jeffcrom

Peppermint Patty Charles Schultz Colonel Klink

Hugh Masekela: The African Connection (Impulse). 1978 reissue of a 1972 Blue Thumb double album. Dudu!

Charles Earland - Living Black (Prestige). Live in 1970 - and Grover Washington Jr.'s recording debut, for what it's worth. His playing is pretty hot on this - he coulda been a contender.

Louis Armstrong King Oliver Don King

Don Pardo Frank Zappa George Duke

Blues Singers and Trumpet Players (Joker) - A probably bootleg Italian LP. I'm enjoying the complete works (I think) of Texas blues singer Ben Norsingle from 1928, accompanied by New Orleans/Texas trumpeter Don Albert, along with piano, guitar, and a really good tuba player (Charlie Dixon).

Sheila E Pete Escovedo Carlos Santana

Cool! Congrats.

Harmonica Showcase: DeFord Bailey and D.H. "Bert" Bilbro 1927-31 (Matchbox). DeFord Bailey was a brilliant harmonica player - the first real star of the Grand Ole Opry, and one of the few African-Americans in that troupe. I love his stuff - "Pan American Blues" is one of the best "train tunes" ever, and "Evening Prayer Blues" is just other-worldly. Bert Bilbro recorded exactly five tunes between 1928 and 1931, but he intrigues me for personal reasons. One of his tunes, "Chester Blues," was recorded in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1931. Charlotte is the nearest big city to Chester, South Carolina, where my late mom was from, and where I spent a lot of time as a child. Not much is known about Bilbro, but I'm thinking he must be from The City on the Hill, Chester.

This evening I spun some white gospel, which I sometimes find annoying. Today it was just what I needed: Smith's Sacred Singers: If I'm Faithful to My Lord/We Are Going Down the Valley One By One (Columbia, 1926). These guys were from Braselton, Georgia, about 40 miles east of Atlanta. Gordon County Quartet: Walking in the King's Highway/Beyond the Clouds is Light (Columbia, 1930). Another Georgia group, who recorded less devout material as The Georgia Yellow Hammers. The Original Sacred Harp Choir: Greenfield/Hallelujah (Brunswick, 1922). If you've never heard Sacred Harp singing, it's strange and wonderful. The label of this record is so beautiful that I uploaded a scan.

Well, I wondered how long it would be before I failed to ID a BFT track that I had in my collection. I have the Hugh Masekela album, but in my defense I haven't had it long and have only played it twice so far.

Thanks, jazztrain! You were more persistent than me - I looked online but didn't come up with this. That makes perfect sense now that I know. Based on this three minutes of music, Kirk Bradford had a nice, rich tone. Thanks again, jazztrain.

This was a weird one. I don't have much intelligent to say about many of these tracks, but here goes (written before reading any of the thread): 1. Very hip – Monk’s arrangement of “Abide With Me” performed vocally. Don’t know why someone didn’t think of this before. 2. You the man, Big Al. 3. Dizzy – or two Dizzys. Don’t know the recording, but it’s 60s boogaloo – fun, not great. 4. Nice groove – don’t know the trumpeter. Again, pleasant, but not particularly memorable. 5. Pretty good soul/Afro-ish groove. Don’t know who the vibes/marimba player is, but he (or she) is pretty good. Besides Karl Berger (who is obviously not the player here), I don’t know who else uses muted “pizzicato” notes on vibes like at the end here. 6. “Oh Happy Day” by some pretty good organist. Don’t know who, but he/she is good. 7. Stanley Turrentine for sure, and probably Shirley Scott. This is mighty sweet. I love the drummer. Great stuff. 8. I’m probably insulting a pretty good drummer by saying this, but if the last track was a lesson in great soul drumming, this is shows how to make it boring. Maybe he was doing what the producer wanted. Good organist – again, I don’t know who it is. 9. I like the alto player – kind of sloppy, but soulful. I feel like I should know the tune, but I don’t. 10. This is really good. I can’t think of the name of this Mexican song, but this is a great, imaginative, accomplished version. I like the way the piano doesn’t even play for awhile, then comes in sparely at first. Clark Terry on trumpet? 11. Well, the clarinet player has a beautiful sound. Otherwise, this is just too weird for me. 12. Disco/Ventures Poinciana. Okay, I can die now – I’ve heard it all. 13. Delicious sax section sound. And nice singer, whom I can’t identify. It’s all too tempting to oversing this kind of thing, and she doesn’t. 14. Is this an alto flute? Whoever it is, it’s really nice fluting. And I like the rhythm section – straight, restrained bossa. I should know the tune, but I can’t think of the name. 15. I find the pianist much more interesting than the flutist. With so little harmonic motion, it’s not always easy to play something memorable, and the flutist doesn’t always manage it. I like the piano player, though. 16. On my first go-round with this one, I wrote down “Lionel Hampton with Red Allen.” After going to my RCA/Bluebird LP set, I’m amazed – I had no idea Gil Fuller was such a good trumpet player. And I think the tenor soloist is Budd Johnson. The tune is “Fiddle Faddle.” This is primo swing – I like it a lot. 17. It sounds like Red Norvo, with maybe Tal Farlow on guitar. This is great: straight-ahead jazz at its best. It swings, and the solos are personal and well-constructed. 18. I don’t know what this is, but the tenor player is Joe Henderson, I think. Why the fadeout? 19. Nice piano trio. Interestingly constructed piece. I like it, and have no idea who it is. 20. Don’t know what to say about this. Well done, for what it is. 21. The groove is a little obvious and repetitive for me, but I like the soloists, especially the rough-toned alto player. Is the trumpeter Hugh Masekela? 22. Good music, but a little too “genial” for me. I think this is something I once knew, but it has long faded from memory. 23. Nice for a pretty straightforward piece of Americana. 24. Do the Rubber Band! Thanks for an interesting BFT. Now let me go back and see how foolish I look.

