mikeweil

Perhaps you need a shelf "Items likely to be missed in an Organissimo Blindfold Test" ...

Damn near everyone in North America is of mixed racial descent. Same goes for Latin America! Even for Europe, but you don't detect it as easily as they're mostly white here ....

Seems a logical choice, after all that serious music ..... As far as I am concerned, with these polls I always miss one box to put my vote into: All of the above!

These are the ones I am going to get me - plenty of nice Latin stuff among them. That Lorez Alexandria is a very rare Impulse item. And that Ahmad Jamal's Chamber Classic is among them is a mild sensation. I hope they use the orginal version without reverb added for the remaster.

You're very right, Brad, about me digging that artist, but "Open the Door, Richard" is not one of his tracks. There are many versions of that tune/comedy routine, but the one on the BFT comes from another band with more genuine jazz creds... Then I'd say it's this or this musician's band ...

oh no!!! I almost fainted when I read these two sets are on the Last Chance List in the new Mosaic brochure today ... a look at my bank account clearly say NO but my heart and ears say YES , at least for the Kelly/Chambers .... if you don't see me here for a while, it's because two months without internet might buy me the other set ....

Lester Young's trio sides with Nat Cole, especially I Can't Get Started and Body and Soul.

The piano player might sound like Rowles, in fact, but the song is not You Are Too Beautiful, in my opinion (I've just tried a couple of different versions, and it looks like a different piece). Luca You gotta love it- a person who doesn't peek at the discussion before he states his case! My personal Blindfold Test rule # 3: I always get lost in the discussion of one specific track. I'll say no more. Too little time. Ah, these damn liberties those pianist take!

Oh MAN! That would have been wicked FUN! (I wish I had thought of that...) sheeee-it, I can see it coming man. Thanks a bunch. People fighting and pulling on each others hair an' all that.... I think of using alternate takes on different discs .....

After comparing other versions, I'd say it is that song. It's not Lewis, judging from the playing style, and especially not Connie Kay, whose ride cymbal sound I recognize from the farthest corner in our house, i.e. the bathroom ... I don't have that Rowles record any more. There is an early Abdullah Ibrahim, but that is a solo. No Mose Allison version, as someone suggested.

Still think' about track # 6: If this is "You are too beautiful", it's probably not John Lewis, as he didn't record that in a trio context, or at leats I couldn't find it. None of the trio records of his I checked fit this track. But how about this - I don't have the record at hand at the time to compare.

There is this one, too: This Cd documents the birth of Cubop, as it was the first time Afro-Cuban percussionists were used as integral members of a jazz ensemble. There had been some experiments in that direction before (Stan Kenton etc.), but Dizzy allowed the Cuban rhythm and later the religious chants to shape the music. Be aware the two percussionists play only on two tracks. Dizzy asked both of them to join the band after the concert, but bongocero Lorenzo Salan reclined. Chano Pozo stayed with the band and left an indelible mark on Dizzy's career and the fusion of Afro-Cuban music and jazz. That concert took place on September 29, 1947; Chano Pozo was killed in a Harlem bar on December 2, 1948, after an argument about a drug deal ... a real tough guy, it is reported. Pozo had been a dancer, entertainer, and composer of some reputation before he came to the US, Mario Bauza recommended him to Dizzy (Mario and Dizzy had been trumpet section mates in Cab Calloway's orchestra, and it was then that Dizzy learned the first basics of Afro-Cuban music. There is an excellently compiled 3 CD box set from Tumbao records in Barcelona - this is a label of the Fresh Sound / Blue Moon group which has not the best of reputations on this board, but one has to admit Jordi Pujol did an indispensible job on reissuing classic Cuban recordings. Without his releases of this music on the Tumbao, Palladium and Caney labels most of this music would be unavailable or released only in crappy, inferior sounding editions without any liner notes. The Cahno Pozo box set containes almost all of his recordings, except for the Stockholm and Paris concerts from February 1948, which are available on Dragon and Vogue CDs, and the Pasadena and Royal Roost broadcasts, which are available on Tumbao TCD-102, omittiung only two ballads. The two tracks from the Blue Note CD are included in the box set, which makes a nice cross section of Afro-Cuban music with and without jazz influence in the late 1940's. I will post some recommendations of classic Cuban recordings on Tumabo next week after I finished some tax declaration with a deadline ... As general introductions to Cuban music sín jazz, I recommend: Cuban Counterpoint History of the Son Montuno - Rounder CD 1078 Afro-Cuba A musical anthology - Rounder CD 1088, which is an excellent selection of African-derived music that is the rhythmic basis of the music and often misunderstood From Afrocuban music to Salsa by Dr. Olavo Alén Rodriguez, a CD with a 170-page booklet in English that is essential reading. The topics not covered in the latter booklet are found in the lovingly written book by Maya Roy, Buena Vista, Die Musik Kubas: http://www.palmyra-verlag.de/ - this is the German publisher, the original edition was in French, I'll see if there is an English edition. There are several recommendable books on Cuban jazz in English, but the two above best display the non-jazz aspects. US journalists have a tendency to view everything under the aspect of jazz influence, which misses the point with Latin-American music, as it developped more or less parallel to jazz. I have a ton of so-called Latin jazz in my collection and will post some recommendations as soon as I find the time, which probably will be at the end of the month.

