Blindfold Test #6 Discussion

[mikeweil]

I'm afraid we'll have to wait until next week ...

[EKE BBB]

I anxiously threw in my guesses for Disc 1. Now I´ve spinned it on a row once more. A few more comments track-by-track:

1.- Wonderful big band bebop. For the sound and the music it looks like late 40´s. One could think about Dizzy... but there are not many trumpet lines here... and I checked my RCA set and didn´t find this song... then I checked my Verve Big Band sides (though this sides come from mid-50s) and didn´t find anything as well.

I don´t know who the tenor sax is. The tune sounds familiar to these ears, but can´t give a name. Oh, these boppish melodies, you never can identify one!

2.- A trumpet-leaded date from the 70s???. Don´t know who he is, but I DO LIKE this theme. One to pick, for sure. The sax sounds more familiar to me.

3.- Nice and relaxed piece (it´s good to have a rest after two high-speed tracks! . Like it!

4.- My first impression was WTF is this??? Too African for me! But then (after too many minutes) comes that wonderful alto sax. Jackie McLean? But in this "environment"? Can´t be him!

5.- Don´t like the piano (too repetitive). The piece is too long for me.

6.- SEE MY PREVIOUS POSTS. Singer 1 is one of my favorite singers, one of the most underrated and, regretfully, underrecorded!!! Same could be applied to Singer 2!!!

7.- Great theme. One of my favorites from the disc! No idea, no clue, but the saxophonist is pretty good!!!

8.- No idea, no idea!!! Good, but not one of my favorites!

9.- SEE MY PREVIOUS POSTS. I´m so stupid that I didn´t realize it was a live date and not the original studio recording!

This recording has a live version of it... but after checking it... NO!

A couple more, included HERE and HERE. Who will be the winner???

10.- SEE MY PREVIOUS POSTS.

Beautiful. The tenor sax, the pianist and the drummer included here (with the adition of another different bassist) created one of the greatest "bodies" of music I´ve ever heard!

11.- SEE MY PREVIOUS POSTS. Not one of my favorites from this disc. I got it after doing some AMG research (I must recognize it!).

Great compilation, Randy. Can´t wait to hear Disc 2!

[EKE BBB]

Disc 2

After a quick listening, my only two guesses are:

1.- A great arranger and composer. And a great disc you can find in this AMG REVIEW

2.- Betty Carter.

She´s a favorite of mine. I should buy more music from her, for sure, cause I can´t identify this disc!!!

[Noj]

DISC ONE

Track 1: Most likely precedes the era I'm more familiar with. After several listens I started to like this frantic little jammy, but won't venture a guess.

Track 2: A sense of urgency throughout holds my interest. I like the trumpet solo the least, but really like the drumming. No clue.

Track 3: I love what the vibes bring to this one, real inspired stuff here. I'd buy this. Bags?

Track 4: Has a primal drum circle sort of appeal. I found the vocals somewhat annoying, but after repeated listens they seemed to fit. The vocals reminded me of Yusef Lateef or Gary Bartz...?

Track 5: The drum solo is intense! RUMBLING! Can't spot drummers at this point.

Track 6: DKDC

Track 7: Jean-Luc Ponty or Stuff Smith or Stepphane Grappelli?

Track 8: DKDC

Track 9: Beautiful, strikingly delicate live performance. Haven't the foggiest.

Track 10: Another one I'd buy. Great stuff.

Track 11: I'm gonna go ahead and guess this one's called "Crucificado," and it's a funky bit of latino con soul. I like it! There is not a chance I'd be able to guess who it is!

DISC 2

Track 1: Oh hell yes, I immediately recognize this as a tune I have had on mp3 since the beginning of Napster, but somehow never got an artist or a title to associate it with! It has been sitting in a folder of "unknowns" for a few years now. I must buy this.

Track 2: The piano is catchy...I like it. Won't run to the store for it. Don't know who it is.

