jeffcrom

Okay, I spent a couple of more days thinking about track 6, and realized that it was from this: At least that's what my cover looks like - it was apparently also issued with another cover. It's "Calypso in Roma," from Don Pullen's Jazz a Confronto #21 on Horo - George Adams, Don Pullen, David Williams on bass and percussion, and Dannie Richmond. I still don't think it's George Adams' best work, but I'm a little embarrassed at how hard I was on him. I like the rest of the album more that I do this track - except maybe for Dannie Richmond's vocalizing - maybe that's why I didn't recognize this right away. Or maybe I just have too many damn records.

Paul Bley/Jimmy Giuffre/Bill Connors - Quiet Song (Improvising Artists). An old favorite.

Duke Ellington - Complete Capitol Recordings, disc 4. Not the Ellington set I would take to a desert island, but there is some nice stuff here. I think I'll skip "Bunny Hop Mambo" this time around, though.

I agree with Jim that Decoy is a pretty interesting album. On We Want Miles, Davis' lip is not back yet, and the band is pretty tentative at times. But I wouldn't want to be without that album just because of "My Man's Gone Now" - it brings a lump to my throat.

Sorry, guy. Ding! Ding! George Adams in the flutist. I deeply love George Adams' music for multiple reasons beyond his playing itself. He grew up in Covington, Georgia, 30 minutes east my home in Atlanta. And for a few years, he was a public school band teacher, as I was for 29 years. He met Don Pullen at the legendary Royal Peacock, on Auburn Avenue, not far from where I live. And I saw/heard him play multiple times. But I don't like his playing here - and that makes me kind of sad.

I agree. I totally understand where you guys are coming from. Garrison and Jones don't respond to Ornette's moves like Izenzon and Moffett or Haden and Higgins (or Blackwell). But I hear the interplay as different, not inferior. There's definitely lots of listening and responding going on - it just takes a different form than that of Ornette's "classic" bands. I'm listening to New York is Now right now, and I'm struck at how often Elvin dictates the changes of tempo and mood, rather than Ornette. In any case, this band produces beautiful music. And Dewey Redman's entrance, ten minutes into "Garden of Souls," is still one of the most weirdly wonderful moments in recorded music.

I felt it (slightly) here in Atlanta, but didn't recognize it for what it was until I saw the news on CNN.com. I've never been in an earthquake, really, so I didn't understand why my chair was vibrating. I kept looking around to see if one of my cats was pawing the chair. Michael (and everyone else, I hope), I'm glad everything is okay.

A little late in the game, as usual. I haven't looked at this thread, but I'm sure the two tracks I was able to ID have already been identified by others. 1. The first two tracks had a “prettiness” which made me wary, but the quality of the baritone solo won me over. I don’t know who it is, but he/she plays a well-constructed, energetic solo. I like it. 2. Similar reaction here – I don’t like the “sheen” of this piece, but the playing is great. Excellent flugelhorn (or maybe trumpet) and drumming, even if the drummer sometimes sounds like he’s in another room. Jeez, I really hate the bass sound, although the bassist is good. Again, no idea who, but I like the music, although not the recording. 3. “Six Bits Blues,” by the Max Roach Quartet, from Chattahoochee Red, with Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet (and trumpet mouthpiece). I love the fact that the sophisticated Mr. Roach could write such a basic, bluesy piece. Bridgewater sounds great on this, although I wish that they had stretched this out more. 4. Trippy organ, excellent guitar and flute. Don’t know who it is. I like it, but it’s not anything I would make a point to seek out. 5. Nice Tyner-ish piece. It might even be McCoy, but somehow doesn't sound thunderous enough. The alto player, whom I like, reminds me of Arthur Blythe, James Spaulding, and Gary Bartz at different times, which is another way of saying that I have no idea who it is. 6. This didn't do much for me until Don Pullen's skittering piano. The flute soloist, whom I hope is not George Adams, just wasn't playing anything very interesting. The percussion workout is okay, and the bassist is good. Don't know what this is from. Overall, I'm less than overwhelmed. 7. Some heartfelt lyrics, good trumpet and tenor solos. But after a couple of listens, it comes off as too “earnest” for my tastes. I like the pianist’s comping more than anything else about the performance. Don’t have any ideas about personnel. 8. “Love and Hate,” from Grachan Moncur’s Explorations album. Billy Harper is the tenor soloist. I used to consider Moncur’s playing as somewhat “detached,” but in its own way, it has a lot of warmth. Harper’s strong solo is the perfect foil for Moncur’s playing. I like this performance, and the entire album, a lot. Mark Masters deserves a lot of credit for his arrangements of Moncur’s compositions on Explorations. 9. This is something I’ve heard before, I think, but I can’t come up with what it is. It all sounds very familiar. Good playing – I would guess that it’s the drummer’s date, based on the length of his solo, but I don’t really know. 10. Another alto player whom I feel I should be able to identify – but so far I haven’t. I like his passion. I feel a little let down by the vibes – not so much by the playing as by the way the instrument is recorded. (Why does anyone think it’s a good idea to spread the vibes across the entire stereo spectrum, as if the listener was sitting on the floor right in front of the instrument?) I’m looking forward to finding out who the saxophonist is. 11. Since I just complained about the recording on the last track, I’ll say that I l’m impressed with the very natural-sounding recording of this track. And it’s wonderful music – everyone is listening. I could guess one of the usual suspects on French horn, but I don’t really know. Enjoyed hearing this one. 12. Energetic, exciting music. I like the pianist more than the bari player, for what it’s worth – the saxophonist met my expectations; the piano player both met and confounded them, if that makes sense. 13. Nice, insinuating piece – it suggests rather than declares. Is it the bass player’s group? I like the colors of this one. 14. Vaguely familiar, like several others in this BFT. Good solos all around, especially the trumpet and alto. I usually like a more subtle rhythmic approach, but I hope there is always room in jazz for a good hard shuffle. Thanks for the interesting music, and thanks again for stepping in at the last minute.

