DrJ

Entering late here. Cool if people don't like Miles - but make sure you know why you don't like him. Don't just skim the surface, listen past the unconventional tone (not saying anyone here IS skimming, just urging those with more casual acquantaince to give him SERIOUS consideration). No question in my mind Miles was a truly GREAT trumpeter when he was "on" his chops and in good health. As others have said, not a "classic" sounding jazz trumpet tone a la Clifford Brown, but then again nobody has ever out Clifford Brown'd Clifford Brown - dig? Miles could PLAY - make no mistake. A true musician, not a technician - parsimonious with his note choices (that's almost become a cliche, but a very TRUE cliche, a master of space in the class of Jamal and Monk), and never afraid to use unconventional sounds/slurs/devices in the service of the song or solo. Listen to his playing on a tune like "Circle" from MILES SMILES - holy crap, are you gonna tell me that isn't some of the most spine tingling ballad artistry EVER? Herbie Hancock's solo on that one is justifiably the stuff of jazz legend - Bob Belden just about starts speaking in tongues describing it in the boxed set liners - but if you listen carefully you'll hear how Miles' superlative solo sets up both Herbie's and also Wayne's solos, acting as a launching pad and fertile garden of ideas for them to pick and choose from. Let's also not forget Miles' many other attributes, beyond his trumpet playing too - when you listen to a Miles Davis record, you're also hearing fantastic band leading and selection of musicians, great compositions and arrangements, top notch production and recording (usually), and all the other related thought and effort that went in to producing RECORDS rather than a series of blowing vehicles (particularly in the Columbia years). One last piece of food for thought - I sometimes forget, as a younger and later comer to jazz, about the issue of chronology - who started what, who did what first, etc. If you go back and reconstruct jazz history by looking at session dates and the like, you'll realize how many times Miles was first on the block to do things - from coming up with arrangements for tunes that were so definitive that everyone since references them (to the point that very few people even BOTHER trying to go back and come up with something new based on the original harmonies or melody); to incorporating electronic instruments in a truly original, thought out, and organic way; to using the studio as an instrument; to breaking away from the "hot hard bop" mold in which just about every prior East Coast trumpeter was cast; etc etc. You put all that together and I have to admit it is pretty mind boggling that some just miss or don't get it. But again, more power to ya - it's surprising to me to look back now and realize that it took me many years to warm to and finally "get" Charlie Parker, now one of my ultimate favorites, so who knows? Give it time.

Chuck, you're dead on - THIS AMERICAN LIFE is a killer show, and that Sedaris bit is a classic. I posted about the Sedaris piece some time ago (may even have been back on the BNBB), just about wrecked the car one Saturday afternoon while listening during a drive with my wife. ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY is a fantastic book, full of stories many of which are almost as hilarious ("Don't Fuck With the Rooster," which is about his younger brother, is one of my personal faves). I love the way THIS AMERICAN LIFE is put together, with the music interludes during Glass' pauses. Really atmospheric.

This IS a fine record...brings me back to my college days. Jim, I know you're just teasin' and not makin' fun - so I'm not trying to "defend" it or convince you of anything - but it's actually one 80's pop record you might be interested in hearing because there's a VERY strong Brian Wilson/Beach Boys influence in the writing, and I know how much you are a fan of Wilson. Basically, a lot of their best tunes sound like good quality Brian Wilson tunes put through a post-punk shredder - or another analogy would be like listening to said tunes on a transistor radio picking up an AM radio station that's just about out of range. While as you might imagine this type of formula was BOUND to wear kind of thin quickly, it's great fun taken in this small vinyl dose.

Thanks for the tip Larry, never heard of Chase...for others intrigued by this prospect, both of the Chase albums Larry mentions are carried by Cadence, for around $12 (they list the label for PHOENIX as "Jazzproject," in case you're doing a search on their Web site).

Overall a very nice review. The reviewer is kind of hard on Columbia / Legacy re: no new material...but rather than the label being chintzy, I wonder if it's maybe simply a case of there not being anything of sufficient quality left in the vaults to add, and/or if perhaps Brubeck himself didn't want anything added to the original albums. Regardless, I'm personally quite excited about this one...I have had TIME OUT and TIME FURTHER OUT in (well worn) vinyl format for years and have been waiting for a package just like this...will be nice to have them in CD remasterings, plus the three recordings in limbo for so long.

