JSngry

O.K. Jim, you're a REAAAALLL hardass. My blind guess was basically a bullseye. It's Brother Jack McDuff's version of "How High The Moon" on his "Silk and Soul" Album (sorry, I blindly guessed the "Crash" CD version) with a young George Benson on guitar. Ooooh...sorry, but that's not the McDuff album I took it from, and that's not the group listed on the album. Not saying you're wrong, because I don't have that album, just that I've got different personnel from a different album. It's an album whose contents have been scattered over several CDs, and appears to have been one of those Prestige compilation albums compiled of left-overs and/or incomplete sessions, all of which in this case prove to be very worthy. Does that help?

"What Would It Be Without You" is one of the most beautiful ballads of the last 50 or so years, imo. There's an instrumental version by Shepp on For Losers, a vocal rendition by (or two?) by Joe Lee Wilson, and what is for me the ultimate perfomance, by both Shepp & Wilson, on their collaboration on Marge(?), A Touch Of The Blues.

Yeah, but hey, that's not what The Happy People would do now, is it... You're getting warm, a little warm. But not REAL warm! Yeah, that should be, what, 2035? Let's how we're both alive then!

One date on his own for Candid. His playing is kinda weak technically, but very strong on ideaas and personality. Julius Watkins, Hugh Brodie, Patti Bown, Jimmy Garrison, & G.T. Hogan are the rest of the band. Worth checking out. The main performers of his material would be Lee Morgan & Archie Shepp, maybe Trane in the 50s. If there's others who regularly played his pieces, I can't think of them right now. I agree, a most interesting composer. Somebody should do a tribute album (or albums). There's plenty of meat there.

Dusty Groove sells it for $8.99, but they are temporarily out of stock on it.

Here's some information from "a reliable source": This album was a demo session that Miroslav recorded in 1970. When he 'left' Weather Report he 'sold' this to Japan for 'large' money and 'never paid' the 'sidemen'. Since there is a looming fear of retribution Sony won't touch this. And the deal was for Japan only.

In fact, I'd say that when faced with the chance between displaying humility and coming up with a "snappy" retort, humility is far too often damn near impossible! And THAT I can prove scientifically!

Humility is harder.

Is this guy interested in the dumbest thing a scientist's ever said to you because he's so convinced that he/she knows everything (well, ok, not everything, but enough that he/she figures that he/she knows that anything you say is going to be wrong no matter what it is) and you know nothing that he/she keeps telling you how wrong you are based on what he/she thinks you're saying rather than what you're really saying? You know, the type who hears but doesn't listen? The type that is so convinced that things you say are being presented as statements of fact rather than expressions of perhaps un(der)considered possibilities stemming from the facts already on the table that they just roll up like a tickled doodlebug? Communication is a two-way street, after all...

Has anybody spotted the farts on one cut from this disc? I'm serious! There's one cut that has two sounds on it that I'd be hard pressed to identify as anything other than farts. They're buried in the mix, but they're there. And it's not on Track Nine, either! This isn't a cut that has any instrumental noise that could be mistaken for a fart by anybody. Again, I am serious.

Would be interesteed in hearing your thoughts on both discs, Joe, if you have the time. You too, Chris. And everybody else!

Are we talking reptiles or personality types?

Wow. That personnel in that time frame makes this something I would very much like to hear.

Great stories, y'all! I've not heard a Charles Tyler album that hasn't gone on the "good for the long haul" list. To me, that's about as good as anything can get.

So, this was a Japan-only release?

Darn straight it is.

Please! The poor thing's beginning to feel neglected.

Well, ya' know, I've gone back and forth with myself with this over the years, and I've reached the not-absolutely-certain conclusion that yes, those are buttons. What sealed the deal was showing the picture to some old folks and asking them if they'd ever seen socks that button up like these appear to. When they said yeah, that they had, I decided that that's what these were - socks that button up on the side. I'm still not 100% convinced, though... So this can be they mystery of Disc One. The mystery of Disc Two will be spotting the cut with what sounds like two farts captured for posterity. You gotta listen pretty loudly to hear them, and they're spaced out over the performance, but that's sure what they sound like to me!

I thought that would get your attention.

My sentiments almost exactly! (glad to see you made it, btw. I was worried! Hope you can get to Disc Two.)

His tone is gorgeous, and there's an underlying lyricism to his tenor playing that I find somewhat beguiling. "Gorgeous" & "beguiling" aren't words commonly associated with Evan Parker, but hey...

That was one helluva band.

Torch was actually pretty good. Mike Mainieri produced it, and all his were the core players, so the results were pleasantly "urban". Not at all retro-schlock. Simon dealt with the lyrics in a personal manner, and if you don't mind sacred standards being re-recast as relevant pop tunes, it's not at all a bad listen. My Romance, however, sucked the proverbial Don Quis Dix. Marty Paich is cool and all that, but his arrangements here went for the bland and succeded wildly. Empty and clueless were the vocals as well. I picked it up on cassette in the 99-cent bin on a whim and felt that I had paid a dollar too much for it.

First time I've ever even heard of it!

April 27, 1972 to be exact. Red cover w/photos of George Russell & Lionel Hampton, LEE MORGAN'S LAST INTERVIEW across the top in big white print, and a 60-cent cover price.