Milestones

1. It’s hard for me to guess on stuff like this. I seem to be hearing something by Ellington’s—maybe “Black Butterfly”—in there. 2. Some cool clarinet work...nice mix of the different registers. Rhythm section keeps it moving, but it sounds too basic. 3. A frantic take on swing-type music. It definitely sounds modern to my ears. Could it be James Carter and “Chasin’ the Gypsy”? 4. Old time stuff…I really have no idea. 5. Reminds me of Stanley Turrentine or Gene Ammons; at least someone in that vein. Some grooving stuff, for sure. 6. Old time Django style music. Whoever this is owes a huge debt to Django. 7. Clearly “In the Mood.” It sounds very close to the original. 8. This sounds like very early Ellington to my ears, but not at all a familiar piece. Pleasant enough, but not a masterpiece. 9. Very nice version of “You and the Night and the Music.” I love the trumpet work. I will be interested to know who this is—all the players. 10. I always think of “Out of Nowhere” as a Bird piece, but the roots are in swing. It’s an enjoyable performance, but I wouldn’t hazard a guess on the orchestra. -- Bottom line—a lot of stuff that sounds familiar, but they appear to be unusual takes that are not easily identifiable.

The man had a great voice. "Cara Mia" is one of most the powerful and astonishing vocals I have heard in the pop/rock realm. R.I.P.

I see what you mean. It's too bad Clifford didn't do a more "orchestral" album. That could have been magnificent.

Here are some records with strings that I like quite a bit: Forever Love--Mark Whitfield Rush Hour--Joe Lovano Focus--Stan Getz Fly With The Wind--McCoy Tyner The first two albums don't use strings on every track. The variety is interesting.

I get that people find it polite and tedious. But it is Clifford Brown, after all! Despite his early death, he does have a pretty impressive body of work. Even so, one has to treasure every note he played.

I like "What's New?" and "Embraceable You."

"Meeting of the Spirits"--Mahavishnu Orchestra

Yep, I strongly recall seeing Omega Man in the theater when I was a pre-teen. It's my favorite version of the story.

I recently saw The Last Man on Earth on one of those channels showing old movies. It is the first film version of Matheson's famous I am Legend. Vincent Price stars, but it's basically a "spaghetti" horror film--shot in Italy with largely an Italian cast. Not bad, but not really a classic.

Thanks for the info on Benny Waters. I had never heard of this artist.

So Tony Bennett has set the record for the oldest person to release an album of new material (not that the songs are new). That is remarkable....good for him. The man does not seem to "there" at all in his everyday life, but give him a song to sing he can still do it...and one can even listen to it. But I would have thought a jazz guy would hold the record. I know Jimmy Heath was well past 90 on his his last record. Roy Haynes would, I think, be older than Bennett... so if he recorded now.... Lou Donaldson? But he has not recorded, I believe, in over two decades. Pianists? Some jazz artists have lived a very long time, and most of them do not stop performing. So whose record did Bennet break?

Is it Black Codes?

I hope Ed Wood paid him no more than 50 bucks for this!

Dick was huge on Classical. Jazz, not so much. I fully recommend the Murakami story "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova"--quite amusing.

Yes, maybe Phillip K. Duck in an alternate universe! Or is it Philip K. Dick in this one?

Perhaps "Tunesmith" by Lloyd Biggle, where the title character plays many styles/genres: Classical, early rock, and maybe jazz.

Yep, Robert Palmer, who apparently was mainly known for writing on rock music. It struck me as fine writing, especially in terms of illuminating Weston's early years.

Haruki Murakami is apparently a bit of a SF writer. I can't say too much about him, as I've just read a few short stories, which tend to be in a Kafka or Twilight Zone mode. But he's clearly a big jazz guy, which accounts for some of my recent interest in his work.

I'm actually quite a big fan of the jam sessions and the small groups from his last years, including the meetings with Oscar Peterson. The first "Jam" album is especially solid, and I also like Kansas City 6 and even the final record: Mostly Blues...and Some Others. Oh, and definitely the record with Zoom Sims. Among other delights, you will hear some sublime Joe Pass.

I need to check that out. I made a quick search tonight for the record (vinyl twofer) and didn't find it. I will look again tomorrow.

The notes for Blue Note/UA Little Niles may have been the best writing on Randy Weston prior to Weston's autobiography.

I was just shy of 21-years-old and started my collection with Bitches Brew, and followed the branches. Then it was Kind of Blue and following those players. This gave me two ways to go: post-bop/modal and fusion. I was able to explore all kinds of major figures: Coltrane, Evans, McLaughlin, Hancock, Shorter, etc. Reading helped too. A big one for me was the 101 Best Jazz Records by Len Lyons. That gave me a sense of history from the beginning through most of the 1970s. Like most of us, I was able to find plenty of good stuff in the bargain bins, and of course the "twofers" were a great bargain. Libraries, for sure. In fact, libraries remain a major way to hear new and old jazz.

I thought the twofers were quite cool--a nice way to start building up a collection when one is fairly new to jazz. I guess that the sequel, in a way, is the box set: 6 or 8 or 12 jammed CDS. I just find those overwhelming.

In the Cleveland area a couple of malls have gone down entirely. Another seems pretty notorious for the crime. Just before the turn of the century malls were a still a hot thing. I personally lost interest quite some time ago. The last visit was over two years back, and only because I needed a pair of glasses in a hurry. But I do have a bit of fondness for the old days. And they do make sense in the northern part of the country. You park once and then you can stay in one big warm space for hour upon hour.

#15--Sonny Sharrock? Just a wild guess #16--Interesting. Different. It it jazz? #17--That has to be an opera singer. Not appealing to my ears. #18--Would not expect Wayne to perform this piece. Should we say it's Wayne before Wayne?