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king ubu

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  1. Thanks a lot for your replies! Again, I'll write into your notes in a different cover... 1. Black and Tan Fantasy, by an alto player in a tile bathroom. The spirit of Hodges shakes hands with the spirit of Ornette, and I like that. The dropped bars don't matter. The chorus starting about 3:30 is especially beautiful. That's a nice description about Ornette and Hodges! It was recorded in a rather high-profile location - but obviously far from "professinally"... 2. Hey, kids, let's see how many hep bebop licks we can cram into one chorus! There's probably some King Cole Trio gestures in there too. It's over-arranged but cute. No idea who it is. Yes, I kinda liked it for various reasons, one of them being the cutesy arranging touches and the piano... 3. Don't care for the head, but wow! Maybe a home recording of Kenny Dorham? Not KD, but in several respects not too wrong... 4. I've always liked "Street of Dreams" but can't recall hearing the verse before. Now I know why. It's so awkward, musically and lyrically! The singer does what she can with it, and it gets conspicuously better once we hit the chorus. Still, the whole performance doesn't live up to the promise of the opening trumpet solo, and the celesta ending is overkill. I'm curious about the singer and the trumpet. The singer and trumpet player have been identified, as you've certainly seen by now! 5. Teagarden with strings. This is how it's done, folks. The arranger ups the ante by writing impossible parts, and the badass studio string players make it work. Big Tea doesn't let them down. Check out some of the harp figures behind him. The trumpet ain't bad either. This is how it's done indeed! 6. Grab a folding chair down at the VFW hall and listen to "I Cover the Waterfront." The tenor reminds me of Stanley Turrentine when he isn't reminding me of Jimmy Heath. The bass and drums seem a little overenthusiastic at times. But even the mistuned ensemble at the end can't sink the tenor. Yeah! Turrentine is an interesting comparison! 7. There's something naggingly familiar about this head. Tenor starts out just OK but picks up momentum very well. Is it Shepp? The bass-and-drums episode has some nice spontaneous architecture; love the bassist's dialogue with himself. Not Shepp, but an alto player - a heavy one, though! And yes, the bassist is great, isn't he? 8. Good writing, good playing from all. I didn't see that coda coming. Whatever it is, I want to buy a copy, now. That shall be rather difficult... (it's of course from a commercial recording, but it took me a while to find a copy for a halfway normal price... very nice album!) 9. Edgy, crackling alto in a brassy setting. Then a Lester Bowie-like trumpet obsessed with getting the most out of one figure. Avant guys showing where they came from? No dishonor for the old or the new here. This is maybe my favorite track on the BFT. Glad you enjoy it that much! This one is easier to obtain if you feel like... I love the mix of tradition and free playing, the rootsiness, the fun they put into it... and I adore the alto! 10. The trumpeter's vibrato is cute, but I'm happy when he drops it. The bassist gets better and better as it goes on. Alto is OK. I appreciate the concision of the drum solo. No idea who it is. Yeah... this one's a true rarity! 11. Alto has energy and effects, but some stronger ideas would be nice. OK, but this isn't working for me today. Well, maybe tomorrow... turned out I had plenty of good and rather heavy alto players in here - and of course I do like this one, too! 12. Set the Wayback Machine for 1931! A pretty good side, maybe not a distinguished one. Don Redman, maybe? The ensemble might be more noteworthy than the solos. Hate to say it, but today this seems much less corny than track 11. Not Don Redman, not 1931 (but that's pretty close)... and yes, the free-wheeling swing this group boosts remains fresh and engaging, doesn't it? 13. A "Poinciana" that seems unnecessarily convoluted next to the Jamal version. Cutesy coda. 14. "Tennessee Waltz" is the tune. Is that Jay McShann? Yes on the tune, no on McShann... wrong direction! 15. "Union Special," Brotherhood of Breath. Presumably a sendup of the crappy music played on union gigs? It was disconcerting the first time I heard it years ago at the end of that album, but the second time it was funny, and now it's even funnier every time. This is a good time, Ubu, and it's going to send me searching for more discs! Glad you enjoyed it! And of course #15 is correct! Thought it would made a swell closer!
