king ubu

Another great disc, Luca! I enjoyed the first one a wee bit more, but I can't really say why... #1 Trumpet sounds nice, rest a bit cold (like many new recordings, in my opinion) - not that it's bad, but the tune and the sound of the recording don't jump at me the least... not inviting at all. #2 "Star Eyes"... is there a version that doesn't start with this intro? Hm, sounds familiar but I can't place it right now... Jmac? Nope... sounds very familiar, but I can't place it right now. #3 Very nice folky groove. Like this one! Sax solo is nice. Not sure I'd need a whole disc of this, but there's plenty of recent Italian music that I enjoy, including guys like Mirabassi, Trovesi, Coscia, Biondini, Tonolo, Zurzolo etc. #4 Nice and short... #5 Kinda weird... the second one (left channel) could break out into "Sentimental Journey" any second... nice one, very minimalist. Not jazz, really, is it? So I see... it's a sax quartet... the only one coming to mind that is able to do something like this would be the Arte Quartett, but I assume there are others coming from a more classical background. Very nice track! #6 Oh yes! Can't get much more basic... but this is a recent recording, judging from the (rather ugly, mind me) bass sound. Tune sounds familiar, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything... #7 Some will say "yuck!" but me likey! #8 Nice one... very subdued... beautiful! The ending suggests this chap can be all over the horn if he wants to... #9 Not quite sure if I should know this... nice singing geetar, Mr. Green? #10 Ornette-ish sounding line and groove - very nice one! #11 Nice, slightly angular (Monk influence?). #12 Is this Monk himself now? Or at least a Monk tune? Oh, wait, that's them krazy GDR fellaws doing them olde germanic lieder... great! Love this group a lot! #13 Eddie Harris and his electric sax shtick? Hm, it only sounds electric at the beginning... like this a lot (as I do like Eddie who, too)! Bass is nice... sounds a bit like Charlie Haden. Nice cut, but I lost attention a bit... if I was home I would hit repeat, I think, so it's not that I found it boring, just not that gripping upon first listen. #14 Very, very nice! A wild guess: Craig Harris on trombone? Beautiful track, this one! #15 Great closer! Upbeat and funny... could be from a side project of some Vienna Art Orchestra guys, maybe, but I can't really tell.

This is a great album, but I'm in the same boat with Lon... I haven't got all of Mingus' albums quite yet, but I have many of them plus a bunch of live recordings, and I love nearly all of it... I can see why Blues & Roots would be overshadowed by some of the other Atlantics, probably because it's just a bunch of rather simple tunes being played here or something, instead of a greater theme or an outstanding item (like the title track of "Pithecantropus Erectus"), but these Atlantic sessions are all among Mingus' best! The 1959 Columbias are just as great, in my opinion, and of course the Candid stuff is, too... too much to chose from, as far as I'm concerned. One highlight about "Blues & Roots" is that one Mal Waldron solo... going from memory I can't tell on what tune it is, but it's da shit, as they say...

I think Mr. Weizen should enjoy a few of the ones that have been mentioned, in particular: - Chris Connor (last Bethlehem, see above, and earliest Atlantics) - Lee Wiley (almost anything!) - Helen Merrill (anything you can find! the one with Brownie is terrific, so are the recent Gitanes albums)

Ouch, that's Ornette... Ok, "Blue Lester"... the Savoy recording of this is one of those tunes that always sends chills down my spine... Also "San Antonio Rose" I should/could have known... Glad to hear the guys on #2 are old (loved Sangrey going to puke... would have been puking along with him, I guess...) Eskelin/Ducret/Chevillon/Humair makes sense for the tune with the weird guitar sound, though Eskelin sounds a bit straighter/flatter than often, no? He's got a more voluminous sound on other things, no? That would the be Daniel Humair's band, he's great! (Of course his sidemen are no slouches, but he's got a rather low profile for how good he is and for how long he's been around). Jasper/Thomas... interesting, I quickly thought about Jaspar but then thought it wasn't him. Would be from the RCA album then with Italian musicians?

