Rooster_Ties

Black Lion on CD here. I’ve see 1-2 other covers on LP only, and the Black Lion cover is the only CD version I’ve ever seen ‘out in the wild’ - so to speak. Not a fan of the Black Lion cover, and if any other options could be had cheaply ($15 or less), I’d probably upgrade to any new/different cover, and ‘gift’ my Black Lion copy to someone else here in DC (I’ve got a few local friends who aren’t deep collectors, who I wish I could give a lot more of these great titles to - dates that really shouldn’t be so darn obscure and hard to find).

I gave Connect a couple spins yesterday, and really enjoyed it (evidenced by the fact I gave it a second spin). Sure, not every moment of it is Tolliver’s strongest playing ever (technique-wise). But it’s clear his ideas are still there, and he plays more than well enough to make that clear. And I don’t think he embarrasses himself either. While it’s not the first Tolliver date I would recommend to someone, I will say that if you already own half or more of his entire recorded output (as I suspect many of us here do), this new one is well worth checking out. The glass is way more than half full, and I will always cherish the one time I got to hear him play live last February - the very last jazz gig I got to hear in person, before all the Covid shutdowns started a few short weeks later.

Sonny Stitt is ‘alright’ with/in Miles quintet in 1960 — at least based on the two documented Stockholm concerts on Dragon (first one with Trane, then with Stitt on the groups return visit). Ok, but what IS notable is how much stronger/more fiery Miles’ playing is with Stitt (vs with Trane). I’ve said this for many years, that at least on the uptempo tunes — I’d honesty take Miles’ playing with Stitt (over Miles w/ Trane) in a heartbeat. I can take or leave Stitt’s playing with Miles (though I do prefer Stitt’s over Hank Mobley’s playing with Miles in 1961 — and I don’t think Miles is especially better with Hank, as he was with Sonny). Many factors at play when comparing these groups - not just the playing of the 2nd horn / foil to Miles.

Yeah, the earlier quartet date doesn’t hang together as an true “album” really, even though the lineup is consistent on all four cuts. But there is quite a bit of lovely playing throughout. It just doesn’t fit together, in terms of pacing and sequencing. The later album with Sonny Fortune is uniformly excellent, and definitely stronger.

I do too! - just found one on eBay (a seller out of Hawaii, of all places), just a couple months ago. Best of all, only $17 including shipping! And I’d been looking for an affordable copy for over 10 years. It’s both quite a good date, but NOT (quite) a stunning/fantastic date. The whole thing is on YouTube, iirc, if anyone wants to check it out. Most of it’s a solid “B+“ though I’d maybe give one or two tracks a “B”. (Given the players, though, I probably had my expectations set a little too high.) A pretty solid date though.

Hope it sees a reissue on CD too - not that I need one (I’ve got one of those Bellaphon CD issues from the early 90’s — the very first CD that I ever bought on eBay specifically from overseas, from the UK iirc). It’s a fantastic date, and a rare appearance by Nathen Page on guitar (and no piano) - and he did spell Nathen with an ‘e’ (though you often see it misspelled as “Nathan”. *IF* it were to see a reissue on CD with any bonus tracks, I’d order one in a heartbeat. It (Compassion) — and the first Music Inc big band -/ were the only two CD’s I had Charles autograph for me back in February, the one and only time I ever have seen Charles live (up in Baltimore, with Bertrand). Page is a fascinating player, who had an atypical nonstandard picking technique of some sort (a finger-pick on his thumb, iirc). It limited his dexterity a bit, and some might argue his technique is a bit clunky, or even homemade sounding. But I love Page’s unique (weird) sound, and wish he had recorded more. His sound is obviously night and day different, but I’ve always wondered if maybe a parallel player (in terms of weird sound) might be Neil Young’s soling technique on electric. Light years different, but somehow equally outside the norm. Anyone who doesn’t have this date, and if a more reasonably priced CD of it emerges, should definitely check it out.

I’m not on Prime. What’s the gist of his private life? - in a sentence or three. Thanks!

True. But they were a significant influence on the related “glam metal” genre. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_metal Van Halen has been seen as highly influential on the movement, emerging in 1978 from the Los Angeles music scene on Sunset Strip, with a sound based around the lead guitar skills of Eddie Van Halen. He popularized a playing technique of two-handed hammer-ons and pull-offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album Van Halen.[4] This sound, and lead singer David Lee Roth's stage antics, would be highly influential on glam metal, although Van Halen would never fully adopt a glam aesthetic.[18]

From a parallel universe...

If I might ask, where/how did you find a copy of Reminiscent Suite?? I've been trying to find a copy for eons, and I've never seen one go for anything less than ~$80, iirc. -- and more often than not, more than $100. If there was ONE Mal date I'd like to have on CD, it'd be that one!! -- Mal & Terumasa!!

When I did my BFT here (eons ago), it was nearly all originals. I mostly highlighted artists and songs I loved, and the whole idea was to both introduce (some) people to some artists and/or tracks they’d never heard (more obscure stuff). And to try and stump the experts, in terms of ID-ing particular artists/leaders. The only standard I used was by Bill Evans, but it was from an entire disc of Bill Evans solo arrangements, performed by a classical pianist. The idea, was to see how people took to something like that, and if anyone though they performance was particularly ‘square’, or especially ‘lush’ to the point of somehow being odd or weird. I had not idea if anyone would take it that way, but I thought it was a different way to include something jazz-oriented that maybe some people might not consider legit. Otherwise, it was all originals.

