BFT 97 discussion

[king ubu]

Okay, let's play then... hope everyone could handle the DL - drop me a PM if you still want to join in or if you've got any problems!

Hope you'll enjoy the music, looking forward to your comments!

[Big Al]

Haven't listened yet, but wanted to say I love the "album" cover!

[king ubu]

Ha!

[tkeith]

I didn't know anything for sure in this, though I may have some correct personnel guesses (pretty sure about the Kenny Wheeler cut). This was a bell curve listen for me. I liked, but didn't love, the first few. Then I was blissful for most of the middle, and that left me a bit wanting at the end. Overall, this is one of the best in awhile. No peaking, one listen:

1 - Instant love! Has that 60s movie soundtrack feel. Some of Shihab's stuff has that feel. I love this. Piano solo is a little off, but it doesn't detract from the feel. Hmm... trumpet, too. Something odd is happening here. These aren't heavy weights. They don't quite cut the improv, but I still love it. That sax almost sounds varitone-ish.

2 - More clarinet... I have really pissed off the universe. Shades of Illinois Jaquet, but I think it's someone playing in the style, because again, rhythmically, it's a little off. This reminds me of something The Humble Farmer would play (if you've heard his show, you get it), and in that context, it would be awesome. Here, it's just a little off. Again, striking me as second-tier players on a good day.

(* note: I mean guys like the Danish Radio Big Band -- great players, better on their worst day than I'll ever be, but not in the same class as royalty like Booker Ervin or Johnny Griffin; certainly not intended as a slight)

3 - This has the feel of the Jazz Crusaders, but that doesn't sound like Wayne Henderson to me. Perhaps a European equivalent? I'm digging this test, thus far.

4 - Not sure, but off the bat, not liking the alto player. Too busy without really executing what s/he is going for. Sounds flat as hell to me. Hmmm... this sounds a lot like the Danish Radio Big Band, but not quite as polished to my ear. Other than the alto, I'm liking it, but my comments are taking on a similar thread. I'm thinking this is all European Jazz or something.

5 - Not digging the drums (or technically, the cymbals), but very much digging the baritone. It's not Shihab, but someone who likes him a great deal, and that's a good thing. Reminds me a lot of the Jimmy Giuffre cut The Boy Next Door from a few BFTs ago.

6 - Definitely going with my European Jazz thread guess. The alto player just doesn't... swing. The general feel of the tune is fun, but rhythmically, something is just off.

7 - Caravan. At least I was able to name a tune on this one. Eeesh! I like this arrangement, again, very 60s espionage. I was hoping this would be Shihab on soprano, because I'm really yearning for a Shihab cut now. But, it's too Coltrane influenced. That's not a bad thing, I like this tune a great deal. Again, something about the rhythmic execution has me thinking of that second-tier group of players. I like the interplay between the left-channel bassist and the piano.

8 - Pretty sure that's Kenny Wheeler on trumpet. Nearly certain at about 1:10. Now this alto player is a pro. Sounds much more like a first-tier player, but can't quite say who. Could this be Kenny Wheeler that I don't have? This must be fixed. Yes, there is nothing about this that I do not like.

9 - I'm in. Trying to find something I don't love, and it's not there. Shades of Charles Greenlee in the 'bone, but it's not him. Maybe Jimmy Heath on flute. Somebody with that same precision technique, but I think it's a saxophonist doubling on the flute.

10 - Man, the trombone is an instrument that's really grown on me over the years (thank you Frank Lacy and Derek Kwong!). Oh, 1:35 -- how much more can I possibly love this!?!? Sounds like an "out" Ricky Ford. I think it's an older player than that. Nothing I don't like about this. Maybe Hal Singer? I could eat this for dessert. Almost thinking John Handy on alto. Definitely someone I've heard. This is beautiful. Almost a little too bitey for John Handy. But someone with equivalent chops, not Dudu Pakwana or someone like that. I have to have this.