Both sides are nice, albeit very brief (2 1/2 minutes apiece). McKusick plays pretty alto, never sounded more similar to Paul Desmond than here in my opinion in terms of his tone (I've heard some comparisons and never really felt they were that similar, but on this single I'll make an exception, though I'm sure it was parallel development and not a mutual influence thing). The A-side opens with a gravelly, Miles Davis-ish voice saying "Just keep walking" and then for the remainder is a relaxed, vaguely R&B inspired saunter, where he stays pretty close to the admittedly catchy melody. The B-side is my favorite, a very slow ballad with a good melody on which McKusick is more harmonically interesting in his solo. Both this one and the A are over WAY too soon. I can't find any listing of who's in the rhythm section anywhere on the Web. The bassist is the most worth listening to - propulsive, and some eye-opening note choices here and there, although also out of tune in spots. Vaguely Milt Hintonish sound, wouldn't be surprised if it's him. The drummer literally could be a metronome - no distinguishing marks here. Pianist has an unfortunate predilection for very unsubtle and out of place block chords - Brubeck's touch on a bad day, but without the intelligence or humor, a bad combination. Recording quality is fine, with a minimum of reverb, although I'd be surprised if this wasn't a primarily pop record (rather than jazz session) engineer. The copy of the single I bought is in good condition, with more surface noise on the A-side (sounds like it was well-loved at least for a time). All in all, very much worth 6 bucks, fun stuff.

FANTASTIC ALBUM...great choice. Will revisit it happily.

I've always been a big fan of 25 O'CLOCK, particularly Colin Moulding's loopy "Bike Ride To the Moon," which sounds like Herman's Hermits on mescaline. More kudos for "Stupidly Happy" here too - up there with "The Mayor of Simpleton" and "Senses Working Overtime" in the pure joy category.

LOST AND FOUND (Muse) is now OOP but pops up in used stores - I'm sure the 32 Jazz comp has some of this material, but it really holds together well as an album, fantastic music. Kenny Barron, Harvie Swartz, Ben Riley. I've never heard her other Muses but I'm sure they're stellar too.

It has nothing to do with all this rhetoric, but I've never even felt like posting at AAJ. That place gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason - way too sterile and hipper-than-thou vibe. Glad I avoided it (although again it wasn't for any political reason until now).

Well, that's certainly the question I'd want answered (SERIOUSLY)!

Brad - I've only hesitated to pick up that Miles Prestige box due to concerns about the remastering - now quite long in the tooth by CD standards. How's the sound quality?

So many great moments - impossible to choose one favorite program from these. I will say that one could learn just about everything one needs to know about the art of chordal accompaniment in hard bop jazz by closely studying Red Garland's playing on "If I Were a Bell." I don't even play piano, but even a dumb weekend guitarist like me can recognize the genius he poured all over that one. Not to mention Coltrane's entry on his solo in the same tune, one of those moments that makes life worth living. Hmmm, the more I talk about this...maybe RELAXIN would be my pick after all, for this one and a few other sublime treatments like their take on "Oleo."

Currently working my way through the fascinating, outstanding FORCES IN MOTION: THE MUSIC AND THOUGHTS OF ANTHONY BRAXTON book by Graham Lock (I owe a BIG thank you to Jim Sangrey for putting me on to this one). After reading Braxton's insightful, clear-headed, and (most importantly) thoroughly authentic and lived-in viewpoints about issues of race in jazz, the stuff quoted in some of the prior posts just sounds so academic and inconsequential. I'd strongly suggest you check this essential book out, Eric, it'll stimulate your thinking on this topic and you'll never want to settle for anything less again.

Bobby Hutcherson - HEAD ON (Blue Note) for 8 bucks, excellent condition.

I've been holding out on picking up Ornette's LOVE CALL and NY IS NOW - although both are being deleted I HAVE to believe they will appear as either a two-fer in updated remastering, or maybe as RVG's, in the near future. Otherwise I'll be an unhappy puppy.

