Rooster_Ties

Sigh.

Aha, interesting. Can’t say I blame him (though I wouldn’t have blamed him had he done as Alfred wanted either). But it’s a great shame he never got the chance to do an album his way around that time. And just looking again, I guess I’d forgotten he never got a leader-date of his own material until 1988(!) — which is really a shame. That’s a lifetime after his ‘prime’ years on all those Blue Note dates, and even earlier with Sun Ra.

I don’t believe my parents had met yet, or at least not yet started dating. (They got married in ‘64, iirc.)

UPDATE: My dad had a fall a week ago Monday, around 3am. They took him to the ER immediately, and all things considered he’s in remarkably good shape. Just a couple bone fractures that we’re told will heal in place without any surgery, or having to immobilize anything. Oh, which bones?? — you might be asking. Skull and jawbone. But there was no bleeding of any sort, or any brain trauma. He did give himself quite the nasty bump on his head, I’m told. He was in the hospital 4 nights, and has been in a rehab/convalescent center since Friday. He may be there another 10 days, but he’s itching to get out and get back home, and he may just succeed in forcing the issue — because he really is in pretty good shape, save for some ongoing balance issues, which aren’t likely to get a whole lot better, probably ever. I’m flying there the end of this month for 4-5 days, and will have a better or at least first-hand idea of things then. THEN, on top of all that, two weeks ago (3 days before my dad fell) — my own blood pressure started doing loopdeloops (couple extremely low readings, despite my BP overall being high over the last year.) The first one was so low, we called 911 thinking it was a heart attack, and the paramedics came (there’s a fire station 20 feet south of our building, they were here in like 45 seconds) — but they seemed pretty sure it wasn’t a heart attack, so on the advice of the paramedics, we decided against going to the ER right then (given the still semi-overloaded state of ERs here, with Covid). Saw my GP the next day, and a cardiologist day before yesterday, and I have the first round of tests scheduled in early March — a stress test first, then maybe one or two others, depending on the results of the first. Bloodwork came back surprisingly good (even great) overall — kind of shocking given the 18 lbs I’ve gained stress eating since I had to find a new place for my dad with no warning back in September. I had been walking 35-60 miles per week from April thru September (1,300 miles total) — but I stopped all that when the shit hit the fan with my dad’s living arrangements, and then then it got cold out. I’m sure any number of you have it worse than all this, so I’m not trying to be all woe-is-me about all this. Just a lot of stress and uncertainty managing stuff these days. I have gotten back to walking about 4-6 miles a day for the last week (with the blessing of my doctor and the cardiologist too). I’d lost 27 lbs between last January and August, but gained back 18 lbs of it since then — so I gotta be WAY more intentional about my diet, and get back to being more active again. Thank god spring is coming, so I can get back to walking to and/or from work again (3-miles one way, 6-miles round trip when I have the time) — and walking on my off days. And now my wife just reminded me we gotta make sure my dad gets his taxes filed on time too. It never ends.

Good a reason as any! I was 34 when I started this thread, and I turn 53 this time next month. Lot’s happened in the world since then. Maybe even more hasn’t.

Can’t talk about “Tom Thumb” without mentioning the first recorded/released version Wayne did with Bobby Timmons (and Ron Carter and Jimmy Cobb). Recorded Jan 20, 1966 — almost 14 months before the version found on Schizophrenia was recorded (on March 10, 1967). Slinky!!

Question: Is this Third Stream? Maybe Fourth Stream. PS: This is the string quartet backing Ms. Lavette — and elsewhere on their website, I see they’ve collaborated with Reggie Workman, among others. https://www.fireystringscompany.com/about

Wonderful show, just wonderful. Mrs. Rooster dug it a ton too. Ms. Lavette even played a couple tunes my wife knows better than I do (an obscure Don Henley tune he did like maybe a decade ago for some greatest hits album of his). And a Fiona Apple tune I knew, but my wife’s a BIG (and an even bigger) fan of Fiona Apple, than I am. I think there were 6 or maybe 8 songs where she just hit it out of the park, and she had the entire room in her hand. Solid band too, but more especially the guitar-player who was also her musical director. Ms. Lavette just turned 76, and she still takes no prisoners and seems to be as good as maybe ever.

In a few hours. Was supposed to hear Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets at the end of January, but they postponed to sometime in the fall. This’ll be the first live show (in person) that either my wife or I have been to in 2 years (almost to the week). I’d never even heard of Bettye Lavette until about 4 months ago, when she sang on the Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary broadcast show we saw on PBS, and she sort of blew everyone else on the program away. I rarely ever go hear jazz singers, but she’s not really a “jazz” singer exactly, from all I’ve heard online and the one CD of hers I picked up a couple months ago (her second most recent album, produced by drummer Steve Jordan, who (meaning Joran) partnered with Keith Richards on all of Richards’ solo albums — and to great effect. Anyway, that’s what’s on the docket for Mrs. Rooster and me tonight.

