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CJ Shearn
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Posts posted by CJ Shearn
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1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:
Thanks for sharing. I never heard of this guy. I need to check him out.
He has a killer solo on Stanley Clarke's title track "East River Drive" which is quite anthemic. The album is a mix of R&B, film music and jazz funk. It was given to me after the fire by the brilliant professor Dr. Bill Banfield. I'll probably replace the copy he gave me which is in poor condition but plays perfectly in my Audiolab transport.
6 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:Thanks for posting.
A couple of thoughts:
- I completely agree with your opinion of CTI between 1970 and 1974, although I am not fond of Bob James. But any of these albums from that period with either Deodato or Don Sebesky contributions are very worthwhile. I associate the 1974 cutoff date with the arrival of disco in late 1974, not that I'm knocking disco, but that early-70s introspective, urban, minor-key, black-consciousness aesthetic was largely traded in for a forget-your-troubles-and-shake-your-booty ethos.
- The cultural shifts at around 1974/75 are fascinating. Disco arrived in a big way. Jaws created a new paradigm for the summer blockbuster film. Ennio Morricone stopped working with Bruno Nicolai, marking the end of Morricone's great period.
- When discussing Creed Taylor, don't forget his early work at ABC/Paramount, in particular with the great and underrated Kenyon Hopkins. These albums were released under Creed Taylor's name for contractual reasons. They include The Sound of New York; 3Lonelyville; and the trilogy of Shock, Panic, and Nightmare.
Then obviously like an idiot I forgot the huge omission of the release of Deodato because that record really set in motion EVERYTHING that set them forward after in terms of big plans. I need to check out those Kenyon Martin albums! I was unaware. Thank you.
1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:Thanks for sharing. I never heard of this guy. I need to check him out.
Oh yeah he definitely was the next big post Grover guy and he could play.
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3 hours ago, JSngry said:
Two words are missing here - George Howard.
True. I couldn't fit in everything! I was like damn I need to include George Howard. Another edit. Dancing In The Sun was a huge early seller in GRP history and I had ended up with two copies of this once. I didn't like the album at all but hey, he was a huge name in the field and if we talk authenticity he was all about that.
3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:Thanks for posting.
A couple of thoughts:
- I completely agree with your opinion of CTI between 1970 and 1974, although I am not fond of Bob James. But any of these albums from that period with either Deodato or Don Sebesky contributions are very worthwhile. I associate the 1974 cutoff date with the arrival of disco in late 1974, not that I'm knocking disco, but that early-70s introspective, urban, minor-key, black-consciousness aesthetic was largely traded in for a forget-your-troubles-and-shake-your-booty ethos.
- The cultural shifts at around 1974/75 are fascinating. Disco arrived in a big way. Jaws created a new paradigm for the summer blockbuster film. Ennio Morricone stopped working with Bruno Nicolai, marking the end of Morricone's great period.
- When discussing Creed Taylor, don't forget his early work at ABC/Paramount, in particular with the great and underrated Kenyon Hopkins. These albums were released under Creed Taylor's name for contractual reasons. They include The Sound of New York; 3Lonelyville; and the trilogy of Shock, Panic, and Nightmare.
Then obviously like an idiot I forgot the huge omission of the release of Deodato because that record really set in motion EVERYTHING that set them forward after in terms of big plans. I need to check out those Kenyon Martin albums! I was unaware. Thank you.
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3 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:
Thanks for this interesting article.
I actually enjoy a lot of this music. Those Grover Washington, David Sanford, Hank Crawford and George Benson records are great (presumably not a contraversial perspective around here). But even a lot of the records from the "bad" era of smooth jazz generally have a good single or two (albeit they are maybe better seen as Quiet Storm / R&B records designed for smooching or root canals, rather than jazz).
Two comments on areas that I think the articles don't pay attention to, which could also be included:
(1) The quiet storm / smooth jazz intersection - the article touches on Sade and Kirk Whalum, but I think that this 'section' of the smooth jazz genre: instrumental urban contemporary pop, is the most interesting. A lot of modern gospel music also draws very heavily on this sort of smooth jazz. I think that in ten years when the taint of Mr Gorelick has finally worn off, some enterprising Gilles Peterson type DJ is going to make his or her name by "discovering" this stuff. It will be the new "rare groove" or "yacht rock".
(2) What about the New Age music of the late 1970s? Surely artists like Shadowfax and George Winston are also part of the development and maturation of the smooth jazz genre?
Interesting points. That can definitely be a followup article or even an edit when I have time. I agree with you that there is good music in the genre as I stated, I just think after 1984 a lot of it is devoid of substance. I mean Harlequin is a genre classic I just think after the first two tracks it settles into that signature GRP thing. The first two cuts are great MPB. Kirk Whalum definitely took things to another level with his Gospel According To series and while that is not my preferred religion that is music full of meaning, passion and a neat injection of the Texas tenor thing with gospel music.
