Milestones

That's some tough stuff. On #2 it sounds like Turrentine on tenor, but I'm not saying that with a high level of confidence. I would agree that #10 sounds like Ellington; I hear Hodges in there, or someone doing quite an imitation. I've heard tons of Duke, but I've never heard this. #12 could be Coleman Hawkins or Ben Webster, but probably not. Too much of a rhythm and blues approach. I'm thinking people will be guessing wildly on your selections.

I'm interested. I have no idea how to set it up, so I will need all the guidance I can get.

I'm not sure whether this is the right place for the discussion, but I'm wondering if anyone has been checking out YouTube music. It's a streaming service a lot like Spotify. It's really set up exactly like Spotify, and the library seems huge--probably on the scale of Spotify. It has the "premium" aspect as well, but so far I have no interest in that. So far I've not heard a single commercial, but then again I usually stop after 3 tracks. It seems to me that the audio quality is superior to that of Spotify.

Maybe they should cut the mics on Cher and Reba and let Wayne play.

That would be something! But come to think of it, some of those unions on the Sunday Night show (with David Sanborn) weren't all that far off from that.

It's interesting to see that Wayne Shorter is going in this year. I hear that even Wayne was shocked. As far as I can tell, his old boss, Miles Davis, was never an honoree. So who are the jazz artists? There's Dizzy, Sonny, Herbie, Ella, Count. Who else? Not sure how the election process works, and not sure how many on this forum attach any importance to the Kennedy Center.

Indians took down the Yankees today and thus split the series. I'll take that. On to All-Star festivities...does anyone really understand the Home Run Derby? The rules seem to change every year. And how are the participants selected? This year, it looks like 7 out of 8 are from the NL. What is up with that?

Well, Desmond is obviously impossible. I'm quite happy with the choices of Frisell and Lovano.

I'm happy to see Paul Simon featuring these big jazz names for his record. It's something that should happen more often. Back in the day, you would see this from Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell (I'm not thinking so much of guys like David Sanborn as session musicians). Things may be changing, and that's for the best.

And no "My Favorite Things"? The world would be a lesser place.

How could these recordings have been lost for so many decades?

The length of any individual track is its own issue. Someone mentioned 6 minutes as about the ideal (or even max) length for jazz tunes. That is way too limiting for jazz. I'm sure we've all heard 8-10 minutes jazz pieces that sounded intolerably long. But we've also heard 20-minute masterpieces. However, I usually find it hard to get past 20. I don't find it appealing when every track on a CD runs 15-20 minutes. There are exceptions, such as Coltrane at the Vanguard; but even here there is more variety in song-length than you might think.

The thing is, the double album was a real rarity. I suppose Blonde on Blonde was the first studio double album (rock), though I'm not 100% sure. It seems that most great groups did it once (not counting live albums)--think Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Elton John. I don't recall Bowie ever releasing a double. My first jazz album was Bitches Brew, a double studio LP. It's a classic, but not many artists are named Miles Davis.

In a sense, they are too long nowadays. You wonder if Kind of Blue and Brilliant Corners would be quite so classic if they ran to 70+ minutes. It's not uncommon for me to break a CD into three listening blocks, even the really good ones. Maybe some of this due to being conditioned to not simply original album length, but SIDE length. And few people today can muster a long attention span even for the things they love.

I think Donald Byrd's A New Perspective would fit into this category, as well as some other individual tracks by Byrd such as "Pentacostal" (as above), "Chant," and "Great God."

No love for Herbie?

Quite by accident I came upon Herbie Hancock on Austin City Limits. I've always liked that show, though I have not kept abreast on it much in several years. I cannot recall ever seeing a bona fide jazz artist on the show. Herbie sounded pretty good with a quartet, though he mostly worked the funk and hip hop elements. I guess a new album is coming out (first in about 8 years, I believe), and once again it has quite a share of singers/guest stars. I've not been too enthused by this approach, though Gershwin's World was pretty impressive and River had its moments. Clearly, Herbie has nothing prove anymore, but I'm sure many feel like I do and would welcome material that recalls his Blue Note period.

Others artists have liked the tune. In my collection I have versions by Joe Henderson, Steve Lacy, and Steve Khan.

I've been hearing Joey Baron for a long time and always liking his work, without necessarily thinking he's among the elite percussionists. But at this point I'm thinking he is. He sounds mighty creative to these ears, and his presence always raises the quality of a session. For those who like Masada, well there must be dozens of recordings. I think he's on every John Abercrombie record of the 21st century (at least the ECM stuff). He has appeared with a lot of my favorites--Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Jim Hall, Lee Konitz. Some nice work as a leader too, where he has featured Frisell and Blythe. A force to be reckoned with. Your thoughts and recommendations....

Volcano Blues, Khepera, Highlife, Zep Tepi, The Storyteller, among others. It's usually the final track, whether recorded live or in the studio.

Not to sound snarky, but you need to obtain a few more Weston records. A couple of the more memorable versions are found on Volcano Blues and Khepera.

These are some of my favorites: Wanton Spirit (with Haden and Haynes) The Art of Conversation (w. Dave Holland) Night and the City (with Haden) Also, check out sideman work with Ron Carter, Jim Hall, Gerald Wilson, Steve Turre, Jimmy Owens, etc.

Candido? So he is 96-years-old and still performing on stage?

Tom Cat is a great Lee Morgan record, and it sat in the vaults for 16 years. It took 26 years for Grant Green's Matador to get an American release.

Yes, and Side 1 (at least) sounds absolutely like a Miles Davis record. I might well argue that Basra (Pete La Roca) is the greatest Joe Henderson album on Blue Note.