Dusty Groove (the BASTARDS!) had an item too good to pass up, so it's now in the mail to me: Hal McKusick Quartet: "Ambrose (Just Keep On Walking)" b/w "You're Everywhere" From the Web site of one Jerry Osborne, who calls himself "Mr. Music:" DEAR JERRY: If I have a 'Hound Dog' expression it's because I've been up 'In the Still of the Nite' 'Wondering' about a song. 'Yesterday' me and some 'Friends' were discussing some of 'The Old Songs', when I brought up one that I remember from my teen years (late '50s). It has a girl asking a guy, whose name I think is Sydney, questions like: “Why do we have to walk through a subway tunnel,” etc. No matter what her question, his answer is always “Shut up and keep walking.” I've tried and tried to come up with the name of the song, but I give up. Any ideas? —Al, via the Net. DEAR AL: You are on the right track (subway, that is), though there is no Sydney in this musical adventure. The determined fellow marching underground is named Ambrose. Thus, the title is “Ambrose (Part 5).” Ambrose's willing but curious hiking mate is Linda Laurie, the credited artist. This late 1958 recording made the Top 60 in early '59 (Glory 290). Don't read anything into the “Part 5” reference. It means nothing and there are no earlier Parts. Besides the Linda Laurie original of “Ambrose (Part 5),” Glory hedged their bet by releasing an instrumental of “Just Keep Walking (Ambrose)” on Glory 292, just two numbers later, by the Hal McKusick Quartet. At the same time, guitarist Jimmy Valentine put out a marvelous cover of “Just Keep Walking (Ambrose),” which didn't chart” but received considerable air play, as did its flip side, “Rockin' Hula” (Cub 9024). Though the instrumentals do not have anyone doing Linda Laurie's part, they do have the Ambrose character occasionally saying “Just Keep Walking.” Linda's sequel to “Ambrose (Part 5),” a 1959 issue, is titled “Forever Ambrose” (Glory 294). In this adventure, Laurie and Ambrose are cuddled up — not in a subway — discussing such timely topics as her family's shame over not owning a color television. ******************** I'm a McKusick nut - big fan of his playing, WAY, way underrated as a soloist - so for that, and the fact this whole story seemed like good pop fun, had to have it (6 bucks seemed reasonable). But has anyone heard it who can comment on the musical merit? Dusty Groove claims the b-side is a ballad with some very nice McKusick alto work.

Ah, another one to explore. Thanks for the recommendations, Bev, I've been wondering where to start and you've given me the place!

Not sure...but it SURE is gonna be great to hear CONQUISTADOR with RVG sound quality! That has become for me one of the undersung gems of the label, and hopefully this reissue will help to rectify that some. It's not going to be immediately to everyone's taste, but damn it, this is music too good to ignore even for those coming from a firmly hard bop orientation - just LISTEN, and you WILL hear!

I grew up in the Bay Area and still visit frequently, RainyDay, and I'm not sure what radio stations you're listening to but Steely Dan ain't just played on smooth jazz stations...that's just a totally ridiculous (and desperate) comment. Last time I was down there, a few weeks back, I heard cuts from AJA and THE ROYAL SCAM on the hard rock stations, as but one example. It's also flat out bizarre to even try and compare Steely Dan and Santana, I can't think of more different acts in terms of both fundamental temperment and methods. Both were great in their prime, though. Anyway: more power to Carlos if he wants to try "A Love Supreme" - I'd actually LOVE it if he turned me into a liar and came up with something worthwhile. While it sounds like a stupendously bad idea to me for him to even try it now (as opposed to 20 years ago when he MAY have had the chops and creativity to do it convincingly), what the hell does that even matter? It's certainly not like I have any pull (geez, don't I WISH that my opinions made a difference in what great artists recorded!). And it's not like by having a few of us chuckle at the idea here, that's somehow going to foul the whole deal and Carlos is going to "call it all off" in a huff. I mean that's kind of the silly implication in some of the angry "rebuttal" posts here, that because we're not interested in the idea, we're somehow creating "negative energy" and that's going to screw the whole thing up. Now THAT'S a concept Santana would get behind I'm sure, given his amusing brand of double-speak mysticism. I'm just hoping that if he does try to bring "the dream" to fruition, in keeping with his late 60's roots, those tuxedos have a paisley pattern and REALLY wide lapels...

