Joe

Thanks!

I misread, sorry. Put me down for March, please.

Yes, I can ID #7. Let's just say I don't think I ever expected the pianist and the srums/timbales player here to appear on record together. https://www.jazzdisco.org/montego-joe/catalog/#prestige-pr-7336 Your clue on #10 has me wondering... could that be Rusty Bryant?

Thanks Thom! I can do January!

If slots are still available, I'mm happy to assemble another BFT in 2026. Thanks!

Thanks for this playlist. Most diggable. Notes below, with only a few stabs at IDs. Plenty of typos, I'm sure; begging your pardon in advance. 1 = Shades of Rev. J.M. Gates, but it's not! Nor is it the Lemon Chill man from the old Ballpark at Arlington. The timbre is not purely a product of the recording fidelity. Is there a name for this vocal “effect”. 2 = Gil Evans for sure, from the INDIVIDUALISM record. He and Creed Taylor made a nice combo; that is, I think Taylor knew how to record Evans and bring out the cinematic aspects of his arrangements. I think this is “The Barbara Song”. I love how unhurried it is, but then you have Gary Peacock adding dramatic tension throughout. Which Wayne tunes in on. It’s almost worth listening to this again as a Shorter - Peacock duet. But then Wayne is doing so much to add even more color to the arrangement. Also, can we talk about how underrated Evans is as a pianist? 3 = A Wayne-ish tenor, and another somewhat sinister theme. I don’t think this is Ran Blake, but the harmonic language feels very Blakean. The tenor is fluid but not facile. The speech-like flourishes are actually quite subtle. George Garzone perhaps? I don’t think its Stephen Riley, but he’s another tenor who’s done something original with a range of influences. Singing! (3:00 mark or so). This is like an obbligato to a vocal only the tenor can hear. I’m surprised by how much momentum this has picked up. Not Blake, I don’t think, but the more I listen, the more this feels like it’s in that Gunther Schuller-NEC orbit. Not a criticism, BTW. So, yeah, Garzone is my guess. I’ve kind of slept on him. 4 = OK, I was not expecting more harp! Or flute, for that matter. I have no idea what it is, but I like this version of Modernism. Could this be a piece by Mel Powell or Hall Overton or another figure who straddled the worlds of jazz and modern classical music? I’m also getting Egisto Macchi vibes here (more so than Debussy or Ravel.) What pieces do I know that are scored for flute, oboe and harp? None, but I’m eager to hear (and learn) more. Also, I’m getting the tryptophan reference now. 5 = Dimetapp trombones: I’m down. I recognize this song. Jo Stafford? Yes, but dates from a very different era. This is some nicely deconstructed writing … that piercing flute note, the cello weaving in and out. I feel like we are still in the realm of Evans, somehow. Is this Rickie Lee Jones on vocal? I don’t think so. Not your typical chanteuse whoever it is. there’s kind of a hollow, clarinet-like quality to her voice that I find appealing. Not quite husky, but not wispy either. 6 = Where did this tempo come from? (Oh, we’ve hit the flipside now…) How the tenor shakes that last note of the theme. This is not Johnny Griffin, but this must be a tenor Griffin listened to very closely. I’m not sure I’m following the drummer, but that’s OK. He can keep doing his thing. Tiny Grimes on guitar? Wait, this is Jimmy Forrest with Grant Green, Harold Mabern, Gene Ramey and Elvin Jones: those Delmark dates. Ok, I need to revisit these. I thought I knew these records pretty well, but I suppose I don’t. 7 = This tune is so familiar… this is going to torture me. It’s a Lee Morgan tune, I think [?]. Horace Silver? Guiro? This bassist is doing some heroic work. Have no idea who the horns are. Is this a track from Sliver ’N Percussion? Well, no, that’s not Horace on piano. But this is a Silver tune. From TOKYO BLUES. (Googling). Holy sh*t. If this is now what I think it is, not a few surprises here … especially in the percussion session. Well, this is a record I probably never would have given a second though until now. Thanks! 8 = Drawing blanks here, but I like how the percussion is integrated into the performance. Tyner-ish piano, but I suspect the saxophonist is the key to this one. Sonny Fortune? Gary Bartz? I’m doubting Bartz, but I’m not sure why. Certainly an alto player who has reckoned with Coltrane. Backbeat asserting itself! How is this the same tune we started with. A journey for sure. 9 = Gabor Szabo on guitar for sure. Nobody else could get that sound out of an electric guitar. Could be from one of his early Impulses, but something tells me that, keeping with the percussion theme, I should be paying close attention to the drummer. So, rewinding and doing that! Oh, yes, well, tasty to say the least. But stealth tastiness. Case in point: 2:40 forward. Damn. I’m now hearing that Billy Ficca of Television was like the heavy metal version of Chico Hamilton. That is, I’m guessing this is one of the Chico Hamilton groups with Szabo. Which one, and which track, I don’t know. But as soon as all is revealed, I will be revisiting! 10 = Welcome to the bordello! This kind of sax playing is now a kind of historical curiosity, and it’s been ruined by the cliches that have grown up around it, but this track is a nice reminder of what it could express - and how other instruments couldn’t express those same things in the same way. (Although I suppose you could say that about almost any instrument, its the sometimes indeterminate nature of the saxophone’s timbre that makes it uniquely expressive, at least to my ear.) What the heck are those chords the piano player is laying down right before the 2-minute mark? Interesting tenor sound, more pitch up/registered up than I’d expect. I mean, its tenor, but its more Hodges than Webster. And do I hear some Earl Bostic in there, too? Curious to know who this is. Surely not Plas Johnson… but I’m guessing someone who’s not strictly a jazz player.

