Rooster_Ties

Now we're getting somewhere. Never imagined that this had ever come out on home video.

For me, the BIG draw on this Amy date is Carmell Jones. Bobby gets about average space (and no more), but Carmell is playing as great as ever, IIRC -- and the date is second only to Katanga!, as far as Amy dates go in my book. A real winner, and a highlight of the Amy Select. The Anderza is a good one too, that I probably don't play enough.

Had to post this somewhere. Not a pic, I know, but it's my thread...

I've never been certain how much to attribute to Hank, in regards to the arrangements (I'm not sayin' they're not his, just that I wasn't sure). But I've always thought "Slice..." and "Third Season" were the apex of arranging out of all his leader-dates, and a big part of the reason they're easily my two favorite Hank dates. On a different subject, are/were there any published interviews with Hank, especially from the 60's? Other than maybe a few quotes in some liners, I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything he had to say about music (or anything else).

a WWI trench soldier plays a homemade cello made from what appears to be an ammo box (source).

Bass clarinet choir... Note the couple contrabasses in the back row, on the left. (click image to enlarge)

Yes, perhaps part of Hank's appeal (especially over the last 25 years) is that he was on Blue Note -- but it isn't just which label he was on - but the consistently solid sideman that appeared on nearly every one of his dates (since he was practically always on Blue Note). Face it, Hank wouldn't be as highly revered if half his dates had been on Prestige and other lesser labels. In fact, Hank's lack of "band leadership" acumen (in combination with being on Blue Note, with their session 'rehearsal' policies) may have ultimately lead to much greater variety of sessions, and all of them with a higher quality of sidemen. And let me be the first to suggest that Andrew Hill benefited greatly from all of those very same things. There's NO way Hill's music would have worked on a less supportive and 'nurturing' label, or (frankly) with less sympathetic sidemen.

Another interesting clip of Tom Jones with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - that showed up recently on the Steve Hoffman Board... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kg0v0Er8Ak

How about Ives' piece(s?) for two pianos, tuned one quarter-tone apart? There's also a similar piece I remember by John Corigliano, where the conclusion ends with the the famous "doxology" theme, with each fragment of the famous melody stated in segments that go up in quarter-tone increments. Hard to explain in words, but imagine this (where each "^" means the tonality of the melody goes up one quarter tone)... "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" (^"...blessings flow"). ^"Praise Him, all creatures here below" (...^"here below") ^"Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host" (...^"ye heav'nly host") ^"Praise Father, Son, ^and Holy Ghost" ...or something like that. The whole thing speeds up too, so it sounds like a tape recording going faster and faster and faster.

I'm not sure I 'get' the cult of Mobley, least not on a deep personal level - but the existance of it bothers me not one bit. I've got his entire Blue Note output as a leader, and probably at least 85% of his BN sideman dates (and 100% after 1960) -- and most of it is pretty darn good. FWIW, "Third Season" and "Slice of the Top" are my two favorite of his leader-dates. Now the cult of Andrew Hill, I not only 'get' that, I think I invented it.

Even more curious that with everything else under the sun turning up on-line (not legit, mind up, but Youtube uploads and such), that no footage from this doc has ever surfaced on-line, far as I can tell.

Assuming arrangements are OK, I'm really fond of these piano four-hand arrangements of two Mahler symphonies... Mahler 6, arranged by Alexander von Zemlinsky Mahler 7, arranged by Alfredo Casella And I since I file this in with my classical CD's (and feel it's right at home in that section), I'll also mention... Anthony Braxton, Opus 95 for two pianos (Arista, 1980 - from the recent Mosaic) There's also a TON of Brahms arrangements for piano four-hands (done by Brahms himself), of all his symphonies, both piano concerti, and maybe a dozen other multi-movement chamber works. I have about half of them on various Naxos CD's, and they're lots of fun (particulary for the works with themes I really know by heart). Liszt also did solo-piano arrangements of all of Beethoven's symphonies, except the ninth - which is for two pianos, and lots of fun.