11 - Just hard for me to warm up to the clarinet. I like the overall feel, but that instrument... ugh! No idea, but I'd really prefer a saxophone here... or a trombone... or a kazoo. The playing is outstanding. There's a guy in Montreal who plays the bass clarinet like this (though his regular clarinet playing is much more traditional) named Matthieu Belanger. He's amazing and I can't figure out why nobody outside of Montreal knows about him. This player knows his Archie Shepp, which is terribly exciting. Man, there is nothing I don't love about the rest of the tune (and I love the PLAYING of that damned instrument). What IS this!?!?! Pianist loves his McCoy (who don't?). Oddly, some of the lines have me recalling, of all things, a Joe Jackson solo from Night and Day. Just realized the tune is a blatant rip-off of Herbie's Canteloupe Island (or Watermelon Man) and Afro Blue (just a pinch). Done VERY right, though.

12 - When the drums and bass come in, this sounds identical to Charles Tolliver's Paper Man (talking about the sound of the recording, not the music itself). Much love for this, as well. That bass is haunting. If I recall, Jimmy Hopps is the drummer on that Tolliver date, and this could well be him here. This is a very 70s feel, in the best possible way. It's not Stanley Cowell, but it seems like a contemporary. Bass has a heavy Stanley Clarke/Cecil McBee influence. (Sorry Cecil, but I'm thinking of the best Stanley Clarke.) I realize this stuff sort of paved the way for the smooth stuff that came later, which is too bad, but I love stuff like this. It has that mark of optimism that is so prevalent in all of Abdullah Ibrahim's music. MORE! This test is tickling my fancy as much as any I can remember.

13 - Not a great start. At 30 seconds, I'm thinking this needs to become something pretty soon. Those keys sound like Sun Ra on an off day after the stroke. This one is not touching me. Sounds like some of the John Surman stuff that never really reached me. The listening/interplay is interesting, but this strikes me as little more than research.

14 - Now this is hitting immediately. The tune reminds me of something Charlie Kohlhase would write, but this is older than that. I almost want to say Joe Harriott with Shane Keane, but I don't recognize it from any of the stuff I have.

15 - Audrey Hepburn running away from bad guys. This is interesting and I like it, but I'm not sure I'd listen to it a lot. It's influenced by that odd Kenton period, to my ear, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere. When it finally does, it seems to be someplace I'm not overly interested in. I would guess Braxton, but the soprano player is too rhythmic. I like it noisy, but this one just doesn't resonate with me at all.

16 - Here we go. First impressions are Chris McGregor but seems too tight. This has whatever the last cut was lacking. This has a tinge of Albert Ayler to it, but it sounds like it really matters to these guys; somehow the last track lacked that. That alto to the left could definitely be Dudu Pakwana.

Overall an intensely pleasing BFT (particularly the mid-section!). Thanks!

Hehe... I really wasn't kidding about the no peakies...

[king ubu]

I didn't know anything for sure in this, though I may have some correct personnel guesses (pretty sure about the Kenny Wheeler cut). This was a bell curve listen for me. I liked, but didn't love, the first few. Then I was blissful for most of the middle, and that left me a bit wanting at the end. Overall, this is one of the best in awhile. No peaking, one listen:

1 - Instant love! Has that 60s movie soundtrack feel. Some of Shihab's stuff has that feel. I love this. Piano solo is a little off, but it doesn't detract from the feel. Hmm... trumpet, too. Something odd is happening here. These aren't heavy weights. They don't quite cut the improv, but I still love it. That sax almost sounds varitone-ish.

2 - More clarinet... I have really pissed off the universe. Shades of Illinois Jaquet, but I think it's someone playing in the style, because again, rhythmically, it's a little off. This reminds me of something The Humble Farmer would play (if you've heard his show, you get it), and in that context, it would be awesome. Here, it's just a little off. Again, striking me as second-tier players on a good day.

(* note: I mean guys like the Danish Radio Big Band -- great players, better on their worst day than I'll ever be, but not in the same class as royalty like Booker Ervin or Johnny Griffin; certainly not intended as a slight)

3 - This has the feel of the Jazz Crusaders, but that doesn't sound like Wayne Henderson to me. Perhaps a European equivalent? I'm digging this test, thus far.

