JSngry

Todson Goodman - Pass Me Or Play Me

You're at an advantage being a pianist - no long tones! But trust me on this one - musical memory is the last thing to go, but muscle memory is the first. So keep that muscle tone up, which probably means practicing painfully slow and focused on even pressure with all fingers. Same as with any instrument. Do it until it hurts, then do it until it doesn't. As for the "what" - whatever gets you through all twelve keys with all ten fingers and as many intervals as efficiently as possible. Find your own routine, because if it's going to hurt, make it fun! I've been on hiatus from the horn for a few years now and might be for another year, so this concept has been on my mind. All I know for sure is that the body needs to be able to function so the mind can follow suit, so...you can't not do that work! Have fun with it!

Face it - you could play this song with an average jazz band for a typical jazz audience and everybody would be all, hey, that's a pretty song! And it is. That's why pretty in and of itself is meaningless. Pretty is an adjective, not a noun. But most folks don't care about that But give it up to Concord. Life gives them lemmings and they make lemming-aid!

The Solomon that I've heard has been delightful!

They did four volumes of Elvin/Vanguard live stuff, the same date that Enja got one record out of. George Coleman aplenty. Skyscapes, the were called, IIRC.

The Mosaic that could have done this project justice no longer exists I'm afraid...and maybe never did? But factoring in the Transparency & Atavistic material as well as the Saturn/Transition-Delmark material (to say nothing of the R&B dates and such), you go from 1948 - 1960 over the course of a BUTTLOAD full of CDs. And factor in the scholarship about his Birmingham life, and then the Themei organization, and then the move from "Ethiopianism" to Afro-Futurism/Space Worlds...it's one helluva ride, an encapsulation of a lot of significant American history, all of it going on, for the very longest, TOTALLY off the radar. And also - old-school African-American economic self-determination, neither depending on nor seeking White Capital. Never underestimate the role that not going after White Backing Money plays in the narrative that comes forth right away... The pieces are beginning to come together, but looking at it in linear fashion like this made a LOT of things jump out for me in a way that had heretofore been sort of implied and/or assumed/underplayed. The data is there (a lot of it coming from the Alton Abraham collection, and if you don't know THAT story...), the music is definitely there, and I'm sure (I hope...) that serious-minded people without an agenda already have done this for their own edification. But yeah, it needs to be done, if only, as per the Sun Ra model - by the individual to benefit the collective. And that's just the Chicago years. check it out - How far is this removed from a Tadd Dameron Eckstine chart? Not very! Put the Nicholas Brothers out in front of this one! I mean, I knew, but I didn't really KNOW, if you know what I mean.

My biggest realization was that this was essentially a territory band, and the territory was the South Side of Chicago (I guess you could call that local, but considering how many different types of venues they works, I'm using "territory, albeith advixsedly). Players were always local, and as the economic viability of the territory declined, so did the size of band. But - and this is the other big, non-musical takeaway - between Ra & Alton Abraham, they always found a way to keep going, of finding some place to rehearse and/or play - and to roll tape. Another big takeaway was just how rooted Ra was in playing for dancers and floorshows and such (again, not unlike a territory band). Some of the early "space music" strikes one one way when listened to as "creative jazz", quite another when you place a floorshow in front of it! One more "eye-opener" - Ra as pianist, not just as soloist but as BAND pianist, the closer you listen the more details there are inside. None of it is splashyslappy, it's all very specific, just...multi-dimensional. And when accompanying the band, it gets deep, he sets up all kinds of planes, a section among sections. One last thing - for those who want to get a pure dose of "hard bop" Sun Ra, the first Saturn Ra records - all from 1956 - put together make one helluva strong standalone record. It was never released as such, but a DIY of it is most rewarding! The tympani thing actually works like, say, a deeper-pitched conga, especially when blending with the electric bass. The eyes will see eccentric, but the ears can here what's going on. Ancient elements being reimagined in a thoroughly contemporary set of voices. Sun Ra (Wurlitzer ep -1, p); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine “Pat” Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, timb -1). Balkan Studio, Chicago, around March 22, 1956 100- A 22 Super Blonde (Le Sun-Ra) Saturn Z1111-B, Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216^, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] 100 B 22 Soft Talk (Priester) Saturn Z1111-A, Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216^, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) [2nd version] -1 Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Advice to Medics (Ra) [ep only] -1 Saturn H7OP0216^, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep); Art Hoyle (tp -1); Julian Priester (tb -1); James Scales (as); Pat Patrick (bars -1); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); John Gilmore (space bells, perc). Balkan Studio, Chicago, April 13, 1956 Springtime in Chicago (Ra)^ Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] New Horizons (Ra)* -1 Saturn HK 5445, Evidence 22038 [CD] Sun Ra (p); Jim Herndon (tymp); Robert Barry (d); prob. John Gilmore (bells); unidentified (bells, scrapers). Rehearsal?, Chicago, 1956 Adventur [sic] in Space (Ra) Saturn 874, Evidence 22164 [CD] Sun Ra (Wurlitzer ep -1, p); Art Hoyle (tp); Julian Priester (tb); John Gilmore (ts); Laurdine “Pat” Patrick (bars); Wilburn Green (eb); Robert Barry (d); Jim Herndon (tymp -1). RCA Studios, Chicago, May 16, 1956 G7OW5257 Saturn (Ra) Saturn G7OW5257, Evidence 22164 [CD], Paddle Wheel KICJ 315 [CD], Evidence 22219 [CD] G7OW-5258 Medicine for a Nightmare (Ra) -1 Saturn Z222A, Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD], Paddle Wheel KICJ 315 [CD], Evidence 22219 [CD] G7OW5259 Call for All Demons (A Call for All Demons*) (Ra) -1 Saturn G7OW5259, film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P*, Impulse AS-9245*, Evidence 22066 [CD]* G7OW-5260 Demon's Lullaby (Ra) film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD] G7OW-5261 Urnack (Priester) Saturn Z222B, film soundtrack (edited), Saturn SR 9956-2-O/P, Impulse AS-9245, Evidence 22066 [CD] Supersonic Jazz (Ra) -1 Evidence 22164 [CD] Sun Ra (p, Wurlitzer ep, space gong); Art Hoyle (tp, perc); Pat Patrick (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Charles Davis (bars, perc); Victor Sproles (b); William Cochran (d); Jim Herndon (tymp, perc). RCA Victor Studio, Chicago, November 21, 1956 tk. 1 Kingdom of Not (Ra) Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] tk. 1 Portrait of the Living Sky (Ra) [no horns] Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] tk. 1 Blues at Midnight (Ra) [tp, ts, p, b, d, tymp only] Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, film soundtrack [edited], Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] tk. 1 El [El Is a Sound of Joy] (Ra) Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] tk. 1 India (Ra) Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Sunology (Ra) Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Sunology part II (Ra) Saturn H7OP0216, Saturn SR-LP 0216, Impulse AS-9271, Evidence 22015 [CD] Also in 1956 were the two Transition sessions, but these Saturn sessions work great quite apart from either of them.

