randyhersom

Enemy is back, I grabbed Highlife and Last Exit. Highlife is much more akin to a Santana album than a jazz album, but still quite good. I already have Guitar and Ask the Ages and they are great places to start. Two new Marc Cary albums, I downloaded and am enjoying Focus, nice piano trio. Two new George Garzone's. Alone is quite mainstream, The Fringe in New York somewhat more adventurous but still plenty melodic, with vibes added to the usual sax, bass and drums. Very nice. I have to organize my collection in order to find which Funkadelics I don't already have.

On the Ayler box, Disc 2, the second of three versions of Spirits is also missing from eMusic.

The Revenant Ayler box is now available, albeait with the dreaded "One or more tracks from this recording are unavailable at this time". A comparison of track lists reveals that the only music missing is: Pharoah Sanders Ensemble w/Albert Ayler January 21, 1968 in New York City 5. Venus/Upper and Lower Egypt from disk 6. I went for a booster pack and am grabbing the music before they change their mind. I have decided to pass on the interviews for the time being. I already own the Joe Lee Wilson on Candid they just added and like it. Also picked up the Ron Thomas Trio - Doloroso. Have wanted to hear more Ron Thomas since his great performance on Pat Martino - Live. That was on electric piano, but Doloroso is all acoustic and very good.

PS - What did Maupin record with McCoy Tyner?

If I see it on eMusic I'll grab it and post.

I've got to mention the great Harrison Ridley Jr. at Temple University. Not a working musician, but communicated his great love of Ellington and the other greats with a down-to-earth tone. He did a show concentrating on pre-1950 jazz on the Temple radio station every Sunday. His being a college instructor without a high school diploma was downright inspirational. His favorite dialog, repeated more than once. Student: "That's old music" Harrison: "It's new to you"

I'm listening to Dennis Gonzalez - N.Y. Midnight Suite right now, sounds good. D/Led the Julius Hemphill Hard Blues and found out afterward it was recorded after Julius's death as a tribute, haven't listened yet.

Jazz in Paris has wandered over from Universal to Sunnyside and started appearing on eMusic. I grabbed: Mary Lou Williams Don Byas Slide Hampton Sonny Criss Eddy Louiss Lucky Thompson

Abdullah Ibrahim - Solo piano arrived today. I grabbed it and have listened through once. Nice. The style is medium to slow tempo with churchy rhythms and a sense of profundity. Burn without pauses between tracks - the tracks flow into one another.

You know, if I listen real close I can tell an alto from a tenor about 80% of the time

Wonderful set, I'm realizing I really don't get enough listening time to recognize tones, so I end up working mostly from playing style. 1. Familiar, but can't place it. Max or Blakey on Tympani? Nice overture type track to kick things off. 2. Got to be Mal Waldron on piano. Jackie McLean? 3. Nice Piano trio with a Bill Evans - Scott Lafaro influence. The number of people it could be seems pretty large to me, so I'll go with Evans, but with a post-LaFaro bassist. 4. Renee Rosnes with the European big band? 5. Farmer - Golson Jazztet? 6. Sounds like Art Pepper to me. 7. It's got that Hawk/Ben brawny tone, Coleman Hawkins comes to mind here, would have to be pretty late. 8. Johnny Griffin is coming to mind just a bit more than Dexter Gordon. 9. Totally in the dark here. Milton Nascimiento just because I don't think it's Joao Gilberto. 10. Getz with Kenny Barron? 11. Another stab in the dark. George Wallington? 12. Shirley Horn? 13. Grant Green? 14. Stanley Turrentine? 15. I think Bird's in there somewhere, second soloist not the first. 16. Was Getz/Gilberto recorded live?

I have heard and enjoyed Songs and Lullabies with Fred Hersch. I'll have to put it on again.

Long time Terje fan here. Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away is my favorite.

Yeah, I noticed you and he were both on Dennis Gonzalez's Little Toot.

