jeffcrom

Yes, unfortunately. The last few Concord-formerly-Fantasy CDs I bought had that kind of label, and one (a Sonny Terry OBC) was actually a CDr.

Have a good 'un!

Arthur Blythe - Illusions (Columbia). Blythe's best ever, I'd say.

James Blood Ulmer - Odyssey (Columbia). On my way to hear some friends play tonight, I was playing a 2005 Pi CD I just found, Odyssey: The Band, by the same trio (Ulmer, violinist Charles Burnham, and Warren Benbow on drums) that made the 1983 Columbia album. The Pi CD seemed kind of polite and smoothed-out, but it made me want to hear the old album. It's great - odd backwoods funk, with a sense of surprise and discovery.

I wondered if that might be Hutcherson on the Joe Henderson tune, but it didn't seem to be, well, good enough. Or maybe my interest in the track was waning by that point.

As usual, I haven't read anything in this thread, even though it's late in the month. I enjoyed most of this BFT, in spite of some critical comments below. I recognized absolutely nobody - but for me, that's not the point of these BFTs. 1. “Darn That Dream,” of course. At first I thought it was Tal Farlow, with his A string tuned down an octave, as he liked to do on ballads. As the song progressed, the guitarist sounded less like Farlow. It’s pretty good playing, but whoever it is overdid the little bebop turn, the little flick up to the next note up the scale. That got tiresome, but this is a very accomplished guitarist. 2. Okay, I like jazz musicians to have an individual sound and style. But this flutist’s sound and style annoy me. He/she seems incapable of holding out a sustained tone for any length of time, and the strategy of compensating for that by substituting short, repeated notes wears thin quickly. And in the low register, the sound disappears almost completely. The actual improvisation is not bad at all, but the method of delivery totally ruined it for me. And I hope I haven’t just slammed someone I admire. 3. Programming really helped here. If I had heard this relatively “safe” version of “In a Sentimental Mood” just out of the blue, I might have been kind of indifferent to it. But the flutist’s beautiful sound and command of the instrument is such a contrast to the previous version that I was on board from the first note. Again, nothing that adventurous here - I actually liked the guitar solo better than the flute solo – but it’s someone who can clearly play. And he/she can play soprano, too! 4. I don’t particularly like “Giant Steps,” because almost everybody who plays it (including Coltrane) sounds like they’re running exercises, not making music. But these guys do pretty well – their lines are fast, but melodic. Well done, and probably wise to make it short. 5. Someone’s having fun. 6. “But Beautiful” is indeed a beautiful song. And this is a good version, with a virtuoso saxophonist who only occasionally unleashes his/her virtuosity. Nice sound, too. 7. I like this even better than the last version of “But Beautiful” – the saxophone sound has character, and he/she doesn’t overplay. The pianist is very good (although I hate the way the piano is recorded), although I wish he or she would maybe play a little less. The saxophonist’s improvising fits the mood of the song better. 8. Mr. Henderson’s “Recorda Me,” played competently in a performance that leaves me cold. I just feel like everything these guys are saying, I’ve heard many times before. 9. I don’t know who’s playing “Monk’s Mood” here. Playing Monk’s music is tricky – you’ve got to keep the Monkian character and still try to project something of your own personality. This doesn’t work for me – I don’t hear that this pianist understood Monk’s message at all. I like it better when it turns into “Body and Soul” – a bit over-the-top for me, but very accomplished. 10. Wow – it takes guts for an alto saxophonist to take on a Johnny Hodges feature. This is “Isfahan,” and I like it because the altoist is so different from Hodges. Nicely done! When the trombonist steps out briefly, it sounds like Roswell Rudd – but it probably isn’t. Interesting ensemble, and again, I really like the alto player’s approach. 11. Wonderful atmosphere. Everyone’s listening to each other, and extending that atmosphere without disrupting it. Very nice. 12. I like various kinds of “world music,” but my first reaction was that this was too conservative for my tastes. But the guitarist, and even more so the accordionist, improvise passionately and imaginatively. This is probably not something I would seek out to hear again, but I enjoyed it. 13. My feeling on “jazz singers” have evolved, or devolved, or regressed over the years. As a young man, I gravitated to those singers who improvised more, who took more liberties with the melody. Now I’m an old fogey who wants to hear the melody. I liked the fat-toned tenor player’s reading of “Easy Living” more than the singer’s. She was good, though – a wonderful voice and fluid approach. Some of her digressions from the tune seemed kind of cliché to me, but this wasn’t bad. 14. This was fun. After they shifted gears from the Django tune, I should have hated it, but the poppy “Think I’m Going Out of My Head” was just – well, fun. I enjoyed this one. Thanks for a good one.

The Definitive Roswell Rudd (Horo)

The Definitive Roswell Rudd (Horo)

I second all of the above, and would add Samuel Charters' The Blues Makers.

"Gil Evans Orchestra" (John Carisi & Cecil Taylor) - Into the Hot (Impulse). CT's three tracks are the meat of this album, but John Carisi's pieces are pretty remarkable. Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones' sarcastic one-sentence dismissal of them still bothers me.

I like that one too, Clunky, for some of the same reasons, like the non-cliched repertoire. And Andy Anderson is an underrated New Orleans trumpet player whose playing I enjoy; he also played with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, and "Chant of the Tuxedos" is his tune.

John Tchicai's two-bass Timo's Message on Black Saint is a strong album - one of his very best, although it doesn't seem to be very well known. Sans Tambour ni Trompette, an excellent album by Martial Solal, features M. Solal with two basses, no drums (or trumpet, he felt compelled to point out). It would probably be hard to find.

The Klezmorim - Metropolis (Flying Fish)

Jimmy Smith (James Oscar Smith)

Ding Dong Daddy (From Dumas) Old Man Mose Dolly

I've got a copy I found in a Savannah junk shop for a buck probably 20 years ago.

Keith Jarrett - Bop-Be (Impulse). I don't like everything by Jarrett, but I like this. MIchael J. Smith - Elvira Madigan and Other Dances (Horo)

Mundell Lowe - Tacet for Neurotics: The Music of Alec Wilder (Offbeat mono). Reissue of the Riverside album The New Music of Alec Wilder from 1956. Amazing, unclassifiable music.

Morgana King - The Winter of My Discontent (Ascot mono). Not jazz, but a good singer presenting twelve of Alec Wilder's best songs. Ms. King's rendition of the title song is my favorite recording of this great song. And Wilder's "Who Can I Turn To" is a much better song than the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley song of the same name. YMMV.

I guess I read too much into your post about having to get a BFT ready right away for March. Okay, if you're ready to fill in for mikeweil for #108, I'll ask MG to keep April.

How about May? I could do April.

Okay, here's how I'm proceeding: I've asked The Magnificent Goldberg if he would move up a month, since he has indicated to me that his April BFT is ready to go. Pending his response, Dan, why don't you take April, and I'll move mikeweil to the bottom of the list.

Sun Ra - The Magic City (Impulse)

Geri Allen - Home Grown (Minor Music)

Mal Waldron with Steve Lacy - One-Upmanship (Inner City). Years ago, in the early days of my obsession with Steve Lacy, I special-ordered this from an Athens, Georgia record store. It's still in excellent condition, which is somewhat surprising, because I used to play it a lot.