relyles

I found some time to sneak in a listen to disc two. I apologize for my lack of editing and long windednes in some of my responses, but these are my honest reactions to the music. DISC TWO 1. I will confess that after posting my comments to disc one I reviewed some of the other posts on the first disc and accidentally saw a reference to Gil Evans regarding this track. I will admit that if I had not seen that reference Evans would not have come to mind. I have not heard enough of his music to even know what his style is like. With that said, this is definitely a piece where the arrangement is very important to its success or failure. Here the music is interesting. Once again, I do have a preference for smaller ensembles and this is something that I probably would not gravitate toward on my own. I do like the bass line. It adds an undercurrent of mystery to the track. This could also be someone like Maria Schneider, who I believe is also influenced by Gil Evans. 2. Here is one of the exceptions to my less than favorable feeling about jazz vocalists. BETTY CARTER. I have always loved her. One of the first jazz performances I saw in a club was Carter in a double bill at the Bottom Line with the Harrison/Blanchard quintet. I love her voice and how instrumental her voice can be. She can sing wonderful songs, but her voice also interacts with the other instrumentalists well. I do not know which specific recording this is from although I will point out that Carter also had some great musicians play with her like John Hicks and Cyrus Chestnut, which is part of the reason I always enjoyed her music. 3. I am trying to listen with open ears, but this track is just not appealing to me. Nice voices. There is some familiarity. Sorry, just not my kind of thing. 4. Interesting track. I keep expecting them to start something. I can appreciate the interaction between the vibes-bass-drums, but I could also appreciate an identifiable tune. This is the kind of thing that I would probably like to listen to several times because I would appreciate it more with each listen as I get more involved with the piece. 5. Sounds a little smooth in the beginning, but then we get that Frisell type rural guitar thing in there. Bass sounds like something I have heard in Pat Metheny group stuff back in the day. I have no idea who this is. No. I don’t like this track. 6. The first thing that came into my mind in the first ten seconds of the track was the blaxploitation movie era. No it’s not exactly like it, but that came to mind. The bass clarinet is trying to say something, but the backbeat is not really doing much for me. Let me start to clean the kitchen while the rest of this track plays. Maybe it will surprise me. Nope, no surprises yet. I really should not be so harsh. It is not that the music is not enjoyable on some level. It really is just a matter of what I listen for. I can listen to something like this as background music, but it is not the type of thing that will make me sit and listen attentively. I am always hoping to hear something that will surprise or even better shock or wow me. This just does not do it. 7. I like this groove so far in the first couple of minutes. I have always liked tunes with strong bass vamps. It feels like the tune is building up to something. Not an incredibly involved, or complex sounding piece, but I feel drawn into the vibe of the piece. Quality flute solo, but I do not know who it is. The piano makes a good effort to keep some tension in the piece with the stuff played underneath the flute. I bet when the answers are revealed I am going to be disappointed with myself for not recognizing the pianist. I am sure it is someone in my collection. The style sounds familiar, but I am not sure. The three that came to mind while listening were Pullen, Tapscott and Weston although there is nothing in particular about the solo that was characteristic of either of them to me. It is more the feel of the piece and the solo that conjured images of those three masters. Nonetheless, the more I listen I am certain it is not any of them. I like this track. It is a little long. Maybe it is Randy Weston. Hmmm, I look forward to the answer. 8. Randy you sure have some eclectic tastes – and I mean that as a compliment. This is something new to me. Kind of atmospheric with not much fire to it. The mix is a little funny, but the tenor is familiar. Sounds like Charlie Haden on the bass. 9. Expressive trumpet. I am tired. My wife will be home from work any minute and I don’t want to get caught. Sorry – temporary distraction. I have listened to a lot of music like this. The drummer is really kicking these guys in the butt. No I do not know who it is. The tenor really let it all out. Music like this appeals to my emotional side more than my intellectual side. I would have to think that is what the musicians are going for here – grab you by the throat and make you pay attention. Here is a thought I just had – for all the passion that the two horn men solo with, did their solos tell any sort of coherent story? I am sure they did, but it is one you do not get on the first listen while sitting at the computer with one ear on the kids in their bedroom and the other on the music while at the same time fearing the arrival of the boss. In addition to wanting to be shocked by the music, I also listen for compelling stories with some logic that really say something. It is the difference to me between 50 cent and Nas. One has some nice hooks and is enjoyable, but in the end ain’t saying a damn thing. The other, IMO is nothing less than a street poet. I digress. Nice track. 10. Don’t like the echo. I may skip ahead to the last track. I am not going to skip ahead, but I am not having a response to this track. 11. Nice conservative track to end the compilation after the eccletism that preceded it. The sax is trying to push the boundaries a little. Is that Sun Ra? Sorry, momentary insanity.

