Blindfold Test #114 Discussion

[tkeith]

8. What a beautiful low-register sound from the trumpet (or flugelhorn?) player. The piece has a slightly unusual structure, but these musicians handle it well. I wish the tenor player hadn’t indulged in the now-cliché “strangled” altissimo passage. Other than that, very nice stuff.

I very much agree. That is probably the #1 drawback to this guy's playing, but it's also one that makes him most identifiable... and more recently well off.

9. Okay, this is personal thing. I’m not a fan of “jazz vocals.” This is well-done music that I didn’t care for at all. The soprano sax solo was good, but awfully slick and “professional,” like the rest of this.

This is the lone bearable track from one of the very glossy productions MPBN used to provide me with. Over a decade, I think I may have used 5 songs (out of literally hundreds of terrible CDs). I really liked this tune as soon as I heard it, but as I mentioned in a response above, it's because of the similarity in the bass line to Amsterdam After Dark. There's still a good story pending in the reveal.

10. This tenor player has an interesting, “hollow” sound. Again, he sounds familiar to me, but I can’t come up with a name. In any case, this is a totally sustained, coherent, and riveting five minutes of unaccompanied saxophone.

This one is a stretch for anybody to get.

11. More good, personal playing. I like that the saxes really weren’t in tune, and didn’t care – I’m totally serious about that. But I probably didn’t appreciate this track as much as I should have - I’ll admit that by this point of the BFT I was suffering a little from post-bop fatigue. I was ready for some tubas and banjos, or alternatively, a screaming free-jazz freakout. But this was good.

I don't doubt your seriousness because I know precisely what you mean. There are points on the album, though, that I do wish they'd take a second to tune. Even so, overall, I like that these guys are doing something *different*. I can't quantify what that is, but my ears tell me it is so. I intentionally stayed in the post-bop mode for this test. I hadn't done one like that, yet, and felt it was time. Trust me, there'll be a freak-out next year (all the stuff I didn't include in this one!).

12. Again, it’s probably just me, but this didn’t do much for me. After about the third Coltrane quote I was a little exasperated with the tenor player, and the piano and bass solos bored me. Probably just me. I did like the drum solo.

Though I understand what you're saying about the tenor player, there is something about this guy, again, that is just different to my ear. He's playing the same notes, but he somehow seems to mean it more than his peers.

13. Okay, this is different. Don’t like the cello (or bass?) or sound. I was starting to get bored, though, until the tenor and drums came in. Then I got bored again. A nice little tune, but I wish they had done more with it.

Different is the reason I chose this track. There are at least two tracks on the album I prefer much more, but I thought the combination of the song and the players would throw people off. I, too, wish they had done more with it.

[Hot Ptah]

So jeffcrom, who is it on #7?

[jeffcrom]

So jeffcrom, who is it on #7?

Okay, it's so late in the month, that I'll claim an ID on this, even though I "cheated" on my self-imposed BFT rules. It's this:

Mr. Mangione's fourth album, I think, with the great Wynton Kelly on piano. I sure liked that track.

And while researching it, I found that Mangione is the trumpet (or flugelhorn) player on the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" - a little blast from my own personal past.

Edited September 28, 2013 by jeffcrom

[Hot Ptah]

Both are a definite surprise.

[tkeith]

Both are a definite surprise.

The surprises don't stop there. Sam Jones, Louis Hayes and Joe Romano round out the band. I had no idea CM had worked with such heavy hitters!

[Hot Ptah]

I saw Chuck Mangione live in early 1976, when he was in his big hat/big popularity phase. I was surprised at how much undiluted jazz content there was to the concert. Saxophonist Gerry Niewood and guitarist Grant Geissman played many straighahead solos which were quite exciting, and Chuck cut loose sometimes too.

Chuck found a formula and a look that made money, but both he and his band could play.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Hot Ptah

[tkeith]

I was most familiar with the Vadalla band, and never really warmed to the improv stylings within. I think Chuck is a very underrated composer, though.

[felser]

So jeffcrom, who is it on #7?

Okay, it's so late in the month, that I'll claim an ID on this, even though I "cheated" on my self-imposed BFT rules. It's this:

Mr. Mangione's fourth album, I think, with the great Wynton Kelly on piano. I sure liked that track.

And while researching it, I found that Mangione is the trumpet (or flugelhorn) player on the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" - a little blast from my own personal past.

My understanding has always been that Hugh Masakela was the trumpet player on that one.

Edited September 28, 2013 by felser

[jeffcrom]

So jeffcrom, who is it on #7?

Okay, it's so late in the month, that I'll claim an ID on this, even though I "cheated" on my self-imposed BFT rules. It's this:

Mr. Mangione's fourth album, I think, with the great Wynton Kelly on piano. I sure liked that track.

And while researching it, I found that Mangione is the trumpet (or flugelhorn) player on the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" - a little blast from my own personal past.

My understanding has always been that Hugh Masakela was the trumpet player on that one.

My info was from Mangione's Wikipedia entry, so it may not be correct.

[NIS]

I am very sorry for not acknowledging your fine BFT before now. My excuse is that we are in North Carolina for the birth of our grandson and the third birthday of our granddaughter. I have been getting a lot of grandchild time but haven't been on the computer much. Not a complaint. What I have had a chance to do is listen to the BFT quite a bit on the drive across country and on morning walks. I like it.

Track 11 is probably my favorite and not just because of the vibes, although I like the way this person plays them. I thought of Khan Jamal like a couple of the other guys. Jason Adasiewicz plays kind of like this also but I've guessed him correctly on a couple of other BFTs so I've probably gone to that well once too often. Good music all around.

I don't think I have anything with Jerome Richardson. Nice way to start things off.

I also like the two solo tracks quite a bit, particularly the saxophone track.

Can't really verbalize why but the last track has really grown on me. At one point the tune not the way they play it reminded me of the theme to the TV show “Taxi”. I have a tin ear, you know.

Chuck Mangione. If there are more surprises like that, this is going to be fun.

Thanks very much for your effort.

[tkeith]

I am very sorry for not acknowledging your fine BFT before now. My excuse is that we are in North Carolina for the birth of our grandson and the third birthday of our granddaughter. I have been getting a lot of grandchild time but haven't been on the computer much. Not a complaint. What I have had a chance to do is listen to the BFT quite a bit on the drive across country and on morning walks. I like it.

Track 11 is probably my favorite and not just because of the vibes, although I like the way this person plays them. I thought of Khan Jamal like a couple of the other guys. Jason Adasiewicz plays kind of like this also but I've guessed him correctly on a couple of other BFTs so I've probably gone to that well once too often. Good music all around.

I don't think I have anything with Jerome Richardson. Nice way to start things off.

I also like the two solo tracks quite a bit, particularly the saxophone track.

Can't really verbalize why but the last track has really grown on me. At one point the tune not the way they play it reminded me of the theme to the TV show “Taxi”. I have a tin ear, you know.

Chuck Mangione. If there are more surprises like that, this is going to be fun.

Thanks very much for your effort.

Enjoy your trip -- no worries. Walks and traffic are a good way to lay your ear on music. Good call avoiding the Jason Adasiewicz guess -- not him. I think the Mangione surprise is probably the biggest uh-huh, but there are several minor ones contained herein.