Hot Ptah

It was in October, 1994. The expenditure of the city funds to buy Charlie Parker's saxophone was directed by Mayor Emanuel Cleaver II, (now the U.S. Representative for the district which includes Kansas City, Missouri). He did not go through all channels with the City Council that he could have, according to news reports at the time. Some people seemed more upset at the procedure used to purchase it (or lack thereof) than anything else. One of the great comments I heard at that time came from my barber--an older Italian American man who owned a barber shop right out of the 1950s, an old fashioned men's barbershop. He said to me as he cut my hair, "and so the Mayor spends over $100,000 of our money on this white plastic saxophone ! This is terrible! A waste of money! He could have just gone out and bought any saxophone from a music store and spent much less!"

http://articles.courant.com/1994-10-19/features/941019040_1_bird-s-death-charlie-bird-parker-alto-saxophone This article describes an event which I attended in the fall of 1994. Jackie McLean, Richard Davis and Max Roach played two songs together as part of an event to promote the planned jazz museum at 18th and Vine in Kansas City. The City of Kansas City, Missouri, had just purchased the white plastic alto saxophone which Charlie Parker played at the Massey Hall concert. The saxophone was going to be part of the attractions at the museum, which then existed only in the imagination of some city leaders. No new development had ever been built at 18th and Vine despite many years of discussion. The purchase of the saxophone with city funds was controversial. Many thought it was an irresponsible waste of the city's scarce funds, when infrastructure, law enforcement and other needs were underfunded. There was a reception in an office building at 18th and VIne, open to the public. Politicians gave speeches, and then the musicians played. Jackie McLean played one song on his saxophone, and then played one song on Charlie Parker's white plastic alto sax. Before playing it, McLean said to the audience that the saxophone had not been repaired for many years, and that he may not be able to get a sound out of it. Then he played, and it sounded just as good as McLean's own saxophone. There was a slightly different sound quality, but McLean played intensely on the white plastic sax. It was a compelling performance. Max Roach was on fire in his performance. He was loud and intense and compelling. For what this was, a sort of pick up group for a non-musical event, it was quite good.

Man, the more I've had to go over this, the more I wish I'd traded a number of these out for better stuff. What's the audio equivalent of hindsight is 20/20? Noj, You did good! Your tracks were outstanding! You need to save some of your good stuff for a future BFT, anyway.

Ronnie Matthews' "Roots Branches and Dances" is an outstanding album.

I'm in.

I have well over 100 Sun Ra albums, and Atlantis is one of my very least favorite.

I was waiting for you to come in and identify the soul jazz tracks, TMG! Great call on King Sunny Ade, on Track #20, Spontooneous! I was thinking it sounded somewhat like the backing musicians, the time I saw Dee Dee Bridgewater live with musicians from Mali, but no, that was not correct at all. Not Mali.

Noj, this Blindfold Test is fun!

Yes, Ray, thank you for those comments. I found that in the past few years, the All About Jazz forum had very good discussions about newly released jazz albums, music being performed and recorded right now. I learned a lot from those discussions. There was nothing negative or controversial being posted on that board that I noticed, in the past few years. So I do not understand why anyone is mean spirited about AAJ.

Great BFT! I have never heard of many of these artists. You turned me on to some great new music.

I always liked Thembi. I bought it as one of my first jazz album purchases because of an enthusiastic review in Rolling Stone magazine.

The marketing avenues this opens up for Sony--it boggles the mind. Think of the different packaging options for different reissues every two years or so. The 'Kind of Blue" CD could come with little umbrellas to put your drink for the regular price. For $79.99, you could get the "Kind of Blue" CD and a set of martini glasses, with "Kind Of Blue" etched in the glass. For $129.99, you could get the CD, an accompanying book, the glasses, and a working Tiki torch. For $999.99, you could get the CD, the book, the Tiki torch, the glasses, and a sterling silver martini making set, with the words "Kind of Blue" engraved in the various silver pieces. The marketing slogan: "'Kind of Blue'--where the jazz is shaken, not stirred." (I have to admit that I stole that slogan from the regular announcement on Darrell Brogden's Retro Cocktail Hour radio show).

