Rooster_Ties

Nate Morgan -- Journey Into Nigritia (Nimbus, 1983), Live In Santa Barbara (early 80's), Retribution, Reparation (early 80's) Madlibs from all three descriptions: lost spiritual soul jazz classic -- feel of 70s independent work on Strata East or Black Jazz. lots of blocky chords and modal grooves, tight group that includes alto sax solos by Dadisi Komolafe. Blocky, exploratory style that recalls McCoy Tyner's best early work. LA underground. tradition of McCoy Tyner and Stanley Cowell, swirling spiritual feel that's deeply rooted in a Love Supreme tradition. Jesse Sharps on reeds and Danny Cortez on trumpet -- spiralling modal grooves that glisten with the best of the 70s soul jazz underground. includes Herbie Hancock's "One Finger Snap" and Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday". Houston Person -- Legends Of Acid Jazz, including Person To Person/Houston Express -- Prestige, 1971 First date includes Virgil Jones on trumpet, Grant Green on guitar, Sonny Phillips on keyboards, and Idris Muhammad on drums. Jimmy Lewis plays a Fender bass in the group. Bigger (less named) group on the second date. Pieces Of Peace -- self titled -- Scarab/Cali Tex, 1972 A lost treasure of rare soul from the Chicago scene, unreleased album by Pieces Of Peace -- a combo with ties both to the late 60s soul of Twinight Records and the early 70s grooves of The Pharoahs. fuller, more complicated modes that often had the same righteous blend of jazz, soul, and spirituality as Earth Wind & Fire. Prince Lasha -- Inside Story (1965) /Search For Tomorrow (1974) -- Enja (Germany), 1965/1974 Rare work from two albums by Prince Lasha -- featuring Lasha on flute and alto in 1965, in a quartet with Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Jimmy Lovelace. The tracks are extended and soulful -- with some of the freedoms of the post-Dolphy years, but handled in a way that's got more of a 70s soul jazz approach. And a 1974 live set recorded at the Berkeley Jazz Festival, with a group that includes Ron Carter, Hubert Eaves, and Roy McCurdy. Lasha plays flute, alto, and baritone -- and the tracks are longer, with a more stretched out 70s spiritual approach -- never "out", but exploratory and searching. (Dr.) Lonnie Smith -- Mama Wailer (Japanese pressing) -- Kudu/King (Japan), 1971 One of Lonnie Smith's rarest albums -- and one of the most obscure records on the landmark Kudu label. The set is one of Smith's most far-reaching from the 70s -- a bit in the mode of his earlier records for Blue Note, but with a slightly sweeter quality that shows the shift to Kudu. including Dave Hubbard on tenor, Danny More on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, Jimmy Ponder on guitar, and Billy Cobham on drums -- as well as Grover Washington on flute, who also helped a bit with arrangements on the record. The centerpiece of the album is a 17 minute long version of Sly Stone's "Stand" -- and other tracks include "I Feel The Earth Move", "Hola Muneca", and "Mama Wailer". VSOP (Herbie Hancock, et al) -- Five Stars -- Sony (Japan), 1979 (and god-awful expensive at $29.99) Japanese-only set -- Herbie, Wayne, Freddie, Ron, Tony. Four long tunes. Mal Waldron -- Call -- Japo (Japan), 1971 Rare electric piano session from Mal Waldron. 2 long tracks only -- both quite jamming -- with a quartet that includes Jimmy Jackson on organ, Eberhard Weber on electric bass, and Fred Braceful on drums -- all pulsating nicely together on Waldron originals "The Call" and "Thoughts". (Electric piano and organ both??) Mal Waldron -- Whirling Dervish -- Universal (France), 1972 long tracks that are filled with creative energy and strong lines on the piano -- never too far outside, markedly more unfettered than any previous Waldron work in the US. The rest of the trio here features Noel McGhie on drums and Peter Warren on bass. (Too many images in one post, screw it -- imagine there's a pic of a White Elephant here) White Elephant (Mike Mainieri) -- White Elephant -- Just Sunshine/NYC, 1972 vibist Mike Mainieri -- easily one of his hippest albums ever -- blend of jazz and funky fusion. reminds us a lot of the best British funky big band records of the same time. slight undercurrent of rock music going on too in a way that further hips up the groove. Michael Brecker on tenor, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Joe Beck on guitar, Ronnie Cubar on baritone sax, Jon Faddis on trumpet, and Warren Bernhardt on keyboards. Rhythm is from Steve Gadd on drums and Tony Levin on bass. a bit of vocals. OK, I think that's about it.

