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JSngry

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Posts posted by JSngry

  1. George Braith "Boptronics"

    in New Releases

    Posted

    I picked up the last thing by Braith w/the Family Singers. It's definitely "homemade", definitely "eccentric", and definitely Braithily WACK.

    If that sounds like I didn't dig it, well, that's wrong - I dig the SHIT out of it! But it ain't gonna be everybody's cup of tea, which no doubt explains the omnipresence of Lipton.

    What's up w/the website anyway? Last I looked (last year...), it was down. Is it back up?

    Long live the independent (TRULY independent) freaks like George Braith!

  3. Name some Blue Note cds you find overrated

    in Recommendations

    Posted · Edited by JSngry

    All right then. Blue Notes I don't like...

    From the Lion Wolff era, I can honestly say that there are none. Not in the "oh geez, take that off NOW" way of not liking something. There's always something there, a good soloist, a good solo, a good tune, or just the enjoyment from a "document" standpoint (a POV not to be underestimated, btw).

    BUT...

    There are albums that I like LESS than others, ones that for me just don't quite gel or otherwise don't showcase the talent involved as well as others. They aren't "bad" albums, and are emminently likeable as part of a broader historical overview, but are not ones that I listen to recreationally. Actually there's a LOT of these, but let's not go THERE - time is short...

    Some of these which might surprise, given my stated tastes, are PAGE ONE, MODE FOR JOE, TROMPETTA TOCATTA, SONNY ROLLINS VOLUME 1, GRASS ROOTS, and any number of the more "blowing session" type dates from the 50s (the Griffin/Trane/Mobley & Gilmore/Jordan NOTABLY excepted). I'd quite often rather hear something like ACCENT ON THE BLUES, where maybe "lesser" players in the historical pantheon make more engaging (well, egaged, actually) music than a date by a heavyweight that doesn't reach full potential for whatever reason (and it's no shame when that happens). Also, in general, I think the label's output in the 60s paid greater attention to nuances of tempo and instrumental texture than did that of the 50s. Some of that might be the Silver influence blossoming out into a broader sphere, some of that might be the Englewood Cliffs studio and the sonic potentials it afforded, some of that might be the subtle-but-real influence of Duke Pearson, and some of that might be, and probably is, the confluence of the maturations of Lion as a producer with the musical maturation of many of his key artists (and a miraculous crop of new talent from within those artists' orbs). Whatever the reason, if I find CLIFF JORDAN and MODE FOR JOE ultimately equivalent in the "good, but not great, rather listen to something else by these guys" category, the difference in the production values and musical variety of the 2 records speaks volumes about the developements (dare I say "progress"?) made by both the music and the label.

    That's just for recreational listening though, and I've got two (at least) listening modes - recreational and historical, and both are vital to my enjoyment and understanding of music - ALL music. The two modes sometimes overlap. and sometimes one will morph into the other when nobody's looking. Besides, I've got way too much respect for the craftsmanship/professionalism of the musicians involved and too much humility (accquired by numerous personal failures) about the whole act of improvisation and to dare say that anybody made an actual "bad" record for BN, at least in the "golden era". Some were definitely/obviously more successful than others, but to call any of them out and out "bad" takes more nerve than I can muster.

    Now that Ron Carter Bach album - THAT'S a bad record!

  7. Art Blakey Question

    in Artists

    Posted

    Marchel Ivery took the gig around 1980, 1981, somewhere in there, stayed a few months, and then left to come home. He didn't dig the road.

    The late 60s were apparently difficult times for Blakey to keep a working band together, too, from what I can gather. His music was considered "old fashioned" by many of the younger players, and a lot of the older guys either couldn't make the committment or else didn't want to work for the bread being offered.

  8. Sonny Rollins

    in Artists

    Posted

    SILVER CITY is the thing to get to get your feet wet in the Milestone output. Although they left a few things out that I'd have included (and vice-versa), it's a darn fine rebuttal to the argument that the Milestone years have produced nothing but epemera. It only SEEMS that way because far too often there's only been one cut per album, if that, that is worthy of the Rollins legacy. Why that is has been a matter of much discussion, and frankly, by now I've givien up trying to figure it out myself. I just buy the albums and see how they turn out.

