Hot Ptah

I am going to get the Sahib Shihab, NHOP/Sam Jones, Hugh Ragin and Billy Bang albums right now! This is a great BFT. Thanks for putting it together!

This is a great Blindfold Test. 1. I have this album. This is Big Alice from Howard Johnson—Gravity!!!! Great album! The tuba playing is so smooth and soulful at the same time. 2. I don’t know what this is but I love it and want to get it. Both saxophone solos are so compelling! This is great stuff. 3. I have this album and have played it many times. It is Khan Jamal’s Three album with Johnny Dyani and Pierre Doerge. For awhile I was trying to buy any album with Johnny Dyani on it and this is one that I picked up. This is the track titled Children of the Third World. 4. This is John Coltrane’s Lonnie’s Lament played by really excellent musicians. I do not know who the tenor sax player is but he is really good! I want to get this album. 5. A Blue Note trumpet player with a lyrical tone, but not Kenny Dorham. I can’t quite place who it is. If he did not play on Blue Note he is playing in that late 1950s to mid 1960s era. This is really nice. 6. Oh this is George Adams from one of my favorite albums of all time (not just by George but by anyone)—Paradise Space Shuttle. I have played this album a great many times in my life. Thank you for including this!!! 7. I love this. Two basses and is that Phillip Catherine on guitar? The bassist in the left channel made my whole house shake with his big sound near the end of the track. I want to get this album. 8. This is fantastic. I absolutely love this track. This is right up my alley, like a song on my personal all time playlist. I can’t wait to find out who is it so I can buy it. I love the trumpeter but can’t place him. He is in the Ahmed Abdullah/Roy Campbell ballpark but I don’t think it is either of them. The rhythm section reminds me of Roscoe Mitchell’s album Snurdy McGurdy and Her Dancing Shoes (which is high praise from me). 9. I included a track from this album on my BFT last year. That is Seldon Powell and Ray Nance, from the Spellbound album by Ahmed Abdul-Malik. A great track and a great album. 10. That is Max Roach and M’Boom. As time passes I think about what an audacious project that was for a major label release from a master who could have just stayed in his small combo comfort zone. 11. I don’t know who this but I like it a lot. Great energy and compelling solos. I want to buy this when I find out which album it is. For listening pleasure this is one of my favorite BFTs. The compiler and I are on the same wavelength musically!

You have August

Pricing on ebay has no logic. Sellers will post any high price without any logical or factual basis. The ridicule of the Steve Hoffman Forum is inaccurate. There are a great many low priced jazz LPs and CDs for sale on Steve Hoffman right now. I often buy jazz CDs for $2 or $3 on Steve Hoffman. Not true. The Hoffman Forum has a great many jazz CDs for sale from $2 to $5. I buy there often. Not true. There is no interest in these albums on Steve Hoffman. There are hundreds of jazz CDs for sale from $2 to $5 on Steve Hoffman right now. I often get great bargains there. Any stereotypical thoughts about the Steve Hoffman Forum are no longer true.

You two have April and May. Thanks!

Ken, you have February, and Jim, you have March.

Yes.

That is great. You have June.

Ok, Dan Gould has January, mjzee has October, Felser has December and we will see where JSngry fits in.

We have not scheduled any Blindfold Tests in 2021 yet, so I will open it up for volunteers. Please tell us the month in which you would like to present a Blindfold Test. If you have thought about presenting a Blindfold Test but have never done it, and would like to try, I will help you with the programming aspects and Thom Keith will help by taking your collection of music and converting it to a form which all can use. We will help to make it easier for you. Here is the schedule: January Dan Gould February Ken Dryden March JSngry April randyhersom May Dmitry June Dub Modal July Thom Keith August Milestones September Pim October mjzee November miles65 December Felser

That is a surprising Reveal. I would not have guessed those musicians for Track 1, which seemed more smooth jazz like to me. I have never owned the Jack Walrath album from which Track 12 comes, but I need to get it, as I love Track 12. On Track 4, I am not surprised that Willie Nelson is playing guitar. I have seen Willie live several times and his guitar playing has been surprisingly excellent, and more edgy than one would expect. On Track 6, I really thought it was Ben Webster playing. I am not familiar with the albums from which Tracks 5, 7, 8. 10, 11, 12. 14 and 15 come from, and I am going to start looking for all of them. Track 16 was so obvious that I overthought it and imagined that it must be more of a curveball than it was. Great BFT! Between my listening enjoyment and learning about so many intriguing albums, I think this is one of the best BFTs in a long time.

Record store? What’s that?

