jeffcrom

The in my humble opinion, the "Album Covers with Gratuitous Punctuation" thread.

I can attest that that's not the case.

Can't see any of your pictures, but the link leads to the correct album. I'm awarding Alex the points on this one, though!

That's it - the wonderful Mary Lou playing Monk and Herbie from 1951. Oh. Ah. O.K. No way I would have guessed this. I have simply heard too little of the clarinettist's playing--except for some tracks from 1925, I have nothing of his. (But will now seek out more!) Shall I try to keep it secretive? AA, HS, CZ, 1967--yes? And the rest are heavy-weights, too. What a line-up! Dude, spill it! This was my other "impossible" track, and you are the only person here I thought would have a chance of recognizing any of these guys. Tell all, and I'll tell about hearing CZ in person, a couple of months before he died.

This drove me crazy, a little bit. I remembered reading about it, and thought I had recording of it somewhere. Well, not really. "Woods" was apparently a very late Ellington composition, and was nominally the penultimate piece on the 1973 Eastbourne Performance album. Except that piece is apparently not "Woods," no matter what the cover says. From the book of the massive Centennial Edition box set: With this reissue, an error is being corrected. The selection identified on the Eastbourne LP as "Woods" is not that piece. There is no known recording of "Woods," which [Art] Baron, Vince Prudente, Barrie Lee Hall and Harold Ashby all agree is a very pretty foxtrot for the saxophone section with Chuck Connors playing lead on bass trombone and an occasional solo by Paul Gonsalves. "It's mostly just a lovely ensemble piece that we played for dances," declares Prudente. The piece on Eastbourne Performance is actually "Soso," another example of the four-letter working titles that Ellington gave his pieces. "Soso" is very nice "rhythm changes" piece with some imaginative ensemble scoring, like the odd lengths of the trumpet notes in the last eight of the first chorus. After that first chorus it becomes a tenor battle between Harold Ashby and Percy Marion, and it's an enjoyable duel. (Paul Gonsalves was absent for health reasons, whatever that means.) So I can't really talk about "Woods," but there's a bit about the piece issued as "Woods."

Damn, you're good!

I have a very nice vinyl copy of The In Between that I know didn't cost more than ten bucks, from the record store down the street.

Yes - the avoidance of the personal pronoun was a hint in itself. It's a striking, fairly Monk-like (arguably) rendition of "Monk's Mood" by Mary Lou Williams, followed by... what?

Gil Evans - Parabola (Horo); sides one and four. What I've always loved about this album (and the bootleg record from the same tour), besides the great solos, is the level of imagination Evans reached in scoring for just four horns (Lew Soloff, Earl McIntyre, Steve Lacy, and Arthur Blythe). On "Up From the Skies," he gives the alto sax the lead, with the trombone up high, the soprano sax low, and the trumpet as the lowest voice, in its absolute lowest register. It's a striking, unique sound.

Sent

No, I just think it is a difficult test. Maybe you could provide some hints? Actually, nine of the fourteen tracks have identified to one extent or another. Here are some hints on the others: 1. Identified 2. This is a two-tune excerpt from a long medley this pianist recorded, presumably for one side of a 10-inch LP, but which was not issued at the time. The artist was an early supporter of Monk, and this is a relatively early recording of one of Monk's pieces by someone other than Monk himself. It was probably taught to the pianist in question by Monk himself, or played from a manuscript given by Monk. The second tune is also composed by a master jazz composer, and our pianist was also an early proponent of this guy's music. Again, the composer probably taught the pianist the tune personally. 3. Identified 4. Okay - an all-star gathering of New Orleans musicians (although if you're not into New Orleans music, some of the names may not mean anything to you), from an obscure LP that has never been reissued. It's from the LP era, but long enough ago that none of these musicians are still living, although I heard a couple of them in person. The guitarist, who plays only rhythm here, appears elsewhere in the BFT. The clarinetist is the focus, as several of you honed in on. He is less famous than his brother, who also played clarinet. The famous brother left New Orleans with a band that became popular throughout the world; our clarinetist here stayed in New Orleans, and his name is pretty much only known to trad music "insiders." His playing is far richer and deeper than his brother's, though. One more hint - the excellent bassist played in the band of the great, unrecorded cornetist Buddy Petit when his was young. 5. Most of y'all don't care, but this is one of my favorite contemporary klezmer clarinetists. It's his band, and it's not Ben Goldberg or Matt Darriau. Definitely not Don Byron.... 6. Identified by practically everyone. 7. Identified 8. It's the alto player's band. He made several records for this company in the 1970s, and this one is by far the best. He's been mentioned several times in various threads here over the last month or so. 9. Identified 10. Indentified, much to my surprise. This was supposed to be the "impossible" track of this BFT, so props to The Magnificent Goldberg. 11. My homeboy, playing with an Old World rhythm section, including Han Bennink, who has been identified. 12. Identified 13. Identified, but that wasn't the point. Y'all listen to that short trumpet solo. 14. Identified and reviled. And remember that identifying the tracks is only part of the game, as far as I'm concerned. I've really enjoyed the discussion that some of these tracks inspired.

