Soul Stream

Hey Jim! Have a great one...thanks for everything you do for us out here in cyberspace! Keep kickin' those pedals brother!

Sorry... I'll get ya on there!

Found this in an old Downbeat today.... I posted it in the blog section of the Patton tribute myspace page. Downbeat Review Of "Along Came John" Oct 10, 1963 by Don Nelson Three Stars On his first date as leader, Patton emerges as a musician who seems capable of a better report than this. He possesses a creditable array of equipment: a crisp articulation, a light but not limp touch, a rather fertile imagination, and, as annotator Joe Goldberg points out, an approach that is less orchestral than many of his fellow organists. He never buries the listener in sound. Yet his work here is curiously bland, despite some cooking moments on Gee Gee and Pig Foots and a fine performance on I'll Never Be Free. He plays the rest of the tunes agreeably enough, but he rarely seems to dig beneath the crust and spill out the innards. He seems somewhat restrained, as if reluctant to really let go and wail. No such malaise afflicts Fred Jackson or Harold Vick, who supply almost all of the excitement that exists on the album. Both are forward looking tenor men, especially Jackson, and together they generate a considerable amount of heat. Jackson can explore the harmonic possibilities of a tune with searching vigor, yet never get so absorbed that he lets the melody fly out of his grasp. His solo on Gee Gee is a pip, well-constructed and well-played in a Coltrane-ish fashion. He is far more lyrical in this vein than many saxophonists who have been affected, more or less, by the Coltrane persuasion. When either he or Vick, who is slightly more traditional in approach, command the stage, the music leaps to life: yet these breakthroughs are not sufficient to transform the album as a whole into a winning achievement. Green, a skilled interpreter of the blues, plays well throughout, though occasionally (Silver Meter, Pig Foots) he gets hung on devices that grate the listener's nerves. Dixon, a good drummer, shows himself a capable writer, too, with Meter, Spiffy Diffy, and Foots. Patton himself wrote two dreditable efforts, Along Came John and Gee Gee.

Thanks everyone...! If you send a friend request in the future, please let me know what your myspace name is. I've been getting alot of mass weirdo/crappy band requests and have just vetoed a lot of stuff I wasn't sure of. I checked Dr. Lonnie Smith's site recently and he had some porn posted in the comments section, so I'm trying to avoid that at all costs. If for some reason your request didn't go through, let me know and we can try again! Thanks....

Now that tonight's show has showcased all the past Idol winners, it's clear to me that Carrie Underwood by far was/is the most talented.

Hey Clem, I've heard Sam live three times in three different contexts. Solo, w/a straight ahead pickup band, and with his own trio. I'm a huge Sam fan and enjoyed 2 of the concerts very much. The one with his own trio was my least favorite...a lot of what I described above. Sam is a MONSTER...a genius...I love his horn playing...not crazy about what happens when he sits at the piano.

I love Korla Pandit...and that picture on that page is GREAT!!!!! It's funny too, cause the shot must have been staged. None of the drawbars are pulled out on the organ. Great shot! Thanks Jim. Also dig the name change to jette satin.

I don't know if the Sam Rivers tribute was still going on last night at about midnight.... But I turned on that station and found what was on completely unlistenable garbage. That kind of piano trio where everyone plays fast nonsense with the occassional simultaneous bashing. The thing went on and on forever. I kept thinking I should just hang in there to see if this was Sam Rivers. But even after turning the volume down and then coming back to it going on and on....I gave up. Who in their right might could listen to that stuff without becoming suicidal is beyond me. It might have been Rivers because I've seen him live and he and his group did this sort of thing. Give me his old Blue Notes anytime....

Yes, that sounds incredible...I'll try to go along that path... What I'm looking for is a reasonable instrument for experiment.As far as I know (and that is very little!), the A100 is similar to the B3 except for vibrato or percussion, right? No...the A-100 is exactly the same as a B3 except the cabinet is different. The A-100 also has an internal amp and speaker system...which can or cannot be used, depending if you're hooking a Leslie up to it or not. ...and Jim...DAMN YOU!!!!

Michael, I would definately take Chuck's advice and keep your eyes on the classified ad section in your local paper for a Hammond A-100. You might or might not know that they are identical to a B3. I found one for $500 in my local paper a few years back and I just stumbled onto it. Apparently, it had been advertised for several days already and they had no buyers until I got there....

Bobby Hutcherson playing standards with a group like that....I'm all over that. Can't wait...

