DrJ

Interesting discussion. My thing with Frankie Laine is trying to get past this stuff, which I heard as a young kid via my parents' record collection: I still remember many of the lyrics, whole verses taking up perfectly good space in my gray matter where something important might otherwise live. Like, say, "Wanted Man": Bullet in my shoulder Blood, runnin' down my vest 20 in the posse And they're never gonna let me rest 'Til I became a wanted man I never even owned a gun But now they hunt me like a mountain cat And I'm always on the run. 🤠 The earlier work posted in this discussion is certainly miles better - but I had to forcefully push away a strong reaction to get to the point of giving it a fair hearing - sometimes those kinds of associations can almost ruin a thing for a man! Keeping an open mind and with 50+ years distance, I have to say that earlier material in this discussion, at least some of it, yeah - pretty good! "Wonderful, Wasn't It" - hmmm, I like that one quite a lot. He sounds (to me) rather Nat Cole-ish on that one, the phrasing and yes "the bounce" - and even the voice quality in places - much rougher/rawer but it's in there - I haven't yet read the whole discussion, was Cole an acknowledged influence? Or maybe Charles Brown?

This was my favorite in the BFT, thanks for posting on it! After the discussion in the active BFT thread pretty much revealed who it was, I ordered the hybrid SACD that Analogue Productions released of this title some years back, been enjoying it since. Great music in excellent sound. I also really enjoyed this one! And in fact was chagrined to find that I already had it - as part of this Fantasy/Prestige twofer CD release Can't Help Swingin' that also includes the album of the same name which is also from 1961 - a quartet, with Flanagan again on piano and Marshall again on bass but Earl Williams on drums.

That's great, glad you enjoyed it! Would love to hear your thoughts after you have a chance to absorb the whole disc.

Sorry for being late to the party (again), here is the reveal of my track: "Momentum," which has Dorian Devins lyrics set to Wayne Shorter's tune "Deluge" from his Juju album as @JSngry and then a couple others also astutely picked up. The track appears on this fabulous album: Dorian Devins - The Procrastinator (self-produced CD, with liner notes by Jack Walrath). The players: Richie Vitale trumpet and flugehorn, Peter Brainin tenor and soprano sax, Lou Rainone on piano (and I might add, killing it throughout!), Karl Kaminski bass, and Steve Johns drums. None of these guys are well known, at least they weren't to me - but they play really well, and together. Great line up of tunes here including the Shorter piece but also three by Lee Morgan (the title track, Lament for Stacy, and Soft Touch), one by Dorham (La Mesha), one by Al Cohn (Night Bird), plus Let's Get Lost, I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry, Better Than Anything, Dreamer, and Time Was. One of my favorite vocal jazz albums of recent eras, and my wife also loves it - often played around here! Nice review and full track listing here: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-procrastinator-dorian-devins-self-produced-review-by-c-michael-bailey

Thanks for the kind words and for the nice re-welcomes, everyone. Yes, I wish I had more time to do...well, everything, come to think of it! But I am definitely enjoying this, if nothing else I think I need to get back in the BFT game as a regular thing. I'm learning a ton and getting clued in to some great music here.

Regarding my track: @Dan Gould - not Eddie Jefferson lyrics, rather the singer wrote them. And not Cliff Jordan on soprano. This is more contemporary/recent. The composer of the music for this piece - originally an instrumental from a classic jazz album led by a rather famous gent you will be able to identify from the comment @JSngry made - was apparently taken enough by the words she wrote to give her a co-writing credit, they likely resonated with his rather philosophical bent. @mjzee - Interesting reaction you had there, but this is definitely not a man-hating track, and the words are not about relationships at all in fact. May want to take another listen to the lyrics, which are universally applicable at the individual level. @felser - glad you enjoyed it, and yeah, the piano, dang - I've come to love this whole album over the past couple of years, and everyone's contributions, but the piano is really great, and not a well known player. The liner notes for this disc were written by Jack Waltrath (who is not on the recording himself), and he too calls out the pianist as someone who he'd never heard of but who turned his head with his playing throughout.