  2. Edited to say: the 2LP reissue of "Onecept" by David S. Ware indeed contains two exclusive bonus tracks
  3. You're talking of this here: Art Pepper - Holland Don't think I've got this... is the date correct (for Knebworth, UK, that is)? Is this "in circulation"?
  4. king ubu

    Tony Levin RIP

    r.i.p.
  5. He pulled an Eddie who? (playing french horn with a sax mouthpiece?) Or what?
  6. king ubu

    Stan Getz

    Played the first two discs of the "People Time" box again last night - beautiful, beautiful music!
  7. Great, looking forward to read your comments!
  8. Glad you enjoyed it! Not Arvin Garrison nor McGhee though... don't know more about the guitarist there other than his name.
  9. Vocalion/Dutton would be my preference, for sure! But as you say, BGO, LP, whatever... the music's fantastic and I'd love to have a "real" copy of it!
  10. It's rather different from the usual jazz sets released by Mosaic. I did not go for it because I already have several of the albums that were included in the box. Have turned lately to relisten to them and enjoying the music much more than when I purchased them. Nowadays I understand why Miles Davis was a big fan of Hackett! Ok, I guess that's enough of an endorsement to get it whenever it'll be running low... I've been unsure if or if not to put it on the list, but I've got none of the music that's included!
  11. Very cool! Really looking forward to this... I assume you caught my lengthy report about the Rhoda Scott concert I saw in November? She mentioned Gene Ludwig, too... and in the nicest of ways!
  12. Thank you! Will write my answers in red, as I can't have such a long number of quotes in here... 1- A Black and Tan alto solo. I knew that Marion Brown had recorded it that way but I had never heard it. A rather iconoclastic but quite respectful interpretation. Very moving. Yes, very moving! That's my feeling about this performance... how he thins out the theme towards the end... love it! 2- A drummerless trumpet-piano-guitar and bass quartet most probably from the mid-40s. The trumpetist has listened to the developments brought in by Dizzy. Will be interested to find out his identity (the other players as well!) You will! I wonder if anyone will recognize this one, but odds aren't that good with you and BillF already through... though you might try again? 3- On familiar ground with this Fruscella-DiNovi recorded at Gene DiNovi's house. Fruscella's sound is unique and each of his recorded statement deserves to be listened. I had trouble purchasing this rare CD from Japan. Not very long after I finally managed to obtain it, got it, another copy surfaced in a Paris store. It was shipped to Switzerland in no time. That's the one that Ubu used; Yes indeed! Thanks so much for this one! Seems nowadays it's rather easy to find, as Gene DiNovi is selling it on his website! It's the perfect companion to Definitive/Jazz Factory's essential 4CD set by Fru! 4- One of my favorite singer! The ever sensual Lee Wiley! Evocative interpretation of 'Street of Dreams' with the impeccable Bobby Hackett. A musician I rank at the top after neglecting him for way too long Is the Hackett Mosaic worth going for? 5- Another favorite: Jack Teagarden. I had listened to the vinyl of this Verve LP a couple of weeks before receiving the BFT so had no trouble the identification of this track. Great idea to have Lee Wiley succeeded by Teagardan. Those two go together! Thanks! I like how the programming at the beginning of my compilation builds slowly... only to really catch fire later one... isn't Tea the best?! I fell in love with "Think Well of Me" instantly - his singing and his trombone playing are just perfect together! 6- I am stuck on the waterfront with this intense tenor from the Dexter school! Sounds like this comes from an European boot. It's not a boot, but certainly not recorded under ideal conditions This guy is way too obscure and died way too early, too... 7- was more impressed by the effervscent sound of the alto than by the brass solo. Missed the point of his intervention The alto is burning! This release came as a big and very delightful surprise to me! Oh, and I do love the bass player (though he's played better elsewhere, but not with this alto player I wanted to have in!) 8- good quintet side by musicians (CrissCross sessions habitués?) No Criss Cross... this is somewhat earlier. 