HutchFan

I just finishing listening to Tennstedt's studio M3. Now, I've moved on to his live M5 from 1988 (as above). It's included in this set: soulpope (or others), do you have Tennstedt's live Mahler Third that was released on ICA? I ask because I was VERY impressed with Tennstedt's studio M3. I only heard it for the first time today. And if his live M3 is even better . . . (!!!)

I'm not familiar with Priestess. I'd assumed that it was from the 1980s, didn't realize that it was recorded in '77. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll check it out. Re: McCoy's Sahara... I know it's one of your favorites -- and I know it's a very important record. I think you could make a solid argument that it's the most important record of McCoy's career as a leader. It had a tremendous impact on jazz. ... But that's not what my blog is about. I'm not writing history or criticism or musicology. The personal, subjective angle is what I'm shooting for with my blog. That's why I call it Playing Favorites. ... So I can't and I shouldn't include Sahara on my blog if it's never had the devastating impact on me that it's clearly had on you. I'd be cheating. But it's beautiful that you love Sahara. I even love that you love it. Seriously. I think those feelings are what matter most of all. The cultural considerations and the history and the musicology and all of that is very, very important. Of course it is. I'm not discounting that whole enterprise one bit. But I think the reason that we spend so much time on this forum talking about music has NOTHING to do with the music's historical/objective/broader cultural importance. (All the things that will continue to exist "on the outside" after we're gone.) Nope! We listen and we obsess because we love this music. We listen because of the way the music makes us feel. That's THE THING, right there. That's the center of the target, the bulls-eye. So it's not a game of right and wrong; it can't be. Sahara is in your heart. It's not in mine in the same way. That's O.K. You dig?

Again: Fun to hear how the quintet's rendition of Zawinul's "74 Miles Away" anticipates Weather Report. On other pieces, the connection isn't immediately obvious. On this cut, it is.

Ugh!!! R.I.P.

Please don't say "dandily" -- ever. Even if it's right, it's wrong.

Weekly Recap - PLAYING FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1970s 04/07/20 - Gil Evans – Svengali (Atlantic, 1973) 04/07/20 - Airto Moreira – Fingers (CTI, 1973) 04/05/20 - Woody Herman – Giant Steps (Fantasy, 1973) 04/05/20 - Ian Carr with Nucleus Plus – Labyrinth (Vertigo, 1973) 04/03/20 - João Donato & Eumir Deodato – Donato/Deodato (Muse, 1973) 04/03/20 - Cecil Payne & Duke Jordan – Brooklyn Brothers (Muse/Elemental, 1973) 04/03/20 - Eddie Henderson – Realization (Capricorn, 1973) I will say this: Do not sleep on the Labyrinth! Norma Winstone is the secret sauce. The same could be said of Airto. Any recounting of "Jazz in the 1970s" must acknowledge the heroic deeds of these two extraordinary musicians. So... What say you?

Oh yeah.

Getting my daily dose of Vitamin "T".

This is the line-up that made the first two (and best, IMO) Soprano Summit LPs, both for the World Jazz label. R.I.P. Bucky Pizzarelli I really like that one.

NP:

This music -- Barbirolli's first recording of Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony -- is very special.

Yes. If I could jump in too... Thinking about that super-diverse crowd at the Cannonball concert and his broad appeal ... Part of the reason that rarely (if ever) happens anymore is the responsibility of marketers and segmentation (fragmentation?) of musical genres. Everything is divided and sub-divided the further sub-divided, so it can be marketed more efficiently. You see this in every genre. Not just jazz. ... But it's also partly the fault of listeners -- people like me! (in the past) -- who "bought into" those categories (literally and figuratively). At the most simplistic level it becomes a question of "valid" jazz vs. "not valid" jazz. ... A subtler form of marketing also happens in the books, magazines, etc., in the process of "jazz canonization." Some music & musicians are in, while other broad swathes are left out -- based on arbitrary and largely formulaic ideas of what constitutes good music. My 2 cents.

R.I.P. Terrible news.

Listening to this again today: This recording of Rachmaninov's Six Moments Musicaux will rip your heart out. It's even better than Berman's DG re-make -- and that's saying something!

First listen to this new-to-me disc: Sibelius is wonderful.

Arrived in the mail this evening: Sounds great. I suppose he's playing with the idea of praying over the Christ-child in a manger scene. But, yeah, it is strange. ... Especially considering the title of the album. He's got the whole David & Goliath thing going with that. But that doesn't really tie in with the "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed" angle. Schnitter's mixing up his biblical allusions in all sorts of ways.

More Lazar Berman: Murray Hill licensed the recordings in this 4-LP set from Melodiya. I'm listening to Berman's take on Rachmaninov (Six Moments Musicaux, Op. 16) and Scriabin (Fantasy, Op 28).

Sorry to hear this news. What a lovely woman she was. Along with her James Bond and Avengers roles, I'll always think of her as one of the baddies in Columbo. The episode is titled "Dagger of the Mind" (1972). My wife is a Columbo-phile. (I guess I've become a bit of one too.) So we've watched every episode many times over. This is one of our favorites. R.I.P.

A run of Michel Petrucciani today:

Yes! He was a tremendous musician. I haven't gotten 'round to ordering the live CD from Karlsruhe. But today I'm going to pull some Petrucciani discs from the shelf and give 'em a spin. Thanks for the prompt.

LP 2 - with brother Tommy, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Clark, et al from October '62 Glorious. Crazy that music from this session sat on the shelf until 1978!

Maybe so. Don't mean to bag on Jamal one bit. ... The image has just always given me a touch of the heebie jeebies. But perhaps I'm just not attuned to its subtleties.