Happy birthday 2013, Chuck!

Okay, I think that this blindfold test is like a woman, beautiful in an interesting way, who walks into a party and immediately attracts lots of attention. Then everyone realizes how annoying she is and avoids her for the rest of the evening.

! Now playing: Dizzy Reece - Blues in Trinity (BN reissue)

Gigi Gryce (Metrojazz)

Yes, please.

Stan Getz - Groovin' With Getz (United). 1947 Gene Norman "Just Jazz" concert recordings. It makes sense that this was issued under Stan Getz's name - he plays on exactly one track. There are a lot of cover variations; this is the closest I could find to mine. My copy is on United, though, not Custom.

Mickey Katz - Katz Puts on the Dog (Capitol mono). Silly, silly, silly. And that's okay with me right now.

Earl Hines Featuring Muggsy Spanier (GNP Crescendo). I'm an Earl Hines fan and a Muggsy Spanier fan, but I had always avoided the 1957 Hangover Club broadcasts because, well, Hines and Muggsy don't really go together. But I found this album recently for a few bucks, and it's not bad. Hines was misplaced with this band, but nobody gets hurt. So now I know.

I've been spinning 78s almost daily, but I don't always post what I'm listening to, for various reasons - it takes too long, it's weird and not jazz-related, I don't think anyone would be interested, etc. But here are the highlights of the past few days - I think I've mentioned all or most of these earlier at some point: Six late-1920s Cuban records on Victor, all in great condition and in their original Spanish or bilingual Victor sleeves. A couple have stickers from a Havana record store. Really wonderful stuff. Rudy Wiedoft's Saxophone Sextette - Pan-Americana (Victor Herbert)/Country Dance (Ethelbert Nevin) (Vocalion, 1922). A beautiful record - two light classical pieces played by some great saxophonists. And an early New Orleans session tonight: Jelly Roll Morton - Black Bottom Stomp/The Chant (Victor, 1926) New Orleans Rhythm Kings - Mr. Jelly Roll/Clarinet Marmalade (Gennett, 1923). From the session with Jelly Roll on piano. Piron's New Orleans Orchestra - Do-Doodle-Oom/West Indies Blues (Victor, 1923) Piron's New Orleans Orchestra - New Orleans Wiggle/Mama's Gone, Goodbye (Victor, 1923). One of my favorite New Orleans bands. Anthony Parenti and His Famous Melody Boys - French Market Blues/Dizzy Lizzy (Victor, 1925) Tony Parenti's New Orleanians - In the Dungeon/When You and I Were Pals (Columbia, 1928). The Columbia features an early example of Johnny Wiggs' wonderful cornet - poised somewhere between King Oliver and Bix.

If you like rural blues, the George Mitchell Collection is an amazing set - seven CDs of sometimes jaw-dropping music for 30 bucks.

Well, the musical culture in New Orleans is deeper and older than that of Atlanta. There were great African-American musicians in NOLA going back well into the 19th century. While there were good musicians in Atlanta and environs by the early 20th century (for instance, Newton County, east of the city, produced lots of great blues guitarists, like Barbecue Bob), the city just never developed the same cultural depth found in New Orleans. And Atlanta was built (and developed) as a transportation center - it grew so rapidly because it was the perfect spot for railroads to converge, and it now has the busiest airport in the world. Atlanta was (and is) all about coming and going, buying and selling - there's been so much interaction with the rest of the country (and world) that I don't really think there's any distinctive "Atlanta sound," at least since the Barbecue Bob/Willie McTell days. New Orleans is somehow more isolated, despite being on the Mississippi River. I think that has more to do with attitude than anything. Why copy what New York or Detroit is doing when we have the best music in the world right here?

Edmon Hall - Petite Fleur (UA mono)

Happy Birthday 2013, Larry!