4 - Not sure, but off the bat, not liking the alto player. Too busy without really executing what s/he is going for. Sounds flat as hell to me. Hmmm... this sounds a lot like the Danish Radio Big Band, but not quite as polished to my ear. Other than the alto, I'm liking it, but my comments are taking on a similar thread. I'm thinking this is all European Jazz or something.

Great comments, Thom! Musicians' comments, too - which has me learn something about the music I picked, after all!

You're on the very right track there, geographically... this whole thing was an experiment, I thought I'd pick this stuff and submit it to the well-feared org-scrutiny... the second tier thing may very well be true in many cases, and it's all the more interesting that you stop making those comments on the later cuts, as the guys on #7-12, roughly, are mostly very much up there on the level of anyone else, no matter where they come from!

5 - Not digging the drums (or technically, the cymbals), but very much digging the baritone. It's not Shihab, but someone who likes him a great deal, and that's a good thing. Reminds me a lot of the Jimmy Giuffre cut The Boy Next Door from a few BFTs ago.

I just absolutely love this one, in fact I think the baritone is nothing short of sublime!

I wouldn't be bothered by the band here, not at all... alas I know but three cuts and each is owned by one soloist (the bari guy's the leader though, and this is obviously his cut!)

6 - Definitely going with my European Jazz thread guess. The alto player just doesn't... swing. The general feel of the tune is fun, but rhythmically, something is just off.

The poor alto guy... I absolutely love him, but I can hear where you're coming from. These were his beginnings, he went into freer musical territories later on, and I think he can swing like crazy!

7 - Caravan. At least I was able to name a tune on this one. Eeesh! I like this arrangement, again, very 60s espionage. I was hoping this would be Shihab on soprano, because I'm really yearning for a Shihab cut now. But, it's too Coltrane influenced. That's not a bad thing, I like this tune a great deal. Again, something about the rhythmic execution has me thinking of that second-tier group of players. I like the interplay between the left-channel bassist and the piano.

See, here the "second tier" comments stop, at least in regard to arrangement and horns - and rightly so! I love the twin basses and the overall feel of this! There's some other mighty good tracks on the album this was chosen from (which mikeweil will immediately recognize, I'm sure).

(splitting up in two, more quotes than allowed, it seems)

[king ubu]

8 - Pretty sure that's Kenny Wheeler on trumpet. Nearly certain at about 1:10. Now this alto player is a pro. Sounds much more like a first-tier player, but can't quite say who. Could this be Kenny Wheeler that I don't have? This must be fixed. Yes, there is nothing about this that I do not like.

It's not Wheeler, no - but it is definitely a first-tier guy

The alto I like a lot, too! There's no full album of this, alas, but there are several other good tunes - but let's wait a while with the recommendations...

9 - I'm in. Trying to find something I don't love, and it's not there. Shades of Charles Greenlee in the 'bone, but it's not him. Maybe Jimmy Heath on flute. Somebody with that same precision technique, but I think it's a saxophonist doubling on the flute.

I don't much about the flute player here, but it seems he's mainly a sax/clarinet player, flute may have just been a digression. I'm glad you enjoy this track - was frankly a bit unsure myself, but it was the only one feasible for BFT inclusion.

10 - Man, the trombone is an instrument that's really grown on me over the years (thank you Frank Lacy and Derek Kwong!). Oh, 1:35 -- how much more can I possibly love this!?!? Sounds like an "out" Ricky Ford. I think it's an older player than that. Nothing I don't like about this. Maybe Hal Singer? I could eat this for dessert. Almost thinking John Handy on alto. Definitely someone I've heard. This is beautiful. Almost a little too bitey for John Handy. But someone with equivalent chops, not Dudu Pakwana or someone like that. I have to have this.

Yes, you have to! All folks with ears ought to, really!

