BFT #43 CD-2

[RDK]

On to Disc 2 (or B if you prefer)...

[tooter]

I'm going to have to listen to this disc through again but just to get the ball rolling I would like to enter the title track of this albumas the answer to number 4. I have the LP but the hole in the middle is only in the right place for one side. Playing the other side was only possible by judicious filing and trying to keep the disc in position as it revolved by various mostly ineffective means. So the music is fairly indelibly etched in my memory. The tenor style is quite distinctive and no doubt many will recognise. A favourite album - I've got it all on another medium now - and a favourite tenor player.

Editing - got the wrong link in there!

Edited December 26, 2006 by tooter

[tooter]

Slow going here. How about Freddie Hubbard on 2, and maybe Bobby Hutcherson? Tell me if I'm warm, won't you? -_-

[tooter]

I've been playing 12 - no clue - just wanted to say how much I like it! Sounds a bit like Johnny Griffin I thought but probably not.

[tooter]

3 sounds like Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Mike Santiago and Dave Samuels to me but I don't know what it is - don't think I've got it.

I like 14 a lot too but haven't got any ideas yet.

[RDK]

Slow going here. How about Freddie Hubbard on 2, and maybe Bobby Hutcherson? Tell me if I'm warm, won't you? -_-

Quite warm.

[Durium]

Dear Ray,

I also had Bobby Hutcherson's vibe on 2 and track 6 sounds Ellingtonian, but of course isn't ( I guess).

You made a great compilation, Ray, although I don't recognize not so much.

I'm anxious to follow the discussion.

I'll be back later !!

Keep swinging

Durium

[JSngry]

Ok, let's do this thing!

TRACK ONE - More from the Opera House. This is a fine tune, one of Tony's latter-day best, I think, beautifully constructed bridge (and damn near anybody can write a good A-Section, it's the motherfuckers who deal with bridges that get my most enthusiastic songwriting props. In other words, it's a hell of a lot harder to take a song on a trip than it is to just stand it on a corner in sharp looking clothes, although there's something to be said for doing the latter if you do it really well and make it really sharp. Sometimes it's just as cool to be the destination as it is to take the trip. But anyway, I digress...) but this rendition is a little bit light. This trumpeter recorded it again, and I prefer that version, even to Tony's own. Wayne's playing in Weather Report mode here, serving more to frame the ensemble than to lead it, but the rest of the ensemble ain't thinking like that, so the whole thing is just a little unfocused. But it's all good, and this side still needs reissuing.

TRACK TWO - It have been a while, but I believe this to be from Knucklebean. This one shoulda been reissued a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago.

TRACK THREE - a cut from The Age Of Steam that I had loooooooooooooooooooooooooong forgottten about. I know this is out on CD again, and I keep forgetting that it is. Stupid me! Damn fine record, and a document of a moment in L.A. when jazz and pop/rock were intermingling in overtly commercial yet intrinsically naturally musical ways that was a logical extension of what was going on in the studios. How that differed from the "West Coast Jazz" of 20 years earlier is a point I've not yet heard made, convincingly or otherwise, so I gotta think that it's true. Let people be who they are, let them go where they'll go, and good, if not necessarily "deep", music will get made. Besides, deep people will make deep music, regardless of "style". So why all the fuss?

TRACK FOUR - Harold Land on Muse. I dig Harold Land, all the way thru. Harold never stopped growing and evolving. In his own quiet way, he needed to be continually relevant to himself, and god bless him for that, even if it lead to some awkward-ish moments along the way. Oh well. The price you gotta pay, and all that.

This ain't earth-shattering, but I can feel the soul. Good enough.

TRACK FIVE - Oh my! This is not good! And yet....I enjoyed it. Dan's liable to hurl a blunt object with a shapr projectile on the end of it thru cyberspace , but I swear this sounds like Gene Harris! I know he made some early 70s BN sides where he used "keyboards". I've never heard any of those, but I could hear this being something like that.

TRACK SIX - Oh my! AGAIN! What is this, Esquivel arranging for Enoch Light masquerading as a 70s Ted Heath album on Project Command 4 London? Thing is...it's a really interesting -and difficult - arrangement (even the gimmicks are interesting), and it's really well played. That band ain't fukkin' around, and when it comes time to play "regular", they're there. I could almost go Mancini on this, but Mancini never played it this wack. Whover it is, it's fun, it's goofy, it's goofy fun, and it ain't no bullshit. Big props.

TRACK SEVEN - The step-father of greatness! Previous comments about Lew already made. Took me a while to fully appreciate him. Still not one of my "desert island" players, but if he washed up on the shore after a sunami, he'd certainly be welcome. Cat can play, that's for sure! And tenor trio, hey....

