JSngry

Hey, different strokes. For me, Hank with Miles at the Blackhawk is the most boring playing he ever did (or for that matter, that any Miles per-retirement Miles bad ever did, although In Concert will give it a good run, even if that one's a boredom springing from a lack of cohesion rather than an ability to coast at a really high level, like on the Blackhawk sessions). Not that I believe the old, too-easy "Hank was a bad fit for Miles" canard, I mean, Hank with Miles at Carnegie Hall was on, but that Blackhawk stuff, geez, I keep trying to look at it as something more than lesser music from a great group of players, and it ain't happened yet. It's kinda like sex with a super hot chick who's putting on a show for you, looks good, feels good, she's into it at some level, sure, but the longer it goes, you notice that she's looking at the clock on the wall behind you, and then...what do you do then? Keep going, no doubt, but it doesn't feel the same now. That how the Blackhake stuff has always hit me, hot band, great act, all the right motions being gone through, but there's that matter of the clock on the wall behind you... But that's just me. I prefer Hank the later he goes and the quirkier he gets, which by the end is for some uncomfortably quirky, or, for others, boring...I don't understand how anybody could hear something as what strikes me as bare-boned exposed-nerve bloody as "Summertime" from Breakthrough as boring, but some do. Individual perceptions are what they are. We are engaged by that with which we are engaged, eh?

Running Fred Flea F. Lee Bailey

Slow Learner Ike Turner Jerome Kerner

Not boring.

Andy Griffin Andy Griffith Andy Griffiths

Visually...wow, stunning. Musically...there are moments when she does some shit with the phrasing that are WTF? in the unflattering way, or so they begin, but dammit, she makes it all come out right at the end, and when as after the tenor interlude on "Corcovado", one is left with the impression that, yeah, she not only meant to do that, but she meant for you to wonder if she meant to do that, question her at your own risk. "It Might As Well Be Spring" in in particular, that's an adventure, the band is like seriously, wtf? do you know what you're doing, but it all comes out at the end, and never once does one hear a scramble or panic on her part to make it so. Dom, otoh, is like a sheep-dog, keeping the rhythm section in line, saying just hold it down, it's going to come out right. Really, I get the impression of somebody singing in English while still thinking in Portuguese. That doesn't explain the pitch of course, but pitch is just pitch, it's only bad if it's wrong, and if the phrasing is right, well, the pitch is not necessarily wrong as much as it is color. Singer? I don't know...and really don't care. We got plenty of singers, always have. And really, if we must still play "Girl From Ipanema", let's start playing it with the rhythm of the Portuguese lyrics. At least sometimes.

Here she is fronting a hyper/over-hyper/obnoxiously-over-hyper-perhaps "Brazilian fusion" band and you'd think, hey, this so not ain't gonna work, but damn, no she's not turned into a belter or a demonestress or anything, but she is in the pocket every second and is not at all overwhelmed by the energy. Still the barely-there voice and pitch that threatens to leave at any second, but her time, more specifically, her pocket, jeez, I'm kinda like whoa, where did this come from, I guess it was always there or what? If she was really the weakling that she's so often been accused of being (an assessment which I have sometimes entertained but never finally embraced), that busyass backing band would send her time out the front window, but nope, she's in there. So, finally, perhaps, testosterone, essential to life, but just as or more likely an enabler for and of oversimplification, misunderstanding, and not so harmless dismissal of differing forms of genuine strength. Pontieo, hey.

He did "After Hours" pretty well on Rhodes...then again, I never knew that Rhodes was "wrong" until long after I knew better. Seriously, though, I tend to not recommend the Cadet album because it's such a clusterfuck sonically, but Brand New, The Raven Speaks, Giant Steps, and Thundering Herd make a nice streak of a band gathering steam and finding its own unique voice, and Broadbent is involved as either player on contributing arranger on all of them.

Just for grins (and for a perhaps new perspective, if "today's" Broadbent is all you know), look for the Fantasy albums that Woody Herman made with Broadbent on the band. That was a pretty good band, and he contributed in a lot of ways.

