Soul Stream

Saw the first episode and already am not a fan. Maybe the other directors will have a different approach. I found it to be thin. Corey Harris, Keb' Mo...paleeese. Taj. I'm not a huge fan, but at least he's had first hand contact and relations with some of the masters. Keb Mo at one point kept going on about his exposure to a Robert Johnson song was through a Led Zepplin 8 track. If the director's intent was to show lineage, he failed right there. Any suburban white kid has the same story. The best part was footage of Johnny Shines playing in the 60's in his living room. That was some bad shit. If you want to see a pretty good blues doc., check out Robert Gordon's one-hour Muddy Waters documentary running on PBS. Much more informed. \ ....my problem with these PBS-sponsered blues and jazz docs, is that they're are produced and directed by people who don't seem to have that big of grasp on the topic at hand. ....I turned it off at one point it was so boring. A BIG disappointment for me on this first episode. I bet Eastwood's episode is the best considering he has real knowledge about the topic.

Great pick Big Al. I could talk all day long about this one. And will.

Thanks Jim. I should have thought about Pete first. By the way....Have you heard his latest...McGriff Avenue? I know a bass player is on all tracks which makes me think the stories are true.

All these moves into Miles "electric" period by yesterday's "young lions" seem all so familiar. Just a different time period. Remember when they all hated fusion...that's how they made their name. Now...15 years later...they've finally caught up to Miles thinking. Now it's just the 70's way of Miles thinking. This is BOGUS. I'll guarantee you one of these guys will be playing "Time After Time" ala Miles in the 80's pretty damn soon, 10 years I guess (Hargrove is my guess for the first on base). C'mon...why are we all pretending these guys still have something UNIQUE to say. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Dave Douglas, Roy or Nicholas....Hell, they're BAAAADDDD MFers! The best young cats today. BUT LET'S QUIT PRETENDING THEY'RE INDIVIDUALS when they keep trying to copycat Miles!!!!!!! This is all B.S.

I had heard some rumors that McGriff suffered some sort of stroke awhile back and hasn't really been able to play his own basslines since then. Does anybody know if this is true, or what his current condition is. Anybody SEEN him play in the last year or so? I'm curious because I'm thinking about trying to hook him up with a booking and wondered what his touring status is these days.... Thanks for any help.

I'm a BIG Rodney Jones fan. I dug Manifesto...could have liked it more, but the lineup was killer. If you want a real taste of what Jones can do, pick up Irene Reid's "Movin' Out" CD on Savant. Jones KILLS on a couple of cuts on that. I mean, he about blows me away more than ANY cat on the scene these days. Peter Bernstein used to be my favorite young guitarist, but Jones has taken him over in my book. His skills aren't so apparent, oddly enough, on Soul Manifesto.... But pick up this Irene Reid, a nice blues-based organ outing...but Jones...he is BAAADDDD on it.

Just ordered it from CD Universe. Thanks for the heads up.

I can relate to Jim's comments about sitcoms, movies...and certain musicians playing in a box (hey, I count myself as one. So no disrespect. ). Here in Austin, there are a LOT of great musicians who play out of the strict Buck Owens/early Haggard style. They're great and I appreciate what they do, but...on some level it rings hollow. Same thing about seeing the umpteenth summer action blockbuster move. Or hearing Sonny Stitt on, seemingly, autopilot. Or hearing Eric Alexander play George Coleman. Or Joey Defrancesco play Jimmy Smith. Or Wallace Roney play Miles Davis. Hey, these guys are all SUPERIOR musicians. The best of the best. But as a LISTENER....I get bored with it at times. And yes, it IS because we're jaded. THAT's the definition of jaded. There's nothing new under the sun. But every once in a while somthing or somebody comes along to dispell all that! Thank goodness.

Jim, We had talked earlier about those great Patton sessions you had done. I often have a hard time communicating to sound engineers what the needs of a B3 in a jazz context (i.e. bass w/pedals, ect) are soundwise. What do you suggest as a good basic setup for micing the Leslie both in the studio and perhaps live. Do you take a direct feed off of the organ preamp as well? And if so, how do you do that exactly.... Thanks for any help you might offer.

I second the HELL out of this one. As far as stuff that wasn't really the Larry Young style we know this is the champ imho. This is Larry before he was LARRY YOUNG. But he was still a great Smith-based stylist and on this Jimmy Forrest record and he's smoking.

Like George Braith told me the other day about solos... Everyone has 3 choruses in them really, Coltrane had 4... maybe, after that they're just repeating themselves.

My thing about Eric Alexander, hey...no doubt the guy's a monster player (that's not in question)....is he doesn't seem to be a very good listener as of late. Someone sent me a live tape recently of a group with Eric....The tone of the group was pretty bluesy with each (veteran and well-known) musician taking 3 to 5 choruses per solo or thereabouts (and Eric was a sideman here, always out-soloing the leader. A big no-no imho). However, Alexander seemed oblivious and played on and on and on...10 choruses, often doubling or tripling what the others were taking. And it's not that what he's playing is so diverse either. He gets caught in these Rivers/Coltrane riffs that he digs and won't let go (a few of his pet ones are on the Blindfold test cut.) Maybe it's just a growing phase for him. I used to be a big fan of his earlier stuff. But lately, it's just like he's trying too hard to prove something. Often at the expense of others or the material. O.k.-I'm done with my little rant.

