JSngry

I slept on the sign up for this one, but Big Al was nice enough to send me a copy. It was the intensity of his reactions, pro & con that piqued my interest. The discs arrived yesterday afternoon, and the following reactions are from a treu "blindfold test" situation - I'm hearing these cuts for the first time while posting. The usual thanks are firmly in place. TRACK ONE - Nice scoring, nice section playing. Tenor is sorta between Plas & Lockjaw, might even be Plasl. Pianist? Well, ok. This band sounds not unfamiliar w/more "pure" salsa, but I doubt that anybody here is directly from that genre. Maybe some jazz players who have worked some/a lot of those gigs. Pleasant enough, and I really enjoyed the ensemble blend + the painist's interaction with same, but that's as far as I can take it. TRACK TWO - Weird! Meditations on Hawk is what it sounds like. One guy gets into his own thing a little bit. There's four tenors, right? I guess it's cool, but damn is it insular. And if anybody of these tenorists were born after, say, 1960, I'm gonna puke. Why? Just because. TRACK THREE - First impression is of a 60s Creed Taylor produced Kenny Burrell Verve side recorded @ Rudy's, but the bass is recorded too directly. A Topsy type thing, but with a twist, what with that major thing snuck in. It's nice, good stuff, but the "hook" for me is the highly reverbed sound. The actual playing, fine as it is, could be anybody. TRACK FOUR - "Au Privave", of course. Sounds like they were pleased with the results. TRACK FIVE - The altoist sounds like Ernie Henry on acid. And I mean that in a good way. I've got no use for the pianist (at least on this cut), but that alto player, man! And everybody else! These cats can play their instruments exactly how they want them to be played, and they're not hung up on playing "jazz". Not everybody who plays "jazz" is a "jazz musician" (and that's a big part of the problem with jazz in general right there), if you know what I mean, and not every "jazz musician" plays "jazz" (and that's a big problem with the jazz audience in general right there), if you know what I mean as well. The whole thing is reminiscent of an early Muhal side (although I've never felt as unegaged with anything Muhal's played as I do with this pianist) on Delmark, and may well be one I've got but haven't listened to in ages. No matter, I very much enjoyed what I heard. TRACK SIX - O....k... Not at all relevant to my lifestyle, but... Let's just say that my interest in "ephemeral" pop music of the post-rock era better not be dissed by anybody who enjoys this. It is well-played though. But so is "Lightnin' Strikes". TRACK SEVEN - Oh HELL yeah! That melody is some old nursery rhyme or something, I can't remember. But - this band is right in this particular pocket. Call them Lint! Some very well-seasoned pros. Kids, students and wannabes can not make a big band sound like this. Just can't. And that sopranoist, hey, that's what I'm talking about. Play what you've live, play what you know, play what you don't know but want too, just whatever you play, keep it real. This sounds like the real deal, and I'm good for that. TRACK EIGHT - "San Antonio Rose". I hear this kind of stuff fairly regularly, so there's no sort of "exotic" element to it for me. This is good, nothing more, and nothing less. There's better, and there's definitely worse. I suspect it might be some old Bob Wills guys who've aged in body but not in spirit. TRACK NINE - Took me a chorus to glom on to it, but it's the changes to "What Is This Thing Called Love". Those changes lend themselves very well to inside-out blowing, and that seems to be what we have here. Not sure I'm really warming up to the "attitude" here, but that's my problem. Tenor player sounds like a nice enough person. I do wish the guitarist(?) would get laid though. The rhythm section is trying their best to substitute, but it ain't the same thing... TRACK TEN - Well, ok. Let's cruise! Almost Lockjaw in a few spots, but not quite. I'd really like to know who this is, for historical purposes. It's either immediately pre- or post- Jaws. Either way, I wanna know. TRACK ELEVEN - I guess it's hard to escape the shadow of Dolphy when playing bass clarinet. Not sure that's an excuse though... Hey - this cat can play the instrument, and that gets props right there. But skill alone does not make for a compelling musical experience. TRACK TWELVE - Sure sounds like early Houston Person. This is nice. TRACK THIRTEEN - Not my thing, but well-played and seemingly sincere. Playing on top of the beat, perhaps even rushing it in spots, but if that's where/how it's felt, then hey... TRACK FOURTEEN - Nice. Very lyrical. Not "song-like", but with attention paid to the contour and flow of the lines and the melodic content therein. Altoist is somebody I should know. Hell, it's Ornette! I was not aware of THIS ALBUM until now. BIG THANKS! TRACK FIFTEEN - It's good. The only problem I have with it is that there's been enough other things done in this vein that the "deifference" is no longer really different to me any more. My problem, that. But there's certainly nothing "wrong" with it, and in it's time (assuming that this is one of the earlier pieces of this type), it was probably gripping. To some extent, it still is, just not nearly as much as it once was. TRACK SIXTEEN - Phil Woods, suited for airplay. Hey, Phil Woods can play, might even be a "master". I'm just not too into him. TRACK SEVENTEEN - Thanks for a good ride. No crap involved, that's for sure, just some stuff I personally didn't connect with, as well as some I did (and an new Ornette discovery!). On to Disc Two!