Terumasa Hino / Masabumi Kikuchi (co-leaders) -- Counter Current -- Sony (Japan), 2007 (so yes, this is a recent recording) brilliant reunion, a fair bit darker and more experimental than before. a return to more avant modes that is surprising. Kikuchi plays acoustic piano throughout (and Hino trumpet) -- often in a spaciously brooding way -- group features Michael Attias on alto sax, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Paul Motian on drums. Melvin Jackson -- Funky Skull -- Limelight/Dusty Groove, 1969 Melvin Jackson was the bassist in Eddie Harris' very successful group of the time -- and his playing on Eddie's trippy/funky Atlantic sides. Here, he's working with an acoustic bass, amplified with electronics like a Varitone sax (I've listened to samples of this, and I think they have the bass going through a Varitone itself (if that makes sense) -- or at least the bass is electronically processed quite wildly) -- strange-sounding instrument with Phil Upchurch, Morris Jennings, Jody Christian, and Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, and Leo Smith. And as I said, but from the Madlib: Jackson's bass is looped through all sorts of crazy effects, amazing blend of avant garde playing and groovy rhythms. Harold Johnson Sextet -- House On Elm Street -- Revue/Vintage Classics (Italy), Late 60s Killer album, the Harold Johnson Sextet were an incredible little LA soul jazz combo during the late 60s. Johnson a very soulful pianist, a heavy soul style similar to Ramsey Lewis' Cadet work, tinged with the lyricism of Horace Silver, and the emerging modal sound of Stanley Cowell. an incredible sound, and is very very catchy. The band features Johnson's piano in a very strong lead -- plus flute, alto, and tenor. Billy Jackson plays a hard rolling conga behind the whole thing, it never stops grooving. Eric Kloss -- First Class (First Class Kloss/Grits & Gravy) -- Prestige, 1966/1967 First half of first album: Jaki Byard on piano, Richard Davis on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums. Second half: a strange but cool larger group -- one with Teddy Charles on vibes, Billy Butler on guitar, and even some female backing vocals! like the George Braith and Freddie McCoy sides for Prestige -- blend of groovy and funky. Second album: organ jazz roots, not as noodly as in some of his later recordings, with Jimmy Owens, Cedar Walton, Leroy Vinnegar, and Alan Dawson -- bounces with soulful pre-funk mode. Latin Jazz Quintet + Eric Dolphy -- Caribe -- Prestige/OJC, 1960 Rare Latin side of Eric Dolphy's talents. Led by conga player Juan Amalbert with vibes, piano, bass, and percussion. Core groove, with edgier moments. Life Force -- Fearless Warriors -- Sonorama (Germany), 1981 Sweetly soulful fusion from Atlanta, wonderfully righteous album, similar to Black Jazz label, especially like the group Awakening, great blend of sharp edges and funkier moments -- also a bit like Rudolph Johnson, given the strong reed work in the set. With alto and soprano by Joe Jennings, tenor and soprano by Howard Nicholson, and keyboards by Oliver Wells -- recorded at the start of the 80s, but the overall sound is much more 70s indie soul fusion overall -- nicely stripped-down, never too jamming -- with just as much focus on the core rhythmic elements and grooves of the tunes as there is the bolder solos of the group members. Harold McKinney -- McKinfolk, Live At The Serengeti -- McKinney Arts, 1996 (so a more relatively recent recording) legend of Detroit Tribe Records scene of the 70s, with former Tribe artists Wendell Harrison on tenor and clarinet and Marcus Belgrave on trumpet -- plus additional players who include Kiane Zawadi on trombone, Reggie Workman on bass, Francisco Mora on percussion, and Jimmy Owens on trumpet. A bit of vocals, but not that much -- most tracks are long and open -- freely exploratory, but never too far out or avant-styled -- just soulful and spiritual, in the true Tribe Records tradition. Gil Melle -- Tome VI -- Verve (Japan), 1967 Billed as the first album of "electronic jazz", features Gil working with his Jazz Electronauts combo. sublime blend of jazz roots and more sophisticated instrumentation -- complicated, yet never too harsh or overly-academic. The electronic aspects of the record are sometimes sparing -- mixed into the styles of the combo, often through Gil's use of soprano sax (does he play soprano exclusively on this, or bari too?? -- or anything else for that matter??). Other instruments are electrified too -- a bit of cello, an effects generator, and "electar" -- mixed with more conventional piano, bass, and drums. Mombasa with Lou Blackburn -- African Rhythms & Blues -- Spiegelei/Sonorama (Germany), 1975 Blend of spiritual jazz and African rhythms -- and one of the few 70s recordings made by Mombasa, a European group put together by LA trombonist Lou Blackburn. More righteous sound than Blackburn's work of the 60s -- a boldness and sense of pride that comes from its blending of percussion, acoustic bass, and soaring horn lines on trombone, trumpet, and bamboo flute. Other African elements, like bits of kalimba -- and the lack of piano or keyboards on the record makes for an especially earthy sound, one that trades rhythm from the percussion with melodies from the horns. Lon Moshe -- Love Is Where The Spirit Lies -- Black Fire, 1977 intense album of spiritual jazz tracks -- played by Lon Moshe and the Southern Freedom Arkestra! The album was recorded in 1976, during the height of the Black Fire DC underground scene -- and Moshe's playing vibes at the head of a large group that's the most spiritual ensemble on the already pretty darn spiritual Black Fire label. Tracks are long and free floating -- as vibes and marimba mix with piano, strings, percussion, trumpet, and occasional vocals. More yet, next post...

