HutchFan

Disc 2 of 2 - originally released as High Flying with The Ike Isaacs Trio + previously unreleased cuts

Such a magnificent record.

Now streaming via YT: Only Francy Boland's name is on the front cover (because he composed & arranged all the music), but this is actually a Clarke-Boland Big Band album.

I've ordered that disc, based on your recommendation. While I was at it, I ordered the Felicity Lott disc from the same series.

Next up: and more KB:

Sunset in Toronto:

and

O.K., I gotcha, Jim. Maybe it's a song that I've taken for granted, that I just know because it's always just been there. I'll listen again. I still feel like the "everyday-ness" idea (or what Neruda calls "impurity") is also part of Lester's equation. Or at least it is for my understanding of his music. In other words, many things have great value that other people ascribe little (or even no) value to because it's perceived as ordinary -- even when it isn't.

Interesting I think Lester's version is even trippy-er than the Flamingo's -- but also, clearly, a homage.

I'm OK with the Milestone CD, but those who prefer vinyl might want to investigate -- because the music is damn good.

Lately, I've found it difficult to muster the energy to write in the evenings after spending all day writing corporate copy for my paid gig. Ugh. Back in the day, I could easily write all day and then do my own thing late into the night. Not any more. The energy just isn't there like it used to be. The good news: Two weeks off from work coming shortly. I'm hoping to do some back-filling then. My replies above re: Lester Bowie will become the gist of that write-up. As far as additional recommendations: EVERYTHING by Lester's Brass Fantasy is worth hearing. Along with I Only Have Eyes..., I'm especially partial to Twilight Dreams: Another 80s recommendation for Charlie Palmieri: A Giant Step (Tropical Budda, 1984). Even though it's much more well-known than Mambo Show, I think Mambo Show is the better record. Wynton's J Mood is very good. Probably my second favorite by him. My interest in his music falls off steeply after those first few records. ... The gist of my post about Wynton is that he's in a strange position in jazz. If a "regular Joe" on the street can name one living jazz musician, it's likely to be Wynton Marsalis. (Just like they might know one classical musician: Yo Yo Ma. Not coincidentally, both recorded for media behemoth Columbia.) But, ironically, it seems like people who actually listen to jazz largely IGNORE Wynton's music -- except for maybe the stuff from the beginning. He's much more well known for his conservative musical politics/polemics than he is for his music. And that's because his music has become less and less interesting over time, IMO. EDIT -- To add some thoughts: Writing about Lester Bowie and Wynton Marsalis has made me think about an essay I read a long time ago by poet Pablo Neruda, in which he asserted that poetry must be "impure" -- that is, mixed up, wrinkled, down in the messiness of life. Here's what Neruda says: Let that be the poetry we search for: worn with the hand’s obligations, as by acids, steeped in sweat and in smoke, smelling of the lilies and urine, spattered diversely by the trades that we live by, inside the law or beyond it. A poetry impure as the clothing we wear, or our bodies, soup-stained, soiled with our shameful behavior, our wrinkles and vigils and dreams, observations and prophecies, declarations of loathing and love, idylls and beasts, the shocks of encounter, political loyalties, denials and doubts, affirmations and taxes. The holy canons of madrigal, the mandates of touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing, the passion for justice, sexual desire, the sea sounding—willfully rejecting and accepting nothing: the deep penetration of things in the transports of love, a consummate poetry soiled by the pigeon’s claw, ice-marked and tooth-marked, bitten delicately with our sweatdrops and usage, perhaps. Till the instrument so restlessly played yields us the comfort of its surfaces, and the woods show the knottiest suavities shaped by the pride of the tool. Blossom and water and wheat kernel share one precious consistency: the sumptuous appeal of the tactile. Let no one forget them. Melancholy, old mawkishness impure and unflawed, fruits of a fabulous species lost to the memory, cast away in a frenzy’s abandonment—moonlight, the swan in the gathering darkness, all hackneyed endearments: surely that is the poet’s concern, essential and absolute. Those who shun the “bad taste” of things will fall flat on the ice. In my recollection, the final line is translated as "... will fall flat in the snow." And like that image better because it implies a sort of suffocating purity and whiteness, rather than the hard flatness of ice. But I'm not sure which translation is more accurate. In any case, I think Neruda's ideas here are as relevant to jazz as much as they're about poetry.

