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I enjoyed Morgan's Contemporary dates in real time when they were being released, but what in the world were those Antilles albums? To my ears, borderline unlistenable. What a great production strategy - let's have him play everything except the one style he's good at playing.

Thanks Tim, So glad you enjoyed it! With Spirit, go to their second album, 'The Family That Plays Together' and their fourth album 'The 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus' for further study! Thanks, I fully agree that lyrics to the Spirit cut have not aged well, but the music on that cut seemed the best match in their catalog for my BFT. Wishbone Ash really didn't get much radio play that I remember here in Philly either, but I heard 'Blind Eye' from the first album on a Decca sampler and somehow ended up getting the first album. Also heard Glass Harp with Phil Keaggy for the first time on that sampler, so that was a great 99 cent purchase! I may have heard "Phoenix" from the first Wishbone Ash album on WEBN in Cincy, which would have hooked me and caused immediate purchase of the first album. And I remember a friend lending me 'Argus', which was then an auto buy. Their remaining catalog over several decades is a relative wasteland compared to those two great albums, but they have remained a strong live band (I saw them in the 70's at the Tower Theatre in Philly in a double bill with Caravan, and in the late 2000's at the Sellersville Theatre, and they were stronger in the Sellersville show, largely because Muddy Manninen was such an improvement over Laurie Wisefield on the guitar/vocal role opposite Andy Powell. Caravan played them off the stage at the Tower Theatre bill.) And amazingly, they are still out on the road with Andy Powell leading, 55 years on.

Sounds like a must-have, thanks!

Thanks for the update. Wishing Matt and all here the best.

Nice!

+1. The up front payment was no doubt seed money to pay for the production costs.

I wouldn't write it off yet. I believe that Matt is an honest man, and that this is a labor of love for him. Let's see what happens over the next few weeks. That being said, I wouldn't be sending more money to Nimbus West until there is some clarification of the status.

"Website Expired". That's not good. We will see.

Miles Davis Quintet Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Miles in France 1963 & 1964

1 – Great start! I like the version, really enjoying the walking bass. The solos are good, though don’t knock me out, but the song is so good. 2 –Bizarre arrangement, I’ll pass, even though the musicians can obviously play. Sorry, unable to finish listening to this one, it’s making me crazy. “Please, sir, make it stop!” 3 – Quite the antidote to #2, almost comatose. 4 – Old School. JATP? 5 - Much more up my alley! 6 – This too! Oscar Peterson? 7 – Errol Garner? Don’t see that he ever recorded “Django”. 8 - Excellent. 9 – Surely the Jazz Messengers, likely on Blakey is clear on drums. The gem of the BFT. I’m not placing the album, though I certainly own it. This will come to me, though someone else will ID it first. 10 – Live recording, I like the atmosphere! Gene Harris/Three Sounds? 11 – Spunky and pleasant. 12 – Another good one, you’re on a roll! Coleman Hawkins? 13 – Another, very different “Django”, cool! Cut 3 from this 14 – Good stuff. 15 – brilliant ending. Dan, this is my favorite of your BFT’s after the slow start. I’ve participated in, thanks

I have found a wonderful new home for this with a great board member!

Yeah, but they were "heavy, man!". I did like some of the first album and all of Tarkus quite a bit, but rapidly diminishing returns afterwards

Especially here for me:

Come inside, the show's about to start Guaranteed to blow your head apart Rest assured you'll get your money's worth Greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth You've got to hear the show, it's a dynamo

I was much more interested in Don Juan musically than lyrically. It doesn't hold a candle to Hejira, but I like it better than anything she recorded afterward.

Thanks Dan, will look into it. As fate would have it, available free right now on Amazon Prime!