The totality of known (to this point) and available Chicago Sun Ra, experienced, not all at once, but all in one focused effort. It was time to do it, and the material is all available. Rewards far exceeded efforts! Note: sideman and other for hire dates not included. Yet?

She's Herb Gellar's daughter, you know. Like Norah Jones, only different.

Texas Rangers Team continues to send annoying merchandising emails under the pretense that they still actually exist. Expecting this to be the norm for the foreseeable future or until I die, whichever lasts longest.

Ready-made bomb shelter and or armory. Plan ahead!

The transparency set is quite useful, if hardly ever (but sometimes, on occasion!) canonical. I'm compiling that into Ra-only form as well. The 1948-49 stuff makes for a really, uh, interesting look at a lonely man making (mostly) "customer-facing music". And then there's a live set with Gilmore that needs to see a real release somehow. Put it up on the Bandcamp or something. Otherwise, a lot of "for collectors only" type stuff, mostly, but count me in on that. That book is highly recommended, imo, despite it's academia-ic wonkspeak. Lots of valuable data in there, LOTS. What I want to call out here is that John Gilmore was a seriously important and great tenor player who made the decisions he made in terms of career with eyes wide open, I do believe. It's not like he's going to be erased (unless Sun Ra is), but he himself...attention should be paid, at every step of the way. And consideration should be given to the possibility that those who seek Earthly Recognition think that that's something worthy seeking, and that those who don't...maybe don't.

Gilmore, June 14, 1960 I'm not one of those glib meme-ers who will say that Coltrance "stole" from Gilmore, that's not how this music woprks (business, yess, music, no). But if were going to talk about Yoko Ono and relatively unformed Amiri Baraka (who picked up on Ra pretty early once Ra got to NYC) and stuff like that, that's ignorant. But it's not ignorant, in fact, it's probably necessary, to note that Coltrane had know about - and known - both Ra & Gilmore from Ra's Chicago days. And how this music definitely does work is that when you hear a "kindred spirit, somebody whose ideas about approaching the instrumen - and thus, the music - it is only natural to form a relationship, to keep in touch, to pay attention, if for nothing morew than reassurance that what you're doing is not some wild-eyed psycho-break, that it's really a valid thing to thing about and to do. None of this stuff occurs in a vacuum, and Ratlif fills some of it, but not all. If he's looking at "society", yeah, but that's a BIG word, "society" is. Ra did himself no favors in this regard by his delayed release over multiple LPs over many years, but suffice it to say that by the time 1961 hit, he had already been there (not literally, although...who's to say?!?!?!?!) One does oneself a HUGE favor by constructing a chronological collection of Ra's Chicago work, using this indespinible website: http://campber.people.clemson.edu/sunra.html Put all of those things back into original recording order, THEN draw some conclusions about who was doing what, when, and how.

Ok, but...1961 was also Sun Ra's first full year in New York. Recorded documentation is sparse, but on the Savoy record, you can hear Gilmore really doing his thing on October 10, 1961.

Uncle Arthur Uncle Albert Admiral Halsey

How many times did Doug Watkins do that walking bass intro thing?

Concurrence.

That Donald Byrd/Yusef Lateef live thing recorded in Detroit. Everybody sound not yet fully formed, but Yusef make the best car horn sounds ever on "Parisian Thoroughfare", and sounds beautifully in general. Any discussion of great tenor sounds that does not include that of Yusef Lateef is not yet complete.

Why does Stan Kenton get to smoke in the room with the modern art and me and my family don't? We pay taxes too!

Thanks for confirming that he is both alive and active. I was unsure, and it makes me happy to know. He's been a favorite of mine since the Don Ellis days!

The Nick Davis - Phil Nack Jazz Lovers Big Band - Swing That Dog A Trombone and Call It A Day (Recorded Live At The Purple Runway). Vocals by the sadly underrepresented master scatter Lynne Wakkapak. And yes, you can hear the planes.

Helluva journey. RIP and thanks for playing.

Swantelle Marlboro - You Got A Lot To Like!!!

Thank you.

Dick Stewart Stewart Smalley Tiny Grimes