jeffcrom

Brother Jack McDuff - Screamin' (Prestige mono)

I have two copies of Icon LP-3 by New Orleans trumpeter Kid Thomas Valentine. The album is Sonnets From Algiers, with Volume II: Root, Bone and Marrow, Flower as a subtitle. One copy has gold labels on a black vinyl record. That one is in a black matte-finish cover with a Folkways-style front slick that extends over halfway around the back. (Some vinyl collectors will know what I'm talking about.) The front looks like this: (Sorry I couldn't find a bigger usable picture.) The Jazzology reissue LP has a similar cover in blue. The other copy has white labels on red vinyl. The cover, with more conventional front and back slicks, looks like this: Does anyone know which is the original issue? I know that, given my "specializations" around here, I should know if anyone does, but I don't. And, of course, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the music, but I'm enough of a record geek to be curious.

Okay, it's so late in the month, that I'll claim an ID on this, even though I "cheated" on my self-imposed BFT rules. It's this: Mr. Mangione's fourth album, I think, with the great Wynton Kelly on piano. I sure liked that track. And while researching it, I found that Mangione is the trumpet (or flugelhorn) player on the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" - a little blast from my own personal past.

I have a friend here in Atlanta whose screen reader had the hardest time pronouncing "Bix Beiderbecke." It came out something like "By-der-be-kee," with the emphasis on the second syllable.

Despite my best intentions, I have once again waited until almost the end of the month before jumping in. As usual, I haven't read any of the above. Reading over my reactions, I see that I got a little crabby near the end. In spite of that tone, I enjoyed this BFT and am looking forward to the reveal. 1. I have a feeling that this is going to one of those kick-myself tracks – the tenor player sounds very familiar to me, but I can’t place him. But wow – this swings hard from the first note. Jazz with a capital “J.” Nice! 2. I recognized Benny Green and Elvin Jones more or less simultaneously. This is “B.G. Mambo” from Mr. Green’s Soul Stirring, with Jug and Billy Root on tenors and Sonny Clark at the piano (and Ike Isaacs on bass, just to make things complete). This is great – excellent playing all around. Elvin sounds very much like himself even at this stage – complex and swinging. I enjoyed this very much. 3. “My Secret Love;” I don’t know who’s playing it. It reminds me of Willis Jackson, but I don’t think it is. It’s just fine, but I must admit that I don’t like this approach – the rhythm section is not interacting with the melody and soloists; they’re playing a part. Part of what jazz is about is conversation among the musicians; there’s none of that here. 4. I don’t know what to say about this. My first thought was, “Wow – I didn’t know that Coltrane recorded “The End of a Love Affair.” But I can’t find any evidence that he did. My head hurts – what’s going on here? I’ll wait for an answer before saying anything else. 5. A tune that sounds familiar, but which I can’t place. Is it Mal Waldron? It sounds like him is spots – in other spots not so much. Anyway, it’s not earth-shatteringly beautiful or anything, but it’s individual and enjoyable. 6. Good stuff. Good solos from everyone – I particularly like the trumpet player’s spare approach. I have no idea who it is, or when it was recorded, except that it sounds like analog tape. 7. Someone got a little carried away with the stereo – “Let’s spread the instruments as much as possible between the speakers!” It’s “If Ever I Would Leave You,” of course. Nice long phrases from the trumpeter – I like his/her playing a lot. Great piano playing. Later: I was so impressed with the familiar-sounding piano player that I poked around a little and figured out who this is. Since I “cheated,” I won’t say – maybe this has already been identified. Unexpected and impressive. 8. What a beautiful low-register sound from the trumpet (or flugelhorn?) player. The piece has a slightly unusual structure, but these musicians handle it well. I wish the tenor player hadn’t indulged in the now-cliché “strangled” altissimo passage. Other than that, very nice stuff. 9. Okay, this is personal thing. I’m not a fan of “jazz vocals.” This is well-done music that I didn’t care for at all. The soprano sax solo was good, but awfully slick and “professional,” like the rest of this. 10. This tenor player has an interesting, “hollow” sound. Again, he sounds familiar to me, but I can’t come up with a name. In any case, this is a totally sustained, coherent, and riveting five minutes of unaccompanied saxophone. 11. More good, personal playing. I like that the saxes really weren’t in tune, and didn’t care – I’m totally serious about that. But I probably didn’t appreciate this track as much as I should have - I’ll admit that by this point of the BFT I was suffering a little from post-bop fatigue. I was ready for some tubas and banjos, or alternatively, a screaming free-jazz freakout. But this was good. 12. Again, it’s probably just me, but this didn’t do much for me. After about the third Coltrane quote I was a little exasperated with the tenor player, and the piano and bass solos bored me. Probably just me. I did like the drum solo. 13. Okay, this is different. Don’t like the cello (or bass?) or sound. I was starting to get bored, though, until the tenor and drums came in. Then I got bored again. A nice little tune, but I wish they had done more with it. Thanks, Thom, for putting this together.

Another spin this morning of the Sam Jones/Stovepipe No. 1 record pictured above. I love this raw, weird little record. A little reading informs me that the kazoo-like instrument was a length of stovepipe which, along with the stovepipe hat Jones wore, gave him his stage name. This record also presents a puzzle - the catalog number is Harmony 5100-H. Looking through my reference books and online, I can't find any mention of Harmony having a 5000 series. The early incarnation of the Harmony label lasted from 1925 to 1932; their regular issues ran from 1-H to around 1425-H, with a few records issued in a 6000 series late in the label's life. Could the 5000s be a short-lived "race" or "old-time" series? I wonder if there are any other Harmony 5000s out there.