Alrighty: @Dan Gould - Starting off I wanted to love this, it had promise out of the gate, and I like larger ensembles, but it didn't deliver for me and felt sort of aimlessly funky. The electric bass is something I often enjoy in jazz, but not here, didn't like the sound the player gets. Trumpet solo now, and going nowhere fast. Sounding a bit TV soundtrack-y. Piano solo, again, just not taking me someplace - riffs, not ideas. No idea who any of the musicians are. AFTER: I see Pete Christlieb is the tenor, and he's a player I often enjoy but here even he sounds a bit generic. less aggressive than usual. All in all, I kept wanting something to sound less predictable, more edgy. But I admit it might be more of a grower, not ready to dismiss it just yet. @JSngry - "Lullaby of the Leaves" - such a great tune. And I'm loving this rendition, definitely one of my favorite 2-3 tracks on this BFT. Tenor sounded right away like Buddy Tate, and then the trumpet with the focus on middle register early on and the growl in the sound made me think of Ruby Braff, though I ended up doubting myself on that when he started flying high. So I'm not 100% sure, but I'm guessing perhaps this album from 1967 with Tate and Braff: https://www.discogs.com/release/8411075-Ruby-Braff-Buddy-Tate-With-The-Newport-All-Stars . The rhythm section, yes, great stuff - I was thinking Jo Jones on drums but if my guess on the album is right, clearly not. @felser - Sounded South African out of the gate, then settled into that very Coltrane/Tyner vibe. A quick word of praise for the bassist - nice movement underneath, punching to the fore at just the right moments! Man that reverb on the recording though, yikes. Must be late 1960s/early 1970s. Pianist soloing now, and he's wearing Tyner’s dirty drawers - to the point of slavish imitation, wow. Things start to get a lot better with the tasty trombone solo and the even better tenor solo. Bennie Maupin? This was the most frustrating track, I felt like I knew it, that I have heard it plenty times before but couldn't place it. AFTER: Ah, I see now, Billy Harper, Sir Galahad, that makes sense, dang! I didn't realize until this BFT how much George Cables was in thrall to Tyner early on! Great track overall, from a classic album. @mjzee - No real idea who this is, but seems clearly to be coming out of the Basie with Pres bag - so perhaps the Vice Pres, Paul Quinichette? I liked it quite a lot, regardless, eager for the reveal on this one. @medjuck - Alto sax, I think. Fathead Newman or Hank Crawford or someone like that? Like the piano a lot, star of this show. Well recorded session. The tune ultimately didn’t knock me out, felt a bit pop jazzy, neither fish nor fowl. @tkeith - I like the trombone/violin (I think? Or viola?) combo, very nice complimentary sounds- and now I wonder why that combo isn't used more in jazz. However, that's the only love I could find for this one. The piece grated very quickly. My wife said "make it stop," so I did. @Joe - Absolutely loved this. Sax was a little reedy for my taste but good ideas - I kept wanting to say Lockjaw but I know it wasn't. Trombone - sounded like an Ellingtonian, but I'm not sure which one. Trumpet absolutely has to be Clark Terry, that signature sound - so that too strengthens the Ellington linkage idea. When the piano comes to fore, it's immediately clear this was a classic era Rudy Van Gelder recording, I'd bet the farm on that, but that's hardly going to help me with identifying the album. Clarinet - nice sound - and I’m thinking Ellingtonian again. Not sure who though. The track did peter out a bit near the end, went on a little longer than it needed to. Hard to say who the leader was, sounds like a loose one-off. But I'll be looking for this one once the reveal happens, overall very enjoyable. @mikeweil - "A Night in Tunisia" of course. I'll say up front this woman can really sing, but also that her approach just doesn't do much for me, very straight and a bit on the nose. So I didn't really dig this for about the first half, and then midway it took flight when the piano solo hit. Wow - incredible facility on the instrument. Overall this seemed clearly to be someone coming from "Latin" music interpreting jazz rather than the other way around, which is totally fine by me, but again the singer as gifted as she is wasn't to my taste at least on first exposure. @Ken Dryden - "Just a Sittin' and a Rockin'" - tenor sax and pipe organ duo, done rather straight. Okee dokee. Not a lot more to say, that's probably too much already! I could see this one growing on me, though, and the expansive sound of the organ is really well-captured. Well this was fun, nice to return to the BFT, and I appreciate all the interesting choices!

