tkeith

Usual disclaimers -- listened without looking, no research because I'm too lazy, and just documenting reaction: Track 1 Nice clean trumpet sound... maybe Art Farmer, but not quite as warm to my ear... also, something in those triplets is telling me Farmer is wrong. Benny Golson on tenor for sure. Flute could be Shihab, but sound isn't quite full enough for me to be confident. Bone sounds like Jimmy Cleveland to me. Can't pick up the bass on the laptop, but the drums have a Philly Joe tinge to them. I have a PJJ big band record, but I don't think this is it, although Shihab does play bari on that. I'm close, but stumped. Track 2 Not enamored of those chimes. Reminds me of Wednesday afternoons at my grandmother's house in the 70s, but there is something hip about the piano. Sounds like Vince Guiraldi to me. Maybe one of the Cal Tjader sessions. Track 3 I'm picturing go-go dancers in a Jimmy Stewart detective movie. No idea. Fun but not sure I could listen to it too often. Track 4 I was just listening to this... in fact just picked it up not long ago. Tchicai is one of my favorite under appreciated guys. It's Radebe, from this. Great bass hook and love those alto harmonies in the melody. Track 5 Oh yum. Love that bari. The tenor is one of the modern guys that doesn't really do it for me. I hear a lot of time in the practice room and not enough with other musicians. The guitar is also that heavily processed sound that grows old fast with me. It starts with a nice groove, but just doesn't go anywhere. Nice bass solo. At times this reminds me of something Peter Apfelbaum might do, but seems to lack the balls. Track 6 Oh yeah, that's my guy Frank Lowe and it's this. Close to the Soul (right in it, baby!). What a bitch of a record! ACM is particularly interesting on this and Wilber's bass is always a treat. Track 7 Nice snappy drums. But splashy at the same time. I'm not loving the soprano. It's not as free as the rest of the ensemble. The drummer likes Elvin a lot, or it is later Elvin. Seems too controlled, but the recording could be doing that. Those triplets definitely suggest at least an Elvin interest. A lighter touch, though. Maybe one of the Liebman bands. Recognize the tune, too. This may be buried in the archives. Track 8 Those keys have me thinking Chick Corea off the bat, but that seems too obvious. Nice 70s Jazz. The arrangement has tinges of Woody Shaw, but the flute says Art Webb to my ear. Track 9 I feel like I should know this. I like it, but it's somebody that's just off my regular radar. West-coastish sound. Maybe J.R. Monterose? Don't know, but it's real nice. Track 10 No idea, but not really holding my interest. Track 11 Hmmm... this test is taking a turn into electronica that I'm not sure I'm hearing. Yeah... this one doesn't resonate at all. Track 12 Aaaah.... rhythm. That's this. Man was a genius and deserves to be mentioned alongside Monk, Coltrane, Parker, Sun Ra, and Walt Dickerson (another unsung genius). This is Wiletta's Walk. He owned those odd meters. Track 13 Beautiful. Sounds like Kenny Barron doing a Monk tune, but I can't say which one. This is gorgeous. Track 14 I like that sound a LOT. This is somebody I should know, damnit. I'm going to kick myself when the answers come out. Sounds like one of the LA guys to me. Not Billie Harris, but someone like that. But a REALLY fat sound almost like Booker T. That pianist definitely sounds like one of the LA guys. Track 15 Hmmm... shades of Jimmy Knepper? Very thoughtful playing from the alto player, a bit of Konitz in the approach, but a warmer tone. Huh... I'm not familiar with this, but feel as though I should be. Really diggin' the piano. Shades of a sane Phineas and at time some Horace Parlan in there. Very interested in finding out what this is. Track 16 A lot of Eb in this one. Alto reminds me of late Louis Jordan. Hmm... Cecil Payne? Don't know this at all and I'm thinking I'm dead wrong about Cecil. Track 17 Sort of a sloppy Coltrane approach. Older... Cal Massey? No... Andrew White? A touch of George Coleman in the sound, but doesn't have GC's facility. Bitch of a head. Trumpet is very warm, which I didn't expect from the head. Dunno. Started strong, but beginning to hit hard times here. Track 18 Clean drum sound. Don't know the alto, but I'm guessing a younger guy. Maybe early Dave Douglas on trumpet? I'd enjoy something like this live -- obviously a lot of spontaneous interplay between the musicians. Maybe Ed Blackwell on drums. The sound had me thinking Cyrille early on, but this is more traditional and something about the precision has me thinking Blackwell. Could this be one of the sessions with Mark Helias? Track 19 Huh... I'm leaning Howard McGee, but not with any degree of confidence. Maybe Shelly Manne on drums? Track 20 Oh yeah! That's this, Dexter Rides again. One of my favorite records from childhood. Charles and Clifford play off each other perfectly throughout this, especially on Eronel. Ordinarily, I'm not a big Alan Dawson fan, but his very tight on this. And George Tucker has to be the most underrated bassist ever. Track 21 Initial impression was Jeff Coffin's band with Rod McGaha, but it's not them. Probably an "original" which leans heavily on What Is This Thing Called Love. Nice tune, though. Both of these horn players are their own people on this, even though you can hear their influences. This is the way Jazz should work. The harmonies are similar to some of Charles Brackeen's writing, but lack his rawness and bite. Track 22 This one lacks what I liked about the previous tune. Tenor has that totally generic, "recordable" sound that is completely inoffensive thus makes zero impression. Drums are hyper compressed. Reminds me a lot of Franklin Kiermeyer's recordings in that way. At 1:40, seriously considering the slider. Yeah, I'm out. Nothing in this for me. Track 23 Ah-ha... that gong actually sounds very familiar. Electro-violin... I was leaning Milford Graves up to that point. It's unique, but not really buying it. Track 24 Just realized I was four minutes into this and had nothing to say about it. Moving on. Track 25 Jack Bruce? Overall, a really outstanding BFT -- both challenging and enjoyable. Thanks!