I have nothing to contribute except wishes for a great trip. You're quite the travelin' man.

Another excellent trolling-for-78s experience today. At an antique store north of Atlanta I found stacks of 78s - mostly the usual 1940s big band stuff, but with some unusual stuff mixed in. I walked out with 15 records for 20 dollars. It's an interesting mix of jazz, country, and odd Americana. So far I've played: Annette Hanshaw - Am I Blue?/Daddy Won't You Please Come Home (Velvet Tone, 1929). The best Annette Hanshaw 78 I've found so far; great vocals, some excellent clarinet and alto by Jimmy Dorsey, and some hot trumpet (Rust thinks it might be Charlie Spivak). Blue Steele - I Knew I'd Miss You/Beyond the Sunset (Victor, 1929). This was a hot dance band from Memphis whose records are fairly collectible. Side one is a waltz and not very interesting, but side two swings pretty well. Red Allen - Drink Hearty (But Stay With Your Party)/The Crawl (RCA Victor, 1946). Red made a one-off session for RCA in 1946; J.C. Higginbotham is in the band. I need to look for the other record from this session. Arthur Fields - The Terrible Mississippi Flood/The End of the Shenandoah (Radiex, 1927). Not jazz or blues or anything like it, but a popular singer performing a couple of interesting disaster songs. Radiex was the even cheaper line of the already cheap Grey Gull label. Steve Porter - Flanagan's Second Hand Car/Steve Porter and Billy Jones - Hy and Si and the Line Fence (Grey Gull, 1924 or thereabouts). A couple of silly comedy routines. I was amused. And the real find: Sam Jones - Turkey in the Straw/Cripple Creek and Sourwood Mountain (Harmony, 1924). I bought this without really knowing what it was. The label states that it's "One Man Band with Singing." As it turns out, Jones was better known as Stovepipe No. 1, and usually recorded under that name. This is kind of amazing - early black hillbilly music played on guitar, harmonica and kazoo.

Yeah, pictures from Discogs don't show up here. So stop messiaen around. News to me. I've posted pictures from discogs before. Maybe that's something recent. I guess I should just say that they don't work for me (and Jim, apparently) - maybe someone else can confirm.

I'm not sure that there is a "main" Mose Allison thread, so I'll post this here. I'm spinning the wonderful 1965 album Mose Alive! right now. I hadn't checked Mose's website for a while, so I checked it out and found this statement: After 65 years of touring Mose Allison has retired from live performance. He thanks all his devoted fans for the love and support they have given him over the years. Mose is 85 - born four days after my father, which I had never realized before. His retirement certainly makes sense. But it's the end of an era. I'm glad I got to hear him in person at least once, in Seattle in 2008. Long live Mose Allison.

Okeh Chicago Blues (Epic). Disc two - on which the main attraction is the fabulous, previously-unreleased 1946 debut session by Johnny Shines. He's playing acoustic guitar, with a second guitar (possibly Bill Broonzy) and drums, and put down four intense performances that didn't see the light of day for over 35 years.

Yeah, pictures from Discogs don't show up here. So stop messiaen around.

John Wright - Nice 'n' Tasty (Prestige/Status mono). Prestige front cover, Status back cover (battered), Status labels, RVG stamp. Whatever it is, the music is very nice. And recorded on my second birthday. Ah, yes - that was a good year. Jim, I can't see the pictures in a lot of your posts, like the last one.

Clifford Brown/Max Roach - Live at the Bee Hive (Columbia)

The designer, Susan Archie, is a neighbor of mine. Maybe she'll give me her promo copy - that's the only way I'm getting one.

Jimmy Giuffre Trio - Concert (Unique Jazz). Europe, 1961.

Sahib Shihab - All-Star Sextets (Savoy twofer)

A Date with Jimmy Smith, Volume One (BN mono)

Yeah, worth it to have the Okeh big band sides complete - and they sound pretty good, too. Just have the earlier Hot Fives and Sevens elsewhere in your collection; this set shouldn't be your source for those.

Making your own place is as good a solution as any. Welcome, and happy John Coltrane's birthday!

Henry Townsend - Hard Luck Stories (Swingmaster). 1981 recordings by the St. Louis blues master, split between guitar and piano. (Townsend was equally adept at both instruments.) Wonderful.

Walt Dickerson/Richard Davis - Divine Gemini (Steeplechase)

Jazz Studio Orchestra of the Polish Radio - Polish Jazz (Muza stereo). The big names, I guess, on this 1969 album are Tomasz Stanko and Zbigniew Namysłowski. Oddly, the latter is not listed among the personnel, but he's credited with the alto saxophone solo on Krzysztof Komeda's "Kattorna."

Eddie Costa - Guys and Dolls Like Vibes (Coral mono)

Just a few today, featuring Tampa Red and his partner Georgia Tom Dorsey: Memphis Mose (Georgia Tom Dorsey) - Pig Meat Papa/Hear Me Beefin' at You (Brunswick 1929) The Hokum Boys Selling That Stuff/Beedle Um Bum (Paramount, 1928). Tampa Red, Georgia Tom, and Alex Hill on vocals. Tampa Red and the Chicago Five - It's Hard to Believe It's True/I Give My Love to You (Bluebird, 1937). With an unknown clarinet who I think is Arnett Nelson.