The Magnificent Goldberg

Yup, those two, plus "Slow drag", form a trilogy which I think is Byrd's peak. I've always loved the sleeve of "Mustang". The model seems to suggest both someone riding a Mustang horse, and the lines of a fast car. Reid Miles all the way; photo and design. Brilliant. MG

They weren't mediochre boogaloo albums; they were MFin' GREAT boogaloo albums. And YES ! I'm damn sure it's going to be in that vein. Looking forward to it greatly, thanks. MG Live at the Lighthouse is unsurpassed for intensity. The atmosphere captured on that recording is unbelievable IMHO.....and I love all Grant's music. matter of fact I think my favourite Grant Green period is the one from about 1959-1979. Thanks for the link. Looks like they've managed to represent all the tracks except the one called Glenda. I'm sure this session will have it's own unique vibe just like Alive and Lighthouse are both different. I think the presence of Houston Person on this will make it even more so. Also no Claude Bartee. No rub intended against Grant. I just think much of his commerical / boogaloo output during this period 1969-1979 was below his abilities. The presence of Houston Person on this Mozambique date looks promising--as he is an amazing soul-jazz saxophonist. But I suspect this is more of the same "Alive" type material. But being a big Green fan, I will probably pick this up for a listen. Any new Green on CD is cause for celebration. But I prefer his blues/soul jazz and straight ahead period 1959-1966. I wish they would also release more of the rejected vault material from that period, as all of his early Blue Note Lps have been reissued. Soul Jazz, right from the start in the '40s, had the same objective as R&B - entertainment for black adults. So, as R&B changed, Soul Jazz changed in parallel. The most important people to develop R&B in the period between the mid fifties and mid sixties were Soul Jazz musicians anyway - Ray Charles and James Brown. GG's early recordings were part of the implementation of Soul Jazz that equated to Soul music. His later ones equated to Funk. But they were ALL Soul Jazz. The later ones were not "more commercial" than the earlier ones; they simply equated to what black customers wanted at the time. Thus, in terms of the prime audience, the earlier material had become "uncommercial", simply through the passage of time. MG

They weren't mediochre boogaloo albums; they were MFin' GREAT boogaloo albums. And YES ! I'm damn sure it's going to be in that vein. Looking forward to it greatly, thanks. MG Live at the Lighthouse is unsurpassed for intensity. The atmosphere captured on that recording is unbelievable IMHO.....and I love all Grant's music. matter of fact I think my favourite Grant Green period is the one from about 1959-1979. Thanks for the link. Looks like they've managed to represent all the tracks except the one called Glenda. I'm sure this session will have it's own unique vibe just like Alive and Lighthouse are both different. I think the presence of Houston Person on this will make it even more so. Also no Claude Bartee. Yes, pity no Bartee - I like hm a lot. But Clarence Thomas played some realy good stuff with Idris Muhammad. MG

