DrJ

I don't know if I'd call it "spooky," but damn moody and film-noirish is Terrence Blanchard's recent JAZZ IN FILM (Sony Classics).

I only have S'WONDERFUL, which is just that. Excellent recording quality, but more importantly the music is just superb. I can't imagine anyone with an ear open to all jazz styles would be disappointed, but if you are a die-hard fan of "out" music only, you might find it a bore. But that's not what Charlap and Co. are about by any means. There are few if any better trios currently working within this particular idiom, mining gold from the American standards book by really getting inside the tunes (as opposed to the equally excellent but very different approach of, say, the Jarrett Standards conglomerate).

Get it, won't regret it.

Chuck hits the nail exactly on the head, guys, and took the words right out of my mouth. If you please, oh skeptics, go back and reread the entire first paragraph carefully...there is clearly no error on Blumenthal or Blue Note's part that he started out talking about quintets. There is a REASON he begins that way, and he ties in the trio issue pretty much as Chuck says (if not on the very next sentence). Now, WHO needs quality control in what they say in print? In this context I see nothing wrong with entering using a similar sentence. Musicians sometimes use pet licks, and this was an opening salvo he was happy with. I doubt he did it consciously. Given the departures after that on the two liners, I don't see anything wrong with this at all. As I've said before, I don't understand why the universally negative comments about Blumenthal's liners for this series...no they're not highly profound or of much use to many people who fancy themselves "experts," but that's not my take on who the RVG series (budget priced, mostly pretty classic titles, not limited edition, etc) is primarily or exclusively pitched at. For newbies, I still contend his discussions of other sessions recorded around the same time by principals on the dates and other basic historical info would be useful and welcome.

Agreed on both points (re: my answer thread and Dan's new test thread). So look for a post with a new post with a prominent BLINDFOLD TEST #1 ANSWERS AND FURTHER DISCUSSION HEAR kind of banner on Monday...

GREAT choice, and I already have it too! Looking forward to another spin...

John, I actually thought strongly about doing that, but I look at it like this: it's late for getting this posted no matter what (I was just asked to do it yesterday, so not much I could do) and the thread will be up a lot longer than just the week it's "official," so I thought hey, let's get some thoughts about what people are in the mood for. If the CD could be obtained within 2-3 weeks, which is pretty do-able, then I think there'd still be an active discussion going (I'm often weeks behind in revisiting and posting on AotW). I enjoy all three albums equally, for different reasons, and would be most happy to revisit any one of them, but I have a hard time gauging interest here in different forms of jazz sometimes. To give you one example of the value of a poll - I'm actually surprised at the early returns, since most of the discussion on the board revolves around bop and post-bop and thus I was a little hesitant to outright pick something from swing or pre-swing era for fear few would be interested. But that's just me, I don't think it's "required" at all and if you have one you really want to do on your turn, I'd just go for it. I wonder what others think?

This reminds me of that old Warner Brothers cartoon..."Bugs Bunny, first base...Bugs Bunny, second base...Bugs Bunny...shortstop..." Oh BTW, I voted Dmitry.

What do folks think...when should I start a second thread with the "answers," my comments, and further discussion? That wouldn't of course preclude others still chiming in here without looking. I was thinking give it until the end of the weekend, then on Monday post the "key." Sound reasonable?

OK, couw was kind enough to choose me to pick AotW (no blindfold test element, I promise!). I would like everyone's help with the selection - PROMPTLY since the deadline approaches and I will need to close this poll by the end of the weekend to allow folks time enough to order CDs. I've chosen as finalists three albums by artists who I feel are generally neglected but have produced tremendous work. I'm also pretty confident few will have listened to these albums and so there will be lots of fun discoveries no matter what is picked. McNeely's album is the most "modern" although not out by any stretch, and it features a tentet wonderfully deployed, including Dick Oatts, Cameron Brown, Tom Varner, and Billy Drewes. Killer stuff, trust me. Ricky Ford's album features George Cables, Cecil McBee, and Ed Thigpen on a live recording from France. It's a small label but you can get the album either through Cadence (www.cadencebuilding.com) or from Jazz Friends directly (www.jazzfriends.com) Although the Dickenson is not really an actual "album" but a compilation abridged of a much longer session (available in full on a 2 CD import from Japan intermittently), it's the only music from the session that is widely available in the U.S. Dickenson is great here but one of the main reasons to consider this one is to hear cornetist Ruby Braff at his absolute peak. I wanted to make sure to have one pre-bop type selection on the list! So with that...what do YOU think? Again, chime in FAST if you want some say...

