tkeith

The record with Warren Vaché when I was a kid. Still my favorite version of On Green Dolphin Street. My father was certainly a BT fan, and it was common ground (a lot of places weren't when I first got into the music).

Missed this post, Dan, sorry. Yes, this is the album and that is the correct track. No, sir. A bit later and, I'd argue, a bit edgier.

It happens, man. No shade. Hey, they may only be deep to me.

AH! I wondered. And, yes! A2 from that!

Uh... where you hearing that tenor? Just trumpet on track 5.

God I love his piano playing!

Aw, Jeez. Wait, is this NOT your profile pic? I so love it when my replies that have nothing to do with each other get merged. 😡

Okay, I definitely need to get that extended McPhee set. LOVE that guy.

Fair enough. Attempts to be witty late at night often expose my true level of comedic talent.

Since Dub Modal posted the reveal, I'm going to jump on GMT (well, if so, I'm 1 hour late, actually) and start this thread up. https://thomkeith.net/blindfold-tests/current-tests/ This is a mix of tunes I made note of throughout the year as well as some things I've picked up relatively recently. There's a mix of "classic" and new, with some stuff that isn't really in my normal wheelhouse. I expect this will be Felser-approved, Gould-rejected, and a mixed bag for Jim. Without further ado, your Maître d' will show you to your table.

I'm next, Ken's August. I supposed I should get about putting that thing together, though.

Sweet Little Sixteen was the Chuck song I was thinking of. (You really don't want to know about the other one.) @Dub Modal, Edmund Hall makes sense, as he's one of the few clarinetists in my collection. Apologies, I overlooked that McPhee was correct. Is this, then, from the expanded set of the Nation Time stuff?

Something about the phrasing (not sure if it's voicings or rhythmic patterns) leaned me that way. Track 5 had me thinking of John Valby lyrics, but there's another song that comes to mind -- a Chuck Berry tune.

Listening on the laptop, but doesn't seem like this was an audiophile set, so... Track 01 - Left coasty feel. Odd sound, but I like it. Some east sneaking into that piano solo. Cooks and it's interesting, though probably not the first thing I'd reach for. Cool tune. Only sure of who it isn't. Track 02 - Wasn't me. Reading a social media post from a bud recently about how much he loves the sound of the clarinet. Not me. No guesses. Quite listenable in spite of the clarinet. Track 03 - Sounds like a movie theme, or maybe a montage sequence soundtrack. Enjoying it, but again, not likely to be the first thing I reach for. I don't know the individual players. Tenor is interesting. Track 04 - Copy and paste. Listenable, but B-side ranking in the stack. Just not my preferred neighborhood. Have friends who have a band plays a lot of this sort of stuff -- heavy NOLA influence. Fun to see live, not my first choice. Track 05 - More clarinet but with bad sound. Nope. I think I only know the parody lyrics to this song if it's what I think it is. Track 06 - Time period is closer, but something not working for me about the horn lines. I don't mine discordant, but not sure it works here. Rhythm of the trombone seems sloppy. Maybe by intent, but sounds more like it's just... off. I hate to put it this way, but I'm just not buying it. I'm missing the story. Things trend up in the exchange section and the bass solo, but overall a whiff for me. Track 07 - Seems to have a contemporary classical bent. Generally not my thing. The flute is interesting, the horns/tympany aren't doing it for me. Just shy of 2:30, goes into a very pleasant place. Maybe not my first choice from the stacks, but a very enjoyable feel. Lop off that intro, and I'm in. When the pace drops off, so does my interest. Nothing against slower pace, but this just isn't maintaining my interest. Purely a matter of preference, but not for me. Track 08 - Yes, please. Vampy bass line and hand drums? Absolutely. Kinda hoped it would head somewhere. Enjoyable, but lacked a payoff. Track 09 - Like feel of this. Almost a Tomas Stanko vibe. Really appreciate the control of the bass solo. Taking what's there without giving the sense they're trying to show what the intracies of what they know. Pianist could learn a bit from the bassist in that regard. Drummer is supportive and doesn't get in the way, but the bass is the highlight for me. Track 10 - Like this a lot. No idea what I'm listening to. Obvious guess would be Bechet, but sounds more like someone embracing the style (or a conntemporary). Track 11 - 'Sposin' I'm not sure who this is. Enjoyable. Track 12 - CLIFF! Track A4 from this. This showed up in the stack of a late relative, sans cover. I was already a big Clifford fan, but wasn't familiar with this at the time (though knew the tune from the pop cover). Clifford is one of those lifetime talent-deserving-wider-recognition guys for me. Track 13 - At first I was thinking Earland, but it's McDuff. I can't tell you anything else about it, though. Not sure who the tenor is, but I didn't really feel it. Track 14 - This is tough. As a curmudgeon, I'm supposed to be cranky about this borrowing from Coltrane/Alice Coltrane, but I love this. I'd take 14 cuts like this. Okay, I thought it was heading in this direction. McCoy's tune, so that part tracks. Piano had me thinking McCoy on the wrong speed, but the feel is there. Possibly early Joe McPhee? Reminds me a bit of Nation Time in terms of sound and feel. Not sure I fully buy the drummer, but the feel is right and I'm going to give him a pass. This has feel and story. 13 more of these, please. But for track 12, all new to me. Likely give this another spin at some point just to listen. I'll be damned. I was going to say Getz on track 01, but thought my ears were being too basic. And I HAVE that set (but I'm not a big Getz guy).

