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Shrdlu

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Posts posted by Shrdlu

  1. A very late reply to mjazzg's comment about the best sounding version of Tina Brooks's "Minor Move". The Blue Note Works TOCJ--1616 CD sounds fine, and the one alternate take is on TOCJ-1601. I put together a CDr of everything in session order and gave it a spin today.

    Everyone plays well, and one can't have enough Sonny Clark, but the session doesn't happen, and I won't be playing it again soon. I wouldn't have issued it. There are plenty of good recordings by the participants. For Brooks, "True Blue" is where it's at, and the September 1, 1960 session, with "Street Singer", is excellent.

  2. The discussion of the Australian Aboriginal instrument brought to mind the berimbau.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berimbau

    I have one of these. It is awkward to play indoors, because it is about 4' long and has to be held with the bottom (where the gourd part is) against the abdomen, and the top end bumps into the ceiling (at least, at my house).

    It has a deep sound. It can be heard at the opening of Adham Shaikh's "Shabbadub". I couldn't find that track on its own on Youtube, but it starts at the 10:37 mark in the following

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ST-_jK0PU

    which is an upload of his album "Essence".

    Adham Shaikh is excellent. He is in the back of beyond in eastern British Columbia. His groups have a lot of exotic instruments, including a bass flute from India. (I ordered one from India, but it had the left thumb hole on the wrong side, so I sent it back. It got stuck at Customs in Delhi, who refused to send it to the seller, so I never got my refund. Do not buy from India. I love the people, but they are not efficient.) I would greatly love to play in an Adham Shaikh group, but they are in a remote location, so it will never happen.

    The berimbao can be heard on several other recordings. There is a piece using that as its name. Among other places, it appears on an Astrud Gilberto album arranged by Gil Evans.

     

  3. After I had played saxophones and the clarinet for many years, my attention strayed to Latin music, helped by listening to Cal Tjader and others. I ended up getting a lot of Latin percussion instruments, mostly from the "Latin Perscussion" website

    https://www.lpmusic.com/products/congas

    I now have a large number of their items, including all four sizes of their Giovanni Hidalgo "Galaxy" tumbas

    https://www.lpmusic.com/products/congas/lp/galaxy-giovanni-signature-requinto

    The four sizes in this range are requinto, quinto, conga and tumbadora. When a Blue Note album says "congas", they are the middle ones: quinto and conga.

    I have most of their portable items, including all their cowbells and the Jim Greiner shekere

    https://www.lpmusic.com/products/Shakers/Shekeres/Jim-Greiner-Pro-Shekere

    which is a spectacular-looking piece of kit. On the Blue Note albums, it is mis-spelled checkere.

    I also have the Giovanni series Prestige Timbales

    https://www.lpmusic.com/products/timbales/lp/giovanni-series-prestige-timbales

    The great Giovanni Hidalgo can be seen playing those in a most entertaining video here

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ths6YHITLTU

    Latin Percussion is a lot of fun, and i have enjoyed every moment. Highly recommended.

    In a downtown club, there was a Latin percussion guy performing with house music. His son was on the DJ decks and his daughter and he played Latin percussion along with the music. He only had two-dimensional congas and timbales and a cheap crash cymbal. i wish I could have taken my real instruments with me, but parking is impossible at that location. He and his daughter were nice people, but were not very good. For months I took some of my portable Latin gear, my soprano saxophone and my Istanbul Agop 30th Anniversary crash (the best in the world) along with me and joined in. The Dad wanted to move around the room a lot, and was glad to have me play percussion. Having heard Art Blakey and Tito Puente for years, I really let it rip, including loud triplets on the crash at the end of 8-measure segments. The daughter once tried to tone it down, but the audience loved it. Once, a dancer grabbed my shekere and went around the dance floor with it, ha ha.

     

  4. I didn't check earlier, but that video runs at the correct speed (unlike the other copies that I have heard) and is actually in Eb.

    I don't understand the problem with Ben's solo. The only shake I heard is on the tenor's C and it isn't hard to do that. If it were an altissimo figure, with its awkward cross-fingerings, then yes, a shake might be difficult, but Ben plays within the standard range. If I recall correctly, the highest note is the tenor's palm key D.

  5. Furthermore, the whole show is running a half-tone sharp. Monk plays "Blue Monk" in Bb - you can see him hitting a Bb key - but the piece sounds in B.

    At the end, Pee Wee Russell and Jimmy Giuffre play a blues in Bb, and once again, it sounds in B.

    I assume you mean the tenor's Ab, not concert pitch. A trill on Ab to A, or Ab down to G, is a piece of cake.

  6. The excellent English pianist with whom I played in Jo'burg for years, Stan Jones, can be heard in some Youtube videos shot at a club called Rumours that was owned by bassist Art Kelly, who plays in the videos. Search for Rumours in Jo'burg and you will find them. Art was always on bass with Stan. He had a Steinway baby grand at his house and so our private blows were always there. The drummer was Billy Jones. I never met the trumpeter or drummer in the videos. Johnny Fourie is on guitar. John McLaughlin was once asked what it was like to be the world's best jazz guitarist, and he said "I don't know. You'll have to ask Johnny Fourie.".

