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Hot Ptah

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Track 3

I'd call this a Monk pastiche. It's probably dedicated to him

Track 5

Recognizing the "Au Privave" theme and Toots Thielemans' playing, I tracked this one down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oscar_Peterson_Big_6_at_Montreux

Track 6

I've never heard this before, but it has the sound of a Vanguard date from the mid-fifties, so I'll guess Ruby Braff, Edmund Hall and Vic Dickenson. Swings like crazy!

Track 7

Bud Powell's "Tempus Fugit". Steamin' performance with some of Phineas Newborn's touches, but sounds too modern a recording to be him.

Track 8

Wow, we are getting some great stuff this time! Phil Woods on Musique du Bois  with an arrangement of "Willow Weep for Me" that makes it sound like it's off Kinda Blue. :)

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17 hours ago, Michael Weiss said:

Track 3

"A Monk's Dream" composed and performed by Johnny Griffin. This was a staple in our repertoire for many years.

How am I going to fool Johnny Griffin's pianist for over ten years? That is the composition. But on which album, and who are the other musicians?

19 hours ago, BillF said:

Track 3

I'd call this a Monk pastiche. It's probably dedicated to him

Yes indeed. See Michael Weiss' ID of the composition. We still need the album and the other musicians.

Track 5

Recognizing the "Au Privave" theme and Toots Thielemans' playing, I tracked this one down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oscar_Peterson_Big_6_at_Montreux

 

You got it. I was hoping to fool everyone for awhile with this one. But I suppose that there are not that many jazz harmonica soloists, so I should have expected that Toots would be identified.

Track 6

I've never heard this before, but it has the sound of a Vanguard date from the mid-fifties, so I'll guess Ruby Braff, Edmund Hall and Vic Dickenson. Swings like crazy!

It is a Vanguard date. You have only one of the musicians correct.

Track 7

Bud Powell's "Tempus Fugit". Steamin' performance with some of Phineas Newborn's touches, but sounds too modern a recording to be him.

It is a Bud Powell composition but not "Tempus Fugit"

Track 8

Wow, we are getting some great stuff this time! Phil Woods on Musique du Bois  with an arrangement of "Willow Weep for Me" that makes it sound like it's off Kinda Blue. :)

Yes, you have Identified it. I really like the bass and piano solos on this track, as well as the overall feel.

 

 

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BFT144

Well, here we are again, with a bunch of great unknowns.

1 Nice old-time piano, along with a modern-sounding horn section, then settles down to a piano, bass & drums band. I could wish this were Jay McShann, because I know you like him, but I don’t think so. Tenor player isn’t as modern as I’d thought when he starts to solo. Nor is the trumpet player. No idea who the hornmen are. I like this; I think I’d like a lot of this.

2 This is nice in a kind of Duke Pearson way, but I don’t think it’s him; pianner player has a few too many chops, I think. Still, this is the kind of thing that, if it was on a Duke Pearson album, you’d listen to with relish or Branston Pickle. Can’t say Pearson’s my main man, but he stands interestingly exactly on the border between hard bop and soul jazz, as does this band here.

3 This is well onto the hard bop side of that line, but it’s still got a nice funky feel to it and no one’s trying to blind me with science (they usually succeed). I’ve got a feeling I’ve heard the sax player before but can’t really ID him – someone like Tim Warfield I think, but without any confidence. Bass player is a bit thin-toned; I’d rather hear a geezer with fewer chops but much more resonance (same as trombonists and sax players).

4 Oh I know this tune. Well, I thought I did. Guitarist’s fingertips are making too much noise, sliding up and down the strings, for me, I’m afraid, so I can’t really concentrate on what he’s playing, only what he’s doing. No, a bit too much guitar for me.

5 Live and, I’m almost sure from the first notes, Lionel Hampton. With a HARMONICA PLAYER???? Struth! OK, so it’s probably Toots, though it sounds a bit thrustful for him. Very forceful guitar player, and I’ll guess a European. After another thin-sounding bass player, here comes Toots again, and an exchange of fours. Good, hot jazz, but I’m doubting Hampton, maybe it’s Milt Jackson.

6 Another wing-ding track. Very mainstream. Don’t know these players; well, I expect I do but I’m enjoying this too much to be asked to actually IDENTIFY anyone. I don’t think it’s a Prestige Swingville session, so perhaps it’s Vanguard or Columbia.