I have often wondered if KoB and Blues and the Abstract Truth were inspired by hi-fi private eye jazz, or space-age bachelor pad music in general. The latter genres featured a kind of stylized, Hollywood jazz, so why not take a cue from stylizations? That is interesting. I have heard quite a lot of both genres, because of a weekly public radio show in my local area, hosted by a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic programmer, Darrell Brogden. (The show is called the Retro Cocktail Hour, on Kansas Public Radio). I don't really hear the connection with Kind of Blue and Blues and the Abstract Truth, but maybe there is one--I am not the most astute listener. I hear more of a direct link to crime jazz (as Darrell Brogden calls it) and the bluesy Charles Mingus songs on his "Blues and Roots" and "Oh Yeah" albums.

I am in! I am wondering what you will come up with!

I have listened to the Powerman 5000 track several times today, and it struck me that you are not getting a lot of responses on a jazz discussion board because this really has nothing to do with jazz, as I know jazz. It is slightly jazzy, but only a little. It reminds me more of Leonard Cohen on his albums "I'm Your Man" and "The Future" than it reminds me of jazz. I have heard a good deal of lounge music of the 1950s and early 1960s, the space age bachelor pad type music, because there is a very knowledgeable public radio programmer in my geographic area with a weekly show in that style. Powerman 5000 does not sound like lounge to me either. Powerman 5000 sounds like a contemporary pop effort. I think you might get more helpful comments on an indie music board.

I have noticed that some writers on Miles tend to pigeonhole his music into "great eras", as if it was the history of a nation. Recordings which do not fit the storyline of this version of history tend to be overlooked or even written about negatively. So some writers see the 1950s quintet/sextet as a "great era" and the Shorter/Hancock/Carter/Williams group as a "great era". If two eras are "great", something else needs to be not so great, or the writing will not be as dramatic. So some writers have written of his period of dissolution, then his kicking heroin, then his first great era with the Coltrane groups, then a period of being uninspired by a lackluster group with changing personnel, then a second great era with Shorter et al. But just because they write it that way does not mean that it is true. Actually, it may be that Miles was just playing what he wanted, as he felt like it. An album such as "Someday My Prince Will Come" is great by any objective standard I think, and would be a career highlight for many musicians.

Thanks for this recommendation. Regina Carter has knocked me out in live performance, and I think that some of her albums have been quite good. Others are not as memorable to me. So if this is one of the good ones, I want to hear it.

There we go, welcoming a newcomer to jazz and this site with a warm, friendly greeting. I am not aware of other music like this, but I hope that others recommend some, and that you enjoy it and explore the music which moves you. If we can help you with any other questions about jazz, please come back and ask. There are many knowledgeable people here who can provide a lot of information on most musical questions. Welcome!

The more I look at this, the more I am not sure he is writing.

Homefromtheforest, As this is your first Blindfold Test, I am curious. When you put your songs together, did you imagine that we would be much better than we are, at identifying the artists and song titles?

I sent an email to a long time moderator of the All About Jazz Forum yesterday. He replied that he stopped being a moderator and does not know why the forum is down now. The All About Jazz Forum has been down in the past for some period of time, due to technical difficulties of one kind or another. Then it has come back up again. So I think that no one really knows what is going on this time, yet.

Richard Davis on Andrew Hill's Blue Notes, on Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch",, on his duet recordings with Eric Dolphy, on "Summertime" on the "Heavy Sounds" album, on his "As One" album.

It's actually over 40 years old! Good to see that my batting average remains below the Mendoza line. I might faint if I actually guessed correctly on a BFT track.

2-6. This strikes me as a newer recording. The electric piano is outstandind, intense and fluid. The drum solo is strong and unusual. I have no idea who this is and want to know! 2-7. Is this what they call ambient music? It reminds me of John Zorn's "Absinthe" album, which is an entire album that sounds like this. I have tried for mellow endings to some of my BFTs and this works as the ending to a most provocative and curiosity motivating BFT.

Here are my impressions (note I did not say guesses) for the second half of this BFT: 2-1. This sounds like a 1970s avant garde recording, like the Arista Freedom LPs I bought back then. I may have this lbum and just don't remember it. It's an interesting performance in this genre. 2-2. This is really appealing, and gets more interesting as it goes on. I really like the guitarist's tone and ideas.All of the solos are on a high level. I can't wait to find out who this is! 2-3. I love this one. A rousing, fun performance. A memorable head. Excellent solos by all. Another recording I want to get. 2-4. Excellent! They swing. The saxophonist plays in a very Coltrane style but with originality. That is among my favorite area of listening. The trumpet player is a very strong soloist. It sounds like two giants recording together. 2-5. It sounds like Horace Silver's "Sister Sadie" recorded by a group that had too many double espressos right before the recordin Then it gets more imaginative. Very fun and interesting. Who would record something like this? I can't wait to find out.