BFT 137 discussion

[JSngry]

Ok, #8 is the oddly titled "Kitty On Toast", Ray playing with Horace Henderson. Sweet! That sax section had it going on too.Blend!

I wonder what, if anything, that had to do with this?

That's the Ellington piece that everybody loves to hate, but hell, I love it, Sonny Greer playing an R&B beat, hey. And Ray just being Ray. It is what it is, deal with it.

 

 

[JSngry]

On the Billy Mitchell track, it sounds like Burrell is not using his own gear, perhaps, which would be odd, but..

Here's the recording data: http://microgroove.jp/mercury/SRS67042.shtml

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

Thad Jones (tp), Billy Mitchell (ts),
Richard Wyands (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Herman Wright (b), Oliver Jackson (ds).
Recorded at A & R Studios, NYC on August 1 & 6, 1963.

what we don't have is a log of whatever commercial dates he was doing. Maybe he had multiple sessions on the same day? Maybe his amp got damaged in transit, or delayed in transit, whatever, and he had to use a house amp that he could not adjust to get his normal tone? Stuff happens, right, and there's got to be a logical explanation as to why Kenny Burrell doesn't sound like Kenny Burrell while still apprently actually being Kenny Burrell.

[Spontooneous]

I'll admit to having spent some counterproductive time wondering where the title "Kitty on Toast" came from...

Wasn't aware of that Ellington side, which is a hoot. Is that a Don George lyric?

[Jim R]

On the Billy Mitchell track, it sounds like Burrell is not using his own gear, perhaps, which would be odd, but..

Here's the recording data: http://microgroove.jp/mercury/SRS67042.shtml

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

Thad Jones (tp), Billy Mitchell (ts),
Richard Wyands (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Herman Wright (b), Oliver Jackson (ds).
Recorded at A & R Studios, NYC on August 1 & 6, 1963.

what we don't have is a log of whatever commercial dates he was doing. Maybe he had multiple sessions on the same day? Maybe his amp got damaged in transit, or delayed in transit, whatever, and he had to use a house amp that he could not adjust to get his normal tone? Stuff happens, right, and there's got to be a logical explanation as to why Kenny Burrell doesn't sound like Kenny Burrell while still apprently actually being Kenny Burrell.

True, and I think your scenarios make a lot more sense than this guy's:

"Unfortunately, Kenny Burrell, another famous star, is not so spotlighted on this album as we expect (probably because Richard Wyand's left hand comping and Kenny's guitar interfare each other)."

I just listened to the track again for the first time since Michael made the ID, and (of course) it sounds even more like Kenny than it did to me before.  It sounds like perhaps his treble was just rolled off (whether by KB or the engineer) more than usual, but it also could have been foreign equipment, I suppose.  To me he sounds a little uncomfortable or slightly uncertain with a change here and there, which seems to disrupt the usual chemistry of his phrasing.

[JSngry]

Wasn't aware of that Ellington side, which is a hoot. Is that a Don George lyric?

"Kitty:"is by E.A. Weinstein and E.F. Brier, whoever they are. I'm sure there's a story there, and I'd live to hear it, but until then, I'll take the record. Freakin' Ray Nance and Sonny Greer BRINGIN' IT!!! And oh yeah, Oscar Pettiford. Maybe they wanted to do it, maybe it they didn't, but that's a GROOVE, in spite of itself.

Edited August 7, 2015 by JSngry

[NIS]

So, my one wild guess for this BFT is Leo Smith on track 6. He did an ECM album that had a trumpet trio with, I think Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler. Haven't listened to it in a long time but I'm going to soon. Even if I'm wrong, I like this track very much.

I haven't had a chance to do a lot of listening here but there is some good stuff.  I will get back later.

[Spontooneous]

So, my one wild guess for this BFT is Leo Smith on track 6. He did an ECM album that had a trumpet trio with, I think Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler. Haven't listened to it in a long time but I'm going to soon. Even if I'm wrong, I like this track very much.

I haven't had a chance to do a lot of listening here but there is some good stuff.  I will get back later.

Not such a wild guess. You're right all the way around.