Aw, shucks! Seriously, the reason AfricaBrass thought you came up with the idea Dan is taht you have been the prime mover/shaker, and I truly appreciate it. So here's a big public THANKS to Dan Gould, who while he didn't come up with the idea of the blindfold test has basically made it happen - the burns, the threads, clarifying ground rules, etc. Which is a damn good thing, 'cause I'm TIRED...

I do think it's a "mileage vary" thing, because ALIEN aside I'm just not a Ridley Scott fan at all (I'm probably the only person on the board who thinks BLADE RUNNER was an insufferably boring, ugly, and vastly overrated film). But that's cool, we can certainly agree to differ amiably.

In GENERAL I prefer a clean sound, but take, for example, John Scofield's slightly overdriven sound on the Joe Henderson album SO NEAR, SO FAR (Verve) - in that context it sounds MIGHTY FINE to me. I also like Pat Metheny's "clean sound mixed up front with long delay and subtle reverb in the background" sound. He gets the best of both worlds with that - a "legit jazz" sounding clean articulation, a la Jim Hall, but with a rockish undercurrent. And that's not even to mention his instantly identifiable guitar syth sound, that wonderful overdriven trumpet thang (although a little of that goes a long way). Pretty ingenious with the FX, that Mr. Metheny...so much so that Hall has actually done a return compliment and integrated effects quite brilliantly into his mature sound. John McLaughlin's effects use has always struck me as very artistic and totally congruous in jazz contexts. Another thought: what exactly IS a "clean" sound? Let's face it, a lot of Grant Green's unique "singing" tone had to do with the coloration provided by his axe and amp combination, so even his sound was not truly "clean." In the last 50 years or so, really only Joe Pass used a truly "clean" sound (on albums like VIRTUOSO) and, to be honest, it's not my favorite sound - TOO flat sounding, although to be able to make a guitar sing and play like he does with a complete lack of "cover" was indeed remarkable, big robust cojones to even try it and even bigger to pull it off with a landmark SERIES of recordings. And I guess Wes played pretty clean too, although with enough subtle overdrive on the edge that I would hesitate to include him in the Joe Pass Absence of Effects club.

This looks very cool - another one to check out!

Must check this one out. I am clueless about all the principals, and have wanted to explore their work, so this seems like a good starting place. Thanks for the tip, will try to get it on my next buying binge.

Well, Joe, there's not much more I can add to that excellent passage, you captured so much! I particularly liked: TOTALLY agree, among the group of excellent cuts on this CD, that's the track that's had me reaching for the repeat button on my car CD player throughout my several errands today. The tune before that one, another Coles original called "Mister B" is also really the stuff. Anyway, I'm a huge Coles fan in general, and LOVE that tone. THE WARM SOUND indeed, but with an appealing tartness at the edge that makes even a flugelhorn sound just a bit less rounded than it does in other hands (example: Art Farmer, who I love also but actually had a much more conventionally "pretty" and rounded, warm sound on the flugel than Coles). Another thing I was considering on listening: I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about Reggie Johnson as a bass player. He has a very fine outing here, and his work on "United" is jaw-dropping...steals the show there. Add to that his collaborations with Hutcherson/Land (e.g. PATTERNS), and a whole slew of others (check out the "played with" section on All Music Guide) and you have someone that probably deserves a LOT more of my attention on future listens to sessions he's involved with. I do have one quibble with this record, and that's the way Billy Hart was recorded. His snare sounds like a cardboard box...brittle and flat to the extreme. One of my favorite post-bop drummers, so I hate doubly to hear that. But it's minor, not something that should keep anyone from taking the plunge in the least.

Read the following with a Dr. Evil voice: "Ah, things continue to evolve nicely...YOU'RE ALL FALLING RIGHT INTO THE LOOMING AURAL TRAPS I SET, HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAHHHH..." Rrrr-ight...

I guess it depends on the mental images one has formed of all the creatures and locations in the books, Simon. For me, seeing the Ents, and Rivendell, and Lothlorien, it was like "damn, how did this guy tap into my brain?!" It was uncanny sometimes how exactly what I was seeing on the screen corresponded with what I'd pictured internally. I think a lot of that is down to his collaboration with some key illustrators of Tolkein's work during the production design...probably subliminally, I've seen those illustrations and they left a lasting impression. There's a whole lot of coverage of the painstaking nature of his preparation and collaborations with these folks on the DVD extras (one who's particularly reclusive he literally had to search the globe to locate). Again, I was simply astonished at what they did after seeing the "making of" (which is like no other "making of" you've ever seen). For example, EVERY piece of armor, every torch holder, every other bit of gear was hand-made (often at several scales, since they used small people for some of the hobbit scenes), even stuff that you see way off in the background, the kind of things where a lesser production would just have faked it. But to me, when you see the movie in the glaring detail afforded by DVD, you can FEEL that detail there, the realism it affords, even though you don't consciously process it all. But I wax rhapsodic...sorry, I just simply love these films.

