mikeweil

Okay, so I finally find the time to stroll the "uncharted territories" of disc 2 ..... Track 1: Now this is one everybody should know, not just bass players .... so you remembered this one: Wait till you hear the live version I have on vinyl! Track 2: An Ornette Coleman tune, If I'm not totally mislead. Nicely done. I'm not a fan of these fast virtuosic players, but this here works and fits the tune very well. Dave Holland? But not quite his sound .... Track 3: Nice juggling ryhthms in the theme. Or rather the intro. Rhodes and acoutic piano simultaneously? Yeah, this is verrry nice. I'd say this is in 15/8 time divided in 7-8, with tricky triplets in the 8/8 part. I like the soprano player more in the theme, where he displays a round, mellow sound, but he is tempted to the usual runs and trills in the solo. Hard to find an original style beneath the technical aspect these days. That pianist'sconcept is nice,but I like the sound the best, comping on the Rhodes for his own solo. But on the whole, this is a very good piece of music, and they know what they're doing. No idea who they are. Very nice ending!!! Track 4: I should know this, at least the tenor sounds extremely familiar. Archie Shepp? But the music is too dreamy for him. I dunno. No: Charles Lloyd!!! I have heard this type of thing too often ..... the thrill is gone ..... but they do this very well, of course,and he has his story to tell, and it's true. Just not my taste. Track 5: Oh - this is from that Latin big band from the country where nobody would look for such a thing? Hehe .... nice version of Jaco's tune! They're in clave, that's for sure! Very nice bass trombone - or is this tuba? Track 6: One more Oh!!! I have this legendary LP. Not quite a night in Tunisia. Great stuff! Wild! Track 7: I was waiting for this guy to appear! Unmistakeable sound, lots of overdubbing. This was a very nice surprise when you played this to me, as I'm not a fan of him, but this is an excellent album! Track 8: Is this the multi-bass band CD you bought in Vienna? Somewhat lightweight, but the sound is what counts! Track 9: The percussion is a little nervous for my taste, and the flutist's approach and intonation too "classical". I was kind of surprised this developped into a big band track. The way the low horns lead the ensemble is what like the best about this. Track 10: Electric oud funk? Sounds pretty much like an oriental band, but then the bass sounds like European player. Don't know what to think of this: The darbouka player hits the "doum" so hard during his break that you can't hear the sound any more, and the conga player for certain is oriental, ,judging from his approach. Is the bassist the leader here. For European oriental jazz it is quite nice, but for an oriental band I would say they stray too far from their culture - but you know I'm very critical about these things ..... Track 11: Lots of blue danubian basses here ..... humor does belong in music! Shroum shroum! This has me grinning all the way through! Track 12: This should be Jaco or at least one of his tunes - wasn't there some Jaco tribute involving several bassists? Sounds like this! Cobham-like runs over the toms! Or is this from one of the Havana Jam albums? Alphonso Johnson rather than Jaco? Track 13: The late King Albert, unmistakeably. One his original tunes. Some of the drum licks sound a lot like Elvin, but some and the sound so not. A wild guess would be his record with Jaco and Alphonze Mouzon - I have to admit I never heard much of it. Track 14: I love bass clarinet so much, I like this although I find the music a little lightweight. That treble register bass sound I know from somewhere ..... Two basses here, a big fiddle and a bass guitar. Not bad! Interestingly done. I like this much better than I thought I would! Track 15: Hahaha!!! Wild! The electric bass comunion! I really dig this kind of stuff! No idea who it is, though. Track 16: Verrrrry nice closer! Not Weberhard? I love those harmonics and all! Very tongue-in-cheek! Great job, Buddy!!!!

Well, I dunno ...... I had Harley's first Atlantic LP, and thought he was a nice player, and his use of the bagpipes is much more than a novelty, but he's not in the first league of players, so I doubt this could catch my attention for more than two or three turns ..... not to discourage anyone: He's really a nice player, and the rhythm section grooves. And I doubt that this music will be made available again for many years after these 3000 are sould out.

