Milestones

Regarding DiMeola, there's a sucker born every minute.

Then there's the cult of the last president, but I guess we can't go there.

So Chick was looking for fellow Scientologists to be in his bands and groups? This is the man who has played with about a million other musicians.

I think those who are a bit dismissive of Corea's late work are really sleeping on the trio work. What Corea did in pretty straightforward trios--whether Vitous and Haynes (sometimes adventurous), the "new trio," Gomez and Motian, McBride and Blade--is as good or better than what anyone else has done in this vein over the past 40 years. Just an opinion. I don't think I've heard much (if anything) about the duets with Gary Burton--a significant and very long-running strand in Corea's career. Nice stuff, although I would take the trios first.

Here's a man who passed away at age 79 and I would argue that the work of his final two (2) decades was as strong as anything in his career. It's amazing in size, diversity, and quality.

I'm big on the ECM record too, especially the title track.

Here are a few: The African Flower--James Newton Rejoicing--Pat Metheny Billy Highstreet Samba--Stan Getz Portraits of Monk--Randy Weston You Know the Number--Henry Threadgill

R.I.P., Chick. You will be deeply missed. Great, great musician and one of the most electric players and composers on Earth. He could do anything at a high level. I only got to see him once...with the Corea-McBride-Blade trio. Fabulous show.

I love to make playlists that spotlight artists in various ways. For instance, I have created three playlists of Bobby Hutcherson on Blue Note--tracks from both leader and sideman dates. I have a playlist of Booker Ervin's work with Mingus.

There's a lot of fine work by Billy Harper on several Randy Weston records; that's mainly how I know his playing. BlueSpirit, in regard to your last point or question...that's the joy of it, one thing leading to another. That's the process of trying to dig up all the records by a particular artist, including the obscure ones. It's following Larry Goldings (organ), who does not have a lot of leader dates but who can be found on many records. It's not frustration...it's joy! And you should love the fellowship here at Organissimo.

If you want to check out players who are different and play organ in a more subtle style, I recommend these two: Larry Goldings--has played with with John Scofield (extensively), Peter Bernstein, Jim Hall, and many others Dan Wall--most notably for his work with John Abercrombie (yes, I see you're up on him; Open Land is a favorite of mine too).

I'm a big fan. Among his own records, I love Freedom Book the best, and after that usually go to his sterling work with Charles Mingus and Randy Weston. He died pretty young--about the same age as Coltrane. It is certainly tough to rival the work and legacy of Trane. But Booker's profile 50+ years later should be higher than what is is now.

Yes, that sums it up!

It's one of those Blindfolds where you can identify quite a few pieces, as well as styles associated with major artists, but the artists represented here are lesser known--actually a fairly common approach on BFT.

1) Stride piano. I don’t know the tune, and to me it sounds like a modern player—not a key player from the old days. Marcus Roberts or someone like that. 2) Oh man, I know this…it’s a bebop tune, isn’t it? Certainly has strong elements of the Joe Pass solo style, thought I don’t think it’s Joe. Not bad, but I can only listen to about 3 straight solo tracks in this style. 3) You seem to be selecting players who draw strongly on a prime influence. This reminds me of latter-day Sonny Rollins, though clearly not Sonny. Nice bounce to it, though I doubt the player could keep the ideas going for an extended solo. 4) A pretty cool big band track. Despite the Basie influence, it sounds quite modern. I like that pulsing bass, and the soprano solo is fine. More traditional work on the trombone, but sounding good. Is that Clark Terry going back and forth between open and muted? Actually, it sounds more like two separate musicians. 5) Some moody solo piano. Then some very laid-back guitar added. The tune is a “standard.” 6) Identified. 7) This reminds me of some things Mingus did in the mid-50’s. It’s got some West Coast and semi-classical elements. There’s an alto solo by a Bird-inspired guy. This track might even be Mingus; he was known to perform "Jitterbug Waltz." It certainly has me intrigued. 8) Nice mellow track with big band, spotlight on guitar. Nothing really coming to me. Guitarist reminds me a bit of Kenny Burrell, but I venture to say it’s not Kenny. Pretty rare to hear this much spotlight on guitar in a big band setting, unless it’s Gerald Wilson—and this is not Wilson. 9. "Tricotism" as solo bass feature. Maybe Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. 17. "Snowfall" as a little solo guitar coda. Nice, but I have no idea of the artist.

Bill Frisell's presence makes just about any record worth hearing. He definitely added a lot to Vanished Gardens. As side note, quite some time ago Frisell played "Ramblin" with Ginger Baker and Charlie Haden.

There's a sucker born every minute.

This stuff is horrible. It's killed just about as many Americans as we lost in WW2. My wife had it; my mother-in-law (hospitalized); many others, family and otherwise. Hopefully, we are about to turn the corner.

My car is nearing 18 years old and basic in all respects!

I have not seen a BFT this tough in ages.

Whenever I rip CD tracks to the computer, they are in .wma format, or at least they used to be. I've used downloading services where the format is .mp3. I would often make playlists that feature tracks in both formats, and they would burn just fine--would play in the car or on any system. But lately it does not want to burn if .mps3 tracks are present. I don't ever recall using .wav files.

I general like my files in WMA (Windows Media Player) rather than WP3. I just noticed my computer was ripping music files into MP3 format. A CD that would not burn in MP3 format did burn when I reloaded the original CD into the computer and converted to WMA format. These days I seem to be having a lot of trouble with MP3, though in the past it was generally fine. There seem to be programs that convert MP3 to WMA. Does anyone do that? Do you have recommended programs? Thanks.

Or Frances Wayne (sorry, my mother's name was Frances).

I have seen Bill Frisell, Chick Corea, and Uri Caine at Oberlin--great, memorable performances. These occurred within the past 20 years.

The likelihood of Foreigner or Journey playing at Oberlin is zero.