duaneiac

Recent listening: Nilsson, that is. There are some days when I think "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City", the song he wrote to be used in Midnight Cowboy, is every bit as good as that other song he recorded (but did not write) that was finally selected to be used as the film's theme song. Then there are days when I think it's actually better than that other song. Today is one of the latter. Currently listening to: (Edit to add -- Yikes! I just read Scott Yanow's one paragraph negative review of this CD and, man oh man. was he ever totally off the mark! Granted, that is not a first for him.)

Some performers were better suited to the LP format, where they could be listened to in 15-18 minute doses. I had to stop listening to this after track 16 (out of 21) on this CD -- just too much of a trad jazz overload! Spirited playing recorded in decent sound, but a little bit goes a long way. Disc 1 of 2.

A 1991 "live" recording at (the long gone) Kimball's East in Oakland. The liner notes say it was recorded and produced by the late Bud Spangler, so I assume it was originally used for his radio show that featured recordings (many made by him) of SF area jazz concerts.

Does Blazing Saddles count?

Just Side 2, which has 4 tracks by the MJQ from this "historic" 1957 concert.

A 1972 album on Rod McKuen's Stanyan Records label. Not her best, but there are some fine tracks including her covers of Bobbie Gentry's "Hurry, Tuesday Child", Laura Nyro's "Buy And Sell" and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun". Jean Turner may well be my favorite Kenton band singer. I love June Christy, Anita O'Day and Chris Connor, but I mainly listen to the recordings each of them made after their time spent with the Kenton organization. There's just not that much Jean Turner out there, so every little track is welcome. Five of the tracks on this LP (including one by Ms. Turner) ale listed as being a "previously unreleased master".

Disc 2 of 2.

Listened to this one earlier An odd mixture of headliners from a concert recorded 40 years ago on Aug. 13, 1977.

Recorded in 1964 in Berkeley, CA (where I happened to buy this disc at Amoeba Records yesterday). Lightning Hopkins appears on just over half of the tracks, including one bonus track the two singers made in 1961. The music has a very loose feel to it because as Ms. Dane explained in the liner notes, she was recording a session in front of an audience of invited friends/guests one afternoon at the club she was playing at and had no idea the Mr. Hopkins (who was to be the performer at that club the next week) would be in the audience. So she had not even planned on singing with him that day, let alone having rehearsed anything with him. Still, the music works and it's fun to hear the two of them "wing it" more or less.

Wow! That's stunning news. I have not kept up with the band for many years, so I had not even heard that he was ill. May he rest in peace. The music of Steely Dan was a constant presence in my youth and Aja will always be a desert island disc for me.

The autographs are not part of the album art, but this was the only image I could find. This is apparently a 1974 reissue of this 1964 album -- I would have preferred just the musical setting pictured on these covers, but there is a church organ style accompaniment added to the "four boys and a guitar".

Wasn't that 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival also the one where some scenes for Play Misty For Me were shot?

Asleep At The Wheel wins "Best Album Title of the Day" with this one from 1985. Johnny Gimble guests on several tracks and Willie Nelson and the Roomful of Blues Horns also appear on one track each.

A terrific album from 1975. The two are joined by bassist Chick Domonico in a bare-bones and very entertaining recording. Ol' Ern croons old songs by Floyd Tillman, Don Gibson and Harlan Howard, but also 3 Kris Kristofferson songs.

If there is one drawback to this album, it's that it was recorded in 1979, so in accordance with the times, Sir Roland Hanna was forced to play "keyboards" instead of straight piano.

And now a little Turk Back when I first moved to the SF bay area in 1980, Turk Murphy's band still had a weekly radio broadcast on a local station. Those seem like ancient days now . . .

More Watters The tracks on this album were recorded at Lu Watters nightclub, Hambone Kelly's, between Dec. 1949 and Feb. 1950. As on the 1963 album above, both Wally Rose and Bob Helm were on board.

Best pic I could find of this 1973 reissue on the Homespun Records label of this album: Back in July I listened to a CD of a concert recording of Lu Watters playing with Turk Murphy's band in 1963. That concert was a fundraiser for a campaign against a proposed nuclear power plant Pacific Gas & Electric wanted to build in Bodega Bay, right along the San Andreas fault. This album was recorded about the same time, with the proceeds from its sale also going to that campaign. Lu Watters had not touched a trumpet in years and as he wrote in the extensive liner notes (mostly about the battle against the plant) included on the reissued album about a jam session/concert/protest held at the site of the proposed plant: After a twelve year layoff. some very queer sounds came out of the trumpet when I sat in with Turk's band. But, as Louis used to say, "It was a gas!" -- the band was stomping, the crowd was with it, and Turk and Helm sounded better than ever. The occasion brought back memories a quarter of a century old when the three of us would sometimes drive to one of San Francisco's cliffs and jam all night long. That last part is a beautiful image. This was to be a one-off project for Lu Watters and he did not return to his music career. I guess it's an indication of how forgotten he is today even in the SF music scene that I found a still sealed copy of this LP for $1.95.

Wow! That was just an amazing line up! Anybody here remember going to that year's fesitval?