xybert

Dexter Gordon - Homecoming

That's too bad. Maybe give it a 2nd listen later. I would be curious as to what did not work for you on the album. Nothing wrong with the album; as much as i've prided myself on the past in having broad taste in jazz i'm just not digging (what sounds like) atonal free improv stuff at the moment. I'm sure my ears will rotate back around again at some point but at the moment it's pearls before swine. Just having another listen now; up to track 5... i could see myself warming to this, but whatever Roscoe was doing on that first track, that was some real nails on chalkboard stuff to my ears. Ha ha, i've seriously lost my edge. Another random point, as much as i think Spotify is great for checking stuff out, i don't feel invested as a listener unless i've purchased the album. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and reactions. No right or wrong here. Nice of you to listen again. I went back to that first track to see what was up with that chalk on a board feeling. Yes, Roscoe does play in some pretty high registers, I think partly to shock (wake-up) and partly to stimulate. Keep in mind the title is "Knock and Roll," so a very dynamic piece might be expected. I actually found that track totally kick-ass, incredibly intense and dynamic. The other tracks take you through a variety of musical ideas, and it's that ideation that attracts me to his work. I came to Roscoe through the AEC, so maybe that acclimatized me to his music. Anyway, it's rare that I do not find something compelling in Roscoe's work, but this latest album strikes me as quite strong. Not everyone feels the same way, I suppose...one man's meat, and all that..... Thanks for taking my comments in the spirit i intended. I didn't want to come off as dickish but at the same time people are always saying they're going to give something a listen and we never hear back from them. I know i do it, sometimes it comes down to best intentions at the time but lack of time or money or enthusiasm get in the way down the line. I'm always keen to hear peoples thoughts on albums i dig, whether positive, negative or ambivalent. Anyway, as i say, no criticism of the music as i can tell it's top notch... i guess the analogy i'll use is that there's an awesome party going on next door and it's obviously a great occasion but i just feel like having a quiet night at home right now. Actually, a better analogy would be that i've been at the party for the last couple of hours and i've really enjoyed it but i feel like i just need some time out so i'm chilling in a quiet corner... eventually i'll feel like rejoining the party.

Not sure about the first track (could be Wynton, achingly familiar, can anyone ID it?) but the other two are Wooley songs.

I feel the same way, which is why I'm careful as to what I preview on Spotify. I tend to check out stuff that's likely to be more mainstream, to avoid buying "the same old same old." Yeah. I actually had a thing where i listened to an album on Spotify recently and thought that it was solid but pretty ho hum. Later i saw the CD in a bargain bin and decided to get it, found myself really enjoying it. Same music; the mind works in mysterious and illogical ways i guess.

Holy crap, i would love to hear this. "Cool story bro" time. I was a typical Wynton disliker until one day i borrowed Think Of One from a friend on a whim, for a laugh. Lo and behold i really dug it. It was highly likely to be a case of right place/right time/right mood/right weather but i was in. I think i thought i was a bit of a contrarian rebel, too: "look at me, i dig Wynton." There was something perverse about it. I ended up having every Wynton CD up to and including Live at Blues Alley (including classical recordings). I also have a large number of his 90s and 00s albums. It helped that there was stacks of the stuff second hand and going cheap at the local brick and mortar. Anyway, i admit to having cooled on Wynton a bit but there's still plenty to like there. I would love to hear Wooley and that fantastic bands take on the material.

That was really nice. My son is turning 1 in a few days, i do find myself getting emotional. I found the combination of animation and music to be really moving.

Really interesting question. I won't hijack this thread but i have a ton of "what was the word on the street?" questions about various eras, artists and albums.

Thanks Paul, i've bookmarked that thread for when i'm ready to take the plunge. That's too bad. Maybe give it a 2nd listen later. I would be curious as to what did not work for you on the album. Nothing wrong with the album; as much as i've prided myself on the past in having broad taste in jazz i'm just not digging (what sounds like) atonal free improv stuff at the moment. I'm sure my ears will rotate back around again at some point but at the moment it's pearls before swine. Just having another listen now; up to track 5... i could see myself warming to this, but whatever Roscoe was doing on that first track, that was some real nails on chalkboard stuff to my ears. Ha ha, i've seriously lost my edge. Another random point, as much as i think Spotify is great for checking stuff out, i don't feel invested as a listener unless i've purchased the album.

FWIW i ended up listening to the Mitchell/Taborn/Baku album on Spotify and can confirm that it's not really my thing at the moment. The usual 'not a criticism of the music' disclaimers apply, i'll need to revisit it when i'm in a more receptive mood.

Matthew Shipp has a new trio album coming out on Relative Pitch. http://www.relativepitchrecords.com/ Also coming out on Relative Pitch sometime in the nearish future, Mary Halvorson's Reverse Blue (w/ Chris Speed, Eivind Opsvik and Tomas Fujiwara). Not sure when it'll be out but it's listed on Halvorson's discography page on her website which is a good place to get a heads up on her upcoming releases. I've been hoping for a Reverse Blue album since digging this clip on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUlxHLDXr4I. A nice mix of styles.

No. It's a vinyl only release on a label called Hardedge from 2005. It features HT playing a lot of solo Hubkaphone with Zooid passages interspersed - almost a concerto for Hubkaphone! I've always wondered about this album, one of the few Threadgill's that i don't have. I can't imagine it being bad, but is it worth me going crazy over?