11 - Just hard for me to warm up to the clarinet. I like the overall feel, but that instrument... ugh! No idea, but I'd really prefer a saxophone here... or a trombone... or a kazoo. The playing is outstanding. There's a guy in Montreal who plays the bass clarinet like this (though his regular clarinet playing is much more traditional) named Matthieu Belanger. He's amazing and I can't figure out why nobody outside of Montreal knows about him. This player knows his Archie Shepp, which is terribly exciting. Man, there is nothing I don't love about the rest of the tune (and I love the PLAYING of that damned instrument). What IS this!?!?! Pianist loves his McCoy (who don't?). Oddly, some of the lines have me recalling, of all things, a Joe Jackson solo from Night and Day. Just realized the tune is a blatant rip-off of Herbie's Canteloupe Island (or Watermelon Man) and Afro Blue (just a pinch). Done VERY right, though.

I've never heard of this guy you mention, indeed... McCoy, yes. Got to relisten, wasn't aware of the Cantaloupe thing, interesting!

12 - When the drums and bass come in, this sounds identical to Charles Tolliver's Paper Man (talking about the sound of the recording, not the music itself). Much love for this, as well. That bass is haunting. If I recall, Jimmy Hopps is the drummer on that Tolliver date, and this could well be him here. This is a very 70s feel, in the best possible way. It's not Stanley Cowell, but it seems like a contemporary. Bass has a heavy Stanley Clarke/Cecil McBee influence. (Sorry Cecil, but I'm thinking of the best Stanley Clarke.) I realize this stuff sort of paved the way for the smooth stuff that came later, which is too bad, but I love stuff like this. It has that mark of optimism that is so prevalent in all of Abdullah Ibrahim's music. MORE! This test is tickling my fancy as much as any I can remember.

These three are all heavyweights, the bassist is a dozen years Clarke's senior (and Clarke's best work is well up to par with nearly anyone, I think! With the original RTF, with Pharoah etc.) which makes him four years Cecil's junior. He played with a heavy expat guy many, many times. This one, again (like #7 and #10) comes from an entire album, so there IS more!

13 - Not a great start. At 30 seconds, I'm thinking this needs to become something pretty soon. Those keys sound like Sun Ra on an off day after the stroke. This one is not touching me. Sounds like some of the John Surman stuff that never really reached me. The listening/interplay is interesting, but this strikes me as little more than research.

Here's the oddity... I thought many would hate it, but just had to have it in

14 - Now this is hitting immediately. The tune reminds me of something Charlie Kohlhase would write, but this is older than that. I almost want to say Joe Harriott with Shane Keane, but I don't recognize it from any of the stuff I have.

Yeah, well, you will be surprised!

15 - Audrey Hepburn running away from bad guys. This is interesting and I like it, but I'm not sure I'd listen to it a lot. It's influenced by that odd Kenton period, to my ear, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere. When it finally does, it seems to be someplace I'm not overly interested in. I would guess Braxton, but the soprano player is too rhythmic. I like it noisy, but this one just doesn't resonate with me at all.

The soprano guy is a late and beloved chap, kind of an outsider/guest here (as is the man who's not Kenny, of course, and the pianist in #12)... I love the album. It goes back much further than Kenton, really!

16 - Here we go. First impressions are Chris McGregor but seems too tight. This has whatever the last cut was lacking. This has a tinge of Albert Ayler to it, but it sounds like it really matters to these guys; somehow the last track lacked that. That alto to the left could definitely be Dudu Pakwana.

Yeah, church of Ayler (thoroughly atheist, in this case, I guess... but I wouldn't really know).

Overall an intensely pleasing BFT (particularly the mid-section!). Thanks!

Hehe... I really wasn't kidding about the no peakies...

Well, there was nothing to peak at so far - glad you enjoyed it, thanks again for your great comments!

[thedwork]

a few first blind thoughts:

Track 1 – meh. But something about the short piano solo reminded of maybe an undeveloped Tristano, though I wouldn’t think it’s actually him. There also sounds like there’s a nasty edit at the end of that solo…

Track 2 – This A section reminds me of “A Train.” No guesses but killin’ old “school-ish” vibe that I’m thinking may not be so ‘old’. Beautiful feel and tone on both the clarinet and tenor. And that organ sound is heaven. So chill…

Track 3 – 1st reaction to this is “Mingus Lite,” like someone trying to cop Blues And Roots. but I still kinda like it. But not too much…

Track 4 – Thad arrangement? Definitely don’t know it. Cool little tune though.

