jeffcrom

Happy birthday, Paul. Hope it's a great one!

Miles Davis - Big Fun (Columbia). I have all the metal-spine box sets, but I kept this double LP because the originally-issued edit of "Go Ahead John" doesn't appear in the Jack Johnson box. I'm glad I still have it, because tonight I wanted to hear this music on vinyl. "Great Expectations" is flawed, but brilliant - repetitive, but with constantly changing details. Later: I've owned this album for, I think, 38 years. Until tonight, I had never played all four sides in one sitting. This imperfect album was perfect tonight.

Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Paris Session (Arista Freedom)

Until reading Spontooneous' post above, I had never realized that "Yeah, Man" and "Hotter Than Hell" are the same tune. Fletcher recorded "Yeah, Man" for Vocalion in 1933 and "Hotter Than Hell" for Decca a year later.

Enjoyed this one, Hot Ptah, although you'll see that there were a couple of tunes I didn't much care for toward the end. As usual, I haven't looked at this thread yet. 1. For awhile, it seemed like there was an unwritten rule that every blindfold test had to contain a Sun Ra track. Hot Ptah has raised the bar and set a new record, I think. This is Fletcher Henderson’ “Yeah, Man,” played by Ra and the Arkestra, from the Horo album Unity, recorded live in 1977. It’s a glorious mess. Ra famed discipline led him to insist on accuracy of notes and rhythms, but the band didn’t seem to give much thought to ensemble blend when it played swing material. The drumming’s kind of clunky, and Ra’s cheesy organ adds a weird touch. That may sound like I don’t like this track, but I love it. The Arkestra gives this old tune lots of offbeat energy, and it’s fun to hear John Gilmore on clarinet as well as tenor sax. Ra’s music is often greater than the sum of its parts, and that’s the case here. 2. Loves me some Hot Lips Page. This is Lips playing and singing “St. James Infirmary” with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, from 1941. Shaw himself is phenomenal. Some time back I read an interview with him in which he was asked about the pressure of being the second-best clarinetist in the world during the swing era. He immediately corrected the interviewer – “No: the best.” And he might have been right. George Auld is immediately recognizable on tenor sax – he may not have been one of the greats, but he always had a personal style. Johnny Guarnieri is the pianist; he always sounded good, but at this stage didn’t really have that personal style like Auld. I assume that the trombonist soloist is Jack Jenney, but I don’t really know. Dave Tough was the drummer in this band, but he’s not well recorded here; you can feel him, though, even if you can’t hear much of him. Great Lips, great tune, great arrangement. I had a music-loving uncle who, according to my mother, was all over this record when it came out. 3. What is this beautiful recording? The drummer’s subtle tango is killing me. Great tune; the piano player is kind of overplaying, but if you’ve got chops like this, you might was well use them. I love this, but have no idea what it is. 4. Sun Ra’s second appearance here. This is “Watusa” from The Nubians of Pluntonia, recorded in Chicago in the late 1950s. This tune stayed in the book – last night I listened to a live version from 1973. The percussionists are the heart of of this one, including set drummer Robert Barry, who was “rediscovered” by Ken Vandermark years later. This is a good one. 5. Is this “Button Up Your Overcoat?” Some beautiful playing here – the trumpet player has a wonderful, full sound that I was going to call “brassy,” but that word might have some negative connotations that I don’t intend. The pianist sounds like Ralph Sutton – great, interesting playing within an established style. I like this a lot. 6. Well, unlike Branford Marsalis, I can at least recognize Eddie Lockjaw Davis in a blindfold test. This is “Guanco Lament” from Afro-Jaws. Jaws sounds great in this context. The trumpet soloist is Clark Terry, sounding wonderful without trying very hard. Ray Barretto deserves a lot of credit on this one. 7. This certainly flows well after the last track. Great groove. The piano player reminds me of Vince Guaraldi, but I don’t really know who anybody is. Nobody’s playing is particularly original, but who cares? This is fun. 8. Good tune with interesting changes; good players and solos. What’s not to like? 9. A cool little string trio. Some pretty wild improvisation mixed in with the exotic melody. No idea who or what this is. 10. I recognized George Lewis first, then Dave Holland, then Sam Rivers, then I realized what this was. It’s the title track of Barry Altschul’s 1977 album You Can’t Name Your Own Tune. The melody amuses me – it’s full of bebop clichés, but transported somewhere else. The way Muhal Abrams plays with/against the time in his solo reminds me of Lennie Tristano, of all people. That’s one amazing trombone solo. Great Holland (back when he had more of a sense of adventure) and Rivers as well. 11. Sun Ra makes his third appearance here, and Hot Ptah sets a new record. This amazing performance is “St. Louis Blues,” from the Improvising Artists album of the same name. That’s a strong left hand. This is a very interesting blend of tradition and outer space. 12. Nothing wrong with this, really – it’s just too slick for me. Good saxophone playing, but the stereo-amped guitar sound and the general “breeziness” weren’t my thing. And I like guitar synths when they’re used to scream and wail, but ain’t none of that here. 13. A presumably classically-trained saxophone quartet performing “Airegin” and proving themselves unable to swing their way out of four wet paper bags. I try to listen to all BFT tracks at least twice, but I couldn’t make it all the way through this a second time. Sorry, Hot Ptah. 14. A beautiful solo version of J.J. Johnson’s “Lament.” The playing reminded me of Hank Jones, but I doubt that it’s him. Very nice, whoever it is. 15. I’ve really come to love “eastern” style clarinet playing. This clarinetist is very good, as are the piano and violin players. No idea who this is, or even what musical tradition(s) they’re from, but I enjoyed it. Thanks for a very interesting and enjoyable BFT!