BFT 249 Reveal Thanks to all who participated! 1 - Roberta Flack – “Tryin’ Times” from ‘First Take’, 1969 Atlantic Lots of love for this track. Ron Carter on bass. This album did not chart when first released, but then when Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from it in his movie ‘Play Misty For Me’ (which I’ve never seen, is it any good?) three years later, that song and the album both went to #1 on the pop charts. 2 - Chick Corea – “Pledge for Peace” from ‘The Vigil’, 2013 Stretch Corea on piano and Stanley Clarke on bass shine on their solos. Ravi Coltrane leaves me (as always with him) and most of the rest of you who listened, cold. 3 - Wishbone Ash – “Handy” from ‘Wishbone Ash’, 1970 Decca British group who released two classic albums (this and ‘Argus’) in the early-70’s, and have soldiered on even to this day. “Handy”, good as it is, only sets the stage for the track that comes after it, the incendiary “Phoenix”. That cut, at the pinnacle of where Psych meets Prog, is one of my favorite cuts of all-time, and I still listen to it incessantly, 54 years on. ‘Argus’, recognized as their classic, is a very different animal, with superior songwriting in a more folk/prog vein, instruments more integrated into the songs, but continued instrumental excellence. Do give a listen if not familiar with it. 4 - McCoy Tyner – “Contemporary Focus” from ‘Today and Tomorrow’ 1964 Impulse John Gilmore, Frank Strozier, and Thad Jones on tenor, alto, and trumpet – A much different front line than Tyner ever used otherwise. Universal love for this track. 5 - Spirit – “Fresh Garbage” from ‘Spirit’ 1968 Epic One of my favorite groups. Teenage guitarist Randy California had gigged with Jimi Hendrix when he was still Jimmy James, and his stepfather, drummer Ed Cassidy, had played gigs with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Cannonball Adderley, and other heavyweights. Their first four albums on Epic were great. 6 - Sam Jones – “Seven Minds” from ‘Seven Minds’ 1975 East Wind Jones stretches out with band mates Walton and Higgins on this masterpiece, which inspired my “Give The Bass Player Some” title for this BFT. 7 – Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker – “It’s Sandy at the Beach” from ‘Carnegie Hall Concert’ 1975 CTI An overlooked gem in the CTI catalog. The sidemen (Bob James, Dave Samuels, John Scofield, Ron Carter, Harvey Mason) might lead you to expect something very different, but this one grooves start to finish. 8 - Flamin' Groovies – “There's a Place” from ‘Now’ 1978 Sire On here because I had two minutes of space left on the CD-R, and I love both the original (my favorite Beatles song, slight as it may seem and forgotten as it is) and this cover version, which somehow captures the absolute magic of the original recording. 9 - Lakecia Benjamin – “Liberia” from ‘Pursuance: The Coltranes’ 2020 Ropeadope Gary Bartz joins Benjamin on this semi-forgotten John Coltrane composition, and the sparks fly. 10 - Johnny Rivers – “Look to Your Soul” from ‘Realization’ 1968 Imperial, also available on ‘A Touch of Gold’ 1968 Imperial Brilliant L.A. pop from Rivers. ‘Realization’ was a landmark album of the era. ‘A Touch of Gold’ was a real-time summary of where he had come in the late 60’s. Both are brilliant works. The big hit single from ‘Realization’ was “Summer Rain”, but the album works as a united whole rather than just a collection of cuts. ‘A Touch of Gold’ includes that and 1966’s glorious “Poor Side of Town’. You won’t go wrong with either album, and I have always needed both. 11 - Genesis – “Aisle of Plenty” from ‘Selling England By The Pound’ 1973 Charisma This lovely snippet closes the best Genesis album ever made, completing the quartet of their greatest work that also included 1970’s ‘Trespass’, 1971’s ‘Nursery Cryme’, and especially 1972’s ‘Foxtrot’. They (Genesis, Gabriel, Collins) were never close to this again. Happy New Year to all - I'm thankful to be part of this wonderful community!

From the picture, that's the original McLaughlin/Goodman/Hammer/Laird/Cobham lineup. I'm not sure when that configuration broke up.

Dan, so sorry for your loss. We get very close with our pets. I've had to put down four cats and a dog during our marriage, and can't imagine what will happen when our current cat Aisha passes (she's 13 but doing great). She is the most attached I've ever been with an animal. Shown here laying with me while I have morning devotions.

I never met him but saw him performing at an outdoor lunchtime show on a weekday at Independence National Historic Park (home to the Liberty Bell, etc.) in Philadelphia in the summer of 1980. Part of a cultural festival the city was sponsoring. He was an unforgettable presence. I hated the job I had at the time with General Accident Insurance (and I didn't last long there), but the location and corporate culture offered a lot of lunchtime freedom. I could pop to the park or to South Street (this was pre-Tower Records there, but the Book Trader had some great used jazz albums) or to China Town during lunch, and could walk to Third Street Jazz (Jerry Gordon's store, he went on to run Evidence Records) after work before taking the train home.

Here are pictures of the item. A tip O' the glengarry to Rostasi for sharing his tech knowledge with me!

I have a homemade CD-R of Harley's 'Scotch And Soul' and 'Bagpipe Blues' albums, made by Harley himself and signed and dated 5/20/00. It has a hand-designed and Xeroxed cover with various Philadelphia- and Biblical- symbols and text which were meaningful to him, as well as his address and phone number (obsolete, he passed in 2006). I have no idea how, when, or where I came into possession of this. It's pretty cool, but I don't need it. I'd like to get it to someone who appreciates it, would like some sort of trade exchange for it. I have no idea how to value something like this, or what I paid for it. I can send files of the artwork if you want to see it, but don't know how to upload my own photos without exceeding the posting size limit. PM if interested. If no one is, I'll just stick it back on my shelves.