Track 3: Lambert, Hendricks, & Bavan? Heck if I know. Not my bag.

Track 4: Y'all done warming up yet? When does the song start?

Track 5: Al DiMeola?

Track 6: Gotta have this. What is that low droning horn? Baritone sax or a basoon or something?

Track 7: Damn, another one perfectly suited to my tastes. Leo Wright or Charles Lloyd...?

Track 8: And another heavy hitter! Really dig the percussion. Gato Barbieri?

Track 9: A bit erratic and noisy for my tastes, but after several listens I found the intensity appealing, similar to Track 5 of DISC ONE. No guess.

Track 10: Otherworldly, has a "drifting through space" vibe to it with those echo effects. Dude, trip out, the colors! No idea.

Track 11: A nice straight ahead tune, I get the sense it is a standard I should recognize. Nice closing tune. Not able to come up with names to go with the sounds.

Randy Hersom--Thanks again for the great set of music. This one will definitely be sending me on a spending spree--four or five tracks are exactly the kind of jazz I like the most!

Now I finally get to read everyone's responses!

[randyhersom]

So to answer the unasked question, I'm 44 and my years at Temple University's WRTI were 1976-1979. To answer the asked question, yes there was an attempt to make segues flow by removing some trailing silences and burning Disc at Once. Some clues did exist in stage announcements, and I edited them out, leaving only the clues in the music.

couw's BFT did a wonderful job of mining a groove, introducing gradual change. Mine included some very disparate styles, and when you like one tune and not the next, or when you dislike both, it's hard to like the segue. Much thought went into sequencing and perhaps some of the segues will grow on the people who choose to listen some more. There are a few sequences I'm particularly pleased with.

You have all done well. I've been amusing myself with making a mental baseball team of the participants. JSngry or course shouldn't be allowed to hit Little League pitching . mikeweil had a grand slam, a double and several singles, but a couple errors. Fine production overall. tooter was a fine leadoff batter, very selective of his pitches, but with a killer on-base percentage.

There are two tracks where the artist has not been mentioned or linked yet on the discussion thread, and one of them was identified in a PM. I'm holding back a couple clues on the other one for a few days. Definitely not as obscure as Xero Slingsby or Joe Daley.

Edited February 4, 2004 by randyhersom

[Noj]

Damn, apparently I've neglected my copy of Bobby Hutcherson DIALOGUE for too long.

JSngry's correct identifications on this one look to be in record numbers!

I'm after that Gil Evans first, maybe the Randy Weston and then the Johnny Griffin after that, and then the Coltrane... B)

I'm batting about .063, but I'm lovin' playing in the bigs...

[randyhersom]

I was looking forward to getting the reaction of a more groove-oriented listener to track 2-6. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Noj]

Randy, you've included several tracks that are perfect for my groove-oriented tastes, though I certainly wouldn't overlook the other styles you included. I was especially entranced by 1-7, 1-9, and 1-10, as far as the more straight-ahead tracks go.

I enjoy every minute of these, even the tracks that don't appeal to me. I like to listen with my comments in front of me, and everyone else's comments on the screen, then compare and contrast...sometimes my opinions change over repeated listens.

I too have enjoyed the savvy sequencing Randy and the other compilers have employed.

I'm liking track 2-2 more and more, it is playing right now.

[randyhersom]

OK, I'm cutting loose with a couple mild clues here. The track which was identified correctly in a PM:

The leader has spent time in two well known combos whose leaders have won at least 10 DownBeat polls between them.

The track which no one has mentioned the correct artist for:

The leader has something beside the instrument they play in common with one or more of the incorrect guesses.

[Big Wheel]

Randy, do you mean disc 2 number 5? I figured out that one but still need to type up the rest of my guesses.

[randyhersom]

Cool. Awaiting your post. If you know who it is, and nobody else did, that must be the one!

