Rooster_Ties

Although I'm certainly no expert on this subject, wouldn't it have to be someone more like Johnnie Johnson??? Not saying he's necessarily the right answer, but based on my knowledge of music history (and not so much my ears, and what they've heard - or more specifically, what they haven't heard), Johnson was the first name to pop into my head. Who else am I forgetting??

Harry Whitaker's BLACK RENNAISANCE Well, I listened to this again twice today (so I been through it three times now, total). Damn, what an amazing album. Really DEEP in the very best "Sun Ra meets Music Inc., meets Funkadelic" sense of the word. And what powerful solos from Woody. I'm sure I've never heard him play in anything even close to this kind of context. And I'm pretty sure I've never heard any trumpeter anywhere near this caliber - play in any context even remotely similar. Not for the faint of heart, but if anyone has open ears, and an open mind for jazz in the 70's, then they NEED to get this disc sometime. FYI, here's the description from Dusty Groove:

Would love to see your syllabus when it gets formalized (or even at the draft stage). I have long wondered how I would teach such a class. What I would include, what I wouldn't, etc... I'm sure we might have some tiny suggestions here and there (about the syllabus), which of course you can use or ignore as you see fit. (Also, edited my post above to include a suggestion of a touch of electric Miles.)

Whew!!!!!

I pretty much agree with what Chuck just said. The sound quality on the box-set is quite good, and I've never had any reason to complain about it. And more importantly, I've never heard a CD release of this material that was nearly as bad as many of the late 80's BN releases. Get the box set, is still my advice.

Dmitry's refering to the fact that just a couple weeks ago I traded him an extra copy of "Art Deco" on CD, that I had found used in Columbia MO, for only $6. But I've seen it go for maybe up to $15 on eBay before, but I've seen it go for less too. A great album (IMHO), and $10 (postage included) seemed like a pretty reasonable price to me.

Be sure to include some M-Base stuff in there. I think it's an important movement that deserves at least a mention (and one musical example). Also, if there's time, I might include a little electric Ornette too (including one musical example), either from the 70's or 80's. I think it's important for people to understand that Harmolodic music didn't end with Ornette's Atlantic sides in the early 60's. Also, it (electric Harmolodic music) directly influenced M-Base. I'm also assuming that you'll include at least a touch of electric Miles too. I'm sure you would, but it never hurts to be sure.

Check out: http://darkfunk.com Link: Specific page with links to the whole show The 5th track is a cooler-than-shit version of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" on b3 and drums, by a group billed as the "russo benevento duo"... link: Paranoid Android (mp3, about 7 minutes long) Check it out!!! A few other cool covers to be found among all 36 tracks. Nearly the whole show is b3-oriented, with Medeski and a bunch of other cool cats. Here's a crappy cut-n-paste of the track names (such as they are)... louque - thank you lord 02:37 louque - still in waiting 03:52 louque - kenny the jet 04:56 russo benevento duo - track 01 05:51 russo benevento duo - paranoid android 07:05 russo benevento duo - four sticks 08:12 (the Zeppelin tune) russo benevento duo - big whopper 06:08 russo benevento duo w/ skerik - the wizard 07:41 russo benevento duo w/ skerik - track 06 03:21 skerik's septet - track 01 09:10 skerik's septet - bus barn 07:51 skerik's septet - go to hell mr. bush 07:34 skerik's septet - let me be your voodoo doll 12:05 antibalas - zombie 11:15 antibalas - track 02 08:58 anitbalas - track 03 16:38 antibalas - track 04 11:45 antibalas - musicawa silt 14:43 dj logic - spinning solo 11:19 dj logic - talking 02:56 dj logic medeski - track 01 04:20 dj logic medeski moore - swamp road 05:50 dj logic medeski moore - track 03 08:22 dj logic medeski moore skerik - track 04 09:12 dj logic medeski moore skerik - track 05 08:05 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 06 06:51 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 07 04:32 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 08 05:06 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 09 09:10 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 10 05:07 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 11 09:04 dj logic medeski moore et al - track 12 18:57 dj logic medeski moore et al - lady 10:08 encore: dj logic et al - track 01 08:38 encore: stanton moore solo - track 02 03:10 encore: the end 01:10 Edit: http://www.organanddrums.com Marco Benevento (o) & Joe Russo (d)

I've always thought Woody's solo on the first cut (on side 1) is pretty happenin'. Nothing to search the world over, but at least he makes the track worth something.

Save up for the box set, would be my advice. You're gonna want all of it. Looks like there's one right now at half.com for $70.00 plus $2.50 in postage. And the last one that sold on eBay went for $55.50 plus $5.00 postage.