7 Coo! Another Spitfire cut! Vroooom!!! Well, I suspect Oscar Peterson here. Oh no, Phineas! I’ve probably, though not possibly, got this. If I could recognise Bebop classics, I might be able to finger this.

8 ‘Willow weep for me’ played as if it were ‘All blues’. Well, it ain’t Sonny Stitt; too clever for it to be Stitt. And the sax solo doesn’t flow enough, anyway. And another chopsy bass player. What’s the matter with Leroy Vinnegar, Bill? J Well, these guys are all showing off their techniques but there’s still music to hear here. I’ll be interested to read who this is.

Time for a cough and drag (ie, fag). Back soon.

9 Hm, somewhat abstract tune, trying hard not to be bop. Sounds old and, at three minutes, maybe it was done for a 78. But the sax player isn’t playing 78 era music, so I’ve no idea and can probably do without this, intriguing though it is. So anyway, NOT Gene Ammons.

10 Another tune I know, but can’t put my finger on instantly. ‘In your own sweet way’? Lovely title, I’ve always thought. Oh, no need for double timing, my lad; you were getting along fine without that. Sorry, minus fourteen for poor taste.

11 This is a nearly, but not quite, familiar tune. Being done very nicely with, so far, no exhibition of digital musculature. Well, after 2.5 minutes, the guy does reveal serious chops but, unlike the previous guy, resists the temptation to launch off into space. Good. I hope these two cuts aren’t the same player.

12 Shades of Debussy’s ‘La mer’. And I thought Les McCann was the only one who did that. Learn something every day. This guy ISN’T the same as the last couple. There’s a spark of insanity here, along with enormous capacity and ability, that indicates someone like Earl Hines. Oh, it cut off. Perhaps it was just a solo intro to something that the rest would have been a dead giveaway of.

13 Oh, movie magic! Ennio Morricone goes jazz! Rampant synthesisers! Because surely no one would have paid for a whole goddamn orchestra. Well, in the seventies, if this had a disco beat, Creed Taylor would have. So, if Grover Washington Jr comes on in the last five minutes, I’ll know, won’t I? So, we’re getting there, aren’t we? Isn’t that Mrs Hubbard’s little boy on trumpet? Well, whaddaya know? This is getting more and more to sound as if it’s a Don Sebesky album cut, even though it’s not Grover Washington Jr on sax. Though, there are bits of the sax solo that DO sound like Grover. And bits that DON’T. Well, even if the tenor player is Grover (and I’m not convinced it is), it’s NOT one of his own albums. No, I think it’s Don Sebesky.

Damn nice BFT Bill, thank you. I didn’t guess much and it’s all wrong, I imagine, because my guesses were filled with non-conviction. But I did enjoy almost all of it and want to find out about quite a lot, in a few weeks’ time.

MG

2 hours ago, BillF said:

As you say, Track 7 isn't Powell's "Tempus Fugit". It's his "Celia", taken at a faster than usual tempo, hence the confusion. Don't know who's playing it, though.

Well, It's Phineas Newborn, Calvin's less popular brother :) This is from 'The great jazz piano of PN', his second Contemporary album. And, to my ETERNAL shame, I didn't recognise Leroy Vinnegar!  And Milt Turner, later with the Ray Charles band, is the drummer.

MG

2 hours ago, Hot Ptah said:

 

 

Recognizing the "Au Privave" theme and Toots Thielemans' playing, I tracked this one down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oscar_Peterson_Big_6_at_Montreux

 

You got it. I was hoping to fool everyone for awhile with this one. But I suppose that there are not that many jazz harmonica soloists, so I should have expected that Toots would be identified.

Oh well, I wasn't far off in the end. I'd never have thought of Oscar Peterson, but I listen to him as little as I can get away with.

MG

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3 hours ago, BillF said:

As you say, Track 7 isn't Powell's "Tempus Fugit". It's his "Celia", taken at a faster than usual tempo, hence the confusion. Don't know who's playing it, though.

It is "Celia".

1 hour ago, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

BFT144

Well, here we are again, with a bunch of great unknowns.

1 Nice old-time piano, along with a modern-sounding horn section, then settles down to a piano, bass & drums band. I could wish this were Jay McShann, because I know you like him, but I don’t think so. Tenor player isn’t as modern as I’d thought when he starts to solo. Nor is the trumpet player. No idea who the hornmen are. I like this; I think I’d like a lot of this.