9- not familiar with this either. Intrigued by the alto player (very much to my liking). He does not seem to enter into the list of musicians I am familiar with... The pyrotechnics of the trumpet player bothered me at first listen but I may accept that after more spinning of that side (like it took me a long time before accepting Charlie Shavers' improvisations). Liked that one! More burnin' alto, indeed! With my first selections (about two discs full of music) I was afraid I might end up with tenor after tenor after tenor... instead I ended up with some fine alto players! And a few tenors, too... 10- AEC derivatives? Rather contemporaries from another corner... 11- another alto, bass; drums trio. Liked this (as well as track 10)! Very coherent music to my ears! Yeah! I guess you have this... 12- The very distinctive sound of Higginbotham and Charlie Holmes were the giveaway for me on that one. Henry Allen's ever inspired playing clinched this. Luis Russell's 1929 band playing 'Doctor Blues'. One of the best bands from its time. No wonder Louis Armstrong took over the full orchestra to make it his own. Yowzah! I expected you'd recognize this one! The joy and surging power, the infectuous swing of this music has struck me like lightning when I first heard it, a couple of years ago! Allen's taking chances - the liners mention at least two "wrong" notes in his solo here - one I'm quite sure I hear, early on in his solo at the end of the number... by-products of his exuberance... and he made it all work! Amazing! 13- No Jamal on this Poinciana. It did not do much for me! No Jamal indeed... put this in for the unknown guitar player. Not that the pianist is much better known. 14- liked that piano player. Pretty individual stylist. Another one I will be curious to know his (or her) name. Are these variations on 'Tennessee Waltz'? Yes indeed, it's "Tennessee Waltz" we're hearing! I *love* Sam Moore's version, but that one would have been out of place in here... this ain't no bad a substitue, methinks! It's anachronistic on so many levels, I just love it! Comes from a wonderful, wonderful disc! (Which I'd be surprised to hear you don't own yet!) 15- Very nice way to end a Blindfold Test. Who dat? Well, you'll find out soon, I guess... Many thanks Ubu for inviting me to the party My pleasure! Thanks a lot for taking the time to share your thoughts about the music! This whole part of reading about people's reactions makes these BFTs a very satisfying thing!
  13. James Weldon Johhnson Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Dubois
  14. Thanks a lot for the additional details! I'd really love a Mosaic set of Harriott's! Would be too bad if "Hum-Dono" would be missing again... but somehow I still rather see a Select.
  15. Happy Birthday, Colin! (btw, there's some good party music on my BFT )
  16. The Dixiestate.
  17. Yes, just thought I'd sent the money using Paypal but then nothing happens and I keep being stuck in step 1/3 of the order process, and the Paypal thing didn't seem to have worked, either! No payment shows up in my account there, even though I was told I'd sent the money and was automatically re-directed to the Big-O site. Wanted to order the CD plus the 45 single. The message I get is: I hate the US and their ZIP code obsession... it's a near science as a foreigner to fill out that stuff correctly!
  18. Yeah, the quintets on a Select - that would be swell! Btw, I was in touch with Mosaic's Fred tonight (about my most recent order) and sent him a link to this discussion here. He said he'd pass it on to Michael C. Let's cross our fingers! I'd really enjoy any Mosaic release with Harriott's music!
  19. Not too much of a Ware fan here, I'm afraid... but yes, those who like him should enjoy that release (expected a bit later). Not sure, but I think it has a few titles not on the single CD release. (No, seems I was wrong there...)
  20. Hm, no "Free Form" in there? The heartpiece would be missing, no? At least that's the first Harriott I heard and still one of my most beloved albums!
