JSngry

Been up all night & am beginning to fade, so replies will likely be brief. Let's go! TRACK ONE - Cute. I'm not too much of a fan of cute, but I guess this is ok. We all need to goof every once in a while. And this is a quite intelligent goof, so hey. Go for it! The less cute it gets, the better I like it. And the pianist is a really good straight man/woman. A lost art, that's becoming. Oh hell - I like it! But in spite of, not because of, the cute. TRACK TWO - Well, Zawinul's said that he wrote this as a throwback to the big-band ballad features, and indeed, I'd like to throw this one back. Seriously, it's a great tune (really, it is), but part of the beauty of the original was the orchestration, the colors & textures that Joe got out of his synths. Thos are colors & textures that you can't get out of accoustic instruments, so if you're going to do something like this, you better think long and hard about that. Or not. But I would. And there's no Wayne here. There is an alto. I'd really think long and hard about that. Or, again, not. But... No knocks against the sincerity of intent or of execution. None whatsoever. I feel it in abundance. It just doesn't stir any empathy in me. But it's a beautiful tune anyway, so points for that. I will say this though - I think Joe mentioned his days in Maynard's band as a specific inspiration for the composition, and this definitely has a Maynard feel to it in a lot of the ensembles. So maybe it's all good that way. Or not. TRACK THREE - This is good, this has flavor. And color. What it doesn't have is a pacing that insinuates itself into my mental emotional rhytms. But that's not their problem. That tenor solo, otoh, just might be... And that guitar solo definitely is (and so's the backing to it). They could've had me. But no. Oh well. But that trumpet player is inviting me back. Maybe. some day. But not now. TRACK FOUR - C....o....m....e......t.....o....m.........e.....m.........y...... None too shabby. Don't know why, but I'm thinking Oscar Peterson, or somebody of that school. If so, hey - it's good, period. Do it more often! TRACK FIVE - Fathead. he recorded this (on flute) for Atlantic (Head's Up), but this is not that. But hey - Fathead. Always a pleasure. Tasty drummer too. TRACK SIX - Somebody Ben-ish. Good tune, good playing. Touching without being moving, or vice-versa. You know what I mean. Somebody else who understands the tenor really well. Some of those tonal manipulations and fingerings are not for kids. And that subtone note - perfect. I can feel this one. Maybe not too deeply, but I'm feeling it. Always a good thing, that. Pretty masterful, all things considered. TRACK SEVEN - In Your Own Sweet Maiden Voyage (One Way), it appears... Just a touch of Jamal, but just a touch...And now, it's time for that crazyass Ricky Ford, that's ho it's time for. Yep, that's Ricky Ford and his crazy ass. If you only knew him as a Dexter clone from back in the day, forget about it. That shit's over and has been. Now he's got a lot of latter-day Sonny in him, as you can hear here. You gotta be crazy to play like that and not go crazy. Tiring after a while, but so what? TRACK EIGHT - Shepp on his best behavior? No, wait - it's Griff! The upper register tone & the eighth note swing gives it away, as do some/many other idyosyncracies. This sounds pretty latter-day, and Griff sounds aged. No matter. Johnny Griffin is a beautiful soul, and that's what I hear here. TRACK NINE - Cute again. Once is enough. Thanks again. Much fun!

Oh, it gets going. It just drives the speed limit most of the way. For me, Plays For Bird Sonny Boy/Tour De Force & ...Contemporary Leaders are less satisfying, although for different reasons.