It is not Jay McShann. I thought that you might like this. I like it a lot myself.

2 This is nice in a kind of Duke Pearson way, but I don’t think it’s him; pianner player has a few too many chops, I think. Still, this is the kind of thing that, if it was on a Duke Pearson album, you’d listen to with relish or Branston Pickle. Can’t say Pearson’s my main man, but he stands interestingly exactly on the border between hard bop and soul jazz, as does this band here.

Very interesting comments. It is not Duke Pearson.

3 This is well onto the hard bop side of that line, but it’s still got a nice funky feel to it and no one’s trying to blind me with science (they usually succeed). I’ve got a feeling I’ve heard the sax player before but can’t really ID him – someone like Tim Warfield I think, but without any confidence. Bass player is a bit thin-toned; I’d rather hear a geezer with fewer chops but much more resonance (same as trombonists and sax players).

You know this sax player well. Michael Weiss identified Johnny Griffin and the name of the song, but we do not have the album or the other musicians yet.

4 Oh I know this tune. Well, I thought I did. Guitarist’s fingertips are making too much noise, sliding up and down the strings, for me, I’m afraid, so I can’t really concentrate on what he’s playing, only what he’s doing. No, a bit too much guitar for me.

I understand your comments. It is a display of chops at times, for sure.

5 Live and, I’m almost sure from the first notes, Lionel Hampton. With a HARMONICA PLAYER???? Struth! OK, so it’s probably Toots, though it sounds a bit thrustful for him. Very forceful guitar player, and I’ll guess a European. After another thin-sounding bass player, here comes Toots again, and an exchange of fours. Good, hot jazz, but I’m doubting Hampton, maybe it’s Milt Jackson.

It is Toots, and Milt Jackson. The guitarist is not European.

6 Another wing-ding track. Very mainstream. Don’t know these players; well, I expect I do but I’m enjoying this too much to be asked to actually IDENTIFY anyone. I don’t think it’s a Prestige Swingville session, so perhaps it’s Vanguard or Columbia.

It's on Vanguard.

7 Coo! Another Spitfire cut! Vroooom!!! Well, I suspect Oscar Peterson here. Oh no, Phineas! I’ve probably, though not possibly, got this. If I could recognise Bebop classics, I might be able to finger this.

It IS Phineas! You are the first to positively identify him.

8 ‘Willow weep for me’ played as if it were ‘All blues’. Well, it ain’t Sonny Stitt; too clever for it to be Stitt. And the sax solo doesn’t flow enough, anyway. And another chopsy bass player. What’s the matter with Leroy Vinnegar, Bill? J Well, these guys are all showing off their techniques but there’s still music to hear here. I’ll be interested to read who this is.

Not Leroy Vinnegar here, but Vinnegar does appear on another cut on this Blindfold Test. BillF has already identified this. It is Phil Woods, with Jaki Byard, Richard Davis and Alan Dawson. Yes, a chopsy bass player, one of the chopsiest.

Time for a cough and drag (ie, fag). Back soon.

9 Hm, somewhat abstract tune, trying hard not to be bop. Sounds old and, at three minutes, maybe it was done for a 78. But the sax player isn’t playing 78 era music, so I’ve no idea and can probably do without this, intriguing though it is. So anyway, NOT Gene Ammons.

Very interesting comments. It is not Gene Ammons, and not a 78.

 

10 Another tune I know, but can’t put my finger on instantly. ‘In your own sweet way’? Lovely title, I’ve always thought. Oh, no need for double timing, my lad; you were getting along fine without that. Sorry, minus fourteen for poor taste.

It is not "In Your Own Sweet Way." That is interesting, that you thought that this was in poor taste.

.

11 This is a nearly, but not quite, familiar tune. Being done very nicely with, so far, no exhibition of digital musculature. Well, after 2.5 minutes, the guy does reveal serious chops but, unlike the previous guy, resists the temptation to launch off into space. Good. I hope these two cuts aren’t the same player.

Intriguing comments!

12 Shades of Debussy’s ‘La mer’. And I thought Les McCann was the only one who did that. Learn something every day. This guy ISN’T the same as the last couple. There’s a spark of insanity here, along with enormous capacity and ability, that indicates someone like Earl Hines. Oh, it cut off. Perhaps it was just a solo intro to something that the rest would have been a dead giveaway of.