[mikeweil]

After reading your hints and some detective work, I risk a wild guess and suggest this guy for the fusion guitar track. Have trouble playing sound samples at the time, so I cannot confirm this way. I will buy this! This is the type of fusion guitar I missed back then, Holdsworth is excellent but too cerebral, diMeola too egotistical ....

[mikeweil]

Damn, apparently I've neglected my copy of Bobby Hutcherson DIALOGUE for too long.

Same here. This mellow track always slipped through my attention. Strange, since it is the clearest reference to his West Coast beginnings on all of his Blue Note albums. Real close to the stuff other West Coast doorbellists like Ayers and Feldman played in such a tempo.

[catesta]

Disc One

Track 1 - Have no idea of the tune, but I think I'm hearing Dizzy. No real guess on the sax, I thought at first it might be Eddie Davis.

Track 2 - No idea but it's cool.

Track 3 - I'm goin' with Bobby Hutcherson

Track 4 - ?

Track 5 - Steve Kuhn?

Track 6 - Have no clue on the vocals, the piano sounds like Gene Harris.

Track 7 - ?

Track 8 - ?

Track 9 - Sure does dound like Duke and Johnny Hodges.

Track 10 - Hearin' the Trane.

Track 11 - At first I thought the tune was "I Got You Under My Skin", until the vocals kicked in , I have no idea.

Disc Two

Track 1 - WOW! Big sound.

Track 2 - Gotta be Betty Carter

Track 3 - Shit, I thought this may be Jim Hall or Joe Pass on guitar. It got better as it went along, but I still have no guess of who and what it is.

Track 5 - Cool tune, but not for me.

Track 6 - I thought the tune might be "Come Sunday", but I doubt it's right.

Track 7 - A most definitely unfamiliar piano, so I'll throw out Cecil Taylor.

Track 8 - Not diggin' it.

Track 9 - I was all over the place on this one, still have no good feel for who or what it is. Joe Henderson?

Track 10 - ?

Track 11 - BINGO!!! I got the tune right off the bat.

"Exactly Like You" Too bad for me and can't tell the who's playing it, safe to say I've never heard this version before.

Thanks Randy for lettin' me play along.

Some real good stuff in there.

[John B]

It has been hard to avoid looking, but I have tried to avoid looking at people's guesses before continuing...

Disc One:

1) The trumpet doesn't sound like Dizzy to me but the early bebop big band sound does make me think of him. I'm not very failar with this era, so I'm going to guess it's a band of Dizzy's from the late 40's / early 50's. I enjoyed this track more than I expected to.

2) My first thought was Woody Shaw, circa Moontrane / Little Red’s Fantasy. Great playing by all involved and some fiery soloing. I haven’t gone back to the album to listen (which I need to do soon) , but my guess is that it is track 8 off of this disc: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A5l63mppf9f1o

3) I really like the mellow, laid-back vibe on this track. For a second I thought I was hearing Herbie Hancock on piano, but I’m pretty sure it’s not him, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, no clue on the rhythm section. If that is Sam Rivers on sax I think I know which disc this is…I love how hearing a track out of context of its album can make it sound so different and unexpected!

4) No clue who this is, but I really dig the groove these guys create. I’m very interested in finding out who this is.

5) I still think this sounds an awful lot like Matthew Shipp but, on closer listen, I don’t think it is. No clue, but I really like this track.

6) Not my style at all. No clue.

7) No clue who this is, but I really enjoy the interplay of the sax and bass.

8) Ornette on Atlantic? No clue, otherwise.

9) Immediately I’m thinking Duke. Don’t know which album this live track is from.

10) Trane. Not a performance that leaps to mind when I think of him, but great, nonetheless. It’s amazing how quickly he went from this sound to the later Impulse albums.

11) It sounds like something that could have been recorded at the same sessions as the Wildflowers Jazz Loft discs. I only know of one version of this tune with vocals, so I am going to guess it is on this album: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A985h8qz9btb4

I really don’t care for the vocals at all, so I won’t be buying a copy of this disc anytime soon.