Go for it, Dan! Again, as a co-launcher of this activity, I vote strongly for keeping a lot of flexibility and options in the blindfold test, for not over-regulating it.

I'm WAY late in posting my reply here, but I will simply say that this one DID NOT grab me on listening now, at this point in my life. It sounds flat, and meandering in many places. Unlike Peter, I don't find the problem is with show-offy playing or arena rock tendencies - the album is really subdued and moody, normally the right environment for great performances by Zawinul, but for some reason I don't find the tunes interesting at all, and unfortunately, as I remembered, I find the group way imbalanced toward Zawinul on this particular side. Plus, his keyboards sound way cheesy (for some reason, more than on many Weather Report recordings of about the same vintage). It's not that I was expecting "Birdland, Parts 2-12" or anything, but this just isn't very good when evaluated on its own terms. Of the players, only Shorter appears to have been having a good day (or series of days)...certainly I can appreciate that and agree with some of the kudos he's been given in the prior discussion. But overall, my prior impressions from years ago were simply reconfirmed...that's exactly why this one has been gathering dust in my closet for years. Simply put, I would take HEAVY WEATHER over BLACK MARKET any day of the week, as unfashionable as that might be, for better playing, better writing, better production, and a stronger sense of purpose and style. If all that sounds overly negative, please don't contrue it that way - I still dig much Weather Report, and I am still glad to have heard this one again (once will be enough for a long time) for Shorter's contributions if nothing else.

Click here to find out Oh wait, that was someone else... (Before I get a bunch of angry retorts, IT WAS ONLY A JOKE, I dig Roney)

So far I've only heard little excerpts from those last "experimental" sessions on the SELF-PORTRAIT box, but wow are they intriguing! The roots of Jimmy Giuffre's "free" period music, anyone? Anyway, have yet to hear anything by Shaw I haven't enjoyed, although quite honestly I am a bit tired of hearing people praise him by dissing Goodman...OK, he didn't like Benny's playing much, but that doesn't mean we ALL have to agree. I personally can't imagine a jazz history without either man.

Excellent album, great choice. Coles is criminally neglected in jazz discussions. By another odd coincidence, I just picked up GROOVIN' FOR NAT (1201 Records, a 24-bit remastering of a Black Lion date) which features the two-trumpet lineup of Donald Byrd and Coles and Duke Pearson on piano (1962). Coles quite frankly blows Byrd out the water on this one. I will give NEW MORNING another spin tomorrow and post further thoughts!

I wonder how many people who are huge fans of the books have re-read them real recently (read: since the movies came out). I have, and to be honest, while they still more than hold up and I find some new delight on almost every page (and can't wait to share them with my son when he's old enough), I have to say I was even MORE impressed with the movies upon doing this. Sure, Jackson had to take some cinematic liberties, but in many instances I think he's actually improved upon the books - and I almost never think that about any screen adaptation. Tolkein's books had great humor, style, and depth, but that doesn't mean he wasn't prone to just as much awkwardness in his prose, and a tendency to telegraph every plot development, and another tendency to go all didactic when leaving more to the reader's own imagination would have done even better. Jackson has streamlined in many cases where the text most needed it. Hey, if nothing else, he's jettisoned about 90% of the songs, which to be honest I've always felt were almost always the weakest, least inspired, and most tedious parts of the novels. So my main point is, sometimes through the rose colored glasses of memory (especially memory steeped in childhood), it's easy to elevate things like the Rings trilogy beyond reasonable level.

Sidney Bechet - COMPLETE RCA/VICTOR MASTER TAKES (RCA/VICTOR), disc 3 Jessica Williams - UPDATE (Clean Cuts) with Eddie Harris Various - ONE WORLD JAZZ (Columbia) - a 1959 experiment in transcontinental overdubbing that features Ben Webster, JJ Johnson, Grappelli, Martial Solal, Ake Persson, Jo Jones, Hank Jones, and others June Christy - SOMETHING COOL (Capitol Jazz) Bobby Hutcherson - MIRAGE (32 Jazz/Landmark) Byrd/Gryce - THE JAZZ LAB/MODERN JAZZ PERSPECTIVE (Collectibles/Columbia) Donald Byrd - GROOVIN' FOR NAT (1201 Records) Erroll Garner - SOLO TIME! (Emarcy) Woody Shaw - SONG OF SONGS Blakey and the Messengers - A NIGHT IN TUNISIA (Bluebird/Vik) Milt Jackson w/Coleman Hawkins - BEAN BAGS (Koch/Atlantic) Sammy Price w/Lucky Thompson - PARIS BLUES (Universal France/Polydor) Lee Morgan - DELIGHTFULEE (Blue Note)