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Blindfold Test #6 Discussion


randyhersom

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Hi! Just received the CDs. I´ve picked here and there in CD 1 and I have recognized inmediately a couple of tracks. As this is something not too usual ;) I´ll post my sure guesses:

CD 1

Track 9

Jeep! The Rabbit doing a very Shakesperian thing! I did recognize the sound of the alto sax... and the sound of the orchestra. This is: AMG REVIEW. It´s track 9

Track 6

Charlie Parker´s favorite singer is included here. Someone says she "holds every note as if it was the last minute of her life". Definitively one of my favorite singers: AMG ENTRY.

Must check my shelves or AMG to discover which tune it is... and who on hell is the other singer, which I SHOULD KNOW.... JEANNE LEE???

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Got the discs yesterday afternoon, listened to them each one time last night, and again as we speak, Have NOT looked at others comments beforehand this time.

First of all, let me say what an outstanding compilation this is. Randy had mentioned previously that he has a background doing jazz raido, and I can hear it hear - both the individual cuts and the discs as a whole create a mood, an ambiance, that draws me in and keeps me in, even when I know full well what a selection is from having heard it umpteen times myself. Superb sequencing and seques, Randy. Come to think of it, all of the BFTs have had this element to one degree or another. We should start an Organissimo streaming jazz radio site. THEN there would be world peace!

Also, I think Randy & I might be about the same age, becasue there is much here that reflects who and what was "in the air" the first ten or so years of my discovery of jazz, and listening to these discs brought back many warm feelings, both personal and musical, of a time when the rigid barriers and "definitions" of the last 20-something years had yet to be erected, or at least ATTEMPTED to be erected. The music was moving in may different directions simultaneously, and if those different directions ahd nothing else in common, it was that they were all moving AHEAD in some form or fashion, a sure sign of life and health. That's what I hear throughout this disc - healthy music from healthy times.

Enough Old Fart-isms, on with the guesses, such as they are.

DISC ONE

Track 1 - Crazy! Be-Bop & R&B peacefully coexisting, belieing the myth that Bop was an inpenetrable "cult" music. This is "for the people" all the way. Sounds like one of those medium-size groups that Jug led, w/Jerry Valentine arrangements, but I don't think it's him. Tom Archia, maybe? I dig the drummer muchly - he's got that bebop "float" going bigtime in his solo. Sounds like something a DJ would use as an opening for a night's show. I'd be tuned in!

Track 2 - Oh yeah, LOVE this tune. First heard it by this leader w/a bigger group, and it stuck w/me immediately. One of the great underplayed songs of recent time. WACK seque too! :tup The alto player is strongly reminiscent of his old man, but has a thing of his own happening underneath all that. This is how I have it. Great, GREAT stuff.

Track 3 - Well, yeah. HELL yeah. Have a smoke, a drink, and a snuggle. Life is good, in spite of itself. Essential listening.

Track 4 - Take off your clothes, go out into the early summer sun, and DANCE! I've done that at least once to this one. Trust me, it's good fer what ails yah. An oft-overlooked gem, from an oft-overlooked period of this man's career. Also recommended.

Track 5 - Don't know if I have this one or not. If I do, it's something I recently obtained and have only listened to a few times, not nearly enough to internalize. I'd be shocked if it's not Mal Waldron. BLACK GLORY, maybe? Picked that one up last year, and this "feels" like it might be that, from what I can remember after 2-3 listens. Great stuff - full of energy & tension, but CONTROLLED energy and tension used to create an unavoidable impact. This tyep of Waldron playing reminds me of a man who's about to snap, but never will because he KNOWS he's about to, and refuses to out of principle - CAN'T let the bastards win! Absorbing music.

Track 6 - Beautiful. Two of the most distinctive and evocative voices of our time. This used to get airplay on KNTU back before the jazzskool pigs started tightening the reigns. Have yet to hear the entire album yet, and there's no good excuse for that. At all.

Track 7 - Another great one! Don't miss it!

Track 8 - Still another essential disc! Don't miss it either, if you can find it.