Ditto. ... make that three ...

Germany's Elvis clone Peter Krauss covered "Lucky Lips" but never achieved the original's swing. Ruth Brown's version never fails to move people to the dancefloor when I put it on. Thanks for the great groove, Miss Rhythm, and R.I.P.

Durium, he started this thread before you all moved up a step after the member originally scheduled for December had to cancel.

The solution simple: buy nothing but Bird CDs for the next six months, and listen to them every day. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Saw Rabih Abou-Khalil tonight in Wiesbaden, doing a solo oud recital as part of a new concert series "mare nostrum", focussing on mediterranean culture. He was asked to read poetry between his pieces,which he admitted finding a somewhat odd request for him of Lebanese descent, but solved the problem graciously by reading a lot of Ringelnatz and Morgenstern, two of Germany's funniest poets, whom he likes a lot, and translations of an Arabian classic by Friedrich Rückert (who did the best German Koran translation and wrote more than Goethe). His playing was very nice, on his custom made oud, which is tuned lower than the classical Arabian lutes.

The weather is acting pretty strange during the last years over here. Doesn't follow the rules any more. July was extremely hot and dry, August was chilly and rainy, September turned unexpectedly warm after a slow start, which continued through the first half of October. It turned cold then again, but today we're sunny and mild - I was driving with the windows open! (Mr. Bassman and I live about 50 miles apart.)

This is what I found in Bruyninckx: Svend Asmussen (vln,vcl) Max Leth (p,vib) Jörgen Ingmann (g) Hans Ulrik Neumann (g) Poul Gregersen (b) Erik Frederiksen (d) Hamburg, September 22, 1953 BSW778 Schöner Gigolo (sa vcl) DECCA (G) F43593 BSW779 Bei dir war es immer so schön DECCA (G) F43593 BSW784 Rhythm is our business DECCA (G) F43616 BSW785 After you've gone DECCA (G) F43616 I can't read the master number on the photo, but it seems to be in the same series.

BTW - and off-topic: Did rockefeller center get a copy? If not, do you want his adress?

Too early? It's a mere six weeks until Xmas, they're mounting decoration and stuff for the annual Xmas fairs all over here already!

It's normal that discs to different parts of the USA sent on the same day arrive up to one week after another - nobody knows why ....

Re track 13: I think the trombonist is achieving the chords by singing simultaneously, like the late Albert Mangelsdorff did so eloquently - of course it's not Albert on this track. I wonder who it is, as he does it so well and stays right in the pocket at the same time. No electronics here.

hmmmm... the words are not german, aren't they? But it is a nice wordgame indeed. And you are absolutely right, it is a nice opener. I like this very much, the bass player follows the words for example the piece with the low tone.... Yes, it is English, but spoken with what sounded to me like a German accent. But I see now that it is a Dutchman speaking.

Britney just has to decide whether she really wants to be nasty or not. I thought Madonna was her role model .....

Oh yeah! Moon Ray leaves me in awe each and every time I listen to it!

I, too, had problems with the quotations encoding, but never found out why and when it doesn't work. So that's not Ilg on track 15 ..... interesting. With my comments on # 13 I wanted to say that I'm sure it's not Landgren! This guy here is catching my attention a lot more!

Haven't heard the Stanko, but I know that the sound on every ECM jazz recording is heavily doctored i.e. equalized - e.g. there is no cymbal sounding like on those CDs. As you mentioned Verve: the two drummerless trio sessions with Christian McBride - one with Bird tunes and Stephen Scott and Roy Hargrove, the other with Hancock tunes and Mark Whitfield and Nicholas Payton - are exvellently recorded: they even recorded the slient room to fill the pauses between tracks with natural silence and not digital deafness.

