EKE BBB

Dick Wellstood Dick Hyman Ralph Sutton

FSR CD reissue of two Bethlehem discs:

Orlando Woolridge Rick Mahorn Bill Laimbeer

Up for some fresh Autumn air!

Johnny Griffin Art Taylor Elizabeth Taylor

Disc 4

Mike LeDonne on Bud Powell (culled from FB): "Here’s something I’ve been thinking about. It’s been a source of frustration to me that Bud Powell is never given proper respect in terms of the importance of his role in the harmonic development of this music. Bird is always placed at the top when talking about innovators and Thelonious Monk has been dubbed the high priest of be bop and for good reason. Monk came up with the harmonies that became the earth that Be Bop grew out of but Bud Powell on the other hand seems to be less talked about and less revered. Both Bird and Monk, and Dizzy for that matter, deserve all the accolades they get no doubt. Bird was a genius and everyone knows that. He was one of the very few people that completely changed not only the language but the rhythm of this music. If it weren't for Bird there might not have been a Bud Powell - BUT - I’m going to throw this out here - While Charlie Parker was the father of Be Bop and cast a net so wide that people are still trying to figure out how to play like him, Bud Powell is actually the father of modern jazz harmony to this day. Yes, even more than Bird and Monk. I rest my case on Bud Powell’s compositions “Glass Enclosure” and to a lesser degree “Un Poco Loco”. Also all his incredible intros, interludes and endings. He was the first to use polytonal triadic harmony in his compositions which means placing one key over another. This harmony became the earth that most “modern” jazz of today, including fusion and beyond, grew out of. Some people call them slash chords, Jaki Byard called them poly-chords. Bud was the pioneer of that sound who used it in a very unique way in a small group setting. Nobody else was doing that. Not Bird and not Monk. Bird was using polytonality in his solos but it was not the triadic harmony of Bud Powell. Bill Evans also used this harmony later on as well as McCoy Tyner, Trane and pretty much everyone after that. I’m not saying it was only Bud Powell that caused jazz musicians to pick up on these harmonies because they were also in the music of Ravel and Debussy as well as other classical composers dating way back before Jazz music and there’s no doubt that that music influenced Bud Powell, McCoy and Bill Evans. But if you dig in deeper you find that Bud’s harmony was different from Ravel and Debussy. It was truly his own thing. This places Bud Powell in a category all his own and shows an influence that goes way beyond be bop. It’s an amazing example of just how brilliant Bud Powell was. A genius of another kind." Mike LeDonne Paging @Gheorghe

Reuben Wilson Teddy Wilson Lionel Hampton

Does the world need yet another album of covers? Well, I’m not sure, but Susanna Hoffs has really good taste selecting and interpreting covers, her voice is still engaging and the arrangements are mostly good, even with those (probably too many) string passages.

On Spotify? Please do post a link!

A few additions: - "Duke Ellington: An American Composer and Icon" by Steven Brower and Mercedes Ellington -"Duke Ellington and His World" by A.H. Lawrence -"Duke Ellington, Jazz Composer" by Ken Rattenbury -"Duke's Diary, Part I: The Life of Duke Ellington, 1927-1950" by Ken Vail -"Duke's Diary, Part 2: The Life of Duke Ellington, 1950-1974" by Ken Vail -"Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56" by John Fass Morton -"Duke: The Musical Life of Duke Ellington" by Bill Gutman -"Duke's 'Bones. Ellington's Great Trombonists" by Kurt Dietrich And finally, it is due to bring the reference to the most updated and complete (by far!) Duke Ellington chronology, compiled by our fellow Canadian EKE researcher David Palmquist, "The Duke, Where And When (TDWAW)": http://tdwaw.ellingtonweb.ca/TDWAW.html

Tinky Winky Laa-Laa Po

Listening to Susanna Hoffs' new album for the first time. Exclusively composed of covers (of, among others, Badfinger, Nick Drake, the Monkees, Paul Revere, Velvet Underground, Prince and Syd Barrett). Yet another album of covers from Susanna Hoffs? Well, yes, it doesn't matter, it's Susanna!

disc 3

Prompted by Dan Gould's thread on the Gemini label.

Next Sunday, Cécile McLorin Salvant at the Auditorio Nacional. Can't wait to attend this concert, as I consider her as one of the most talented female vocalists to surface in the last 20 years. http://www.auditorionacional.mcu.es/es/programacion/cndm-cecile-mclorin-salvant-1