As you said, "it was just a solo intro to something that the rest would have been a dead giveaway of".  That is very much the case. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by who this is.

13 Oh, movie magic! Ennio Morricone goes jazz! Rampant synthesisers! Because surely no one would have paid for a whole goddamn orchestra. Well, in the seventies, if this had a disco beat, Creed Taylor would have. So, if Grover Washington Jr comes on in the last five minutes, I’ll know, won’t I? So, we’re getting there, aren’t we? Isn’t that Mrs Hubbard’s little boy on trumpet? Well, whaddaya know? This is getting more and more to sound as if it’s a Don Sebesky album cut, even though it’s not Grover Washington Jr on sax. Though, there are bits of the sax solo that DO sound like Grover. And bits that DON’T. Well, even if the tenor player is Grover (and I’m not convinced it is), it’s NOT one of his own albums. No, I think it’s Don Sebesky.

 

This is not Don Sebesky, or Grover Washington, or Freddie Hubbard. I love those guesses though.

Damn nice BFT Bill, thank you. I didn’t guess much and it’s all wrong, I imagine, because my guesses were filled with non-conviction. But I did enjoy almost all of it and want to find out about quite a lot, in a few weeks’ time.

MG

Well, It's Phineas Newborn, Calvin's less popular brother :) This is from 'The great jazz piano of PN', his second Contemporary album. And, to my ETERNAL shame, I didn't recognise Leroy Vinnegar!  And Milt Turner, later with the Ray Charles band, is the drummer.

MG

Yes! You identified the musicians and the album. BillF previously identified the song, "Celia," by Bud Powell.

 

Recognizing the "Au Privave" theme and Toots Thielemans' playing, I tracked this one down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oscar_Peterson_Big_6_at_Montreux

 

You got it. I was hoping to fool everyone for awhile with this one. But I suppose that there are not that many jazz harmonica soloists, so I should have expected that Toots would be identified.

Oh well, I wasn't far off in the end. I'd never have thought of Oscar Peterson, but I listen to him as little as I can get away with.

Oscar has some worthy recordings, including this one.

MG

 

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23 hours ago, BillF said:

Track 3

I'd call this a Monk pastiche. It's probably dedicated to him

Track 5

Recognizing the "Au Privave" theme and Toots Thielemans' playing, I tracked this one down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oscar_Peterson_Big_6_at_Montreux

Track 6

I've never heard this before, but it has the sound of a Vanguard date from the mid-fifties, so I'll guess Ruby Braff, Edmund Hall and Vic Dickenson. Swings like crazy!

Track 7

Bud Powell's "Tempus Fugit". Steamin' performance with some of Phineas Newborn's touches, but sounds too modern a recording to be him.

Track 8

Wow, we are getting some great stuff this time! Phil Woods on Musique du Bois  with an arrangement of "Willow Weep for Me" that makes it sound like it's off Kinda Blue. :)

Track 7: No acknowledgement of my mention 22 hrs ago (which turned out to be correct) of Phineas Newborn?

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Indeed, you did, about as haphazardly as I usually manage to get :D

I did get Phineas positively (as Bill said), once I'd started really listening :) I'm pretty pleased with that, as I much prefer him doing material like 'Please send me someone to love' than those fast things that you can't smooch to, so I listen to those early albums much less than what I think of as the nicer stuff.

MG

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On ‎3‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 1:35 PM, BillF said:

Track 7: No acknowledgement of my mention 22 hrs ago (which turned out to be correct) of Phineas Newborn?

You said that the performer had some of Phineas' touches, but that it sounded too modern a recording to be him. I guess I could have said, be more positive with your discussion, take a definite stand as you may find that you are correct.

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1 hour ago, Hot Ptah said:

You said that the performer had some of Phineas' touches, but that it sounded too modern a recording to be him. I guess I could have said, be more positive with your discussion, take a definite stand as you may find that you are correct.

Indeed!;)

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1. Hard stereo pan, so probably mid-60’s.  BN feel.  Very metronomic time-keeping.  I’d guess Ray Charles with Hank Crawford, but the drummer’s too dull for Ray.  

