lipi

For all things clarinet, the Clarinet BBoard is a good place to start: http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/list.html?f=1 I've never played alto myself, so I have no helpful direct input.

19) "Blue Feeling" from 1957. I listened to a lot of Chuck Berry this weekend (partly in order to find this track). It's indeed on the Rhino "Complete 50's Chess Recordings" set. Thank you again for making me aware of this recording, MG! Listened some more to 13, and, apart from thinking everyone is a bad-ass, I don't have any strong guesses. Maybe Benny Carter on alto...? Still loving the drummer. Also listened more to 16, and am ready to take a vague guess at the guitarist, at least. Could it be Al Casey? I still don't know what to think of the pianist.

10: Wait until you see what it is!!! Well, this and 3 other cuts are from an EP which, if you can find it, you'll probably enjoy. And yes, it IS Ellingtonia. Well, shoot. I've read the thread now, and I've learned a) that it is indeed Nance, and b) there's some English connexion. Question: are there more Ellington connexions here, outside of Nance being on the date? (And I'm not going anywhere with this question. I really still have no idea what this is.) And I assume that that's Nance also on trumpet, not just on violin? (Apologies if these are too many questions for this early in the month. Feel free to tell me to shove off until later.) 11: Your getting this one right is a big surprise to me. Yes, it's Amos, who you probably know ran a territory big band in Houston before he went to LA and became a successful R&B man. This is actually early fifties, not him with his Houston band. Big tick for this one. I really like Jump Blues, early R&B, early Rock & Roll, etc. It has the same kind of danceable fun energy that the 20's and the Swing Era had. (And which are the things I miss in the West Coast cool school and other more modern things. Yeah, I know bop can be high-energy, but it's only danceable if you're Dizzy.) And I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I had no idea about his pre-R&B roots! When I think of him, I think of "Chicken Shack Boogie" and all that mess. 13: Some of those cuts done in December 1947, to enable labels to stockpile material they could release during the Musicians' Union strike, were done under so much pressure that odd endings didn't justify doing another take or maybe they ran out of studio time. This was the eighth and final track recorded at one of those sessions. Normally you only got four tracks but, under pressure, the label proprietor would say, "just play something guys", and they would. And the corollary was that they'd get whatever musicians were hanging around to make up a band. That's how to get real improvisation. I've listened to this a bunch more times. Still don't know who it is, and though I can guess some names, none of them seem like "great" guesses. Really enjoying it, though. 16: Now that surprises me. I listened to this again because you wrote that. I have to admit, I didn't give it a chance originally. I got fed up with the introduction and never got to the excellently tortured sax solo. So, yeah, I don't dig the guitarist (though he clearly is skilled--I just don't enjoy what he's playing--kinda sleepy?), nor the pianist (same--maybe not sleepy, but just, I dunno, just hitting some unconnected notes here and there, and not in the good Basie way), but I like the tenor (?) sax. I see someone already guessed Grimes. There are all the other usual suspects, but I would just be throwing out names. So revised opinion: like the sax, still find it overall kinda meh because it takes so long to get interesting. I dunno. Maybe it's the era. This is probably 50's or 60's or even 70's. Yes, I realize that's a 30 year guess. Anyway, still not really my thing, but I certainly don't hate it. 17: Yes, 18 is part 2 of 17. Two guys in this one you should be familiar with. You evil man! No wonder they sounded similar. O.K. Well, I don't know who I'm supposed to recognize. I see JSngry went for Grimes again, and you shattered his hope. I could throw out names, but again, no real solid ideas. 19: Bloomin' 'eck, Tucker! I didn't think anyone would get this. Yes, it's Chuck Berry. Johnnie Johnson, the original leader of the band when they played jazz in St Louis, is the pianist. A VERY big tick for that one! Wild. Like I said, I really enjoy early Rock & Roll, so identifying that sound wasn't that hard. (Though I will immediately admit I just threw out Chuck Berry as an "it sounds like this"--I didn't actually think it would be a Chuck Berry recording!) Will have to dig through the complete Rhino sets--is it in there, or is it some crazy rarity? Lots of listening to 10, 13, 16, 17, and 18 today. No progress outside of enjoyment.