I am a little late, but I finally had a chance to listen to disc one. I have not read any of the comments thus far and I typed my impressions as I listened to the disc. Therefore, these are my true first reactions to the music on Disc One. DISC ONE 1. I do not listen to a lot of big band music so I know that I would not be able to identify the band. The tenor soloist sounds familiar. Nothing particularly memorable about the tune itself, but the band plays with excitement. 2. Sounds like a Woody Shaw tune. Another tenor that I have heard before. If it is Shaw it could be Carter Jefferson. The tune has that late seventies early eighties Woody Shaw feel to it. Yes, I only need to hear the first three notes of Woody Shaw’s solo. He is my favorite trumpeter and I know him anywhere. I am not sure which album this is from, but I know I have it. Always a pleasurable experience for me to listen to Shaw. His music has a very distinctive sound that sounds like “Woody Shaw” even when he is not playing. I think it is from one of his Columbia recordings. 3. Wow. Another familiar tune. From Bobby Hutcherson’s Dialogue with Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Freddie Hubbard, Sam Rivers. One of my favorite recordings and one that I have listened to numerous times. I think the tune is “Idle While”, but I am not sure about that. Great music. 4. No idea who it is. Enjoyable groove in the beginning, but right now I am wondering if this is all that there is going to be for the entire eleven minutes of the track? Okay, no it is not – here is the alto. I know this alto and it is annoying me that I can’t place it. It’s not Oliver Lake. I am enjoying the alto solo, but I apologize to the musician’s estate for not being able identify it. I still wish the percussionist would do a little more, but it is allowing room for the alto to do his/her thing. Hemphill? No. I do not know. Tune gets a little repetitive and goes on for too long with not much change in the action other than an increase in tempo. I would not feel compelled to add this to the collection. 5. An interesting beginning. The more it continues the pianist sounds a little like Mal Waldron to me. He gets a distinctive sound from the piano and is one of the few pianists whose sound I can usually recognize. I think he plays in the middle keys or something. With that said I am not going to commit to this being Waldron. Maybe I should shut up and just listen for a minute. A somewhat rumbling/ruminative piece. Not sure how much I like it. First impression is not overly wowed. I no longer think it is Mal Waldron. I almost moved on to the next track at about the ten minute mark during the extended drum solo. 6. I am listening to this disc on the computer while my daughter is watching some cartoon on TV. During this piece is the first time I have had a difficult time focusing on the music. I do not listen to much jazz vocals and this singer does not sound familiar to me. Okay there are more than one voice, but is it the same person overdubbed? Crazy idea. The piece did not do a lot for me. 7. Are there two basses, or is a bass and cello in there? Don’t know who it is, but I like this track. It sounds somewhat like a standard tune. Nice solo by the sax. Is that “Summertime”? Interesting arrangement. 8. The opening sounded very familiar. I love this kind of music – the piano less quartet stuff in the “Ornette” zone. I think I have this, but I am not sure who it is. Could be John Carter and Bobby Bradford. Of course this would have to be Carter before he started to focus on clarinet. For a second I wondered whether it could be Jimmy Lyons on alto, but no it is not him. Neither his sound, not his phrasing. A somewhat haunting piece. Carter and Bradford played a bunch of songs like this with the floating rhythm. Damn! I even think that I have listened to this recently, whoever it is. 9. There is definitely a variety of stuff on this disc. This sounds like an older saxophonist. Contemporary guys don’t use that kind of sound. It also sounds like one of those people that I should know, but have not taken the time to investigate properly. Very passionate playing in a subdued sort of way. I need to listen to this kind of stuff more often. It has a nice calming effect and the saxophonist has an appealing sound. Its not Hodges, is it? No does not have his smoothness. 10. Coltrane from the Atlantic period. Coltrane was the first jazz artist that I was absolutely obsessive about when I first started listening to the music. Still no greater saxophonist IMO ever. Maybe it is not one of his Atlantic records. No matter, its great music. 11. Like the change to a different type of rhythm. Oops, the vocalist just came and spoiled it for me. Don’t like his voice. I like the groove of the piece. That’s about it. I will post on Disc Two after I have a chance to listen to it.

I agree that the disc provides a picture of several sides of Harris.