I generally love Hank's playing, no matter the year -- but I think Miles really needed particular kinds of foils in the front-line. I'm reminded of the contrast between Miles' playing in Stockholm in March of 1960, with Trane, vs. with Sonny Stitt in October of that same year (also in Stockholm). Trane was white hot, and Miles reacted on the bandstand in a particular way. Sonny Stitt bought less energy, and Miles had to rise to the occasion -- and in many ways, I prefer Miles' playing with Stitt (quite a lot, actually - Miles was GREAT with Stitt). It's been years since I've heard the Blackhawk recordings - but over the years, my reaction has always been that they lacked energy (they've always left me feeling "Kind of Bored"). I don't think you can pin that all on Hank, though I do think he's a factor. But if Miles had risen to the occasion, and played to balance Mobley's energy, I don't think there'd be the generally mixed opinions out there about the Blackhawk material. On a related topic, the conventional wisdom is that Sam Rivers wasn't a good fit with the band in '64 (or at least not with Miles), which I believe to be true -- but what might have been the problem more than Sam's (or Hank's) playing, was Miles' particular reaction to them on the bandstand. I do wonder what might have come from a (theoretical) Miles-lead studio session with Sam in the band, circa late 1964. While E.S.P. was a huge breath of fresh air, as compared to it's predecessors, it also isn't anywhere the level of interplay that Miles Smiles and Sorcerer/Neftiti brought. But I suspect a Miles studio album with Sam might actually have been more interesting than E.S.P. (if, perhaps, also more of a mixed bag). All that is to ask what a Miles studio album with HANK might have sounded like?

Has anyone ever seen this documentary? Or even any clips? I can't believe with all the digging I've done on-line over the years, searching for Miles-related footage on Youtube and other streaming video sites, that I've NEVER once seen any footage from the actual documentary that Miles did the soundtrack to. There's one Youtube clip with some footage of Jack Johnson, set to the Miles soundtrack music -- but it's clearly a fan edit montage kind of thing (here, fwiw). In short, I've always wondered about seeing/hearing the Miles "Jack Johnson" soundtrack, in its original context (arguably). I know the music wasn't recorded with the specific footage in mind (let alone with visual edits in mind), but the album does bear the name of the documentary.

Just saw an actual copy of this in an actual record-store bin last week (they wanted $25), and I couldn't believe Bennie Green had recorded for BN in the late 60's. Looking it up later, I was right, the album is from 1959. Never saw a date on the cover with the alternate design, so needless to say I was confused at the time. What's up with that? - and were there any other "alternate" Liberty designs in the late 60's (or early 70's) for BN dates from earlier in the label's history? Asking about straight-up reissues of single albums (with the exact same title), and with the exact same track-listings as the original, just with a different cover -- essentially a "repackaging" of an earlier album with a different design. Source of the alternate cover.

Whoah!

Did they play anything rare, or that hasn't been issued commercially?

Which reminds me (and I always forget), that "Dimensions & Extensions" didn't come out back in the day. Such an interesting date, in many ways, maybe Sam's first album that realy demonstrated his later writing for larger groups.. Because as much as I adore "Contours" -- among all is BN dates, it's only "Dimensions & Extentions" that really SOUNDS like the writing in Sam's latter, larger group sessions.

FWIW, video for Tanglewood '70 circulates (I had it on VHS 20 years ago), and I think is even streamable from Wolfgang's vault (and probably on Youtube). Pro-shot, two or maybe three camera set-up, iirc. Good stuff. Doubt it's ever been issued legit, though, anybody know?

...and Greg Osby

I blame Dookie.

Anything in the Sun Ra catalog qualify? Practically all the Sun Ra "with guitar" I can think of is either from his brief, late 70's 'disco' era -- and some rather 'inside' (if still quirky) players on several recordings in his last decade of Ra's work. Anything earlier?