JSngry

Goldie Hawn Wallace Shawn Lawn Boy

Along the lines of ass-kissing, Christopher stole Paulie's idea about the CD player for the hospital room. Not that that matters.

Vito's secretly gay, remember? And Amber's fiance knows this.

Well, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, really. A loser with low self-esteem either way. Could suicide be in the cards for him?

And that was a Verve Evans box that Junior shot Tony with.

Yeah, taht Ibrahim piece is called "The Wedding", and I know it's just a matter of time before it gets played on some soap opera or something and all the rich white chicks start saying "Oh my GAWD, that's SO romantic!" and finding out what it is and requesting it for their nuptials. the way that Goldings & Sneider play it almost guarantees that. Which is not a bad thing. I'd love to play me some Abdullah Ibrahim at some rich white folks' weddings!

Do they at least still have a choo-choo?

As you desire...

Ooops, my bad. Had a lag and double posted. By that "kind of trumpet", I mean the straight tone and phrasing. It's cool and all that, it's just not what grabs me personally. But it works really well on the Abdullah Ibrahim cover, and that's the track that kept me from hitting the Stop button the first time through.

The Hathaway Man The Kelly Girl Miss Jane

Yeah, he's gonna make it, I'll bet. But in what condition, I don't know... Death would actually be "redemption" for him in a lot of ways, and I don't know if that's what or where the writers are going. We shall see... Interesting device, the "dream/coma sequences". Interesting this one episode, that is. Too much of it though... It's the shrink thing taken to another level. Here, he's actually become the guy that he often thought that he might be somewhere deep inside. And how does the diagnosis of Alzheimer's in there correspond with his "real-life" brain damage? We shall see... What'll be really interesting to see is if AJ really carries out his promise to whack Junior. It would be just like the little loser to make that the one thing in life that he actually succeeds at on his own. We shall see...

Ditto to all of that. And should you ever come across the Hillcrest sides, carpe diem. They provide an invaluable "fleshing out" of what's going on on the Contemporary sides.

Let us know if you are sassafied, ok?

It's growing on me. Sneider play the kind of trumpet I usually don't give a second chance to. But the material's good enough to make me listen some more.

It's growing on me. Sneider play the kind of trumpet I usually don't give a second chance to. But the material's good enough to make me listen some more.

Master Bates Jack Mehoff Dick Hertz

Hmmmmm...

Klaus Voorman Carlton the Doorman Othello

They're repeating the show next week.