Got the discs early this week, bur it's been a hectic one, so I'm a bit late in responding. Sorry. The usual thanks and disclaimers firmly in place, it's off to the races! TRACK ONE - The easy guess would be Milt Hinton & Hamp. I could still go w/The Judge, but not Hamp. Red Norvo, perhaps? Sounds like they were having fun. Drummer's got a tough gig on this one, deciding how to lock in w/all that slap bass rhythmic activity. This guy plays it straight, and although the results might have been more "interesting" if he hadn't, I don't know that they'd be more successful. Pleasant enough, this one is. TRACK TWO - Sounds like a late-60s/early-70s European recording. Altoist reminds me of the recently discussed Robin Kenyatta, who I'd not realized until hearing this might have had a strong tonal influence on cats like Oliver Lake & Arthur Blythe. I like this one. Sounds a little dated, but what the hell. Specific manifestations of sincerity may date, but the thing itself never does. Tenor sounds like a real talent still (but barely still) in the final formative stage. Little things here and there happen that probably would disappear with a little more seasoning. But again, I feel the sincerity. The rhythm section sounds fully seasoned, however. Sincerity of spirit, that's the main thing I take away from this one, that and some really good writing and scoring. Great tune that I know I've heard elsewhere. I'd have been applauding too, if I had been there. TRACK THREE - Keith's Vanguard thing on Impulse!, I believe. This is why I love Dewey - unlimited soul and no need for a rigid form to put it in. Just let that shit sing on out and all around! Keith's tunes are always groovy, and sometimes he is too. But Dewey's all I need here. Hell, Dewey's really all anybody needs... TRACK FOUR - Harold Vick, it sounds like. Was this tune on his Stata-East side? I don't remember. That was another guy with unlimited soul, although he tended to be a bit chamelionic about it. Cat would show up in all sorts of different contexts and play shit that seemed maybe just a tad "generic" until you really paid attention. Then the breadth of his motherfuckerness would become fully apparent. Dude knew the tenor and used it as a vehicle for expressions of a certain type of soul in a way that makes him very much an unsung hero of both the instrument & the music in my book. Yeah, Harold Vick was a bad man! Cool jazz name, too, Harold Vick. Ted Dunbar on guitar? His quirky phrasing seems to be heard here...Hey, everybody's good on this one, but this is the Harold Vick show afaic. TRACK FIVE - WTF kind of bass is that? The whole thing sounds pretty superficial on the surface, but a closer listening reveals some pretty involved, non-cliched ideas & some really well-integrated conga playing. That flute style sounds famiiar, reminds me of Rahsaan w/the heavy tounging, but I don't know... No matter, this is very much a "stealth" cut, easy to gloss over, but at one's own peril. TRACK SIX - Stubblefield? Hell, I don't know. It's good, nothing more, and nothing less. Might be some coke in that mix somewhere... Cat's got great control of the horn, that's for sure, but the intensity (and not just his) sounds just a little "assisted", if you know what I mean. I'm too old for that shit. Finally... TRACK SEVEN - I've always liked this tune, from Whitney on. Nothing here to convince me to stop, except that if the tenorist's not George Adams, he should be. TRACK EIGHT - No idea, but would love to have one. Mytee Fine! TRACK NINE - Sounds like a Mulligan (or Mulligan-esque) tune, and maybe Zoot on soprano. It's got that "corny in a cool way" thing going in both the tune & the soprano playing. Nice. TRACK TEN - "Yesterdays". Great tune. Surely that's not Lucky? Wow... Enjoyed it! Now on to Disc Two.

Long & hard.

FWIW, the Mingus/America studio sides w/Jones et. al. saw American issue on a Prestige 24000 series release - Reincarnations Of A Love Bird.

Among the weakest? I don't know about that, there's plenty of "good" playing by all concerned, but I definitely hear a "studio-self-consciousness" that's still going on today.

I have the Hubbard on LP and very much enjoy listening to one side of it, the one w/"Coral Keys". The other side pretty much sucks.

So here's a question - if something is funny in spite of the social baggage attached to (or araound) it, is it wrong to laugh? I hope not, because Stepin Fetchit's shit cracks me up every time. Not the context that it's being played out in, but his shit. Buffonery brilliance, it is. Buffonery is a tradition that exists (and always has) outside of the realm of American racism. The question of Fetchit vs. Tati I asked above was a serious one, as were they all.

