felser

Great stuff. generates so many thoughts in me, and I'll just pull in a couple. I remember reading (I forget the source) about how Coltrane knew the in's and out's of the theory and fundamentals better than anyone ever, and used that as his foundation, and yet many in the "New Thing" held him up as proof that "you didn't need any of that theory stuff, you just play what you feel". Pharoah Sanders is another one, like George Adams, who could fall into "freaking out" as a crutch. Many of his solos in the early 70's were so formulaic ("here comes the freakout"), yet he has shown what seems to me to be a mastery of technique and ability to play changes, ballads, etc. in his later decades (to me, much moreso than Adams did, though I like Adams, but found his "inside" albums on Blue Note gimmicky). And don't get me wrong, I immensely enjoy much of Sander's 60's/70's solo stuff. His work with Coltrane, OTOH, remains almost totally lost on me, and I sometimes fast-forward through his (and Jimmy Garrison's) solos when listening. Albert Ayler, I have spent 40 years trying to decide if I think he was a fraud or not (still undecided), yet I continue to listen. Some of that is a function of time and place, but there's gotta be more to it than that (doesn't there?). I'm sure this will likely lead to several rebuttals, including where/why/how I am wrong, and I look forward to and will learn and grow from those rebuttals.

It does, but that's a lot of $ for six CD's and six 7" 45's. Will see if the marketplace merchants can get that price down.

I have some sets on this label and am very happy with them.

Ellington Complete 1951-1958 Columbia Studio Albums Collection. Incredible!

agreed, nice nice set

National Lampoon Radio Hour - show #5, December 15, 1973 "The Show Must Go On".. Don't know who the specific person was. Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and others come from NLRH before going on to SNL. I remember the great bit about the K-Tel offer to send you "ever record ever made" and a wonderful Bob Dylan "Fabulous Sixties" K-tel offer ("Time for these boot heels to be wonderin, ".

The clue told me SCTV, and then a google on that told me Martin Short ("Irving Cohen").

Lenny Bruce - if it isn't, it should be.

Totally agree with that. Her singing in those early years was a thing of wonder and beauty.

Big fan of him in that period - on my must have list.

2 - I liked this quite a bit. But is it jazz? I think not. Anyways, I have listened to and enjoyed a lot of this sort of thing since the 70's (though I think this is a somewhat later cut). Wonderful singer, and I know who it is (ain't nobody sings like her), have both her 70's group albums and her subsequent solo albums. BTW, the best gems by the group were found buried on the album sides rather than in the hit singles. You cheat yourself if you just go for a greatest hits collection. Very interesting lyrics. I am really glad that you like this, and yes about the lyrics (and to the "is it jazz?" question my answer is "no, but..."), but here's the funny part - I don't know who the hell you think it is! So the shoe's on the other foot now. That may well be a BFT first! Had an offline exchange with Jim on this one. I really thought it was Chaka Khan, but it's not! Anyways, as I was saying in my post, the Rufus gems are hidden in their albums rather than being the hit singles. Includes my favorite version of "Half Moon". There was a WHOLE lot more to them than "Tell Me Something Good" (which I've always found to be an annoying record). My other PSA is going to be that you really need to check out (especially 50's and early 70's) Stan Kenton if you haven't. Heavy stuff, really. Got a bad rap sort of the way Brubeck/Desmond got a bad rap, and that is totally undeserved. He was an original, and I missed for decades before discovering him in the past 10-15 years.

1- Very Lambert, Hendricks & Rossish through the crackles. No music sounds more joyous to me than something like this. 2 - I liked this quite a bit. But is it jazz? I think not. Anyways, I have listened to and enjoyed a lot of this sort of thing since the 70's (though I think this is a somewhat later cut). Wonderful singer, and I know who it is (ain't nobody sings like her), have both her 70's group albums and her subsequent solo albums. BTW, the best gems by the group were found buried on the album sides rather than in the hit singles. You cheat yourself if you just go for a greatest hits collection. Very interesting lyrics. 3 - Jim "Quiet Storm" Sangrey, who knew? I know the answer to "Who is this singer, anyways". And the label purists ain't gonna be happy about this one (a new note indeed), but I like it quite a bit. The studio guys are so tight and solid on this. 4 - Good times. Love the guitar. Again, 70's rooted, again, I really like it. 5 - I can't begin to describe on how many levels this Al Jolson story troubled me, but then I'm also not a performer, and I guess maybe that's what it takes? The show must go on, but at what cost? And at who's expense? 6 - Nat King Cole, of course. Interesting how the lyrics tie into the Jolson story before it. "I'd give my soul...I can't control my perpetual need for her" indeed. Excellent for what it is of course, but I get limited (not zero, but limited) mileage from this sort of thing. 7 - Well, the singer sort of can't carry a tune, and the lyrics are the usual cliched "I miss you and can't live without you", but I really like the electric piano and the tune. And it sort of ties in with the previous two selections in an allegorical sense. 8 - Well enough done, but this sort of rhythm thing drives me a little crazy in anything other than very small doses. Best part is the bull-in-a-china-shop tenor entry. Again, very 70's rooted, though it may have been done later. 9 - Apparently Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, "the king and queen" :-). Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of either except for their respective classic heydays on Atlantic. But gotta say, I bet this is the first time a coca-cola commercial ever made a blindfold test. 10 - At last, some BFT conformity! There were a thousand albums like this recorded in the 50's, and it's been my goal to own and continually listen to all thousand of them. Whoever the sax player is, he's heard Sonny Stitt. 11 - And JS follows conformity with perversity. I don't like ring modulators, so this doesn't work for me. YMMV. This style is from a very specific place and time in the first half of the 70's, where jazz and rock collided before they then again went their separate ways (though there remains a niche market where this sort of thing is still done). This cut is further proof that many bass players should never take solos. 12 - I sort of never really "got" a lot of what Dinah Washington and others did at times on cuts like this. Again, YMMV, and I know my tone probably seems harsh, but for my ears and psyche, something like this is personally unlistenable. Though it no doubt sold 50 times more than any Blue Note album of the same era. 13 - Stan Kenton. I thought his music was often unique and awesome. And what a great penultimate bit for this BFT! 14 - Whoever it is has heard Sonny Rollins and has heard the R&B players of the late 40's/early 50's (Eddie Vincent, Earl Bostic, etc), and nothing wrong with that! Summary: What an interesting, interesting BFT! A work of art in and of itself, thanks! Musically, the biggest winners for me were the first four selections, #10, and the snippet on #13.

