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gmonahan
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Posts posted by gmonahan
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That's the period when she recorded several albums for Mainstream, and those aren't always easy to find. I liked the one she did with Jimmy Rowles for that label, and the 2-cd Live in Tokyo is pretty good if you can find it.
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On 8/6/2023 at 6:59 PM, HutchFan said:
Some recent Big T talk elsewhere on the forum prompted me to pull this set from the shelf:
Disc 1
Excellent choice!!
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On 8/6/2023 at 10:20 AM, Daniel A said:
Modernism is not often mentioned in relation to 20th century architecture in Sweden, but rather "Functionalism" (or "Funkis" in Swedish), which to me is a less extravagant and more "Nordic" offshoot.
A typical example of this is the main public library in Stockholm, designed by Gunnar Asplund and built in 1928.
The outside is the largest gun turret I've ever seen.
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I think modern architecture can be lovely. I like the National Museum of Qatar with its multiple surfaces, but I've always detested brutalist architecture. It reeks to me of late Communist buildings. The Munch museum looks interesting, the National Museum in Oslo, not so much. I like the Guggenheim in Bilbao too.
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4 hours ago, jazzbo said:
It's really good. I love his singing here, and his trombone solos are strong.
I truly love Jack's work as a sideman in the 'twenties through the 'forties. I like the Big Band material but don't listen to it often, but the Verve and Roulette at the end of his life are really wonderful.
As are the Capitols just before. It's hard to find "bad" recordings by the master.
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14 hours ago, sidewinder said:
Different shelves and type, alas !
For the first time, I think I am now pretty well up to date with Mosaic releases. Spent half of my life catching up !
I can relate--a rather expensive process, too.
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On 7/21/2023 at 9:05 PM, Brad said:
The Criterion Channel is showing at no cost Jon Else’s 1981 documentary, The Day After Trinity, about Oppenheimer. Highly recommended.
You can also find it on YouTube.
Excellent doc. I used to show it in my college classes years ago.
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I seem to remember talk a while back that they were going to do a Lee Morgan 60s Blue Note set. Many have all that material, though I am not one and would actually be interested in such a set.
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It's a very, very good movie.
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16 minutes ago, AllenLowe said:
I just want to mention - and maybe somebody else has - that Louis Armstrong was mentioned in only a passing way on the first page of this thread - and he INVENTED jazIz singing. I exaggerate not. The whole concept, phrasing, time, treatment of lyrics, comes from Armstrong.
And I should mention that early Bing is to my ears a great jazz singer, though I think in later years he compromised his style to hit the mainstream.
Also, no one has mentioned Al Bernard, of New Orleans, who had it all - time, phrasing. And Marion Harris, who many early listeners mistook for black. She was wonderful, had a terrific, firm approach that swung.
Well, yeah, Satch was THE jazz singer! Don't know about Bing. I'd have to listen again to the early things.
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2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:
If we are talking about jazz singers of the Great American Songbook and similar, I think we would have to define improvisation in this context. A singer's main job when singing this kind of jazz is to deliver the melody and lyric and in a compelling fashion. This will include a singing with a sense of swing, interesting phrasing, tasteful melodic embellishment, and responding to the instrumental setting. All of these collectively add up to what I would consider improvisation, but not necessarily at the level of improvisation that you typically hear from an instrumental soloist. In my opinion, this is not the singer's job in this context. Some singers can do it - Ella, for example - but there are probably a dozen reasons why I consider her to be a jazz singer aside from her ability to scat, the latter of which barely factors into my assessments of jazz singing.
Now if we are looking at jazz singers outside the realm of standards, such as Leon Thomas or Ursula Dudziak, my criteria would be very different.
I take your point. I guess I differentiate between what I'd call a jazz singer and a singer who is occasionally "jazzy." Sinatra was often the latter. Ella, on the other hand, as you point out, was very much a jazz singer, improvising on the melodic line. Billie Holiday did that too, and so did a number of those Jim has mentioned. I'd call Mel Torme a jazz singer in that sense too. But Tony Bennett, for example, who loved jazz and often was backed by jazz group, was more a jazzy singer than a jazz singer, IMHO.