Sorry, clarification: Uploaded where? Nevermind, I think I found them. 1-6 & 34, yes?

Don't you blaspheme in this house!

OR the ultimate challenge! I get that, though. Just seems like there's an awful lot of music that has been shared and there were good reasons why people opted to share it. I think of a guy like Bill, gone now, but who definitely contributed a lot of stuff that made my ears smile. I'd like to see that documented (and I have to apologize for the absence of a Cardinal photo in the set that was baseball cards -- I just went with the numbers of the cards -- iykyk).

I'll go back to BFT001 if they are available. True enough (though, for the record, it's online-only, no DLs), but I know I'd actually go back and take ones I missed. I'm not planning on dying all that soon, so in theory, this could be in place for awhile and would be a neat document to the history of the BFT here on the forum.

I've completed the bft archive back through 2016. I'm going to stop there because that's where the bulk of the data runs out. To that point, only two tests were missing, but one was still active on SoundCloud. The other was only shared via bandcamp and seems to have been deleted. If anyone has access to BFT's from 2015, back, and is willing to provide them, I'll keep building it back. For 2015, I'm missing two tests completely (#140, and #132). Otherwise, I could do most of 2015. Long story short, I'm a stickler for completion, so if anybody has them and is willing to share, I'm willing to add them to the archive. Archive can be found here: https://thomkeith.net/blindfold-tests/archived-blindfold-tests/

General house keeping comment I've got the archive complete through 2017. With the new site setup, I've changed the instructions for naming files for the BFT. In short, if you follow the new instructions, uploading becomes a breeze and very little time is wasted (as opposed to what I'm going through building the archive). Please and thanks, take a look at the instructions here: https://www.organissimo.org/forum/topic/83336-how-to-setting-up-a-blindfold-test/