    Often enough, they get better with repeated listenings, but Late's suggestion to explore the "grey market" (ie - commercially released bootlegs) issues is a good one. The most recent that I know of is a thing on Jazz Door called JUST ONCE that is more than worth getting over any moral compunctions you might have about purchasing such material. Steal it if it'll make you feel any better. ;)

    For sure though, NEXT ALBUM is pretty much a universally acclaimed "classic" and has been since the proverbial DAY ONE (although in true Rollins/Milestone fashion, you have to sit through a seemingly interminable plodding funk tune before you get to the rest of the album), and I myself find that repeated listenings to DON'T ASK, G-MAN, DANCING IN THE DARK, and FALLING IN LOVE WITH JAZZ have been beneficial. Of his most recent albums, +3 gets a lot of raves that I'm not sure I'd unanimously agree with, but it's home of the previously (and justly) lauded "Cabin In The Sky" and the rest of it is really, REALLY good, the only drag being a 12 minute version of "I've Never Been In Love Before" that features everybody at length EXCEPT Sonny, in pretty botring solos at that, and what kind of a way is THAT to end an otherwise top-shelf album? But I'll go ahead and say that this is one to have on its own too, that little caveat notwithstanding. I've also really, REALLY been digging GLOBAL WARMING & THIS IS WHAT I DO lately. These are the albums where Sonny's age begins to show in his tone, and confronting the reality that someday we won't have Sonny rollins to kick around anymore is a sobering proposition, and no doubt for Sonny as well, as he improvises on the albums with an imaginative sobriety that is unlike anything else he's ever recorded even if the usual maddening production issues occur yet again.

    At least that's how I hear it - there are those who will tell you that Sonny Rollins has stagnated as a player and has cranked out variation after variation of the same tired record for 30 years now. I'll agree that the records have often been frustrating (to say the least), but to imply that there has been no growth or evolution in the man's playing is something that I just do not hear. I can hear at least 4 distinct stages through the Milestone years, and this most recent phase might be one of his most significant - Sonny's into his 70s now, and how many players of his generation AND his caliber have remained fully functional and probing this far into the game? It's an incredibly PHYSICAL manner in which Rollins plays, and a man his age HAS to pace himself. If he was to play all out all night, he'd likely be dead by the end of a tour (I'm not exaggerating either. Trust me, the physical energy required to produce a tone like Sonny's of the last 15-20 years is not something to underestimate at all. A bigger, FULLER sound has probably never been produced on the instrument, and that's all about physical effort. Factor in the mental/spiritual/etc things involved in anybody's improvisation, especially Sonny's, and the charges of him "picking his spots" can be seen as much as a of survival as anything else, and Sonny has ALWAYS been about the survival. Probably a bad career move, though...)

    Anyway, the playing on both GW and TIWID is verry craggy, full of odd trhythmic twists and note choices that nobody but Rollins could/would make, all of it delivered with a dry wariness that is not dissimilar to the "there-but-not-there" quality of ON IMPULSE, but with the raised stakes of it coming from a man who sounds like he's confronting his mortality on more than just a conceptual basis, if you know what I mean. How else could you explain something like "Did You See Harold Vick"? This is a Rollins improvisation that is as "out" as ANYTHING he's recorded, but the deadly serious mischief of earlier years is all gone - this is an OLD MAN playing, telling us a story, and like a lot of old folks, he sounds like he doesn't really give a rat's ass any more WHAT you think of him, if you like him or not, so he's just going to tell it like he sees it, without any more facades of "niceness". It's an improvisation that is simultaneously grotesque, fascinatingly intricate, and stark harsh beauty in the way that so many thngs are when they've been stripped of the artrifice that social consensus deems appropriate.

    It's another chapter in the ongoing saga of Sonny Rollins, and possibly the beginning of the final chapter. If Rollins' is a saga of immense frustration for the fan, there is also much to be learned about how to stay alive and sane in a world that today, perhaps more than ever, seems set up to destroy the spirit that has always been at the core of Sonny Rollins' music. One of those lessons might indeed be that you play your cards close to your vest and just let out what you REALLY know in bits and pieces because although most of us claim to want the "truth", can we really, REALLY handle it on a constant, sustained basis? Could Sonny Rollins have had a viable career by playing everything he knows everytime out and on every record? That kind shit went out of style a long time ago, in case you haven't noticed! Besides, look at the physical implications - Trane did it, and look at what it did to him...

    Is Sonny Rollins somehow a coward or a copout because he has consistently chosen to pull back from the edge when the edge was one of no return? Because he has chosen for the last several decades to wear the mantle of "The World's Greatest Living Improvisor" in an ofen mocking manner, knowing full well that if he were to play everything he knew all the time that he'd clear the house in under an hour (I'm serious about this!)? Because he has chosen a life for himself rather than for his "fans"? I guess the answer depends on if you're Sonny Rollins or not.

    I'm not, so all I can say with certainty is that I'll be following the story as long as it lasts. I long ago gave up hope of there being another unfettered masterpiece from Rollins - those days are gone, and in more ways than one. MANY more ways, and not all of them Rollins' doing. But I still hear enough in enough of the records (and the live stuff I can get a hold of) to know that Sonny Rollins KNOWS in a way that very, VERY few artists do, and that if the only way to get a taste of what he knows is to get it in drips and drabs, then I'll take it. It's not his job to answer all the questions for everybody who wants to know - just giving some well-placed pointers, some, this-is-what-I-do, science-dropping "let those who have ears, hear", is enough. ESPECIALLY these global warming times slimes days. Some questions you got to answer yourself.

    Did you see Harold Vick?

