JSngry

Oh MAN...... Nothing personal;, dude, but if you don't know the Gong Show.... You evere see Confessions of a Dangerous Mind? THAT cat. Sorta. And more.

Never knew about the Gibbs/Nistico... Anybody ever heard it?

Only IV? I'd have guessed at least V!

AMG also show arranging dates for Bobby Darin, Herb Albert & the Tiajuana Brass, Harvey Mandel, Dino, Desi, & Billy, Rich Little(!), Bobbie Gentry, and any number of soundtracks. Like Mr. Jack said, the guy was involved in the L.A. studio scene, and that meant that "work is work", if you know what I mean. Lots of the "West Coast" players of the 50s ended up doing the studio thing. It was a good living, and it left time for playing jazz "on the side" if they wanted. Bud Shank & Barney Kessell are two notable examples of players who finally gave up the studio work to play jazz exclusively, but for every one or two of them, there were plenty more who went in and hardly ever came back out, at least until the studio work slowed down around the early/mid 90s.

Anybody else see a slight rexemblance between Lugosi & Serge Challoff?

Ooooh...."fallback" and "roofing" sounds like a painful combination.

Had the weekend to digest this, and, for me, this doesn't hold up from start to finish quite as well as BLACK CHRIST OF THE ANDES. Too many little snippetts that no doubt worked well in performance of the Mass as a whole, but, divorced from the performance context, they leave me with an "over before it could begin" feeling. Also, the annotation occasionally seems a little off (I DO hear yodelling on "It Is Always Spring", but I DON'T think that it's by Leon Thomas), and I'm a little bummed that the producers decided to excise the lead vocal from that same cut (which I'm wondering maybe was where Thomas was actually heard?). This is the Smithsonian, after all, no? BUT... There's still plenty of great music on here, much of it quite "modern", and, to my ears, remarkable (an overused adjective when it comes to Williams' ongoing evolution, but an apt one nevertheless. Plus, the talents of Carline Ray & Roger Glenn, names I had previously known as only "names" (but from where?), provide much enjoyment and surprises. What a deep talent MAry Lou was!

Where'd you get that Adam Levy thing? I really dug that one! As for the C.U.T./Marsh connection, I'm thinking that the tight 4/4 groove was an "impression" of sorts of Tristano, or at least the earlier Tristano stuff. That's how Lennie liked his rhythm sections to play - nice quiet, and even. As to why they called it "Warne Marsh" instead of "Lennie Tristano". my only guess is that it's because Warne is THE MAN!

Mike, please don't feed the animals. It only encourages them. I'd really like to hear what Mr. Lowe (and/or anybody else with a good historical background in the subject) thinks about the whole steel-bodied thing.

And of course, the Dobro: http://www.provide.net/~cfh/dobro.html

The more I think about this off-the-cuff comment, the more I wonder if maybe there's not more to it than just a convinient comparison. Think about it - the steel- (not stell ) bodied accoustic guitar was primarily a "rural" instrument, no? And that would mean that it would be more likely to be part of the "aural subconsciousness" of blues/country players than that of the (mostly) "urban" jazz players. So maybe, maybe, the residual memory of the instrument's timbre had an effect on wht came out of those musical culture electrically? Just a thought, and evidence pro or con is welcome.

http://www.dustygroove.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap...22&issearch=yes Open-ended Danish Organ trio meets eccentric American trombone master in an open ended & eccentric program recorded live. Little bit of everything on here: a Fela cover (titled after, but not credited to him, btw, and that kinda bugs me), off-kilter funk, an atmospheric testural ballad, a hard hitting shuffle, and yeah. Sounds like a splendid time was had by all, and unless you're always put off by Anderson's tromboinstical freakishness (I'm on a case-by-case basis w/him, this one being one of the good ones for me), most likely to appeal. Currently out-of-stock at The Bassards http://www.dustygroove.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap...22&issearch=yes but stay tunes, as it is a brand new release. Quoth the blastards: Free-thinking electric funk from this groovy Scandinavian trio -- made even better by some great guest work from trombonist Ray Anderson! The core Ibrahim Electric group have a sound that rivals that of Soulive or Medeski Martin & Wood -- a tight blend of Hammond organ, guitar, and drums -- cooked up with classic soul jazz influences, but brought to the table with a freer, wider, more open groove that's really great. Like MMW, the group's not afraid to go a bit outside if they need to -- nor are they shy about sitting back for a bit, and letting the mood take over the groove. But they can also really jam at the best times too -- as on the album's killer leadoff track "Fela", or the skittishly rhythmic "Pet Pettostan". Anderson turns out to be a great addition to the group on the set too -- pushing their sound even more with an inventive approach to the trombone that's very nice -- and helping round out the style on a set of extended tracks that also includes "The Tuxen Shuffle", "Choppers", and "Formula". Translated, that means that this is a group (and record) that is "modern" in concept, but ain't afraid to go back to the basics when they feel like it, and one that covers both ends of the spectrum more than merely respectable. Worth a listen or three by many here, I'm guessing. I know I dug it.

