jeffcrom

I picked up the 1955 studio album a few months after Record Store Day, when I spotted it in an Atlanta record store. It's good, not earth-shattering. I'm guessing from the liner notes and the length of the tunes (each less than four minutes) that these were intended as singles, and I'm further guessing that they weren't released at the time because they were not deemed commercial enough. But that's just my speculation. The track just given the title "Blues" alternates between a Latin/R & B beat and swing - think Ray Charles' "Mary Ann." The tunes are too short for anyone to stretch out much, but Wes is (not surprisingly) the standout soloist, even if his playing is not at the level it was by the early 1960s. I particularly liked his solo on "Far Wes" - not flashy, but very well constructed. The sound is good, although at times the balance is less than perfect - I could have used more guitar sometimes.

Pharoah Sanders - Izipho Zam, disc 4 from the Clifford Jordan set. I'm guessing that this will be my least-played disc in the box in future years.

Dizzy Reece Select, disc 3.

Drawing by Bob Thompson.

Happy Birthday, Clifford!

I'm sorry that we've lost a great jazz researcher, but I'm sorry that you've lost a friend, Allen.

Fascinating indeed! The photos of the original 1910 documents and newspaper clippings make me wonder what else there is to be discovered.

Very sorry to hear this.

The Buddy DeFranco Wailers (Verve)

Stooges Brass Band - Street Music (Sinking City). Some bad-ass contemporary New Orleans brass band music on a 2013 vinyl-only release.

I've always gotten a kick out of Chubby Jackson's "Moldy Fig Stomp," a Dixieland parody with an all-star cast. I love the semi-unison glissandos by Coleman Hawkins and J.J. Johnson, and Teddy Wilson and Charlie Shavers have fun with it. I'm not sure Harry Carney got the joke - his solo is like one of his normal solos, just not as good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yuRS0iAQs

Charlie Parker Complete Verve, disc 6. In my opinion, the January, 1951 "Au Privave" session is one of the monuments of recorded jazz. Among its other pleasures, it's one of Miles Davis' best early sessions.

Bessie Smith: Beale Street Mamma/Aggravatin' Papa (Columbia "Gold Band" label) Ticket Agent Ease Your Window Down/Pinchbacks - Take 'Em Away (Columbia "Flags" label) One and Two Blues/Honey Man Blues (Columbia "Viva-Tonal" label) Sweet Mistreater/Homeless Blues (Columbia "Viva-Tonal" label)

For a variety of reasons, I decided a while back to stop posting anything here about my own work. But I'm going to break my "rule," since I was surprised to see today that Atlanta music writer Doug DeLoach put the Edgewood Saxophone Trio's Snake Nation in his best of 2014 list. I'm realistic enough to realize that friendship/loyalty might have played a part in this, but I'll take it.

Can you tell he's doing that just from listening to the record? Astounding!!! MG No - I just play saxophone. We know all the tricks.

"Love Man" from Horn Culture by Sonny Rollins. I gushed about this amazing track from an otherwise mediocre album on another thread late last night, so I listened again today to see if it held up to the cold light of day. Yep - and I even noticed some things I didn't catch last night. It's a blues in C minor, and there's a section where Sonny plays a series of phrases in the low register - each one ending lower: C, then down to A, and then A flat, the lowest note on the tenor. It's obvious that he wants to resolve this section to G, but that note is not on the horn. No problem - he takes it down to G anyway, by lipping the pitch down and partially stopping the bell with his leg.