TRACK EIGHT - Kind of an early-70s Crusaders thing, but I don't think it's them, no horns. It's pretty lite, but it doesn't sound fake, so let's party. I like how the drummer's playing ride most of the way. That wouldn't last for too much longer. Wild guess - is this the Cool Aid Chemists?

TRACK NINE - Hmmmm....sounds like a Steve Miller song...

TRACK TEN - Johnny Hartman, obviously, but I don't know the album. Sonds pretty good.

Oh shit...I just found it on AMG, and this is one of those LPs I've bought in the last two or so years but just haven't got around to listening to yet. Isn't that special...

TRACK ELEVEN - Land/Hutch, I think. Maybe from one of Harold's Mainstream sides. Production is loose, almost ragged, but flaws and all, I'll take it. Not too much of it, but I'll take it. Call me easy. Live, I bet this shit was a groove. But the drummer needs...to relax. A little. That would have worked wonders.

TRACK TWELVE - No idea, sounds familiar. Good stuff. Cat's speaking the language. Sounds somewhat Moody-influenced, but not Moody, I don't think (therefore I ain't). Everybody sounds comfortable, if a tad agoraphobic. But no biggie. Probably from a different time than today, and that matters. Sounds like good peoples.

TRACK THIRTEEN - Tonight! At Noon! Damn, this is some badass shit here. No wonder they kept it in the can for a few years, this would've killed some motherfuckers. Shafi Hadi, y'all!

You know, I rail against stuff like fear, complacency, living in a cave, easy acquiesesnce to "style", stuff like that, and geez Jim, do you still even LIKE jazz? Well, hell. Here it is - life, pure life, and it sure sounds like jazz to me.

So yeah, I still LIKE jazz. But I like life more. Great when you get both in the same package, ain't it?

TRACK FOURTEEN - How are things in your town?

TRACK FIFTEEN - Well, ok. I was thinking some Carla Bley bit of wryness I'd not yet heard, got to detectivizing, and found out the real deal. At least they were both on ECM! Knowing who this is, I wonder if the humor I feel is as much as was intended. Who knows? Great way to end a side, that's all I know for sure.

Thanks, Ray. I think this disc was my favorite of the two. All in all, a most pleasurable 2-CD excursion!

[RDK]

TRACK FIVE - Oh my! This is not good! And yet....I enjoyed it.

You don't know how hard i tried to keep this one off the damn disc. But every time i spun it it kept growing on me.

TRACK FOURTEEN - How are things in your town?

I'm very impressed! (I think...)

[Jim R]

I just had time to go through these tracks quickly (some of it I've only skimmed so far), but I have one comment I'm ready to make.

Track 10- Johnny Hartman, from track 5 on this twofer

This is one of the worst albums JH ever did, imo, and although this is probably one of the better tracks, it's still pretty weak. Sounds like a rehearsal take with Hartman doing a parody of a Sinatra impersonator. The track got off to such a weak start, I thought maybe it was some rare previously unissued bonus cut from a session I had, but I soon realized it was from an album I dumped like a hot potato about 20 years ago. Awful sound quality on this too, and I hardly ever complain about sound quality. Was that an organ jumping in there at times in addition to the piano? At any rate, hearing those two Perception albums one time was one time too many for me.

I didn't hate the whole disc, but I'll have to try to analyze more later...

[Dan Gould]

I'll be a little briefer on this one as so few of these songs held any appeal. I will say that number 10 is Johnny Hartman, whose voice I love on the famous Impulse album but have rarely found him that appealing in any other context. This unfortunately is another one of those contexts. One word for numbers 6 and 15: WHY?

Then there is number five.

You know, when Ray declared that there would be one track I was sure to identify, I figured that it would have to be a Gene Harris tune, and I would have to participate in Ray's BFT as a result. Then I found the Gene Harris track.

Ray, if I have ever done or said anything to offend you, I sincerely apologize for my transgression. But whatever it was, I would hope that we are even now.

What a steaming pile of poo that was. Gene sounds fine, and then that other keyboard/synthesizer kicks in and I wanted to throw my stereo out the window. But where does this rendition of "Something" come from????

You may imagine that the former GHF has every Gene Harris title recorded, but that's not actually the case. I did not retain any of the BN titles after he completely dropped the "Three Sounds" from the covers. Yet AMG doesn't show any such title on those mid-70s dreck-filled discs.

Then I thought that perhaps it was on one of the albums he did between his BN and Concord tenures, for the JAM label. Nope.

So I can't even identify this "gimme" that makes me want to

[RDK]

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

BFT 43b

Well, lots of interesting stuff here, Ray. And some stuff I think is wonderful. And some I hate – well, you expected that, didn’t you?