Got a huge list of titles on my "want list" at Dusty, many late 60's and 70's dates that just look currious -- most with names that barely mean anything to me at all. The madlib Dusty descriptions are easily half-useful for this kind of stuff, but some first hand recomendataions would be great too. Here's a list. I've included major edits of the madlibs (trying to include just the code-words), and sometimes combining similar discs together (below) for easier discussion. Franco Ambrosetti -- "Jazz Live Situation" -- Dire/Sound Hills (Japan), 1972 long, open tracks. Ambrosetti presented with a great sense of space and timing -- a bit more searching at times than before -- clearly inspired somewhat by the directions of Miles Davis, but his own voice too. electric and acoustic piano from Klaus Konig, bass from Peter Frei, and drums from Peter Schmidlin -- all matching Ambrosetti's energy. Dorothy Ashby -- "Afro-Harping" Cadet/Verve, 1968 (and, as a separate CD) "Rubaiyat Of Dorothy Ashby" Cadet/Dusty Groove, 1970 First disc: a blend of African percussion, soulful orchestrations, and Ashby's electric harp. a bit of funk, a bit of jazz, and a heck of a lot of soul. a nice funky edge, and a groovy soulful bounce. a great version of Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower". /// Second disc: a brilliant set of funky and spiritual tunes. (Electric?) Harp, but also koto as well, and she even sings a bit too -- larger group directed by Chicago soul arranger Richard Evans, with Stu Katz on vibes and kalimba, Lenny Druss on flutes, and Cash McCall on guitar -- all in a groove that's really a precursor to the Earth Wind & Fire generation of the Chicago scene! Baroque Jazz Trio (Self Titled) -- Saravah/L'Arome (France) Beautiful stuff, stunning. Mix of harpsichord, cello, and Indian percussion. inspiration from world music. heavy use of tabla, the set has a really driving rhythmic component -- funky numbers sought-after jazz-dance tracks for years. And the role of the harpsichord is surprisingly strong -- played in almost modal lines, but with a hesitating, lilting groove that's quite different to similar use of the piano at the time. John Betsch Society -- Earth Blossom -- Strata East/Heavenly Sweetness (France), 1974 spiritual soul jazz -- rare Strata East date. drummer/percussionist John Betsch -- instrumentation includes guitar, piano, electric piano, and reeds -- warm touches, and a few sharp edges -- all very much in the best Strata East mode. soaring sort of sound -- similar to some of the Keno Duke material on the label, touched with some trippier edges too. Dollar Brand -- African Space Program -- Enja (Germany), 1973 with hip group of American soul jazz players, like Charles Sullivan, Sonny Fortune, Carlos Ward, Roland Alexander, Cecil Bridgewater, and others. fuller feel than most of Brand's other work from the time. interesting to hear his jagged piano juxtaposed with the warm spiritualism of the players in the group. Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble -- Three separate titles: "Malcolm X Memorial" (1968), Self Titled a.k.a. On The Beach (late 60's), Singles (late 60's) -- all on the Zulu lable originally (various reissue labels) Madlibs from all three descriptions (heavily edited): #1) flowing style that unfolds, starting spare and earthy, then picking up a fuller, prouder, much more righteous groove. heavy percussion at the bottom of most tracks -- complicated horn passages that verge on the exotic. led by the Phil Cohran, who played with Sun Ra for a bit, plays cornet on the record -- group includes Charles Williams, Don Myrick, Louis Satterfield, Pete Cosey!! (of Miles Davis, circa 73-75), Henry Gibson, Willie Woods, and Aaron Dodd -- a lineup of players who also worked with Sun Ra, The Pharoahs, and Earth Wind & Fire. #2) Mindblowing, crosses all boundaries in the Chicago music scene of the late 60s. drew players from both the soul and jazz scenes, wealth of talents that later worked with Earth Wind & Fire, The Pharoahs, Ra's Arkestra, and other ensembles. Charles Handy, Don Myrick, Aaron Dodd, Henry Gibson, and Louis Satterfield -- and Cohran, who plays cornet (as he did with Sun Ra), plus two "invented" groovy instruments: the violin uke and the great Frankiphone, a sort of electric thumb piano whose use on these recordings pre-dated the very famous Kalimba sound that Earth Wind & Fire would use in the 70s. driving conga funk track "Unity", the singing soulful track "The Minstrel", the incredibly haunting "On The Beach", and the track "Motherhood", with a strong Abbey Lincoln type of feel. Plus, the CD also includes 2 bonus cuts -- "New Frankiphone Blues" ( a funky monster that was only ever out on a 7" single), and a great live version of "Unity" from 1968. #3) a hip blend of jazz, soul, and African elements. spirit of Sun Ra, with a lot more groove, and a lot less avant garde elements. Charles Williams on alto, Don Myrick on baritone, Charles Handy on trumpet, Louis Satterfield on bass, Pete Cosey on guitar (again), and Henry Gibson on timbales and conga. Eddie Hazel -- Game, Dames, & Guitar Thangs -- Warner/Collectors Choice, 1973 A massively tripped-out guitar-based funk -- legendary Eddie Hazel, best known for his work in the George Clinton (in the early/mid 70's). smoothly compressed California groove, almost an extension of themes explored by Shuggie Otis on his own 70s albums -- taken with a bit more of a P-Funk style. George Clinton produced the set with Eddie -- and the tunes have a nice slow-stepping groove that really opens up the guitar solos wonderfully. massive cover of "California Dreamin" and a great cover of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". More in the next post...

