JSngry

Word. And I REALLY hate it when people attach weak-ish music to strong realities, it's cheap in damn near every way, and the older I get, the more offended, deeply offended, I am by cheapness, no matter the source. It's like when the Trayvon thing went down, some clown on the internet wrote a song called "Trayvon", posted the lead sheet, and called for every right-minded person to play it on their next gig. Well, I was on a gig where the leader brought it in and said we should play this, and I'm thinking, ok, cool, that was some fucked-up shit, let's bring it. And then...the "tune" was the weakest of weak dumbing down of "Equinox" just a totally simplistic - dumb even - piece of shit. And I got pissed off, stopped playing it, because, you know, serious shit deserves serious contemplation, not some bullshit sorrow-by-numbers. You don't win anything by dumbing it down. But that's more comfortable. Fuck comfortable, dealing with real shit in a real way is not going to be comfortable. Deal with it or STFU, please. So yeah, if you bring your politics to your music, I need for them both to be on-point and solid, some grownup shit about some grownup shit, bring it for real, not for jsut the words of it, #MeToo ≠ Me Too, Yeah! I'm starting to vomit just thinking about this.

I bought the Brubeck for a teence more than that a few years ago, when I was re-upping with Paul Desmond. Two things - it takes a lot longer to get to the, uh..."less-inspiring" albums than you might thing; There is no cutoff point for when things go stale, it's back and forth up to the end. My Columbia Brubeck CD Collection (aka CBCC) was minimal anyway, so this was a good buy for me. But there's still a buttload of live stuff not included, and maybe a one-off or two like the album with Bill Smith. But the set as is was a good buy for me, because if nothing else, Paul Desmond all up in there.

Yeah, it's ok to not be afraid of the volume, fear is never a good finishing point, but, you know, you gotta respect it, because it's a real thing. Science and shit. Don't do like I've done and think it's all gonna be good only to find out at some point that, whoa, I need some filtering here, OOPS, I left my shit at home. Don't do that. I could tell you stories...

upon further review...the business/economics angle is very real, as the record was produced by Wayne Henderson, 1969, World Pacific Jazz...leveraging that Jazz Crusaders juice into some business opportunity. We know where that all led. Musically, though, there's a tuba on damn near every track, and it too a second or two for it to sink in that it's there to give the charts a black marching band sound. Don't know if Leonard Feather mentions this in his liner notes, but with the benefit of 50 years hindsight, it seems obvious now (again, once you accept the premise that this record is primarily a business deal).

We'll keep the options open, the better for there to be the taste of surprise!

god, the blogosphere, iPods, the perfect combination. but like all perfections, it couldn't last (or at least it didn't last). this is a perfectly high-quality portrait of music/record business economics in action. the music itself, eh...if that's what you want, you have many other options. edit to add that the music itself is not totally without interest once/if you accept the premise.

Bringing about meaningful change the only way that matters - through the water supply.

Are we connoisseuring or just drankin'?

Are there any nut allergies of which I should be aware?

Pie, perhaps? I don't want to come to your house and not bring anything. A certain type of American finds that to be quite ungracious, to say nothing of unacceptable.

Not going to be for everybody, but no matter. It's a lost gem. Eckstine/Riddle worked!

Party at your house, then! Can I bring brownies?

I hear that Bill Barron's widow has some things...

And I mean, really, that clip is not awful. It's not great, but it's not bad. It's definitely "arty", definitely not "weird", and as for party, I'm sure there's a party for that somewhere. Not where I live, but ok, people can have their parties where they want. But if it's not bad, and it's not great, that leaves it just....nice. Nothing wrong with nice. But if your promo blurb is going to pimp your Right Side-ness, then...right side is going to be made right how, exactly? With nice? These are not leaders, these are followers. Followers are always welcome, but their survival is not guaranteed, nor should it be. Nice.

Ok, all well and good as far as it goes, but I'm not sure that "weird, arty party music" is going to, uh, get it done (as a "certain type of American" would be prone to sometime say). Just play better, that's all. And aim your "power" to where it can land. Firing "weird, arty party music" bullets...where is that supposed to land? Know what it means to be a true militant as opposed to being a supporter of any number of "movements". There are people in the way and "weird, arty party music" ain't moving them anywhere. Have fun feeling good about yourself.

I liked it a lot, it was fun.

They seem to have a special relationship with Tolliver, as they did with Andrew Hill, and as they did with Sam Rivers.

I like that Earl Coleman! What is the Explorer Series record?

I don't find it at all inept (quite the opposite) or funky (also quite the opposite). A perfect example of "modern jazz". One more reason why I just don't care about "modern jazz" these days. I'm glad they're popular, though. I would like to hear what they sound like when they're pissed off, not in some kind of formal "resistance" mode, but genuinely pissed off,. I bet not one of them owns a gun or a knife. Not that I'd expect them to admit it if they did, but, just sayin', they don't even project the possibility, and how pissed of can you afford to be if you don't hold the ability to arouse doubt in reserve?

Membran...I have been getting a few of their classical sets, they seem to be mostly broadcasts of important artists/composers, looks/feels/sounds like semi-collated bootlegs more than anything P(D)irated. As such, yes, useful as an introduction. I got a Kirsten Flastadt box that was luscious fun. Think it was Membran, anyway.

I do want to hear this. Stepney runs deep. The Bacarach thing he did with the Dells stopped me in my tracks with all of its implications.

per: https://www.discogs.com/Randy-Weston-Blues/release/3304377 Courtesy of O'Be Records