Well, I’ve listened to the main BFT each weekend, as I do for new CDs, for the last 3 weeks and I don’t think I’m going to feel very different about the music if I listen to it for a few weeks more. So it’s time. I must say, it’s been very pleasant listening to it, as I frequently have, in Ynysangharad Park. It’s a good place to just sit and listen on headphones. Even today, when two young girls in short skirts sat opposite me across a flower bed, I was still able to concentrate on the music; that says quite a lot for the music 1 Well, I liked the band. I loved the loping riff. It reminded me of some of the things Jacques Denjean used to do in the early ‘60s. But this isn’t Denjean; this is some fool who thinks it’s clever to incorporate an old 78 of “All the things you are”. Some people have more style than they know what to do with. Nuff sed. 2 Trombone, cello and bass. No idea who it is. Very nice. Although I like it, I wouldn’t want a whole album of it; it seems to lack telling power. Just an attractive idea. 3 Marimba, bass clarinet, percussion. A bit spiky. This is good fun, too, but I don’t get a feeling of the musicians having a great story to tell behind it all. 4 Love the groove from the drummer. Bass player really contributing, too. Vibes, trumpet and trombone aren’t bad, but the drummer is the star. I was reminded of Idris Muhammad’s style a bit, but it ain’t him (though I suppose it COULD be, if it’s one of those Swiss or Austrian bands he sometimes does things with). The orchestrations reminded me a bit of the Clarke/Boland band, though I haven’t heard much of them since 1966. If it IS them, I suppose the drummer could be Kenny Clare. 5 More from the funky drummer! With bass and elec piano, then organ. Lovely bass riff before the organ comes in. Then a good, urgent piano solo, with the drummer really rocking the joint behind him. And a nice bass solo. I just gotta get this – well, if this is representative of the whole album – dying to find out who and what it is. Second time I heard this, I thought of Ray Bryant, though I haven’t heard much of his stuff after he stopped making commercial albums. Then it was Ahmad Jamal who popped into my mind, whom I’ve only been listening a short while, so I really don’t know. In both cases it’s the extreme grooviness of the left hand that led me to think of those pianists. 6 Another funky drum intro. Something familiar about the keyboards until dissonance creeps in. Then we go back to drums, piano & marimbas, to shift into a straight 4/4. Nice slow bluesy riff at the end. This is Randy Weston type stuff, I think. If so, perhaps it’s balas, not marimbas. On final listen I decided it was balas AND marimbas. Definitely FEELS like Randy Weston; another pianist I don’t have a lot of. 7 Alto sax, with mucho percussion. Heavy bass riff. No piano or guitar. Somewhat spiky alto. I wondered if there were two drummers, then came to the conclusion that the different elements of the drum kit were on separate mikes. This gives a feeling of disorientation – especially on headphones, it may not be so bad listening in an open room. I didn’t like it much. At 4:36, I thought it was way too long. 8 Two guitarists, bass. Very African feel to this. When the drums enter, the African feeling goes, but comes back for the ensemble passages. Both guitarists playing some stinging blues, very mellow – but not serene enough for Mandinke guitarists. First two listens, I think I’ve heard the drummer before, then conclude that he just sounds a bit like Joe Dukes on “Soulful drums”. Now for me, this could have gone on for 15:50. Very, very nice indeed! 9 This reminded me of track 3. They’re both good fun, both not really grabbing you by the guts. Was it a bassoon, bass clarinet, or some kind of synth? Spiky soprano sax I didn’t like too much. Second time around, I was reminded of George Braith in his more out moments. Today I thought it might be Joel Zorn or John Dorn. 10 Bass clarinet, drums, piano, synth. Band comes in like movie music. Another spiky sax! Is this more Zorn? The pianist is spiky, too, but a bit funkier than the alto saxophonist. Band comes back in for a bit more movie music. Trumpeter OK; is it Benny Bailey? I think the tone is a bit thin for him. This is another track that seems to go on forever. 11 Digeridoo!? Trumpet & drums with what sounds like a synth bass. Good groove here. Very nice muted trumpet, reminds me of Blue Mitchell, but can’t be. When the beat narrows down to straight ahead, it all swings very nicely. I really like this one. I don’t see the point of the digeridoo intro, but I suppose it does grab the attention. 12 Bach intro on guitar, then into a little solo. In comes the alto sax. Familiar tune with a Django feel, so I guess it’s “Nuages”, about the only one of his tunes I’ve heard. The sax player reminds me an awful lot of Lou Donaldson, in the purity of his melody and in his sound. There’s a little growl in the middle of the solo which his very like Lou. The trouble is, I think I’ve got very nearly everything Lou ever recorded except a few cuts that appeared on BN 10” LPs that weren’t reissued on 12”, and the session with Clifford Brown. And he hasn’t recorded “Nuages”. So, it CAN’T be Lou. But it DOES sound like him. Anyway, if this is Lou, there’s an album I don’t know about that I’ve got to get. And if it ain’t Lou, there’s someone else’s work I have to look into. 13 Now, here’s another familiar tune, which I can’t place. It’s clearly a bop tune. If I know it, then it must be on an album I don’t play very much (and can’t be asked to review all those Joe Pass and Clare Fischer things).Cello, bass, piano & drums. Nice bowed cello solo. Good piano solo. Both are telling a story for real. I know the pianist, too, but even after three goes, can’t place him. Eventually, the name Gene Harris turned up in my mind – another one I don’t have too much of. If it’s him, I suppose it could be Ray Brown on cello. Nice stuff. 14 Big band. Bits from vibes, trombone, piano, then vibes again at greater length (or so it seems). Vibes are OK but don’t stir me. Don’t like the orchestrations very much. Really can’t get interested enough to even think about who the musicians are. 15 A minute of vibes in 6/8. Are there two vibists, one in each ear, or are the low notes on just one instrument on a different mike? I think the latter, but there’s not enough of this to tell. Then there’s silence, then a violin, very faint. WTF? Looking back at this, there are five cuts here I really liked. MUCH better than I expected. (Or much worse, since it all means additional expenditure as my lists extend.) Well done Mike! Phew! Now I can read 4 pages of what everyone else thought! MG PS Ynys means "island" in Welsh. Angharad is a woman's name. So Ynysangharad Park means Angharad's Island Park PPS Damn! Quotes and apostrophes don't come out properly from Word. Can't be asked to edit the whole thing; sorry.