One that's already OOP: the LEE KONITZ MEETS JIMMY GIUFFRE twofer put out by Verve in the mid-90's. I went lookin' for it, in a major Konitz mood lately, and found it's OOP. However, it was still available - not at Tower, not at CDNow, not on half.com - but at WALMART's online store of all places (came up on a Google search). So now it's on the way, but figured I'd share this source with anyone who's been lookin'...

Hi Bev, glad you're around too - do check in with more of your thoughts!

I agree with much of what you say, RainyDay, the spirit of it - but there's also a big difference between a well-conceived reinterpretation of a piece and delusional (hash) pipe dreaming. As Jim alludes to, Santana was once a fine rock musician, but even at his peak there's simply no way that he had the chops or musical sophistication to pull that one off. That's not meant to be snobbish - not a jazz vs. rock thing, but just that not all jazz has the same kind of weight and implications and challenges as LOVE SUPREME. Also: it is just a fact that when one approaches reinterpreting a piece as powerful and well-known as LOVE SUPREME, one in which the original rendition was so literally earth shaking, that it ups the ante for all future comers even further. That's what Chuck's comments touch on - why not pick something that hasn't been tapped to full (or at least near as full as possible) potential yet and work on that? As to what Coltrane would have thought - I'm pretty much positive he WOULD have been kinder, outwardly at least, than some of us are - but honestly that's neither here nor there in my view. If I was the composer/original performer I'd probably be more gracious too - nobody wants to diss a fellow musician with his heart in the right place. But in this context, why should we be anything but honest?

Big Al: I actually don't mind the "loud" XTC of the first few albums at all - while not my favorite period, there they had a raw energy and the production was appealingly scruffy, fitting with the music. The "loud" stuff that loses me is on THE BIG EXPRESS, and some of the later albums where the production is so far over the top. I dig "Life Begins at the Hop," "Generals and Majors," and that lot as much as any XTC head! I will say that even then it wears on me after a while...for example while I'm glad I have the boxed set of mostly unreleased demos and live stuff they put out a few years ago, after about 30 minutes of disc 1 or 2 I'm ready to scream...but maybe I'm just getting old! Re: "Dear God," I seem to be one of the only "die hard" XTC fans who thinks it's pretty brilliant. Then again it reflects my views on religion almost perfectly, so that's a factor. But also as a pop single, it's catchy, perfectly produced, expertly played and sung, has passion and packs a lyrical wallop for a 3 minute ditty. What more can you ask for? But I do agree it didn't fit in with the flow of SKYLARKING and is much better as a stand-alone single. My recommendations: as above, SKYLARKING, ENGLISH SETTLEMENT, and MUMMER, three of the finest pop albums of any era - and if you have to take only one, SKLARKING, which is most certainly near the top of my Top 10 pop albums of all time list.

The short story is: this is highly worthwhile music in just about every way. Beautifully captured by Rudy Van Gelder, Snidero plays his way thoughtfully and with quiet conviction through some of Joe's best tunes: 1. If (Henderson) - 5:05 2. Serenity (Henderson) - 6:28 3. Punjab (Henderson) - 7:43 4. Inner Urge (Henderson) - 5:09 5. Step Lightly (Henderson) - 8:21 6. Recorda-Me (Henderson) - 5:37 7. Black Narcissus (Henderson) - 7:45 8. Afro-Centric (Henderson) - 7:36 Never heard Joe Magnarelli (trumpet) before this, but he's a fine front line partner in best Dorham/Henderson tradition. Conrad Herwig on trombone gives it a MODE FOR JOE kind of feeling on some of the cuts I'm used to hearing in a more open configuration (like "Punjab" for instance has a nifty bit of reharmonization) - nice, never cluttered. David Hazeltine is fine on piano too - more impressive actually as a soloist then as a comper. If there's a problem with the album that keeps it out of the "modern classic" category, it's with the rhythm section (rounded out by Dennis Irwin on bass and Kenny Washington on drums). Washington especially is a fantastic drummer in the right setting, no question, but I just don't hear him as the "right" player for this recording. The rhythm section ends up sounding reigned in, taking their cues from him, when someone like Ralph Peterson would have had just as much sense of that vintage period BN tradition thing but still really stoked the fires and put a more modern spin on it. With Washington, rhythmically it's more "retro" sounding than a recording like IN 'N' OUT from 1964 (was Elvin ahead of his time? Yes...)!