 

2. I’d peg this around 1967-8.  Sounds like it could be in the background of a James Coburn make-out scene.  I like the conga; I always like a conga in jazz.  Give me Ray Barretto any day.  The pianist sounds like early McCoy Tyner.  Again, hard pan.  Ron Carter on bass?  It has that elastic feel of his.  

 

3. Sounds Monk-ish.  Johnny Griffin has already been identified.

 

4. John McLaughlin on the right channel?  With that really fast run and hard attack.  My guess for the left channel: Al DiMeola.  Faster, but with less taste.  But then a third guitarist on the right channel?  OK, I’m guessing Paco DeLucia, from one of those records all 3 made together.  Very nice track.

 

5. Toots.  Since this has already been identified, I’m gonna move on; I don’t need to hear another Norman Granz jam session.

 

6. Since there’s a clarinet, I’m guessing Pee Wee Russell.  Ruby Braff, Dave McKenna?  I don’t recognize the trombonist.

 

7.  Phineas Newborn; already identified.  Unreal technique, and swings like crazy.  Listen to what he’s doing with his left hand!  The bassist is driving too.  This is the epitome of jazz for me; fuck Vijay Iyer and the museum he rode in on.

 

Y’know, I think Thom Keith needs to come clean on the fact that those blue bars do not reflect the music that’s playing.

 

8.  Willow Weep For Me.  Was this already identified as Sonny Criss?  Ah, Phil Woods.  Still, being compared to Sonny Criss is a high compliment.  I wish the sound mix was better.

 

9. Is this early Braxton?  Or some other nascent avant-garder.  And that cheesy electric piano?  Please, give up trying to play tonal; you can’t cut it.

 

10.  Keith Jarrett?  He can play without grunting, you know.  Sounds like a world-class piano the musician is playing.  Maybe the attack is too consistently strong to be Jarrett (and there isn’t any grunting).  Hmmm, metronomic left hand.  Not sufficiently romantic for the track to really work.  

 

11.  Again, it might be Jarrett.  And I do hear humming.  But the voice doesn’t sound like Jarrett.  Still, I am going to go with him.  Ah, I see it’s Paul Bley.

 

12.  I like this pianist’s touch.  Now this could’ve been Paul Bley: the romanticism, followed by the subverting of the romanticism.  I’m going to guess Joanne Brackeen.  

 

13.  Weird.  The arrangement sounds like it could be Billy Harper, but the synthesizer throws me.  Or is it a mellotron?  Again, the pianist is trying too hard to impress.  Has elements of McCoy Tyner, but that still leaves too many pianists.  And the voices???  The modality…I’m gonna guess recorded in the early 80’s. But no idea who it is.

 

Great BFT!  Very listenable.  Thanks for providing.

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1 – Superior example of the whole 60’s boogaloo beat thing.  Very pleasant indeed, and I would not be surprised if I own this somewhere.

2 – And this sounds so familiar, I’m sure I must own it somewhere.  Top notch.  I’m sure I’ll kick myself when I find out what it is.

3 – Good modern mainstream.  Really enjoying this so far.  Again, would not be shocked if I owned this somewhere.  I have been listening to a lot of non-jazz the past few years, so my memory banks are getting foggy, but this is a Monk composition, and the tenor player sounds like a substantial name.

4 – Well played, but ultimately not of interest to me.

5 – The harmonica ultimately throws me off.  Again, five years ago, I could have named the tune, a well-known jazz standard, but time and age are making me dull.  I assume it is Toots Thielemans on harmonica just because I don’t know who else would be playing it in this sort of JATP context.   

6 – Predates my window of interest.

7 – Again, a well-known cut that I’m sure I must have somewhere.  Has the Bud Powell thing DOWN.

8 – “Willow Weep for Me”.  I know this one, Phil Woods from ‘Music Du Bois” with Jaki Byard.  Absolutely wonderful in every respect.

9 – Morbidly fascinating, they all seem to be playing different songs, yet it kept my interest, and the  trumpet player really caught my ear.  Quite curious to find out what this one is/was.

10 – Very very good pianist, though for solo piano, I more do the whole Keith Jarrett sort of thing.  I really enjoyed this guy’s left hand.  Another tune I know but am not identifying.

11 – See #4.

12 – This is the kind of solo piano stuff I more get into.  Interesting contrast exercise with 10/11/12 showing three very disparate approaches to solo piano.