Track 9 - Rabbit & Juliet. Which version, I'm not sure, but judging from the introductory applause (and the ultra-quick cutoff ;) ), I'd say Paris (on Atlantic), although my LP version has Gonsalves up higher in the mix when he plays lead there in the middle. But I've yet to play this disc on my "real" system, so that means nothing. If somebody tries to tell you that there is no true beauty in this world, nothing that deifies all attempts to suck us into a cesspool of negativity and hopelessness, play them this cut. If they still don't get it, leave them alone. Vampires of the soul we can all do without.

Track 10 - different cut than above, but other than that, the comments stay the same. It's easy to overlook how genuinely BLESSED in the deepest and truest sense we are to have music like this at our disposal. We need to train our bodies and our souls to be receptive to those blessings, and live life accordingly.

Track 11 - One of my mostest favorite-est singers ever, and another criminally neglected tune by Dave Burrell. Never heard this version, or the lyric (Burrell's?), always heard it done instumentally, mostly by Shepp, but also in a wholly nice version by David Murray. This singer has gotten a scintilla of the attention that Leon Thomas has, although they've been on the scene roughly the same amount of time, I think, and for my moey, as much as I dig Leon, THIS guy has ot goin' on even taht much more. Livin' high on nickles & dimes indeed! This guy w/Shepp on a French album nearly made my BFT (and most likely WILL make the next one, so competitive types take note ;) ), but I couldn't find the "spot" for them. Randy did (for him, anyway), and my hat's off to him for that! This one has been on my radar for a while now, and it just got bumped up several notches. Excuse the mixed metaphor.

A killer set!

DISC 2

Track 1 - Gigantic hairy spiders moving in slow motion while I take another sip of cough syrup. No, wait, that's "The Barbara Song". :g But this one comes close. God, what gorgeous writing and playing, there's enough going on in the bottom for an ocean in which to go down and never surface (but not drown), but there's just as much happening in the middle and on the top too. Wish there was a live version of this from this era, w/o the splices, which are the only drawback to the CD issue over the Lp - you can hear EVERYTHING 100% clearer including the splices. Oh well, fuck it. Music to die for, and possibly with. You never know. PUT THIS MOTHERFUCKER BACK IN PRINT NOW!!!

Track 2 - ANYBODY WHO DIGS SINGERS THIS MUCH IS ALRIGHT BY ME!!! You jazz fans who don't like the singers, no disrespect, but...

Y'ALL AIN'T GOT A FUCKING CLUE!!! Sorry.

We can still be friends, though! :rlol

Track 3 - Ok, this seals the deal. I AM buying this one. Everytime I hear a cut from it, I get totally knocked out. This stuff is deep. See above. And believe it or not, I hear a very slight influence of these guys in the vocal arrangements of Sly & The Family Stone. I would not be surprised to find out that Sly was a fan.

Track 4 - Walt Dickerson. LIFE RAYS? No matter, this guy's the shit no matter what the album is. 'Nuff said.

Track 5 - Nice change of pace, works in the "flow" of the disc, but not something I'd be likely to listen to outside of a mix like this or on the radio. Certainly high-quality playing, though.

Track 6 - Music built from the bottom up. That and in the middle, w/the percussion, is where all the action is. I hear Benny Maupin & Bill Summers, I think, so my guess would be The Headhunters, but I don't recognize the cut, and I don't know Paul Jackson to have played upright. More here than might meet the ear if you listen to the "inside" of the music instead of the "top" or the "outside". I like it, I hear more with each listen (ok, so far only two, but hey...). Thre's some real group playing going on here. Just a guess.

Track 7 - Masters at work. This guy... Miss him and it's your loss. And did the flautist here ever again record on the instrument? He's on this BFT 3 TIMES!

