jeffcrom

Same tour; different recording. Hooky is preferable due to the bootleg sound of Snips - it was an audience cassette recording, if I recall correctly.

"Reminiscing in Tempo" was Ellington's second "extended" work, after "Creole Rhapsody." The 1935 studio recording was 13 minutes long, spread across four 10" 78 RPM sides. I don't know if it was performed live around the time of its recording, but there were brief revivals in 1945, when it showed up in one of his Treasury broadcasts, and 1948, when it was played and recorded at concerts at Carnegie Hall and Cornell University. Ellington said that he composed "Reminiscing in Tempo" in response to his mother's death, but there is nothing overtly elegiac about the piece, which is in medium swing tempo throughout. There is, maybe, a slightly melancholy flavor hanging over the composition, but that's in the ear of the behearer. The best-sounding issue, not surprisingly, is on the Mosaic 1932-1940 set, but I wish they hadn't been so scrupulous about splitting the four original sides into four separate tracks. I hear the piece as a seamless whole, and the division into four parts is an annoyance which was dictated by the technology of the time. Even though the sound is not as good, I've kept my 1991 Columbia/Legacy Reminiscing in Tempo album largely because the title piece is edited into one continuous track. The 1948 concert recordings mentioned above are also valuable, since they, too, present "RIT" in unbroken form. (I haven't heard the 1945 recording.) So that's the background. As for the the music, I've got to say that "Reminiscing in Tempo" is a piece I can admire, but have never been able to love. It's certainly a piece which hangs together well as a composition. But that compositional "tightness" comes at a price - there's too little variety, and too little color here. I have often expressed amazement at Ellington's mastery of sonority, but "RIT" is one of his most monochromatic compositions. I usually hate the word "boring" when it's applied to music, because I think it says more about the listener who uses it than about the music. But I wouldn't fault anyone for calling "Reminiscing in Tempo" boring. That's not quite my response, but I get it. But Ellington was still learning how to write longer pieces. By the time he wrote "The Tattooed Bride" thirteen or so years later, he had it down - that piece is as tightly composed as "Reminiscing in Tempo," but far more varied, colorful, and listenable. "RIT" was probably a necessary step in Ellington's development as a composer.

I have not previously contributed to this thread in any of its incarnations, so: My favorite Getz album changes from time to time, but lately it's been Stan Getz Plays, which hasn't been mentioned since 2008. The slightly later West Coast Jazz and The Steamer are right up there, too. But I like a bunch of his stuff, from all different periods (like his solo on "Rattle and Roll" with Benny Goodman). That a musician's personality is reflected in a recognizable way in his music is an idea which would seem to make sense. But it seldom works out that way. The best of Charlie Parker's Mercury/Clef/Verve sides from the 1950s were among his most balanced, serene improvisations - created at a time when his life was spinning further and further out of control. Late in his life, Coltrane seems to have reached a level of spiritual serenity belied by the turbulence of his music at the time. And Miles - I've long had a theory that whatever was good about MIles Davis came out in his music, and pretty much nowhere else. Maybe the same could be said of Getz. (Edited for typos.)

That sounds good, if you choose your songs/lyrics carefully. Before you're inundated with recommendations, I'd like to suggest including Skip James' "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" - musically and lyrically a harrowing picture of the poverty of the Great Depression. You'll need to know one arcane Mississippi phrase also used by Robert Johnson: "dry long so" refers to being in extreme poverty, specifically to not having enough food to make it through the winter. The Blues Line is a mostly accurate collection of lyrics compiled by Eric Sackheim which might be helpful.

Final selections made this morning, along with a tentative running order. We'll have bebop, New Orleans, organ grease, avant-garde, and various points between. Should be fun.

Okay, thanks for the hint. It's Buster Bailey, from his 1958 Felsted album All About Memphis, with Red Richards, Gene Ramey, and Jimmy Crawford. I jumped to some foolish conclusions because the clarinet playing sounds kind of schizophrenic to me - there are flashes of sophistication among passages where Bailey sounds like he's deliberately simplifying his style. That gave me the impression that it was a younger guy trying to play "old." Boy, was I wrong. After listening to the track again, I'm still not sure what I think about it. It just doesn't sound/feel "right" to me. (I'm talking about the clarinet playing - I love the rhythm section's slow groove.) I really like early Buster Bailey, but the later recordings I've heard by him haven't impressed me much. Maybe I should explore more.