13 – This is not the “best” cut on the BFT (2 and 8 far surpass it), but it is the most interesting to me.  Has to be from the mid 70’s (say ’73-’76), and for all its garishness in places, such as the so-very-awkward mellotron and vocal overdubs, it is right in my wheelhouse.  It’s also the sort of thing that I excitedly wait for the reveal on, run out to amazon, see that the cheapest CD copy is $47.95, and ultimately end up passing onL.   I often think of the Bridgewater brothers playing on this sort of thing, and the trumpet and tenor styles on this would seem to fit that assertion.

Bill, great BFT, thanks.  Both an enjoyable listen and I’m sure will prove to be a fun learning experience!  Like you, I find it enjoyable when the cuts can eventually be identified over the course of the month.  I anxiously await the reveals, especially on #13, and #9.

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1 hour ago, felser said:

1 – Superior example of the whole 60’s boogaloo beat thing.  Very pleasant indeed, and I would not be surprised if I own this somewhere.

It was not recorded in the 1960s.

2 – And this sounds so familiar, I’m sure I must own it somewhere.  Top notch.  I’m sure I’ll kick myself when I find out what it is.

I think that you may own it.

 

3 – Good modern mainstream.  Really enjoying this so far.  Again, would not be shocked if I owned this somewhere.  I have been listening to a lot of non-jazz the past few years, so my memory banks are getting foggy, but this is a Monk composition, and the tenor player sounds like a substantial name.

Not a Monk composition. This composition, "A Monk's Dream," has been identified by Johnny Griffin's long time pianist Michael Weiss. It is a Johnny Griffin composition, and it is Johnny on tenor saxophone. But we still don't know the album or the other musicians.

 

4 – Well played, but ultimately not of interest to me.

 

5 – The harmonica ultimately throws me off.  Again, five years ago, I could have named the tune, a well-known jazz standard, but time and age are making me dull.  I assume it is Toots Thielemans on harmonica just because I don’t know who else would be playing it in this sort of JATP context.   

It is Toots. This has been identified. I bought this Oscar Peterson Big 6 album when it was initially released on Pablo as an LP.

 

6 – Predates my window of interest.

 

7 – Again, a well-known cut that I’m sure I must have somewhere.  Has the Bud Powell thing DOWN.

This has been identified, as a Pnineas Newborn, Jr. recording.

 

8 – “Willow Weep for Me”.  I know this one, Phil Woods from ‘Music Du Bois” with Jaki Byard.  Absolutely wonderful in every respect.

Yes. I agree that it is absolutely wonderful. It is a 1974 reunion of the Jaki Byard/Richard Davis/Alan Dawson rhythm section. I wonder if they ever recorded together again after this album. I am not aware of it, if they did.

 

9 – Morbidly fascinating, they all seem to be playing different songs, yet it kept my interest, and the  trumpet player really caught my ear.  Quite curious to find out what this one is/was.

Very interesting comments!

10 – Very very good pianist, though for solo piano, I more do the whole Keith Jarrett sort of thing.  I really enjoyed this guy’s left hand.  Another tune I know but am not identifying.

 

11 – See #4.

 

12 – This is the kind of solo piano stuff I more get into.  Interesting contrast exercise with 10/11/12 showing three very disparate approaches to solo piano.

That was actually my goal, to provide three very different approaches to solo piano!

13 – This is not the “best” cut on the BFT (2 and 8 far surpass it), but it is the most interesting to me.  Has to be from the mid 70’s (say ’73-’76), and for all its garishness in places, such as the so-very-awkward mellotron and vocal overdubs, it is right in my wheelhouse.  It’s also the sort of thing that I excitedly wait for the reveal on, run out to amazon, see that the cheapest CD copy is $47.95, and ultimately end up passing onL.   I often think of the Bridgewater brothers playing on this sort of thing, and the trumpet and tenor styles on this would seem to fit that assertion.

This is not a 1970s recording. I think that you may be surprised at who it is.

 

Bill, great BFT, thanks.  Both an enjoyable listen and I’m sure will prove to be a fun learning experience!  Like you, I find it enjoyable when the cuts can eventually be identified over the course of the month.  I anxiously await the reveals, especially on #13, and #9

Thanks for your insightful comments! I am glad that you enjoyed it.

 

12 hours ago, mjzee said:

1. Hard stereo pan, so probably mid-60’s.  BN feel.  Very metronomic time-keeping.  I’d guess Ray Charles with Hank Crawford, but the drummer’s too dull for Ray.  