  21. NOTE: I'm not able to have 15 quotes in a post - why is that? These technical limitations are getting a bit silly, really! Gee, Bill, you're way too good at this! 1. I think this is Marion Brown playing Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy". I started by recognizing the tune and that it was played by an avant-garde altoist and then found from Ubu's blog that Marion Brown had recorded "B&TF". Hope this won't be seen as cheating of the worst sort! Nice to hear a tune from the 1920s played by someone from the other end of jazz! 100 points! A tiny bit of cheating, but there you go... 2. Piano, guitar, muted trumpet and bass, recorded in the 1940s. All very boppish, with possible influence from the Nat King Cole Trio and Fats Navarro. Can't say any more than that. Yeah, it's from those most interesting middle grounds between swing and modern... Cole came from there, too... I'm particularly fond of the trumpet! 3. I think this is Tony Fruscella playing "Blue Lester". I know the tune and Fruscella's sound and found this track on one of his albums. Smack dab in the middle! It's on the rarest of discs... thanks to brownie I got that one. More later on, of course! 4. This is Lee Wiley singing "Street of Dreams". First of all I thought it might be Mildred Bailey. Google did the rest, taking me to a YouTube clip of this track. This is an easy one, of course! But I needed to have her in! Of my favorite singers (Billie, Anita, Helen Merrill, June Christy, Chris Connor, Jeanne Lee, Sheila Jordan...) she's the most elusive and it seems to me most forgotten... and ain't the trumpet beautiful? 5. This is Jack Teagarden playing and singing "In a Litte Waterfront Café" with a string orchestra from his album Think Well of Me (1962). This is the only artist I recognized straight away. Cook and Morton did the rest. Yup - another easy one. I love that album so much... first I wanted to include "Don't Smoke in Bed" but I wanted to get both the singer AND the trombonist, hence this one got in. 6. "I Cover the Waterfront" recorded live by a big-toned, bop-influenced tenor whose sound reminds me a little of Roland Kirk. Can't say any more. See, on the waterfront we stay... 7. Tenor, bass, drums recorded fairly recently, judging by the quality of the sound. Very high level of instrumental proficiency from bassist. No idea who they are. It's alto, fairly recently... not quite, but yes, depending on how you look at it. 8. Trumpet or flugelhorn, alto, piano, bass, drums. Recent. A lot collective improvisation. No idea who it is. A decade older than #7 9. Avant-garde influenced tenor (reminds me of Shepp or George Adams) and similar trumpet in a big band setting which is surprisingly conventional as regards arrangement and voicings. Again alto - but the guttural and heavy sound may make this a bit tenor-like (not to me though as I've been enamored with this player for a while). Similar trumpet indeed... can't give too many hints yet, though! 10. Guessed this might be Albert Ayler and Amazon samples suggest it is. When Ayler first emerged in the mid-sixties, I decided his music wasn't for me and haven't listened to it until this BFT. I now recognize it as amazingly powerful and I think exposure over the years to the many tenormen who have taken aspects of his sound has made it easier for me to get his message now. (Hope after all that, this isn't someone else!) Huh? Not really... and once again this is alto sax! But powerful it is! If you like this, you might as well enjoy Ayler, too! (I've been on an Ayler binge in the past weeks, would be glad to give some hints!) 11. Trio of alto, bass and drums. Free form? Well, I can't detect any chord sequence! Free form indeed - and this time it's an alto, too! 12. Sounds like the early beginnings of big band jazz. I'd say this was Fletcher Henderson around 1928. Some great "hot" soloists! Trumpet swings like mad! Not Fletcher, but the year is off by just one... ain't that trumpet great!?! Yowzah! 13. Piano/guitar duo playing "Poinciana". Boppish: perhaps recorded 1950s. Elusive stuff... I've not been able to find a recording date for this one, even! 14. Solo soulful piano, recorded fairly recently. Gospel-ish melody. Gently swinging - nice! Of the usual suspects (Ray Bryant, Ramsey Lewis, etc), I'll plump for Junior Mance. You're way off her! But then not so, after all... 15. This is a fairly recent recording of what I call "comic" dixieland, of the sort popularized by the Firehouse Five and heard on the soundtrack of Woody Allen's The Sleeper. As this is Ubu's BFT, could this be a Swiss band? No Swiss involved or harmed in this one... no connection to Woody Allen, either! Thanks your reply, Bill! Enjoyed reading the comments!
  22. No, it's not... but I see why you'd think that, of course!
  23. So, what are the albums? - Free Form (Jazzland, 1960) - Abstract (Columbia, 1961) - Movement (Columbia, 1963) - High Spirits (Columbia, 1964) - Indo Jazz Suite (Columbia, 1965) - Indo Jazz Fusions (Columbia/Atlantic, 1966) - Indo Jazz Fusions (II) (Columbia, 1967) - Personal Portrait (Columbia, 1967) - Swings High (Melodisc/Cadillac 1967) (probably not?) - Hum Dono (Columbia 1969) I guess a Select with the six non indo-albums wouldn't fit... but I'd really see that as a possibility. Not sure a big sucker has enough of a selling perspective - Harriott isn't nearly well-known, alas! (But then a Mosaic set might change that...)
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