I'd like this one if it's still available - PM sent.

I haven't posted here in a long time but after receiving the standard CD in the mail from Amazon and doing some listening over the past couple of days, just wanted to say JOB WELL DONE! I'm loving this. Beyond the super-cool takes on the Patton tunes and the nice original, it was a very inspired choice to cover Paul's recent masterpiece ballad "My Valentine." You pro musician types just amaze me, the way you can pull off a ballad like this one, done at such a slow tempo, without having the whole damn thing just fall apart. Smoldering and wonderful. Big John's been my favorite of the classic era organists for a long time, and to have him saluted in such fine fashion is like a wonderful late Christmas present. Now I probably gotta take the plunge for the DVD to get the extra tracks!

Sadly I suspect you're right. I've very bummed about this - never even knew the box existed until it was already sold out, and I'm a huge Hall fan. One of the high points of my life was seeing him live (trio) at the Vanguard in NYC a few years back. For what it's worth, I just sent an e-mail message to Mosaic Records, suggesting that maybe they could issue this material as a Select or some other set (coolest to me would be a set including the original recordings issued on the 1975 LIVE album along with the 3 CDs of new material - with state of the art mastering by Malcolm Addey or Kevin Gray or someone like that - but I'd settle for just the previously unreleased stuff!). Now that Hall is gone in particular I would think it's not out of the question that Mosaic would potentially have interest in something like this - something to honor his legacy (true there was the Desmond/Hall set they issued previously but that was a LONG time ago). I can't think of any better Hall recordings for Mosaic to consider issuing - the original LIVE album is desert island material and from all I've read by people who've heard the new box, it sounds like the rest of the recordings are just as fine. I would think it should (?) be relatively simple for Mosaic to contact the folks in charge of Hall's estate to talk licensing for the previously unissued stuff, at least - in some ways it would likely be easier than dealing with a label. Anyway I post this here because I figure maybe if other people send Mosaic the same suggestion, there'll be some momentum built. I never knew about this box set. Does anyone know of a place where I can get a copy? I got turned onto the Electra/Musician "Live!" LP years ago and I'd love to get this completed concert. I'm in the same boat as you Kevin - never even knew it existed until it was long gone. (BTW the LIVE album was on A&M/Horizon, not Elektra/Musician). Ah well - meantime tonight I've been revisiting the LIVE album on the original A&M/Horizon vinyl. What a remarkable recording.

I'm listening to my copy right now, preordered from Amazon and they came through quickly. Only into the first lengthy track so far, "There Will Never Be Another You," and I am DIGGIN' this...wow - MUCH better sound quality than I anticipated, and the improvising is TOP FLIGHT on this track. Grant Green just finished his relaxed, swinging solo - which he built and executed like a master, even at this early point in this career. Bob Graf will turn out to be something of a revelation, if he's this good throughout. Excellent liner notes by Bob Blumenthal (who many probably know grew up in St. Louis - I went to med school there, so it's a lot of fun to mentally picture the area he's talking about where the club was, been there many times), with some great rare photos. Very, VERY happy so far! Suspect there will be a lot of smiling faces around here when copies arrive.

Yes indeed, and I quickly acted on that message - I've been running way behind the Nessa juggernaut, panting (and drooling), and this gave me a good excuse to catch up! Picked up BEFORE THERE WAS SOUND, Charles Tyler, Bradford and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Eddie Johnson, THE MISSING LINK, Vonski SERENADE AND BLUES...yeah I spent too much but hey, it's only money and think of how much I "saved"...

