Milestones

I can't think of any other artist of advanced age doing more remarkable work, both recordings and live performances, than Charles Lloyd. Maybe the late Randy Weston, but his records in his last decade or so were less frequent and harder to find than Lloyd's. I need to go back and spend some serious time with Passin' Thru, because this strikes my ears as one fine live record. The second album with The Marvels, Vanished Gardens, is also quite impressive, with the very effective presence of Lucinda Williams on half of the tracks. While he has largely preferred the quartet format for his entire long career, Lloyd certainly does other groupings at times and incorporates influences from everywhere--eastern, rock, folk, country.

OK

Isn't it time for the Reveal?

I think that on Beyond the Wall the singing, the expanded group (including Hutcherson), and the Eastern elements take it well beyond the typical Coltrane tribute or update.

"But, at the same time I wouldn’t walk up to any musician and say, You know who you sound a lot like?" Indeed, exactly my point. "Adventurous," of course, can be hard to define--just as we bandy about such words as "creative" and "deep." I think I lost some of my interest in Branford because he has been so locked into the quartet format for a long time. Why not expand ore reconstitute?

Fair enough, but I wouldn't find really close similarities, and a record like Beyond the Wall is to my ears much more adventurous than anything I can think of by Branford.

Curious that you say of Branford and Kenny Garret, "I find no real differences between he and Branford." Isn't this saying they are essentially the same? Is that a compliment to a jazz musician?

It's always interesting when a thread of mine become huge; that doesn't happen too often. As usual, some insults have been tossed around, always the case when the Marsalis boys come up. I was interested in some of the marketing/business talk. I recall reading that Columbia was first trying to go with Arthur Blythe as the next big thing, but they shifted soon enough to the younger guy with more straight-laced notions of jazz. I don't directly recall there being a big push on Blythe, which occurred shortly before I discovered jazz. I remember getting some of his used records cheap, and even nowadays his Columbia records are not that easy to find. But I'll take Blythe (on any label) over anyone in the Marsalis clan any day of the week. I think we can agree (most of us, at least) that Blythe was more adventurous than the Marsalis brothers. I did find some appeal in the early work of of BM and WM, but I think much of came from their tendency to work with major figures like Herbie, Ron, Tony, Sonny, Joe Henderson. But I guess they didn't learn anything from those guys.

That would be good. I tried to get as close to what he said as I could, given my sometimes faltering memory. But I can say that I did a double take when I read BM's words on Miles.

I too saw the VSOP group with Branford and Wynton out in front of Miles' classic 60s rhythm section--and curiously enough the then-current Miles band was on the same bill. I did enjoy the show quite a bit. But I'm thinking that Herbie, Ron, and Tony had nothing to teach the young lads. I mean just nothing!

I had a look at the current Downbeat while at the library. Branford Marsalis gets the cover story, and in the interview he gets pretty controversial--to my mind. Specifically, he thinks Miles was already an old man in the 1960s and that Herbie, Tony, Wayne, and others were the innovators who brought in the exciting new stuff. The point here, ALL OF IT! He says this: "Miles didn't teach them anything. Nothing." So what happened to the idea of the old master teaching the young ones, while (I'm sure) also learning from them? The usual notion is that Miles developed and nurtured--albeit in a somewhat eccentric way--young talent throughout his entire career. I've read stuff by Herbie where he expressed his complete awe of Miles.

I'm learning some things here. I don't know anything about Eddie Costa. I have heard the name, but that's about it. I had not known that Elvin recorded with Yusef Lateef.

