Jim R

Returning to this disc after a lengthy and torturous examination of track 15 on disc 2 (not giving up yet, though!) Listening to track 1 again, it occurs to me that this is a more modern recording than I had realized (I think). In terms of the vibist's identity, I must admit my ears are not that sharp to be able to pick out one guy from another most of the time. I am aware of a few great players, however. So, a bit of a shot in the dark, in case it's helpful to anybody else down the road here. Could he be Steve Nelson? Joe Locke? I haven't heard that much of either player (although I did see Nelson in a club... but that was with George Shearing's quintet, so...), but they seem like possibilities... ... man, track 4 is good... organ reminds me of Larry Young... or Larry Goldings?... great group sound with that instrumentation (doesnt' seem like a common blend, but Google can't seem to find it for me ). Great percussion work... this track just flows so well... like a classic Blue Note session... but what is it...

"Roundabout"? Jim, I need to be hipped. Did Nat record it? I only have one version in my entire collection, but it's an instrumental (Bill Charlap on Criss Cross). A quick search revealed that Vernon Duke (wait a second... you weren't referring to the YES tune, right? ) once said that this was his second favorite composition, after Autumn In New York Ogden Nash lyric... but I'm not sure I've ever heard it...

Some great ones already mentioned, plus... Dexter Gordon - Swiss Nights Eddie Davis / Johnny Griffin - the Live at Minton's recordings Kenny Burrell - Live at the Village Vanguard Stan Getz - The Dolphin / Spring Is Here Sarah Vaughan - at Tivoli, 1963 Wes Montgomery - Full House Brown / Roach - at Basin Street Stanley Turrentine - Up At Minton's ... and many others...

Do you know on which tracks Botschinsky plays flügelhorn? I believe it's only on his feature- "The touch of your lips".

1. The King 5:38 2. Easy Living 4:25 3. C Jam Blues 8:03 4. The Comeback 5:25 5. Take The A Train 10:19 6. I Wanna Blow Now 8:33 According to Amazon: Audio CD (April 1, 1992) Original Release Date: April 13, 1971

Good call, Larry. BTW, is there any song that isn't a perfect fit for that voice? B-)

Probably Jack Squat. Black Lion, eh? For some reason, I can't recall coming across that one (anybody got a jpg?). Speaking of recordings from Ronnie's Scott's, has anybody ever heard one with good sound quality? Maybe I've just had bad luck, but I'm happy when I get one that has decent sound. I've got a Wes, a couple of Sarahs, and a J.J. that are okay, and I remember dumping a few others (Getz was one, I think) due to awful sound. And still speaking of R.S.'s, anybody bought any of the "Harkit" CD's? That's the label for the J.J. I have, and I've seen a couple of others listed by those bloody sods (aka bastids) in Chicago.

I STILL can’t crack #15. The more I listen to it, the more I wonder if it could be Kessel after all, but I’m trying to rule that out for some reason. The end of the guitar solo just doesn’t sound like BK (but the rest is what I would call “Kessel-like”). The phrasing yes, the attack, no.This one is frustrating the crap out of me. The melody sounds more and more familiar (probably because I’ve listened to this thing about 50 times!! ). The pianist almost has a Basie-ish feel in the left hand at times. Goddamn it, I’m moving on... 16. Great jump blues feel. I used to listen to this type of thing more when I was younger. Is that Earl Bostic? 17. “I cover the waterfront”, a very lovely and tight arrangement. MJQ-ish, but I couldn’t say for sure who this is. I like this one too. 18. Uh-oh, a fiddle player. I like fiddle players, but I find it difficult to identify most of them (my fault, not theirs). Nice sound... Stuff Smith? I recognize that bass! ... but I don’t know who’s playing it! Another good ‘un. 19. Nice R&B feel. More territory that I’ve always dug, but never coughed up the digit for. I just don’t have the knowledge of the history stored in my brain, although I’d recognize most of the names from hearing them in various formats over the years. A shot in the dark- Jack McVea? 20. Whoa! A blast from my past! Finally, I can identify another one. I don’t know if this is the original Cobra version (I’d think so, from the sound of it), but this guy was one of my all-time favorites and idols when I was a serious blunatic back in the 70’s. http://www.mp3.com/tracks/2682705/dl_streams.html 21. Another genre I should have a better handle on. I can tell this is the real deal, probably one of the classics (or at least classic groups). Unfortunately, I knew zero about this kind of music until after I heard people like Santana paying tribute to it. I’m ignorant here, but I do love that unison sound of agressive piano/vibes/percussion. 22. Lush, lovely, delicious. Pretty melody, nicely arranged. Wow, everybody was getting some great tone on this. In general, I’m also ignorant when it comes to large ensembles vs small. This doesn’t have a particular stamp that I recognize... don’t know if it could be an Ellington group, but it has that kind of sophisitcation and elegance. Love the echo. 23. I’m gone. I know I’ve heard this. King Pleasure? I think I hear Dave Lambert, too. I don’t own it, but must have heard it numerous times. Did KP do a recording with L,H,&R? Anyway, not my favorite vocalese recording of all time, but a good one. Hey... this ties in with track 1. No wonder that one sounded so familiar. I think I’ve heard 23 much more than 1 (still don’t know who’s playing on 1).