Thank you, Joe.

The funny thing is, I find that a lot of the blues and early rock player's basic timbre, underneath the distrotion, etc., sounds closer to an accoustic guitar (well, a stell-bodied one, anyway - should we give consideration to that instrument as a "transitional" one in terms of how electric guitar tone was percieved/concieved?)) than does the typical jazz player's from roughly the same timeframe. I mean, I can hear Chuck Berry playing his stuff on accoustic, but no way I can hear Johnny Smith the same way. Mind you, I'm of the school that finds "Johnny Smith" & "somnabulism" synonymous (yeah, I know, incredible technique, etc., but that's not the point here). but it seems to me that the in-the-wake-of-Christian/Durham school of jazz guitarists had/has a basic timbre that is a lot more removed from an accoutic guitar than "they" might be comfortable admitting. There seems to be no (or just a little) "string" in the sound (I'm not a guitarist, so there's probably a better way to express that), just the electrical delivery of it. Whereas, those other cats have the whole thing in their sound - string, attack, decay, the whole nine yards. I gouess another way to put it is that the jazz guitarists had a more "electric" sound, whereas the early rock/R&B/Blues, etc. had more of an "amplified" sound. Again, the non-guitarist in me prevents a better technical description, but I hope the point comes across. Calling all "jazz purists" - check out Barney Kessell on that 1947 Just Jazz gig and tell me that his is a tone that is even remotely "pure". NO WAY!!!

Got it, and I totally agree.

Spurred on by my enjoyment of this album, I went ahead on and picked up Ladd's 1999 release WELCOME TO THE AFTERFUTURE. Much more "pure" hip-hop in orientation (not a lot of jazz in the overall mix, despite a lyrical reference to Cecil McBee and a really nifty sample pulled from, I think, FREE JAZZ), but damn, does this guy make interesting music, both lyrically and instrumentally (such as it is). Neither album is going to change anybody's mind about hip-hop and/or techno elements in music, but if you're not inclined to dismiss the genre(s) out of hand, if you can deal with the mechanics involved as being legitimate tools of music-making, then let me give you a nudge in this guy's direction. MUCH happening, for sure! I think I'm putting Mike Ladd on my short "follow this cat" list from here on out, or at least until he gets boring and/or predictable. So far, no signs of that happening any time soon.

HARPY BITHDAY!

The drill hole is most likely a cutout marking. Pretty gruesome, I know, but I've bought lots of cutout 45s over the years with that kind of thing The story of the EPs is, as the included labels suggest, jukebox play. You used to see EPs on jukeboxes, including jazz ones. Around here, there were jazz 45s on the jukeboxes in some clubs "in the hood" as recently as 15 years ago, and they still got played by the clientele. But that was then, and this is now. Oh well... But this should give you an idea of how popular Lee Morgan was. Popular enought o spend the bucks on an EP for jukebox play. People were ready for some Lee on the jukebox! And yes, I've seen 7" EPs that play at 45 RPM. Own a few, in fact. But I don't know at what speed these BNs play.

Would a gratuitous partial suffice?

I definitely see his point (and saw it from the first), but his lingo did leave room for misinterpretation by some, as soon became evident. But the nature of what a "real" electric guitar tone "is" one of those questions that has as many answers as people have ears...

And now, a word from my beautiful and talented daughter:

Sorry, dude, but Adrienne is not a pic type pleasure. She's an ATTITUDINAL DELIGHT, if you get my drift. And I DO mean that as a compliment, although not necessarily totally without a little bit of a smile...

Sadly, no.

Bummer. Guess she wasn't pulling an all-nighter like she sometimes does. I'll let you know when she does. It is a FEAST for the imagination!