DukeCity

Mentioned or not, that's almost certainly a piccolo! ← I, too, heard a piccolo. Still do... Ira Gitler wrote the liner notes. Jerome is mentioned as playing flute and tenor sax on the album. Also alto flute on the next tune 'Delerious Trimmings'... ← I, too, hear it as piccolo, but I got curious. I checked to see if the upper notes of that line are technically possible on the flute. The top note is a G7, also referred to a 4th octave G, (that's high!) and in my search I found an interesting quote from Robert Dick, a well known contemporary flutist who is regarded as an expert on extended techniques: "I spent a lot of time in the 1970s searching for the fourth octave G, which I never found under normal circumstances. At the time, I believed that the upper limit of the flute was simply a function of the strength of the flutist¹s desire (mine was unlimited) and body. I was also inspired by Cat Anderson, the famous high trumpeter in Duke Ellington¹s band. I did a gig with Cat, one week of the Ice Capades in New Haven, and was moved by his musicality, beautiful personality and cosmic chops. I thought, "if Cat can do it, Robert will too." So in the mid-70s I developed the embouchure strength, flexibility and sensitivity program that remains the backbone of my technique today. And although I found fantastic arrays of interesting and beautiful sounds, and some ugly ones too, I never got the fourth octave G. While working at I.R.C.A.M. (roughly translated as the Institute of Research and Coordination of Acoustics and Music)in Paris in 1978, I spent time with the acoustician Arthur Benade. From him I learned about a truly distressing truth: the "high frequency cutoff" which is a reality for all musical instruments. For the flute, the fourth octave F# is the highest normal note, resonances above this are extremely weak. I read that one or two folks can occasionaly get a hint of the G and this makes sense in that the cutoff is not absolute but is the tail end of a weakening train of resonance. Thats why the high F natural is so difficult to play in tune with any kind of good tone quality. I tried the suggested fingering in another posting and got a transitional hint of G natural. The sound goes away so quickly because the lips cannot maintain enough pressure to compress the airstream at such a high speed. We can "muscleup" for a blast, but lose control quickly. Benade metioned that, if someday a flutist could muster the necessary power to jump from the fourth octave F# to the B natural above it, there would be frequencies again. I think that this is in the zone of totally diminished returns. The lip power necessary to keep the airstream focussed at the necessary velocity is quite possibly beyond what the human facial musculature is capable of. (And please lay off the steroids; this is art, not the NFL or East German swimming.)" So I'm convinced that it can't be flute. Must be piccolo, credited or not.

Wish I was there for the smoked turkey breast, FFA! Road trip this weekend, so had dinner at a steak place in Oklahoma City. A little over-cooked, but OK, and the cheap red wine helped out.

Catesta- nice selection of tunes. This was fun to listen to. First impressions: 1. A line on the changes to “Another You”; sounds like maybe Warne Marsh and the piano sounds like Lennie to me. Not sure about the other tenor (did Lee Konitz ever record on tenor?). Comping behind solos is very un-syncopated, just clunking on the downbeats of the measures. Both tenors playing written exchanges with the piano solo? 2. “Indian Summer” with two tenors. Sounds like some cool ‘50s thing; don’t know if they’re actually West Coasters. 3. “Beginning to See The Light” sounds like an Ellington All-Star jam date. Minimal arrangement that could have been thrown together. Not sure about specific players. 4. Piccolo (solo on flute?) and trombone; I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of jazz flute on a medium blues. The flute playing sounds like it could be anybody, but with the piccolo on the head, I’m guessing maybe a full-time flute guy like Herbie Mann? No guesses on the trombone, although I’m sure the whole-tone scale licks would probably give it away to a bone expert. 5. Sounds like a Blue Note/ Blakey kind of date. No guesses as to particular players. 6. Minor blues; No guesses for tenor and trombone. 7. “Solitude” no guesses; not Duke; not very adventurous harmonically, kind-of fast for this tune, not my favorite, but I kind of like some of the rhythmic tension between the laid-back right hand on top of the grooving stride-ish left hand. 8. “East of the Sun”, not sure of the alto; light sound like Desmond, but not him. Phrasing a little more like Art Pepper, but not him either. 9. Don’t recognize it, but I like it! Clean tenor player a la Griffin or Land. 10. Whew! Fast rhythm changes. Could be Von Freeman. Tempo seems a little too fast for both tenor and piano. They’re making it happen, but sounds like some of their lines shatter apart before they can finish their ideas. I feel for ‘em! Even drummer gets tangled up on the closed hi-hat during the walking bass solo. 11. Sounds like another Ellington All-star thing. Hodges, maybe? not sure about others. 12. More blues; maybe Clark Terry on muted trumpet?, not sure about tenor; maybe Ben Webster? 13. “More than You Know”, no guesses for the clarinet. Older guy, maybe Buddy DeFranco? 14. “How High the Moon” not sure about trumpet, but sounds like maybe Teddy Wilson on piano. Has that stride thing going even with bass and guitar in the rhythm section. I like the ensemble line with tpt and guitar… 15. No guesses for piano. Don’t recognize the tune. 16. How ‘bout some trumpets?!?!? One of them sounds like Clark Terry, but not on his best day. When it started, I was thinking it might be from the Dinah Washington date with CT, Clifford and Maynard, but there is neither CB nor MF soloing. First solo is definitely CT. Fun tunes to listen to. I’m looking forward to discussion and finding out what theses are. I’m humbled by not knowing more of the saxophonists (as one myself!?).