Ohhhh, Ray, you shoulda taken disc TWO!! Actually, I'm serious. B-)

I've got: Stanley Cowell Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 05 Herb Geller Fire In The West Vince Guaraldi In Person Eddie Higgins Live At The Dakota Michel Legrand Legrand Jazz Peter Leitch A Special Rapport Junior Mance Happy Time Bill Mays Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 26 Horace Parlan Alone (orig on Musically Yours) Bucky Pizzarelli A Portrait Reg Schwager Resonance Art Tatum The Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces Various Artists (Ralph Sutton) The Columbia Jazz Piano Moods Sessions ===== Don't know that I can even choose one yet. Maybe Higgins or Schwager. I'm curious about who else (not on my list) might get some votes. Fats Waller, perhaps? B-)

Some versions I have: Harry Allen Plays Ellington Songs Gene Ammons Gentle Jug, Vol. 3 Chet Baker The Complete Pacific Jazz Studio Recordings Billy Bean The Trio "Rediscovered" Kenny Burrell Gifts (a.k.a. "Heritage") Jaki Byard Out Front! Conte Candoli Sweet Simon Nat Cole The Unforgettable Nat King Cole John Coltrane Lush Life John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman Billy Eckstine No Cover No Minimum Mark Elf Over The Airwaves Art Farmer To Duke With Love Ella Fitzgerald Ellington Songbook Red Garland The Nearness Of You Roland Hanna Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 32 Johnny Hartman Thank You For Everything Joe Henderson Lush Life / The Music Of Billy Strayhorn Eddie Higgins Haunted Heart Clifford Jordan Spellbound Clifford Jordan Royal Ballads Klaus Weiss Quintet Featuring Clifford Jordan / Live At Opus 1 Clifford Jordan Live At Ethell's Peter Leitch Red Zone Bill Mays Live At Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 26 Carmen McRae Blue Moon Phineas Newborn A World Of Piano! Frank Rosolino Four Horns And A Lush Life Billy Strayhorn The Peaceful Side Of Billy Strayhorn Billy Strayhorn Lush Life Sarah Vaughan Complete On Mercury, Vol. 1 "Great Jazz Years; 1954- 1956" Sarah Vaughan Duke Ellington Songbook Vol. 1 Teddy Wilson / Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz With Teddy Wilson No doubt there are some other great versions not listed here. ====== Maybe I should have asked "besides Coltrane/Hartman" (or maybe not, but that's my all-time favorite, hands down). Strayhorn on Capitol, Trane on Prestige, and one of the Clifford Jordans would probably be my next choices.

Today? Approximately 48.626

Oh, God I HATE when that happens. You're a better man than I, in that you were at least able to add a at the end of your post! I'm reminded of the time I was posting my guesses on a BFT, and my monitor died. Had to leave the computer on for about 36 hours until I could borrow another monitor, and finish the post. I always type up my thoughts now in a word-processing application, and then copy it into a post when I'm done with it. Still haven't gotten around to tracks 16 - 23, Mike, but I'm looking forward to it!

Yeah, I've got 8 of his CD's, plus a few others he appears on (one of which is with this organist, and the leadership roles are switched). Kind of a low-profile guy, but probably should be better known, IMO.

