Milestones

Tonight at a barbecue restaurant I heard a different version of "Squeeze Box by The Who. At least it sounded like Daltry doing the vocal, but this version has an actual squeezebox (prominently featured) and overall something of a cajun feel. It's a very cool rendition. Anyone know where it comes from?

I don't know, it seems to me that Tommy is kick-ass on the uptempo numbers on Sunset.

Interesting parallels to Hank Jones--both from Detroit, both very tasteful in their playing, both accompanying a who's who of jazz greats. Wonderful stuff. I'm glad both got to work extensively as leaders in the latter parts of their careers.

Certainly have to say Sunset and the Mocking Bird sounds marvelous, from the driving opening tracks to the beautiful treatment of the title track.

I'm just realizing what a great player he was. If we only had his famous work with Coltrane, Rollins, Montgomery, etc...that might be enough. Of course, he recorded with many more than that: Hawkins, Art Pepper, Grover Washington, Gerry Mulligan, and many more. I've read he recorded with Miles as well, though I don't recall that. But most importantly, I'm hearing how great he was on his later work--usually in trio settings. Here you really get to hear Tommy Flanagan and his amazing taste and style. I was really blown away by his trio version of "Sister Cheryl" with Ron Carter and Tony Williams (the composer). There are some really fine mainstream pianists out there who probably don't get enough credit. Others that come to mind are Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, Red Garland, Mulgrew Miller. But I don't think I have any problem regarding them all as legends.

Any thoughts on Bose speakers? I think it's Bose 2 series III that runs around $100. I've been using traditional Bose speakers for 15-20 years and have liked them. I'm hoping they make a good PC product.

That could be. The machine is old enough--probably bought it more than 20 years ago. However, it's still fine for playing regular CDs and apparently all my older burned CDs.

I've been having a strange problem lately where my newly burned CDs won't play on my old Sony CD player--my best sound system. They play fine in my car, and seem OK on portable players. I thought it might be an issue with burning as data CD rather than audio CD, or that I was recording at too high a speed. But it is definitely neither of these. It's happened only recently on about 5 CDs. The problem is occurring with both TDK and Memorex discs.

Yeah, I gave him a thumbs up for appearing on the Weston records; he's also on Spirits of Our Ancestors. Randy Weston knows percussionists.

I've been digging bit more into the Shirley Scott stuff and feeling I've been too dismissive. I think my next Mr. T. will be Hustlin' with Shirley Scott and Kenny Burrell. I enjoy the stuff with Jimmy Smith, both early and late. I'm also liking the gospel song posted here. Yeah, Turrentine is naturally suited to this kind of thing.

Anyone know anything about this half-assed thing being improved with Windows 8.1?

Thanks for all the glowing comments about Stanley Turrentine. It's cool to have this sense of discovery and/or rediscovery of a major jazz figure after 30+ years of listening. It would be great to have more records of Turrentine and Grant Green together.

I feel like I've been sleeping on Stanley Turrentine. I've known him mostly in the context of small groups with Jimmy Smith--stuff I've enjoyed, but not work I would call stunningly great. I really enjoy his contribution to Burrell's fabulous Midnight Blue. I'm not so big on the organ records with Shirley Scott, nor am I enamored of the big band record Joyride. However, I've been listening to quintet/sextet stuff on Blue Note, a little less funky and more in a straight-ahead bag (usually no organ). Maybe part of it has to do with the company: Lee Morgan, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Curtis Fuller, Herbie Hancock, Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, etc. Seems like really good stuff, especially my main focus so far--the record In Memory Of. Feel free to add your views on the original Mr. T.

I'd like to hear Herbie do a true unified jazz record again. River was better on the vocal numbers than the instrumentals, and Gershwin's World was too diverse for its own good. Other recent records don't even try to incorporate jazz in a major way.

Ellington is one of my favorite pianists ever. Listen to "Solitude" (Money Jungle), "Ad Lib on Nippon," and "Single Petal of a Rose."

On a side note, whatever happened to Hancock as a jazz composer? It seems pretty much relegated to the Blue Note period and possibly the early fusion days. The Hancock I've picked up over the last couple of decades almost entirely acts as "tribute": the Quintet and Quartet records, Gershwin's World, The New Standard, Directions in Music. These are all but devoid of his compositions, especially new ones.

The jazz stuff was decent enough. I never was big on Herbie in his funk/pop/r&b mode. Still, I could handle everything EXCEPT Snoop Dogg.

I'm interested in recommendations on his flute work. It seems pretty stunning to me, pretty much on a par with Dolphy--and the late Yusef Lateef is another great one. I've been digging the all-flute album I Talk with the Spirits and would like to hear more stuff in this vein.

Exactly my point...Trane's career was objectively very short in years (in essence from 1955-1967), and thus even a span of 2 or 3 years seems long. Not to mention that there were a ton or recordings. It is indeed mind-boggling how much of his work was recorded. There is no shortage of "classic quartet" music, especially if we include the live stuff; but the entirety of Coltrane's output is staggering.

I have to say I'm a little surprised there is so much love for these Trane recordings, years before the "classic quartet."

R.i.P. Not an artist I followed closely, but it seemed like an interesting career. I've liked what I've heard: Live at Pep's,The Three Faces of Yusef Lateef, and The Blue Yusef Lateef. I have one of the "Tenors" records too, though never did listen to it much. In terms of eclecticism and the facility on many instruments, he reminded me a bit of Roland Kirk. In terms of the oboe, is there anyone who matched him? I also love his flute work, which I feel ranks with that of Dolphy and Kirk--in other words, at the very top.

I do feel that a lot of what Trane appeared on in those days was of the loose, blowing variety. Nothing wrong with that. It can produce great results; it can also produce mediocre results, but that can happen with a well-planned record too. What I'm hearing sounds of pretty similar quality, and perhaps the key differences are in who appears on the dates--Waldron, Byrd, Garland, Burrell, etc. It is astonishing to me how much Coltrane recorded in the late 50s. There were many prolific artists then, but can anyone else match his amazing output of leader + sideman dates?

What are the names of the three box sets? I know one is called Side Steps.

I do have a fair amount of the stuff: Soultrane, the record with Burrell, Lush Life, various tracks found on compilations. Some have commented on the Miles Davis material, which is quite a bit of stuff on its own--and I have all of those. I see we have some major fans here!

I'm interested to hear opinions on this work--albums and individual tracks. I do get the feeling that this period is neglected. I know Trane appeared a great deal as a sideman and there were a lot of blowing sessions. But I think there were certainly some records where they aimed higher--and hit the mark. I personally like Coltrane with a 3-man front line on most tracks and Dakar--also 3-man, but featuring two baritones.