Milestones

A great musician for sure...RIP. I have my share of WSQ albums, and it as always great to hear him there. I've never picked up any of his solo records. He made some great contributions to the late Randy Weston's Volcano Blues.

Thanks, it was very fun to do, and I'm glad that you will be exploring more stuff due to this test. It's also interesting that several of these are in your collection, but you could not ID them. Well, we all own plenty, plenty records--even when they are often not records as we used to think of them. I had pasted in the album covers, yet when I pasted in the whole file they would not appear.

Blindfold 174: Reveal It has been fun, but here is the “reveal.” Four of the thirteen tracks were not identified in any way—those by Styrker/Slagle, Duke Pearson, Jane Ira Bloom, and Tom Harrell. 1. (“Hartland” from Latest Outlook—2007): No one identified this track by Dave Stryker/Steve Slagle. It’s a fine collaboration between the two, who have worked together quite a bit—and sometimes are joined by Joe Lovano. Their stuff is fairly mainstream, but sometimes with an edge—maybe a notch below artists like Lovano and Dave Douglas. 2. (“Cold Irons Bound” from Ships with Tattooed Sails—2007): The trio is Michael Moore, Lindsay Horner, and Michael Vatcher (with Bill Frisell on some cuts, but not this one). Dylan may not seem like a natural for jazz artists, but these guys do his music really well from first track to last. 3. (“Speak Easy” from Open Land—1999): In my opinion, this is one of Abercrombie’s finest albums. He was transitioning from the organ group to the violin group—and this particular track features Kenny Wheeler, who always had a magical connection with John. I find Abercrombie way up there as a guitarist and musician in general—and a good composer too. He’s very distinctive, he put together interesting groups, and none of us should ever forget the fabulous work of Gateway. 4. (“Lifeline” from With These Hands—1956): Randy Weston with Cecil Payne, playing an original on an album of mostly standards. The late Randy Weston is one of my all-time favorite jazz figures, and this shows his superb work even at this early point in time. Payne and Weston had a special connection, and Cecil was on several of the early albums; it’s too bad he didn’t reappear on the records from Weston’s renaissance in the 1990’s. 5.(“After the Rain” from Sweet Honey Bee—1966): I’m surprised no one got this piece by Duke Pearson: pianist, composer, arranger, producer, Blue Note stalwart. I find this to be one of his greatest compositions, and it curiously has the same title as one of Coltrane’s greatest pieces. James Spaulding provides the sterling flute work. 6. (“Sidewalk Meeting”: title track—2001): A rather interesting piece (and album) by multi-reedist Ted Nash, who plays all kinds of saxes and clarinets. The great trombone work is by Wycliffe Gordon. 7. (“Opus 1.5”from Ron Carter's Great Big Band—2011): The legendary Ron Carter, who has done just about everything; and here he is in late career leading his own big band. 8. (“Monk’s Rec Room” from The Red Quartets—1999): One of the few players who performs only on soprano, Jane Ira Bloom, to my mind, is the greatest living soprano saxophonist. She has a great feeling for Monk, whether his tunes or a tribute like this track. 9. (“Baroque Steps” from Paradise—2001): I’m surprised no one got this, but it took me quite a while to catch on to Tom Harrell. He is a very skilled and creative player. As jazz with strings albums go, this one is way up there. 10. (“War Orphans” from Tribute—1974): The highly inventive Paul Motian, with the great Charlie Haden on bass and Sam Brown on guitar. The track comes from one of his earliest dates as a leader. 11. (“Sound Off” from Time is of the Essence—1999): Michael Brecker was identified very quickly—no surprise. Perhaps he devoted too much of his life to being a session player, but he offered up quite a few leader dates playing bona fide jazz with giants of the field. This is my favorite of his records; it includes Pat Metheny on guitar and Larry Goldings on organ. 12. (“Aqua Blue” from Aquarius—2013): This track by Nicole Mitchell was identified, but some pointed out that it sounds a lot like James Newton and Jay Hoggard. Since we never hear from those guys anymore, this is the next best thing. I don’t have a lot of Mitchell’s work, but she seems like a pretty amazing player and composer. 13. (“Simple Things” from Dialogues—1995): Quite interesting date by Jim Hall, although the tracks are generally not duets in the usual sense. Hall has influenced so many guitarists, including Bill Frisell. This may be my favorite track from a great record. I tried including images of the album covers, but it would not work for me.

Last day for the Blindfold test.

Yes, exactly right!

And there is a big band version of "Moon Rays" by Chuck Israels on his all-Silver collection. It's pretty nice.

Yes, it certainly is Jim Hall, though not from the 2-disc set they did together.

Back to "Moon Rays," I heard Pharoah Sanders do this with a quartet. It just didn't sound nearly as enticing with a single horn.

Benny Golson is also good at getting a big sound out of three horns. See the Jazztet.

Track #5 is from the 1960s. The leader is the pianist, though of course the flute is very prominent on this piece. He was/is also an alto sax player, but played flute a great deal. He was known for his sideman work.

I agree that the piece is perfect in quintet format. Why mess with perfection?