Every now and again i'll accidentally eat a black jelly bean.

Ordered a copy of this yesterday. The only other Eskelin i currently have in my collection is Premonition, the solo disc from '93, a fine album. Previously i dug The Sun Died when i borrowed it from the library and i've often dug Eskelin as a sideman but i've never really connected with the trio w/ Andrea Parkins and Jim Black, and when ever i get a burst of enthusiasm and look to check out some more of his stuff that's the stuff that comes up and i grudgingly move on. I thought about getting this album last year after being knocked out by Eskelin's playing on Harris Eisenstadt's The Destructive Element but for whatever reason i held off on pulling the trigger. I think this'll be right up my alley at the moment. There's a really interesting, and long, interview with Eskelin from around the time the album came out here: http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/interview-with-ellery-eskelinby-jacob-wunsch.html

I had a similar issue with a Sun Ra disc that i bought from Amazon: two quite large chips at the edge of the CD and matching chips in the CD tray which lead me to believe it happened in manufacturing somehow (CD was new and sealed). The funny thing was the CD still played just fine, but like you i was concerned about deterioration down the line. I ummed and ahhed but in the end requested a replacement.

I've never seen them live, apart from youtube clips, but i really dig them as a group. They've been playing for a long time together, and i find that good things can come from that. They've quietly amassed quite a fine run of records in my opinion (look out for the Mosaic and/or Beauty is a rare Thing style box set in the year 2054!). They're not everyones cup of tea i guess. They definitely have their own thing going on and that's a positive, if nothing else.

I've ended up ordering these two... looking forward to getting them. I've finally gotten around to signing up for Spotify. It is really good for checking stuff out and there is indeed a lot of Dexter there.

Thanks for posting, i've been looking forward to this. Here's a recording of a performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdE49jdfn6Y

Hey, I'm practically firing off 21 gun salutes over here over these Roscoe releases! That first disc is just great. I can't imagine anything coming along even at thid early date, where there will not be the most serious contender for record of the year. Unless it happens to be Part 2. This is getting me interested. Confession time: i've never been a big Roscoe Mitchell fan, in a 'don't love him, don't hate him' kind of way but also in a 'haven't listened enough to have a legit opinion' kind of way. I like the AEOC enough but no where near as much as i should, and the handful of recordings under his own name that i've heard, other than Sound, have not done much for me. However, other than Sound i don't think i've heard the key recordings and at some point i need to do some proper listening, i just haven't felt a huge urge to go there yet. Anyway, i'll see how things pan out new release wise, might look at picking this one up.

Those Black Lions and the other albums mjzee mentioned from '67 could be the go for me... i really dig Gordon in the quartet format and i really dig Kenny Drew. I've seriously stretched my wife's goodwill, budget wise, lately so for better or worse i can't splurge but i'm going to start picking these up slowly. Might go check out my local brick and mortar and see if i can get lucky, do some trades... never even really checked out their Dexter Gordon section before .

I rarely get a chance to see an international artist more than once but i realised that i have actually seen Chick Corea twice! Once as solo piano, once with the Five Peace Band. Had tickets to see him a third time with the version of RTF that had Frank Gambale and Jean Luc Ponty but they cancelled.

Bump. I've really gotten in to Dexter Gordon's music recently. I've only recently gotten in to Sonny Clark and that lead me back to Go, an album i traded years ago. I don't think there's ever been an artist that i've slept on more fully, and there's been many. I'm still only about halfway through reading this thread, but it's been really interesting reading the various opinions. I don't really have anything much to add right now, just felt the need to express what i'm diggin at the moment. I must say i'm really enjoying the Prestige stuff that i've heard... I currently have: Daddy Plays the Horn Dexter Calling Go A Swingin Affair Our Man In Paris More Power The Panther Jumpin Blues I'm planning on checking out his forties stuff next and then some of the Columbia stuff. Might possibly get the Columbia box if it comes down in price. The Steeplechases are the final frontier, although i might look at cherry picking a few before getting in to the Columbias.

Cheers for the recs Steve. I had a burst of enthusiasm around the time Made to Break came out and picked up a few new to me Vandermarks at that time... these things come in cycles but at the moment i'm not really in the market for any new Vandermark. Wishlisted.

Two cats that pretty much embodied 'overrated Blue Note' for me were Dexter Gordon and Lee Morgan. 'Go' was one of the first Blue Notes where it started to dawn on me that not all that glittered was gold when it came to BN, and that feeling that i'd heard the exceptional essentials and all that remained was cookie cutter/heard one heard em all stuff. The Sidewinder... i was never able to get past that corny as hell boogaloo opening track. Our Man in Paris, another tedious 'classic'. All that has changed now and i absolutely love the Dexter Gordon and Lee Morgan Blue Notes that i have heard, including the above mentioned albums. It never ends, does it?

The Made to Break CD on clean feed is really good... i'm a Vandermark fan, although i don't really actively follow him. I absolutely love The Vandermark 5.

Yeah that's happened to me. That endless cycle of struggling through the day and getting my hopes up that something will be waiting for me at home... "If even one of the CDs i'm waiting for finally arrives then life will be okay (while quietly getting my hopes up that everything will arrive... hey, it's all due so it could happen!)"... and then, nothing... but oh that glorious day when it does arrive! Rinse and repeat.