CJ Shearn

Wow. Incredible article and one that offers a lot of food for thought Yeah I get what you mean how major labels would at least release some really cool stuff

What's changed? Nothing really, just a transition to streaming and labels still kind of neglecting stuff beyond the big sellers.

Yeah, that one is great. Very upset I lost both Montreux Summit CD volumes in the fire. Looked up prices on discogs today, ridiculous. Will just have to stream those in the meantime.

The title track too. I'm a Jimmy Smith Blue Note completist so I'll go for it again. I had before the fire his entire Blue Note output on CD, including the three Japanese albums. Started collecting JOS on CD at age 13 so that was a bit of a huge blow. Yes, the below posted videos, a few on Crazy! Baby (his best solos), Bucket!, one on Prayer Meetin' the Salle Pleyel, Mai 28 1965 discs, and I think a few solos on Bashin, the trio material. Was he the greatest guitarist ever? No when you look at who JOS had as guitarists, especially Burrell, Benson and Wes. Eddie McFadden was a better soloist IMO in regards to Jimmy's "regular" guitarists. Quentin? he was there to provide a buffer for Jimmy to cook, and when you view it at that angle, he's not half bad.

Yes! That's right. I had both those albums pre fire. You are welcome. Kind of surprised it brought forth quite a bit of discussion.

Definitely many perspectives should be considered Yes... many of those CTI'S are not smooth in the least. Now once we get to David Matthews as arranger, that's where things get SUPER generic. There was an interview I read with Marcus Miller once, he said at first he thought Bob James was Black without seeing his picture which was really funny and quite a compliment. His arrangement of "Don't Mess With Mr. T" then using the same material for Grover's Soul Box is masterful IMO

That is very true.

That thing about "power": Yanow's review, much less a review than a statement (common with him) he seems to already have an agenda against James at the outset, so it's already flawed. Just like statements in various reviews for Bobby Hutcherson's Knucklebean about "it's a relief to hear Hubbard playing jazz again" (I mean, the fuck? Did he actually ever stop? Yes the Columbia's were super commercial, but videos from that area say otherwise) or things he said about Herbie and Chick "returning" to acoustic piano... I mean I have listened to Herbie's Columbia's since I have that set, many times and the acoustic piano still has prominence, even on the funky stuff. Those statements are more about "I don't like it" than actually about music. My writing, if people like it, cool, if you don't that's cool too. My writing is about the music, less about "me". Yanow is very much a gatekeeper to an inflexible narrative, and the way he jetted from this place many years proves that. I ignore his writing, it's just I curiously searched the AMG review. Someone gave me a copy of his book Bebop, I skimmed it, but it just collects dust, I'll probably donate it to my local library.

Definitely many perspectives should be considered Yes, all of that is true there is much more open mindedness now then before but it seems like social media always is regurgitating a critic like Gary Giddins or Ashley Kahn or Howard Mandel (who I lost all respect for when he claimed ECM wasn't jazz) they are all part of the old guard. As a writer definitely I was influenced early on by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler but really to me it still represents an old way of thinking. Hopefully I can turn more people of my generation and younger. I'm even gonna go outside of jazz

Wow. Incredible article and one that offers a lot of food for thought

https://jazzviewswithcj.tumblr.com/post/670821728528875520/shizukas-mind-bob-james-one-ctitappan-zee Something utterly random I wrote after listening to the SACD of BJ One earlier which I got myself as a Christmas present. I think some of the points I make are valid in terms of closed mindedness when it comes to critics and this kind of music, and that it has a resonance for folks generations after the fact. And of course, I've never considered Scott Yanow, Thom Jurek or any AMG writer to be a barometer for music relevance. Enjoy.

That one I need to rebuy as well

Got my copy the other day. Finished disc 1 a second time. Very nice stuff indeed.