Wasn’t a fan of the rubato stuff like “Eruption” — primarily because a LOT of a-tempto (rubato) stuff just doesn’t do it for me. But other than the possibility of too much of that, I would have loved to have heard more all-instrumental “band” type material with Eddie. Like if he’d done some Joe Satriani type stuff. I’m not enough of fan to have ever owned any Van Halen (or Satriani), but I’ve been around enough people (primarily in college) who liked that stuff, that I’ve heard a bit. And even now, I’m often game for some Satriani-type stuff when I’m on the treadmill in the gym. I never cared for Diamond Dave, but the Van Hagar version of the band was ok (meaning better). If I stumble on any Van Hagar on the radio, I usually won’t switch channels. Not high praise, I realize, but it’s just a commercial type of music that doesn’t draw me in repeatedly. That said, Eddie was clearly a monster player, but also not just a busy shredder either. He was ‘musical’ about it, and could make a guitar sing. I’m more into Gilmour, or Paul Kossoff (Free) — and Hendrix especially (Jimi was my very first musical love, in high school in the mid-80’s). And lately, Allan Holdsworth. But Eddie was about the best in his genre, not only technically, but musically too.

Set up a few different automated eBay searches, one on “woody shaw beginning”, one on “woody shaw “cassandranite”, and another one on “woody shaw last line” - and be patient. Then use an auto-bid ‘snipe’ service like auctionstealer.com (which gives 3 free bids per month, iirc)... ... And inside of 6 months, you’ll have one for less than $25 I’m betting, maybe even closer to $20. Dusty Groove also has a similar auto-search function too.

Also released individually as In The Beginning (aka Cassandranite). https://www.discogs.com/master/view/795216 The season is also on disc one of this 32Jazz reissue (paired with Love Dance on disc two) https://www.discogs.com/Woody-Shaw-Last-of-the-Line-Cassandranite-Love-Dance/release/8379955 NOTE: Most of these also include a 6th track (“Medina”) which isn’t from the 1965 session. “Medina” is from a 1971 Joe Chambers leader-date (Almoravid), that includes Woody — but that track is entirely unrelated to the 1965 session (which is only 5 tracks long), FYI.

Maybe a year ago(?) Comcast moved TCM up to some mega-sports package that’s an additional $15 or $20 per month more (and we’ve already got a fairly expansive package as it is) — and now we don’t get it any more. Annoying as shit. We didn’t watch tons of movies on TCM, but maybe 20-25 per year (so a fair amount). I’m also famous for DVR-ing lots of things just to sample them, but often watching things in their entirety, that I’d only intended to see a bit of, just for a few minutes of some particular actor/tress years before (or after) their best known years, or in some obscure role. But not any more, and I’m NOT ponying up $180 more per year just to see channel I’ve always had access too for almost 20 years prior, without paying through the nose for it.

...OR did I just imagine(?) that there was a “saw-full” reissue on CD? - which would have surely been out of Japan? Now I’m totally second-guessing myself about the existence of such an animal. (I never had one, so I have no first-person sightings.)

Iirc, there’s one (just one) fairly recent Japanese CD reissue that has the saw solo. Might be the most recent one, not sure, but within the last 5-6 years at most.

2020, the ultimate roller coaster.

https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/woman-forced-to-forfeit-lotto-prize-after-usps-loses-ticket/amp/

Skimming them now (I don’t have Palo Alto yet, having only streamed it so far). Plenty on the subject starting on page three of this pdf: https://www.uk-promotion.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Robin-Kelly-Monk-Palo-Alto-Liner-Notes-Final.pdf

If the audience was mixed-race, certainly that would have been self evident to the band. And regardless of the band’s (presumed) lack of specific knowledge of race issues in Palo Alto / East Palo Alto — Oct 1968 was barely a few months after the assassinations of MLK and RFK in April and June. There had to have been plenty of ‘racial strife’ in the air in 1968, anywhere in the US - especially for a black band touring the country. Brubeck playing for a mostly white audience in 1968 wouldn’t have had any such added context. But an all black band playing in a white community / white high school (surely evident), but for a mixed race audience... would have entirely been something else. I don’t think it’s a leap of logic to suggest that as a possible and even likely motivation for the band. It’s a logical inference drawn by the reviewer, but not a stretch.

After 18 days of radio silence (in terms of any new tracking info), the CD that I got via eBay suddenly appeared in last night’s mail, about 3 weeks after it shipped. Was never overly worried about it, but it definitely took its sweet time getting here (from California, to DC). A similar eBay purchase about a month ago from Hawaii (of all places) only took about 5-6 days, iirc. Maybe the fires out in California had some impact, I really don’t know.

Not saying my wife was in any way a “fan” of the Schoof. Just that I’ve played the album twice with her in the room, and I haven’t — at least not as yet — gotten the stink-eye from her at either listening to date. That said, I was well aware that I was probably pushing my luck a bit both times. If there had been any saxophone on the album, though, it would have been an instant ‘game-over’. She has zero tolerance of ‘out’-leaning saxophone, or almost any standard (non-bass) clarinet. But I think some trumpet reads as almost ‘percussive’ to her (which is at least somewhat better / less bad).