Decent price on a disc that's becoming a bit hard to find. I'm not the seller, and all the usual disclaimers apply. (Just something I saw on eBay, and thought I'd pass along the info here.) eBay link AMG review Less than 8 hours to go on this auction (as of when I started this thread).

If you don't mind me askin', how cheap ya gettin' it fer??

By the way, speaking of some of Woody's later work, I often cite this as being my all-time favorite Woody Shaw album. (Not always, but often.) In My Own Sweet Way (1987, In & Out) Well worth searching for. Every tune is a winner!!

How does that compare with this one??? Woody Shaw with the Tone Jansa Quartet I have the latter, but not the former. Quite a good date too, I'll add (meaning the one I have, but I presume the date lead by Tone Jansa is just as good).

I go pretty deep in some areas (with some artists in particular), but I also go fairly wide with just a smattering of titles from other artists (that I'm less fanatical about). And although I volley between jazz and classical as my big interests, I also have half a foot in the rock/alternative camp. I guess I mean to say that I have my doubts about people that are only specialists and completist in one or two particular areas... ...AND I also have my doubts about people who only scratch the surface (with nothing but compilations and/or greatest hits packages), and who never really dig any further than that. I think one should do some of both, so as to keep some perspective about the whole thing.

I think I was channeling Sangry for a minute there. ( And whenever I write a big, long post that I'm really proud of, I always think I'm channeling a bit of Sangry. )

Harry Whitaker's BLACK RENNAISANCE Damn, that's one strange record. Not strange 'bad', but definitely 'strange'. Hey, maybe it's "strange baad!!!!" B) In any case, I've only listened to it one-time through, and my initial reaction was one of surprise, delight, and just a general "where the hell is this going???", as it took me on it's wild, wild, wild ride. Not for the faint of heart (or 'hardbop', for that matter). Reminds me of a slightly more 'inside' version of what I suspect Eddie Gale's two Blue Note albums must sound like -- which I've never heard, before, save for one cut on an a BN 'Rare Groove' compilation. (I'm talkin' about "Ghetto Music" and "Black Rhythm Happening".) Am I close?? I was also reminded of the Sun Ra track "U.F.O." (from the rarely heard Saturn LP "On Jupiter", circa 1978), which is an all-out disco-funk jam with some serious jazz chops goin' on (and 'free'-jazz chops, at that!!). But you are definitely right about Woody knockin' it out of the park on "Black Rennaisance". I plan to spin the disc again tomorrow, this time with less shock in my eyes and ears, and more of a focus on Woody. DEEP album, on many levels I suspect. And maybe not so deep on a few too.

Just listened to most of this one again today, for the first time in several months. What an incredible album. Really, I would place "Brilliant Circles" right up there with Wayne Shorter's "All Seeing Eye" - for 'progressive-but-not-entirely-out' jazz, created by a mix of progressive guys, and hardbop guys. Really a stunning album!!! Woody, in particular, is totally at the top of his game here.

Performing the Magic Ritual right now, even as I'm typing this. Let me rephrase that...

Performing the Magic Ritual right now, even as I'm typing this.

Yup, Woody's definitely the main reason to get this one.

It's got Woody Shaw on it, so how can you NOT get it???? Frankly, I like the good parts of "Reach Out" (which are about 65% of the album), as much as anything on "Thinking of Home". I'd probably give "Reach Out" 2.5 stars (out of 5), and "Thinking of Home" 3 stars. It's a decent (if not "incredible") album, and well worth it if you're already much of a fan of Woody Shaw. Woody plays well on it, I think.

Well worth picking up cheap. Two of the cuts are pretty weak, but the other four are fairly strong. I think I paid like $10 or $12 for mine, and I'm sure I'd do the same again today, knowing what I know now about the album (meaning, having heard it a couple dozen times before). Depends on how cheap, or course, but anything less than $12 - and I'd grab it.

Heading out now to get the Harry Whitaker disc w/ Woody, if it's still there (was there a couple months ago). Also, some mo' AMAZING Woody Shaw to be had on Stanley Cowell's "Brilliant Circles". Yeah, yeah. yeah - the sound quality sucks (don't we all know it - what the hell??), but Woody in particular, is blowin' has ass off on this disc!!! And what a line-up!!! Stanley Cowell, Woody Shaw, Tyrone Washington, Bobby Hutcherson, Reggie Workman, and Joe Chambers. Piss-poor sound quality or not, this is probably one of my favorite discs with Woody Shaw (top 10, we'll say). Interesting that as small as Tyrone Washington's recorded output is, nearly 1/3rd of it is also with Woody Shaw. ("Brilliant Circles", Tyrone's own "Natural Essense", and Horace Silver's "Jody Grind".) As a front-line, Woody and Tyrone Washington were quite a pair. Yeow!!!!