No f---ing s--t. That bad boy is one of Rollins' most purely realised records. I'll say it again - Falling In Love With Jazz is worthy of repeated listening. Records are only part of the story...

Corky Corcoran Cordell Stewart Tom Carvel

As a professional musician, I can already do that. Sorry!

No thanks. I've already had enough sporadic work at non-sustaining wages for one lifetime.

I LOVED "Moritat". Not particularly "involved" from a "soloistic" standpoint other than the glory of that huge sound, but GOODLORDYMERCI, there's just so much unobliterated joy there. And to see/hear an unobliteratedly joyous Sonny Rollins is to ponder the possibility that no matter how interesting, involving, and invigorating the journey is, sometimes the hard-earned destination is its own unique reward.

Well, there's Washington's own playing, which is unique IMO -- soulful and in some ways quite "hip" but at times veering toward the Ayler-esque; nobody else had those things going AFAIK. Then there's his writing, which also is special and different. Everybody else on the date plays great, especially Woody Shaw and Joe Chambers. And, finally, the feel of the album is special, too -- kind of "within bounds" in terms of the shared/received musical language but with a sense that things are just about to explode, as they often do, especially during Washington's solos. Also, I'm sure that sound-wise there's a whole lot more to be gotten out of those tapes than made it on to the original LP, which is what I have. Put me down as being in agreement with this. Coincidentally or not, I think it's interesting that after Tyrone "vanished" that Heiner Stadler turned to George Adams as his tenorist. I hear a lot of similarities between Washington & Adams in terms of how they approached the instrument, although Adams' playing carries with it an air of fait accompli that is quite the opposite of Tyrone's, which may or may not "matter" as to how one does or does not feel about either man's playing.

People Who Sing Alouette People Who Drive A Buick Skylark Hoagy Carmichael

Coke Escovedo Sheila E Rachel Z

Perez Prado Shimon Peres Paris Hilton

Larry Darryl Darryl

It's a totally different Junior Parker. This is definitely not the guy who sang "Driving Wheel". How cool would that have been, to have had that Junior Parker singing "Getting To Know You" with this group? WAY cool, that's how cool! But this too is cool.

Myron Cohen Myron Floren Myron Kandel

Not exactly a cape, but it is Verdon...

Jaki Byard - Freedom Together. What a nifty little collection of pure, naturally idiosyncratic music with absolutely zero commercial potential, even by jazz standards. And Byard on tenor is icing on the naturally idiosyncratic cake. Although, it wasn't the Junior Parker I was expecting, but hey. Yet another surprise. Totally cool stuff probably doomed to be ignored forever, even for $3.00. C'est la fukkin' vie...

Hell if I know either. I'll take Planet Waves any day of the week, and twice on holidays.

Taps Miller The Miller, Who Told his Tale One Of 16 Vestal Virgins

Captain Kangaroo Dancing Bear Rafi Zabor

Patti LaBelle Nona Hendix Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonica "Nica" Rothschild de Koenigswarter

The only thing that a quick search for "Fred Nurdley" turns up is a Montego Joe thing. Would it be inappropriate to ask what else might be included in the Fred Nurdley ouvre?

The Pan Piper The Pied Piper Harry Hamlin

Gummo Marx The Doublemint Twins Big Red

That John Dennis side is pretty impressive. That cat was serious.