JSngry

Diddy Gallippy - Deehee's Delight!!!

Interest piqued!

For reasons I don't even pretend to understand (aka Random Spotify Recommendation), I've become "interested" in Dizzy's Paris recordings from 1952 & 1953. I've got a copy of the complete 1953 Salle Pleyel concert on the way and am looking for an inexpensive copy of the Blue Star recordings. The Salle Pleyel gig is something I knew from it being parted out on Roulette in the 70s, but hearing it complete is a trip. That group was leaning in to backbeat (implied and literal) music in a way that anticipates the Messengers by a few years! The drummer Al Jones is bringing it! And Wade Legge! This one above is pretty nice. Material varies, as do arrangements, but Dizzy himself is just dandy, always. There's some good Don Byas as well. They seem to have all been 78s, so things are concise, and that highlights the exquisite expertise on display at every turn. AFAIK, the early 1950s are generally characterized as "Dizzy lost his big band and formed a night club combo with an emphasis on novelty tunes". Well, maybe so. But in Paris, anyway, it's not THAT simple. I think these records very neatly fill out the Dee Gee sides. Good stuff!

I didn't get any Aurora here, too cludy, but this will do! TRACK ONE - The tune is "Tabu". Guitarist is fleet (can't think of any other word...). Getz? They're bebop players, but the overall vie is not unlike a Benny Goodman small group with a touch of Tristano thrown in. I like it well enough. TRACK TWO - Why did it have to be me? Early 40s? Teddy Wilson, almost has to be. Sleuthing pulls up an Edmond Hall Commodore date. Good stuff, unfettered! TRACK THREE - a true flagwaver! My guess would have been Lunceford, but then that piano...harmonically, this sounds like it's hinting at soon-to-come bebop and that tenor player is hitting on Budd Johnson. Sounds like an RCA recording. Earl Hines? TRACK FOUR - Everybody have fun!!! Pee Wee on clarinet? Much love for Pee Wee here. The whole thing is a bit...intentional, but nobody gets hurt. Pee Wee is the show for me here, much love for Pee Wee. TRACK FIVE - Stompin'! Those changes...hard-wired. Yeah, this is pretty basic (in the good way". I keep wanting to sing "Playmate", but it's not that. I like it. TRACK SIX - A logical extension of Baby Dodds in the opening. George Lewis? Like the tenor player, some specific ideas. Pianist is all in. VERY nice bass playing! Good cut, everybody is focused on the matter at hand, no superfluous wandering. TRACK SEVEN - Wagnerian!!!! Oh, an electric guitar!!! And then it gets a bit silly, can't settle on any one idea for too long. In a world of its own, it has merit. In a bigger world it's an interesting curiosity. Credit for ambition, I'll say that. TRACK EIGHT - Tabla(?) and bass duet, I like it, like the flow. And it's a good length, doesn't wear out its welcome. Good music. TRACK NINE - The harmonic "straying" is what makes this for me. Otherwise it sounds like a typical post-Bill Evans navel-gazing, "sensitive" excursion where everybody "interacts". TRACK TEN - Hodges on soprano? Is this a Duke date? Yeah, that trumpet. Similar to "Echoes Of Harlem" but not that. Duke would use old ideas and tinker with them until they morphed. Ok, Carney. Seals the deal. Such a collection of voices, individually and collectively. TRACK ELEVEN - This is hip. Chart is like a busy Gerry Mulligan thing. But tuba...oh my, I don't know. but this is hip. And that singer is sexy. TRACK TWELVE - Clifford Jordan. Totally on time! TRACK THIRTEEN - Sounds familiar, but not readily identifiable. I like the tune a lot and wish they had jammed on that more instead of the vamp. But oh well. A solid groover. TRACK FOURTEEN - This is tough...on the one hand, generic, but on the other hand, not. And very passionately performed. Kinda reminds me of that 1965 Charles Gayle date, only there's no piano on that one. The longer this goes on, the more I like it. It's a McCoy tune, right? "Contemplation". I don't think this a live/audience recording of a McCoy group, but maybe it is? No, it can't be. The drummer is too "sloppy" (in the good way. Looking forward to the reveal on this one! A nice set, full of interesting music and no cliches. Thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you!

Raice Manne - I'm Not Welcome Here

An amazing movie with a soundtrack to match.

I remember (but did not recognize) Geoffrey Holder. Quite a life! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Holder

Harold Vick? Max Roach?

Two almost-totally different records here. The first one, which was released in real time, suffers (almost fatally) from a completely clueless/insensitive recording job, for which I might as well blame George Butler. There's a lot of quiet detail in the charts, but damned if you'd know it by a casual listen. Butler did the same thing on Cirrus but that was a straight-ahead date, so not too much effort needed to sort it all out. This is not that. This is essentially/frequently chamber music(ish) where all parts matter, so all parts should be heard equally. They are not. And the freer improvs are not at all balanced with even a touch of musicality. I see where RVG remixed this for the CD. I guess he did what he could with what they gave him. Peter Doell & Bob Belden handled the "new" album, and it's not nearly as much of a sonic mess. It's not perfect either. It's also less "abstract" music, so...go figure that. But when Harold Land sounds like he's out in the hall, something ain't right. Both sessions are far better music than the recordings indicate. Listeners should not have to work this hard. And now this one is going to be orphaned, right? That's too bad.

The Wandering Busters - Swimming In The Sinkhole!!!

Flaunt detected!!! 🤠

Cletius Flurd - Songs Of The Wandering Busters

Claude Vomette - Wiping The Floor Clean. With Jazz!!!

But where's the implied interracial porn?

His first gig was playing Gospel. He played in bar bands in St. Louis until he was 28. He was living in a racially segregated culture. It's not hyperbole to say that he played American Black Music (varieties of which there are many) and never did otherwise. As that man says, do the math.

This is a REALLY good record!!!

It's ..1976. A varied program played well enough. It's probably going to the library after another listen or two. Szabo does have his ardent adherents. They would probably not sent it to the library. It's a good band, uncredited but suggested to be George Duke, Tony Dumas, and Sherman Ferguson. It's not bad at all. It's just...1976. Been there, done that. Those who weren't might find more appeal than I?

1976. Remember 1976?

Laize Summers - Soda!!!

Lazy Dazes - Hazy!!!

The lack of even one Say What was a deal- breaker for me. A murder-scream might have mitigated that. Might

Lazy Hayes - Pretzels!!!

Except when they're new. Then they're exciting.