Happy birthday!

Marshal Royal - Royal Blue (Concord)

Dopey Grumpy George Will

Ralph Sutton w/ Ruby Braff - On Sunnie's Side of the Street (Blue Angel Jazz Club)

I have this one, which I assume is the same recording as the one in Brownie's picture. It's a piece I admire, but it certainly doesn't draw me back to listen often.

Miles Davis - Bootleg Series, Vol. 2; the Stockholm concert.

Apologies for not participating this time around. I listened to the music once, but every time I thought about listening again and writing down my impressions, real life interfered. I recognized the Max Roach track right away (that's one of my favorite albums), and really enjoyed the Jimmy Heath.

Peter Bocage and HIs Creole Serenaders (Jazzology)

Ouch! I hate that Leroi Jones/Amira Baraka line so much that it hurts to read it quoted. I think "Anna Livia Plurabelle" and Hodeir's dismissal of Johnny Dodds are both manifestations of his lack of feeling for/understanding of the blues.

I read Hodeir's first book, with his dismissal of Johnny Dodds, back in the late 70s. Yeah, quite a blind spot. His writing combines acute critical insights with those kinds of maddening blind spots. Larry's right about throwing out the baby with the bathwater. His third jazz book, The Worlds of Jazz, is one of the strangest books on jazz ever. I like it, mostly. One of the selections, "Outside the Capsule," seems to report the findings of archeologists/historians in the distant future, who have found a battered copy of Miles Davis' Bag's Groove album. They painstakingly analyze the pass line, to the exclusion of everything else that's going on in the music.

Mighty Sparrow - Sparrow Power (Id). The great calypso singer c. 1971 on a Trinidadian label.

After Dave Tarras, I decided to play this great album by his protege and son-in-law: Sam Musiker - Jewish Wedding Dances (Tikva). Musiker played tenor and clarinet with Gene Krupa, but his musical hero was always his father-in-law. They recorded a great album together for Columbia in the 1950s - Tarras' only major-label appearance in the LP era.

Dave Tarras Plays Again (Colonial mono). The klezmer master from around 1960, I think. My mono copy has an even uglier cover than the stereo version shown here - it's orange/brown rather than gold. My wife always makes disparaging comments about it.

Monk Riverside Box - the Town Hall Concert on discs nine and ten.

There's also Martial Solal Big Band Plays Andre Hodeir on Carlyne.

Coleman Hawkins - Accent on Tenor (Urania)

Hank Mobley - Messages (Prestige two-fer). With the Harold Land cover.

Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys: I'm Building a Home/Beautiful Brown Eyes (Conqueror, 1939) The Streamlined Cannonball/Weary River (Conqueror, 1940) Mule Skinner Blues (Okeh, 1940). The flip is "The Streamlined Cannonball" again. I'll Reap My Harvest in Heaven/Don't Make Me Go to Bed and I'll Be Good (Okeh, 1942)

Henry Fonda Tom Joad Woody Guthrie

Percy Humphrey at Many's Tavern (Center). 1953 dance hall recordings featuring Humphrey's strong pre-Armstrong trumpet and a five-piece band. Sweet Emma Barrett is on piano.