One would think/hope so, but actually my point (which I'm not asserting, BTW, but just wondering about) is that elements of his playing may have eventually trickled down into the stylings of the smooth guys (where the soprano is favored, afaik).

So is Pharoah Sanders Impulse work. VERY much so, in fact. This may apply mostly to saxophone players, but what about Gene Ammons? Every time I spin the later recordings (circa '70) from the "Gentle Jug" series, I hear little snippets of phrasing that almost lead in that direction...

Well, this is a bit scatterbrained and incomplete, but I'm burned out right now... Wow, what a fantastic disc. I was SO not prepared to analyze all of this, but I am so glad to hear it... 1. Groovy start! This has some serious attention-getting personality. It also sounds very familiar. VERY familiar. I need more time... 2. Groovy follow-up! I may have this too, but I’ll buy it again anyway. Sign me up, give it to me as a single disc domestic, an import, and in a boxed set! 3. How can you not like this? This 40’s style stuff just never fails to hit me (in a good place). It’s infectious when that many people are having a good time, and despite the blowing session, riffin’-your-brains-out feel of this, it’s just too swingin’ to get bored with. 4. Not sure I’ve ever heard this, but another cool track. Very intriguing melody line. Very nice harmonies on those unison lines. Why the hell don’t I know this kind of music better considering how much I dig it? Jazz AND R&B, there’s just SO much vintage stuff (although my tastes only take me back so far) that I’ve never gotten around to buying. 5. Now here’s what I like compared to the vocals on BFT 18 disc 1. Take a song (with a structure), and SING the damn thing. No grandstanding or wasted notes... no scatting either, but if you’re going to scat, do it with conviction (but I digress). 6. Mike, you’re killing me. I’m just sitting here thinking about how much (more) music I should have collected ten, fifteen, twenty years ago. My collection of music from this era is too small. 7. Everybody and their brother/sister does “latin jazz” these days (most of the jazz festivals I’ve seen advertised over the past several years are basically latin jazz festivals), but how many artists can do it this well? Not many, IMO. What an arrangement! 8. Session 12 / Track 4 ? Recognized this as a tune that was given more than one new title over the years. Most people know it by its later name, I think... 9. Wow, another one I’m not sure I’ve ever heard. Could this be one of those Metronome All-Star jams? The variety of instumentation here strikes me as unusual. Me likey. 10. Dueling basses (cellos?)... not something I’d be particularly attracted to normally, but this has a great sound to it. I’m getting a 50’s vibe from the pianist. Not my area of expertise, I’m afraid, but I should get my head above ground! 11. Sweet. This BFT may end up co$$$ting me. The tenor sound here reminds me a bit of 50’s west coast... Harold Land (not quite)... Teddy Edwards? Don’t think I’ve ever heard this, either! Goddamn it, Mike!! 12. Tasty, tasty, tasty. I need more time... 13. I recognize this melody (can’t name it off the top of my head, though). 99% certian I own it. That’s Tal... and Eddie Costa?... (and Vinnie Burke?). Boppin’ and burnin’! Timeless, if you ask me. 14. “I’ll Remember April”... but I don’t remember this version. Tico tico... tico tico... ... 15. Very interesting. At first I thought the guitarist sounded like Kessel, but it became obvious that it’s not Barney. The tone (at times), the phrasing/attack, and some of the bent notes reminded me of Kessel, but it ain’t Barn. This intrigues me, because offhand I can’t think of anybody who directly emulated Kessel in this way. I don’t really think I own this, which makes me all the more uncomfortable... This guitarist has a very patient style... doesn’t rush his ideas, doesn’t play a lot of cliches... I like it. The octaves have a certain distinctive timbre that is very familiar. The tone strikes me as a 50’s guy... single coil pickup (having grounding/static noise problems, which is interesting as well)... I think this is a well-known vet player, but he’s just a tad off my primary radar screen. Almost sounds like a Hank Jones quartet with Barry Galbraith, but I think Galbraith had a touch more in the chops department... Well, I can’t get past this !@#%ing track. I think I’ll save the rest of this marathon for later (it’ll give me something to look forward to!) Tell you what, Mike, I’ll trade music collections with you right now. Straight across!