This one I just picked up last weekend. I really like it - I mean the recording itself is a bit wonky (kind of murky with the rubbery bass noted prevously), but musically, it's excellent. A nice companion to the Hutcherson/Land collaborations on Blue Note. And here's an old favorite I've enjoyed for years: The Japanese concert (2 CDs) has been issued also by Columbia/Legacy and by Mobile Fidelity. I have both and while the Mobile Fidelity is a little more warmly mastered and my preferred version, both are quite nice (and unfortunately hard to find); here's what the cover art looks like for these:

Rather than start I new thread I dredged up this older one dealing with McRae's music...count me as an unequivocal fan. I love the older stuff but I tend to gravitate more toward her later recordings. I agree with Larry that on an off/tired day the mannerisms could fully overtake the music, but when she was on, wow - a true original. The Sarah tribute is one of my favorites for sure. In fact I first heard McRae via the song "Sarah" from this tribute, which was included on an RCA/Novus sampler disc (included with some jazz magazine as I recall, maybe Jazziz) and flipped - and the rest is history. Anyway main reason for posting is to put in a good word for another later period McRae CD - ANY OLD TIME (Denon). Recorded in 1986, this is just stellar. While some old chestnuts are covered, there are also a few unpredictable choices in the track listing ("Tulip or Turnip" as the opener, anyone? How many people even know or cover this little gem, let alone lead off with it?), and she's in top vocal form. The band includes Clifford Jordan, captured firmly in the middle of a purple patch (think of the work he did on Art Farmer's BLAME IT ON MY YOUTH (Contemporary), recorded around this same time, and you'll know what I mean) and the under-heralded John Collins on guitar (that's another reason I'm fond of McRae - lots of love for guitarists!). I'd put this one up with SARAH, her Monk tribute, and SINGS THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK as my absolute favorites in her catalog. Pity it's so little known - I'm a big McRae fan and I'd never even heard of it until stumbling across a listing on eBay while searching for a different recording. Well worth a listen.

Yeah to my chagrin I similarly realized this past weekend that I actually owned the Dick Griffin track, as part of the Konnex release I mentioned earlier, THE EIGHTH WONDER AND MORE ("Now Is The Time" and several other tracks from the same album appear at the end of it as bonus tracks - I'd never gotten around to listening to them!). Yesterday I got the Buck Hill and Ahmed Abdul-Malik discs in the mail - both are fantastic. The more I listen the more I feel like "Little Bossa" should become a jazz/bossa nova "standard" - it's so simple yet lovely, up there with stuff like Jobim's "One Note Samba." People need to start covering this one! And I even had this album at one time....

Ah so it's Dennis Charles on the 2nd track, the Jazz Doctors' take on "Lonely Woman," not Ed Blackwell as I'd thrown out. Charles' playing is huge on that track. Interesting to read your comments on McHenry. You mention his ability to do a Warne Marsh imitation - I heard the Konitz/Marsh sound on "Melancholy Baby" for sure, at the start of the track, before he moves into what I'm guessing is more his own voice. Anyway fantastic BFT - thanks Thom for exposing me to some great musicians and music that I've been sleeping on. As I mentioned in my guesses (none of the artists nailed as it turns out!) several of these are immediate buys. I just ordered the recent vinyl reissue of the Noah Howard LP, available at the Jazz Loft among other places - very excited about this. Also ordered some of the others - Buck Hill, Billy Mitchell, Great Jazz Trio and Ahmed Abdul-Malik (that calypso really kept growing on me). For folks seeking the latter, be aware the entire recording was issued as part of this Prestige two-fer CD (bundling it with SOUNDS OF AFRICA):

I'm in, download fine

So now I'm trying to figure out track 1...it's driving me crazy. Thom mentions it was recorded at least a year before the earliest recording by Newk. I believe the earliest recording of "Don't Stop the Carnival" by Newk was in 1962 (for RCA - done around the time of the sessions for THE BRIDGE but for some reason only released initially on the European version of the LP - and later included in the Complete Rollins on RCA boxed set). So then I surmise this BFT track would have to have been recorded somewhere around 1960-61. But, I can't for the life of me figure out who it might be, after doing a ton of Google searching. I am though starting to wonder about whether this could be done by Carribean musicians - perhaps someone like Harold McNair, the Jamaican saxophonist who apparently recorded a calypso-jazz hybrid album (BAHAMA BASH) around 1960 (and whose later playing has often been said to be influenced by Rollins'). But, that's a total guess as I've never heard his calypso-jazz album. Another possibility could be Joe Harriott although what little I've heard by him was more edgy/avant garde than this track. Thom am I circling in on the right time period at least? Or perhaps were you in your post referring to Rollins' more well-known "initial" recording of this track in the 1970s?