Well ..... I',m in a kind of delicate position for this BFT: Mr. Bassman and myself are friends now for quite a number of years after meeting in the trio of a guitarist (with whom he still plays), and conduct listening sessions whenever we find the time, which include a bit of mutual blindfolding, and some ideas for this BFT stem from these (at least he confessed this to me), so I will keep my mouth shut whenever I think I identify something. So here are my comments for disc 1: Track 1: ... a bass is a bass is a bass ... p.s. please put this on my wish list! Track 2: I have to take credit for turning him to this, one of my all time favourite singers, and I know the reason why he included it ..... Track 3: Oh - so I finally get to hear some of this CD! I was there when he bought it! It was when we strolled through town browsing a CD shop on a day off during a small tour with the band we both play in. And he exclaimed, laughing: "If one must do some Glen Miller, do it like this, please!" He's right. The name of the band makes me smile, too .... Track 4: Now here's one I'm not familiar with, and another item for my wish list. Very nice baritone and bass playing by two guys listening to each other. I like the mood this projects. Very nice. John Surman on a more relaxed groove? None of his usually characteristic overblowing here, but the sound is similar to his on some older records I have ..... Can't guess who the bassist is - I don't hear any overtly characteristic traits in his playing. Track 5: Oh - an upright, obviously, but sounding almost like a Fender bass: This should be .... not O.P., but ..... with one of my least preferred drummers. I remember the strories you told me about the gig where you met him. Hehe .... Track 6: Very nice rhythm in 9/4 - well you were so proud of this discovery,considering what band we play in, that you gave it away to me on the rehearsal where this originates, but not who it is. Pretty nice the way they play it, and that they do not cling as tightly to the ryhthm as most jazz bands do. The saxist is looser with the rhythm as the pianist, who sounds a bit stiff .... on the whole a Track 7: This has the mood, but not the sound of an ECM piano trio recording. Nice, but this style of playing is somewhat too noncommittal to these ears. And it sounds derived of some other recording. Well,maybe I do this track injustice ..... Track 8: Oh, this should be a track of a band I never had the opportunity to listen to but read a lot about. There's two bassists here! Almost a Hot Club de France type of rhythm. Track 9: A German band? At least that track shows a few characteristic I have observed with local bands. To me, they are not really together. The ryhthm players are all in different worlds, the bassist walks a straight 4/4 during the theme where the sax and drums anticipate the beat, which lessens the rhythmic impact of the arrangement, the pianist's comping is rhythmically indefinite, his solo shows the rhythmic weakness in his phrasing and is full of stock phrases. Drummer bashes along and does not listen to much to the others, although he knows his way through the tune. Saxist sems to be the best of the bunch, but reminds me a lot of the modern school à la Lovano, or is this some better known guy? The weakest track so far. Track 10: Oh .... some funky fusionistic jazz. Nice riff the bassist plays. Violin? Hmm ... no idea who this is. A nice experiment, but I think the bassist waits too long before he does something with the riff; well he doesn't really improvise but only changes the basic rhythm. They could make some more out of it. They ran out of ideas before they really got started. Track 11. I think I know who this is: You played some of this duo for me,didn't you? I still pity that this bassist abandoned using his magnificent sounding French baroque bass violin. That guitarist is one of the most original on the European scene, and is shamefully underrecognized for being so. Too much reverb on the bass for my taste. Track 12: Some Bill Evans school piano trio,for sure. Enrico Pieranunzi? Nice sound on this, the players as well as the recording. The brushes are not too low in the mix, for a change I was afraid they'd dance along lightly on this, but they really dig in. Good track! Track 13: It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a funky jazz track like this. Good front line, much more interesting than the cliché funkisms I have heard from Nils Landgren recently. No idea who they are. Track 14: Another good one that leaves me with a cloud of question marks ..... Track 15: That should be one from out countryman digging into the German folk archives ...... Nice! Oh - it's over already? Very nice compliation! Wait - there's another disc

The Verve Elite CD of Pre-Bird has index marks for all the splices - he spliced together a Yusef Lateef solo cadenza there note by note, and I almost couldn't believe it until I saw the flow of index marks ..... somehow this gives me the goosebumps.

Then go ahead and post it on you know which thread ...

Now was it remixed and/or remastered or not?

Ridiculous!

Hablamos espanol, compadres?