JSngry

Sgt. Snorkel Sheila Buxley Sonny Fuzz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Daugherty_%28musician%29 I had a Bay Area trumpet playing buddy back in the day who loved this album. I could never understand why, really, other than maybe the uber-clen ensemble work.

http://www.mlbdailyd...o-pitch-in-2013 Gee, really?

Rene Bloch Ray Bloch Rory Block

Freeze the kicker, eh?

Dempsey Wright Jack Dempsey Billy Jack

Back on track at last... DISC ONE TRACK ONE - Not disciplined enough to kept from reading some commentary and not others, so just let me say that I would have never guessed this one. Very nice, especially the piano playing. TRACK TWO - Well now! TRACK THREE - Not as mundane as a causal listening might suggest...is that an oboe in there? Either that or a really reedy soprano. I'm going oboe. And that secondary them sounds like a "hee-haw" so I wonder if the composition is somehow donkey or otherwise "Western" themed? Trombone player sounds like Jimmy Cleveland until he doesn't. The whole thing is very controlled, but I sense more for programmatic reasons than commercial ones. And then right at the very end, somebody changes to tenor to play lead w/trombone, which had up until that point only been heard in solo..I don't know that there would be this much subtle variations and textures if the aim was just commercialism. The way the drums come in and out, that's anti-commercial right there! Nice cut, one that doesn't ask you to think too much, but rewards you when you do. Not an easy task, that. TRACK FOUR - Sounds more "Latin" than "jazz" in execution, although vice-versa in concept...and weirdly enough sounds in many parts like some hymn we sang in church a lot back when I was a kid. Just a wild-assed guess - Tito Puente featured on vibes? Another one where the arrangement is controlled but highly variated. (I know, the word is really "variegated", but I like "variated" better). TRACK FIVE - Another one where I couldn't help but read the commentary...my guess before then would have been early Herbie Mann, which could be linked to Fathead, which could then be linked to James Clay. So it wouldn't have been that wrong, would it? Anyway, for some reason, this is one James Clay session that I've never picked up on. .probably should remedy that. TRACK SIX - Had high hopes for this one once they got past the pretty basic modal-y noodling of the intro, seemed like the composition was going to go some different places, but...not really. That tenor tone is very familiar, kinda reminds me of Dave Young or Paul Plummer on te old George Russell sides, that stone-faced sobriety thing, but I don't think it's them, and I draw a blank past them. Very competent overall, and definitely sets a mood, but overall seems just a little superficial for my tastes, at least at this time. TRACK SEVEN - Santana, from Wings Of Delight, with WayneAndHerbieAndRonAndTony. Santana talks about Coltrane a lot, and I know he means it, but his stuff seems more out of Pharoah than Trane, some very basic-but-cool changes and melodies. Not a problem for me, becuase the guys's always been more about "feel" than "depth", and that's not a problem for me, never has been. I remember when this record first cam out, me and a buddy were somking togheter listening to it, and I said about Wayne on one tune, "does it sound to you like Wayne's kinda not really digging too deep on this?" and the guy laughed and said, "hey man, he's just being WAYNE SHORTER, it's that time for him", and yeah, I suppose it was, but...this was after everybody was saying Where Has Wayne Gone and all that and yet this was the first record that had me wondering the same thing. And really, it holds true for HerbieAndRonAndTony too, they're all sort of role-playing. But in spite of that, Is still like the record. They might be role-playing, but they're all honest roles getting played, so hey..Santana. Saul Goode like that. TRACK SEVEN - I've never cared much for Johnny Smith, and this is not changing my mind. Even a little. Kudos for two discs worth of good, and often enough great, music, Al. Sorry I couldn't follow along with the 4-sided Double LP thing, but I've been having to use a computer w/o a functional CD-ROM drive. Had to send the DL link to my daughter, who then burnt the two discs. But I dig the concept, as well as most of the music. Thanks again!

Spike Milligan Spike Lee Spike Dykes

The Squidoo article by Leah linked to on Preston's site is a most interesting read in its own right: http://www.squidoo.com/Gene-Shaw

Especially if. Or if he wants to go back to his M-Base stuff, there's a core of local players who could really nail that stuff with enough lead time. I'd rather hear that than some straight-ahead "jamming", if you know what I mean.

Depending on the cover and the band, I might not mind hearing Greg Osby in a Denton club on a Tuesday night...

Wow. With his band or a local group?

Wow...great stuff.

Wayne looks like he's had work done. And I say that strictly as an objective comment. I still wonder about the jacket though...everybody else is in shirtsleeves & Wayne's wearing this jacket like he's cold. I can sympathize with that, because, hell, I''m just 57, and I've started being cold more than usual.

...and if he's a little rusty, how long would it take him to shake off that rust... But jeez, dude, if all this gets aligned right, you will be an underground hero for sure. The Man Who Rediscovered Marvin Cabell. And expect a little bump in sales as a result. Maybe not a HUGE bump, but Accent On The Blues was a "cult favorite" even back in the '70s, at least with people I knew. Some of that was because of the presence of Blood Ulmer, but there were those, myself included, who found Marvin Cabell's contributions...spellbinding. You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

No more calls, please. We have a winner.

Sorry to hear of this. RIP.

Mobley's gotten more praise in the years since his death than he got while he was alive (John Litweiler's epic Down Beat article/interview notwithstanding). People GET it now, much more than they did then, and will probably continue to GET it more and more as the years go by. He'll never be an "icon" in the Armstrong/Ellington/Parker/Coltrane mold because....that's not what he did. But what he DID do is certainly more appreciated now than it ever was. He'll always be an "insider's favorite" because that was how his life and career played out, but the "critical spotlight" shines exponentially more favorably on him now than it ever did. And yet... If the argument is going to be that Hank Mobley was under-appreciated in his lifetime, that's always going to be an argument that has no satisfactory resolution, because his lifetime is over. The time to make THAT right has come and gone. And if the argument is going to be that Hank Mobley can never get enough praise, then that's an argument that by definition is never going to be won, because never will never be anything other than never.

Phil Niekro, y'all, Phil Niekro!

If anybody else is interested, when I called to order, DG said they had two copies of the Spaceship Love album in stock. That's now down to one, but.. I like buying those local-pressing Chicago jazz albums from them. I got both E. Parker McDougal sides, one or two Tommy Jones things, some other things. It's like they're finally packing up and leaving home, but it's a good home they're going to.

http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2013/1/11/3866648/milton-bradley-domestic-abuse-charges-trial-jail-time

"art", not art. I still very much believe in art...but not so much artists, and especially not "artists". And put an upper-case "A" on any of it and.....I'll be back after while, ok?

Found a copy of "Out At Last at DG. They describe it thusly: Good enough for me. I ordered it.