How about this?? More seriously -- my wife and I don't/can't/won't/shouldn't ever dance, but I did try to have the jazz piano trio that played our reception play "Beatrice". I figured, what better tune to have played at one's wedding?? -- than a tune named for the wife of the composer, and a marriage (Sam and Beatrice) that lasted some 50 (or closer to 60?) years (if I remember right) -- a hell of a long time, in any case. The piano player (a pretty well-known local, who I probably shouldn't mention by name here) was a lovely player -- but he didn't really know "Beatrice" at all, and his eyes weren't at all what they once were, so they kind of slogged through it (with the lead-sheet I dug up), getting a couple of the changes here and there (but mostly not). FFA, you know that 'pre-tribute' project you were on... ...and now you know why I request "Beatrice" so much! Our wedding guests loved the trio, and they swung their asses off, and I never regretted hearing Beatrice quite as I'd hoped. It was the thought that counted. (That, and I was damn sure that the only people in the room that knew that tune even in the slightest were 1) the groom, 2) the bass player, and 3) the drummer. )

Note: the music's a tad loud on this Youtube video, so turn in down... Holy fucking shit!

That's what holds my main interest. Is the box worth it for those tracks? Not quite, but "Falling Water" is one DAMN cool tune, and one way or another, you're gonna wanna hear it. Miles & Gil, in 1968!!! Don't forget the complete "alternate" version of "Miles Ahead" on disc #1 -- which is NOT on the single-disc issue. Not to be missed, IMHO. Others will differ with me on this, but I wouldn't give it up for $50. Here's a lengthy and fairly detailed review of the box... FWIW, I think a good bit of the "Time of the Barracudas" suite is quite a bit better than the reviewer above states. Not every second, mind you -- but the 70% of it that works is gold.

Will very likely have to go this route for my 81-year old father, who has never had cable, and never will.

This box rightfully gets shafted for having a LOT of extraneous bonus material (especially the last disc, and most of the 2nd-to-last disc too - for that matter). BUT, there is ONE critically important reason for getting the box anyway. The full-length, track-for-track "alternate" assembled version of "Miles Ahead" on disc #1. Worth it's weight in gold, in my book. If you like "Miles Ahead" a lot (as I do -- it's my favorite Miles & Gil collaboration), you will want this "alternate" view of the album. And the ONLY way to get it is with the box. So get the box anyway, warts and all. My copy is loaned out at the moment, but I seem to remember a good 30 to 35 minutes of "relatively-important" material that is otherwise not available on the individual CD's. (And yes, also 60 or 70 minutes that maybe could have never been released in the first place.)

