mikeweil

I knew this would be a collection of excellent and interesting selections! Thanks so much! No AMGing or looking up, just my thoughts upon listening. Track 1: Very nice overture - could be some film music. The trumpet sounds a lot like Kenny Dorham to me, but I don't have this - not yet, that is .... Track 2: Must be Reggie Workman on bass, although it sounds a bit like a pickup which I never heard him use. But the phrasing is som much like him. Oh - Mal Waldron, unmistakeably. I'm not sure who the tenor and drums are - should be from the latter part of his career. Very modern drummer with good chops, but not obstrusive. I will buy that some day. No I won't look around what it excatly is but keep the suspense .... Very good and typical Waldron, but not stuck in personal clichés - like it very much. Track 3: 1st part of the melody reminds me of some (Russian) folk song, second part of Autumn leaves. Nice little ditty, but not characteristic enough for me to get who it is. Could have been longer for my taste, with more personal solos. Track 4: Very exiting modern big band. That pianist likes his Chick Corea of the "Now he Sings" album. The wrting is a bit like this, too. Alto saxist digs in, too. He's not quite my type, and the band, too, but the overall energy and performance is so dedicated I like to listen to this. No idea, though. Track 5: Now this sounds terribly familiar, but ..... Could be some lesser known US boys or some Europeans who really have that late 1950's / early 1960's style down, or a mixed band. Probably the track where I slap my forehead for not naming these players. Like it, would like to hear more. Track 6: Hmm .... I'd say the tenor player is an older guy. Hard to say who, I'm not too familiar with these stylists. Strange alto sound, between Desmond and Carter. Not really cool, not really swing, not really bop .... I'm stumped. Track 7: The guitar intro is almost like "House of the rising sun". Then a swing style sounding trumpet. Oh - then it starts to sound like a band of swing veterans ... And the guitarist strumms happily along. Tenor sounds Ben Websterish. Strange - the piano is on the left channel on the intro, then on the right for the tenor solo, and I seem to hear a vibraphone comping softly. I'm stumped again. Track 8: Now the recorded sound of this, especially the bass, is the way I like it. All the instruments have their natural balance. Oh - no wonder, as it is a live recording. The tenor has some similarities to Dexter Gordon, but it ain't him. Stumped again ..... I like this tenor - he takes his time. Track 9: Alto sounds terribly like Jackie McLean. That singer is nice, but the sound is like he overdubbed. I like him, he sounds like a French Bob Dorough. The drummer plays hard, but with plenty drive, and I dig him. Wonder who that singer is, like him very much. Seems I won't get any of the guys on this disc. Track 10: This one makes me wonder where the Barney Wilen track is. But again ..... This is a tenor player to check out. Like the saxist much more than the pianist - I have a problem with these semi-free tinklers. That track was full of surprises - suddenly some brass etc. - interesting, making me curious abou the rest of the album. Track 11: The theme has that "existentialist" touch that I like a lot about much of the 1960's themes. Where's your left hand, Mr. Piano Player? Well .... can't say who the trumpet is, he has not got the real chops for that tempo. Drummer has problems keeping the high hat on two and four during the bass solo. Bassist is good. A valve trombone? Hmmm. Drummer has a nice fat bass drum sound. Do I hear applause during his solo? It's well done, but not very inventive. Another solo? Brother Yusef!!! Is that a Mingus track? Track 12: Very fine singer. Five stars. But again, no idea. I'd buy this. Classic execution. Flawless. Who is it? I must have this!!! Track 13: Now that is too sloppy for my taste. Rhythm guitar and drummer are not together, and then the tenor and guitar and tenor do not phrase together. You either couldn't adopt to each other or didn't rehearse, folks! That drummer should have stayed away from these rhythms. Sounds like a 2nd rate swing drummer going latin rock without really understanding it. Sorry. They had fun doing this, but it can be done a lot better. Bassist isn't really at ease with these rhythms, either. Only the guitarist has it down, so I guess it is his tune. Track 14: I think I have heard that theme. Something from the early 1950's. Like it. Duh - and organ after the head, and an old style player too?!?! Stumped again. Even some R & B touches in the first tenor solo, and that after the semi-cool theme. I'm puzzled, too! This swings nicely. Are these older players? Very interesting mixture of styles. Track 15: This sounds like a private recording from some cool style player's living room with phone book brushes. Probably some big names among them. Track 16: This should be from the same singer as track 9 - but I suppose that club ambience is faked. Very nice - I'd really like to know who that singer is. Well, a very nice trip that makes me look like a jazz beginner - one of the hardest BFTs so far in this respect. Thanks for the trip and the education - the depths of your collection may not be measured ... p.s. I wish I had more time, but in the morning I'm off to Spain, and then to Turkey for some concerts with this singer, which is a totally different world, not just musically ... I probably won't have the opportunity to post during the next two weeks, so if anybody here misses me - I will be back by the end of the month. p.p.s. edited to add a sentence to my comments on track 10.