Track 5 – Wow. Amazing bari playing. Pepper Adams? Don’t know the tune.

Track 6 – cute, cool, and fun! Somehow this reminded me of Carisi.

Track 7 – obvious tune. Don’t know the band. is that bass and cello? Funky…

Track 8 – Harrell?

Track 10 – lovely! No guess.

Track 11 – that pianist has the Jarrett singing/moaning/whining thing down, but his piano playing didn’t do too much for me. No guess…

Thoughts on tracks 12 thru 16 at a later date!

[king ubu]

None of the names are correct, of course

But Jarrett and Tyner... with those two as reference, it might be possible to identify that pianist, eventually!

It's two basses on "Caravan", btw, one doing the bottom chores and the other having some fun on top.

Interesting the guesses for Wheeler and Harrell... the guy heard there is a generation older than Harrell (and some years Wheeler's senior, too). More of an "inside" player (though Harrell is a bopper at heart, too... not so much Wheeler!)

[Stefan Wood]

My off the mark remarks:

1. A waltz. Don Rendall and Ian Carr?? I don't know why I think that, or of some other British group like Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes. There's a dryness in the playing -- not a bad thing, just different. Like I said, off the mark.

2. Small combo with organ. Wild Bill Davis has a more vibrating timber to his sound. Maybe some Basie group variant? Don't really know.

3. A swinging and smooth tune. Bennie Green?

4. A live big band tune. Boland/Clarke? NDR Big Band??

5. Smooth yet strong baritone. Gerry Mulligan? More likely Cecil Payne?

6. Sounds like a late 50's date. Swings!! Based on the clues in a prior post -- Joe Harriott? The drums remind me of Chico Hamilton though. Eric Dolphy?

7. Caravan! With flute. Maybe this is the Chico Hamilton with Dolphy..... from one of those Warner Brothers lps.

8. This is a really elegant tune, softly dramatic. Can't identify the trumpet player or the sax, though I probably should.

9. Trombone.... Jimmy Knepper?

10. More trombone, a bit more spiritual. George Lewis?

11. Clarinet, with a bit of a klemzer feel. John Carter, but more likely, Ben Goldberg? Maybe not edgy for Goldberg.

[Stefan Wood]

12. I can see how others might think this is Jarrett but perhaps Chick Corea? Swings a bit more than what he does, though. A bit more playful on the keys. McCoy Tyner??

13. Organ & Sax skronkfest!! Music to my ears. I don't have a clue.

14. Sounds like a New Thing track from Impulse! Or something similar from that period. Archie Shepp?

15. It does have that 60's spy soundtrack feel, but with a bit more of an edge. Something like ICP or some other avant large ensemble like Pierre Dorge's group. It gets funky as it moves along, with an 80's backbeat. I'll say Pierre Dorge.

16. Another large ensemble. Art Ensemble?

Edited April 6, 2012 by Stefan Wood

[king ubu]

Stefan, thanks for your thoughts! Some thoughts of mine in response...

Again, no names are correct - but you've guess that already

#1: Rendell/Carr - interesting! That and the NDR remark on #4 is the closest you got! (Hm, there's also Harriott and ICP/Dorge... kind of circling in )

#12: the piano player is 9 years Jarrett's senior... he's involved in another piece here.

I'm hoping for someone to pick out the trumpet player in #8! He might well be the biggest name of all featured here (he's not the leader though).

#2: this is of course a different era than Wild Bill, but this guy does indeed sound rather old-fashioned compared to what JOS came up with. Took me a while to dig, but I enjoy him (got two of his albums and some sidemen-appearances, like the one here).