Advice from Wales - start being a rugby fan, Red. MG

They weren't mediochre boogaloo albums; they were MFin' GREAT boogaloo albums. And YES ! I'm damn sure it's going to be in that vein. Looking forward to it greatly, thanks. MG

Bleedin' awful sleeve. Couldn't they have found a photo? MG

A sad story indeed. Just out of curiosity, how did you compile the data that you entered into your computer (pre-disaster)? From Record Research? Yes - I have the 1988 edition of the RR R&B singles, the 1998 R&B albums and the 2001 pop albums books. MG

Not yet, Eric; only what's in the BN discography and that's material covering two evenings of recording. All were repeated on the different sets. Titles recorded were: Patches (4) More today than yesterday (3) One less bell to answer (2) Bottom of the barrel (2) Jan Jan (4) Make it easy on yourself (2) Farid (2) One more chance (5) I am somebody (2) Glenda (2) Walk on by (3) MG

Doesn't work in Britain - it's John Thomas here. MG

There isn't one. A few years ago, I painstakingly copied the R&B singles chart up to end 1959 onto my computer so I could analyse the charts for that period by year or label. Then I had a computer disaster and lost it all! I haven't had the heart to do it again. I've got details of jazz albums on R&B and pop charts in my computer now, that's all. MG

Yes - according to the blurb I picked up in the shop, which doesn't say much, there's the McGriff, which appears to be the reissue of Solid State 17001/18001 - not a bad album but there are much better McGriffs on EMI labels to reissue in my view. There's also a Joe Lovano - Streams of expression - I know nowt about this. Two Nancy Wilsons - Hollywood and Broadway my way, which I might pick up sometime 4 compilations BN plays Billie, Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart. MG

Just a quick note to say I found out this morning that the new GG will be issued in Britain a day BEFORE it comes out in the US. So the quickest and cheapest way for UK residents to get it will be from their local record shop. I've been told Spillers will be selling it at £4.99 or £5.99. MG

Freddie McCoy - Listen here MG

I tried to order that the other day from CDUniverse - they told me this morning it was on back order and might never come in, so I changed it to the Garland/Davis Moodsville vol 1. MG

Just noticed this bit of your post. Have I missed some of Lonnie's albums? "Too damn hot" certainly wasn't pushed into the funk category - it covered all the sorts of things Lonnie likes to get into. "Boogaloo to Beck" was also not a standard funk outing, despite the title. In fact, looking through the LPs, I can't find a Lonnie Smith pure funk album more recent than "Gotcha". MG

