Hot Ptah

"Stable Mable" on Steeplechase is one of my very favorite Dexter Gordon albums. I think it has an intensity and inspiration level which places it a little bit above his other Steeplechases, in my humble opinion.

I have not noticed that Brackeen is a pounder when I have seen her live, or on albums such as "Popsicle Illusion." Chuck Nessa may have heard more of her than I have.

I saw him in a duet concert with James Newton in Ann arbor in 1979 which was very compelling and beautiful. I second the praise for the trio albums with Newton and Wadud.

In Stephen Kalt's biography of Skip James, "I'd Rather Be the Devil", kalt writes that for the Vanguard album "Devil Got My Woman", James was unable to complete a good take of any song, so the producer spliced together parts of different takes to come up with every track that was released. So it is not surprising that unreleased material from that session might not be compelling. Kalt's biography of Skip James is one of the most unrelentingly grim, haunting books I have ever read. I love Skip James -- the weird falsetto, the strange minor key guitar tunings, the sparse but so-right guitar and piano accompaniments -- but songs like 22-20 Blues and some of the stories I've heard make me wonder about the man. I'm a huge fan and have been playing some of his stuff myself for 40 years, but I've never gotten around to reading his bio. Will have to change that. Thanks for pointing it out. I think that I disagree with those who have said that one should skip Calt's biography of Skip James. It is an unusual book. It is not a balanced, scholarly tome. Calt says that he was there when James played his first Newport festival and was rediscovered, and that he spoke to James at that festival and after that. He has some first hand information about James and his contemporaries in the 1960s acoustic blues and folk revival. Calt has a writing style of his own, that is for sure. It is not a style that one would use for instructional purposes in a school writing class. But it is interesting. If you approach the book as a subjective work of a somewhat eccentric author, it will work better for you, I think. The book does provide a different perspective on the folk and blues revival of the 1960s than the conventional wisdom. It is a more dark, negative view than what one typically reads about it. But I found that interesting. I took the book with a grain of salt, as entertainment of a particular kind. It is one of those books which I have always vividly remembered.

You probably mean Stephen Calt: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Id-Rather-Be-Devil-James/dp/1556527462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392401240&sr=1-1&keywords=stephen+calt+I%27d+Rather+Be+the+Devil Yes.

In Stephen Kalt's biography of Skip James, "I'd Rather Be the Devil", kalt writes that for the Vanguard album "Devil Got My Woman", James was unable to complete a good take of any song, so the producer spliced together parts of different takes to come up with every track that was released. So it is not surprising that unreleased material from that session might not be compelling. Kalt's biography of Skip James is one of the most unrelentingly grim, haunting books I have ever read.

"Hard Time Killin' Floor" is noisy. "The Complete Early Recordings 1930" has noise reduction but is not cracklin' and poppin' like "Hard Time Killin' Floor". I keep them both. I remember that when "She Lyin'" was released, an interview was published with the man responsible for releasing it, in which he said something to the effect that he was sitting on a lucrative commercial gold mine with his treasure trove of unreleased Skip James recordings, and that "She Lyin'" was the first release which would make him very wealthy. I am paraphrasing but it was something like that.

One of my favorite albums by Joanne Brackeen is Popsicle Illusions.

I think that the teams with really good quarterbacks still on their cheap rookie contract can pay for more defensive stars. So it fits together. The Packers are a good example. With Rodgers on a mega-contract, when Clay Matthews went out with an injury the defensive cupboard was too bare. They just did not have the quantity of good defensive players under contract, that a team like Seattle or San Francisco can stockpile.

Really good point Larry. The teams with a big dollar QB, who has played past his rookie contract and has to be paid the really big dollars, can't have the supporting cast that a team with a QB on a rookie contract can have. However, when your team wins a Super Bowl with the big dollar QB, it can all seem worth the other years of near miss disappointments in the playoffs. What must really hurt is when a team pays its QB the huge money and then does not win anyway--Detroit and Dallas come to mind.

Also in the category of "how can this be?"--I attended a live concert last summer by the musicians on Track #5, and could not recognize the musicians when I heard them on this BFT.

I am so glad that you got such a great review, Allen.

I have heard jazz at many restaurants, coffee shops and stores in recent years. I have also noticed that non-jazz fans usually ignore the music. Once I was having a business lunch with a quite intelligent, artistically sophisticated businessman. He is an enthusiastic donor and ticket buyer to many events in different genres of the arts. During a lull in our conversation, Charles Mingus' "Boogie Stop Shuffle" from "Mingus Ah Um" played over the restaurant's sound system. He had no reaction at all to it. It was as if we were sitting in silence. It occurred to me at this moment that my theory was wrong. I had imagined before that moment that jazz could become more popular if only music lovers and other bright people were exposed to it, that the problem was that many potential jazz fans had no opportunity to hear the music. So I think that the use of mainstream jazz as background music in public places is of little consequence to virtually all people.

The second theme was the use of the optivideotone as a staple of the hard bop quintet. The optivideotone is a popular form of theremin is the light-sensitive variety. As the name implies, this type of instrument reacts to changes in light levels (i.e. brightness) just as the spatial proximity-based theremin reacts to changes in capacitance. Professor Scott F. Hall of Cogswell Polytechnical College, Sunnyvale, California, has used this idea in the creation of his Optivideotone, an assemblage of audio and video electronics combined to produce an object that is sculpture, musical instrument / composition tool, and projected video art exhibit in one.

