JSngry

Chris' company seems to have been doing well: https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2020/04/13/phoenix-right-of-way-landscape-firm-ready-to.html Wonder how the pandemic has affected their supply chain for both labor and materials?

Golson & JJ Johnson both left active performing to get into film/TV scoring. Their "jazz profile" followed suit as a result. Compare that to Oliver Nelson, who made the same move, but kept on making records, a lot of records. A good question would be why neither Golson nor JJ got called for the more commercial recording gigs for singers that Nelson did, the ones where he could (and did) crank out quality-sounding arrangements using all too predictable materials, like, just assemble a chart by combining one from Column A, , etc.

Here's the latest I can find on Chris, from November of 2020: https://www.montagepartners.com/united-right-of-way-awarded-best-of-the-best-safety-award/

Welcome back! Again!

Still, great story, if possibly apocryphal... I mean it doesn't have to be Frank Foster, it doesn't have to be a young tenor player, it doesn't have to be on the Jazzmobile in Harlem...it could be anybody anywhere at any time. It's variant on the Jo Jones throwing the cymbal at Bird story, only that one seems to be true, probably. The whole "avant-garde" movement it was that started in the "early fifties" that was "so eager" to no longer play changes thing...if I was a police investigator, that one would get me on the case right away. Who the fuck is he talking about? He's not a confused man, but he is a pseudo-educated man, at least when it comes to the music he pays himself to "defend".

But not if it's broken in such a way that the hands keep aimlessly moving and the cuckoo is always blabbering.

Wondering who that "young tenor player" might have been...if it was the Loud Minority band, that's one thing. But if it was a small group, why would Frank Foster hire a tenor player? Also wondering what "avant-garde" movement it was that started in the "early fifties" that was "so eager" to no longer play changes? Who was that, exactly? Sorry, but a great story and a true story are not the same thing, so....forensics, ok?

I would really like to see what Caroline Shaw is going to bring, but...the Covid thing is still unpredictable enough for me that I don't want to put out that much cash this far in advance.

What a great story! What an odd book, it looks like?

No, he was not. Actually, there's only been one that I know of - Paul Secor. And hey kinda took his own car on that one.

It is no secret what god can do. Having said that...there are different ways to record, and any way can sound good as long as people know what they're doing with the source material and what the endgame is. But I rate live soundcrew at the lowest of the bunch, their only goal (usually, not always, gotta be fair here), is to create a Pavlovian bypass of rationality for any audience in any space. Post RVG recording...some are fine by me, some are just rude and inconsiderate, period. Plus, you know, it's digital now, you can actually get a clean sound, which I file under Be Careful What You Ask For.

Yes, this weekend. TRACK ONE - I suppose it's a fair question to ask why so few (non?) America ttenor players adapted any elements of Archie Shepp's playing. As this cut shows, ther's things there to be used without being imitative. No idea who this is, but they hit it hard, if a little bit retro-y by the time it's over. Then again, minimalism/vamp/repetivie structures are still au-courant. No matter, they're doing with with conviction that is up front. I hope they make a lot of money at change the world! TRACK TWO - Does anybody think of Brubeck when they compose stuff like this? It's like a Brubeck concept stretched out to a place where maybe there's intersections with other idea, so maybe its those other ideas that they're thinking about, not Brubeck. But the Venn Diagram tells you, you don't tell the Venn Diagram. I like this well enough even if it's not particularly revelatory. TRACK THREE - Middle 70s, crisp as a fresh batch of chips with the oil still hot. I like this a lot After more than a few listens, I can place that tone to some Sonny Fortune records, so...Charles Sullivan, rihgt? That guy could play, pretty broad skill set, and developed well. One hopes that as we speak he is living long and prospering. TRACK FOUR - That's the Kloss/Booker thing. Don Schlitten put together some great records. Kloss was still young then, not at all fully developed, but when presented with this group of giants, he did not flounder. Everybody else did what they came to do, as they always did. I think it's safe to say that any Don Schlitted Prestige record with even on of these participants (even young Eric Kloss) is goin to bring and hold interest. TRACK FIVE - Not for me, sorry. I don't really like Bill Evans doing this, much less anybody else doing it, not Chick Corea, not anybody. Those changes go everywhere yet lead nowhere, not unlike an Elton John song. TRACK SIX - Buddy Terry on Mainstream, the part of the record with Eddie Henderson. The other part has Wood Shaw. TOTALLY derivative, but...if you knew Buddy Terry's prior records, this one was a bit of a jolt. A good jolt.Glad to see Buddy Terry on a BFT, especially this record! TRACK SEVEN - Doesn't have to work, but it does. No idea who it is. TRACK EIGHT - Are these classical players? Even there "abandon" seems written. If it is, I give them a +. If this is improvised, a - But it really sounds composed all the way through, even the piano parts that allude to Cecil (Cecil plays this stuff, but FASTER!). Objectively, with no background as to inten, I am ambivalent. Details of intent would be helpful, because sometimes a "totally objective" listen is impossible, like, ok, that's a door, so what, a door to where? why is there a door THERE? I mean, sometime objectivity leads to nothing but more questions. Such is the case here. TRACK NINE - Why do I keep expecting this to break into "Boogie Woogie Waltz"? But it never does...it's one of those things that a listener needs to be all in or else don't bother. It doesn't falter, I'll say that.Right now, I'm not in the mood to be all-in, but I can tell that I could be at some other time.The only thing...that opening drone of open fourts, for the very fist note to be a #4 is really a cliche. But after that, it's all good here. Oh, it IS live, good! TRACK TEN - oh....I should know this one,,,,something from the mid-70s Woody Shaw orb...that thing...it was my 70s "Pop" music in a lot of ways, that sound, that type of melody and harmony, that was just what was in the air, normal music that nobody could not hear. Of course, the dunderheads who were buying Boston records and shit like that, well...but screw them and that, THIS is my pop music form this time.Who among us cannot sing that melody? TRACK ELEVEN - Beautiful. TRACK TWELVE - Sounds like some things I've heard the Silk Road Ensemble do, and that's a complement. But i don't think this is them (I know it's not, the instrumentation isn't theirs). I like it, a good reading of a composition. Improvisation is secondary, it's a seasoning in the overall recipe, it's not the recipe itself. Besides, not everybody needs to improvise, being able to play a part with depth/feeling/meaning is just as important as being able to improvise with those same quality. And really, in the 21st Century, a great musician should be able to do both. TRACK THIRTEEN - The REAL Kenny G. I hope thast one day he stops making the "burn" records and starts making a more modern context for himself. But as long as this is what he does, hey, it is what it is, and it is still excellent. TRACK FOURTEEN - Workman, Rivers, Priester, Aklaff, and MISTER Andrew Hill. This is a masterful record made by masters. That's all that needs to be said. Ok, not but the one thing I didn't like, and a lot that I did. Nicely done, and thank you!

Coltrane: Golson:

Golson had a pretty high profile as a player until he moved West and pursued the writing gigs. He did that for several decades and then stepped back out as as a player, with a significantly updated style. Blakey told him he needed to have his own band since he was arranging with so much detail. This the Jazztet, and they did ok. The George Russel New York record had two tenor solos on the same side, one by Coltrane, the other by Golson.

Ron Carter never played out of tune, eh?