All Activity

Philip Catherine - Cote Jardin (Baseline)

AFAICT, "Japanese jazz" is really hot these days, right up there with "spiritual jazz". I follow the "Coming Soon" page at The Bastards, and that's often loaded with Japanese releases. As one of the biggest names, Sadao Watanabe may be riding that wave. His 3 albums with Charlie Mariano are the ones I most often listen to.

I'd hazard a guess that it's mainly his albums on CBS and Elektra, and those probably got excellent worldwide distribution. His wiki page is pretty interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadao_Watanabe_(musician)

Here is another: https://www.discogs.com/release/3055240-Jimmy-Rowles-The-Special-Magic-Of

"...But softly As the tune comes from his throat Trouble Mellows to a golden note..." Trumpet Player, Langston Hughes. Thank you, today and always, to all jazz musicians. Thank you to everyone who keeps the music playing. Thank you for making us so happy. Thank you for being one of my last bastions, in this disgusting and crude world. Thank you for being a beacon in the darkest hours. Thank you for seeking beauty. Thank you, today and always.

RIP 😔

Based on this, I can move beyond the SQ and dig the music. Still, I am apt to go small versus the 68 disc set 😃

Eddie Condon “Jazz As it Should be Played” Jazzology cd Some well-lubricated jazz featuring George Brunis, Wild Bill Davidson and Don Ewell.

Can anyone please explain to me why, no matter where one goes on the planet, Sadao Watanabe's records are everywhere? Singapore, Minneapolis, Guildford. The second hand jazz section always has some 'Nabe. He doesn't seem particularly popular now and hasn't received big name high gloss re-releases (even at a time when every other jazz or fusion artist from Japan is all over Instagram). I'm not sure I ever see him talked about, either artistically or as a historic commercial phenomenon. Was he really massive? What was the USP? There seems to be more second hand Watanabe stock than Chuck Mangione or Grover Washington combined, so I can only assume he was a very substantial seller.

Cold, soggy morning again. Up early due to an appointment, starting off with a nice Randy Weston trio session. Randy Weston “Get Happy” Riverside/OJC cd

Amazon has surprisingly good prices on the Zev RSD CD's. I ordered the Henderson, Jamal, Cecil, Lateef, plus the Terry Callier. All due in between tomorrow and Sunday.

Nat Reeves - Now In Time (The Side Door). Excellent new CD release issued to celebrate Reeves' 70th birthday. Killer band: Eddie Henderson (tp), Eric Alexander (ts), Steve Davis (tb), Orrin Evans (p), Reeves plucking those bass strings & Jeff "Tain" Watts (d). Nat is 70. Wow. It blows my mind that he's 70. I guess when you get to my age and realize that guys you've been watching up on stage for the last 35+ years were a bit older than you, it shouldn't surprise you that they're getting up there too.

This is not really "equivalent" to any other live package due to the date. It's a window that we haven't had, at least not to this extent. That's not the only consideration, but it's one that should not be overlooked imo.

I used to play this CD quite often back in the day... time to pull it out again.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=dc2402e4455380e8ac2af670ab612fe069aab41cec5b073308ee77dcfc54f873JmltdHM9MTc3NzQyMDgwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=2dbdb4de-e831-6ca5-1594-a20de9d46d72&psq=Dan+Wall&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub2Jlcmxpbi5lZHUvbmV3cy9kYW4td2FsbC1sb25ndGltZS1wcm9mZXNzb3ItamF6ei1waWFuby1kaWVzLTcy I knew his name from recordings with John Abercrombie.

Off the top of my head: 1 - Complete Village Vanguard 2 - Live Trane: European Tours 3 - Concert in Japan (complete 4 CD version) special mention to 'Live at Birdland' and 'Selflessness', which have superior quality but are lacking in quantity.

Beef - season 2 (Netflix)

That clip was hilarious! Ben was such a good character. I guess Aubrey Plaza saw the Laura character on Dr. Katz. So hostile! Do you remember the character Lydia on The Andy Griffith Show? She was the one Barney set up Andy with on a blind date. They were all discussing what to do on their date and she didn't like anything anyone proposed. Barney suggested Andy play the guitar and she said "I don't mind clarinet or saxophone but I hate the guitar." Take a walk? "I can't go outside, it gives me the herpes." How about a joy ride? "I can't go for a drive. I get car sick." Why don't we just stay here on Thelma Lou's couch and talk? "I hate chit chat. I don't mind real conversation but I don't like small talk." Just as deadpan as Laura and Aubrey. I watch too much TV from the past! LOL!