Onto disc two in a bit...

[billyboy]

Here are my thoughts on Disc One:

1) My first thought was Illinois Jacquet, but there's a little bit of a 'Salt Peanuts' thing going that makes me think of Dizzy.

2) Woody Shaw? It has a real 70's feel to it, and it just sounds like Woody.

3) I really like this one, with very appealing vibe work. Don't have it, but will check it out. Bobby Hutcherson?

4) Fabulous! No idea who it is, but dig it.

5) Not much to recommend this one, other than the drums. Uninspired piano work to these ears, and the noodling goes on way too long.

6) Not my cup o' tea. The guy sounds kind of like Betty Carter, though. Maybe Benny Carter?

7) Like it! Sounds like a cello. If so, need to beef up my jazz cello collection.

8) Can't quite get my head around this one. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's a slow, spare, modern piece that isn't unappealing, but isn't going on my 'must-get' list. I'll definitely give it a few more spins.

9) Live Ellington? This one is great. Just when I thought I had enough Ellington...

10) Dexter Gordon? I'm not very familiar with Dexter, but it sounds kind of similar to a version of 'Love for Sale' I have on a compilation disc.

11) Don't care for this one. Am interested in who it is only to make sure I don't accidently pick this one up.

On to disc 2 in a bit. So far a mixed bag, but a couple of real winners to add to my collection.

[rockefeller center]

1. 1940-1950 bebop date. A live recording? High speed stuff, I especially like the segue into the sax solo. Good start.

2. Fast pace continued, thank you. Hope it will go on this way! The drummer reminds me of Victor Lewis somehow, could be him. Cecil McBee bass, Woody Shaw trumpet?

3. Well, I know very few vibraphonists and usually avoid music that features this instrument (except for "Out To Lunch" and "Hotel Hello")... my guess is Hutcherson. For some reason, this tune reminds me of Mingus's composing style.

4. I don't like it. Perhaps a good track to dance to. Too repetitive for me to keep it interesting for over 11 minutes. No idea who these guys are.

5. Same comment as #4 except for the dancing thing. I think the drumming sucks. This is a strange track. The piano is most likely not this musician's main instrument.

6. Too sweet for my brain. Can't stand it.

7. Good tune.

8. This one has an atmosphere that fits my current mood, I like it. The drumming is pretty much focused on creating tension only, maybe it fits for this tune but this is too subtile for my taste.

9. Beautiful. No idea who.

10. Not recognizing this one immediately is fucking embarassing; I should consider to stop listening to music.

11. This is cool! The guitar player very much reminds me of Gene Bertoncini's playing on Shorter's "Odyssey Of Iska." Will get the album which this is from.

I'll listen to disc #2 later. So far, this once again proves that I can't talk about music. Thanks for providing these discs, Randy!

edit: crappy spelling, grammar.

Edited February 4, 2004 by rockefeller center

[randyhersom]

After reading your hints and some detective work, I risk a wild guess and suggest this guy for the fusion guitar track. Have trouble playing sound samples at the time, so I cannot confirm this way. I will buy this! This is the type of fusion guitar I missed back then, Holdsworth is excellent but too cerebral, diMeola too egotistical ....

A good guess, consistent with the clue, but not the right answer.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Boy track five on the first disc has me the most entranced right now. It is definitely tooooo long for me but that's a silly reason to shruff it off. The three horsemen (actually one's a couw) here say it's Mal Waldron and I'm not really all that familiar wit his work. If it is then I need to be ejamacated. As Jsngry states that it seems like the pianist is about to blow, my googling leads me to the acknowledgement that a decade before this cut, if it is Mal, he suffered a breakdown and needed to relearn some aspects of his playing from there. That the creative mind can be so hardened by so much yet so frail is a continuing mystery. This is one heavy track and should not be so maligned (pun pardoning). I recall John Zorn describing Tristano's fingers as made of "sledgehammers" and that's not far off mark here - maybe 'ball peens'. That little redundant elementary figure after 00:39... that is called out in a previous post, is really like some native american dervish akin to Pullen's "Common Ground" playing. Please tell me more, oh those on the mountain top.