Not that it makes much difference. I enjoy all of them. They were/are great artists, marvelous at doing what they did, and I listen to all of them often.
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On 7/17/2023 at 1:56 PM, jazzbo said:
I got no shipping notice etc. BUT my set just arrived. And what I have heard so far sounds great on my system.
Ditto. Enjoying the first disc.
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On 7/27/2023 at 7:29 AM, AllenLowe said:
Rich is best listened to in a small group setting, where he seems to have been able to channel his inner Dave Tough and play brilliantly. To my ears, after he became a star and started leading that later big band his work always sounds like "hey look at me."
I absolutely agree that he made himself front and center with the big bands--he was never stricken with a sense of false modesty--but I can forgive it because he drove those bands so relentlessly. That drive is what makes the Pacific Jazz sessions of the sixties so compelling for me.
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Nice! Always cool to see Nat play the piano. Was this from his short-lived TV show?
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Sinatra loved Bennett. I recently read a story that I can't find now where Sinatra was in an Italian restaurant late at night where Bennett's music was playing and said something like "It doesn't get any better than this. A glass of wine, a good pasta, and my man Tony Bennett singing."
I saw him live in late career when he appeared here in Portland at Edgefield. He was in good voice and gave a great show. As so many have said, it was obvious how much he enjoyed being before a live audience. He drew energy from us even as we reflected our affection and admiration to him. I feel privileged to have had that opportunity.
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I did something like that with the Sinatra Reprise box, but in that case, I just printed out the original album orders and carefully taped them on the individual sleeves, so I could put the individual cd in and listen to the part I wanted in album order. In fact, I listened to the album "She Shot Me Down" just this morning doing that!
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It is also possible that an owner would change out the old LP for a newer one if s/he had played the hell out of it. I remember doing that with my old 2-LP "Best of Count Basie" on Decca. I played that album so much I think needles nearly went through it. Got a new set and put the new rainbow MCA LPs in the old gatefold album because it had cooler photos and better liners and just because I'd developed an affection for it!
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18 hours ago, sonnymax said:
I think it's a very good recording on any terms, although I slightly prefer the later Frank Sinatra Sings for Only The Lonely.
Sinatra himself considered Only the Lonely to be his best work, and I agree, but I still adore Wee Small Hours, especially the title cut.
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17 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:
I’ve read that this box set was done via needle drop and isn’t very good quality. I saw it in a store and passed.
Oh yeah, definitely. The documentation is slim, and it was put out by Membran. I got it because it was the only way to get some of these fairly rare records. I repackaged the discs into jewel cases, used Lord to double-check personnel and recording dates, and distributed them out under the specific artists. I listen to one or the other now and then, but the sound is definitely nothing to write home about.
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On 5/26/2023 at 6:11 AM, Stereojack said:
I still lurk regularly around here, although I rarely post. Stereo Jack's is still open, now in a new location in Ball Square, Somerville, under new management. The owner and staff are all former staffers of the Cambridge store. The address is 736 Broadway, Somerville.
Always nice to see you Jack!
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On 5/24/2023 at 3:19 PM, bresna said:
Was this ever issued under a different title? The discogs listing only shows a German LP from 1961 and 2 CD releases from 1999.
My apologies for being so long to respond to this query. The answer is: not as far as I know. It was recorded and issued on LP in Germany, then acquired by Victor and issued on cd as part of that label's accompanying issues to its massive Ellington Centennial set. Those included Cootie Williams in Hi-Fi, the Hodges/Davis collaboration In Atlantic City, and Gonsalves's Ellingtonia, Moods, and Blues.
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A great, great performer!! RIP.
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Interesting interplay on this one between Terry and Gonsalves
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9 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:
It IS worth finding. I offered myself a copy for last Christmas (when a copy came up at the lower end of the "too much money" price span
). But like others mentioned before, it is relatively slim, so I guess everyone's eternal regret is that Teddy Reig died before his memory could have been "milked" in much greater detail.
Agreed, though what was there was a lot of fun!
Ellington Treasury Shows
in Recommendations
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As was I. A great series with some fine, fine music.