1 Oh, this sounds familiar. Well, the intro did, anyway. Beautiful rhythm section. Oh, I really like this one! The tenor and trumpet players are so beautifully together. Trumpet player reminds me of Blue. And that tenor player is TOUGH! And the pianist is just right in it; he’s very familiar, too, but I can’t put a name to him. This sounds like one I want to buy.

2 Much more routine Hard Bop number. All very well played but not my kind of thing ,really. Is that Freddie Hubbard on trumpet? If I were into Hard Bop, I’d certainly want this. Vibes player sounds to me like Bobby Hutcherson. Nearly too long.

3 Some serious funky stuff now. Baritone players have a significant advantage over players of any other instrument; they ALL sound fantastic. I love the way this builds; by the time the tenor player comes in this is a fabulous groove. So effin’ SEXY!

Yeah, not bad!

4 Something else that sounds very familiar. I think I might even have this. But I haven’t. Another trumpet player who reminds me of Blue. Sounds like something I ought to have, even if I haven’t

5 A Beatles song – “Something”. The strange sounds actually detract from what might have been a classic ballad rendition. Then after one chorus, it goes completely off into Rock. Not for me. Is this one of those ‘70s Jazz/Rock bands like Return to Forever? If so, glad I never bothered to listen to their stuff. Gladder and gladder, as the track goes on (and on, and on). Oh, and as it goes on even more, is this that Scofield geezer?

Gawd, when is this track gonna finish? I’m going to quit when the time hits ten minutes. Oh well, it’s finishing now and only 8:47 too long.

6 “A train”. Modern version of it. Oh bleedin’ ‘ell, a JOKE version! Band’s good enough, but I really don’t get the point of musical humour like this.

7 Is this “America the beautiful”? Not sure I’d recognise it if it bit me on the ankle. Nice tenor solo that doesn’t seem to express the title, so maybe I’ve got the title wrong. Don’t think I’ve ever heard this bloke before, or not much anyway. Bass solo is really not in the same mood as the tenor man.

8 Funk electric piano sounding familiar again, but actually not. It vaguely reminds me of one of Johnny “Hammond” Smith’s electronic albums that I used to have on the Salvation label – ah, “Gamblers life” it was called.

9 Starts off like a more portentous Mancini-type orchestration, then a nice trumpet player comes on. And a good trombonist. I have the same problem with this as I had with a number of tracks on the other disc – I like the soloists but not the band. Ah, when the baritone player comes on and it moves into a straight blues, it’s OK, but still too much band coming in later in the solo. Guitar OK, just. Clarinet solo – unusual to have a clarinet solo – very nice. Bass clarinet solo – full of unusual stuff this. I just wish they’d not bothered with all that big band stuff.

10 Oh, this is nice. Is this called “Summer wind” by any chance? Never heard the song before. Don’t think I’ve heard the singer before, either. Lovely tenor player. Whole band is in there swinging. I should know the tenorman.

11 Seems like an attempt at a Soul song. But not a real Soul song, something that’s been written in that style. Can’t see the point in that. If you’re going to do something that sounds like a Soul song, why not do a real one? (Course, I may simply not be recognising the tune.) Players are all good, particularly the tenor player.

12 Bop number that I don’t recall having heard before. No drums – but the trio get along fine without and one wouldn’t want them in here – it would be a completely different piece of music. I keep thinking there’s an audience out there, but they never applaud or even say “Yeah!” occasionally.

13 Hot tambourines! Hot bass! Hot everyone! I think this is a Parker tune played at a million miles an hour. I can’t usually see the point of this, but here the point is! No, it’s “Night in Tunisia”! I think Diz would REALLY have appreciated this. Zap! Pow!

14 “Nobody knows the trouble I see”. Oh, I guess it’s OK at this speed, if you wanna do it like this. Give me Johnny Jones (lead with the Swanee Quintet) any day, however.

15 Yes! Yes! Yes! Brings tears to my eyes! That was, until that geezer started listing stuff. Is there a version of this that doesn’t have him on it?

Thanks for all that stuff, Ray – even the ones I hate.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm going to have to listen to this disc through again but just to get the ball rolling I would like to enter the title track of this albumas the answer to number 4. I have the LP but the hole in the middle is only in the right place for one side. Playing the other side was only possible by judicious filing and trying to keep the disc in position as it revolved by various mostly ineffective means. So the music is fairly indelibly etched in my memory. The tenor style is quite distinctive and no doubt many will recognise. A favourite album - I've got it all on another medium now - and a favourite tenor player.

Editing - got the wrong link in there!

Oh shit - if you're right I HAVE got this.

I'll compare them in a bit.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Help - I've just pressed control and something and it's all gone small. How do I get out of this folks?

MG

[JSngry]

Bass clarinet? Try fuzztone guitar.

Still say it sounds like a Steve Miller song...

(...2...3...)

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Bass clarinet? Try fuzztone guitar.