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I just had to do it because in earlier times I labeled it all of garbage (even my beloved Pat before I was there yet) A long read, Part 1 is linked in the article. This is not us much for us, as it is people curious about jazz history... Enjoy https://bit.ly/3b6zQdw
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On 7/18/2022 at 4:33 PM, Eric said:
Agree, this is a very nice one.
I gotta stream that and his latest. Joel Ross is a beast
On 7/18/2022 at 0:21 AM, Eric said:Interesting- seems more 1982 than anything. Not super-impressed with those either. How about something with photos of the artists? Sincerely, Grumpy Old Man
Haha. Well retro is in for millennials, my generation though I was born in 1981 but I agree a lot of recent Blue Note covers are nondescript but at the same time, I think we have to move on since the Reid Miles era... that said, the last iconic Blue Note cover of the last 40 years for me is One Night With Blue Note Preserved
On 7/17/2022 at 6:20 AM, Eric said:Too bad the album cover is completely unimaginative.
I kind of like it but his daughter designed it apparently. I guess for recent BN covers Melissa Aldana's and Gerald Clayton's are more interesting
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9 hours ago, Eric said:
Interesting- seems more 1982 than anything. Not super-impressed with those either. How about something with photos of the artists? Sincerely, Grumpy Old Man
Haha. Well retro is in for millennials, my generation though I was born in 1981 but I agree a lot of recent Blue Note covers are nondescript but at the same time, I think we have to move on since the Reid Miles era... that said, the last iconic Blue Note cover of the last 40 years for me is One Night With Blue Note Preserved
On 7/17/2022 at 6:20 AM, Eric said:Too bad the album cover is completely unimaginative.
I kind of like it but his daughter designed it apparently. I guess for recent BN covers Melissa Aldana's and Gerald Clayton's are more interesting
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13 hours ago, Eric said:
Too bad the album cover is completely unimaginative.
I kind of like it but his daughter designed it apparently. I guess for recent BN covers Melissa Aldana's and Gerald Clayton's are more interesting
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Has anyone heard it? It's pretty good, I'm streaming until I can get the CD. Probably will review, but it's the best Blue Note I've heard from him besides Live At Montreux because there's no commercial pretense here, it's just Ronnie being Ronnie without the need to cater to capitalistic concerns like his 70's stuff. I think for many, YMMV, and may not to be to taste like the last two Dr. Lonnie albums on BN but I enjoyed this one.
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I'm not buying this... I already have Hub Tones, Hubcap, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard and The Body And Soul on AP SACD and Open Sesame on Audiowave XRCD in my rebuilt collection. I used to have Ready For Freddie as a Connoisseur since I was 14, Breaking Point, Blue Spirits and Night Of the Cookers as RVG's, the only one I never owned was Goin Up which was OOP. Casual fans won't buy this so what's the aim? Is it Mosaic's way as they can do material from Universal, a way to counter cheap PD sets which do not have the sound, or documentation? I love Mosaic but sorry to say the Joe Henderson was probably the last set I'll ever buy from them.
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5 hours ago, Dub Modal said:
Great read.
Streaming platforms give BN the ability to tie in legacy albums and artists to new ones and I think that’s why sublabels don’t and/or won’t exist. Their monthly playlists do just this, as do their (and Impluse as well) artist-selected playlists. Was seems to be taking a big tent approach and while I haven’t looked at BNs bottom line among other Universal products, it’s probably doing decent enough.
Thanks for reading! And as said above, four new Blue Note releases I will stream before purchase are Chapel, Reboot, and The Spirit of Ntu. I also need to hear the first Julian Lage on the label before his new one.
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2 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:
Thanks for being willing to put yourself out there and posting your article.
My pleasure. I almost want to send it to my contact Cem Kurosman there but to keep in the good graces of their promo list I probably shouldn't.
2 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:Thanks for being willing to put yourself out there and posting your article.
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5 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:
listening to Melissa A's 12 Stars as I type, I think Blue Note is doing about as well and is as Blue Notey as any time since the revival in the '80s and better than it was in the mid to late '70s. In particular, they have fine young talent like Joel Ross, Immanual Wilens, and Johnathon Blake, and better yet they play on each other's records just like the old days. As for possibly relegating non-'jazz' artists like Rosanne Cash or Al Green or Van Morrison or.... to a subsidiary label, I agree with Charlie Parker, 'there's no dividing line to art'. I was happy to see DOMi & JD Beck signed, and Trombone Shorty, and most of the current roster as well.
I like that balanced viewpoint actually. I will purchase Makhathini's new one and have to check out the new Joel Ross. It is true like the old days they do play on each others records. I like what I heard from DOMi and JD Beck so far. I love Derrick Hodge as a player, and composer at times, "Over There" on Blanchard's Flow is great, but though I was kind in my review his last one didn't really stick with me after review
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1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:
Thanks for the read. You open by saying that change is inevitable, and that Blue Note is nothing more than a brand now, both of which I agree with.
Your central question then seems to be: "My concern is less savvy new fans, unlike veterans like myself will be lead to thinking it’s emblematic of what mssrs. Lion and Wolff brought us."