Well said, John! p.s. I was gonna make me a cappucino anyway ....

Very sad news indeed! I especially enjoyed him on this one, very deep, very emotional player:

I love that bonus disc!!! Thanks a million times!!! I had a time when I was spinning stuff like this every day, and I still have quite a collection of it. Sincerely wish I had more time for this right now, but there is some work to do with serious deadline. But as far as track 1 is concerned: click here for more!

One more thing: I, for my part, feel honored to distribute my musical preferences among such distinguished ears, and think the necessary input is okay, as it will be once in two to four years!

That pretty much sums it up for me, too. I know life is getting in the way of things - such things are keeping me from giving the BFT # 11 bonus disc a closer listen and comment on it, and I really dig that one to death! A short post or PM explaining the reasons is cool with me, and the fact that all participants' lists are public so that everybody can decide on their own will regulate things, in the long run, I think! If someone is just curious and acknowledges he can't comment much, that's cool, too - we had such cases and encouraged these members to participate nonetheless. Some need to be around for a while before they dare to post a comment - I was in doubt myself and hopped on the bandwagon only on the second round. Just wanted to find out what you folks think about this - again, freedom rules, do as you feel. I'm not the one here to tell you how to do it, I just try to keep things public and alive and thank you all for your input.

My conclusion is that there shouldn't be any confusion about this. Seriously, there's no trick going on here. What is played after the announcement that the tune is going to be "St. Louis Blues" is the introduction (verse / same as middle section of the tune) to... "St. Louis Blues". Yes, there is a similarity in the opening notes, but if you compare the two closely, it's not exact enough to cause this much confusion. If anybody is still confused, try singing the words ("Summertime, and the living is easy", versus "St. Louis woman, with her diamnond rings"). The "Summertime" lyrics don't work here. You're right, of course. But, considering many may probably listen more to instrumental versions of tunes and may net be familiar with the words, that melodic step a third down and up again, that both tunes share - I can see how it may mislead a casual listener.

It does!

Another member brought this topic up again in a PM. We both feel that after receiving the Blindfold Test disc(s), each recipient should at least post one note of receipt and appreciation or disgust or whatever. Just getting the music - and we all know how much work is involved - without even acknowledging the Test Master's efforts is not okay IMHO. Everybody should be able to give it a listen and post a response - or an excuse. How shall we handle this in the future - a blacklist?

I'll walk down to the basement into my practice room and play some of his pet licks during that time ...

My favourite Elvin anecdote will always remain John Coltrane's words after Elvin wrecked Trane's car: "I can always get another car, but there's only one Elvin!" So true.

This trick works, BTW, because the introduction of "St. Louis Blues" (copyrighted 1914) is very close to the main melody of "Summertime" (copyrighted 1935). Draw your own conclusions.

If you listen closely you will hear one of the musicians announce "St. Louis Blues" at the beginning of track 1. But to fool you, he starts playing the main melody of "Summertime" instead, which, when played in the same key, which is not like they were written, works out very nicely.