I listened to this disc a few times over the weekend. Overall I enjoyed the disc, if not as much as a couple of other Eddie Harris recordings I have heard recently. If nothing else, this disc showed a few of the many sides of Harris. My favorite track was the opening "Chicago Serenade". The group gets a nice soulful groove and sustains it throughout and Harris' solo is typically good. The group gets into an even deeper groove on "Illusionary Dreams". "Cherokee" is proof of Harris technical mastery of the horn and "Lover Man" is a nice rendition of the ballad. The only potential flaw to me would be the two tracks that possibly others will enjoy - "Don't Let Me Go" and "Listen Here". On both of these tracks Harris plays all the instruments with the help of a cassette recording of himself. I think this thing probably works better for the listener live as opposed to hearing it on a recording. For me, it sounded a little gimmicky. Harris singing through his tenor to emulate Billie Holiday singing is interesting, but in the end did not move me particularly. Also, I enjoy Harris' composition "Listen Here", but IMO this version does not add anything to the composition. While listening to these tracks I could not help but wonder what purpose they serve since we know Harris had a band available with him at the performance. He could as easily sang through his horn using the rhythm section that was on the gig, so why do it all by yourself, but to show that you can? Anyway, those are small gripes on an otherwise enjoyable recording.

Obscure in the sense that to my knowledge these have never been available in the United States, but possibly some of our members in Germany are familiar ... The German organist Matthias Bätzel. I discovered him within the past two years when I was doing a thorough investigation of jazz organ. I have three recordings featuring Bätzel, all of which are easily recommended to fans of jazz organ. The first two under his leadership both on the Swiss JHM Records label are the 2000 date Green Dumplings and Monk's Mood from 2001. Both are trio outings that show Bätzel's stated affection for both Larry Young and Don Patterson. The latter disc features all Thelonious Monk compositions and is the only organ date I am aware of to do so. In addition to the two under Bätzel's leadership there is also a 1996 disc on the Organic Music label under the group name Grooveyard titled Basic Instinct. This disc features the rotating tenors of Ron Holloway, Houston Person and another tenor whose name I can not remember. On this disc Bätzel proves that he can maintain a soulful groove with the best of them. Someone worth checking out.

They are in Connecticut this weekend. The concerts are not free, however. Probably can not make it anyway since my wife's birthday is the weekend (she is not a fan of the music).

I would say you have a good reason to be POd.

A timely choice for me considering I am in the midst of my first exposure to Harris and have been thoroughly investigating his artistry for the past couple of weeks. This is one that I do not have, but if Jim is recommending it I am checking it out. I just ordered it from half.com for $8.98 and looking forward to my first participation in the AOTW.

I have an unofficial recording of the Coleman octet supposedly performed at Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT with the same date. I don't have it with me so I can not check the tracks to see if they are the same. I do not have any personnel information. My understanding is that this was never issued, neither as a bootleg or as an official recording.

Can anyone offer any help in where I can locate a copy of this long OOP LP? I have a copy on cassette that I received from Barron's widow, but I would prefer the actual LP. Date: ca. 1972 Location: New York City Label: Savoy Bill Barron (ldr), Bill Barron (ts), Kenny Barron (p), Chris White (bass), Al Hicks (d) a. a-01 Motivation (Bill Barron) b. a-02 Land Of Sunshine (Bill Barron) c. a-03 Blues For R. A. (Bill Barron) d. b-01 Cosmos (Kenny Barron) e. b-02 Hold Back Tomorrow (Bill Barron) f. b-03 Mental Vibrations (Bill Barron) All titles on: - Savoy LP 12": 12303 - Motivation

Thats good to know. I just ordered both New Dance and Scattered Clouds yesterday.

Me too.

I had the opportunity to listen to this album for the first time this week. Reading the previous comments illuminated something that I was thinking. Daley shows himself to be a very interesting improvisor, but it is Thorne's contribution that make this a special recording to me. He plays with a lot of imagination and I love his sound on bass. The Newport recording is very good IMO, but if there is better by this group I sure would love to hear it. Anyone know whether Thorne can be heard on any other recordings?