I think you're getting the two albums mixed up SS. Lonnie's with Red & Frank. Gene L is with Red & Plas. MG

TruSound had a load of King Curtis LPs out; I should think they sold reasonably well, though it was before "Soul twist". I've bought a few of them. And there's a good 'un by Texas tenorman Jesse Powell, which I've also got. But the Latin Jazz Quintet's 2 LPs - one on New Jazz, the other on TruSound - were very rare items (at least in Britain, where they were being sold for unconsionable amounts of dosh). So I guess few were pressed. Rhoda Scott did 2 LPs for TruSound, as well - I've never seen either of them on LP. Got my copies on a Japanese CD. They were too good to sell well, is my verdict. Never seen any of their Gospel LPs, though there are a couple out now on CD on Specialty, that I must get round to buying. I think TruSound stuff, being quite R&B oriented, probably made its appearance in specialised dealers which jazz fans wouldn't neccessarily visit - which may be why you haven't seen them. I've seen lots of MV, SV and NJ LPs about in my time, so they weren't particularly rare. Dunno about the ethnic labels, hence calling on Chris. MG

Three George Braith albums arrived in the post from CDBaby this morning. Haven’t started to listen to them yet. MG

No - the guy was offside. If he'd kept still the goal would have been allowed. But he didn't. Tuff shit, but there we are. It showed, though, that the US COULD make goals and didn't need Italians to do it for them. MG

Actually, I thought the US could have won that the way they were playing - had no one been so duff as to have been sent off. 11-11 would have been the US game. Suicides in Rome tonight, I suspect. MG

A Fall 1963 Prestige order form I have lists the following labels: - Prestige - New Jazz - Moodsville - Swingville - Tru-Sound - Tru-Sound Latin American series - Tru-Sound Gospel series - Prestige Folklore - Prestige International - Prestige International/Documentary series - Bluesville - Irish - Lively Arts - Near East Would love to listen to the Lively Arts 30006 LP! It's 'James Mason Reads the Imp of the Perverse and Other Stories by Edgar Allen Poe'! Wonder if RVG recorded that one! I have one of those, too Prestige's subsidiaries have always been most interesting to me. Moodsville and Swingville are definitely different to Prestige, but only in terms of their general approach. Lots of musicians appeared on MV or SV as well as PR. TruSound was a great little label: R&B, Latin and Gospel. Bluesville was blues, of course. New Jazz eventually became the budget label and was used to introduce new players. Some of them were pressed on the Status (Prestige/Status) label - as were a few PR items. I always wondered about the Lively Arts material, too. One of them was Norman Mailer reading his own stuff. And another was Roddy McDowell reading H P Lovecraft. As for the "ethnic" labels, I always wondered how Bob Weinstock got into them; I'd imagine you needed a whole different set of customers to distribute those to their respective markets. It would be nice if Chris could throw some light on this. MG

Oddly, if you look at GG's discography at All Music, it shows this as a 2006 release - even has a catalog number. Bingo! http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...D=5092246&BAB=L I put my order in to CD Universe using the link in Eric's post. Can Jim confirm that Organissimo will be paid or shall I cancel the order and do it again? MG You need to cancel and either wait for Jim to post a link, or else use the search box at the top of the page to find and order it. Looking at the link and comparing it to a link Jim posted for another album, its clear that Jim's posting contains code for Organissimo to get credit. Thank you, Dan. Will do. MG

Oddly, if you look at GG's discography at All Music, it shows this as a 2006 release - even has a catalog number. Bingo! http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...D=5092246&BAB=L I put my order in to CD Universe using the link in Eric's post. Can Jim confirm that Organissimo will be paid or shall I cancel the order and do it again? MG

Wow! Fucking WOW! I only half believed Mosaic when they told me BN would be issuing this. Wonder if there's anything else coming out? MG