randyhersom

The hit single was nowhere near the best song on Joan Osborne - Relish, which I highly recommend. Later releases have struck me as less inspired.

Although our tastes are different, our budgets are pretty similar. I grabbed all the Prestige I could burn during eMusic.com's unlimited downloading days, and have stayed with them since the monthly download limits were imposed. I got my first Mosaic, the John Patton Select for Christmas and am seriously pining for the Curtis Amy, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to pull that off.

Weather Report and Shakti at Philadelphia's (well, Upper Darby's) Tower Theater.

Lots of new Leo Records and Leo Lab releases Some Highlights: Cecil Taylor Unit Live in Vienna Evan Parker: 50th Birthday Concert, Needles, Alder Brook Sun Ra: Disney, Live at Hackney Empire Marilyn Crispell For Coltrane Braxton (mostly Ghost Trance) Ivo Perelman Lauren Newton As a bonus, the avant stuff tends to have fewer tracks, making it an excellent value.

I very much enjoyed the Howard Johnson. The similarity with McCoy Tyner's groups was inescapable - I would have guessed McCoy if he didn't show up again later.

I like her on Howard Alden's Take Your Pick, particularly when they cover Herbie Nichols' The Gig. Her first Blue Note had some nice things on it, I haven't pulled out my cassette of that in too long.

Enough chatting, Jim. We wanna know what track 6 of the BFT is!

90%?? You want us to tell you which take it is, Jim?

The album of Nielsen choral works on Chandos is definitely worth hearing.

2 has also been guessed correctly, and a couple others have had the same name come up multiple times. Bonus 2 is a sure thing. On 8 and Bonus 4 I consider it very likely that the correct artist has been guessed, but haven't been able to verfiy it by listening. Bonus 3 is not on Spring Heel Jack's Live or Amassed.

Yes, Jim, it's a nice Hampton Hawes album. Diaz doesn't solo, but he also doesn't interfere or rock it out, just comps tastefully. Diaz also made some contributions in computer programming. He co-wrote the Clipper programming language in the late 80s.

I'm a member right now, since eMusic went to the monthly allotments. Much good music to listen to, but the sound breaks up a lot during prime time listening hours. Burn's are 99 cents a track, more than I'm willing to pay. I nabbed the good two and thre track albums during a half price burn sale a couple years ago, then dropped the service. The best sign up deal is to buy the three month CD at Best Buy.

I decided to play my Mark Shim Blue Notes in search of 1-2. No luck there. The tenor clearly is capable of playing fast with great precision, allowing a tricky theme like that to come off.

I'm more likely to put on Allman Brothers and Hendrix. Yeah on Spirit, I had a crazy live album, Spirit of 76, that I'd love to see on CD.

I second that motion, any objections?

My second shot on 1-3 was closer, but not quite right.

I don't think Larry Young recorded as a sideman on organ with Woody Shaw. He played piano on Cassandrite.

If it isn't from Unity, it probably isn't Larry Young. Trumpet, tenor, organ and drums isn't a real common lineup. If I weren't standing by my guess, I'd seriously consider this possibility

Major congratulations, Jim.

1. My first thought was Gunter Hampel and Bobby Naughton, but I think this is a little more steeped in Blue Note tradition than that. Marty Ehrlich was the next name to come up. I don't know that he has recorded with this instrumental lineup, but I'm liking that guess. 2. Unusual piano sound. Maybe later Andrew Hill, like Dusk. 3. Almost certainly him. Either this or this. It's the first of those two, I was already picking up the tenor when I realized there was no guitar. 4. I'm thinking Flora Purim and Airto with Chick Corea and the original Return To Forever. If it's a later band they sure are wearing their influences on their sleeve. 5. Reminiscent of Arthur Blythe's Lenox Avenue Breakdown, but I don't think the instrumentation matches, I don't rememebr bari in that band. I definitely thought of Hamiet Bluiett at the beginning. I'm going with Henry Threadgill. Earthy, funky and just a little out. So far this test is very much to my tastes. Sangrey will dig it. 6. Sounds like seventies Woody Shaw to me. 7. The general vibe is Miles Second Quintet, but I don't think that's Miles. VSOP with Freddie Hubbard? Not sure I've heard Wayne as down and dirty as this solo gets about halfway through. The tenor switches to flute and blows that whole idea. Then the trumpet comes in much more reminiscent of Miles, as if to taunt me. 8. I like the sax's entrance. I'm having trouble picking which instrument, much less which player. First time through i was guessing Chick Corea, either Origin or live with Joe Henderson. Second time through, Clifford Jordan made more sense, but I'm far from sure. Not Joe. 9. Picturesque piano. Pretty sure it's this. Possibly the best track ever made by this very fine player. We sure like to play him a lot on the BFT. 10. McCoy Tyner comes to mind during the opening ensemble, specifically the band with George Adams. When I get to the piano solo I'm not thinking McCoy any more. The solo is either an extremely agile bari, or a tenor who sticks the lower range of the instrument. None of the high register ululations that George is known for, but I'm going with Don Pullen-George Adams. Second listen I'm pretty sure that the composition is McCoy's, but not his band. That's got to be a bari. Not Pullen-Adams then. Cecil Payne? 11. Nature Boy. I'm thinking that's a woman with a particularly deep voice, but that's not a certainty. It doesn't sound like Jimmy Scott. Quite possibly someone I haven't heard. Nature Boy usually isn't heard in this seventies-ish sort of arrangement. Cassandra Wilson? 12. Now this is this. I know it in an earlier version. I was sure it was the same artist but had to look up the album that it was re-recorded on. Bonus 1. Very persistent bowed bass. Henry Threadgill fits here too. I doubt they're both right, but so far I haven't come up with a better guess. On second listen I decided that an album I haven't heard in a long time, Charles Sullivan's Genesis was a better guess. Bonus 2. I know the composition right away but I need to hear the horn to know which version. Ah, a clarinet. It's this. Bonus 3. Way out lots of horns and drums, perhaps some electronics in the beginning beat. Spring Heel Jack perhaps, or maybe a European group like LJCO or Instabile. I'm going with Spring Heel Jack. Bonus 4. My first guess here was Jemeel Moondoc and the Jus Grew Orchestra, but it seems just a little tighter than I remember Spirit House being. At times reminiscent of the Mingus Carnegie Hall date, but the theme certainly isn't Perdido, and I don't think it's C Jam Blues. I love the combination of tight ensembles, swing and edgy playing here. Now I'm thinking it's one of the Mingus tribute bands, say Mingus Dynasty?

Don Grolnick - Medianoche Cameron Brown and Here and Now - Here and How! Owen Howard - Sojourn Hawkwind - Space Ritual BFT 8

Anyone who covers Sun Ra's Nuclear War won't hear any beef from me about sampling jazz covers.

The eagle has landed in Western NC. Sweeeeeet. Keeping my mouth shut for nine days will be difficult, but I'll honor the wishes of the compiler.

Throughout most of its history, a majority of classic jazz has been out of print. In 1976, about ten years after its release, Larry Young's Unity LP was a priced rarity. Those of us who have observed the scene for many years are quite impressed, nearly shocked, at how well Fantasy has been doing at keeping things in print. Blue Note does not do nearly as well, but may enhance the collectability of their products through such policies, and encourage the buy-it-while-you-see-it mindset. Verve is sitting on thousands of hours of prime American musical tradition which has very little chance of getting back in print under their stewardship. I'd like to see the Smithsonian get a hold of the Fantasy jazz catalog, either keeping it in print through on-demand CDRs or making it available for download.

... and I just picked up Balladyna on CD on another label.