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Milestones

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Everything posted by Milestones

  1. It seems that these good albums by or featuring Brecker are quite difficult to find.
  2. That is indeed a killer lineup! I wish there were more records like that. In looking up Randy Brecker's credits, too often he is part of an ensemble and does not get any solo spotlights. This contrasts with great sidemen like Freddie Hubbard, Grant Green, and Joe Lovano. When you see their names, you know they are (almost always) going to contribute in a big way.
  3. Any Randy Brecker fans out there? I don't see him mentioned very often. But he's been in the business a long, long time. He's got greats chops, but can also play ballads, does Latin, does jazz-rock, all kind of things. But for such a powerful player, he seems to largely prefer being in the background. He has recorded with pop singers even more than his brother. But even in so many of his jazz appearances, he's part of a big band or horn ensemble. I believe that Randy has never been on a major jazz label. I really don't know his work as a leader. But I've heard his work a good deal--whether with Horace Silver, on Don Grolnick's two Blue Note albums, in Mingus Big Band, and on two records by guitarist Jack Wilkins. Recommendations?
  4. Just saying the Grammys are strange and irrelevant and that they have no connection to my appreciation of Wayne Shorter--or anyone else in music.
  5. Ok, so a 2017 performance of a tune decades old...this for the 2022 awards.
  6. "Endangered Species"? Didn't this tune first appear in 1985?
  7. Isn't this the day for the awards? I imagine that most of us could care less. I was reading there are four BIG awards: best album, best record, best song, best new artist. A weird thing for sure. Can't a single song win the first three of these? Or maybe there are distinctions. But I know there have been cases where one artist won all the BIG FOUR in the same year. And why would best new artist be such a big deal? The history of pop music features many flash-in-the-pans: singers and groups whose first record is their whole legacy (or popularity). Let's hear it for Big Four winner Christopher Cross. Oh well, just a couple of thoughts. I don't know whose up for the awards and don't care (jazz included).
  8. Pretty unusual. Too bad San Francisco apparently had no one who played QB in college or even high school. I've certainly seen cases where a wide receiver or running back came in to throw an occasional pass. I wonder how Mahomes is going to look.
  9. This is something of an odd concept, in that I believe virtually every great album opens with a killer track. Has "Passion Dance" (The Real McCoy) been mentioned? Must have been. I nominate 'Breaking Point" by Freddie Hubbard. Also "A Night in Tunisia" by Art Blakey. But one could go on and on with this.
  10. Probably so, although I will note that in Jack Chambers' Milestones (last updated in 1998) he treats "Solar" as a Miles Davis original. But let's face it, there is a lot of "borrowing" and plagiarism in jazz--as well as in other music. Strange things abound...two measures of the tune are on Miles' tombstone, yet also it was a piece he apparently never played in concert.
  11. Ah...interesting. In any case, a popular tune.
  12. How do others regard this piece? I've always thought it was quite good, though I find only one case of Miles recording it--the original, I assume, in 1954. But is this such a great piece, one of the finest composed be Miles? It has been covered a great deal; I find at least 16 versions in my collection, with three by Keith Jarrett. It's a good tune, but is it right up there with "So What," "All Blues," and "Milestones"?
  13. RIP. Certainly a key man in rock history. Not clear to me what he contributed to The Byrds, but some essential stuff in CSN and CSN&Y (especially the early years). I haven't heard much of it, but he did some good solo work too.
  14. RIP....I liked Beck in many of his guises, starting with The Yardbirds and not forgetting a duet with John McLaughlin on "Django." Someone cracked on Rod Stewart. I find Stewart to be a strange case--I love some of his work and despise the rest. He was pretty good with Beck, most especially on their version of "People Get Ready."
  15. I first read The Grapes of Wrath in my early 20's. I thought it was good, if not as good as the impressive film version. The second time was in my early 40's, at which point I regarded it as a definite masterpiece in American literature. I still love the film, but the novel is a somewhat different beast--and it certainly features Steinbeck at the height of his multiple skills and powers.
  16. Yes, I too enjoy the combination of Monk and Milt Jackson. Of course, they did get together again with Miles Davis on Christmas Eve, 1954--what a session that was!
  17. True, but the earlier (and much better) one was only half-big band, and I personally think the tracks could have been shorter and tighter.
  18. Does anyone else feel that Monk missed opportunities by not creating larger ensembles a bit more often? I really like the septet on Monk's Music and the mid-size group (mini orchestra?) on At Town Hall. He was so resolutely about the quartet, especially in the Columbia years.
  19. "Locomotive" (Monk's) certainly seems more favored by European musicians. I wonder why that's the case.
  20. Can anyone tell me who else has recorded "Locomotive"? Monk set it down twice in the studio (a decade or so apart), and other than that I just have Frank Kimbrough's version. I always liked this tune.
  21. Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by D. G. Kelley. It was published in 2009.
  22. I hear you about saxophone and piano. The Herbie and Wayne record was critically admired, but I only like parts of it and can only take it in small doses. I feel the same way about People Time by Getz and Barron. Some individual performances are great, but in general I can only listen to sax/piano duets for a limited time.
  23. So does anyone know what's up with Herbie Hancock? I guess he has done some touring and single concerts here and there, but he seems to have vanished as far as putting out records. The last one was more than a decade ago, and about the only from the 21st Century that is reasonably noteworthy is River: The Joni Letters. The man has done plenty of great work in his time, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing what he could come up with in (very) late career.
  24. I find this to be a nice one all the way through. The title track is haunting and wonderful. Mintzer and Ferrante offer a great duet on "Winter Wonderland." The final track is an interesting blending of "In a Silent Way" and "Silent Night." Just a good album overall, and so are many Yellowjackets records; I've slept on them too long, thinking they were just a smooth jazz group.
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