I know .....

Now I can live without the Four Freshmen box, but can I live without the Bailey ? .......

Brownie's vision - or any male's on the board?

Haven't had a chance to give it a listen, but the new (April 2006) Jazz Times issue has a nice feature on Andrew! And along the way they correct the recording date of the trio session in the Mosaic Select box to April 19, 1967!

She? THEY you mean.... ... yes .... and CONVERSATION ?!?!?!

The problem is that the site that hosts the photo does not allow linking! Thus all I see is the fortune city logo Ubu - if you right click on the "pic" you will get the picture properties, and they reveal a last name. Now if you type that name into the pic search window at www.alltheweb.com, e.g., you will get pics that you better not link or post here - we want to have you here for discussion for years to come ...... That said, to Evan: Would you mind sending your BFT for someone who mixed up your identities and took you for vanished?

What are the title and label of this, please?

That's one of the most relaxed and best sounding vibes records I have! (I understand that's a CD different to the "Fuller Nelson" Peter mentions.)

For me it was the recordings on period instruments - they bring out the bitter along with the sweet much more. My mother played Mozart etc. all the time when I was a kid, and nothing much happened. Then a radio course explained some, and that made me understand a little. The recordings of Hogwood et al. did the rest. But he has to be listened to in the company of his predecessors and contemporaries to really understand what he innovated.

That Cd with Rowles i very nice ...

Yeah, very nice to read a post from you, Simon .....

Anyway: # 35 - Bright Moments - April 2006 # 36 - tooter - May 2006 # 37 - mikeweil - June 2006 # 38 - cannonball-addict - July 2006

well well well, Evan is that one, don't you know? ..... hard to keep track of all these multiple personalities on the board .....

Yes, I too hope everything's going fine on a level that is acceptable for you. I will edit the list accordingly. Best wishes for you!

Thanks!!!!! Seems I took his signature for his board name when he pm'd me about the signup .........

The problem is bigger than I thought: I cannot find any trace of Evan, who signed up for # 35 ... seems he's no longer a member - he's not on the member list, and I cannot find any posts he made. So any other stepper-uppers, please note!

Thanks a lot - let's just switch and everything works out fine for me. The list now looks like this: # 35 - Evan - April 2006 # 36 - tooter - May 2006 # 37 - mikeweil - June 2006 # 38 - take5 - July 2006 # 39 - cannonball-addict - August 2006

"Executing very well" is a damn hard thing to do on any instrument, for one, and doing it on the vibes is much more difficult than one might think - the subtleties of phrasing are hard to do. If Tjader or anybody else didn't "sing", how come I can memorize many more phrases from Ayers or Tjader than from Bags? I know several solos of John Lewis from MJQ recordings by heart, but the Jackson solos fly away - I can recognize him any time, but his style is so embellished that it's hard to memorize a solo. Can you do this? I wonder which Tjader jazz recordings you have heard - there are some, BTW. where he emulates the MJQ and Bags style so well I fooled a friend of mine with them.

Indeed ...

I'm relieved the Solal is the only one I have to get me right now ... the others I have or they don't interest me. Deleting titles after two or three years is normal for them - all the Osby CDs were deleted after that time - at least they announce it to give us a chance to get them while they're still available! I wish other labels would do that!

My dear friends: I'm up for BFT 36, which is to take place in May. As it just turned out, April will be a very busy month for me, so I wouldn't be dismayed if any of the consecutive Test Masters could step up a notch - June would be perfect for me. The list looks like this: # 35 - Evan - April 2006 # 36 - mikeweil - May 2006 # 37 - tooter - June 2006 # 38 - take5 - July 2006 # 39 - cannonball-addict - August 2006 Thanks for your help.

You two are not alone ..... in fact, I'm afraid most here share that disease.

I thought Well kept secret was a very good album with an unfortunately very appropriate title - I think she's very underrated. I love her ECM CD Somewhere Called Home, too. She has a very warm voice - I love that alto register.

I bought Ron Horton's Genius Envy 'cause Jane Ira Bloom was on it, but was pleasantly surprised how good he was. Experienced the same with his work with Andrew Hill. I, too, will add that to my wish list.