#14: there's no tenor there... so not Shepp, for sure

[thedwork]

I'm hoping for someone to pick out the trumpet player in #8! He might well be the biggest name of all featured here (he's not the leader though).

already guessed wrong w/ Harrell. is it bad form to guess twice in a BFT? i have one more guess...

[king ubu]

I'm hoping for someone to pick out the trumpet player in #8! He might well be the biggest name of all featured here (he's not the leader though).

already guessed wrong w/ Harrell. is it bad form to guess twice in a BFT? i have one more guess...

Sure, go ahead!

Don't know of any bad forms around here... would be delighted to get second round comments or whatever goes through your head!

[thedwork]

I'm hoping for someone to pick out the trumpet player in #8! He might well be the biggest name of all featured here (he's not the leader though).

already guessed wrong w/ Harrell. is it bad form to guess twice in a BFT? i have one more guess...

Sure, go ahead!

Don't know of any bad forms around here... would be delighted to get second round comments or whatever goes through your head!

cool. i like the track well enough. the horn arrangement/harmonies are really lovely at times. both the sax and trumpet solos are enjoyable. that alto player sounds like someone who listened to a good amount of Hemphill. way cool. what throws me off of really liking this track is the rhythm section. that piano sound. ugh... also the guitar sound. bleh...

anyway: Rava? though i haven't heard him much, the tone here made me think of him.

peace out for now. tracks 12 thru end coming from me soon...

[king ubu]

He'd have been scandalously young, but this guy could have been Rava's dad... but the latter's complexion would be somewhat different then

[thedwork]

here come my "non-insights" on 12-16:

Track 12 - some nice bass playing here. Not too interested in the rest. no guess…

Track 13 - Pipe organ? again, excellent playing but not doing much for me. No guess…

Track 14 – I like. Great energy and craft. Nice balance of in/out, time/rubato, lines/harmonies, and all that kinda shit ☺ I especially liked the alto solo – the player reminded me of hemphill though I don’t think it’s him. Feeling nervous to write this, and likely will take a modicum of crap for it, but I didn’t care for the trumpet solo and to my ear/mind it sounds quite a bit like Wynton. This would go along w/ my regularly not enjoying his playing much but occasionally enjoying his writing quite a bit. Guessing Wynton.

Track 15 – again, cool somewhat unusual instrumentation. But it didn’t do too much for me. 2:57 - 3:10 made my mind go back to Conference Of The Birds for some mysterious reason No guess…

Track 16 – is this an excerpt? Cool little bookend to the BFT ☺

Enjoyable KingUbu! I didn’t feel as close to anything on here as compared to last month, but then again, I didn’t hit any last month either. Thanks man…

Edited April 11, 2012 by thedwork

[king ubu]

You must be listening to quite some Hemphill lately

That's a pipe organ indeed on #13!

Had to include it, just for the fun of it... the sax player on that tune is sort of the hero of this BFT

#14: Wynton's age could still be counted on the fingers of two hands when that was recorded...

And #16 seems to be an excerpt indeed (the track comes from a compilation LP which I don't even own, but I've got another LP by this band, and there's even some out on CD - still have to get that, though)

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

BFT97

Well, I got everything, thanks, Ubu, except #3 didn’t come down properly – more likely a connection break that I didn’t notice than the fault of anything you did. So here we go.

1 Well, I thought this was ‘I feel pretty’ for a few seconds. Dunno, but it sounds like a Bavarian marching band trying to swing in 6/8.

2 Oh this is a nice one! Nice clarinet intro, then a tenor player with a very straight tone, then the clarinet player again, but maybe there are two clarinet players. Then an organ solo – funny organ, not a real one – I dislike the sound quite a lot. Maybe this is one of those European organists I’ve never heard; Louiss or Dennerlein, perhaps.

4 Oh, I’m finding it VERY hard not to switch off and go on to the next track. I really don’t like this brittle band sound, or the sound of the alto sax player. Or the arrangement behind the trombonist; all seems highly pretentious to me as well as sounding as nasty as can be. No, sorry, going to make a cuppa… Well, back with a minute to go and the audience is actually applauding! Takes all sorts, don’t it?