Love this disc, Luca, many, many thank! One of the most enjoyable BFT discs for my ears! As usual, I haven't read anything here, I listened once so far, on headphones while working (a bit... it was too good to continue working, really...), and I have only done a wee bit of googling and AMG searching (samples are blocked by now... probably I was using them too often...) Anyway, huge thank you! Looking forward to disc two later today! ***************************************************************** #1 Great tune! So soulful... this is a tune (and a disc) that really touches me, makes me feel differently... Can't play AMG samples at work, but I think it's from this one: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:sjd4vw9ea9qk Bernstein's "Diaspora Soul" was the first disc (after a live broadcast of Zorn's Masada) of this kind that I heard and I still love it. Led me to explore more similar music, like the Lounge Lizards, Michael Blake, Sex Mob... oh yes, and the Septeto Rodriguez! #2 Two Hawky tenors and bass... nice! One has the Webster-like airy sound and vibrato, the other that slightly more vocal quality of Hawk's... ah, there comes the rest of the rhythm section. Wow! Oozing! Oh, what's this, a third tenor, or does the Websterish one sound so differently in the upper register (@ 2:40)? The tune is "Body and Soul", of course... ah, I see, this is more than two tenors... could this be one of Bennie Wallace's projects? Don't think so... #3 Lovely! I know this tune but can't pin it. Bass is great here (better sound or sound-capture than on #2). That's some presidential tenor here... not Zoot? Jimmy Rainey? Don't know him that well... or Johnny Smith? Rather not him, I think... #4 One of those Parker tunes I can't clearly tell apart. Ugly bass sound here, alas. Trombone sounds a bit harsh but has a vocal quality that is quite nice. Not Ray Anderson? He'd have a meatier sound, I think. Ah, it's "Au Privave"... great tune! #5 Alto opening is stunning! Piano sounds monkish first, then almost classical... enters the violin... why don't they play together? Strange, but this series of solos reminds me somehow of the animal themes in "Peter & the Wolf"... ah well, after the bass clarinet there's a short duo of tenor and piano... tenor is a bit lacklustre, mainstream avant/loft tenor, if there is such a thing... the hollow sound is nice though, even more so after the piano interlude. I'm not sure what to do with this... not that I dislike it, but I somehow just don't know how to handle this. #6 Sweet music from the late twenties? Ouch! I call this lollypop! Great one! You'd enjoy the Swinging Ballroom Berlin boxes, I assume (I only have the second one, alas). Trumpet is nice, and I guess that's the reason why you include it? I'm pretty clueless about this, though, but I like it. #7 Suave... late 60s big band? The Count's laziness is there, but there's a groove to it that reminds me more of the Jones-Lewis gang. The drummer handles this great, lazy and laidback but still driving and swinging. That would then most likely be Jerome Richardson playing the nice soprano solo? Love the muted trumpet backgrounds... this kind of big band music, where you needn't be reminded about the power of the full band all the time is great. So much variation is possible, and such a tune is that much more thrilling than the shouting noisy loud big bands (of say, Buddy Rich... not that he didn't have a great band, but this one's different and I like it a *lot* better). I'll stick with Jones-Lewis... got to take that Mosaic out of the shelf again soon! There's a great live disc on TCB with Joe Henderson doing some wild stuff - recommended! #8 Ha! Retro stuff? Polkamericana? Tune sounds familiar once more, but I can't place it. Good harmless fun. #9 What Is This Thing Called Love maybe? Bass is a bit too busy at the beginning... tenor is very nice! Hm, Lovano maybe? A bit too soft for him? But too harsh for Joe Hen... can't pin this down. Don't really get the guitar's couple of backing spots. Ah, now it's solo time... doesn't really sound like a guitar any longer, rather like some old fashioned analog keybord. Funny sound, but doesn't fit with the trio of ts/b/d, I think... hm, I start liking the sound, even though I don't know if it's a synth or a heavily processed guitar, but I tend to think the later is the case. Ah well, now they go into "Speak Low"... one more which I can't really "classify", but I do like it. #10 Funny how you programmed this disc! This sounds like some bop-era not-quite-bop-yet tenor... Flip or Ventura or someone similar. Or maybe even Illinois? Guitar is nice. Corny changes... nice build of steam! Nice how the honking never quite gets near an eruption but still develops momentum. Piano backing almost sounds like some rhythm & blues player. #11 Great, more bass clarinet... "'Round Midnight". What a beautiful tune - one of my all-time favourite ballads, for sure! Not sure I'd need all the Dolphy-effects in place, but it's a nice performance. Never heard of this guy, but could it be from the 2000 album here: http://www.till-martin.de/platten.html Sounds nice! Stabenow it could be, soundwise, the others I don't know. Don't know the man himself, but if it's him, how's his sax playing? Should be interesting to explore, judging from this one tune! #12 Hm, what's this again? Not bad at all, no sir! Maybe a bit simplistic (tenor solo, mainly), but I like it. I like the organ sound quite some, but I'm no good at all in recognizing organists' sounds... vinyl dub? Something pretty rare? Hm, two saxes... this ain't from "Along Came John"? #13 Hmmm... quite a change of styles, but there's something in here that I like a lot! #14 Alto and clarinet? Lee Konitz and who? Clarinet solo is very nice, Lee I only recognized when he started his solo. Love him, what a master! Amazing how long he's been around! I cherish memories of the Three Guys (Konitz-Swallow-Motian) concert I saw in 1996! A recent collaborator of Konitz' who plays clarinet (and tenor) is Ohad Talmor, but I don't know him well enough to hear if this is him. #15 Now what's this? Piano again sounds nearly classical at some moments. I like the groove the drummer builds... could this be Bennink? Infectuous! #16 "Pent-Up House" or what's this one called? Original version on Sonny Rollins +4 with Brownie and Roach... nice one here, right to the middle from the beginning. Obviously a live recording, but the music is great! Short and concise. Nice one! #17 A weirdo version of Sunny Side of the Street to end things... ha, funny! Sounds like a skipping LP, but of course this is how it should sound... nice meaty sax sound.

