JSngry

Toto Rosanna Rosanne

A very...interesting album, and a favorite as well. One of the less hackneyed "horn with strings" album thanks to Oliver Nelson's scoring, which takes just enough left turns at just enough critical junctures to subvert the hell out of the format.

Ah, the joys of Alamac!

Turtlehead Tim Duncan Cleanhead Eddie Vinson Fathead David Newman

Vanessa Del Rio River Phoenix Gato Barbieri

Candi Staton - Fro Bowl Hall Of Fame, NO doubt! I see some signs amongst the young folks my daughter's age that the Fro is thinking about making a comeback. I'm a fan!

Wally Pipp Gladys Knight All The People In The History Of The World Who Have Ever Ridden On That Midnight Train To Georgia. WHOO WHOOOO!!!

Must be a language barrier...to call somebody's sound, their voice, a "gimmick" ...that seems like a profound disrespect and dismissal to me. Or maybe where you come from, gimmicks are the order of the day and are no big thing to get defensive about. I know they are here, if you watch TV. But I don't evaluate Jackie McLean the same way I do Maury Povich.

It's "Fine And Dandy" changes, which were pretty popular to blow on back then, so between that and Woody's version, I think it was "in the air".

Is there ever fair weather in Seattle?

Are you looking for a letter of recommendation?

You "like it rough" as in you like to experience it through a filter, or as in you really like it to happen to yourself? Either way, there are ample opportunities for indulgence.

And Harmony remained a Columbia budget label until, when, the 70s? 80s? Did not know their origins, though. Interesting, the continuity of lineage purpose.

No! That would explain all the Asian Singles ads I get here. Figured it had to be something logistical.

It's still April 30th here. How come you guys get May 1st already? Is that what they mean by "progressive"?

The music (Continental-label stuff, I believe) is good enough (the Maxine Sullivan with strings stuff is more than a little useless for my wants, needs, and dining pleasure...otoh, there's a J.C. Heard session w/Budd Johnson & Jimmy Jones that tickles several fancies quite nicely), but the real treat is the liner notes by Dan Morgenstern, one of those long, fact-rich yet conversational ("When Mary Lou Williams appears in New York these days...", "I shouldn't have to tell you about Jimmy Crawford...") things that might take longer to carefully read in full than it does to do the same to the record. None of that that dull, Jack Webb "just the facts" yawn-inducing stuff that is so popular these days (yeah, I'm talking to you Bob Blumenthal). Good stuff.

It's some pretty good stuff. 70's material played hard.

You kids today, with your fancy "venues" and pianos that people even think about taking care of. Spoiled rotten, the whole bunch of you are!

Nah, I take care of my stuff. Besides, I like mid-60s McLean best, that's when the voice really matured and blossomed, imo, once he got over the overt Birdiness. But that was how folks did things then, New York, 50s, altos, it was Bird all the way. That's why the tone mattered so much, it was a real difference, a signal that Jackie McLean had more in mind than being just another Bird-Guy, if he could just get there. And,as it turned out, he did. Took him a while to get there, but it's not like he was some button-down type working an office gig, ya' know. Life was...happening, not just music. Hell, there's times in some of the earlier year where he was barely making the changes & had to rely on some pretty basic tools. But that's part of growing up. There's beaucoup slickass mofos who navigate changes effortlessly their whole life and never move into a sound of their own. To have one straight through from the beginning to the end, that's not a gimmick, that's a treasure, a blessing!

I know where you're coming from, I think..it took me a while to hear those too. The thing that clicked for me on those was that in a lot of ways, those songs are lyrically just updated/throwbacks to doo-wop and vaious other "sweet" forms of soul music, not the uber-hip urbanisms of the up-tempoer stuff. War (who I know you were checking out recently) was into a bit of the same thing, a real foot in the doo-wop-ish type sweetness. Once you figure it out (and it took me a while to do so, to not just hear it but feel it, the whole "sweet innocence of love" thing translated to adulthood is something I didn't intuitively grasp, ya' know...kinda had to have it learnt upon me...), it makes for a nice balancing of flavors. The reason I bumped it was because I was listening to their FM broadcast at WLIR (Ultrasonic Studios?), Hempstead NY, from May 1974 (PRIME time). If you haven't heard this... well, use the internet. I think most of it can be heard on Youtube, btw. Nice finish. Speaking of bumps (and the possibility of maxing out on same...):

I've had the LP set since back in the day, thanks. I'm old, remember?

Well, that's got fully nothing to do with his tone being a gimmick, does it now. Whole 'nother issue, that one. I will say this, though - I don't know where "up there" is (or who puts people there), but there's very few players whose...purposefulness I've admired over the years more than Jackie McLean's.

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little...aggressive on this. Don't want to get uncivil and/or impestuous (sic). But...tone is so very personal, and to accuse an obviously serious musician of "gimmickry" in something so fundamental to their expression just strikes me as waaaaaayyyyyy off the wall. Not liking it is one thing, but geez...

Besides, his tone did evolve over the years, as did his intonation. But it always kept its basic character. "all the time and for no particular reason"...are you serious?