I suppose a link to the list of sale items would help. Hat Sale

Thought some might be interested in this email that I received from Downton Music Gallery (DMG. I am not going to post the entire list, but the fact that there is a sale should interest some. THE BIGGEST HAT LABEL SALE YET!!! OVER 140 HATOLOGY - HAT[NOW] - HAT-ART TITLES!!! 36 HAT TITLES HAVE JUST BEEN ADDED TO OUR 7 FOR THE PRICE OF 6 SALE LIST !!!!!!!! OK! We've come by some limited stocks of these 36 HAT(ology) and HAT[now]ART titles that we can sell to you below well our wholesale [so now you know how little our margin usually is!] NONE of these 36 were listed in our Oct 03 HAT Sale [so dont fall asleep on this one!] NORMALLY $17, ALL HAT TITLES BELOW ARE NOW $12 EACH - AND ANY 7 FOR THE PRICE OF 6 [$72] !!! THAT'S $10.30 EACH!! - WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!! - When these items are gone, they will be OUT-OF-PRINT AT ANY PRICE! ... ..PLUS.... 79 OUT-OF-PRINT HAT-ARTs - $20 WHEN THEY WERE IN PRINT - NOW $12 EACH [for single CDs]!!!! [not part of '7 for 6' sale, see Part 2 of this email] ... AND FINALLY, SOME OF THE OLDER 'HAT ART' [6000] SERIES, WHICH ARE EFFECTIVELY OUT-OF-PRINT, ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR $12 for SINGLE Cds [higher for 2 CD, 3CD etc. sets] [YOU MAY ORDER NOW AND TELL US TO WAIT TILL THE END OF THIS WEEKEND [1/25] TO SHIP IN CASE YOU HAVE ANY ADD-ONS FROM TOMORROW'S NEWSLETTER. SOME ITEMS MAY HAVE TO WAIT FOR ADDITIONAL STOCK ARRIVAL NEXT WEEK]

I have only recently had my first exposure to Eddie Harris and in the past couple of weeks I have been doing a somewhat thorough investigation of his music. I have heard most of the recordings already mentioned in addition to a couple not. I am really enjoying the journey thus far. All these years I had mistakenly assumed that Harris was a "soul jazz" artist with limited talent. My apoligies to the Harris estate and anyone else that misguided assumption may offend. Wow! He really was a mother. I listened to the entireSiwss Movement disc last week and was blown away. I had heard the two hit tracks many times in my life, but that was the first time I ever actually "listened" to the album. Very funky and soulful, but Harris also plays some to my ears advanced tenor on that record. The best example to me is the third track (can't remember the title). My first reaction was this is an amazing solo! In addition to all the recordings previously mentioned I would also strongly recommend Vexatious Progressions. Its a quintet recording from the nineties when Harris was primarily playing hard bop. The playing is strong and I especially like the compositions. Noone wants to read a long boring list, but I have also enjoyed Steps Up (with Tete Montoliu), There Was A Time (Echo of Harlem), Freedom Jazz Dance (1997 quartet date with Jacky Terrasson and Billy Hart on Musicmasters), The Lost Album Plus The Better Half (highlighted by the presence of Bunky Green and two extended 15 minute workouts with Mel Rhyne on organ that prove how inventive Green and Harris are), The In Sound/Mean Greans, and Exodus To Jazz/Mighty Like A Rose. I am going to keep an eye on this thread so keep the recommendations coming.

This past week I had my first exposure to Ortega on his, On Evidence recording. Liked it a lot and will probably jump on those hat releases. For anyone possibly interested, Downtown Music Gallery is selling both New Dance and Scattered Clouds for $12.00 a piece. I think the former is the earlier hat art reissue and not the 2003 hatology reissue.

How could I forget Alto Memories? Fortune, gary Bartz, Kenny Barron, Buster Williams and Jack DeJohnette. The music lives up to the wonderful personnel. A terrific recording.

I have Laying It Down and It Ain't What it Was. I have not listened to either in a while, but my memory is that both are solid quartet recordings.

Warne Marsh's Ne Plus Ultra orginally released on LP by Revelation was reissued on CD by hat art. Would love to see that available once again.

I thought I might have mentioned this disc before, but maybe I was thinking about something else. I like this one a lot. Has a laid back M-Base feel to it that I admite and Shim playes well throughout. I must confess that I do not know much about Billy Bauer, but I will say that both Tactiles and Jeff Parker's Like-Coping made me think of Bern Nix's Alarms and Excursions.

I was wrong. According to AMG at least Hard Groovin and Saxotic Stomp have at one time been available on CD. I just also remembered that I own Tenor Madness Too on CD.

I think that most, if not all of the Muse titles have never been reissued on CD in their entirety. I think there is a 32 Jazz compilation from the Muse stuff, but all of those great sextets (septets?) he did with James Spaulding are still waiting to be reheard. I have all of the Muse LPs.

I ordered that one at about the same time I ordered Adobe, but have not received it yet. Hoping to receive it within a day or two and give it an immediate listen.

Bill Barron - Motivation on Savoy. It has never been reissued on CD and I have been searching for a copy of the LP for a couple of years now. I actually got a copy of the LP on cassette from Barron's widow, Ana, who lives nearby. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not as good as I would have hoped. Its a terrific album nonetheless and one that I would probably be willing to spend a hearty sum to own. Of course since we are talking about it, if there is anyone out there with a good copy of the LP and is willing to either sell it or even burn it on CDR for me I would be foreever grateful. I don't think this is one that is going to be reissued any time soon.