Just managed to sit down with the first disc, and I wrote as I listened... DISC ONE: 1. Right from the get-go, this has a very together feel to it. Interesting little theme, with nice unison lines and stop time. Challenging to play, no doubt, and thus a challenge to listen to. Beautiful sound, nicely mixed. Piano and vibes can sound so great together, especially when the pianist has such a nice percussive touch. Nice work by the bassist, too! And, of course, the DRUMMER! I could listen to a whole album of this, with no problem at all. No clue yet who it is, though... 2. For me, this track was less enjoyable. Nothing wrong with the musicianship, but the way it jumps in your face with the heavy beat and the scatting right off the bat... and I’m personally less fond of the electr(on)ic instrumentation here. Guess I wasn’t quite ready to party yet. Anyway, certainly well-played and all, but funky ain’t really my thing anyway. No guesses. 3. Wow, drum energy to burn on this. Maybe a little too much, for my taste. The drums (especially the cymbals) became overwhelming after awhile... both in terms of their prominence in the mix and the volume level. I’m glad I had the option to turn the volume down a bit! The theme is kind of monotonous (glad there was a decent bridge). I do like the organ (and it’s player). Not necessarily great, but my favorite aspect of this track. Overall, too much (loud) drumming in my ears. 4. I didn’t care for the theme on this track either, but the solo passages have a very nice feel. This piece kind of has a Blue Note vibe to it, IMO. Really groovin’! The percussion is extremely tight and tasty here. I like the baritone sax player’s sound. Seems warmer to me than a lot of baritone players. And the trumpeter- man, I appreciate a middle-range approach on the trumpet. This guy is under control, and although he lights a fire, he doesn’t resort to any screeching or overblowing. Thumbs up for the organ on this one, too. I wish I had a better ear for discerning different organists’ sounds. This guy sounds even better to me than the player on track 3. This time, the percussion draws me in. The energy is more controlled and tasty. Nice track. 5. Swingin’ head on this one. The drummer’s a little busier than I generally prefer, but not to the point that I’m overly distracted. The first tenor solo didn’t do much for me... didn’t really tell me any stories... just a lot of fast blowing. The second guy has a bit more to say, IMO. A little more taste (at least on this track). I might have to listen again to be sure that I’m being fair to the first guy, though. Very solid bass playing throughout, including the solo. And I’m not much for bass solos. Pretty nice fours... nothing really made me fall off my chair, but nice. Overall I enjoyed this, but not sure I’d buy it (the sax players didn’t really get to me). 6. Neat intro... I WAS on the edge of my seat for that! Really had me guessing as to what melody was coming. Ahhhhhhhhh.... THAT melody. If this isn’t the greatest jazz composition of all time (well, there’s no such thing as greatest, but you know what I’m sayin’)... then it has to be right up there. I’m intrigued... I can’t say who this is with any certainty, but it’s very distinctive. I mean tasty. I’ve heard too many people play this “too straight”, which is almost forgiveable for a composition of this quality, but giving it a bit of one’s own personality just makes it that much more enjoyable to listen to. I should probably know who this is (and I probably OWN it ). At times I’m reminded by the mild adventurousness of Marian McPartland, but I don’t feel like making that official. I can’t wait to get through this disc so I can go back and play this track again. Beautiful stuff. 7. Boy, this tune is familiar... Hmmm... boy... I don’t like this very much. Singers are a very iffy proposition with me to start with, and this lady just doesn’t reach me at all. The gentlemanly thing to do is probably to leave it at that. Maybe in the ensuing discussion I can elaborate (but I doubt I’m going to want to listen to this again). I hear a lot of this kind of thing on KCSM (local jazz station)... way too much. Moving on... 8. Instant recognition. A great CD that’s not easy to find. Track 5 from: This CD 9. Another one that’s well-played and somewhat “interesting” to me, but not at all to my taste. I wasn’t expecting anything very sophisticated in terms of the writing after hearing the rhythm intro... but I was wrong. To me, that beat doesn’t really go well with the melodic/harmonic structure of the piece. Could be it’s just me... but that’s my call. I don’t really want to hear this one again. 10. How nice of you to pick another one where we don’t have to guess the title, Mike! Okay, one of those voices is Jon Hendricks or I’m Barbara Bush (I’m not). The other voice... hmm... I dunno. Did J.H. say “J.J.”??? I have quite a bit of Hendricks, but I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of this one. 11. Ouch. Lets’ see... what can I do while this is playing... Go to the next track? 12. Give me a melody, or something to latch onto before you start scatting and messing with the blues changes. No lyrics, and no interesting theme to set the mood. Just noodling. I think there’s more vocal skill on display here than track 7, but I still don’t find much to move me. I like that he’s paying attention to the note when he improvises, but the choice of notes isn’t getting it done for me (at least not enough to make this appealing to me). I do like the fact that he doesn’t seem to be taking himself too seriously, as too many singers seem to do these days. The main problem here for me, though, is that this is a bit too laid back and loose. Kind of a “cruise control” feeling. I suppose there’s a time for that, but more often than not I’m going to go to the refrigerator (or the bar, or the men’s room, or wherever) while this is going on. Oh, yeah... the bass player sounded just fine. Mixed results, but that's the way these things go. Some very interesting stuff, Mike. Thanks. Now on to disc 2...

Of course, I wasn't there, but how about... Two For The Road Detour Ahead Shifting Down Get Me To The Church On Time Ella Speed The Chase Brilliant Corners You're Driving Me Crazy I Surrender Dear Everything Happens To Me Prisoner Of Love

As with jazzypaul's previous example, I've heard that somewhere before. Where did you get that from? I know that Desmond (unfortunately) never got around to writing his memoirs. Has Brubeck done much writing about his years with P.D.?

I admit it. I hope it's clear that I'm not trying to shoot down his balloon. I'm really just trying to learn (by shooting my mouth off, in this case ).

Lon (or anybody else who may care to), if you get a chance, listen to the little space filler Watts uses during a pause in the melody at 5:53 / 5:54 elapsed time of the title track (track 3). That's about as clear an example as I can offer right now. To me it stands out (compared to the rest of his playing on this track) like a sore thumb, and I don't get it. Again, I don't mean to indict the guy, in fact he states this melody really beautifully overall, IMO. I just find it veird how he seems to lapse (to my ears) into a smooth element at various moments on this CD. The fact that he's an L.A. guy who has worked in a variety of settings (that's probably understating it) in the studios, including work with (at least one that I'm aware of) an acknowledged smooth jazzer... it's like "circumstantial evidence" to me. As I said above, I don't know his career history and how it all fits together in terms of his stylistic development. He blows me away at times on this disc, and then (I have to say) almost makes me gag. Almost. It's not really bad enough or frequent enough to ruin the disc for me. I just find it curious...

Jim, ever heard Charlie Haden's "Haunted Heart"? I listened to it again this morning, and right off the bat on "Hello my lovely", I hear sounds that I associate with smooth jazz. The style of vibrato, especially in the upper register of the tenor (bringing a soprano to mind at times) and some of the phrasing (I don't know my saxophone terminology, but in the guitar world I'm talking about something akin to "hammer-ons"). I may not be able to explain it in technical terms... I don't listen to (nor anazlye) smooth jazz either, unless it happens by accident, but I guess I have heard enough to have developed a sense of what the general approach sounds like... Again, Watts plays some great stuff on this disc as well. It's only sporadic moments where I'm kind of scratching my head.

I hear you, Lon. We may end up disagreeing on this one (although I'm not all the way over the fence yet), but nothing wrong with that. One thing I should mention, if I didn't already, is that I really haven't heard a lot of Watts, and definitely not much "vintage" Watts. I do know (as I mentioned above) that he developed some ties in the smooth jazz world... to what extent I'm honestly not sure... and I wonder if what I'm hearing on the Haden CD ("Haunted Heart") was affected by his participation on smooth recordings and with smooth musicians in the studios. The other thing is, "Haunted Heart" of course has a "looking back" type of theme, and the juxtaposition of what I occasionally hear and associate with a "smooth" feel with the vintage theme... well, it's a little problematic for me. At any rate, not to force an argument or anything, but maybe I'll try to find some specific examples that someone else (who has HH) can check out and comment on. Could be it's just me... but I'm still curious.