I think I was shutout, here. I know I'm in a bit of a funk today, but the first part of the test missed hard. After that I actually enjoyed listening to most of it, but more as background. It happens. Track 01 - First phrase had me kind of excited, but this head is a bit mathy for my taste. It's good, and they can play, but you really feel the energy kind of lag once the improv begins. Almost like they're not in the same room (to my ear). I'm sure I'm just being a curmudgeon, but it seems to lack dynamics. I like the tenor player's sound, but it's got that same thing going on. Crazy technique on both players, but I'm just not convinced they mean any of it. There's a guy who posts horns he's selling on FB, and he can play like this (and does so to demonstrate the horns), but after about three horn ads, you realize it's just a memorized series of patterns. It's impressive technique, but there's no story to it. As Henry Threadgill has said, "muscle memory can be a dangerous thing." I like the bass solo, but the drummer needs some decaf (let it breathe, MF!). Impressive mucisianship, but the track is a miss for me. Track 02 - Nope. Reminds me of Vijay Ayer's Fieldwork. It's interesting, but seems more busy than musical. Maybe I'm just old. 4:30 is all I could take. Track 03 - A thousand percent more to my liking. A touch of Pharoah in the tone. Right up until about the 2 minute mark when we go full-on into the practice room. I just don't understand why technical facility needs to translate as boring. Maybe I'm just old. It's a nice melody, and they clearly can play, I just wish they'd stayed with what the melody sets up for them. Sometimes I'm bothered that I don't get out to check out "new" stuff that much... this is why. Track 04 - This one hits better than the last -- I like the trend. Arrangement is interesting without getting in the way. There's a story here. My ears are telling me these are older (maybe over 50) players. So far, I don't know anybody for sure, but these are unique voices, particularly the alto. It stays within itself and remains musical throughout. Arco bass! What the hell happened to THAT technique!?! Everything about this one works, even the busy head. Track 05 - Really like this. Has a Cecil Bridgewater feel to it. Quirky and angular, but the story is here. Again, they're staying within what they setup, and it doesn't try to do to much; it doesn't have to. Track 06 - This didn't really hit me in any direction. It was pleasant enough, but about 5 minutes in, I realized I wasn't really listening. Nothing wrong with it, just didn't grab my attention. Track 07 - Another pleasant listen, but not really grabbing my full focus. That's a description, not a criticism. The last two tracks have been just about perfect for me to continue working on things. I'm enjoying them enough to focus on the task at hand, but not really connecting with the music. Track 08 - Happy Birthday (I'm going to murder you in your sleep). Meh. Just, why? Track 09 - That's Fathead. I could listen to him play ballads all day long. The story. It's here. Track 10 - A powerful tenor sound, and certainly a guy who has listen to Fathead. I don't care for the "squiggle" he's putting on notes for affect, but on the whole, I like this. There is thought, here. It's a modern guy, but not someone who just sheds their Brecker. And as soon as I type that, he starts ripping the altissimo lines I was critical of on an earlier cut. Still, this feels real to me. Not sure I'd buy it, but if I were seeing this live, I'd have no complaints. Track 11 - Gonna sound weird, but I know that count off. Huh... maybe not. I have something in my collection that starts like that, though. Track 12 - Didn't care for that beat right off the bat. Can't explain why. It just clashed for me. Trends a bit commercial for my taste. Reminds me a bit of some of what I've heard from our host. Tenor reminds me a bit of Sean Berry. Hmm... kinda has to be Alfredson, doesn't it? Nothing wrong, here, just not in my wheel house. My ear wants Fred Wesley to be playing trombone, but it's not to be. Track 13 - A-ha! THAT's Jim. This I've always loved. I think this may have been on a BFT at one point. I know it's on my HD in the car, and always makes me smile. This does all that it's supposed to. Wait... this is NOT that. I mean, it IS, but this is not the version I have. Now I don't know what it is. It's that song, though... can't for the life of me remember the title. Either way, this works completely. Track 14 - What? Ohio Players, right? I mean, obviously this is not them, but that's who did it iirc. Probably be fun if I were there when this happened, but this is just weird. Reminds me a bit of Material's Memory Serves. I might revisit this for another listen when I'm not in a funk. I got him this time, but I missed him hard (as in didn't care for it) last time. He did that r&b thing better than anyone for my money, but I don't always want to hear it. This, however... this hits.

I struggled with James for years. Then Tolliver's Impact record with the big band one me over. Later Spaulding is epic. When I realized he was basically a baby during those Blue Note sessions, I went back and listened differently. I really appreciate what he was doing then more now than when I first heard that stuff (like this).