[NIS]

So, my one wild guess for this BFT is Leo Smith on track 6. He did an ECM album that had a trumpet trio with, I think Lester Bowie and Kenny Wheeler. Haven't listened to it in a long time but I'm going to soon. Even if I'm wrong, I like this track very much.

I haven't had a chance to do a lot of listening here but there is some good stuff.  I will get back later.

Not such a wild guess. You're right all the way around.

So what do you think, Wheeler on the right, Bowie in the middle, Smith on the left????

I listened to the whole album last night and it's a good one all around.  Thanks for suggesting it.

[Spontooneous]

So what do you think, Wheeler on the right, Bowie in the middle, Smith on the left????

I had always assumed the leader was in the middle, and I was thinking Lester on the left. But assuming is no good. May be as many opinions as there are listeners on this one. 

I hope Manfred resisted the temptation to move them around in mid-improv.

[JSngry]

Have we ruled out Lips Page or Louis Russell for #4?

[Spontooneous]

Have we ruled out Lips Page or Louis Russell for #4?

Yes. Pick a point somewhere between the two, turn south, and you'll be in the neighborhood.

[JSngry]

Texas? Arkansas? Oklahoma? One of the three?

[Spontooneous]

One of the three, yep.

[NIS]

Been enjoying my ride down Missouri Hwy. 137. Here are a few comments, mostly like/don't like. I'm having more trouble with coherence the older I get.

I heard another guitar players' version of “Cherokee” on the radio this morning. I actually have a radio station that plays jazz where I live now. Don't know either artist but your version is much better.

Track 2 is pretty interesting. Neat little intro and exit. Nice trumpet solo. Not big on the drum solo but I like the piano.

This is kind of a dumb thing to say considering who sponsors these forums but I'm not a big organ fan. Track 3 is OK, just not my favorite

About the only time I listen to the traditional stuff is on these BFTs and I almost always am drawn to those tracks. To me track 4 starts with a little boozy feeling (if that makes any sense), almost could be a sound track for one of those old cartoons. That is not a knock, I love those soundtracks. They are some of my first music recollections. I like the soloists. “Loveless Love” no?

Track 5 really sounds familiar. That usually means it is someone I've never even heard of. I like this track more each time I listen.

I've already commented a little on track 6. Probably my favorite right now. You won't cost me any money on this one since I already have it.

Again, nothing wrong with track 7, just not my favorite. Really nice bass playing though.

Track 8, some more older really nice music.

Track 9, not stick a fork in my ear or anything just not my favorite.

Track 10, OK. Another one that sounds familiar.

Now, something a little different. Track 11 makes me picture an old boy sitting on the porch with his hound dog and a cold beverage, watching the world go by. I like it. Except for the dog, maybe that will be me this afternoon.

The first time I listened to the last track I thought it was an into and kept waiting to see where it was going to go. Listening again, it really is quite a nice piece of music. I don't know if I would want a whole record of solo violin but this is a good finish.

Thanks for putting this together.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Well, here we go....

1 ‘Cherokee’, I’ll be damned! Played by a very fleet guitarist. But sounding kinda late thirties/early forties. Could it be Les Paul? It’s very nice but, even after two listens, I haven’t a clue.

2 After a funny intro, this settles down into a nice swinger by a trumpet player I’m sure I know. Followed by a slightly too long drum solo, then a nice piano solo. It seems to have the same chords as ‘Cherokee’ but I don’t expect that’s true – it’s just my imagination, as the Temps sang. Not sure I really liked it. Will give it another try. Well, on second listen, the trumpet player sounds a LOT like Blue Mitchell, but he has these sudden little bits that Blue’s never done, to my knowledge. And I can’t see him on a record with an overlong drum solo, in any case, though it’s not really overlong, on second listen. Now the pianist is a guy I really can’t say I know well. But when he comes back, the trumpet player really does sound like Blue. He made some records with Louis Bellson shortly before he died; I wonder if this could be one of them.