Spontooneous, I figured out both of the themes which you began to incorporate into this BFT, but then abandoned (as described in your initial post). The initial theme was a musical biography of the Milwaukee Brewers' 1980s reserve outfielder, Mark Brouhard.

Wait a minute. Is #13 from a William Breuker album I burned for you several years ago, Spontooneous? Either way, it's embarassing that I don't know for sure.

I nominate something you said here for the Organissimo Quote of the Year award: Sorry, this, and several other cuts, are a bit too much like jazz for my tastes.

This is a very substantial Blindfold Test, with really good music. Of course, I can't identify any of it. Here are my impressions. 1. A nice beginning, an appealing, spry piano trio piece. The pianist is really good. I have no idea who he or she is. 2. I recognize Luqman Hanza's voice. I do not know who the guitarist is, or what album this comes from. 3. This is an interesting mix of soloists. I perceive that the first tenor sax soloist can play outside if he wants to, but he is staying more inside here. The trumpet player is struggling with his chops, but plays with feeling. The second tenor sax soloist is more of a soulful player, and less of a potential outside player than the first sax soloist. The tune's head is appealing. I have no idea who any of them are. 4. Some very nice, good bass playing on this rather minimalist piece. 5. This sounds like jazz guys playing funk to me, instead of funk guys getting jazzy. I find this very appealing. The saxophonist has a nice, soulful sound. The drummer sounds really good to me. 6. A very appealing song, no idea who it is. 7. A compelling version of "Round Midnight", played on bassoon. I think "Round Midnight" is often played in a boring way, especially at slow tempos, but this version holds my interest. I don't know who this is. 8. Either this is Keith Jarrett from the 1966-75 period, or someone who studied his playing until it became part of their DNA. To me, some of the playing sounds like Jarrett sounded on his Impulse albums with the American quartet. 9. This sounds like a revival of a 1970s style to me, not the original exploration which took place in the 1970s. The first saxophone soloist knows his Coltrane, but only falls into the patterns of Coltrane toward the end of his solo. The pianist is excellent. 10. This is a lyrical piece which is not a typical lyrical piece. The pianist gets more aggressive than most pianists get when being so lyrical. The drummer gets much more busy than a drummer typically gets on a lyrical piece. I like this a lot. 11. I like the vocal. I really have no idea who it is. Am I going crazy, or were these exact lyrics featured on another Blindfold Test within the past few years? If so, I don't remember anything about the identification of the song. 12. This is a really appealing swing era recording. I like the tenor sax player's tone very much. Is this Chu Berry? The trumpet player sounds like Roy Eldridge to me. 13. Oh, I love this!!!! I must get it, if I don't already own it. What a mind, to conceive of this piece! I love the way that the straight playing is so good and effective, even as the wacky sensibility intrudes so often. Fun, wild, excellent! My kind of thing! This is the best song I have heard on a Blindfold Test all year. Oh wait, this is the first BFT of the year. Well, I doubt that I will hear many I like as much in all of 2014. 14. Beautiful and memorable piano trio piece, very effective closing tune. I would like to get this one too. Thanks for an excellent, fun BFT!

All right, now I see why I could only identify one song. This very enjoyable BFT has provided much food for thought--and a new shopping list. Thanks for a quite unique and unexpected treat at the end of the year!

I am in, and will need a disc. I prefer pork for my barbecue, but will take the brisket from this diagram. The gluten free worries me. I am not sure exactly what it means, but is any good barbecue gluten free?

I would prefer them at the end of the month. I have noticed this about BFTs this year. On many of them, there is a flurry of discussion early in the month, nothing at all coming in from about the 10th to the 20th of the month, then another flurry of discussion toward the end of the month. Sometimes some of the most interesting comments come in on the 29th and 30th of the month. So don't lose hope! Happy holidays, page! I know that this was your first BFT, and you did as well or better than I ever do with your comments. Welcome to our BFT community!

Quick aside: Pretty sure there's a tape of that performance. A remarkable number of concerts at the museum in the 1970s and 80s were taped for archival purposes -- I saw a list last spring that was stunning and I recall seeing the Hall-Carter duo there. An incredible list of performers, from bebop to free jazz, with a major emphasis on the cats from Detroit in various combinations. I believe they are in the process of transfering many of the reel-to-reel tapes to digital but don't know where they are in the process. As you might imagine, I'm interesting in having a listen to more than a few ... Not to divert the thread, but that news about the concerts taped at that Detroit museum is exciting--I saw a very memorable Sun Ra concert there near Halloween, 1980, in which the Arkestra played a lightly swinging, really together "Satin Doll" which I would love to hear again.

Allen, I emailed you just now. I have mailed in my payment for this Mulatto Radio set, which looks incredible.

This is a major loss.

Here is how I hear it, and "Escalator Over the Hill" was also an early jazz purchase of mine, only because a copy was on sale at the used music store I was frequenting then.. Side 5 of the 3 LP set consists of "A.I.R. (All India Radio)", a piece dominated by Don Cherry and strings--it is exotic and Third World sounding, very appealing but like no other music I know. Then there is a distinct piece, a rocking guitar power trio piece in the middle of Side 5, "Rawalpindi Blues", with McLaughlin, Bruce and Motian making like Cream, or a slightly stranger version of Cream. Then the side ends with "End of Rawalpindi", a return to the sound of "All India Radio", with Don Cherry, the strings, and the exotic music again. To me, it is like two pieces of very appealing World Music, with a late 1960s hard rock piece in the middle. The listing in Discogs makes it seem like the World Music ensemble plays on the hard rock piece, and it does not.