Art Pepper - The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions (Contemporary), disc 9

Happy birthday!

I'm in, and already have the music, as you know.

Couldn't help myself - spinning it again tonight. Jerry Jemmott + Idris Muhammad = groove.

I know he was very busy in the studios, which is why Gary Peacock, Richard Davis, Albert Stinson, etc. appeared with the Quintet on various tours. And although Carter is a great musician and has written some great tunes, I've never gotten the sense that he has a "vision" - a music that is distinctly his "own." Disagree. Carter's piccolo bass group in the '70s pursued a distinct sound ideal and his more recent trios with guitar and piano go for a kind of immaculately tailored refinement of the mainstream. I'm leaving aside value judgments on quality/profundity of the results and simply addressing the notion of vision as a bandleader. It is true that Carter's own bands have been about things that are very different than his most innovative and influential work he did with Miles and others. Fair enough.

I know he was very busy in the studios, which is why Gary Peacock, Richard Davis, Albert Stinson, etc. appeared with the Quintet on various tours. And although Carter is a great musician and has written some great tunes, I've never gotten the sense that he has a "vision" - a music that is distinctly his "own."

I love this place.

Oh - and go to The Shrimp Factory on the riverfront and have a Chatham Artillery Punch. They'll only serve you one.

Lou Donaldson - Cosmos (BN UA). I picked this up today, along with some other LPs. I had never explored Lou's Blue Note stuff between Scorpion (1970) and the One Night With Blue Note concert (1985) - some of it looks pretty grim. I don't much like the vocals by Essence very much, but otherwise, this is pretty cool; it's still by a small, funky band - no synths or overdubbed strings. And Macon, Georgia's gift to funk, Jerry Jemmott, is on bass.

When are you going to be there? I'm playing at The Sentient Bean with the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra on Saturday, August 27. I was in Savannah about a year ago, and there's really nothing left in the way of record/CD stores. I always hit Youman's, a junk store a little out of town (take President Street east, toward the islands) - they have some records; some are pretty junky, but I've gotten some good stuff there. There's another junk/antique store called Universe Trading Company on Franklin Square, near the City Market area, where I've gotten some good records - I found a mint copy of Pee Wee Russell's Pee Wee Plays Pee Wee there. There are several high-end/collector type used bookstores in the downtown area. Savannah's a really interesting little city. I enjoy just walking around. King Oliver was living there on Montgomery Street at the end of his life.

A couple of months ago I made the opening cadenza of Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" my cell phone ring tone. I'm still startled when, in the middle of listening to Coltrane or Robert Johnson, Louis Armstrong starts playing.

Sidney Bechet - Recorded in Concert at the Brussels Fair, 1958 (Columbia 6-eye mono). Late in the day for Monsieur Bechet, but he still plays with a lot of fire. Buck Clayton and Vic Dickenson are excellent, and even George Wein sounds pretty good on piano.

Same thing with my copy. Thanks, Paul. For some strange reason, it always makes me feel better to find out that a flaw in one of my records is not just in my copy. Now: Jimmy Smith - Bucket (BN NYC mono)

Barry Harris - Stay Right With It (Milestone) Lou Donaldson - Midnight Sun (BN Classic "rainbow" series). My copy has some sort of weird distortion in the right channel on parts of "Candy," the first track on side one. Anybody else encounter this, or is it just my copy?

Among other nice finds, I picked up a "new" two-fer in an Atlanta record store today: Barry Harris - Stay Right With It on Milestone, drawn from four of his Riverside albums. I didn't have any of this excellent material.

Too easy, homeboy. I'll let someone else take this one.

Marilu Henner?