3 An organist. A modern-ish organist with big band. A pretty interesting track. Feel sure I don’t know the organist, but think I know the tenor player. Well, sometimes the organist makes me think of Lonnie Smith but never heard of him with a big band. Gonna listen to this again.

Well, this time I started thinking about Gene Ludwig and the album he made with the Bill Warfield big band. Hm, just dug that out and there’s no soprano sax playing in the credits, and it’s a live job, so another idea down the pan. But this is a not quite right on cut and isn’t really my cup of tea. It does have a bit of that Lonnie Smith stuff in there…

4 Oh a German beer-garden band! But it does swing a little bit. Seems to turn into ‘The Saints’ after a bit. Enjoyable but I really have no idea.

5 Another attention-gatherer. Not my kind of thing but I find it hard to actually dislike this. Another listen needed. Well, second time around, bits of trumpet playing reminded me of Lee Morgan, so it seems that he could be anyone. So could all those players, I’m afraid.

6 Ditto. No ideas about this one, either. Frankly, I dozed my way through it second time round.

7 Settles down, after another odd start, into a nice groovy ¾ thing. But then returns to the odd… Another to have another go at.

8 Oh, nice! I can’t usually tell one violinist from the next and this one is no exception. I think this is a good deal more modern than it’s trying to sound like.

9 Now here’s a kind of errant tune that turns me right off. And the trumpet player was doing it, too, and now the tenor player is… The guitarist’s nice and straight ahead, though. He must be ignoring the funny directions in the tune. I dunno, there are things in what they’re playing that are surely supposed to be lyrical magic but just aren’t because they seem to have been deliberately twisted into stuff that just ain’t nice. The guitar solo is still very nice though. I’d like to hear more of the guitarist.

10 Sounds like a band made up of some trumpet players with rhythm; a bit shrill, to my mind. The first one does sound like Freddie Hubbard, but I’m expecting them all to. Oh, an alto sax player! I missed him in the ensemble. Now another trumpet player… or the same man on flu? No, I think there are two, when the ensemble comes back during the Cedar Walton-type piano solo.

11 Blues piano. With guitar & humming accompaniment. I quite like this, but it’s kind of a novelty number for the guy. That is, it sounds like it’s not real for him.

12 Another violinist, this one sounding as if he’d rather be playing Ravel. I’ll chuck myself out of the window if someone tells me it’s Sugarcane Harris! I know this is a daft notion, but it sounds as if it’s not a violin sonata but the violin part from a string quartet, being played solo. Nice ending, Joe – just right to segue into Milt, Buddy and Jo’s Midnight slows vol 5.

Will return to this next week.

Just couldn’t get interested in much of this, I’m afraid. So much of it is too much what I think musicians take a professional interest in and not really audience-centred. Give me dancing girls and entertainment. Sorry. Well, I’m not sorry I listened; I haven’t wasted my time. Thanks.

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Catching up ... responding to Felser:

 

3 - This sort of session seemed to take place in the late-sixties to early-seventies.  The question becomes identifying the Jimmy Smith-influenced organ player.  This guy seems to have also taken in some Larry Young by this point, and there’s superfly funk elements, so I will guess early 70’s, but not too early, say 1973 or 1974.   Sounds like one of those Sonny Lester types of sessions on Solid State, Groove Merchant, or Blue Note.  I’ll guess it’s my man Groove Holmes, though I wouldn’t be shocked if it were Jimmy McGriff, Jack McDuff, Reuben Wilson, or any number of other players.  Certainly enjoyable for what it is.  I like the tenor player.  What happened at  around 9:30 there?  Like the tape stopped and started back up.   Much credit due for a track like this running 11 minutes, and yet not outlasting its welcome.  Really good of its kind.

 

It’s 1973 exactly. Yes, a very JOS-influenced player, every time he played. Much more will be said on the subject of the horn soloists before this BFT is over.

 

 

Well, THERE'S a misleading clue, if I ever saw one!

It IS JOS!

It's 'Blap' from 'Portuguese soul'. Not an album I've listened to a lot, and I had to look through all the Soul Jazz albums in my database to make me remember it. Put it on and, there it was. Flippin' 'eck, Tucker!