Petrarch Laura Petrie Mary Richards

The Complete Lionel Hampton 1937-1941 (RCA Bluebird). Sides D & E tonight - primo swing.

I have a fairly battered copy of Jimmie Lunceford's Majestic 78 #1060 - The "Jimmies"/I Need a Lift. "Jimmies" is a ballad by pianist/arranger Edwin Wilcox featuring an alto saxophonist throughout. According to the Lord discography, Omer Simeon, Earl Carruthers (primarily the bari player), Jimmie Lunceford (primarily the frontman), and one Kirkland Bradford were all on hand with alto saxes on April 25, 1946. Anybody know who the soloist is? It's beautiful, accomplished playing, but there is no real improvisation until a little flourish at the coda. Based on the name of the tune, I wonder if it's a Lunceford sax feature, but I don't have anything to compare it to, and I always kind of assumed that Lunceford wasn't much of an instrumentalist - maybe that's an incorrect assumption. My best guess is that it's Simeon, but I have little, if any of his saxophone playing on record to compare - I have plenty of examples of his clarinet playing, of course. Does anyone have the Savoy Lunceford LP/CD this was reissued on? Do the notes give any info? Thanks for your help.

The Original Memphis Five from 1922: I'm Going Away to Wear You Off My Mind (Broadway) I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (Banner) Ji-Ji-Boo/You Can Have Him, I Don't Want Him, Didn't Love Him Anyhow Blues (Pathe Actuelle) Stop Your Kidding/That Barking Dog (Vocalion) Great little band, and I love Jimmy Lytell's clarinet playing.

Happy birthday, Homeboy!

Ira Sullivan (Flying Fish). Thanks to Chuck for reminding me of this album. I heard "That's Earl, Brother" on the radio years ago and decided I had to have this record, but I didn't have much money at the time and so didn't get it. But I picked up a copy today, and it's really good - maybe my new favorite Ira Sullivan.

Some gospel 45s today. The best were: Willie Morganfield - What is This/He Works That Way (Jewel). Nice Mississippi gospel from Muddy Waters' cousin. Aretha Franklin - Precious Lord, parts 1 & 2 (Checker). Her voice hasn't quite matured, but this is still very impressive. Blind Boys of Alabama - Something's Got Hold of Me/Hop, Skip and Jump; Our Revival Time/My God Can Do No Wrong (Gospel/Savoy). No wonder this group has lasted so long. These 1961 records are intense. and the "sleeper": Bro. Sammie Cheatam - Candidate for Heaven/Troubles of the World (Gospel Souvineer [sic]). I had forgotten what a fabulous little record this is. I did some Googling - this has been reissued a couple of times and has something of a reputation in the gospel world.

45 RPM jazz night at Jeff's house: Hank Marr - Easy Talk/I Remember New York (Federal). Live at Club 502 in Columbus in 1963, with Rusty Bryant and Wilbert Longmire. A great little record, in mint condition. Ahmad Jamal - But Not For Me/Seleritus (Parrot). From 1954, between his Okeh and Argo recordings; it's Richard Davis's recording debut. Jazztime U.S.A. Volume 2 (Brunswick). A three-EP album from a 1953 concert, with Terry Gibbs, Tony Scott, Stuff Smith, Moondog, George Auld, and others. Art Tatum Trio (Brunswick). Four records of the trio with Tiny Grimes and Slam Stewart from 1944. Chico Hamilton - A four-tune EP on the Sesac label, with Eric Dolphy. Nathan Davis - Slave March/To Ursula With Love (Segue). Cool soul jazz on side one; a soprano sax ballad on the other. I ended up with a nice soul single from 1970: Jackie Moore - Precious, Precious/Willpower (Atlantic). Sweet!

Today's winner, which I've had for awhile (but had forgotten how amazing it is): Reverend Cleophus Robinson: I Can See So Much/Moaning in the Morning (Peacock). "I Can See So Much" really rocks, but "Moaning" is stunning. It's accompanied by piano, but is otherwise basically a field holler with religious lyrics - in free tempo throughout. Where ya at, Clunky? Smashingthirds? Martini? Spun any 78s lately?

Didn't know this fine thread was here. I like dogs with a bunch of sauerkraut. I also like Chicago-style dogs with tomato, a pickle wedge, hot peppers, celery salt, and that weird fluorescent green relish they use - there's a place a couple of miles from my house run by a refugee from Chicago where I get those. He knows me well enough that he doesn't even scowl when I ask him to hold the mustard. There's a place on the way to the north Georgia mountains where I sometimes stop after hiking - they have a great dog with Vidalia onion relish. And on my October trip to Copenhagen, I discovered the joys of the Danish pølser - they often feature bacon (or bacon bits), mayonnaise-based sauces, and pickles - see below. If I sound like a heart attack waiting to happen, let me add that I don't eat hot dogs very often - but I go for quality when I do.

The Gospel Clarinets - One Day at a Time (GC). I love the name of this Chicago group. As far as I can tell, this is their only album.

Kid Thomas Valentine - Sonnets From Algiers (Icon). I love Kid Thomas's crude New Orleans trumpet.