Jimmy's squabbling setting is what Shrdlu refers to as the "belch" it's the first and last five drawbars pulled out with the tremolo on... it's a really cool sound, and Jimmy's technique was the old school way really stretching his hand to play octaves and other intervals. I love this album honestly, always have since I first got it as a crappy Applause pressing at a flea market when I was 6. It's just a nice, chill, mellow album for late at night. The Jimmy session I find (though I'll still get it to complete my Jimmy Smith collection rebuild eventually that should have stayed in the can) was Straight Life. That session just doesn't really work, especially coming off something as hot as Crazy! Baby

Saw him live in college. Was fantastic.

Exactly!!!! Who cares, nothing to see here. Move on

My favorite Weather Report album

Taste is taste but it's a shame because there's so much great music after 1960 in jazz/BAM. As much as I love hard bop these days, the more electronics integrated in stuff is what I gravitate towards now especially as I started to get into MIDI study theory and start creating music

Right. Pat Metheny sampled Pedro Aznar's panflute with the Synclavier and used that long after Aznar left the band. On the Secret Story tour Lyle Mays' infamous "Prophet" sound was sampled into Jim Beard's Kurzweil K2000 to play on "Are You Going With Me?" (Kinda weird honestly) and Chick Corea sampled his old synths on the RTF Returns tour in '08 but that's more of what you were implying with Joe Z. What Kenny's doing to recreate Stan, who the hell cares unless it interferes with say if this gets a new Getz fan and they can't enjoy the man himself. Move on to the next thing

Not really. It's just important we acknowledge the era. In A Special Way I've streamed several times and don't connect with. Ditto The Man Incognito. I've tried to listen to all the records I mentioned there as honestly as possible, and welp, just didn't connect. In terms of my collection rebuild, I got a bevy of discs from a professor, Dr. Bill Banfield, which included titles from across the spectrum, as far as "smooth jazz", I love Stanley Clarke's East River Drive, the title track just creates this great vibe.

Thank you

The link? Sure! https://jazzviewswithcj.tumblr.com/post/667451197950722049/shizukas-vault-a-funny-little-time-capsule-of-an And that is the old guard dying out, Morganstern et al. Incredible information but then how do you modernize that, with a no pun intended new perspective and make it palatable to new generations? I write about things interesting to me-- it just so happens maybe a few (or maybe not) dig it along the way For me what you said about Butler circa 2008 encapsulated what that thing was with Blue Note in the 70's in such a real way it was dead on. Having been born in '81 and growing up on a lot of the previous decades music hearing it in my childhood-- that stuff was still kind of fresh and I have friends who love Blue Note albums from this era, and music from the era that some of us here just may find men, but it does kind of reach new generations. That is my goal with some of my writing-- to reach new fans, generations but in a way they won't get from a mainstream publication And those parts of the album I really liked. When the reissue of that album came out I bought it because my mom remembered "With One More Look At You" from that album was played on the radio when I was a baby. She always loved that version. She was still living when I got the CD and confirmed that was indeed the version. As I've gotten older I've learned to not just slag "commercial efforts" because sometimes they are indeed fun

And that is the old guard dying out, Morganstern et al. Incredible information but then how do you modernize that, with a no pun intended new perspective and make it palatable to new generations? I write about things interesting to me-- it just so happens maybe a few (or maybe not) dig it along the way For me what you said about Butler circa 2008 encapsulated what that thing was with Blue Note in the 70's in such a real way it was dead on. Having been born in '81 and growing up on a lot of the previous decades music hearing it in my childhood-- that stuff was still kind of fresh and I have friends who love Blue Note albums from this era, and music from the era that some of us here just may find men, but it does kind of reach new generations. That is my goal with some of my writing-- to reach new fans, generations but in a way they won't get from a mainstream publication

Sure thing. I'll thank you for the quote, (I'll add an edit)in but in a way you are a historian of the music because you definitely have unique perspective on how you felt about records then AND now that is very interesting.

An article I wrote that discusses an album that I think no one here holds in high regard, Blue Note Live At the Roxy but it holds a special place for me. I tried to be a bit humorous, and also quoted some of Jim's posts upon the death of George Butler here. https://bit.ly/3H4yefw