TheMG pinged me and said there was Ellingtonia in here, so I had a bit of an advantage with that hint going in. Maybe. Unclear. 1-7: No clue, no knowledge, no nothing. There be Latin things goin' on. Some of them sound pretty good, but what do I know? Maybe they're terrible! 8: "I'll String Along with You", sometime in the 40's, I suspect. I have no idea who, though. One of those ubiquitous sister groups? King Sisters, maybe? And then this would be Alvino Rey, maybe? 9: Well, it's "Caravan", but this'd better not be the Ellingtonia I was called in for... It's kinda fun, though. Like an anime soundtrack. (I promise that's not just a dig at all those people calling 20's and 30's music cartoon music.) 10: Oh, this might be what I was called for. What on earth is this? It's...well, it's not Ellington, let's get that out of the way. They sure are trying in parts, though. That trumpet is straining to sound like some bizarre mix of Cootie and Bubber and Rex and everyone. Violin, but not Nance, I think, because I refuse to believe this is Duke. As mentioned last month, though, I can't identify violins to save my life. And then there's that Armstrong-like lick (it's not Satchmo, but they're clearly imitating) at the end (or is that an attempt at Cat Anderson...?). Yeah, no idea, man. It's good, but I kinda feel like Ellington would have done it better. Is this some sort of modern homage to Ellington and Blanton or Braud? I enjoyed it. Will probably end up buying whatever this is. 11: This isn't Ellingtonia. This is some fun jump bluesy thing. I think this is Amos Milburn, maybe. Fun! Yeah, I like the guess of Amos. Is it him? I want this. 12: Uh-oh. Organ plus Ellingtonian horn voicings (or am I just starting to hear Ellington everywhere now?). No ideas, though. 13: More jumps bluesy things, this time with more of a boogie woogie feel. Earlier than 11, me thinks. I like that trumpet. Could that be Eldridge? This thing is really building in intensity. That drummer is driving it along fine! Oh, I like that alto (yes?), too! Yeah, it's an alto. Solo is a little repetitive, but I am enjoying it. Some nice tone there. Trombone is also nice--and that freakin' drummer just keeps on cooking! Who is that? Anyway, great stuff. Loving it. No idea. Eldridge, maybe, and some other dudes or dudettes. Christ, I'm terrible at this. I want to dance around. And...one of those weird endings where it sounds like the jukebox just exploded and spewed springs and cogs all over the place. I want this. GIMME. 14: "Things Ain't What They Used to Be". Organ. I have zero clues. Once more, I hope this is not the (Mercer) Ellingtonia I was called in for. 15: Erskine Hawkins. I listened to a whole bunch of his stuff a few weeks ago for a DJ'ing gig that fell around his birthday. Can't recall the name of this, though. Early 40's. Good stuff. 16: Meh, it's not my thing. No ideas, either. 17: Pianist falls between boogie woogie and Oscar Peterson (does that make sense to anyone but me?). Sax is starting to sound like R&B to me. Is this 1950's? It's kinda fun. No clue, I'm afraid, who this is. 18: These guys sound a lot like the guys in number 17. Same era, definitely. Again, no clue, though. 19: More 1950's stuff. We're almost in rock and roll territory here. Are we slowly moving forward in time? That's not Jerry Lee on the piano, but, you know, we're not that far away. Man, they're just teasing me with rock and roll stuff. At 2:13 the guitarist plays a Chuck Berry lick: it's almost the beginning of "You Never Can Tell". I don't know. Some early rock and roll guys taking it easy on an instrumental. 20: Yeaaaaaaaah! Ain't she just got the voice? Big Maybelle. "Country Man". She needs a man, people! 21: Well. Someone else apparently needs a man. Clearly modern. Barbara Morrison, maybe? I don't like it as much as 20, but it's pretty good. I like the singer more than the backing orchestra. Fade out! Sad! 22: Some fun creole thing. I have no clues. I mean, it sounds island-y, but that's not much to go on. I like it, though I didn't need nine minutes of it. (And I didn't need the flute. That's one of those instruments I don't get most of the time.) Reminds me a little of some of the New Orleans creole things (though it's not). A lot of question marks, and I fear I let TheMG down on whatever Ellington connexion I was supposed to pick up. Really, really enjoyed this BFT, though. I will definitely end up buying some of this stuff.

