duaneiac

Discs 1, 2 and 3 of 4.

Event 4 just wrapped up minutes ago. While Newton's Cradle may not be the flashiest event, this one had a very exciting finish. The season is now one quarter complete and my Crazy Cat's Eyes are still in contention for a medal, but there's a long way to go. That's literally the case next week when the event will be the Long Jump.

Disc 1 of 2

Song selection ranges from "Hawaii Five-0" to "My Girl" to "All Along The Watchtower".

Disc 1 of 3.

Tab Smith is one of those guys who, since I have only a couple of discs featuring him, and since I only listen to those discs infrequently (i'm sure it's been years since I last listened to this CD), each time I do listen to him, it's like making a new discovery each time! "Hey, this guy's good!".

and then for something completely different . . .

July 4th has to include some Louis Armstrong Disc 1 of 3. Recorded in 1959/60.

Event Number Three of the 2020 Marble League: Funnel Endurance.

Disc 1 of 2, recorded at Newport on July 7 and into the early hours of July 8, 1956. The studio "retakes" recorded on July 9th are on Disc 2. The Monk CD I listened to earlier had as bonus tracks 2 songs performed by Thelonious Monk with the Ellington Orchestra at the 1962 Newport Festival. Duke announced "Monk's Dream" as being Billy Strayhorn's arrangement. No announcement was made regarding "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are". Were these one time only performances or had Monk's group and Ellington's band done one of those multi-city package tours together and this was something they had already road tested? Did the Ellington band record either of these tunes, perhaps turning up on one of the "stockpile" releases that have come out throughout the past 30 years? I kind of wish one of Ellington's Reprise era albums had been an Ellington Plays Monk one, a mix of big band and small group tracks and most definitely an Ellington quartet performance featuring Paul Gonsalves playing "Ruby, My Dear".

It's Newport time! Or it would be if things were like they used to be in the good old days of just 6 months ago. Tracks 5 - 9 included here were recorded at Newport on this date in 1959.

Barry Harris is 90 and Sonny Rollins will be in 2 months! Eugene Wright is 97! And as many of us recently learned here in another thread, Hal Singer is 100!

I just read the sad news today that Ms. Sloane suffered a stroke last week. I'm giving this recording a spin for the first time; it was still sealed, still with the Tower Records price tag on it, so it must have been one of the (many) items I snapped up during their going-out-of-business sale years ago.

Disc 1 ("The Main Show"') of 2. Recorded in August of 1958, with Lou Levy, Max Bennett and Gus Johnson.

Discs 1 & 2 of 2. It has been ages since I have revisited this Box Set, so I just pulled out the first 2 discs. I haven't re-read the booklet, so I don't recall why the songs are sequenced the peculiar way they are. "Different Drum", for example does not even appear until Disc 2, Track 9 and is immediately followed by 7 Nelson Riddle sessions tracks which is then followed by 5 Spanish language songs. An odd juxtaposition.

Anybody else remember this 1976 comedy series? I guess it was meant to cash in on the success of George Burns' Oh God! movie. Carl Reiner played an angel who came to earth each week to reward a different guest star who had done something good. I swear I watched 2 or 3 episodes (and there were only 13!).. Ooops -- I just now Wikipediaed to find out Oh God! was a 1977 film. So I wonder if Carl Reiner learned anything from the story structure of this failed TV series that he took along to the making of that film.

If you are sick and tired of waiting for human major league sports to return, it's not to late to join in the fun and excitement of the Marble League 2020! I am totally Team Crazy Cat's Eyes!

I guess my reading on this was quite different. I have no pro/anti George Benson agenda, so let me try to explain how I interpreted the above statement when I read it here. Charlie Parker improvised in a sophisticated manner Clearly nothing derogatory there. It seems that Mr. Benson holds Mr. Parker's musical thinking and ability in high regard. that wasn’t appreciated by every jazz ear at the time Of note to me is that he did not write "by every ear at the time", meaning the general music listening audience of the day, but "by every jazz ear" meaning even folks who were devoted to this style of music in particular -- heck, even folks who were in the business of playing & producing this style of music -- could not appreciate the music Mr. Parker was creating right in front of them, that's how far-thinking & sophisticated it was. He broke the mold AKA "destroy jazz".. After Charlie Parker (just as with Louis Armstrong), whatever jazz was before, it wasn't any more. Charlie Parker was, as the hot phrase used to put it, a paradigm shift. Jazz 2.0. New & improved. but he broke it in a way that enabled those who study his work Emphasis here on study. Don't just pick up a few licks or perfect a kick ass solo that will wow an audience every time. Get in there, day after day, again and again, listen and study what Charlie Parker was doing and saying in his music, where his music was coming from and where it was going. Study also means taking that information and internalizing it, adding in one's own thoughts, interpretations and experiences so that one can . . . put it together in a new, beautiful manner, with a whole new identity Create something new and personal, hopefully something that speaks to your own world in your own time. Whatever the merits of Charlie Parker's music may be, his music is set in stone. It's recorded and not going to change. The music created by musicians today is still alive, a work in progress, able to build and expand upon the groundbreaking work of Charlie Parker, to inspire or entertain audiences now. And doing that will create a whole new identity for jazz, as we have seen with musicians who have been influenced by Charlie Parker also bringing into jazz other musical influences, say from different religious traditions, or rhythms from cultural backgrounds in Cuba, Eastern Europe or Japan, for example. Would any one argue that, for better or worse, the identity of jazz in 2020 is far different from what it was in 1940? an identity that brought us to where we are now. And I think we’re in a pretty good place I have no reason to assume Mr. Benson is using the imperial "we" here, so I assume he is talking about the world of jazz in general. He's saying that the state of jazz as a musical art form -- an art form built upon and expanded from the revolutionary musical contributions of Charlie Parker, mind you -- was in a pretty good place at the time he said/wrote that statement. Perhaps it was or wasn't, but that was his opinion.

! Now playing:

If ever there was an album with an appropriate title! This album isn't just a musical experience; it's a world unto itself and it's Jobim's world, baby, we just listen to it!

Keely Smith had a career resurgence in the UK following her album of Lennon & McCartney songs, which landed in the UK's Top 20 in early '65. She toured and made several TV/radio appearances in Britain. Some one had the bright idea of teaming her with one of the hottest talents in the UK at that time, Tony Hatch. He was a Keely fan and wrote a song designed for her. Ms. Smith recorded a demo of the song, but the powers that be at her record label didn't care for it, so Mr. Hatch was free to take that tune to another of his favorite singers, Petula Clark. Included here on this CD reissue of Ms. Smith's final Reprise album (released only in the UK) is her previously unheard demo version of "Call Me".