Re: Track 7 - which I dug from the first and find I am enjoying ever more - based on the instrumentation and the tip off earlier in the Discussion that the drummer is Paul Motian, I think it must be from this 2009 radio broadcast: http://m.npr.org/story/105122558 because I can't seem to find the track on any CD or LP on Google. Wonderful stuff - this definitely deserves a commercial release - and a great new discovery for me as I know nothing about the leader or the other two front line guys.

OK here I go - and I'll start by apologizing for chiming in so late...we went on our end of summer family vacation right as the Discussion was hitting its stride, and just got back a few days ago. I haven't (obviously you'll see as you read) looked at anyone's responses - I got my butt kicked in terms of positively identifying any of these tracks or artists, but never has having said butt kicked been so much fun. Track 1 – A calypso – which normally, to be frank, I don’t much care for (most I find rather tedious and annoying rather than joyful - go figure), but this is sort of cool. Cello (I think), tenor sax, trumpet (the sort of plain, almost fragile tone reminds me of Blue Mitchell – but I doubt it’s Blue), bass (possibly the cello player doubling?)...even some clarinet in the opening and closing ensembles. Tenor player has a big sound, a la Johnny Griffin or even Mr. Rollins (but again doubt either of them). No real idea who it is, but I dig it OK, though not as much as many of the other tracks (read on). Track 2 – Ornette’s “Lonely Woman,” but by whom? String instruments again – maybe a BFT 101 theme emerging – cello and violin (or maybe viola) I think, plus tenor. The drummer is very cool – I heard echoes of Ed Blackwell (the mallets) in the drummer – don’t know who he/she actually is - maybe Blackwell is a possibility given the Ornette connection - but regardless I thought they pretty much stole the show. Busy without being fussy, perfectly sympathetic. While I like the opening and closing melody statements by the strings and tenor lot, for me pretty much all of the solos go on too long – the tenor and violin (or viola) start really strong and then sort of fizzle out into repetitive and not very compelling ideas – and for me the cello solo never really gets going. I think a great example of how sometimes modern improvised music could benefit from better self-editing/more concision – sometimes less is a lot more. Overall though I liked the energy and feel of the piece and I'd be interested to hear the whole recording this came from. Track 3 – Wow, a tuba, and more strings – definitely has to be a theme here - unusual instruments to hear in modern jazz (or strings in jazz). (NOTE: then as I went further down the track list that theme possibility vaporized…never mind!). I found on this one the sum was greater than the parts – I couldn’t really put it all together, all kinds of (quite) interesting bits all over but it didn’t come together for me as a complete entity. I suspect that could change with multiple listens though, probably the logic would emerge over time. Definitely intriguing, not run of the mill, and worth returning to in that regard. Track 4 – Recording quality may have let this one down a bit – pretty melody, gently swung, but hard to hear a lot of the instruments well (piano especially sounded like it was in a different room). Tenor has some interesting ideas but a rather braying kind of sound, not to my taste. Overall this just didn’t leave much of an impression on any level. Track 5 - Absolutely beautiful piano trio piece - melodic and lilting but without being mushy, had an edge to it. Excellent bass and drum solos as well. Pianist has a very urbane approach, a refined touch. I have no idea who it is but this is an immediate buy once I find out. Also will be keen to find out who wrote this lovely little ditty. I’ve been humming it for days. Track 6 - Also LOVED this one - at first when the vocals entered I was a little jarred (and bummed) - and I still find the vocals pretty much completely superfluous here - but the piece is very appealing (it sounds vaguely familiar but I don't know if I've actually ever heard it) - the melody sings already, no lyrics needed. Loved every one of the solos - tenor huge toned, interesting ideas, trumpet big and open and warm and creative. Is this Nancie Banks and her orchestra? It’s