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I am sitting here comfortably in a way I haven’t since Wednesday or so. . .with a new furnace heating the house, all the house. The expense is going to be crippling in some ways in the year ahead, but the comfort and sense of security against the weather seems worth it right now. The former furnace lasted 27 years. . . I hope I get more than half of those years out of this one. Starting off a listening with disc 2 of this new release, Thelonious Monk “Bremen 1965” – a truly nice 2 cd release from Sunnyside.   185×185 10.4 KB

Damn it, I was going to say Horace!  B[ 

On the shelf with some kind of lung funk.  Good time to get to the BFT. 1 - Vibe was very Donovan Mellow Yellow at first, but voice comes in and proves it's much more cool.  I don't recognize the vocalist, but, not surprisingly, I like this a lot.  Not my main street, but if this came on in a social setting, I'd be a happy clam.  A little arpeggio happy, but it works.  This vibe reminds me of my first trip into The Church Brew Works when I lived in Pittsburgh.  Walking in, I wasn't sure I was NOT in a church (even with the brewing equpiment on the altar!).  As we approached the bar, Tom Jones' It's Not Unsual started playing.  It was the first time I felt at home in that city. 2 - David Murray from one of the Red Baron releases.  As underwhelmed as I was by most of what was released on that label, this album, or more specifically this cut, was an absolute high point.  No surprise with John Hicks on piano... on piAAAAAAAno!!!!!  ON PIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAno!!!!  The great John Hicks on piano.  I know Murray is a divisive figure, and I understand why, but this is a prime example of what he can do when he is "on".  Of all the praticioners of circular breathing, he's the one guy that I feel actually incorporates it into his musical message -- it's a tool, one in his kit that helps him to deliver his message.  This song is aural dessert for me.  Love it.  The rest of the rhythm section is not exactly lacking, either.  Workman with his typical incredible note choices, and Cyrile is just... everything.  I wish the whole record rose to this level, alas, that is not the case, but if one needs to own ONE Red Baron release, this has to be a strong contender.  If you want two, there's a nice Bob Wilbur release in there, as well.  Here's the link for this one . 3 - Stanley!  God I love this album.  Prayer For Peace from this.  There's not enough that can be said about this guy's writing.  And a true gentleman.  I reached out to him at one point looking for a particular chart, explaining the hobbyist nature of my playing and declaring my love of his work.  He provided me a login to his server and said, "Help yourself to whatever music is there.  I'm thrilled to have it played."  #GreatMoments. 4 - No idea what this is.  Doesn't offend, but the bar has been set very high, thus far, and this one is a bit out of its league, thought that bass is awfully nice.  Sounds cooler than Avashi Cohen, though I can hear him doing something like this.  This seems to BE cool where AC tends to try-to-be cool.  At least to my ear. 5 - Feels very Gil Scott Heron meets Santana.  No idea who or what.  Good groove, but not sure it's a sit and focus on tune. 6 - Dreaded synth... holding my breath, here.  I like the playing, I just hate that sound.  After three minutes it arrives somewhere, but not sure how I feel about the destination.  A rare felser miss for me.  But, hey, it took 11-1/2 minutes, so there's that.  7 - Tenor reminds me of Fela's style, but this feels too new to be that.  Given the live feel of the band and the Fela influence, I'd guess this to be a South African musician.  Hyper-compressed drums grate on me.  The feel is there, though, and that counts for a lot.   8 - Man, the beginning of this is so close to Greg Bandy's drumming on Pharoah Sanders' Love Will Find A Way.  Okay, it's Little Sunflower.  Really liking the hand drums on this.  The whole rhythmic feel is a win.  Vibes, so far, are incidental, but that's okay.  Here we go (3:15), vibes are digging in.  It's got that snappy percussive feel of really good James Brown, but with that Latin percussion influence.  I mean, come on, if your backside isn't shaking a little to this, you're probably dead.  Nice tenor sound.  Patient start, hope it continues.  Could be Martino, but I don't think so.  Certainly has listened in that direction.   9 - I was going to suggest a tie to an earlier track, but this is Hannibal, Soul Brother, with Diedre Murray on cello.  This whole album is epic, but Michael Cochrane's tune Revelation is my favorite.  Hannibal is just... wow.  The version on Cyrille's My Friend Louis is also pretty epic.  I consider it a cultural crime that this guy isn't a household name.  Here's the link. 10 - I mean, two chords in, you know what this song is.  At first, I was thinking Mingus on piano, but then I thought I heard a touch of Gene Harris.  Very loose drumming.  Reminds me of Rashied Ali's band at Den Haag.  I'm stumped.  It all feels familiar, yet foreign, which is probably a clue. 11 - I like the piano, I'm not sold on the vocals.  A little too look-at-me for my taste.  I really want this to hit, but it doesn't.  I keep wishing this was Dwight Trible so I could get what I need from it.  I can't kick, this whole test was a bundle of fun, with several epic cuts.  Which, frankly, is not surprising.  "Come on, man!  It's been a lousy f****n' day and I hate the f****n' Eagles!" #iykyk Needed something for 261.    I hear what you're saying about the time, but for me, it's part of why this music holds up so well.  I hear so many albums now where the time, pitch, and blending of voices are absolutely flawless, but the music is missing the "it" factor that makes me give a damn.  Just my 2¢

I should give them a try again.  I have them but at some certain point they started to bore me because I started to get bored by the hard bop style and kept only stuff like "Soul Station" on my current playlist.  But for some small hours listening when I lay down and close my eyes to relax a bit before falling asleep it might be nice again.  A very good bebop record. So many don´t know Miles before the "First Quintet" but he was strong between 1949-1951 doing almost as quick and fast like Diz or Fats, but all his own. Very fine. And he had the best players, Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Art Blakey.....I also like the 1951 Birdland recordings very much.  I love it. I love music that is like a prayer, like this one or ascension or Pharoah Sanders "The Creator..." or Alice Coltrane, it really inspires me, though I am a devout polytheist, but very religious in that manner......