I love "Moon Rays"...it may be my favorite Horace Silver tune of all time. As for getting a big sound out of a small group, I find that no one was better than Mingus. I guess it's some combination of the Ellington influence and his own genius, but he could make a quintet or sextet sound huge.

Thanks for the pitch!

Nice work--that's 3 tracks fully identified. I am surprised no one has gotten #5 and, perhaps, #9.

We only have about a week left! I'm hoping more people will take a crack at my Blindfold Test.

I agree on #1. This is a co-led CD (sax and guitar), and both are serious veterans now (I think the saxophonist is past 60). I would say it would help to regard these players as of the generation and the approach of Joe Lovano, though not nearly as well-known as Joe. Yes, track #3 is John Abercrombie. The album is from the late 1990's. Yes, #4 is the late, great Randy Weston from early in his career. And, yes, #7 is Ron Carter. It is his composition. Think of the size of the band.

Hot Ptah, Good work here. On #2, you are correct that it is the Dylan song "Cold Irons Bound." I won't say more except that the group did at least one album (and maybe two) of Dylan's music exclusively. Number 4 is a major figure, especially in my eyes. I'll say it is among his early work, back in the 1950's. On #5 I understand the response. This is from a famous jazz label we all know. It's an important figure, though not necessarily as a musician. His bands (on record) typically feature big names. Number 8 is a Monk tribute, with "Monk" in the title--not this will narrow it down much. Number 13 indeed features Frisell and another guitarist who is just as renowned (if not more). In fact, it is the latter's date. Felser, You have completely identified #10.

Mostly obscure names there once you get past Weston and Zoot Sims...oh, the track listing cuts off. There are a few more significant figures.

OH, I agree...that is the best of his early records NOT appearing in the Mosaic set. "Run Joe," "J.K. Blues," etc.

Never heard of this collection of various artists--no doubt an early example of something that later became ubiquitous. I do like this version of "Loose Wig," which is decades earlier than the one I first heard--on Saga.

R.I.P. His performance in Boogie Nights was certainly quite good, even excellent. Of course, his screen time was pretty limited. Deliverance was a classic, though I think Jon Voight had the more outstanding performance. As a young actor, he did a dead-on and hilarious impersonation of Brando in a Twilight Zone episode.

Berkshire Blues (the album) seems like 2nd-tier Weston to me, though of course he has many great versions of that particular piece. Two versions of "Earth Birth" in the Mosaic collection, the first from Little Niles and the second this fine trio version.

Pretty decent. I'm among those who have pretty seriously skimmed through the book.

Out of those three piano albums (one piano/bass) that you named, I have just one in my collection: African Nite. That's a pretty recent acquisition. It is pretty good, but I have generally not been all that fond of the solo piano records. It's kind of odd, since two of the concerts I saw by Weston were solo recitals--and I definitely enjoyed those. These more intimate settings work better for me when sprinkled in with tracks by a larger group. For instance, I love "The Last Day" (piano/bass) as the closing track on Self Portraits.

Someone said Weston probably never made a bad album, and that may be so. I would say that some were, at least relatively speaking, ordinary. But I would argue that, taken as a whole, Weston’s output is extraordinarily consistent and impressive. Weston: Mosaic Select—This 3-cd set is the go-to album to appreciate the best of Weston’s early work. Many of the very earliest records are too heavy on “standards.” Weston would soon depend almost entirely on his own compositions, with the occasional inclusion of Monk or Duke (and a couple of African composers). Little Niles (the album) is found here, and that is the start of Weston as a great artist. I believe that is also where Melba Liston came in; she needs to be mentioned in almost every Weston discussion. I also find High Life to be a great album. It’s a bit scaled-back from the African exploration of Uhura Arika, but to these ears it’s the better album. Monterey ’66—Not released until the 90s, and what a find. This is a band in full flight and perhaps the best place to hear Weston favorites Booker Ervin, Cecil Payne, and Ray Copeland…on fire. Portraits of Monk—I find this to be the best of the “portraits” albums. I love, love, love his long treatment of “Functional.” The Spirits of Our Ancestors—This was my first Weston album and it remains my favorite. Almost all the compositions had appeared earlier, but I think this was the capstone of his career. The mid- to large-scale band did everything Randy and Melba could expect of it. “African Sunrise” continues to be jaw-dropping. Volcano Blues—Weston was certainly a man who could perform the blues every which way, and he does that here—usually with a largish, band, but there are a lot of combinations and even some vocals. This one has possibly my favorite version of the much-recorded “Mystery of Love.” Saga—Mostly a mid-size group, but also solo, duo, trio etc. A rather diverse and thoroughly enjoyable record. Khepera—Another mid-size group, with a Chinese influence on some tracks. The opening track, “Creation” is certainly different and even avant gardish. It’s an ambitious and successful album. As you can see, I tend to favor the Verve years, but there is very good (and sometimes great) Weston from every period across six decades. And he finished strong. I really enjoy Zep Tepi (trio) and The Roots of the Blues (duo with Billy Harper). Please comment on your favorites.