This morning, it's been Abdullah Ibrahim for me: and

Anyone who enjoys Latin Jazz should check out that Mambo Show record -- if you haven't already heard it. Like his work with the Alegre All-Stars, Cesta All-Stars, etc., the music director is Charlie Palmieri, a vastly underappreciated figure, IMO. ... Plus Mongo, Chombo Silva, Barry Rogers, and all the rest. I only discovered it while poking around, doing "research" for the blog. The record (undeservedly) seems to have a low profile even within the world of Latin Jazz, much less the bigger Jazz world.

Jim, you obviously have lots of ideas and strong feelings on the topic. Maybe you could share them. I've written enough. OK.

Could you elaborate?

The three albums I posted today were my choices, not Dan's. My take on Lester's take on the Flamingo's "I Only Have Eyes for You"??? I think Lester is demonstrating that our ideas about "high" and "low" art are all turned around and backward. I think Lester is showing us how the ordinary materials of life can be a gateway to grand and cosmic vistas. But people get so hung up on labeling things that they miss out on the transformative power of things right in front of them. So Lester is tweaking our "ordinary existence," so we can be re-introduced to it and re-reminded of its power. (That's why "Brass Fantasy" is perfect name for his band.) Bowie is doing the same thing that Ives did. Or Sun Ra. Or Hendrix. These artists are all different, of course. But what they all have in common is that they show us how the seemingly "old, ordinary" stuff of existence can be mind-altering and fuel a trip across the cosmos. Of course, that's just how I've made sense of Lester's music, how it has impacted me. Sounds like you have ideas about it too. What's your take?

I intended no comparison between Bowie & Marsalis. It was just a coincidence that the two records were recorded around the same time -- so they both show up in the survey around the same time. That's it. With my blogs, I have continually reminded folks that the records I've selected represent music that I enjoy. It's a very subjective thing -- and I have no interest in making cases for "greatness" or "importance." ... That said, it's not hard for me to understand how Bowie's music has a sort of life-transforming power that you've described, Jim -- and the other guy has made a couple good jazz records. The fact that they're side-by-side is just a function of the "flat"/non-hierarchical way I've built the survey. I hope that makes sense.

Totally agree with you guys. I have nothing but the DEEPEST respect for Lester -- and his Brass Fantasy makes cosmic, awe-inspiring music. The way that Lester loves and transforms what some folks regard as "ordinary, everyday" music actually reminds me -- at times -- of Charles Ives. And I don't think that's a coincidence either -- since both of them were steeped in brass-band music from childhood and both used that as a starting point for musical exploration. Obviously, there are big differences between them as well. But I only bring this up to point out that many folks think that Ives' music is some sort of joke or prank. And those folks don't understand Ives at all, the scope and fundamental seriousness of his conception. I think the same could be said of Lester Bowie's music.

Last week's https://jazzinthe80s.blogspot.com entries, posted today: - Budda All Stars* - Mambo Show (Tropical Budda/Machete, rel. 1990, rec. 1985) - Wynton Marsalis - Black Codes (from the Underground) (Columbia, 1985) - Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy - I Only Have Eyes for You (ECM, 1985) * The Budda All Stars are Charlie Palmieri (p, producer); Mongo Santamaria (cga); Johnny Rodriguez (bgo, cowbell); Nicky Marrero (timb, perc); Jose "Chombo" Silva (sax); Barry Rogers (tb); David "Piro" Rodríguez (tr); Ray Martinez (b); Adalberto Santiago (vo); Ray De La Paz (vo); Yayo "El Indio" Pequero (vo)

My favorite Marian McPartland album.

I hit another Toronto record store yesterday -- Playa de Record on Spadina. Picked up these LPs: French RCA version

I bet they sound terrific!

Flora in full flight!

Real Gone Music reissue IMO, they were at their best in the first half of the 1980s. Album-wise, that covers: Telecommunication Cascades Rapid Transit Flame Spectrum Just like Flame & Spectrum (in my post above), Milestone reissued both Cascades & Rapid Transit on a single CD. Also, you might want to look into José Roberto Bertrami's solo discs from around this same time: Blue Wave and Dreams Are Real. These two are every bit as good as his records with Azymuth. Maybe even a little bit better.