 

Not Ray Charles or Hank Crawford. Not recorded in the 1960s, but was released in the 1960s.

 

2. I’d peg this around 1967-8.  Sounds like it could be in the background of a James Coburn make-out scene.  I like the conga; I always like a conga in jazz.  Give me Ray Barretto any day.  The pianist sounds like early McCoy Tyner.  Again, hard pan.  Ron Carter on bass?  It has that elastic feel of his.  

 

It is McCoy Tyner, but not early McCoy. It is Ron Carter on bass. You have identified more on this track than anyone else so far.

 

I am not aware of this track being used as a James Coburn make-out scene, unless it was for James Coburn's own private use.

 

 

3. Sounds Monk-ish.  Johnny Griffin has already been identified.

 

Yes, he has. We still do not know the album or the other musicians.

 

4. John McLaughlin on the right channel?  With that really fast run and hard attack.  My guess for the left channel: Al DiMeola.  Faster, but with less taste.  But then a third guitarist on the right channel?  OK, I’m guessing Paco DeLucia, from one of those records all 3 made together.  Very nice track.

 

It is not John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, or Paco DeLucia. Also, there are not three guitarists on this recording.

 

5. Toots.  Since this has already been identified, I’m gonna move on; I don’t need to hear another Norman Granz jam session.

 

 

6. Since there’s a clarinet, I’m guessing Pee Wee Russell.  Ruby Braff, Dave McKenna?  I don’t recognize the trombonist.

 

None of those musician guesses are correct.

 

7.  Phineas Newborn; already identified.  Unreal technique, and swings like crazy.  Listen to what he’s doing with his left hand!  The bassist is driving too.  This is the epitome of jazz for me; fuck Vijay Iyer and the museum he rode in on.

 

I love Phineas' playing in general, and this album is one of my favorites.

 

Y’know, I think Thom Keith needs to come clean on the fact that those blue bars do not reflect the music that’s playing.

 

 

8.  Willow Weep For Me.  Was this already identified as Sonny Criss?  Ah, Phil Woods.  Still, being compared to Sonny Criss is a high compliment.  I wish the sound mix was better.

 

Yes, it is Phil Woods.

 

9. Is this early Braxton?  Or some other nascent avant-garder.  And that cheesy electric piano?  Please, give up trying to play tonal; you can’t cut it.

 

It is not early Braxton. The saxophonist was not nascent at the time of this recording.

 

10.  Keith Jarrett?  He can play without grunting, you know.  Sounds like a world-class piano the musician is playing.  Maybe the attack is too consistently strong to be Jarrett (and there isn’t any grunting).  Hmmm, metronomic left hand.  Not sufficiently romantic for the track to really work.  

 

It is not Keith Jarrett. Very interesting comments.

 

11.  Again, it might be Jarrett.  And I do hear humming.  But the voice doesn’t sound like Jarrett.  Still, I am going to go with him.  Ah, I see it’s Paul Bley.

 

Yes, it is Paul Bley. We do not have an identification yet of the composition or album.

 

12.  I like this pianist’s touch.  Now this could’ve been Paul Bley: the romanticism, followed by the subverting of the romanticism.  I’m going to guess Joanne Brackeen.  

 

It is not Paul Bley or Joanne Brackeen. I really like your comments about this track. You may be surprised at who it is.

 

13.  Weird.  The arrangement sounds like it could be Billy Harper, but the synthesizer throws me.  Or is it a mellotron?  Again, the pianist is trying too hard to impress.  Has elements of McCoy Tyner, but that still leaves too many pianists.  And the voices???  The modality…I’m gonna guess recorded in the early 80’s. But no idea who it is.

 

It was not recorded in the early 1980s. Interesting comparisons to Billy Harper and McCoy Tyner, but it is neither of them. I think that you may be surprised at who this is.

 

Great BFT!  Very listenable.  Thanks for providin

 

Thank you for your very interesting comments, and your positive reaction!

 

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24 minutes ago, JSngry said:

And Kamasi on #13?

 

Yes! Track 13 is Song 1 on Disc 1 (of 3) from Kamasi Washington's 2015 album, "The Epic." The name of the song is "Change of the Guard".

We have a thread about this album in the Jazz in Print section of the board.

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