McKinley Dorham Kinney Dorham Kenny Durham

Yes.

Mascara Snake The Arizona Diamondbacks Jimmy Webb

Sounds like it's a remix project for people to out of it to know what a remix project is.

Bull Durham Sandy Bull Bob Buhl GRRRRRRRR.....

Park came to town right around the time I was trying to get out, so our paths did not cross.

Houston cat, played w/Kenton in the 70s. Hsard him play a "Stardust" at a dance with that band that was magnificent. Father of Kim Park. Died too young, but not real young. That's all I know. More: http://home.comcast.net/~noel_wedder/wsb/jpark.htm

I'll deliver an answer @ 5:00 PM CPT.

Mason Reese Rodney Allen Rippy Believe it or not, - Ripley!

Let's ask these question - would Amos 'n Andy be funny if America did not have the racial history that it does? Would Amos 'n Andy likely to have been created if America did not have the racial history that it does? Is the comedy of buffoonery inherently degrading irregardless of it's characters? If you just arrived here on Earth & knew nothing of different races and their stereotypes, would Steppin' Fetchit be funnier than Jacques Tati? Which is the more fully realized vision of Appalachian AdultChild - Ma & Pa Kettle or The Beverly Hillbillies? Would Donald Trump & my uncle Vernon find Jerry Clower funny for the same reasons?

Forrest Gump Gordon Jump Donald Trump

I heard Dara live w/Threadgill's sextet back in 1981, and it was great. The guy was working a plunger like I'd never heard it worked before, making all kinds of micro-timbral shadings that were as obviously intentional as they were obviously effective. But this is also the guy who said that his stint with Blakey was too simple (or something like that) because you didn't really need to know all the changes to all those tunes (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it). Well, yes and no... You don't necessarily need to know all that to play those tunes, but you do need to know all that to play that gig. Which is why whenever Blakey talked about having an "avant-garde" trumpeter in his band for a few gigs who "couldn't even play the blues", I think that it was Dara that he was talking about, even if the blues was one thing that was probably no problem for Dara. It just wasn't Blakey's type blues. So, when I heard that he ws "re-emerging" as a "blues/folk" type guy, I was excited at the potential because what I heard him play with Threadgill (and on some records from that time, admittedly none of which hit with the power of that live gig), reeked of that type of flavor. This, I thoought, was going to be something to hear, a man who had shed the need to play "jazz" and was ready to just settle into some raw rootsy selfness. But the records...didn't get there for me. Not even close. Then again, those are records (on latter-day Atlantic, no less), so I don't know but that what's on them isn't the total opposite of what goes down live. If I ever get the chance to contrast and compare, I sure will!

Yeah, I hear ya'. The records just reek of "presentation", if you know what I mean. Kinda like Taj Mahal 2 or 3 times removed, which is, at best, 1 or 2 times too many for me. But them records can be funny sometimes...

Somewhat...

Johnny Otis.

Thom Bell is/was a bad motherfukker.

Nas is somebody I've heard through my son. Unlike a lot of what I hear that way, I listen to it. Yeah, Nas is worthy, at least for now. Probably moreso than his old man's become, although I'm not putting money on that just yet. No book for/from/out of me, at least not now, Ghost. That's a totally different craft/skill/art/whatever than just sitting down at the computer to a jazz board and conversing, which is something at which I sometimes get lucky and find a zone. Whatever I have to say gets said here, in the spurry heat of the moment, just like it would if we were all hanging out. It's a "between friends" type thing here, and that works for me, all things considered. I would, however, be glad to take liner note assignments, as well as customized birthday/anniversary/sympathy card gigs. That type of love is universal, doncha know, and there's money to be made. Why not? And I'll do anything to get Monday Michiru over in this country. Anything. No reasonable offer refused, unreasonable offers pre-approved if success is guaranteed in advance.