Track #2 features a pianist with a nice touch, though the approach does not seem very adventurous. A lot of possibilities here; I would not hazard a guess. Track #3 is an odd one. It's like 1950's Miles coming out of one channel and 60's/70's avant garde out of the other, with no attempt to meet one another. Track #5 sounds like Sonny Rollins in a trio setting, though probably not--it could be a very good imitator. The drummer could well be Elvin Jones, though he seems to have a lighter touch. Track #6 is an alto? Not sure. It has a Classical music feel, not that your hear sax (spotlighted) over there. No guess. Tracks #7 sounds a lot like Basie, though the guitar solo threw me--Eddie Durham? It even seems to shift into "One O'Clock Jump." Track #8 is definitely "Afro Blue." Nice work on the drums to open up. Good groove in a fusion style. Some of the guitar work reminds me of Scofield. So It's the Allmans? I know the band's early work pretty well, and much of it is great. This is attaining nearly the same level, and it's jazzier. Track #9 is old time jazz with R&B flavor. This is stuff that must have influenced early rock 'n roll. My first thought on #10 is that it's very early Ellington. I've heard my share of this stuff, but can't identify the number...if it is Duke. Track #11 features a locked-in trio, and the pianist shows the influence of Monk and Nichols--maybe a bit of Oscar Peterson too. I don't know who's doing this, but it's very engaging--my favorite track on the BFT. \ Overall, an interesting and certainly diverse set of tunes.

Mark, Concerning Blythe, "Illusions" is short enough, but "Miss Nancy" runs 7 & 1/2 minutes.

That's one way to make a challenging BFT.

Two compositions by Tyner, one by Henderson, one by Ron Carter--plus several standards. Fine record. McCoy was producing a lot of good/great records in this period, in every format from solo to big band.

Actually, Wikipedia says about 6,000 singles and about 35,000 total tracks. That would seem hard to top.

Is he the most-recorded drummer ever? I'e heard it's about 6,000 recordings. I imagine some jazz guys would at least give him a run for money.

Is #2 Wayne Shorter? I'll be quiet after this and let others respond. Great blindfold test!

Track 7 is a nice piano-bass duet on "Blue Monk." I can't really guess on the players. The pianist plays it a lot straighter than would Monk or a Monk disciple, but he/she has a nice touch and is expressive. It's an irresistible tune. Would the baritone player on #5 be James Carter?

Track 5 is soul jazz of another sort. This has more of a 70/s80s feel and has a lot of energy. You seem to be favoring live performances, and you can hear this tune going over big with the audience. The drums make me think of Idris Muhammed, though probably not (with much of that feel, though). Not too sure about anyone else either. The bari player is getting down on the big horn. Bluiett? Track 6 is "St. Thomas" in organ groove mode. Not bad, but no idea who this might be.

The first piece is "Broadway." You might as well call it "tenor madness" as there are, by my count, four tenor soloists. It doesn't sound like this goes too far back, yet I'm thinking it features older players. The second soloist sounds like Johnny Griffin, but I'm not saying I'm confident with that guess. Relatively younger guys like Joe Lovano and Joshua Redman would do stuff like this on occasion, but I'd expect them to put more of a wrinkle on it. This is played very straight. Track #2 is certainly interesting. As I get toward the end, that sounds like soprano work from Wayne Shorter. The tenor sounded familiar too, so that's likely Wayne as well. I don't have the new Shorter record, but I know some of it is orchestral; and I would not be surprised to hear this kind of creative orchestral piece from him. It's a fine track, and I would guess Wayne from his most recent album. Track #3 is grooving soul jazz. Enjoyable stuff, but I usually find it's not very distinctive. This is what you would often from Stanley Turrentine and Albert Ammons, but I doubt it's either of them. The guitar sounds fairly modern; it has some Metheny touches, but there are many possibilities as to who it is. The organist is coming from someplace different--that is, not out of the Jimmy Smith school.

I have not seen the film, but I'm interested. How is it that the guy playing Shirley received the Oscar for Best SUPPORTING Actor?

Maybe I went through too fast, but no Jimmy Giuffre? We have horn, guitar, bass; also Giuffre, Brookmeyer, Hall (two horns and guitar). There is the somewhat similar News for Lulu (Zorn, Lewis Frisell).

Peter Tork died today at age 77. No love for The Monkees? For better or worse, they were part of my youth. I've long felt that music snobs have overly maligned their skills.