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.

Woah, settle down kids. This is like reading YouTube comments. If you don't care for Nina Simone's music, I humbly suggest this isn't the best thread to be reading or commenting on.

Agreed.

I like trumpets. DL, please.

These have been shown in a double-blind taste test to be more delicious than vinyl, regardless of the specs of the tone arm, the speaker wires, and the phase of the moon.

I think the only track where I will have something reasonably (?) intelligent to say is #1. It sounds so much like Basie it hurts, but it's not Basie. And those hints of Ellington's "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (perhaps I'm the only one that hears them?) are even more deceiving. Anyway: I'm almost certain that's Buddy Tate, who played with Basie for nearly a decade. Dickie Wells on trombone, I believe. From the 60's or 70's? I can't recall the title, and it's bugging me terribly--those riffs are so familiar! Good stuff!

I'm merely JeffCrom Light, but I want to mention that this wasn't recorded in 1914. The (sheet) music was published in 1914, but this recording is from 1922. And that final strain is "Ole Miss". Edit: I notice now that people in the YouTube comments have mentioned both these things.

Re: Track 1: I'm not an expert, and I'm sure jeffcrom will have more to say if he plays along for this one. Two things, though: 1) Morton was already traveling a lot at this point. He had spent five or six years in California and had just moved to Chicago when he made these recordings (in Indiana, for Gennett). Sure he was a New Orleans musician, but he also had been exposed to lots of other styles in the preceding few years. 2) His playing on later recordings retains much of the style of this one, I think. So Byrd (and any other musicians) would not necessarily have to have been influenced by this particular track (or even this session). I think (but am not sure) that these solo 1923 recordings made quite a splash, but that the Red Hot Pepper recordings from 1926 on were a much bigger deal (they're not solos, though, so perhaps pianists found them less inspirational--what do I know?). (Regardless--everyone who played after him was influenced, directly or indirectly, by his playing in some way.) I think you would really enjoy the Jelly Roll Morton Library of Congress recordings. He talks a lot about history and plays in his approximation of different early styles. It's quite an enjoyable listen. Re: Track 11: Maybe the solo just reminded me of hearing this track while listening to the rest of the Mosaic and that's how I made the association? I don't know. All I can say is, it made me think of him and of Boogie Woogie in general.

Well, as usual, some of these had me scratching my head, some had me exclaim "what the..." half a measure in, and some just had me shaking my head in bemusement. To my surprise, two also had me go "aha!". In other words, a fine disc. 1) Seems only appropriate to start with the man who claims he invented the jazz. Jelly Roll in 1923, "New Orleans Joys". This is one of those recordings that always sounds "slow" to me. Like I want to kick Morton in the butt and tell him to get it together and be less choppy. My favourite from these solo sessions (which spread over two days) is the faster (and as a result smoother) "King Porter Stomp" from the same day. Morton had recorded a piano roll in 1915 (!) and two sides with a small band a few months before these solos, but these are pretty much the beginning of his recording career. Despite my complaint, I do like this track a lot. I suspect the surprise for many post-WWII jazz aficionados will be Morton's loose and free approach to time. His right hand goes especially crazy around the two minute mark. It really has all been done before. Maybe he really *did* invent it all, after all. 11) This one had me annoyed for a while, because I knew I'd heard it before, and I knew it wasn't Charlie Barnett's "Lumby" which kept coming to mind (because of a similarly insistent riff in the melody). I admit I had to take recourse in searching through my library looking for likely candidates--obviously 40's, and the little piano spot suggested where to start looking. It's Freddie Slack's "What Is This Thing Called Rebop?" from 1946. Aside: the start of 6 sounds like Henry Mancini lost in the Middle East.

DL, please.