Yep, almost certainly a distribution issue. In my experience, few readers in the US understand just how outsized a role the distributors play in regulating ("throttling" may be the more appropriate term) their access to titles from small and independent presses (including university presses). Best to buy direct or use a vendor like Bookshop or Asterism. In any event - yeah, can't wait to read this one!

The hardback version is most likely to be purchased by libraries, which helps explain the pricing. Also, this is just how many academic presses operate. Looks like this will also be available as an ebook. Finally, you can also preorder via Bookshop (in case you don't want to give your $ to Amazon). https://bookshop.org/p/books/whistle-stop-kenny-dorham-jazz-and-the-journey-of-a-texas-family/548472d7f36a72cf?ean=9781496861955&next=t

Forthcoming from the University Press of Mississippi. Whistle Stop traces the remarkable life of trumpeter and composer Kenny Dorham (1924–1972), whose journey from rural Texas to the forefront of modern jazz mirrors the broader story of Black resilience and creativity in twentieth-century America. Dorham was born in Freestone County to a sharecropping family whose roots stretch back to Reconstruction, when his great-grandfather owned and farmed land in East Texas. Raised there and in segregated East Austin, Dorham found his voice on the trumpet at Anderson High School, and after brief stops at Wiley College and in the army, he landed in New York just as bebop was transforming American music. Dorham quickly became a cornerstone of that transformation. From performing with Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, and Max Roach to mentoring younger talents like Joe Henderson, he played a defining role in shaping modern jazz. A gifted composer, collaborator, and teacher, Dorham also helped lay the foundation for formal jazz education. Yet despite his immense contributions and the respect given him by other musicians, he remained underrecognized by critics—even as he continued to influence the musical generations that followed him. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and family history, Whistle Stop offers a vivid portrait not only of a jazz innovator, but of a Texas family whose story stretches across emancipation, migration, segregation, and cultural transformation. More than fifty years after his passing, Kenny Dorham’s music and legacy continue to inspire—his whistle stop in jazz history still echoing. https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Whistle-Stop

The band in featured in the video above, BTW. Randy Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Joe Farrell, flute, tenor sax; Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, tenor sax; George Duke, keyboards; Robben Ford, electric guitar; Alphonso Johnson, electric bass; Peter Erskine, drums. Apparently to be heard on Jazz Of The 80's (Eastworld, EWJ-80190)

I'm convinced.

Not rock, but not pop, and not jazz, although there's some free improv playing around the edges of these unconventional songs. Reminds me a bit of the first Akron/Family record (now 20+ years old), on which Bhob Rainey and Greg Kelley (nmpereign) guested. I like. https://caroline.bandcamp.com/album/caroline-2

Always a pleasure to interact with Victor here. Sad to hear this news. RIP.

This was very much a Richard ("Walkin'") Carpenter venture, yes? IIRC, he was managing Chet at the time.

Yes. More info here: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/solace-of-the-mind

DFW folks... https://writersgarret.org/event/weary-blues-live/ The event is May 17th and features Quraysh Ali Lansana, Rebecca Cordes, Thaddeus Ford II, Joyce Hsu, Ann MacMillan, Paul Nunn, and Joyce Spencer.

Thanks!