Track 8 - One of the great bands of the 70s. I still dig this guy very much, think he's playing at a very high level now, better than back then, actually, but this BAND MATTERED in a way that perhaps you had to be there to fully appreciate. I have no idea what this kind of thing sounds like to younger, or "newer" ears than mine, and frankly, I don't care. I remember, and I hear. Yeah, I hear all the potential for excess just waiting to burst out, but it doesn't, and sometimes that self-restraint makes for the difference between genius and eccentricity. Besides, with that tenor player, that bassist, and that drummer (and, yeah, that percussionist) there's no room or time for self-indulgence and/or bullshit, legitimate or otherwise. Maybe that's why the band broke up...

Track 9 - MORE music that matters. The trumpeter has always been the weak link in the various editions of this band, imo, but he's in top form here. The tenor, well, all I can say is icon12.gif. Same for the drummer, except add the highest personal respect for everything he's publicly stood for. One of my TRUE musical heroes.

Track 10 - If this is what I think it is, then it's a lot more interesting than I have been thnking it would be all these years. Must hear more!

Track 11 - Goodnight, Ladies and Gentlemen., closing time, drink up and get going. Ya'll be careful, watch out for them astroids and such. Happy New Light Year, and give us a ring (or three) next time you're in the area. ok?

I have enjoyed myself!

(edited becasue there are tracks 9,10, & 11; NOT tracks 9,9, & 10 :rolleyes: )

Edited by JSngry
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First of all, let me say what an outstanding compilation this is. Randy had mentioned previously that he has a background doing jazz raido, and I can hear it hear - both the individual cuts and the discs as a whole create a mood, an ambiance, that draws me in and keeps me in, even when I know full well what a selection is from having heard it umpteen times myself. Superb sequencing and seques, Randy. Come to think of it, all of the BFTs have had this element to one degree or another. We should start an Organissimo streaming jazz radio site. THEN there would be world peace!

Also, I think Randy & I might be about the same age, becasue there is much here that reflects who and what was "in the air" the first ten or so years of my discovery of jazz, and listening to these discs brought back many warm feelings, both personal and musical, of a time when the rigid barriers and "definitions" of the last 20-something years had yet to be erected, or at least ATTEMPTED to be erected. The music was moving in may different directions simultaneously, and if those different directions ahd nothing else in common, it was that they were all moving AHEAD in some form or fashion, a sure sign of life and health. That's what I hear throughout this disc - healthy music from healthy times.

I for one didn't really like the compilational aspects of the disk. As I wrote, I liked quite a number of individual tracks (and some I disliked quite a bit), but overall the music didn't gel with me. Maybe what you are alluding to in the second paragraph is the crux. I can believe it is a good compilation, with a decent flow (hey, I have enough respect for each and everyone of you to think that you can come up with a good selection of tunes!), but I don't hear it. My loss probably, but then again, there's so much out there that liking it all, would wash away the difference and therewith the appreciation.

thanks for a bunch of great tunes randy. I will seek some out in another context. (heck, I just ordered a disk!)

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is one of these guys a choir-boy??

I hope I get you right when I say: The answer is YES!

Oops, well after reading Jsngry's post I'm not on the mark with this. I was alluding to who I thought might be the saxophonist from his own large groups on what I think might be the same Italian label of record.

And man I can't believe, (I mean I can) Jim's post! You must have some outboard 500 Gig brain sitting in a jar like that one horror movie I saw when I was a kid where the organ controls a whole wall full of arms that ends up strangling the bad guy.... what the hell am i talking about here? Simply amazing. :wacko:

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# 6 OH YEAH!!!!! I'D NEVER THOUGHT ANYONE ON THE BOARD WOULD HAVE THAT RECORD!!!! I happen to know the story behind that songtitle. More to come in the answers thread. Happy guessing! This isn't even listed on AMG! I won't give this away. :g This record was for me what the John Lewis/Bill Perkins Pacific Jazz LP was for Jim Sangrey: I listened to and absorbed this a thousand times.

THIS I gotta hear!

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# 10 A track from one of the two solo saxophone records of this guy. I love his music and regard him one of the truly individual tenor saxophone voices in jazz. All these Muzak ondulists stole from him, but he made real good music with sincere expression where the others went commercial. Y'all know who this is, don't ya?