I suspect the discographer would have some choice words for the kinds of labels that don't bother to include any sort of recording dates in their liner notes. You could try digging here a little: http://michaelminn.net/discographies/armstrong/ The recordings on that CD are likely from 1948 or '49, based on the line-up, but I can't tell you more than that, I'm afraid.

I don't believe you're missing anything. My copy does not have a CD/LP index, either. (Though it's ex-library, so if there were some funny loose-leaf last-minute thing they stuck in, I wouldn't be surprised by its being gone.)

Behind a paywall. If you search for the title in Google, though, the first link (in the News section) will link you to the same page and bypass the paywall.

O.K., done. Pete, I'll take it! Will send you a PM.

I want these, but I feel really bad snatching them from under Jeff's nose. Put me in the queue after Jeff, please? If he passes, I'll take 'em, Pete.

Disc 2. I liked disc 1 better, but I still had fun with this. Comments are sparser--and perhaps snarkier. 2. Woah. This sort of stuff always makes me think of ADHD medication. Next... 3. Makes me want to pull out a Parliament Funkadelic record. 8. "Summertime"? No idea who it is, though. 9. "Ballin' the Jack" and...some other tune that escapes me right now. Oh, that's frustrating! I know this tune. Ugh. It's something from the Great American Songbook. Oh well. And who's playing? Geez, I might make a fool of myself here, but I'll guess Fatha. It reminds me a little of his live recordings in SF in the 50's. 10. There sure are a lot of pianists in this thing. I don't know who this is, but I'm enjoying it. More, please. 11. Someone who's listened to an awful lot of Gene Harris. Is that "Just a Closer Walk"? Ah, yes it is. I don't know who's playing (unless it's actually Gene?). Edit: Oh! I didn't read the introductory message before posting. Well, can I change all my guesses to Gene Harris after the fact?

O.K., I had a quick listen to the whole thing. I like it (mostly)! Some comments (mostly non-snarky, I promise): 1. Quincy Jones and Herb Alpert had a love child, and this was it. I don't know, man. This just makes me want to shout the name of intoxicating beverages. 3. 11 minutes?! Ain't nobody got time for that! 4. "Jumpin' at the Woodside"....A.C.? It sounds enough like the Definitive Black & Blue session that I'm fairly certain it's him, but I don't know this particular recording. Yeah? Nay? I don't know. Regardless, I like it, even if Basie in '38 will always be The One. 6. Jump blues. Is this a modern recording? Anyway, no idea who or what, but again, I kinda like it. 7. Awwwww yeah. Late 50's or early 60's something or other. I love it. No idea what it is, again. More hand-clapping in songs, people! It makes the world a better place. 8. Sanford and Son in the house! "Real Pretty Mama", of course. Good stuff!

Yes, please! DL. I think this one I'll have slightly more of a chance of ID'ing something.

DL, please. (With the caveat that I might not have time, or even if I do have time I might not have anything useful to say.)

O.K. Look. This modern stuff is ridiculous, but if I'm going to try and listen to some, I think Monk is a good way in (and the Ellington album is probably a good place to start). So I'll take it, if no one else has jumped yet. I'll PM you with PayPal/address/etc., Pete.

Yes it's a nice book but I must admit one single protagonist's "conversational" autobiography can wear you out a bit if that protagonist is not THAT consistently articulate (no, I DON'T expect an autobiography to be as full of wit and entertainment as Terry Gibbs' "Good Vibes"; for example ). Though I am a huge fan of Basie's music I found this "conversational" style sometimes a bit distracting in the way it apparently has NOT been edited/honed out a bit for printing here because some phrases that Basie seems to like to fall back on make the contents sound a bit vague and repetitive more than once and the story at times just rambles on. And this although the contents MUST have seen some editing - by Mr Murray? - considering how little balance there is between the various phases of Basie's career. While the details of the early years are interesting I was a bit disappointed in the way part of his post-war story was rushed through, as if in an afterthought Yeah, I agree with almost all of that. I've been reading it in short bursts, so Basie's vague style won't get on my nerves. I didn't mind the post-war stuff getting short shrift, since I prefer the OT band. And one does wonder what Murray contributed. Perhaps he was the "research assistant" Basie keeps referring to?