What do you mean?

I still wonder why anybody, church or not would buy something that expensive when they could get the og for much less. I hope Hammond puts out the next road version single keyboard with the analog keying. Unless it's exactly like a og hammond, I always find that it's close but no cigar. Still waiting for the cigar....

I was looking through an old Downbeat and found Kenny Dorham's review of Baby Face Willette's "Behind The 8 Ball" LP. No Stars from K.D. To quote Kenny "There is nothing of sufficient musical content here to deserve a rating." I'd love to see Baby Face pull a switchblade on K.D. somewhere on the Southside of Chicago for that review.

Yes...buy a NEW Hammond B3! They only cost @ $20,000! Whatever you do...do NOT buy an original mint condition B3 with a Leslie 122 for $8,000. They're old and don't sound as good as the brand new 20K ones. or you could get this baby....but it's not good like a digital one...Mint Hammond B3 w/Leslie 122 on Ebay

Thanks for the nice comments ya'll. I think that bio piece is just amazing. Once you've read it, there will be many things to think about. I re-read it constantly and always find interesting things I missed previously. The interviews with Harold Alexander, Marvin Cabell, Ben Dixon and John himself are just fascinating reading.

In this day and age of ipods and headphones, there's really not much excuse to have music on in the workplace. No matter someone's musical tastes are, they usually think either "who wouldn't like what I like?" or "I'm gonna educate everyone about (jazz)(heavy metal)(70's soft rock)(classical)(country)...ect". You get the idea. Thank god for the ipod and earphones!

John Patton My Space I put up a little John Patton tribute page up on MySpace. Check it out. There's also a wonderful and extensive biography in the blog section. It's something John gave me that a friend of his did. For anybody really into John and his work, this is about the best thing you'll ever read on the man!

I had a sinking feeling that Melinda might go as I was watching the show last night. As they showed each Idol's "return home" segment, I noticed something that made me think Melinda might not have the support the other 2 have. Did you notice the 'homecoming' for Melinda was VERY subdued and had visibly smaller and less enthusiastic crowds than either Blake or Jordan? I thought then and there she was probably going home. And to be honest, even though I thought she was the best vocalist by far...she never came through with much originality for me. Maybe there was a reason she was always a backup singer. Especially down the homestretch, she never had a night that just blew everyone's mind. Just always consistent great singing. A pro for sure...but maybe not someone who's going to connect with people the way that (like them or not) Jordan and Blake seem to do. I did lose a 5 dollar bet with my sister....I bet on Melinda to win.

Oh yeah...and one of my favorite jazz DVDs ever is the Count Basie Jazz Casual DVD. What those 4 guys on the Basie Jazz Casual show did...simply amazing. Swinging NEVER gets old. THAT was jazz at it's finest imho. And of course, can't leave out the Jimmy Smith Jazz Scene U.S.A. video....

Although I had read about Pelzer...I had never actually heard him play. I was preparred to be unimpressed on the DVD, but actually ended up rather liking his playing. Loved Baker, but thought the others were going to nod off at any moment. Didn't care for the later concert at all and agree with everything Larry said about it.

They used to run a live caberet show special from the early 80's I'd guess on Bobby Short on BET Jazz (before they dropped the channel here locally... )....and I was always fascinated by the sheer outlandish bizarre atmosphere of it all. Bobby sweating it out and singing and playing songs I'd never heard in a wildly over-the-top fashion. And when they panned the crowd it was all 60-80 year old super wealthy folks dressed to the 9s laughing and clapping heartily. Somehow the whole thing made me want to be there....

I guess if the statement is..."Ella sucks..." I just don't think you're going to get that many takers on this, or any other jazz message board. When it comes to legendary artists, of which no doubt Ella was, to say that person sucks is just a cry for help.... (sorry clem )

No Chuck, a perfectly legit question since it's a pretty stupid endeavor! Anyway.... Over the last 10 years or so, every once in a while I would see a classic 60's organ record...say, Jack McDuff's "Down Home Style" for $1.00 or so...and I'd buy it. Even though I never had an 8 track player. After so many years I've ended up with about 15 or so of these and when I had a chance to buy an old portable Panasonic TNT 8 track player recently, I did. I just stuck it on my workbench in the garage and when I'm out there doing stuff, I'll stick in one of the ol' 8 tracks. They actually sound pretty good... Now, can we get the Nessa catalog on 8 track...

You wouldn't be the first... (just kidding, but it's been close...)