Thanks Chuck!

time for the if you could only keep one Green (Jones, Davis, endless possibilities) in your collection which one would it be thread... (Grant Thad Lockjaw for me i suppose) Grant, Boogaloo Joe, Lockjaw for me. (Just as well you didn''t mention Smith.) MG Hm, I'd be hard-pressed to chose between Jabbo and Joe... The Green would be Freddie, I assume, Thad would be most likely, then it would be Miles, I guess...) Mike, I think I have that Blakey somewhere (old CD version - was there ever a new one of this? I lost touch during the CCrap period, totally), wasn't aware Lateef was on it, it's been a long time since I played it.

What's that about one track being missed on this set? Someone (J.A.W.?) mentioned it in the running low thread, but it seems it wasn't discussed here before... anyone please enlighten me!

...on pogo sticks

And Lateef's only BN appearance was with the (wrong) Green, too! Sorry, I didn't realize the above meant Bennie...

Then how about a nice reissue of "Born to Be Blue", his classic album with Ike? Nice sound, please a new cover with a good Wolff photo... but probably rather an RVG, so this is the wrong thread. The Stanley T with Green (not that outstanding at all) could make a Conn some day, though... unless they do that as an RVG, too. These are two instances where I am really wondering why they did reissues of some Conns or regular BNs (such as that Lee Morgan disc that came out twice in the last five years, both times in new remasterings), instead of delivering a nice reissue of "Born to Be Blue"!

If not for the hardcore lp fetishists, they could have added the quartet tracks to some other Quebec album, no? I have the Green Select (it's great!) and enjoy those sides with Turrentine and Quebec a lot!

I have a CD with some of the Douglas recordings with Hamer and Gomez (who's just on a few cuts of the whole date, I think). It's called "Elephant Hump", can't find a picture of the cover, alas.

Someone better get that Randy Weston LP quick!

I have ZYX versions of those (Riverside just box with couw-lets, Fantasy with small box and small booklet, but it has all the info, and the prize was more than just right...)

Oh c'mon, what's all that fuss about Duke P? No one will pay more than 20$ a pop, and he's not a great tinkler anyway On a more serious note: I had pretty much the same first impression of "Natural Essence", but just an hour ago I searched for it (a burn only), since I feel like giving it another spin soon.

Why not just add the one Mobley track with Jackie to "4,5,6" and do that and the Mobe as is anew by RVG? (And please get rid of RVG's pathetic message of him as a "medium" between them poor misunderstood artists and us... the compression the artists certainly didn't hear as part of their vision, did they?)

Yes, Carrothers is a fine musician. I just played one of his discs last night - a fine trio recording: That's the only of his recordings I own so far, but I like it. It's a slow growing one for me, not one that comes screaming at you, but that's just fine.

Happy birthday!

A few months ago I bought the above mentioned It's In The Twilight by Paul Shapiro - excellent!

Thanks for the follow-up on Schweizer, Larry! I was reminded of him recently when I found the disc with his organ band in the sales bins and then again by a Normal Garden broadcast on swiss radio... his tunes, arrangements, indeed his ideas are special, yes! Of course Von Freeman and Fred Anderson! Irene Schweizer was a similar case. Until the Intakt label had been founded 20 years ago, she had some releases here and there (most notably on FMP), but she never quite "made it" and had day jobs etc. Great that Intakt is so dedicated to documenting her musical development! Her most recent solo disc, "First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern" (Intakt CD 108) is great, and so is her "Chicago Piano Solo". As with Freeman or Anderson, she got rather well known over the course of the last two decades, so she is a bit beyond this thread... Recently deceased Fredi Luescher, and before him also Urs Voerkel (he died a few years ago) would have qualified. A gifted pianist Luescher, and Voerkel some sort of father figure for the Zurich free scene.

admittedy, I am using the search function as well whenever it makes any sense...(favorite counter example is still joe guy) don't know why though Sorry I didn't see the other threads. I'm fairly new to this group, so I'm figuring out all the ins and outs. Bear with me. It'll take me a while! As for Jazz in Paris, they've also issued some DVDs. I saw 'em in Paris when I was there earlier this summer (along with the cool new box sets). 'Course, there's probably a thread on those too!! DVDs? No discussion of them here before - do you have any more information?

Oh man, I want that Elvin!

Got 5:55 today, gave it one spin and liked it. Not sure if there'd be enough interest, so I thought I'd post here. I think it's nice that she sings a lot in english - puts her somewhat apart from most other french chanson singers... also it's nice that Jarvis Cocker helped out on a couple of songs. Not that I knew him that well, but the one Pulp album I have (This Is Hardcore) I love a lot!