Okay, here are my comments about 19-24, in reverse order: 24. Some goofy fun, with some good musicianship to back it up. I particularly liked the dobro player. I had forgotten what a Volkswagen Thing looked like, so I looked at some internet pictures. Shudder…. 23. I don’t know this recording, but it sounds like Dr. Michael White on clarinet. I’ve read some negative comments about him here, but overall, I like him – he suggests older New Orleans styles while sounding like nobody but himself. And he writes some nice original tunes, rather than just playing “Tiger Rag” and “Clarinet Marmalade” over and over. A nice little recording, and my comments still apply if it turns out not to be Dr. White. 22. Some of these harmonies sound dangerously modern, Alex! I have no idea who it is, but I like the use of older, bluesy elements in a personal way – and with occasional hints that the pianist has listened to folks like McCoy Tyner. It’s all meat off the same bone! 21. Traditional jazz played with skill and spirit, but perhaps with not much originality. Don’t take that as too much off a knock; I enjoyed this track, particularly the soprano saxophonist’s sound. It's good, well-done - just not real personal. I've kicked around some ideas about who it might be, but I don't really know. 20. Okay, this is Lavern Baker singing “On Revival Day,” a fake spiritual composed by Andy Razaf. It’s from her 1958 Bessie Smith tribute album. It’s fun, but Bessie’s 1930 version pretty much spoiled any other version for me. The arrangement is impressive – it makes four horns sound like far more. The tenor solo by Paul Quinichette is actually the element that tipped me off as to what this was. It’s makes me wish Lester Young’s recording career had overlapped Bessie’s. Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, and Sahib Shihab are the other horns, with short spots behind the vocal. And Danny Barker was such a great rhythm guitarist. 19. For a few seconds, I thought this was a recording of Django Reinhardt after he had adopted the electric guitar, but it seems to be a more recent recording than that. It’s very impressive, but musicians who so totally adopt the style of other musicians freak me out a little. Maybe it’s early Bireli Langrene or someone like that. Like I said, impressive, but disconcerting. Or maybe I’m way off base and it is late Django. I think that I can identify everything else, to one extent or another, so I'll hold off a couple of weeks as requested before posting anything else.

How is it? Based on one listening - good, not essential. It's very much in the vein of "Pathways to Unknown Worlds," which is from the same period - it's four improvisations by the Arkestra, rather than "composed" pieces by Ra. It's perfect for someone in my situation - I have lots of Sun Ra records and CDs, including much (most?) of what was issued during his lifetime. The plethora of "new" live recordings issued in the past few years have seemed overwhelming to me, and I've had no desire to keep up with them. But a "new" studio recording, even if it's not the best Ra I've ever heard, is very welcome. If that makes sense to anyone here, I would recommend this album. If you don't have the Sun Ra "essentials," pass on this and get those first.

Wow - that sounds amazing.

Inspired by thirdtry's enthusiasm for Kid Thomas, I decided to spin this one tonight. Do you know this one, thirdtry? Not reissued on CD, I don't think. Later: I'd forgotten that Valentine plays Fats Domino's "One Night" here. I love that he apparently thought of himself as a dance/pop musician, not as a "jazzman."

Well, I was there a few months ago, and they had a lot more Kid Thomas than the few I could find on line. They generally have lots of interesting stuff in the used bins. The Louisiana Music Factory is one of my half-dozen favorite record stores in the U.S.

Alex may have overestimated my abilities; I did a quick run-through tonight, and was able to instantly identify only the first 14 tracks. But I think I can get some of the others. I'll start commenting, starting from the end, tomorrow. The beginning of track one was my cell phone ring tone for a couple of years, until I replaced it with a recording of which Alex would not approve.

Sun Ra - Sign of the Myth (Roaratorio). A new release of a 1973 "lost" album intended for Impulse.

I did a search on the Louisiana Music Factory website, but it's obvious that they don't have their complete inventory in their online database. You might want to call them to see if they have either of these: (504) 586-1094.

A couple of African singles: Fela Kuti and His Koola Lobitos - Se e Tun De/Waka Waka (Kalakuta Sunrise). A reissue of an early Fela record from the 1960s. Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Lonyaka/Mama Lo (Motella). An original South African single from 1972, in a cool sleeve from Zebra Record and Tape Sales in Johannesburg. I couldn't find a picture of this particular record, but it's identical to the Motella single above, except for the song title, of course.