Bobby Hutcherson - Solo/Quartet (Contemporary)

Clifford Jordan - Inward Fire (Muse)

Gary Clark Jr. - HWUL Raw Cuts Vol. 2 (Warner Bros.). Another Record Store Day release.

Charlie Poole and the Highlanders - The Complete Paramount & Brunswick Recordings 1929 (Tompkins Square). A Record Store Day release I picked up today at my favorite local brick-and-mortar shop.

&? Joshua Abrams. Where was Sirone from? Atlanta!

A couple of friends came over for a great listening party; they particularly enjoyed Von Freeman and some Florida sacred steel guitar. They're gone, and I'm winding down with: Max Roach - In the Light (Soul Note)

Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim - Black Lightning (Chiaroscuro)

Okay, boys and girls - it's time to sign up for the May Blindfold Test. I'm making the final selections now, and if you've ever done one of my blindfold tests, you know that it's going to be eclectic. I like old New Orleans stuff, I like big bands, I like hard bop, and I like avant-garde improvisations. So I can pretty much guarantee that you will like something from my BFT. Of course, that means that pretty much nobody except me will like everything. So you are encouraged to pick and choose among the tracks; if you hate something - skip it. And don't get too hung up on identifying the tracks. To me, an interesting discussion of the music is preferable to an instant ID. Some of the the tracks will probably be quickly identified; others will be real "BFT stumpers." And the artist on one track will be so obvious that you will be asked to turn in your Jazz Card if you don't instantly know who it is. But it's a track I wanted people to hear, and I hope everyone will have some comments. Let me know if you want a download or a disc. And if you haven't checked in on The Magnificent Goldberg's current, and very interesting, BFT, you are encouraged to do so.

Johnny Griffin - Grab This! (Riverside mono) Sonny Red (Mainstream)

As you know from elsewhere on the web, one of my favorite novels.

Some of my favorites: Louis - 1930 Red Allen - 1935 Benny Goodman Trio - 1935 (mostly for Teddy Wilson) Serge Chaloff - 1955, from the Boston Blow-Up album. This is probably my favorite recording by Serge.

Happy Birthday, oh wise and generous King!

Dr. Vernard Johnson - Jesus Can Work It Out (Savoy) (Couldn't find a picture on the web.)

I forgot about the 1945 World Transcription recording - not for a commercial record, but a radio broadcast-only recording.

Willis Jackson - Live! Action (Prestige mono)

Yes, I own it and generally I like it. The performance is very good. I must say that I find some of the newer Ducal compostions on it not quite as substantial as his earlier works (eg. The Great Paris Concert from '63, probably my favorite live performance by the Ellington band). I agree. It was a good concert (I wish I had been there!), but it's not among my favorite Ellington albums. The version of "Rockin' in Rhythm" is very hot, but not quite as good as the Paris version. Part of the difference, to my ears, is that Rufus Jones wasn't as good a drummer as Sam Woodyard. I listened to the 70th Birthday Concert album again recently, and I've got to say that this version of "Rockin' In Rhythm" went up in my estimation. It does indeed rival the 1963 Paris version.

"Frustration" is one of my favorite Harry Carney features by Ellington. Ellington presented it at concerts in the second half of the 1940s and in the early 1950s, but as far as I know, it didn't receive a studio recording until the 1956 Duke Ellington Presents... album on Bethlehem. There's a fabulous live version from the following year, from the Carrolltown, Pennsylvania All Star Road Band dance. "Frustration" is in the perfect baritone sax key, D flat. D flat is the lowest note on older baritone saxes, and Ellington makes good use of that lowest note. But Carney sounds fabulous in the high register, too. There are other baritone players (like Serge Chaloff) that I would rank above Carney in terms of improvisatory ability, but none whose sound I prefer over Carney's. In typical Ellington fashion, the piece's structure is unusual and logical at the same time. Some of the sections sound as if they contain an unusual number of measures, but when you count them - lo and behold; they're the usual eight-measure length. Bravo, Duke and Harry.

Wes Montgomery Nathan East Bob Northern

Serge Chaloff - Boston Blow-Up (Capitol). A nice minty copy.