JSngry

Get on up.

For some reason, I find that to be a very moving story. Seriously.

27...I know it happened...had to have... Oh yeah - 12.14.82 - 12-14-83. I had known Brenda for almost one year, we had been living together in Albuquerque for about six months, still not married, definitely no kids, excruciatingly happy and free (or vise-versa)... could be either youth or what I'm hoping retirement will be like. Six of one, etc. maybe... Otherwise, good god, we got threads out the ass herethereeverywhere screeming/creaming all over years ranging from 190X (or earlier) thru 196X (or so) by people both alive then and not. 1971 is just another year when lots of shit happened. This is some of it. Better than some, not as good as others. But not totally uninteresting nor not totally unworthy of notice. And the beat goes on. (from 1967, definitely my youth...)

1971 was your youth?

So it seems. I wonder if that's from having already heard the music (recently), or from thinking that they know what it's going to sound like. If it's the latter, I gotta tell you that I was more than a little surprised in that regard, enough to comment on the album here. There's no fluff, no "smooth", no "slick". Thre is some nice, open playing of substance going on. And Klemmer fro this period was a not insignificant, if not not inconsistent, player. So if you think you know what this one's all about, you may or may not be correct. I wasn't. But hey.

http://www.larsen.com.au/

Oh, you mean - Blatherings From the Underbrow (or - Pavarotti Died & Nothing Personal, But I Really Didn't Give Too Much Of A Rat's Ass, But Then Joe Zawinul Died & It Touched Me A Little Bit)? Still looking for an editor. I don't have the balls to approach Larry...

California, turn-or-the-decade, post-Bitches Brew "wow, let's not regurgitate" is in the air, as is the natural (as per Ted Gioa) "West Coast" disposition towards bringing "influences" to the music, in this case, electricity, "rock" (altough not really ROCK), a little bit of free and a whole lot of open-endedness as far as form goes. Phil Woods went electric w/Pete Robinson, Hadley Calliman recorded that trippy little gem Iapetus, Don Ellis & crew - of which Klemmer was one - were doing everything all the time, Shelley Manne recorded the trippy not-quite gem Mannekind, and...you get the idea. There was a vibe, and a bit of a scene, and not too many people remember it today. This side, Klemmer's first for Impulse! is a direct product of that scene and of that vibe, and although it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it makes for a good listen or three, if for no other reason than it's a good example of "fusion" before it became FUSION and (almost) everything went sour/south/ugly/etc. I'm going to quote the Dusty Bastard blurb here, just because it's one of their ripest ever, and also because, in its own wierd way, it really does capture what's going on/down here: Uh....yeah, ok. The point being that this ain't no "commercial" effort. It's more "populist" in aim than "popular", and the "true jazz" orientation of all concerned is never compromised. Again, not a perfect record, or even a "classic", but there's far worse by far better-known that are better remembered today. If you're "into this kind of thing", then this is defintely one to get. If not, hey.

Indeed they are: Highly recommended.

It's been years since I've heard it, but isn't it an alto solo?

Both sides were released, with this title, as a Prestige 2-fer in the old 24000 series.

I just got the Miles and I really like it! Same here, and wtf is up w/the Stella on this one? That's some darkly funny shit!

Some folks just...refuse to be denied. They think big, they live big, they fail big, and they succeed big. And, by god, nothing will keep them from doing so. If the means are in place, they find a way to step up and take advantage. And if the means aren't in place, the only grumbling - grumbling, mindyou, never whining - they'll do is while they're going about the business of getting it done themself. These people are not "larger than life", they are as large as life could/should be for the rest of us. Joe Zawinul was such a person, such a man, and such a musician. Not everything he did succeeded equally, but none of it was timid, none of it lacked conviction, and none of it was lacking in vision - his vision. And when it did succeed, as it often enough did, it was damn near archtypical, so bold and clear was it in every aspect. I know there's a school of "jazz fan" who has no use for electronics, even less use for "fusion", and as a result sees Weather Report (and beyond) as so much "so what?", and to them I have nothing to say. You either get it or you don't, like so many other things. All I can say is this - the music of Weather Report-and-beyond Joe Zawinul is never cheap, never easy, and is always full of life, passion, and specificity. It's never shallow in intent nor superficial in perspective. Zawinul being Zawinul, yeah, sometimes he dressed it up in pretty..."ostentatious" clothes. But underneath those clothes was a body, a mind, and a spirit that was always ready to go, and ready for anything at any time. Always. I keep linking Zawinul to Ellington, not in "stature" (Ellington is the eptiome of his own "beyond category" category), but in scope and breadth of vision, as well as in knowing how to maneuver. Ellington was the ultimate in slick, & Zawinul was the ultimate in..."whirlwindosity", but they both always had their eyes, ears, and minds open, always could hear (and think) around corners, and always got there before anybody else knew that it was time to go there. Always. Sometimes a "giant" is defined by their cumulative life achievement, & sometimes by their spirit. With Zawinul, the case could be made for the former, but it would be far from a unanimous decision. But I say, take the best work (of which there is much), add in the spirit, and what do you have if not a giant? You don't "replace" spirits like Joe Zawinul. The best you can do is hope like hell that the quirks of genetics and environment continue to produce them here and there, and that humanity never gets so fucked up that they find a way to kill them off. Becuase if and when that dark time comes, all truly will have been lost. RIP Joe. You were loved.

Shit.

Thank god!

I'm the Hardest Working Man In Slow Business.

We seem to have some pretty strong dissenting opions on that one...

Now see, afaic, that's beautiful, that's the way it should be, if you feel it then grab onto it and run with it. Not just opera, but anything. Hell yeah! And if you don't, you still need to know about it (and not just superficially), because as Larry & Chuck have both noted, the stuff is important in many ways. But if you don't feel it, if it's not, as you say, in your blood, then I should think that that should be enough.

That's Wayne... The bassist couldn't be Pierre Michelot, could it?

Cannonball

Wrong. Then who/what? Bob would want to know...

I gotcher MuscoMax rat heayh, bitch:

Which ones are you talking about? I don't really know Valentin's leader work except for the first few GRP efforts, and found them highly snoozable affairs. But... I've since heard him play on other people's dates (Monday Michiru, several Louie Vega productions, & some straight-up salsa dates), and the guy's bringing some pretty good stuff actually. So I gotta think that this is yet another example of somebody who can really play making records for the marketplace that don't show even a hint of that. BAd move, unnecessary move, I think, but you know how they do... Maybe some of the later leader sides do show the true skills, but I got so bummed from the earliest GRP stuff that I've not really cared to find out.