  7. A few rhoughts about this instrument.

    My saxophone mentor had played in a big band with a five-piece saxophone section. (He played second alto.) He told me that the best alto was the Selmer, and the best tenor was the Conn.

    Experts (of which I am not one) say that Conn's 10M is one of the best models, especially the ones with rolled tone holes. It certainly has a great sound. Dexter Gordon played one on his Blue Note sessions up to 1965 - there is a picture showing it in the booklet for the RVG CD of "Clubhouse" (1965), and pictures from earlier sessions show it. The strut on the neck is a giveaway. (The Selmer doesn't have the strut.)

    I have never played one: I have always played Selmers (alto, tenor and soprano). I would like to blow one. 

    There are serious problems with the design. That neck strut can puncture the neck if one pushes the mouthpiece on too hard, and it is recommended that the neck be removed when pushing the mouthpiece on. That would be a nuisance when tuning up. The strut connecting the bell section to the main body is thin, and can puncture the pipe if the bell is bumped. The Selmer is way better: there is no neck strut and the bell brace is very sturdy.

    The 10M has a low Eb hole, which gives an Eb if the fourth and sixth fingers (F and D) are pressed and the E key is not pressed. It also has a G# trill key for the right hand. Those are not needed and Selmers and their copies do not have them. The low B and Bb holes are on the left side, which can muffle the low notes if the player is seated. I don't like the key cluster for the left little finger (low C#, B and Bb), but it looks as if one could live with it. The Selmer arrangement (which all makers now use) is the best.

    The 10M hasn't been made for a long time, so one would have to search for a vintage one nowadays.

    Well, Dex sure got great results with his 10M. It must have worn out, because he later switched to a Selmer Mark VI, which is what I have.

  8. The well-known Billie Holiday video performance of "Fine And Mellow" runs at the wrong speed and sounds in E. There is no way that they would have played that in E, so, which was it: Eb or F? Gerry Mulligan's solo solves that. He plays the third note of the scale at the top end of his baritone, and you can see that he's playing his top E (concert G), so the key is Eb. I hope someone speed corrects that someday.

    There is an Ahmad Jamal video, with Israel and Vernel, playing "Darn That Dream". The sound is out of synch with the video, and it drives me nuts. The piano hits a phrase when his hands are up, and Vernel's hi-hat goes down on the wrong beat. I found another copy of that where everything is in synch.

  9. I still don't know why Miles played "Straight No Chaser" in F, rather than the proper key, Bb. There is no technical advantage.

    My favorite version of that is on Monk's "Five By Monk By Five", with Rouse, and Thad Jones as a guest. Monk's counterpoint to the horn solos is amazing. Check it out if you haven't heard it.

  10. The main reason for having a guitar is that, when soloing, Jimmy's right hand is playing the melody on the top manual and his left hand is completely occupied doing the bass line at the left end of the lower manual, so he can't comp with his left hand as a pianist would do. The guitar does the comping. Having guitar solos as well is great, of course.

    Thanks for the summary of their solos.

    Here are the details for the other 1600 series Smith album, "Lonesome Road".

    Jimmy Smith Trio

    Jimmy Smith, organ; Eddie McFadden, guitar; Donald Bailey, drums.

    Manhattan Towers, NYC, November 20, 1957

    tk.2 Our Love Is Here To Stay Blue Note (J) TOCJ-1615
    tk.4 Lonesome Road -
    tk.5 Margie -
    tk.9 Diane -
    tk.10 Blue Lou -
    tk.11 Taking A Chance On Love -
    tk.12 Danny Boy -
    tk.13 I Want A Little Girl -

    * Blue Note (J) TOCJ-1615   Jimmy Smith - Lonesome Road   1996

    I don't think this session exists elsewhere.

    It's a very nice session, with plenty of cooking moments. The belch setting, which I don't like, appears at times, but the tracks are still enjoyable. There are a couple of tracks where it sounds like something an old lady would play at an old folks' home, but no harm is done. I recommend the album - if you want to brave the Discogs listings.

  11. Cannonball always sounded great, so it's hard to pick a favorite album.

    My favorite of his lineups is the sextet with Yusef Lateef and Joe Zawinul. They added some extra flavor that, to me, is missing from his quintet albums with his brother.

    I certainly never want to hear "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" again.

  12. On 12/14/2021 at 9:07 AM, CJ Shearn said:

    The Jimmy session I find (though I'll still get it to complete my Jimmy Smith collection rebuild eventually that should have stayed in the can) was Straight Life. That session just doesn't really work, especially coming off something as hot as Crazy! Baby

    "Straight Life" is not a terribly exciting album. Two tracks cook a bit: "Stuffy" and "Jimmy's Blues". I wouldn't rush to buy this.

  13. On the first session, Tommy Turrentine only plays on the second number.

    How bad could the other three items recorded at each session have been? Dear old Alfred was a bit of a fusspot at times. Probably, one reason for the material being shelved was the success of the two later sessions with Sonny Clark: "Go" and "A Swinging Affair".

    On the first of these sessions, Charles Thompson could be mistaken for Sonny Clark.

    There is also a rare bass solo by Ron Carter. He seldom soloed in those days, but there is one on Gil Evans's "Out Of The Cool", with an atmospheric bit of bassoon, played by Budd Johnson, in the background: a great moment.

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