, to 1-bar and then to every other note! It was so hard to tell them apart that you’d imagine it was one person playing. There may be similar examples of players that much in sync with each other, but this example was the best I ever heard.
Sorry about Seamus and Spotify! 
Ah - helpful. You really should see the Ken Burns documentary called Jazz. It is many hours, but wonderful. Jazz nuts can argue over who it focuses on, but it is a great way to immerse yourself in some basics.
in the Straight Dope Music Appreciation Society thread.
While we don’t focus on any one genre of music, a lot of posts have a fairly good dissection of the music rather than a simple “that was fun it made me dance”-type comment.
I encourage anyone who wants to expose themselves to new music to come participate!
Sounds cool, will check it out, thanks. And yeah, I do need to see the Ken Burns doc.
I’ve always been a stickler for that. Carver receiver, fat cables, Yamaha speakers. Not quite on the level ov a pre-amp with separate mono amps, but it sounds pretty good.