Here are my reactions to this BFT. I have not read any of the comments by others. Track 1: This is a pleasant, spritely opener. I do not find it especially memorable, but it is pleasant. No idea who it is. Track 2: The vocalist is very appealing. I do not know who it is. I want to know. Track 3: I really do not know who this is, or even what instruments they are playing. They may be famous musicians. I am not familiar with this at all. Track 4: This sounds like Pablo recording artists of the 1970s combining with country music players who are quite good. I like this quite a lot. I look forward to finding out who is playing so well on it. That is a Charlie Parker song. Track 5: All the Things You Are. The guitarist is very strong. I am sure that I have never heard this before. Track 6: This is really interesting. I hear Ben Webster, and either Juan Tizol or someone trying to play like him. The pianist is not Duke Ellington. It is like an Ellington small group session without the Duke. Very intriguing. I would buy the album that this came from. Track 7: This really cooks. Whenever i hear a baritone saxophonist with that much in the way of chops, and a soulful sound, I think of Ronnie Cuber. This is really good. I like this track a lot Track 8: This sounds like Chico Hamilton, but sounds like it was recorded much later than the Chico Hamilton small group recordings. Maybe a tribute to Chico Hamilton? Track 9: A beautiful tenor sax ballad. I can't identify who it is, but I really like it. Track 10: That is Randy Weston. I did not know that he recorded a tenor sax/piano duet. I thought I had heard just about all of Weston's albums. Is that Billy Harper? I know that he recorded with Weston. Track 11: Someone trying to play like McCoy Tyner, but it is clearly not McCoy. Very good technique by the pianist. The bassist is excellent, a lot of chops and a lot of feeling. These are two masterful musicians. I can't guess who they are. The bassist has to be in the upper echelon of bassists historically. Track 12: I love this. This is my favorite track on the Blindfold Test so far. Very exciting, fun, and a lot of substance. I need to buy this album. Track 13: This is Miles Davis from the "On the Corner" box set. I like that box set a lot. I think that the previously unreleased material is very interesting and strong. This is in the middle of the pack in terms of quality of the previously unreleased material. Thanks for including this. It sounds good on a Blindfold Test. Track 14: I have no idea what this is, but I like it a lot. Very tasteful use of strings. The bass player has a lot of soul. He is a master. Track 15: Frantic. To me, it never lights in a good place. I can listen to just about any avant garde jazz and I found this track a little irritating, which is really rare for me. The trumpet player is a master. Track 16: This is weird. At first I thought it was Paul Desmond, but as the track goes on I am not sure about that. The saxophonist was really good at imitating Paul Desmond at first, before settling into their own style. That sounds a lot like Jimmy Garrison to me on bass. That could be Elvin Jones playing in a restrained way, for him. I do not know who the guitarist is. This is very appealing and I can't wait to find out who this is! Thanks for an enjoyable, and intriguing, Blindfold Test!

For the Blindfold Tests, we have deliberately tried not to have any rules or regulations as to what the presenter may include in their Blindfold Test. It really is up to the preference of the presenter. Who can tell what will appeal to the Blindfold Test listener? It seems to vary widely.

I have no preference either way.

I have one heir, a daughter who likes literally nothing in my music collection. I have told her, “don’t take it all to the dump. There are some valuable things in there. Sell it for the highest price you can get.” I have no idea what she will do with it.

Joe. You have put together a very interesting Blindfold Test of all music which is unfamiliar to me. I need to listen some more before commenting.

That is very nice of you, Allen.

For many years the Music Exchange was one of the nation’s truly greet music stores, with a huge and deep jazz selection. Bill “Stretch” Osment was a big part of that. He worked for many years at the Music Exchsnge as a friendly, warm, helpful and extremely knowledgeable friend to all who entered. He was always very kind to my autistic son, which meant a lot to us over the years. I learned a lot about jazz from him. Bill is in trouble. He has a serious lung disease and the Ciry has evicted he and his wife from their home. They are now living in motels and nearly out of funds. I shudder to think what could happen to his large, unique music collection in this situation. That may be the least of their troubles but it comes to my mind. Bill is a truly good person, and a fundraiser has been set up to help him. I will post the link in case any of you feel moved to help a member of the international jazz community who needs a helping hand right now, very much. By the way, Ron Rooks, owner of the Music Exchange, passed away many years ago. His widow has made the largest donation so far. https://www.gofundme.com/f/get-bill-quotstretchquot-osment-amp-angie-back-home?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet.

i think that his soloing on Sun Ra's Cosmos album is very strong. My favorite Gilmore soloing from that album is on "Jazz From an Unknown Planet." I also think that his soloing on tenor saxophone and clarinet on the 2 LP live album Unity is uniformly excellent. I think that his soloing is outstanding on the 1950s live tracks from Budland in Chicago on The Eternal Myth Revealed Vol. 1

Which albums are 1, 3, 8 and 9 on?

I asked some university music archives and librarian friends about your situation. They made the point that when the COVID-19 shutdown ends, it should be much easier to find a place for your collection. The online and verbal discussions in their industry now center on how they are not taking in nearly as many collections right now, because of budget cuts due to COVID-19, and because of either practical or institution-mandated concerns about the COVID-19 risks involved with meeting someone and looking through their collection at their home or storage space. They told me that once the pandemic is much less a part of daily life, they anticipate acquiring many collections.

Have you contacted the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, headed by Chuck Haddix? They would love the historical nature of your collection and take good care of it. Mel Lewis’ widow gave them everything of Mel’s, for example, among many other collections which they have absorbed and lovingly make available for researchers https://library.umkc.edu/marr/about

I am buying CDs, more than ever.

Track 7. That is Joe Henderson. I have a box set, The Milestone Years, and this is on it. I don’t remember the musicians. I love the electric piano sound here. Track 8. The tenor saxophone player has absorbed all of John Coltrane and come out the other side with his own style. I like this a lot. I don’t know who it is but want to know! The song is “in Your Own Sweet Way.” Track 9. That is obviously Bill Frisell, from one of his earlier albums I think. I used to buy each of his albums as they came out but somewhere along the line I stopped. I am pretty sure I have this one. This is a beautiful performance, really compelling, both as to Bill’s sound and his ideas. Track 10. I really like the bass which begins this track. I have no idea who this is but it is really good. The tenor saxophonist is excellent. I am looking forward to the Reveal. Track 11. And now for something different. I like the composition, the arrangement, the performance. I want to buy this, when I learn what it is. There is a joy to this recording which appeals to me. Track 12. I have this and know it. It is George Garzone from his Moodiology album. I saw Joe Lovano live around 2000 with Steve Slagle and George Garzone in the band. I was so impressed with Slagle and Garzone that for a few years I bought several albums by both of them, including this one. Excellent! i really enjoyed this Blindfold Test. Thanks for putting it together for us!