on the same high level as her stuff. Regardless, this was fantastic. Another immediate buy. Track 7 - This was fascinating. It's an old standard but I can't for the life of me place which one (NOTE: ah, yes, after reading the Discussion to this point now I see, "My Melancholy Baby," of course). The tenor player especially early in the solo sounds like someone with a healthy respect for and understanding of Lee Konitz - was wondering in fact if it was Lee on tenor for a while, but then I definitely didn’t think so as it evolved - too muscular a sound and then later in the solo the ideas didn't sound nearly as much like Lee. Really no idea who the trumpeter was (nice medium toned sound), or the alto (a little reedy/thin for my taste but nice). I’d buy this one for sure, three tracks in a row that REALLY hit for me. Track 8 – I like the composition a lot. I think this could be Horace Tapscott with one of his collectives – or someone duly influenced - but I’m just not sure. Scorching hot playing by all concerned, including the pianist – again Tapscott keeps coming to mind. The bass solo near the end was just wonderful – not only the playing, but the way it comes as something of a surprise, and helped cool things down before the recapitulation of the theme. I would buy this as well. Four great ones in a row now, I’m happy as a pig in… Track 9 – I feel like I should know this tune – probably an old chestnut but I can’t place it. I liked this fine, though it felt almost casually tossed off and a little strident in places – don’t really feel like I need to hear it again. Track 10 – I VERY much liked this piece, it sticks in the head and has that “so simple it’s profound” thing that a lot of Monk’s compositions have (though without the angularity). The tenor has a wonderful tone and really swings hard, sustaining interest over the course of a quite long solo. The piano is great too, hot and lyrical simultaneously…I’ll throw out a (desperate) guess and say it might be James Williams, but really don’t have any idea who it is. Well anyway this is yet another one for my shopping list, once I get a clue as to who it is (none at the present – I’m gonna learn a LOT on this reveal). Track 11 – This BFT is looking like a complete strikeout for me in terms of knowing any of the tracks or artists with certainty…but, clueless as I continued to be, I really enjoyed this, nice gritty bop. Tenor player reminded me of Von Freeman, the odd tone and quirky phrasing and strange combination of old and new ways he embodies, but I say what without any certainty at all. If it did happen to be Freeman on tenor maybe a Chicago guy on piano who goes back just as far, say John Young? Track 12 - A nice, unexpected way to end BFT 101. And again, no idea who it was, though it sounds like early Earth, Wind and Fire fused with a smoking jazz soprano solo and (if my ears don’t deceive me) some South African rhythmic undertones. I am striking out so badly with identifying performances and artists that I couldn’t even find this one out by Googling the lyrics, for goodness sake. I’m not sure if this piece would wear well for me over time but I'm digging it for now - it was a great cherry on a very rich, rewarding sundae. (NOTE: after finishing my comments and then reading others' comments in the Discussion, including the ID for this one, I am mightily surprised - I have only one Griffin recording, THE EIGHTH WONDER AND MORE on the Konnex label, and it sounds NOTHING like this...and wow, Clifford Jordan on soprano - no wonder I dug the solo so much!). Going to read others' comments here now (UPDATE: just did, and at least I now see others are also struggling with identifying most of the tracks). Very much looking forward to the reveal on this one, time to be SERIOUSLY schooled. Thanks for a killer BFT, Thom, this one will expand my horizons.

Happy to help if needed

Two things: 1) The BFT 100 reveal thread is now up and running so no need any longer to defer starting the discussion for BFT 101, Thom (but thanks)! 2) Count me in for BFT 101 - download is fine

Unfortunately my knowledge of the Boswells begins and ends with the Berigan Mosaic set! Sort of a shame based on the music in the box. I'll be watching with interest to see if anyone else has suggestions. You're welcome!

Sorry for the delay, folks. The REVEAL thread is now up and running: BFT 100 reveal thread