5 ‘Round midnight’. Oh, do I recognise this baritone player? Probably not but he’s rather nice. I wonder if it’s Ronnie Ross?

6 Pleasant enough but I don’t find much to interest me in it.

7 Nice intro to ‘Caravan’; very picturesque. I liked the soprano solo a lot, but not the piano solo; he seemed to playing a lot of stuff that impresses musicians but not ordinary people. Ha! Lovely flute quote from ‘Prelude to the afternoon of a faun’; not a theme that gets quoted by jazz musicians too often. I think I could have done without the bass solo. Actually, the band chords at the end of the main measure remind me of Gerald Wilson, but the rest doesn’t.

8 This reminds me of some of the stuff Miles Davis did with the Gil Evans band. Can’t say I like this any better than I liked that. Is that a flugelhorn the trumpet player’s playing?

9 Pretty flute behind the trombonist, whose playing isn’t rough enough for my taste. Pretty flute solos, too. Well, this is all pretty pretty.

10 Another smooth trombonist. Honestly, give me Fred Wesley, Bennie Green, Tricky Lofton, Higg or Kid Ory. OK, when the piece moves up a notch and the tenor player comes in, this is real head-nodding stuff. Oh, then it slows and it’s a drag. Then it speeds up and it’s better. Well, overall, a bit irritating.

11 What kind of sax is that? Or is it some kind of non-standard clarinet? Well, it’s OK. I like the pianist, too. Quite a Harold Mabern feeling about him, though Mabern doesn’t sing-along. I haven’t the foggiest idea who these musicians are, but I’ll enjoy finding out.

12 Oh, this pianist has Hampton Hawes’ sound right down. And the drummer greatly reminds me of Donald Bailey. If this were Hampton Hawes, it would be from the late 60s or early 70s. It’s SERIOUSLY ENJOYABLE stuff! Without great conviction, I reckon it is Hawes and Bailey with, maybe, Leroy Vinnegar, who could always do more than walk.

13 Oof! NEXT!

14 Another I dislike quite a lot, though not as much as #13. And you know, all these changes of pace – well, they’re gratuitous changes of pace, it seems to me – are right irritating.

15 Oh Jeez, not another! This is definitely soundtrack to a circus stuff. I really don’t know why people make music like this.

16 This sounds like some National Anthem. As above.

Well, quite a lot of stuff I really didn’t like but some I really dug. And nothing I’m sure I know. Thanks, Ubu, for the trouble you went to for me.

MG

Ah, just got a correct version of track 3! Sounds like a European band trying out a Soul Jazz piece. Sometimes this can work out OK, like when Bernard Purdie made a couple of CDs with a German radio band. But this is too fast to be soulful.

MG

[king ubu]

Thanks for your comments, MG!

Interesting read on various accounts (of course I expected you to dislike several tracks, maybe I should have issued some kind of warning )

[thedwork]

oh, i see:

[king ubu]

Hey, I *love* the Barry Sisters!

[Spontooneous]

Oh my, it's getting late in the month and I haven't shot my mouth off yet... Well, here's the first half.

1 The turn the melody takes after four bars just screams Eastern Europe. For a minute I'm thinking this is Benny Bailey's album of Balkan melodies, which I don't have. Trumpet solo is too brief to confirm that it's him. If it isn't, is it one of Dusko Goykovich's things?

2 Didn't see that nice tenor solo coming. Got no guess here, other than it isn't wasn't recorded in the USA because that organ is no B-3.

3 Peculiar head, an attempt to jump on the Horace Silver bandwagon, but I like it.

4 Feels like Klook on drums, so I have to guess Clarke-Boland band before Kenny Clare joined. Uninhibited bari solo, presumably Sahib Shihab.

5 Atmospheric, and the bari is superb. The tune is starting to get under my skin. Wonderful track.

6 Fun, with very exciting trades between alto and trumpet. The altoist was going through a Dolphy phase and was very proud ot if.