Very JOS-influenced!

MG

[lipi]

I think there are only three here I have much to say about: 4, 8, and 11.

4 is mid to late 30's, and sounds territory-ish enough to probably be from Texas or something. I kind of got stuck there for a while, and thought through all the possible groups, putting samples on from each. I eventually stumbled upon it in my library: it's "Careless Love" by Boots and his Buddies. Boots Douglas was a drummer who led this group in a handful of recording sessions in 1935-1938. I have this recording on Chrono Classics, and it has the same funny stumbles at 0:07 and 0:12. What's going on there? A bad transfer? Some heavy-handed splicing when this was transfered from 78? Are my ears just making things up?

This is an O.K. recording, but not something that makes me jump up and cheer. The Boots track that I enjoy most is "The Goo (The Goona Goo)", a novelty vocal from an earlier session.

 

8 sounds like a Henderson arrangement, and it is--a Horace Henderson one. That's Ray Nance on violin, so it's from one of those sessions in 1940. I had to look up the title, though, because though I've heard this before, I couldn't remember it.

 

11 Sounds like "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" for a bit. What's with the humming? Is that the drummer or the pianist or...is that a guitar, or is someone shaking a sitar and a tambourine inside a harpsichord? I have a guess for the pianist, at least, based on my initial impression of Gene-Harris-and-Basie's-lovechild. Is it Jay McShann, maybe? I don't know who's humming or shaking that sitar around.

 

Thanks for the BFT! I enjoyed puzzling it out. Now to read the comments and be embarrassed about my guess for 11.

 

Edit after reading the other comments: I'm really impressed with how many people confidently identified Nance on 8. I ID'ed him because I knew he'd played with Henderson, not the other way around. I'm bad with violins, I guess? Also: I have that Dizzy/Marsala session and I didn't recognize it. Sigh. My excuse is that I don't like it that much and so never listen to it.

Edited August 23, 2015 by lipi

[JSngry]

 So much of it is too much what I think musicians take a professional interest in and not really audience-centred. Give me dancing girls and entertainment.

Sorry, but that makes no sense. "Dancing girls and entertainment" in whatever form are exactly what constitutes professional interest. Professional means getting paid for the gig, which means getting your target audience to give up their money.

Now, if you want to talk about whose target audience is who, go right on ahead. But don't say it's musicians playing for other musicians, because musicians are loathe to pay anybody for anything, and I say that with equal parts pride and contempt, it depends on who's asking for what for whom, and why. Self-defense or self-destruction, the answers determine the questions.

[tkeith]

 So much of it is too much what I think musicians take a professional interest in and not really audience-centred. Give me dancing girls and entertainment.

Sorry, but that makes no sense. "Dancing girls and entertainment" in whatever form are exactly what constitutes professional interest. Professional means getting paid for the gig, which means getting your target audience to give up their money.

Now, if you want to talk about whose target audience is who, go right on ahead. But don't say it's musicians playing for other musicians, because musicians are loathe to pay anybody for anything, and I say that with equal parts pride and contempt, it depends on who's asking for what for whom, and why. Self-defense or self-destruction, the answers determine the questions.

I've got to agree with you, here, Jim.  Though I have been on the occasional gig that turns into a circle jerk for the benefit of teh musicians.  I think it's equally important that the musicians are buying in to what is happening (another part of that target you're referencing), if not, it devolves very quickly.  Musicians who are sensitive to what is happening will recognize and avoid this as much as possible.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

 So much of it is too much what I think musicians take a professional interest in and not really audience-centred. Give me dancing girls and entertainment.

Sorry, but that makes no sense. "Dancing girls and entertainment" in whatever form are exactly what constitutes professional interest. Professional means getting paid for the gig, which means getting your target audience to give up their money.

Now, if you want to talk about whose target audience is who, go right on ahead. But don't say it's musicians playing for other musicians, because musicians are loathe to pay anybody for anything, and I say that with equal parts pride and contempt, it depends on who's asking for what for whom, and why. Self-defense or self-destruction, the answers determine the questions.

