John L

Just got my copy This was a HELL of band, and this is one hell of a sonic upgrade. Harold: Don't hesitate. I have the Davies' transfers too. This is the next phase, a whole new level.

He might have included the Ethiopian and Eddie Palmieri albums because he only owns 8 genuine "jazz" albums and , well, 8 is not a nice round number like 10.

I wouldn't be completely shocked. As I understand, Tapscott was heavily absorbed in the "movement" at the time.

If only that was always true! Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who make use of their talents of persuasiveness even though they don't know what they are talking about.

Are you asking about the titles on the Hip-0-Select site? Actually, I misunderstood. These are Motown albums. I meant David Ruffin volume 2. I absolutely adore the track "Walk Away From Love." But I wonder how the rest of the Van McCoy stuff holds up with Ruffin. I have Ruffin volume 1, and like that.

Is Tapscott really playing live behind Brown? Or is it dubbed?

WTF? Give me a break, man. In case you hadn't noticed, this thread is just the opposite. All I did was react to a seemingly harsh generalization. In other words, your moods change... like ALL of us! The tunes are a bitch and the solos are da shit? That sounds like my kind of formula.

This is a bit frustrating, as it looks like the previous Roots of a Revolution set, but with the hits added. (Roots of a Revolution covered only the non-hits, as they apparently didn't want competition with the Greatest Hits collections. ) At any rate, I have programmed the hits in through iTunes. So I would only bite if there was a MAJOR sonic upgrade here. Speaking of Hip-0-Select, is anybody familiar with the post-Motown David Ruffin albums that are now available?

In addition to being a musician, you are also a deep thinker, possess a profound understanding of jazz history, and write in an extremely articulate manner. In other words, you ARE ELOQUENT, motherfucker. Get over it.

P-Vine has also used other source material when it can't get its hands on the masters. Most of the blues and gospel releases don't come from vault sources. They usually do a good job with the sonics, however.

I don't know the answer. But I always thought that the two phrases went together: Great black music: ancient to the future. I always assumed that it had something to do with the AAC consciously embodying all that they consider to be "great black music," which is different and broader than just "jazz."

Guess that likely depends on who's doing the rating, which is most of the point. Or does the "wrong" title getting multiple votes in the Desert Island game -- just PROVE how overrated a title is. (well, to SOME people, anyway ). "depends on who's doing the rating" -- what does THAT mean?? Simple. It means that if the people who are doing the ratings are the overraters, then that is evidence (although not proof) that the ratings might include some overrating. On the other hand, if the ratings are being done by the supreme hip who NEVER overrate anything, then that is aboslute 100% proof to the contrary.

ditto

The end of an era. RIP

In other words, jazz is overrated?

Great thread! The Gator lives!

Did they finally release this on CD?

YES! That would have probably been the next one on my list, and as much for Philly Joe as for Sonny Clark.

Very hard. Some of the first that come to mind are Monk (everything) (counts as 2.5 discs) Grant Green: Nigeria (counts as 0.5 discs) Bud Powell volume 1 Kenny Dorham: Whistle Stop Sonny Clark: Soul Struttin' (despite the fact that it was a consensus overrated pick on the other thread) Art Blakey: Moanin' Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue Elmo Hope Trio

Interesting--but have you ever partied to Andrew Hill?! I have always been too scared to dance with death.

I think that griff was significantly better served at Riverside than at BN, although whether or not that was as much a matter of his own maturing as anything else, I'm not ready to say. But Riverside was definitely more amenable to different/expanded/whatever settings than was BN, for whatever reason. Now, about Unit Structures, again, some historical perspective is called for. You gotta remember that prior to that, the last Cecil date that was out there was the Into The Hot material, and that that was still "Cecil playing over time". (I know that some of the Montmartre stuff was released in the US on Fantasy/Debut, but A)that was a trio date, B)Fantasy back in those days was not all that widely distributed except for a few "hits", and C)I don't know exactly when that album was released. Anyway, good luck finding a copy, then or now). Anyway, Unit Structures was the first side with profile (and quite possibly the first side period) to present Cecil Taylor's music in the form that we all know today. It could be argued that pretty much everything that's come since is an expansion on what was first documented on that album. So afaic, it's "classic" status is a no-brainer, even if the music wasn't as incredible as it is ("Enter Evening" alone is one for the ages, & getting an alternate of it on the CD was a gift from on high). He'd have come out (no pun intended) somewhere sooner or later, but this is where it happened, and there ain't no changing that. There literally was no Cecil Taylor music like this on record before Unit Structures, but there's been plenty of it since. So I say you gotta give recording props to the recorded archetype. That's an interesting perspective, Jim. I guess that, given the Cafe Montmartre recordings, I had never thought of Unit Structures as being so much of a step forward, particularly as it came several years later. I have always considered Cafe Montmartre as the foundation for everything that came since. It may have only been a trio, but the trio is to Cecil what the string quartet was to Beethoven. It includes pretty much the whole palette. Certainly, Unit Structures was important in giving the widest dissemination yet of Cecil's mature music at the time. It is not clear if that has much bearing on its significance today. On the other hand, you and many others find the music to be incredible. So I guess that is enough. There is an interesting philosophical question in here somewhere. If a recording is very popular primarily because it has great sentimental value to many people who used it as an introduction to something new, can that make it "overrated?" For example, I would say Dave Brubeck's Take Five is so loved not only because it is a very interesting album, but because it was THE introduction to jazz for a lot of people.

We partied pretty hard to Stepping Into Tomorrow back in the day. It was just the right soundtrack for losing virginity.

What do you all think about Unit Structures? It is often cited as one of Cecil Taylor's absolute masterpieces, and often recommended as the first Cecil Taylor album to buy. It is one of my least favorite 60s-70s Cecil Taylor albums. Out to Lunch is certainly a masterpiece, although I have never been a huge fan of it relative to other Dolphy.

I'm with you on Sonic Boom and (to some degree) Dancing With Death. But there is a hell of a lot more to Cool Struttin' than the popular cover (IMO).