One more big strong rec for The Jumpin' Blues. Ca-RAZY.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the Tower in Vegas. Not as deep as the one on Sunset (but what was?), however, a lot of Japanese imports and grey-market LPs. A. lot. Even cooler, though, was the used store in Vegas, the name of which I do not remember. These guys were open 24/7, and had a ridiculously deep inventory for an indie all-used place. This was 1981-82. Apparently people did bring their records to Las Vegas in case they needed extra cash. That would be me today, no flashy Rolexes or bling, just a bunch of records. And of course, all of them worth about 50 cents each in a market like that today...assuming that there is one, which I doubt there is. But yeah, get paid on Sunday morning at 5 AM after the last show in the lounge, what else is there to do than go to the used record shop and/or go eat breakfast?

Miles does not perform on this number...why would he? That's pretty much exactly where he didn't want to go.

Wow. I've got the old 6 LP box...maybe the vocals don't appear so concentrated over 6 LPs, as opposed to 5 CDs. Or maybe they mostly come early. Anyway, that's a lot more than I remember! Aren't they just "casual" vocals, though, like, hey, we need a chorus of this to fill in? Not, like,,"vocal features", where the whole record is built around getting to and from the vocal? Funny, I really don't recall there being that many. Obviously they are, but the playing is what's stuck with my memory. Cream of the crop at the top of their game! Not that I mind Hamp singing a chorus, to me, he's like Louis in his singing being a natural extension of his being. Not nearly as nuanced or resonant a voice as Louis, not by any means, but he swings, puts the notes in the right places, always. Never sounds "strained", just as in his playing (although geez, that guy played, ya' know? Whereas he "sang"). No matter, that's still a lot more vocals than I'd have guessed. Lots more lots.

Sid Nathan & Mary Grace Canfield Doug Flutie Randy Newman

Funny...I've not listened to that Hampton set for years, but other than "Ring Dem Bells", I have no recollections of the vocals at all. But the playing...oh my god, yes, I do remember the playing! The Shaw set, otoh, I was about to suck it up and pay for that, but then saw that there were no vocals, especially Helen Forrest vocals. So I'm letting that one slide. Mileages varying, etc. Then again, I'm a sucker for hats.

I was afraid that was going to be it.

...damn... I was in that store once, in 1982. Spend twice the time & four times the money I had budgeted. On the one hand, that’s a LOT of clutter. On the other hand, that’s a LOT of music. And on either hand, that’s a LOT of people leaving the house and buying recorded music.

Is it still your birthday today?

Maybe I was projecting, but those "reversions" were what interested me most about them...it seemed very...fuquitous to me, that whole "dissent through submission" thing I mentioned earlier, like, this is what we have to work with, pretty much all we have to work with as far as "authentic source material", so this is what we will do with it. Again, this is just me, but I tend to appreciate the "how" of things getting done at least as much, sometimes more, than the actual thing that is getting done. Past the "how" lies the "why" and that...that's where things can get...involved. Certainly possible, almost certain actually, that this leads to a lot of projecting/whatever, but the decision to embrace/not embrace any music is anything but objective. Anyway...I should revisit this band. Apparently I've cleared my collection of their output, but for sure, I remember the version of "Mack The Knife" that Steve references...strong stuff. So...rebuying some things. Again. Never again will I purge. It's cheaper to keep her, so to speak.

FBI?

Are you old yet?

Very much liked them back in the day. Sorta went off my radar post-Iron Curtain, perhaps the/an ironic cruelty of freedom and/or the built-in "Western" fetishization of "victimhood", but now that you bring them up, I should probably revisit. There's something about the core attitude of basic defiance through superficial acceptance that still appeals to my gut, like, ok, life has given us lemons, we'll just make key lime pie out of them, deal with that.

Giorgione George Garzone Gorgeous George

Sorry, bad memory, it was two songs, not three - "How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me" & "I Can't See For Lookin'". I do remember going over this all at Shawn's crib one night. There's four additional tunes that could conscientiously be added to any further release of the original album. Side note - here another cover for Recapitulation: