JSngry

Full Frontal Beltre Love on display here: http://www.lonestarball.com/2011/1/6/1917579/jeff-sullivan-on-adrian-beltre#storyjump I was struck by this little tidbit: Adrian Beltre is, or at least on one day, was, a far, far better man than I could ever be.

psssstttt...here's a dirty little secret that nobody wants you to hear......the overall popular market for more "creative" forms of jazz always benefits from being part of a bigger overall jazz market, not a niche market of and for itself. So even if the stuff that's getting taken to the street in high-visibility format is not to the "purist's" liking, it at least puts stuff on the street instead of leaving the streets empty and vacant. Truthfully, I think that Stanley Turrentine made some of his best records for CTI. Freddie Hubbard & Milt Jackson too. Definitely Hubert Laws. Not every player has the strength of personality to stand up to being surrounded by a strng production (and not all strong productions serve eery player equally), but those who do can end up with some very distinctive additions to their recorded legacy. I mean, in what other genre do audiences demand that their "star performers" only adhere to a rigid bare-bones presentation? A great jazz voice is just that -a great voice. And like any great voice, the distinctiveness is highlighted, not erased, by being presented in different settings. There's plenty of CTI that I don't care for, but there's some things in there that need to be acknowledged as what they are -high-quality presentations of distinctive jazz voices in settings designed to reach audiences beyond the hardcore. Let's see - distinctive voices, high-quality production, reaching/creating a larger audience...I really don't see a problem with that if it's done right, and often enough it was. It's not the only way, nor should it be, but, really, if you can do it - and do it well, why shouldn't you?

Guy Warren Warren Giles Gilles Peterson

The Apostle Paul The Little Bitty Baby Jesus The Blessed Virgin Mary

THE IASW Box is by far the most revelatory of the boxes for me.

And then when Benny Maupin went through all those changes ad spent six months to write six years of Elton John's lyrics for him, I mean, wow, it's all right hear! I never lissen aah my momma that good!

Opossum O Henry O'Leary

Another thing that's interesting (at least to me...) is how little "rock" there is on this alleged cornerstone of "jazz-rock". Yes you have electric pianos and bass, and sure McLaughlin is there on electric guitar (although not sounding tonally anything like a rock guitarist), and yes, there are bass vamps (but you got that in A Love Supreme, a.o. too, right), and the drums play off of and with that, but they don't play like rock drummers with a rock feel, and oh by the way, the keyboards sound more like a free jazz group than anything else and textural bass clarinet on a rock record, say what? and neither Wayne nor Miles play anything particularly different than they were playing live on this and/or the rest of the live book, so... If you want to hear a Miles "jazz-rock" album, check out the first side of Jack Johnson, or many parts of Live-Evil. Bitches Brew came along at a time when it could be labeled "jazz-rock" just because it had bass vamps and electric instruments. But a year or two (or less) either way and the same music would befuddle people like On The Corner did in its time. The again, if that Lost Quintet tree ever gets a legitimate release, it'll all make perfect sense, or could. Corea, Holland, & DeJohnette were some just plain rowdy motherfuckers, and Wayne appeared like it like that just fine. And Miles, Miles always led his bands when he played, so any thought that they fellas were getting away from him is...no, not right. So how did this get to be so popular in its time? Well, it didn;t get really popular, it didn;t get played on Bandstand and Wayne didn;t give interviews to Gloria Stavers, and there weren't no bubble gum cards, so...howw..did..well...what there was was a scene in every most towns where smart youg folks were looking for things smarter and more fun than they were and you know, music alwasy leads the way there somewheres) so it got heard, and what it really was didn't register nearly as much as what if felt like it was, a nice high to get a nice groove on and vice-versa as well, for you dancing and listenung pleasure and tripping service, and next thing you know, there was grounds swelling for a hype, and this time the hype was hype of of a new type, so that got some wipe off the old hype that spilled onto the new, and before you know it, it's like hey - we get high to this shit and it's GOOOD and somebody else said we get high to THIS shit and it's gooood too, so hell, if it's all good and we all good and high, then this newwer shit is newer and gooder and higer than anyelse thing around and DANG-UH, it ain't go no singing, no voices no words, but I can still hear songs in the music and beats in the songs, so yeah yeah YEAH this is MINE. A few people inevery town said that, and before too much longer everybody knew and everybody knew who didn't knew, and that's how it got new, but just enough of knew to get the know out in the pocket. Damn those were magical times!

Herman's Hermits Kermit Ruffins Martha & the Muffins

So if he really sucks all year long, that means the Rangers win it all, right? I'll make that deal!

Another totally irrelevant attempt at sidetracking a thread—or am I missing something, Jim? Well, "raise you hand…" is in the song lyrics of video one. Jim's commercial link has the same. (Thanks so much for planting that jingle back in the brain. ) Also Tom was always known for sweatin' up a storm, so he would make a fine deodorant spokesman if he'd like go that route. Thanks for not missing the obvious, Quincy - not as easy as one might suspect, apparently!

Interesting, but that kind of stuff doesn't bother me, although I'd just as soon NOT hear the full versions if this is the case. I'm less interested in the process than I am in the final result. That's just me. On this we agree! Although I do enjoy the unedited versions for "study" purposes, that's all after-the-fact information as it pertains to history, although not to the actual creation. An ironic situation, that is.

Sounds like fun. Thanks!

This is all good information, much appreciated!

Really? I've never met anyone who espouses this concept. Lucky you. Cultural divide again, maybe. Maybe you would see things differently if you had "come of age" in your jazz and rock interests at a time AND IN A PLACE when according to "popular wisdom" both "jazz rock" and "free jazz/avantgarde" encompassed EVERYTHING there EVER was and could be in "jazz" per se and where Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock (the tail end of it) etc. encommpassed everything in rock, the usual 40-ton amp equipment-laden suspects represented everything in "blues" and where OTOH both "acoustic jazz" (still around, not only on reissues), hand-made blues (not even down-home blues, though) and straightforward rockabilly were more or less equalled with MOR pop that just could not hold your attention because it was too "simple". Blissfully unaware, these characters, for example, of the fact that Hendrix was not quite soooo sensational once you knew your T-Bone Walker and Johnny Guitar Watson, etc. etc. Widespread attitude everywhere, still held by many decades thereafter, especially when it comes to the oh so deep divide about the fundamental question about whether jazz is allowed to be "for dancing" at all or whether you must always (though just barely perceptibly) nod your head in deep, deep, silent appreciation of some way-out happenings on stage in order to allow jazz to be any sort of musical "art" at all. Etc. etc. See what I mean? Dude, it sounds like you grew up amongst a big group of dickheads. Sorry, 'bout that, honestly, but really not my fault either. And it's definitely not the music's fault. Still and all, sorry you had to come up in that environment. Must've sucked to have been you then and there, seriously & sympathetically.

I have a copy of the Aaron Bell 77 Sunset Strip album, and it is a lot better than the subject matter might lead you to believe.

My knees and I would beg to differ...

Really? I've never met anyone who espouses this concept. I have, but they're not people I take seriously (when I take them at all, which is as rarely as possible...). And i do have a problem with this perhaps implied notion that...well, hey - some music is complicated & not easily grasped upon early listenings and in fact does reveal itself only with time and repeated listenings. That is not to say that such music is intrinsically "better" or that people who enjoy delving into it are Superior Human Beings, but jeez louise, why does there always have to be this reflexive cry of FRAUD every time somebody suggests taking some time to get to know something? That just ain't right.

No, I think most "challenging of the conventional wisdom" involves saying that there is in fact nothing happening. Otherwise it's just an expression of personal taste, and there's nothing there to challenge anybody.

Then one should just say that they looked in the room, didn't like what they saw, and walked away, not that there ain't nothing happeneing there or that they had heard how great a party was going down there, but they checked it out and there wasn't anything to get excited about, etc. Just as there is often too much self-consciouness ego-boosting in the attempted buttressing of the conventional wisdom, there is often at least as much in the attempts to rebut it. Either way, things are usually at once more and less complicated than they seem at first.

Too late for Janis, but if Tom is looking for an opening...

That little bit quoted above reminds me of something you once said to the effect that with this period of Miles-- The Music Is In The Middle. That one simple statement always rang true with me, and helped in my understanding, appreciation, and ultimate enjoyment of this era of Miles' music. Appreciate that, thanks! Did you know that the whole album is a musical story about some guy who morphs into a merman and then goes on a voyage into the ocean (lots of waves at the beginning where he starts walking into/under the water, long, slowly cresting waves that crest on the shoreline), where he encounters all kids of squiqqly fish-people and multi-colored tentacled creatures, with Wayne Shorter being an inscrutable-type pan-sexual fishperson who occasionally drops in and speaks the words of the Sea Gods? I only mention this because it's information not usually noted in the popular press...

From Blylevin to Bley...hmmmmm.....possibilities.....

They should have waited and done this album as a cover of Yellow Submarine instead of Billie Holiday.

THAT'S THE POINT. Like I said: If you are being grabbed by some recording and feel there is something there that strikes a chord with you though you have a feeling you do not (yet) grasp it in full, then OF COURSE do take your time to work your way into it. But if you aren't even moved by that recording at this "starter's" level then why bother (for now) trying to force yourself into something just because somebody says this is a "must listen"? Unfortunately there are those out there who value the concept of "essential listening" above all else. Falsely so IMHO. I've stressed that point just because for all I have witnessed BB is one of those records that falls into that bracket (almost) whenever it is evoked. BB can stand on its own merits for those who see the merits and appreciate them but those who are unmoved have not missed anything either. Because ultimately it IS a matter of personal taste - legitimately so. Have you ever met a person, especailly a woman, who either left you unmoved upon first meeting, or even rubbed you the wrong way, but who over timed turned out to be a fascinating individual, maybe even became a friend, lover, or spouse? It happens all the time, and it's one of the finer things in life. But it won't happen if the "trust your gut" approach is always followed without an informed modification along the way. Life is full of unxpectedly pleasant surpises, if we allow them the possibility of occurring. As far as "essential listening" goes, I think you're confusing that concept with "essential liking". Like it or not, there are certain things in any general "cultural group" that one needs to check out if one wishes to not be perinially stuck in the same place at whch one started in regard to one's knowledge of that group. Of course, one may not wish such a thing for one's self, in fact there's booming business in rewarding people for not wishig such a thing, but... I feel totally comfortable in saying that if you are interested in the possibilities of improvisational music and/or the evolution of American jazz (and culture) at the mega-crucial juncture of the 60s into the 70s, the Bitches Brew is indeed essential listening, simply because it is so fundamentally relevant to those concern. Certainly not the only thing that is relevant in those regards, but to pretend it's not one of them is just not a very bright thing to try to claim. OTOH, if one is not interested in those things, one should just say so, and if one has listened enough to have an informed dislike, then one has no reason to be ashamed of saying so. OTOOH, if one just walks by an open door & sticks one's head inside for a few minutes and then walks away, then WTF do they know about what's really inside?