Still say it sounds like a Steve Miller song...

(...2...3...)

There's a Rock singer called Steve Miller. Is that the one you meant?

MG

[JSngry]

Yep. Inside joke, ask Big Al.

I'm being sly...

I can tell you this - it is unusual to have a clarinet solo on a thing like this. Must be a reason...

[RDK]

I can tell you this - it is unusual to have a clarinet solo on a thing like this. Must be a reason...

Ah, you beat me to my hint. And here I thought you didn't really know...

I didn't have any specific "theme" to either BFT disc (save the vinyl angle), but it occured to me that disc 2 in particular does have a semi-theme in that some of the tracks present artists in ways perhaps outside of their normal styles or typical environments. Or at least during the less well-known or memorable phases of their careers. Heck, as in the case of track 5, even during their preiods of outright suckiness. Perhaps it's due to a bias on my part, but more probably because my vinyl collection is weighed heavily in late 60's to 70's era jazz.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Yep. Inside joke, ask Big Al.

I'm being sly...

I can tell you this - it is unusual to have a clarinet solo on a thing like this. Must be a reason...

Ah! One of Woody Herman's albums from the '60s/'70s? He made a few for Cadet, I remember.

MG

[JSngry]

I can tell you this - it is unusual to have a clarinet solo on a thing like this. Must be a reason...

Ah, you beat me to my hint. And here I thought you didn't really know...

Dude, my memory's not that bad!

[RDK]

Aw crap! And here I thought I checked each selection on Marty's BFT spreadsheet so that this sort of thing wouldn't happen. I guess this one slipped by me.

No, no, scratch that. Great minds think alike. Yeah, that's a better excuse.

[JSngry]

Hey, I dig that cut. Glad to hear it agian!

[Jim Alfredson]

Hey cool... Como En Vietnam. We'll probably be doing a version of this on the next organissimo record!

[Stereojack]

1. This starts with the groove from Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana”, and the tune is vaguely familiar. In places the trumpet reminds me of Donald Byrd, and tune a little Shorter-esque. As a matter of fact, the tenor sounds very Wayne-like as well.

2. Mid-1960’s. Can’t place the tenor. Trumpet might be Freddie Hubbard, or possibly Woody Shaw. Considering the company, perhaps Bobby Hutcherson on vibes?

3. Gerry Mulligan, from “The Age of Steam”. Bob Brookmeyer on trombone, an instantly recognizeable voice. Nice, relaxed funky groove.

4. Familiar territory. Possibly George Coleman on tenor? Trumpet has a nice big sound, and can certainly get around the horn. Cedar Walton or Ronnie Mathews at the piano?

5. Something’s wrong here. What’s the point?

6. Gimmicky arrangement of “A Train”. This sounds like one of those show-off-your- stereo-system records that were so popular in the early 60’s. There are certainly some fine players on this, but the whole thing is just too over the top.

7. “Black and Tan Fantasy”. Really have no idea who this is, maybe Archie Shepp?

8. Somebody got a new toy for Christmas. Next!!

9. Right away, I recognized Sly’s “Sex Machine”, and figured that this was some aging bandleader attempting to connect with the kids, probably Woody Herman. The clarinet later in the track clinches it. After hearing this, and formulating my thoughts about it, my first thought was how sad it was that Woody had sunk to this level by the early 70’s. But then I started thinking about Woody’s history, starting with “The Band That Plays the Blues” in the late 30’s, and that the revered First Herd had covered R&B tunes like “Caldonia”, “I’ve Got News For You”, “Romance In the Dark”, et al. This is Woody doing what he had always done, yet to my ears this seems so lame.

10. Johnny Hartman – “Summer Wind”. The guitar sounds like Kenny Burrell, can’t place the tenor – he’s a little busy, methinks.

11. Possibly Milt Jackson? It’s funny, a lot of straight ahead jazz sounds timeless to me, yet a bit of jazz-funk like this seems dated, to my ears, anyway.

12. I like the drummer-less ensemble – refreshing. The tenor conjurs up some familiar phrases, but I can’t conjur up a name.

13. Mingus, of course. Jimmy Knepper, Shafi Hadi. I think this comes from the session that produced “The Clown” and half of “Tonight At Noon”, but I can’t come up with a title without looking in my collection, and I won’t cheat. Nevertheless, it is nice to hear.

14. The tune is reminiscent of the old New Orleans tune “Oh Didn’t He Ramble”, done up in a breezy cool-jazz arrangement. Might this be the Dave Pell Octet? That’s be Dave on tenor, and a few familiar west coasters. Maybe Don Fagerquist on trumpet?

15. Continuing in our gospelly bag, here we have a hymn for jazz combo, with recitation. Not a clue, nor do I need to hear this again.

Overall, some nice music on this set , and a few barkers.