7 A vampy "Caravan" with cello and bass. Doesn't go as far as it might, though.

8 Can't say this one doesn't go far enough! That trumpet solo's just gotta be Benny Bailey.

[Big Al]

ubu, I owe you an apology. I've tried on three different times to listen to this and I think my wellspring of silliness and off-the-wall comments has run dry for the moment. This is not a criticism of the music, which I find to be generally enjoyable. Here's hoping the eventual reveal sparks some renewed enthusiasm!

[king ubu]

1 The turn the melody takes after four bars just screams Eastern Europe. For a minute I'm thinking this is Benny Bailey's album of Balkan melodies, which I don't have. Trumpet solo is too brief to confirm that it's him. If it isn't, is it one of Dusko Goykovich's things?

Not that far off, geographically, but this is neither Benny nor Dusko.

2 Didn't see that nice tenor solo coming. Got no guess here, other than it isn't wasn't recorded in the USA because that organ is no B-3.

Indeed. But don't ask me what organ it is... the tenor's fun, isn't it?!

3 Peculiar head, an attempt to jump on the Horace Silver bandwagon, but I like it.

Good not to be all alone

4 Feels like Klook on drums, so I have to guess Clarke-Boland band before Kenny Clare joined. Uninhibited bari solo, presumably Sahib Shihab.

Not CBBB, not Shihab... kind of a big figure in his country, though

5 Atmospheric, and the bari is superb. The tune is starting to get under my skin. Wonderful track.

It's, alas the only track I know/own by this guy where he really can stretch out (got two more, it's his band, but he features the sidemen on them).

6 Fun, with very exciting trades between alto and trumpet. The altoist was going through a Dolphy phase and was very proud ot if.

Dolphy's an interesting, and I assume accurate, point of reference. He'd been dead for just a few months when this was recorded.

8 Can't say this one doesn't go far enough! That trumpet solo's just gotta be Benny Bailey.

Congrats! Finally someone could pick out Benny!

@Big Al: no problem at all!

[mikeweil]

Chiming in late, but better than never - here's my two cents on BFT 97:

# 1 - Very nice waltz - 1960's? I probably know these players, but never heard that track before. More, please ...

# 2 - Organ and clarinet? Wow ... I like the clarinettist's sound in the lower register, but not his squeaky sound in the upper ranges. Is this a German band? Nice organ chorus. Again: more, please ...

#3 - 'Nother Waltz ... and again, no idea who they are. Wait for my revenge next February ... but to know that there is still so much good music to explore is a nice sideof this experience of vast gaps in my knowledge of the music. 1960's track again? They lose a bit of tempo through the track. Funny, as my initial thought when the track started was that they take it a tad too fast.

# 4 - starts as a nice big band track, but the alto soloist's intonation and tone is awful. I shudder ... but the trombonist is nice. Another trombonist? If so, nice contrast. Baritone with similar but less obstrusive intonation problems, playing too forceful, like the alto. Those trombonist were more fluent, too. I wonder who they are ... The trumpet solo convinces me that the brass in that band are more competent than the reeds. Drummer 's nice, too.

# 5 - Do I know this ballad? That player sounds a bit fragile ... or as if he is hampered by too much of some substance. Not as sure of himself as he should be. Nice ideas, but the execution does not quite convince me.

# 6 - Oh yeah, nice drummer! Band of swing veterans? Would have to hear more to guess any of them.

# 7 - Caravan! Do I hear two bass players? Sounds like a fusion of the Africa/Brass approach with a more standard repertoire. Nice, but would have to hear more to really give a judgement. Saxist playing the theme sounds a bit too careless for me stating that melody, like the flutist much more.

# 8 - Again I find the brass more competent than the reeds, whose intonation is a bit sloppy and not together in the section. Overall, good ballad performance.

# 9 - Sounds like an aged veteran trombone player with slight .... oh, my critical ear for sloppy intonation is terrible today. But I get the message. Judging from the bass sound, a 1970's recording.

# 10 - More balladistic trombone, this time like a softened Coltrane follower. Just when I thought they started losing the tension they pick up the pace. Saxist doesn't do much for me. But this leaves me untouched, somehow.

To be continued ...