I went to the website, and the sound clips appear to be no longer available on their server...

This looks interesting. I've often heard that the "first jazz record" was of the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in 1917. Looking at these recordings, do any of them (prticularly Disc 2, tracks 19,20,21) qualify is "jazz" recordings that might pre-date the ODJB dates? Like many, I've always found it more than a little backward that a group of white guys (ODJB) got the credit for the first jazz record.

On a related note, seafood producers noticed a marked increase in the sale of toothfish when they started marketing it as Chilean Sea Bass.

I think it's a more common term because restaurants insist on making their menu descriptions WAY too wordy, to make the food sound more interesting than it often is: Server: "Tonight's special is a smooth paste of lightly salted Georgia legumes, with preserved Concord grapes, nestled between oven-baked mixture of leavened wheat flour..." Diner: "So, that would be a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich?" Server: "Um...yes. Would the gentleman care to hear about some suggested wine pairings?"

I went to his website, and you're right about the cover art. None of the mp3 samples were up. Is there anywhere online I can find some clips? BTW: I like that he has PDFs of a bunch of his tunes.

This thread also reminds me of a classic bit from a National Lampoon album from the '70s. It's like a Mr. Rogers' neighborhood thing and he's interviewing a bass player. He asks what the player thinks about while he's playing and the guy says that he thinks about how much the gig pays, and then divides that by how many notes he's playing on the gig to determine how much he is getting for each note. Mr. Rogers is played by Christoper Guest and the bass player is Bill Murray. Absolutely hilarious, and you can get a short clip of it here. Listen to the clip of track #16.

I can relate to what Free For All said. Another analogy that is used frequently is that jazz is a language. I'm not multilingual (in the literal sense) but I've heard people say that you aren't totally fluent until you can speak the new language without first having to translate it in your head from your native language. I think that being able to play a musically coherent solo, while still having to think about the changes, the form, technical stuff on your instrument, etc. is like being conversational in the language of improvisation; you can get your thoughts and ideas out, but the internal process you experience yourself may not feel as effortless as you might feel in casual conversation, hanging out with your friends. So, keep practicing, keep learning about harmony, rhythm and melody, and keep listening to the music that you really dig. The deeper all that stuff gets inside you, the deeper your own music will be. (Come to think of it, I should take my own advice more often! )

Received!

I was just channel surfing, and during the last moments of the Ellen Degeneres show she thanked today's guests "...Herbie Hancock..." I assume it was one of the duets from the new CD. Did anyone see this?

Thanks, guys! and remember... the extra 'n' is for 'narcissism'.

I don't know if you'd call it a "discovery" since the recordings were known about, but I seem to recall a fair amount of exictement about the Benedetti recordings of Charlie Parker.

becoming...?

What about those nutty apostrophes? I think the plural of CD looks better as CDs, but I very often see CD's. I vote we all switch over to speaking Esperanto!

I use the couw/AfricaBrass technique of opening the case bottom to top for getting the sticker off. Residue is another issue, and all of the suggestions seem reasonable.

Not sure about "whack", but I see a mention of Jim McNeely in the ebay listing. Possibly him?

One of my only LP autographs is from George Shearing. I was in high school (late '70s) and went to a duo concert he did with the bassist Brian Torff. I enjoyed the evening, so I stood in line to buy their new record (On A Clear Day, Concord, now available as part of a 2-CD set). Shearing was sitting at a table with a student from the hosting college. George had the pen in his hand, but the student had his hand on top, and guided Shearing's hand in the autographing process. So I guess I actually have some college kid's autograph of George Shearing's name, with Shearing acting as the holder. Very wierd, slightly uncomfortable moment. But Shearing was very cordial, and I got a little story out of it.

One can check out the infamous Buddy Rich tapes here and view accompanying illustrations like this perhaps a new thread will emerge...

The House of David Baseball Team, for you "Buddy Rich tapes" fans. ← "I want young men...with faces!" -- Buddy

I've only had the CD for a couple of days, and had the chance to listen only in the car. But I've been enjoying it. Ron has a beautiful saxophone sound; full and clear without being harsh or edgy (except when he wants it to). Interesting mix on the record. It sounds like the drums are miked up close, and the bass drum and bass sounds are pretty punchy, as opposed to records with a more conventional acoustic jazz mix. I haven't yet checked out the second disc with the re-mixes. Has anyone listened to these? What do you think? later that same day... It finally occurred to me that "Dance of Passion" is a Johnny Griffin tune from a CD of the same name: (BTW this cover could be on the sexy album covers thread) What jogged my memory is that Blake uses almost the same arrangement as JG, including the instrumentation of fr. horn, trombone and tuba in addition to the sax and rhythm.

Clark Terry con Poncho y Sombrero! What's not to like?!?!

Happy Birthday, Bill!! Enjoy the vindaloo, and I hope the wine turns out great!