All of my favorite Steve Coleman on record is his work on Dave Holland lead dates... ...and "Extensions" along with "Triplicate" are my favorites, for the same reason Sangrey states above -- more Coleman in a bigger "up front" role (without any other horns to compete with). 15 years years ago (circa 1993) -- serious as a heart attack -- "Extensions" was on my personal "top 10" list of jazz recordings for several years running. This was at a time when I'd only been listening to jazz for about 4 years at most. Haven't listened to it in a couple years, but will dig my copy out this week for sure. Edit: Just looking at that album cover, even two years after I've last listened to it, I can hear the heads of most of those tunes as clear as if the CD just stopped playing. Track one (whatever it's called) is something I've played probably 2 or 3 dozen times for people ("Hey, you've GOT to hear this!!"). KILLER first track!!

When my wife says "whatever" to me (usually with a dismissive look, and a roll of the eyes) -- I've discovered that usually means "shut up!" BUT, when she out 'n' out tells me to "shut up!" -- that almost always means "why yes, dear, of course, you're absolutely right!". (She doesn't agree with this translaton, by the way, but it nearly always is true! ) What does your spouse or significant other say to you, that could stand some "translation" for those not in the know??

FWIW, I sort my classical (about 1,500 CD's) by composer on the shelf -- and then group like kinds of works together. So within each composer's section, symphonies go first, then other orchestral works, then choral (with orchestra), then choral without orchestra, then chamber music -- larger groups first, then smaller, on down to solo piano last (or solo whatever). And the works are usually chronological (to the extent I can) within each subgrouping. Doesn't matter much for composers I only have one or two discs by (i.e. Mozart ), but my Henze collection get's a little out there (30+ discs), what with different kinds of works on the same disc sometimes. For really big collections of works by one composer, sometimes I'll just group things by label within each composer -- since they're logically released in sets of discs that often relate to each other. Then at the very end, I have a section for "various composers" -- but only for those discs that don't have a single work on them that was the primary draw for me buying the disc. (In those cases, I sort 'em in by that composer.) I have to confess to not having much use for sorting based on performers, conductors, orchestras, or soloists. The "composer" is about 90% of the draw for me in most cases, so that's how I organize things.

MANY thanks, Chas. MUCH appreciated!! THANKS!!!

Wanting to use the cover of "Natural Essence" as an avatar on another (non-jazz related) board. Their size limits on avatars is 64x64 pixels. Can't seem to find any such image that's small enough, so I'm hoping someone here has the software (and knowledge) to shrink any of the larger versions I am finding on-line. Here are some options to go with, as source materal... Many thanks in advance!!! -- Rooster This top one seems to be the best quality (from Amazon dot com)... Tried several other covers of other albums as well, but couldn't find any small enough (of them) either.

semi-related article, also from The Onion... I Like All Types Of Music

As long as I was lookin' them up for myself, here are audio clips of the Dewey Redman disc, HERE, if anybody's interested.

Play Hearts of Space AND Echoes -- TOGETHER, AT THE SAME TIME (on top of each other) -- and maybe I'd listen.

For the yoga class, of course! That shit puts me to sleep too. Yoga + New Age music = Rooster, out like a lightbulb in 5 minutes or less.

From the article... I call shenanigans. That shit puts me to sleep in 15 minutes flat. NOBODY can listen to that stuff for 24 hours. Can't be done. Why they even make New Age CD's any longer than half-an-hour is beyond me. NOBODY'S ever heard the last half of a New Age CD, I guarantee.

08.12.07Igor Falecki Trio NEW!( sabian,5 years old drummer) Damn! http://www.youtube.com/user/falek0 (same youtube user, mostly vids of this same kid)

Who wrote it changed you opinion about how it sounded? Nor am I convinced he doesn't. The jury's still out. Edit: And at least it wasn't a half-baked Korngold impersonation. Or worse, some John Williams "steal from everybody" type score.

Just tryin' to be mysterious!! Click on the link, people, it's a gas!!

Знаменитая Smoke on The Water от Deep Purple в японском исполнении Link: http://video.i.ua/user/625858/4403/22166/?redux

Same here. The other two I have (combined on one Prestige/Fantasy CD) are "The Music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik" and "Sounds of Africa" -- both originally on New Jazz. The second LP on that disc -- "Sounds of Africa" -- is no slouch, with some great playing by Richard Williams in particular. The 10-minute "Communication" is easily equal to the best of anything on the RCA "East Meets West". (Worth purchasing for that one track alone, if you ask me.)