Hit a brother up -- I'm in. Digital is the way to go!

Al, don't know if I ever got on the list again, but I'm still interested -- you name the month.

Month got away from me. I listened by lacked any semblance of clues. My apologies for not saying more sooner.

+1... as usual.

Hit me with a download, please.

quite possible.

Will do, but it's going to be awhile. One of the people following this (who has much more time than I do) read all of the by-laws to the competition. Evidently, the winner will be determined from out of the top 150 vote getters (which is why I've slacked off a bit in my promotion). We'll keep our fingers crossed, but she's up against puppies and fireworks, so I don't know. My wife had a good point. She said, "I was ready to post, 'can we all just give her $20 so we can stop seeing the FB updates?'" Perhaps I'll try that next year.

Soon. I believe either the 13th or the 20th.

Yes! Let's keep this momentum going in a way that would make Richard Daley proud!

That damn ford-forums is really slacking off! In fairness, the Ford is just my plow truck.

Doin' great, peops! (Jesus, how the hell do you spell modern slang, anyway?!?!)

Wow... what absolute bullshit. Francoma gets the credit for this one. That was pathetic.

Wish the Downbeat talent deserving wider recognition polls worked like this!

Thanks... rumor has it that the 8-hours is more like 45 minutes, too... just sayin'.

Thanks all! Not sure how much the scholarship is, but tuition is upwards of 50K. I promise you this -- she will not waste a minute of it.

Woo-hoo! Thanks folks! The system let's you vote every 8 hours (sometimes more frequently), so if it occurs to you, it's much appreciated.

Thanks!

I teach high school and one of our alums attends a very expensive school that she is paying for herself. She's going for a scholarship through a competition on Brickfish (it is legit), and I'm trying to get her some much need votes from my extended network. Please vote for Erin's photo, the process takes about two seconds (literally) and you're done. She's a great kid and totally worth the effort. Thanks!

First Meditations, again, for the first time. Absolutely one of the most beautiful things ever.

Comments... I'd like to show the lady on the B3 my organ... BFT: Okay, I *did* predict I'd get none of these, and I'm confident that I'm right about that. Just finished Disc 1. Track 1 -- Ordinarily, this instrumentation is not one of my favorites, but I like the way this band plays together. Not sure who it is, but my thought is this is what Joey DeFrancesco *tries* to sound like. Very solid. Track 2 -- This is more down my alley. I know the song, but not the title. Tenor was brief but I'll guess Teddy Edwards on an aggressive day. Not sure on the organ. I know I have this buried somewhere in the collection. Track 3 -- If it's not late Groove Holmes, it's somebody who has listened a whole lot to him. Nice, clean guitar sound without going over the top on effects the way so many "Jazz" guitarists seem to. Hmmm... rethinking Groove, because it seems like the guitarist's record. Track 4 -- Strange sound... sounds almost live. That's Johnny Griffin for sure. God that man was ridiculous! Such a baaaaad man! Track 5 -- I'm guessing this is newer, because it sounds so much like Wes it's scary, but it's not really clicking for me (which Wes typically does). Track 6 -- Not a fan of that guitar sound, or style. No idea. Track 7 -- Sounds like Larry Young to me, but I'm not recognizing it... is it possible that I've missed and LY recording? Drummer is growling like Elvin, but seems far too sane. Track 8 -- Ouch... easy on the tremolo. No idea. In spite of my predilection against organ/guitar trios, my ears enjoyed this. It's nice to hear more of a genre I've only touched the tip of. Thanks!

Gee, with the sudden run, I can't recall if I put in for another yet or not. If not, please add me. If so, I don't wish to Bogart the honor.

Thanks for this -- I was getting edgy the more I read without seeing his name.

Not my strong side, but I'm in -- I love these things. I prefer the download.

BEAUTIFUL! Sox broadcast is showing replays of Youk getting HBP, and he says, very clearly, "Shit!" Santana took exception. On about the 35th replay, Eckersley is saying, "Youk didn't do anything to provoke him. He doesn't get out of the way, but he gets hit... [Youk video saying "Shit!"] then, "shit!"... oops." Priceless