I've got to agree with you, here, Jim.  Though I have been on the occasional gig that turns into a circle jerk for the benefit of teh musicians.  I think it's equally important that the musicians are buying in to what is happening (another part of that target you're referencing), if not, it devolves very quickly.  Musicians who are sensitive to what is happening will recognize and avoid this as much as possible.

OK, I'm gad you chipped in to my faux pas. Thanks guys.

MG

[Spontooneous]

Been enjoying my ride down Missouri Hwy. 137. Here are a few comments, mostly like/don't like. I'm having more trouble with coherence the older I get.

Sorry I'm so slow getting back on this one. Needed some time away from the Internet.

Silly but true, I'm very glad somebody commented on the 137 icon.

 

I heard another guitar players' version of “Cherokee” on the radio this morning. I actually have a radio station that plays jazz where I live now. Don't know either artist but your version is much better.

Track 2 is pretty interesting. Neat little intro and exit. Nice trumpet solo. Not big on the drum solo but I like the piano.

The drum solo seems to be a sticking point for a lot of people. I didn't mean it that way, but it's always interesting how  the BFT comments even make you hear your own selections differently.

 

This is kind of a dumb thing to say considering who sponsors these forums but I'm not a big organ fan. Track 3 is OK, just not my favorite

About the only time I listen to the traditional stuff is on these BFTs and I almost always am drawn to those tracks. To me track 4 starts with a little boozy feeling (if that makes any sense), almost could be a sound track for one of those old cartoons. That is not a knock, I love those soundtracks. They are some of my first music recollections. I like the soloists. “Loveless Love” no?

"Loveless Love" aka "Careless Love," yes. I admit it, there's a corniness factor here, and a clunky rhythm section, and a tenor player who overcomes all.

On another point, you're speaking for me too. On reflection, I realize that cartoon music was a big early part of whatever musical education I have.

 

 

Track 5 really sounds familiar. That usually means it is someone I've never even heard of. I like this track more each time I listen.

I've already commented a little on track 6. Probably my favorite right now. You won't cost me any money on this one since I already have it.

Again, nothing wrong with track 7, just not my favorite. Really nice bass playing though.

IIRC nobody has identified this one. The bassist is the leader.

 

Track 8, some more older really nice music.

Track 9, not stick a fork in my ear or anything just not my favorite.

Track 10, OK. Another one that sounds familiar.

Now, something a little different. Track 11 makes me picture an old boy sitting on the porch with his hound dog and a cold beverage, watching the world go by. I like it. Except for the dog, maybe that will be me this afternoon.

In my mind, I can see the leader on this one sitting on that porch.

 

The first time I listened to the last track I thought it was an into and kept waiting to see where it was going to go. Listening again, it really is quite a nice piece of music. I don't know if I would want a whole record of solo violin but this is a good finish.

Maybe I should be surprised that 12 hasn't generated more comment, maybe I shouldn't. Thanks for not shying away from it.

The true identity will be surprising yet somehow very unsurprising.

 

Thanks for putting this together.

Thanks for driving down Highway 137 with me.

[Spontooneous]

Well, here we go....

1 ‘Cherokee’, I’ll be damned! Played by a very fleet guitarist. But sounding kinda late thirties/early forties. Could it be Les Paul? It’s very nice but, even after two listens, I haven’t a clue.

 

Already identified. The guitar solo seems to be getting a lot of attention, and I'm fine with that, though the trumpet is the star to my ears. 

 

2 After a funny intro, this settles down into a nice swinger by a trumpet player I’m sure I know. Followed by a slightly too long drum solo, then a nice piano solo. It seems to have the same chords as ‘Cherokee’ but I don’t expect that’s true – it’s just my imagination, as the Temps sang. Not sure I really liked it. Will give it another try. Well, on second listen, the trumpet player sounds a LOT like Blue Mitchell, but he has these sudden little bits that Blue’s never done, to my knowledge. And I can’t see him on a record with an overlong drum solo, in any case, though it’s not really overlong, on second listen. Now the pianist is a guy I really can’t say I know well. But when he comes back, the trumpet player really does sound like Blue. He made some records with Louis Bellson shortly before he died; I wonder if this could be one of them.