1. Mary Lou Williams - Pale Blue from Free Spirits (Steeplechase 1975) Mary Lou piano, Buster Williams bass, Micker Roker I remember when this album came out it sounded so contemporary for someone who had been recording for 35 years. It still does, and yes, Buster Williams is all over this one. 2. Oregon - Yet To Be from In Concert (Vanguard 1975) Ralph Towner piano, Glen Moore bass, Paul McCandless oboe, Colin Walcott percussion. This group along with Keith Jarrett was responsible for me branching out beyond rock to jazz when I read reviews in Rolling Stone and checked out the albums. Although Ralph Towner's 12 string guitar playing is what it love most about Oregon, this piano feature somehow got to be my favorite Oregon piece. There's a great deal of virtuosity managed with a gentleness that doesn't draw attention to the playing, just the music. Soaring was a great word to describe the theme. 3. Sumi Tonooka - Seriously Speaking from Taking Time (Candid 1990) Sumi piano, Craig Handy tenor sax, Rufus Reid bass, Akira Tana drums. I like this more than many of you did. Sumi is a fine Philly pianist who I got to meet during my time at the college radio station, then a couple years later she played a magical set in a Philly bar on Race Street in duet with a singer who may have been Rachelle Ferrell. I remember reacting to Gary Thomas playing sax with Herbie Hancock much as Jsngry did to Craig Handy here, listening to him hold back more than play. I don't reall feel that way about this track. Subsequent listening convinced me that there are lots of tracks that would showcase Sumi's playing better, but I like the Maiden Voyage influenced composition and the way Handy lets go in his solo. Google reveals that she's coming out with two albums soon, one with her own group and one co-led with Erica Lindsay. 4. The Visitors - The Juggler from In My Youth (Muse 1972) Earl Grubbs tenor sax, Carl Grubbs alto sax, Sid Simmons piano, Stanley Clarke bass, John Goldsmith drums. Maybe the most bright and optomistic piece of music ever to exhibit such a direct Coltrane influence. The Grubbs brothers were Naima Coltrane's cousins and fine players in their own right. 5. George Adams and Dannie Richmond - Jooboubie from Hand to Hand (Soul Note 1980) George Adams tenor sax, flute, Jimmy Knepper trombone, Hugh Lawson piano, Mike Richmond bass, Dannie Richmond drums. I first came to know this composition as Jaboobie's March from Handscapes by the Piano Choir. I'd love to have that on CD as my LP is no longer playable. When I heard this one I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with the tune. 6. Nathan Davis Evolution from Two Originals originally Happy Girl (Polygram 1965) Nathan tenor sax, flute, Woody Shaw trumpet, Larry Young piano, Jimmy Woode bass Billy Brooks drums, Beginning a kind of subtheme here with a track from BFT's favorite obscure albums, which makes it a lot less obscure in context. It was chosen for the dramatic quality of it's theme in order to lead into the next track. 7. Don Grolnick - Taglioni from The Complete Blue Note Recordings, originally Weaver of Dreams (Blue Note 1989) Don piano, Randy Brecker trumpet, Barry Rogers trombone, Michael Brecker tenor sax, Bob Mintzer bass clarinet, Dave Holland bass, Peter Erskine drums. More drama from a moonlighting session musician, and a highlight in the discography of many of the sidemen. You wouldn't be prepared for this if you just looked at the names in the band. 8. John Coltrane - Living Space from The Complete Impulse Recordings of the Classic Quartet (Impulse 1965) John Coltrane soprano saxes, McCoy Tyner piano, Jimmy Garrison bass, Elvin Jones drums. I first heard this great and beautiful piece of music as it was first released, with harp and strings sweetening added on by Alice Coltrane afterward. That was a great piece of music I'd like to hear again, but I'm quite happy to hear it as Trane left it. Coltrane's need and will to create music was greater than most anyone the world had ever seen, only Charlie Parker comes to mind as a comparison. 9. Michael Bisio - Golden Blue from Undulations (OmniTone 1996) Michael bass, Ed Pias drums, Rob Blakeslee trumpet, Jim Nolet viola. When I first heard this I thought "a lot of people followed Trane, but damn few followed him here". Here was Living Space which I immediately thought of as I was hearing this. I originally meant to have this precede Living Space, but I started to hear Taglioni there so I left Bisio in the unenviable position of following Trane on the bill. He performed admirably. A note on sound. Tracks 3 and 9 came from Emusic downloads burned to CD. They sound fine to me but many consider them inferior so be advised that the official CD releases may sound better.

I had posted a couple of clues at one point, but I think I'll post answers tomorrow and let the next BFT get underway. I have greatly enjoyed reading your comments.

Thomas Chapin - The Knitting Factory albums are up, now on a new label. Sky Piece is wonderful. Both Rahsaan Roland Kirk's on Hyena. I'll check out Lafayette Gilchrist after my downloads refresh.

Does The Fringe still gig around Boston? The trio featuring George Garzone seems to have been a pioneering influence in the 70s

10. Cab Calloway. Minnie The Mooche DAMN! Not enough room!!

The Charles Gayle is solo piano, all originals according to tomhull.com (found via google)

I googled and found out that the Charles Gayle is solo piano. The reviewer have both the Ran Blake and the Gayle a B+ but seemed to like the Gayle more. It was a Village Voice reviewer on tomhull.com

I listened to both disks a few times each. I have to admit I was doing other things too. One tune jumped out at me - Ted Curson's Quicksand. I didn't think it was the Tears for Dolphy version but I managed not to realize it was from one of my all time favorites - The Trio. I also heard a theme I thought I recognized as Trane and jumped to the conclusion that it was Joe Lovano doing Central Park West. Oops. Nice hard bop groove through most of it. Very enjoyable. (excuses, excuses) If I wasn't getting my own BFT together I might have been able to give it more attention.

I've recently listened to Trio 3 - Encounter (Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille) and enjoyed it much. There are new Charles Gayle and Ran Blake discs on Tompkins Square that are apparently available on eMusic before the discs ship. If anyone beats me to the download I'd love to hear comments on either.

Kenny Barron Live at Bradleys and The Perfect Set Trio 3 (Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Anrdew Cyrille) George Crumb Madrigals and Makrokosmos III (classical)

Three latecomers are headed our way, so I had to take down the clues for now. I'll repost them after the final three have had a chance to post.