Arggh. I guess when they say end of September, the MEAN beginning of October.

Is "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Talkin' About" and/or "Street Of Dreams" still in print??? Those are ALL top notch.

Well, if I do say so myself...I did nail #13. I didn't guess Mance, but knew it was someone of his ilk. Idris fits the bill....and yes, Eric Alexander does suck on this imho. I used to count myself a fan of his, but lately I've been reconsidering. He's really falling into cliches and gimmicks on this cut. Doesn't sound like he's playing along with the theme Junior has set down. And the bass player...well, I don't know who "Chip" is, but.... Nice job all the way around Dan. Great selection of songs and artists! Also, thought it was surprising on how many were guessed correctly.

Monk's Dream was his biggest seller...so that's why I voted for. However, I LOVE "It's Monk's Time" as well as "Monk." They're ALL F'in great!!!!

jim, you nailed number 8. I actually have this as well, but didn't remember this track. I'm still green with envy, the guitar playing really sparked my interest. I would have never guessed. Granted, it was pretty sloppy playing for him. 9. Is Teddy Edwards doing his original ballad, "Afraid of Love." He does a great version on the Jazz Scene USA video/DVD. If you don't have it...GET IT!~!!!!

Yeah, Donald Byrd sounds especially good to me. Unexpectedly so. Clarion tone.

Just picked this up tonight in the used bin. Great blowing session that I'd never heard. These Prestige blowing sessions get a lot of grief for being...well, blowing sessions. But, imho it just doesn't get a whole let better than this. Great musicians playing jazz.

This one looks really, REALLY good to me. Glad to hear the nice report. I ordered mine from CD Universe and should be getting it by the end of the week I hope. Thank God that Bob Porter is still around to get these kinds of sessions out on the market. W/o him I doubt we'd be getting this kind of great music from vets like Red and Frank who dig riding with the b/3. A few standards, a blues, ballad....nothing mind blowing. Just good playing. I love this sort of thing. We need more of this feel good music in life.

The problem with jazz trumpeters is that they can't get over Miles. If I want to hear Miles, there's plenty of HIS albums to buy.

I'm not sure how everyone is playing on this. I will say, using AMG, almost any song can be narrowed down to a particular song/artist. But, what the fun is that? Maybe people are or aren't doing that. I don't know. Personally, I've made an oath to myself to just go off the top of my head and not "research" these things. Like a Downbeat Blindfold Test, those guys are on the spot right then. That's what makes this interesting to me. I pulled out a Groove Holmes out of my record collection to find out a particular cut. Afterwards, I felt like I cheated since my initial guess was wrong. But like I said, I don't know what everyone's doing on this. I would just say it's more fun when you do it on the fly.

...o.k. I take what I said back about the drummer after really listening this morning. Pretty lowdown. He IS an older cat who's just laying it down hard. The pianist is obviously a master. HE is BAAAADDDDD. However, I don't dig the sax player at all. It IS a young guy. He's blowing every cliche he knows, lost in technique. And the bassist may be an older cat but I don't dig what he's doing. Maybe he's just keeping it loose and interesting, since the drummer is so super-straight and laying it down. and O.K...I could be wrong about everything. But that's half the fun it seems on these blindfold tests. At least when I read them in magazines. I like when people take a hard stand. Wrong or right it's more interesting that way. Still, can't wait to see who it is I'm bashing.

Number 12 is "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts of Town" from Groove Holmes "A Bowl Of Soul" LP. Arranged and conducted by Onzy Matthews. Great Lp I hadn't listened to in a LONG time. Thanks Dan, great pick. ...cut 1 has got to be Gene Harris and the 3 sounds. From what album I haven't a clue, but by the great sound I would guess a Blue Note. You know it's Gene from the second he hits those ringing chords on the intro. Great stuff. No group can get this sort of thing to happen except the 3 Sounds. . 3. Is "Stand By Me" by lord knows who. 4. "Watermelon Man by "Lockjaw" Davis maybe, Les McCann on piano perhaps. 8>Since I Fell for You....has got to be McGriff with Melvin Sparks and co. from the 80's. Although McGriff doesn't solo, so that makes me think I might be wrong. But sometimes he did that on his albums from this time period. This is still a staple of McGriff's live show. 13 is "Lonely Ave" but by who....? Hmmm. The drummer needs to be kicked on this one. Must be a more recent album because the drummer is so lame, he thinks he's a jazz guy slumming it in his lame-o blues mode. He's draggin' this thing down. Stop diggin' coal!!!! And the bassist ain't helping, bored and noodling. The saxophonist sounds like Eric Alexander trying too hard. He's so overplaying on this tune it's sad. Sounds like a bunch of young guys backing up an old-timer on piano. Maybe something with Harold Maebern and those guys. This sucks. It makes me hate jazz. Jazz guys ruining the blues. If this is some authentic stuff, it's still bad. I still haven't finished listening to the whole thing....these are just a few initial thoughts.

Horace seemed to dig D flat....Bastard!