 

Also identified. That drum solo is turning out to be very unpopular. I'll admit to being hot and cold on this track -- some days it sounds "off" and some days it sounds wonderful.

 

 

3 An organist. A modern-ish organist with big band. A pretty interesting track. Feel sure I don’t know the organist, but think I know the tenor player. Well, sometimes the organist makes me think of Lonnie Smith but never heard of him with a big band. Gonna listen to this again.

Well, this time I started thinking about Gene Ludwig and the album he made with the Bill Warfield big band. Hm, just dug that out and there’s no soprano sax playing in the credits, and it’s a live job, so another idea down the pan. But this is a not quite right on cut and isn’t really my cup of tea. It does have a bit of that Lonnie Smith stuff in there…

 

Already identified. Jimmy Smith, not playing on cruise control. Everybody, pay close attention to that uncredited band!

 

4 Oh a German beer-garden band! But it does swing a little bit. Seems to turn into ‘The Saints’ after a bit. Enjoyable but I really have no idea.

 

The heavy-footed drummer was the leader, so I suppose nobody could tell him he was turning it into a beer-garden band. At least there's no tuba. And there's the matter of that tenor player.

 

5 Another attention-gatherer. Not my kind of thing but I find it hard to actually dislike this. Another listen needed. Well, second time around, bits of trumpet playing reminded me of Lee Morgan, so it seems that he could be anyone. So could all those players, I’m afraid.

6 Ditto. No ideas about this one, either. Frankly, I dozed my way through it second time round.

7 Settles down, after another odd start, into a nice groovy ¾ thing. But then returns to the odd… Another to have another go at.

 

Nobody's identified 7 yet, and I'm a little surprised.

 

8 Oh, nice! I can’t usually tell one violinist from the next and this one is no exception. I think this is a good deal more modern than it’s trying to sound like.

 

Perceptive. Maybe a little bit ahead of its time, certainly pointing to things to come for the soloist.

 

 

9 Now here’s a kind of errant tune that turns me right off. And the trumpet player was doing it, too, and now the tenor player is… The guitarist’s nice and straight ahead, though. He must be ignoring the funny directions in the tune. I dunno, there are things in what they’re playing that are surely supposed to be lyrical magic but just aren’t because they seem to have been deliberately twisted into stuff that just ain’t nice. The guitar solo is still very nice though. I’d like to hear more of the guitarist.

 

Maybe some cutesiness in the writing, but I'll cut Thad some slack.

 

10 Sounds like a band made up of some trumpet players with rhythm; a bit shrill, to my mind. The first one does sound like Freddie Hubbard, but I’m expecting them all to. Oh, an alto sax player! I missed him in the ensemble. Now another trumpet player… or the same man on flu? No, I think there are two, when the ensemble comes back during the Cedar Walton-type piano solo.

 

Two trumpet soloists, I'm pretty sure. Thom Keith picked out Carmell Jones as the first.

 

11 Blues piano. With guitar & humming accompaniment. I quite like this, but it’s kind of a novelty number for the guy. That is, it sounds like it’s not real for him.

 

Oh, it's real. He could play a swinging waltz or a beautiful ballad whenever he had an audience that didn't insist on him playing the blues all the time.

 

12 Another violinist, this one sounding as if he’d rather be playing Ravel. I’ll chuck myself out of the window if someone tells me it’s Sugarcane Harris! I know this is a daft notion, but it sounds as if it’s not a violin sonata but the violin part from a string quartet, being played solo. Nice ending, Joe – just right to segue into Milt, Buddy and Jo’s Midnight slows vol 5.

 

Maybe a small clash of languages here, player's versus composer's. The composer is the reason for its inclusion.

 

Will return to this next week.

Just couldn’t get interested in much of this, I’m afraid. So much of it is too much what I think musicians take a professional interest in and not really audience-centred. Give me dancing girls and entertainment. Sorry. Well, I’m not sorry I listened; I haven’t wasted my time. Thanks.

MG

The dancing girls quit when they heard the tempo on "Cherokee."