Think of “lost” as a metaphor. The world “lost” the opportunity to hear this planned live album when Columbia cut Mingus (and everyone not named Miles). Were the tapes actually lost? Well, maybe fewer and fewer people knew of their whereabouts (or even their existence) —over time. That’s a kind of “loss”. At least the material is seeing the light of day (is there a ‘sonic’ equivalent of how to say that??). I won’t begrudge them some ‘salesmanship’ and promotional ebullience.

Yeah, that’s sure a good set. I think I got mine on eBay about 2-3 years ago for about $65, and managed to pick it up in person (from Euclid Records) when I was visiting my dad in St Louis a couple weeks later (so no shipping charge). And I later saw sets going for about $70-$80 on eBay a few times after that — so $55 is even a little under the going rate these days. Wonderful music throughout, not a weak disc in the whole set.

Another modern Third Stream work I stumbled on in a bargain bin 15+ years ago, and really love, is Jeff Beal’s Alternate Route (2000). https://www.discogs.com/master/888986-Jeff-Beal-Alternate-Route This review covers it well… https://www.allmusic.com/album/alternate-route-mw0000032173 The first half of the disc recorded in 1994, is a side-long symphonic suite with Beal as the trumpet soloist, and the second (from 1996) features him in front of big band in the Maria Schneider tradition, with Beal also as the soloist throughout in another side-long suite. Here’s the best track from the orchestral side, which I included on a blindfold test here about 15-18 years ago (time sure flies). I understand Beal has done a lot of film and TV scoring, but this is the only recording of his I’ve ever heard (or seen). EDIT: Looks like Beal has gone on to do a LOT of scoring for many big-name projects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Beal

If Andrew Hill’s date with strings qualifies (and I think it does) — then the next-generation incarnation of that is Greg Osby’s Symbols of Light (2001) — with Jason Moran, plus a string quartet (that includes Reggie Workman’s daughter on cello). The sole Moran-penned track from the album is track 2: “Replay In Kind”. I think(?) Osby may have overdubbed some additional lines on the main statements of the head, but I’m open to being corrected on that (if it’s all strings). I’m about positive Osby has done some similar overdubbing on a couple other of his BN albums from this era. Anyway, Moran’s “Replay In Kind” is a real corker… And here’s the album’s opening track #1: “3 For Civility” — which is a little less exuberant… Anyone else dig this album?

How have I never even heard of this before now? Time to track one down.

I have to confess I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything at all, from any of his leader-dates — and only a thing or two with him as a sideman. Edit: What’s his best leader-date?

Do expound!

Like everyone else on the date — Chambers is integral to my favorite Wayne Shorter leader-date, Etcetera — and his efforts there are a little more ‘visible’, since it’s just a quartet.

Just stumbled on this one with Pops…

Wow!! That was amazing!!! Incredible to see all those obscure instruments, and VERY satisfying musically too. I imagine that’s gotta be well in excess of $100,000 in instruments right there. Fuck, maybe closer to $200,000? The mind reels trying to consider it. Beautifully done. Thank you, thank you for sharing that. Remarkable.

I’ve seen it on CD out in the wild a few times, but I guess that was 12-15 years ago. I used to have one myself, but traded it off in the great purge before I moved to DC. Lot to like about it, but I never connected with it super-deeply, for some reason.

That’s why I am INFINITELY more interested in algorithmic programming, like Pandora. Especially since Pandora added “deep cuts” and “discovery” modes (although I wish you could run in both of those modes at the same time — where the algorithm plays deeper cuts by lesser-known artists — alas, Pandora won’t do that). I used to never pay a dime to Pandora, and I only listened to it with all the commercials. But when they added the “deep cuts” and “discovery” modes, I actually have been ponying up $5/month for their commercial free service, as a vote a confidence (and also because I started listening to Pandora about 5x as much). PLUS, their world music, Afrobeat, and other world pop musics coverage is certainly good enough for a relative newbie like me — further justifying my $5/month — and I can listen to the first 30 minutes of any album on-demand by watching on 30-second commercial. Not ideal, but certainly good enough for exploring things, which is all I use that for. But listening to human (or programic) curated stations (like Sirius, or MusicChoice which included free on our cable-box) is for the birds. You can’t skip tracks, and you can’t influence what’s played in any way, shape, or form. 20 years ago such a thing might have been more useful, but still extremely limiting.

We did too. Wonderful film. One of maybe 3 movies I’ve seen in a theater since the shutdown started. We used to go to about 20-30 movies a year, mostly art-house stuff (or at least half of it).

True. But I was so thankful I got to see Roma, for instance — about 3 years ago — in an actual theater. It only played in like maybe 25 cities — and thankfully DC was one of them. Absolutely gorgeous cinematography, and the black and white pallet was stunning — and a much more modern range of b&w shades than I think I’ve ever seen in any b&w film ever before. But, yeah, sticky floors are awful.

Yeah, but I sure miss seeing movies in actual theaters. Especially good movies. And quirky art house movies (the kind you can’t quite tell whether they’ll be good, or great! - or neither). And even a few documentaries here and there, yes, on the big screen.

Wow, interesting. I’d still love to hear this, but I may try and wait to find a cheaper used copy at some point then — as Woody is the biggest draw for me (though I do certainly like Cook, don’t get me wrong).