Please excuse the Tales From Topographic Oceans - Adventure Time mashup. All links below go to additional information available via Discogs. I've added some notes of my own as well. "Odile," Fred Tompkins "Recorda Me," Jason Marshall "Cool Struttin’," Bennie Green "Chito’s Song," Cochemea Gastelum "La Danse Des Ferrailleurs," Yochk’o Seffer "Prohibido," Benny Carter "Yesterdays" (arr. by Jimmy Giuffre), Hal McKusick "Five-Two," Scott Colley "Turn It Around," Matana Roberts "Sophisticated Lady," Curtis Clark "Fair Weather" (words and music by Kenny Dorham), Bob Mover (sax and vocals) "The Magnetic A," Donald Smith 1. Fred Tompkins, who plays flute and wrote this composition, is a new name to me. But apparently he's been doing interesting things in St. Louis for awhile. Here's his Wikipedia entry (it gets into his relationship with Elvin Jones) and a link to an interview with him from last May. Jimmy Owens is owning it on this track, as he almost always does. In fact, if you're a Jimmy Owens fan and have not yet seen this... you'll want to! 2. I don't know much about Jason Marshall but this record, which I stumbled upon via Bandcamp, makes me want to hear and learn more. And snaps for Marc Cary! 3. So, did Sonny Clark do A&R for Time Records. Because this is secretly a Clark record. Fantastic front line, and this era of Jimmy Forrest is peak Jimmy Forrest, I think. Interesting too that this same composition appears on Cool Struttin' but as "Blue Minor." Evidence of Clark trying to get around a bad publishing deal he signed with Lion and Wolff? 4. Cocehmea is the sax player for the Daptones (as in Sharon Jones and the). As may listeners noted, the nods to Eddie Harris is prominent here. I actually rather like the restraint showed here, the attention to sonic nuance and melody. But, yes, this may be a bit too optimized for Spotify. But good to know there are still players following this R&B/soul/funk path to experimentation. 5. No restraint here! So, who is this guy? He's associated with Margam, Christian Vander, and Zeuhl. If you're as dedicated to tracking Coltrane's influence as far and wide as it goes (which is far and wide), you'll have to reckon with Zeuhl, whether you end up enjoying that experience or not. You can;t quibble with the dude's technical abilities, though. Here's an interview with Seffer from 2022. 6. Polite? Perhaps. Subtle? Profoundly so. It's bossa-esque, but no bossa nova. Maybe that explains the hint of unease or melancholy here. The variation on the chorus that follows the the first of Mundell Lowe's guitar solos is a marvelous thing indeed. the brief tenor solo is courtesy of Bill Perkins... I think. The original liner notes are a bit confusing on this one. But they indicate that this track originated from those sessions (not the sessions with Teddy Edwards and Barney Kessel). 7. Hal McKusick is, for my money, always worth hearing. But he's also a guy who basically disappears from the discography after 1958 - this LP, in fact. He ran with fast company for sure: Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill, George Russel, Art Farmer, Bill Evans. The Konitz influence is strong but not overpowering. As noted, hints of Paul Desmond as well. But I picked this mostly on account of Guiffre's arrangement, which, once you know it's Giuffre, becomes quintessentially Giuffre. Connie Kay on finger cymbals! 8. Moody! I kind of approach my BFTs like old-school mix tapes, and I liked the progression from the Carter to this track. The tension is very plastic or fluid here, and these are all players who can really wring maximum effect from every note. Craig Taborn, Ralph Alessi, Brian Blade and, yes, Bill Frisell. As minimal as they appear to be, the composed elements here have a lot of strength. Not nearly as funky as Mingus' "Folk Forms No. 1," but echoes that cellular approach here. 9. I dig the Coin Coin records well enough, although I find they suffer from heavy-handedness here and there. This recording stands as a ice counterpart / counterpoint. The setup is more traditional and facilitates "blowing," but it also shows how deep Roberts' AACM roots run. 10. I've followed Curtis Clark ever since I read New Dutch Swing and learned about Letter From South Africa in the late 90s / early 00s. But this live solo performance from 1987 was new to me last year. The record is very much worth hearing and mostly favors Clark's own compositions. But this! Damn. I guess all that time he spent in Europe didn;t help his profile all that much, but he's just an important extension of the Ellington-Monk continuum as Mal Waldron, Ran Blake, etc. Ample demonstration of that here. 11. The late-period Chet Baker is strong with this one. I find this track very moving (pun intended). Another guy who came up in the 70s, made a strong impression, then kind of got drowned out as the hype machine started humming behind the Young Lions / Neoclassicists / Neoconservatives. Oh well. Killer rhythm section here: Kenny Barron, Bob Cranshaw, and Steve Williams. Josh Evans is on trumpet and Steve Hall on tenor sax. Mover himself has shared a "making of" documentary about this album on YouTube. 12. You'd be excused for thinking this is a Cecil McBee date. Or a Jack DeJohnette-led session. So outsized are their contributions here. But Donald Smith - who I mostly know from his association with Oliver Lake (and the fact that he's Lonnie Liston Smith's little brother) - still holds his won here. Tyner-esque, sure. But there's also a individual lyricism on display, too. It would have been nice to have more Donald Smith records, I think. But this one is pretty good, and very much of its time. Thanks again to Masahiko Yuh and the folks behind Whynot Records! Thanks to everyone for listening, offering thoughts, and making guesses.

Reveal to be posted tomorrow (Saturday, 3/1)!