 

 

I think there are only three here I have much to say about: 4, 8, and 11.

4 is mid to late 30's, and sounds territory-ish enough to probably be from Texas or something. I kind of got stuck there for a while, and thought through all the possible groups, putting samples on from each. I eventually stumbled upon it in my library: it's "Careless Love" by Boots and his Buddies. Boots Douglas was a drummer who led this group in a handful of recording sessions in 1935-1938. I have this recording on Chrono Classics, and it has the same funny stumbles at 0:07 and 0:12. What's going on there? A bad transfer? Some heavy-handed splicing when this was transfered from 78? Are my ears just making things up?

This is an O.K. recording, but not something that makes me jump up and cheer. The Boots track that I enjoy most is "The Goo (The Goona Goo)", a novelty vocal from an earlier session.

 

Ding ding ding! Now all my 78s here are identified.

I have some of the Boots 78s, but not this one, so I don't have another audio source to check those stumbles. Yes, this audio is from the Classics CD. I always assumed the stumbles were simply Boots and His Buddies being Boots and His Buddies, corny arrangement, lumpy rhythm and all. These guys are still endlessly charming. I imagine there were a lot of people on certain parts of this Earth who never had better nights than the ones they spent dancing to this band. 

 

8 sounds like a Henderson arrangement, and it is--a Horace Henderson one. That's Ray Nance on violin, so it's from one of those sessions in 1940. I had to look up the title, though, because though I've heard this before, I couldn't remember it.

 

11 Sounds like "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" for a bit. What's with the humming? Is that the drummer or the pianist or...is that a guitar, or is someone shaking a sitar and a tambourine inside a harpsichord? I have a guess for the pianist, at least, based on my initial impression of Gene-Harris-and-Basie's-lovechild. Is it Jay McShann, maybe? I don't know who's humming or shaking that sitar around.

Ding ding ding! Yes, it's McShann, in the 1960s when he barely recorded.

 

Thanks for the BFT! I enjoyed puzzling it out. Now to read the comments and be embarrassed about my guess for 11.

 

Edit after reading the other comments: I'm really impressed with how many people confidently identified Nance on 8. I ID'ed him because I knew he'd played with Henderson, not the other way around. I'm bad with violins, I guess? Also: I have that Dizzy/Marsala session and I didn't recognize it. Sigh. My excuse is that I don't like it that much and so never listen to it.

[JSngry]

Well crap, I have that Boots CD, pulled out of the used bins a long time ago, casually listened to once, nad then filed away for waht until know was intended as perpetuity.

I'm going to have to go back to it, this cut was fierce!

And fwiw, the Jazz From The Riverwalk, or whatever the syndicated public radio show that the Jim Cullum band does, actually did a show about Boots & His Buddies a few (or more) years ago, which I enjoyed but did not really pay any serious attention to. Historical narrations in pretty good detail, and musical re-creations. No idea about that show's archives, but, they did do that show, for whatever that's worth.

Played this cut at our rehearsal today, and it was unanimous- this sounds like a freakin' STREET band, with the best possible implications that phrase can have.

[Hot Ptah]

Is Jennifer Koh the violinist on the final track? I saw her live in Overland Park. Kansas. Oh wait, if there is a jazz connection here, is this the Ornette Coleman composition which she recorded? I have read about it but have never heard it before, if my guess is correct.

With a little more time to answer and the Internet's resources, I find that this is from Koh's "Violin Fantasies" album, and that it is "Trinity" by Ornette Coleman.

What a great "out of left field" choice for a Blindfold test!

Edited August 28, 2015 by Hot Ptah

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Is Jennifer Koh the violinist on the final track? I saw her live in Overland Park. Kansas. Oh wait, if there is a jazz connection here, is this the Ornette Coleman composition which she recorded? I have read about it but have never heard it before, if my guess is correct.

With a little more time to answer and the Internet's resources, I find that this is from Koh's "Violin Fantasies" album, and that it is "Trinity" by Ornette Coleman.

What a great "out of left field" choice for a Blindfold test!

Cor blimey, that's ACE!

MG