  9. Name some Blue Note cds you find overrated

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    I'm not sure I understand the criteria for being "overrated". The "classic" Lion/Wolff BNs now exist as both vital music for now and as historical documents. How one responds to them as the former is purely a subjective matter, but theor place as the latter is pretty much a matter of record - some of the records were hugely influential (either immediately or over time, and some still maintain that influence today) and others just sorta exist as documents of their time. Either way, you can look around the jazz scene of the last 40-50 years and pretty much tell which are which. OUT TO LUNCH, for instance, might not appeal to some, but there's no denying that it was/is a record that had a lot of influence on certain circles of musicians. So is it "overrated" in a historical sense, or is it just not to some folks' liking? Either way, it's 40 years old. What happened as a result of it happened (and will probably continue to happen).

    For me, "overrated" would be claiming a bit of historical importance that does not exist, like saying that EVOLUTION shook the world and caused a redirection of an entire school of jazz. It didn't. I think it's safe to say that it is an accurate, well produced and executed document of a player/composer that obviously intrigued some pretty "important" musicians. captured their imaginations at some point(s) in time, and dealt with some musical ideas that were not in general use in jazz at the time. Tha, I think, is an objective appraisal. Beyond that, it's mostly a matter of personal taste. Denying the historical "importance" of the music makes no more sense to me than overinflating it.

    Face it folks - the music captured on all the Lion/Wolff BN albums is HISTORY now. It's no longer the sound of today, and although certain items in the catalog continue and will continue to be influential to jazz, they do so the same way that, for example, Beethoven does - as a "past standard" of excellence and triumph, an inspiration in both technique and spirit. How one feels about any particular item or items is a totally personal matter, as it should be. We have ABSOLUTELY no obligation to "like" something jsut because it's supposed to be "important". But denying or inflating something's place in history is another matter entirely, something that seems to me to require a willful disregard of what has already happened. revisionist history, if you like. That's something I'm just not into.

  10. Thad & Mel Solid State Fans

    in Offering and Looking For...

    Posted

    I think the reverb's more noticable on the atudio album than the on the Vanguard one. Both are KILLER albums though, and the fact that one of them is still sealed and going for only $9 is kinda hard to believe (if in fact it hasn't already been sold).

    You know, having grown up in the record (as opposed to CD/tape) era, there's an element of nostalgia in stuff like this, but there's also a bit of "archaeology" as well - this is how these albums were originally released, and having the tactile sensation of seeing the records & their jackets, full size and in their ACTUAL colors (something rarely catured on reissues of any sort, but especially CDs) just adds a bit of historical resonance to my personal perception appreciation of the music. It's the same reason I did seeing 10" LP jackets and hearing decent condition 78s. The current CD format is obviously superior for portability, durability, and sound (SOMETIMES ;) ), but it's still a replica (or a historical repackaging/recontextualization) when it comes to older stuff like this. Something to be said for at least having an awareness of the way things were in their day, I think.

    Or maybe I'm just a geek...

  12. Greatest Album Cover Ever?

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    Well, in the old days, this one and Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics were the one you got, since they were all that were readily available:

    f50331edsos.jpg

    But judging from the contents, this one would probably be the one to have if you're only having one:

    d61330kk7co.jpg

    But I'm really, REALLY curious about this one...

    f67499axjgg.jpg

  15. Whazzup W/This One?

    in Recommendations

    Posted · Edited by JSngry

    hampto_lion_offintoab_101b.jpg

    FROM DUSTY GROOVE:

    One of the hippest albums ever cut by Lionel Hampton -- a badass batch of 70s funk tunes, recorded with arrangements from the Chicago powerhouse team at Brunswick Records! Lionel's vibes are mixed with tight drums, sweet bass, and some very soulful arrangements that make even the mellower tracks feel like they've been lifted from some lost blacksploitation soundtrack. Includes great versions of 2 Willie Henderson tunes -- "Off Into A Black Thing" and "Funky Chicken", both of which sound even better than the originals with the vibes in place -- plus the tracks "Easy", "Shut Your Mouth", "I Found Sunshine", and "One Man Band".

    I very much like the Sonny Lester produced Hampton things that go off into a funky groove, and wonder how these compare.

  20. Blue Note signs WM

    in Artists

    Posted

    Ok, still not digging Wilkerson? Fair enough. BUT...

    Before you TOTALLY write him off, check THIS baby out:

    f00337w0nxs.jpg

    None of the R&B "trappings" of the BN stuff. Just good solid soulful straightahead blowing.

    If you don't dig THIS one, then you can safely be said to have no use for Don Wilkerson, period.

  25. Blue Note signs WM

    in Artists

    Posted

    If I can't say anything good about something, I always try to "bite my tongue" and keep it to myself.

    "Ssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooo......", hissed the serpent, a wicked glint in his narrowing eyes, "would you care to join me in a discussion of RON CARTER PLAYS BACH?"

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