Finally, some time to post at length! More listens than usual, but no looks. Thanks to Brownie for a stimulating collection of (mostly) non-familiar material. These guess will be just that for the most part! TRACK ONE - Sounds like a movie cue, mostly due to the alto flute in the 2nd section, and, I think, French horn in the opening ensembles. Alto flute was a trademark of Mancini, but I seriously doubt that this is him. Possibly an excerpt of a soundtrack by Quincy Jones from the 1960s, but again, I doubt it. Whatever, it serves as an effective opener for the disc, with a bit of combination martial/spy thing going on - we're on a recon mission, baby, coordinate your watches! Nice writing, and the stylistic impurity works both for and against it, depending on what its origianl intent was meant to be. Here, it defintiely works. TRACK TWO - From the git-go, I recognized this one. This album wasn't released in the states, which is a crime, and this is the only cut on which this scion of Lima, Ohio appears, which would be a drag if the rest of the album wasn't as good as it is. The only other time that this tenorist & pianist appeared together was on a nifty little album on Palo Alto that was reissued a few years ago. They made a good pair, I think. TRACK THREE - Don't know this one at all, tune or players. It's nice, definitely out of a Bill Evans-ish "introspective romantic" bag. Can't say that a lot of this would be something I'd look forward to, but as an occasional "flavor" dropped in the mix, I enjoy it. The pianist is really influenced by Evans w/o copying him too much. Could be Denny Zeitlin, but I don't think so. The tune has, for me, a kind of "French" air to it, which would, of course be fitting! TRACK FOUR - Fellow board member Greg Waits loaned me a Martial Solal big band LP a while back that sounded very much like this, but I don't remember it well enough to say that that is what this is. Besides, this doesn't sound like a full big band, but rather like a 9-10 piece group. I like it. There's a strong "non-American" flavor to the writing and the improvising that I find refreshing, not because it's "different", but simply because it's non-imitative. People who dismiss Euro (and other) jazz for not sounding "American" are sometimes the same ones who will then turn around and complain about a lack of "individual voices". Well hell, if you're not American, why sould you sound like you are? The altoist is somewhat reminiscent of Steve Potts, which, in the light of that previous statement, would be ironic in a way, but then again not. No matter, this is music of integrity, passion and skill. Good enough for me, no matter where it comes from! TRACK FIVE - Nice. Tenor could be Ronnie Scott, with that Mobley-esque tone. Bassist is walking a very nice line. I'm digging the pianist's comp too. Sounds like some players who took to Hard Bop as their language and gave themselves over to it wholly and willingly, which at the time this was probably recorded, would have been the "right" thing to do. Curious to find out who this is. TRACK SIX - "My Romance", with some quaint vibratos! Again, no idea. Tenorist has a very Haw-ish flavor to his eighth notes, and a nice "mainstream" quality overall. Sounds like somebody who was touched by bop, but not radically changed by it. I dig players like that, who could retain their older personality yet still incorporate some more chromaticism into the content of their lines. Alto player I'm less enamored of. Maybe past his prime, or having a bad day. Obviously a fine player, with trraces here and there of early Konitzian rhythmic gamesmanship, but on the whole, he sounds less than inspired to me. Pianist is kind of stiff, and ever so slightly on top of the beat, which is something else I usually don't care for. Thre's also some latent Bill Evans influence there, which might account for the "rushing" quality. Evans was like that a lot of times himself. The tenorist is the hero of this cut for me. Fine player and fine playing there! It's not Gianni Basso by any chance, is it? TRACK SEVEN - Well, I was all set to give this one a "huh" until HE showed up. I'd listen to a Kenny G record if Lockjaw was on it! Sounds like some kind of Sweets/Jaws thing with a "Parisian" flavor to it. I have no idea what that might entail, but any Lockjaw that I've yet to hear is a blessing, so I am blessed by this cut! TRACK EIGHT - Well now, that's just a gorgeous tune. Since I'm beginning to suspect some sort of "French" theme to this test's contents, I could guess Barney Wilen. but I'm still not familiar enough with the bulk of his catalog to do so on anything more than a hunch. But the tune is really beautiful, and it's played well, with plenty of feeling (and again, a little bit of Mobley-esqueness). Another one I'd be interesting in finding out more about. TRACK NINE - A J-Mac sample! Or is it a fresh cut? NO idea, but something totally unexpected. The curiosity is piqued! TRACK TEN - Again, no idea, but this is very nice. Some really spontaneously interactive duet work, which happens less often than you'd expect. That's a lot of piano...Tenorist almost, almost sounds like Getz in more than a few spots early on, less so as the thing progresses...Well, so much for the duet! WTF?!?!?! This is different! And in a good way! Again, the curiosity is piqued! TRACK ELEVEN - Hmmm...sounds like....I dunno...that melody is pretty "forward looking" relative to the time it was recorded (early-mid 50s, I'm guessing). Not exactly "standard" changes either...Trumpeter spunds like he's scuffling with that. Not his chops, but trying to find a way to fit his vocabluary into that which the tune requires. Sounds like Jimmy Knepper on trombone, which would suggest something at lest tangentally Mingus-related, but I'm not at all familair with this. something fromthe Debut box/sessions? But that's not Mingus on bass, I'm pretty sure...Is that Yusef on tenor? Yeah, that's Yusef, so that's Bernard McKinney on euphonium? Defintiely not Curtis Fuller... This thing ends up a helluva lot faster than it started out... Probably(?) a Yusef Savoy date, and one with which I am not famiiar. But I sure dig Yusef, so, again, the curiosity is piqued. TRACK TWELVE - Helen Merrill, perhaps? Or perhaps not...The timbre of the voice is similar but not exact. Same w/the enunciation. And this is far more "unvulnerable" than Merrill would ever do a song like this. Neither a song nor a singer with which I am familiar. And the ending, that's definitely not Merrill...Time for a little research...Ok, google tells me that it's an Irving Berlin song. Berlin could write these lyrics that could be either hopelessly mawkish or genuinely touching, depending on the interpretation they were given. This singer goes the latter route, and I enjoyed everything about it. She really took the story seriously and gave it a moving interpretation. Which of course is different that a "personal" interpretaion, but that is an altogether different art. I have no quibble either way as to which one is "better". It's all good when it's all good, dig? And this is good. TRACK TWELVE - Ok, I should know this one. I really should know this one. But damned if I can call it. Whatever...It's GROOVY! Seriously, it is! Nice tight, little chicka-boom thing going on that gets the feet to tapping, nothing wrong with that. Guitarist sounds like a busier Jim Hall...Howard Roberts? Arrangement gets a little "heady", to no real effect, but to no real harm either...One wants to guess Chico Hamilton, but one does not quite think so...No idea, but very groovy! TRACK THIRTEEN - Wow, that's pretty cool. One of those "friendly" bebop type heads, and you don't hear the old-school organ until the solos begin. First tenor calls Stitt to mind, might well be him. Second tenorist also calls Stitt to mind initially, but less so as he proceeds, and begins to call Griff to mind, but I don't think it's him. But maybe...Drummer is really into Max...This is a most....intriguing cut, and yet again totally unfamiliar to me. Do I need to say that my curiosity is again piqued? TRACK FOURTEEN - Cool! In both senses! From a private tape originally, obviously. Interesting...But no idea. TRACK FIFTEEN - From the same source as #9? Wish I spoke French... As Sinatra would say, "Koo Koo!" I get the feeling that, as on #9, this is some sort of "remix" job. No idea, but again, the curisoity is...you know. A most interesting compilation. Merci beaucoup!

Wouldn't mind having it at all, actually. Just don't have the buckage right now. Actually, this period of "pop" Cole sits rather well with me. Not all of it, granted, but a whole lot of it. Besides, Cole's main arranger for his pop sides for the first half of the 1950s was Nelson Riddle, and that's nothing but a plus in my book. Always a pleasure to listen for Riddle's little harmonic quirks masquerading as "Easy Listening". But besides Riddle, you've got, simply put, one of the finest pre-rock Pop vocalists of all time at the peak of his game in some totally appropriate and tasteful (usually) settings. The only reason to not at least consider it is if you don't enjoy hearing good, often great, songs well-sung. "Jazz" is besides the point here!

That dog be hunchin'!

Sorry, my sex life is private.

More than interesting in fact! Much thanks for posting this.

You will if you never wash your hands...