PM sent on Cannonball Adderley - Lugano 1963 (TCB) $10

Was not part of the 16 disc box. There's a great separate 4CD set of the Miles stuff available.

Anita O'Day, disc 4

Somewhat - but that album is very heavy on In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew material. In the summer/fall of 1969, the band was still playing a lot of material from earlier in the '60s (Footprints, Masquelero) and even some tunes from the '50s (Round Midnight, Milestones, No Blues). Even those tunes get pretty abstract, though. There are other differences to my ears. Chick wasn't using the heavy processing on his electric piano yet, so it sounds like a "clean" electric piano sound. Airto is absent. The rhythm section has a lighter feel. And generally speaking, the "new" tunes are approached in a much less rock-oriented way during the 1969 concerts - "It's About That Time" and "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" were vehicles for free improvisation, especially after Miles's solo. This is probably oversimplifying things grossly, but the 1969 quintet played free jazz with electric piano. The sextet that played the Fillmore East in 1970 did some of that, but also more groove-oriented music. As 1970 advanced, Miles's live groups cut down on the amount of free music and increased the amount of groove-oriented music. Yeah, the Corea/Jarrett keyboard stuff by the Fillmore recordings was very dirty with the ring-modulators, etc, not my cup of tea. And so different than what Corea and Jarrett were doing on their own stuff a year or two later.

I've had good results with Jazz Messengers shipping to the USA. Have placed two largish orders with them in the past year.

I'll take a shot at it, hopefully no Kenny G! Download is fine for me.

I know what you mean, but some of the live shows are just mind boggling. You do need at least 5 of the best of them. But remember, mind-boggling and Worthwhile (of the Cutonian Worthwhile's) but NOT unbelievable!

But I've heard pretty much everything else already released, and that alone is impressive. Have you forgotten how many worthwhile albums many jazz musicians recorded YEARLY back in the late 50's/early 60's? Apples and oranges, unless you are coming from the "jazz is ALWAYS superior to rock" camp. I am coming from no such camp. Just the camp that the amount of "worthwhile" music being made in such a short period of time is in no way unprecedented, and therefore not unbelievable. Guess I'd better parse my adjectives more carefully around here in the future and yes, it is apples and oranges in some regards.

Looks good to me. I liked his next band, New Directions, even better.

Unbelievable how much worthwhile music he recorded in less than four years.

Had an interesting experience last Friday. Our township sponsored a jazz concert. Primary participants will remain nameless because I felt that for the most part they were playing down to what they perceived the audience to be, but the bass and drums were outstanding the entire night, playing beautifully off of each other, lifting the music. Both were local Philly guys, neither of whom I had ever heard or heard of before, but I hope to again, and I would recommend them to anyone who comes to Philly and needs a rhythm section. The bass player's name is Nimrod Speaks, and the drummer, who I had a nice conversation with between sets, is named Khary Shaheed.

Remember there are two Monterey sets in the box. Totally agree with you about the 1964 Monterey performance, the "Meditations on Integration" from that is epic. OTOH, the 1965 Monterey performance is a mess, and Mingus himself seems to have known that, cutting it off short. If you read the liners, Mingus' set was cut short because John Handy's famous (and documented) one went overtime. When someone yelled that Mingus should end his portion of the concert, he directed his band to walk off playing "When the Saints Come Marching In". Mingus had high hopes for the show, and was pissed that he had to cut it short. Thx for the insight. No, have not had opportunity to read the liner notes, which is the case for most of my collection. That Handy set was/is spectacular. I did an AOTW of it here a few years ago, and was shocked at how little love it got.

Me too, found him to be one of the most compelling artists of the last 30 years.