I do now, and that would have been my second guess. But what I could hear of the original tone had me thinking Getz, which is appropros, since this guy's always had a bit of Getz in the upper partials of his tone. But this album I do not know.

Funny how over the course of not too many years he went from normal enough to totally gonzo to totally warm and fuzzy. What a long, strange trip THAT must have been.

I don't dig him as much as you do, and find his work on a Galaxy "different soloists fronting same rhythm section" album truly abominable, but there's never been any doubt in my mind that he was a serious player who just got kinda, uh, "freaked" sometimes and lost some crucial artistical focus. But not on this cut, this is happening! And I LOVE his work with that late-60s/early 70s freakazoidal big band!

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A lot of these tracks are so loose... decent musicianship at times, but less than memorable meandering that many an amateur could execute, IMO.

The standards of amateurism have apparently risen to frighteningly high levels since the last time I looked. This frightens me - I'm just too old to go back to practicing 6-8 hours a day. Hell, sometimes it takes me that long just to take a dump! :g:g:g

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seriously Jim, you got almost all of them didn't you? :tup

Yeah, but that's just because the guy who put the tracks together has a lot of the same records I do, it seems.

it's the age Jim, admit it :g

Oh HELL yeah. Don't think I don't know it.

You know you're "getting there" when kids complain that things from the 60s & 70s sound "too modern". Did LTB move us to Ork when I wasn't looking?

I'd slit my wrists in frustration, but I'm too busy laughing to keep from crying. Maybe tomorrow.

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A lot of these tracks are so loose... decent musicianship at times, but less than memorable meandering that many an amateur could execute, IMO.

The standards of amateurism have apparently risen to frighteningly high levels since the last time I looked. This frightens me - I'm just too old to go back to practicing 6-8 hours a day. Hell, sometimes it takes me that long just to take a dump! :g:g:g

prunes.jpg

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The standards of amateurism have apparently risen to frighteningly high levels since the last time I looked. This frightens me - I'm just too old to go back to practicing 6-8 hours a day.

C'mon Jim, think of all the things we did at their age when not practicing, that they are missing.

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# 10 A track from one of the two solo saxophone records of this guy. I love his music and regard him one of the truly individual tenor saxophone voices in jazz. All these Muzak ondulists stole from him, but he made real good music with sincere expression where the others went commercial. Y'all know who this is, don't ya?

I do now, and that would have been my second guess. But what I could hear of the original tone had me thinking Getz, which is appropros, since this guy's always had a bit of Getz in the upper partials of his tone. But this album I do not know.

Funny how over the course of not too many years he went from normal enough to totally gonzo to totally warm and fuzzy. What a long, strange trip THAT must have been.

Funny Jim, you think I might be right, but now after reading your post I think you might be right. Some mysterious remark by Randy made me believe there might be a third solo sax by the guy I was talking about, but I didn't know your guessed man ever made such a recording, and listening closer I hear a lot of traits that suggest your guess rather than mine - plus the fact that it is not on the two LPs I have which I have checked since posting my guess. After all, you're the saxist!

Sorry folks, I might have mislead you ... -_-

Edited by mikeweil
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I don't dig him as much as you do, and find his work on a Galaxy "different soloists fronting same rhythm section" album truly abominable, but there's never been any doubt in my mind that he was a serious player who just got kinda, uh, "freaked" sometimes and lost some crucial artistical focus. But not on this cut, this is happening! And I LOVE his work with that late-60s/early 70s freakazoidal big band!

I agree about the Galaxy records, that was around the time when his concept was gettin' a bit stale. If I remember correctly, he took a time out later. And I'll admit any time he's not on the same level as Getz, but I dig his warmth and sincerity. He should get back to his energetic side more often, though. His duos and trios with just drums or bass and drums are great!

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# 1: This CD sure starts at a frantic pace! I know this is track 7 from This LP, so I won't say no mo'.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

I have this one! :alien::alien::alien:

(but Tom Archia's still a good wrong guess... ;) )

At least I got one you didn't! ;) My BT rule #2 applies to everybody!

Tom Archia - a friend turned me to him many years ago. Let's reserve him for a future BT. :lol:

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