I would think that someone who buys a Roseanne Cash album on Blue Note will either (a) not be familiar with Blue Note; (b) not particularly care that it is on Blue Note; or (c) understand that Blue Note, as you wrote, is nothing nothing more than a corporate imprint. Some people in the middle may legitimately wonder if Cash is trying to do a pseudo-jazz album. In the era of YouTube and audio samples, they can answer that question within minutes if not seconds.
Maybe the best thing would have been to put the brand to bed decades ago, and use it only for reissues, but even then, there would be disagreement about the cutoff date, based on all the Mizell-era albums I used to find in the dollar bin.
My biggest issue with Blue Note is their compilation albums. These will often include recordings that were on Blue Note, Capitol, Liberty, World Pacific, Roulette, and probably others that I am forgetting, and may throw in a couple of more recent tracks that stick out like a sore thumb. Talk about weakening the brand.
The new Melissa Aldana is nice, as is the singles from the new Ronnie Foster, the first Gerald Clayton, Happenings was great as was Nduduzo Makathini (though the sound sucked) I look forward to streaming Clayton's new one. I have to check out Immanuel Wilkins 7th Hand and see if I want to review. So hard to keep up streaming new music. I got the files from them from the Ornette box and they sound terrific. Why not do a set like the Complete Morgan Lighthouse set there on CD so fans like myself who never owned the initial CD's could own them? Did the Lee set on CD do bad numbers? I love that set
They are shitting the bed with the new Charles Lloyd by releasing the three separate CD's but LP is getting a nice box set. It sucks because Lloyds 8 Souls I never investigated on CD or streaming because the complete concert was only available on LP. The Tone Poet masterings I dont understand why they can't be available streaming, AT LEAST when say inferior masterings like some RVG'S are still physically available. Perhaps the brand should have gone under after Lundvall was replaced by Don Was
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This list is gold. Lots of new stuff to hear.
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9 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:
Thanks!
My pleasure
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4 hours ago, mikeweil said:
There are several Prestige issues from the 1960's with false personnel credits.
I figured
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What I've always been confused by is he's credited with playing drums on The New Boss Guitar of George Benson but the sound of the drums and the feel clearly is Joe Dukes. That was cut at Regent Studios. I have the George Benson and Jack McDuff Prestige 2fer reissue from 2006 or 7 Concord put out
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RIP. Last week, Bernard Wright now this.
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Hugely important for the trans community, as one of the first trans musicians, in the sense she didn't have to hide her identity, unlike Billy Tipton for exxample
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On 3/10/2022 at 7:12 AM, Rooster_Ties said:
I knew Bill through the board better than in person, though I saw him at a few jazz shows about 5 times total over 8 years.
He was a nice and thoughtful guy, and very kind. Joe, my dearest friend in Kansas City, knew Bill quite a bit better than I did — and he introduced us in about 2004 (and Joe called me about Bill’s passing last night).
Bill and his (then) wife had an adult son with developmental challenges (who required their constant supervision), and they made the brave decision not to institutionalize him. This kept Bill from going to very many live shows (maybe once a month, at most). And I think every time I saw Bill in person it was at The Blue Room in KC (and he always brought his son with him, which was usually challenging, and only enabled Bill to stay for one set, at most — and sometimes he had to leave early even from that one set).
But I never saw Bill ever complain, or show anything but an infinite amount of patience with his son. A truly remarkable father.
I also never had the opportunity to get to know Bill much in person — and knew him far better from his presence on the board (and also on the Steve Hoffman Forums).
Bill always seemed like one of the nicest guys you could ever think of.
Wow... Really shocking news to hear, RIP. The fact he and his wife had a developmentally disabled child really, my heart goes out, my late mother ignored the advice of those to institutionalize me and here I am.
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On 3/5/2022 at 11:11 AM, Ken Dryden said:
I'll probably pass on this release as well. The big mystery to me is Miles' Warner Bros. albums, as Marcus Miller's compositions bore the hell out of me. Too much vamping and the solos are uniinteresting.
Gotta disagree Ken. I reinvestigated the Warner Bros years and found a lot of great music there and live recordings show it was even better. What I found boring if we discuss vamps is Derrick Hodge's last album. I'm just not that into that strain of hip hop/R&B. The influence is fine but the actually contemporary genre I'm not that into but I have friends who are so it's all good.
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Oh shit! Great news. Ever since two different firms have handled ECM's digital promo distribution it's been harder to keep up. Their former PR, Tina Pelikan was terrific, I got new release download links in my email without fail. I still gotta listen to the new one with Vijay Iyer and Linda May Han Oh, Ayumi Tanaka Trio and Jorge Rossy Puerta
My examination of the development of smooth jazz
in Jazz In Print - Periodicals, Books, Newspapers, etc...
Posted · Edited by CJ Shearn
No because its behind a paywall so have not read it.
Then obviously like an idiot I forgot the huge omission of the release of Deodato because that record really set in motion EVERYTHING that set them forward after in terms of big plans. I need to check out those Kenyon Hopkins albums! I was unaware. Thank you.