Edited February 4, 2004 by Man with the Golden Arm

[rockefeller center]

1. Could be Gil Evans (arrangement reminds of Sketches Of Spain).

2. No idea. I like it.

3. Music like this has no place in my life at this point.

4. Hey, there's another vibraphone guy who makes music I can appreciate. Thanks Randy.

5. Not my cup of tea. Sounds like electric bass (more than 4 strings I believe) + acoustic bass... maybe Patitucci?

6. Music heavily influenced by the Headhunters. The rhythm section provides a very weak bottom in my opinion (could be me on bass) and the bass sounds so thin. At some points I'm under the impression as if the whole thing is about to collapse. Hello bass player/drummer - wake up! Wasn't the guitar players' most inspired date either. Don't know who this is - if it's the Headhunters band, I'll stop participating in these tests.

7. Don't know what to say about this. Nothing that caught my attention in these 18 minutes, a nice track.

8. No clue.

9. Thanks for bringing back the energy! It's a pity that the bass is buried in the mix. However, I'll have to check these guys out.

10. Atmospheric stuff, well done. Ned Rothenberg? No.

11. Holy couw, this tune sounds familiar but I can't name it. My question is whether the bass was in the same room when this was recorded. Very strange, most likely this was intentional. Keyboard bass? I'll have to listen to this one a couple of times to figure out what's going on. I think I'll like it.

[tjobbe]

for disc2-track5 : has anybody thrown Allan Holdsworth into the ring ???

[Stefan Wood]

disc 2, track 4 - Greg Bendian?

disc 2, track 5 - bill frissell?

[Big Wheel]

D'oh! This is the SECOND time I've accidentally deleted my BFT answers before hitting the submit post button. I'll finish out my guesses later, but here's disc 2 number 5:

5. It took me 2 days or replaying this in my head to figure out exactly who this was. I've worked at a couple of radio stations, and I instantly knew that I'd heard this tune at one of them, but I couldn't remember which one or why or who it was. Finally, I got it: it's this guy.. Last year another guy at the station produced a program of his complete work, and this tune was used as the "bed" for the 30-second promo he made for it. I was running another program at the time and had to play the promo 4 or 5 times. Don't know what album it is, but I'm 99% sure it's him. Not quite gritty enough for my tastes, but a nice performance nontheless.

Edited February 4, 2004 by Big Wheel

[JSngry]

D'oh! This is the SECOND time I've accidentally deleted my BFT answers before hitting the submit post button. I'll finish out my guesses later, but here's disc 2 number 5:

5. It took me 2 days or replaying this in my head to figure out exactly who this was. I've worked at a couple of radio stations, and I instantly knew that I'd heard this tune at one of them, but I couldn't remember which one or why or who it was. Finally, I got it: it's this guy.. Last year another guy at the station produced a program of his complete work, and this tune was used as the "bed" for the 30-second promo he made for it. I was running another program at the time and had to play the promo 4 or 5 times. Don't know what album it is, but I'm 99% sure it's him. Not quite gritty enough for my tastes, but a nice performance nontheless.

a-HA!

There was a time when that guitar tone was instantly recognizable to me, but that time has obviously passed. My personal preference is for his earlier work, but the guy is truly an individualist and a great player.

Now all that's left (I think) is 2-6, something that Mike says is not listed on AMG. Accoustic bass, bass clarinet, ample percussion, and the guitarist's tone is somewhat reminiscent of Sam Brown. Well, well, well....

[couw]

are we clear on who that doorbell player on 2-4 is then?

(just asking, this thread is getting awfully long awfully fast )