Joe

I couldn't agree more. Threadgill is a good guess on 11. However, the alto player is not the "leader" here. The Mingus comparison you draw on #4... I'd not thought about that before, but I like that likening, and its making me hear that particular performance with all-new ears.

Can't really find the love, still, for this team and.or organization, so much of the failure has been self-inflicted, so much of it a stubborn refusal to deal with the obvious, and when the proselytes for the deification of Dirk and Terry knock on my door, said door will be roundly and unambiguously slammed in their face, but... BUT... I'd be lying if I said that it was not gratifying, not satisfying, but at least gratifying (which at this point is all I really have a taste for), to see a Mavericks team maintain focus, stay disciplined, follow a game plan to completion, in short, to find a plan that works and stick with it all the way through. Could have happened long before now, should have happened long before now. Also gratifying to watch a Miami team just kinda sit there and wait for their greatness to explode, not realizing that the opposition had them totally figured out and that if they wanted an explosion, they were going to have to dig deep and find a way. Instead they got a coach who was telling them to "stay the course" when they were down by nine in the third quarter of an elimination game. Yeah, stay the course, keep losing, don't make any adjustments or bump your your intenisty with your season on the line, just stay the freakin' course, the course that's got you on the verge of failure. The players actually seemed to believe that bullshit! Any Mavericks fan from 2006 on can tell you where "staying the course" of a clearly failing plan takes you. What will be interesting to see is if the Mavericks organization, finally realizing the follies of their way and finally getting some legitimate help in the middle (and elsewhere) instead of putting it all on Dirk's back, continues to see the wisdom of the changes they have made and continue to use the new model going forth. You'd think they would, but...Dirk has never been, never wanted to be, and never will be "The Man", that's not his game, that's not his mindset, but Cuban has insisted that (i.e. - built the team like) it was - until this season. Mark Cuban's irrational assessment of Dirk's very real talents may well have cost this team more than one championship. It's definitely cost them the respectability that comes from consistently being able to go deep in the playoffs. Anyway, the long-overdue Mavs championship feels to me like a formerly close friend paying back a loan 5 years after it was due. Don't really need the money now, have pretty much moved on from those times, but appreciate the thought anyway, glad you've finally got your act together, and good luck going forth. And Cuban insisting that the trophy first be presented to Don Carter was a truly class act by a man who doesn't always seem to have a class act in his repertoire. Big kudos for that one! I came to the personal conclusion several years ago that the '06 team was undeserving of the love they got from me, and that as much of that pain I felt was on me for wasting my sports affection on a bunch of NBA vamps: lots of gloss and glitter masking an abyss of heartlessness. Rooting for that '06, '07 team was like being in an abusive relationship, but, for me, it was always about that team, not the franchise. Still, I can't help it: the Mavericks are the team of my childhood, and you know how it goes when you've been rooting for a team from back when you still possessed a certain amount of innocence. Ultimately, this goes back for me to the days of Aguirre, Blackman, Harper, the Reunion Rowdies, all that... and the fact that Pat Riley had, until last night, always been able to foil this team by backing up his supreme cockiness. Yes, I take ownership of my ridiculous sports grudge. I don't care that Riles still has, what, 4 more rings than Dallas. This time, we overcame and denied him, and his hand-picked team of "superstars," and with a team effort. So, yeah, there's love here for these little Mavericks.

30 years of heartbreak, frustration, thinking we'd never have a shot at redemption... this is a happy day.

and behind the gatefold... From Terry Knight, the mastermind behind Grand Funk (Railroad):

NIS -- based on what I know of your tastes from your own BFT, I'm a smidgen surprised you did not ID the players on Track 5 right away. And, not to give too much away, but good ears re: 12.

Does Booby Hutcherson qualify?

The (almost-literally) lame dude in the red stockings kills it. And what under the cover is another matter altogether... Anyway, as far as 50's "west Coast Jazz" LP cover cheesecake goes, my heart belongs to The Pink Lady.

From tiny acorns spring vaguely fascistic volksmusic icons...

I reserve the great, pullulating, febrile, Gondwana-like mass of my sports hatred for Pat Riley.

I will probably say little more about this BFT until its time to show you all what's behind doors number 1 and 3 (ZONK!), but... Bill -- good ear for vintage, but you might need to take some new bearings on latitude and longitude To Each His Own -- I only wish I'd had the foresight and taste to put some Amina Claudine Myers on this BFT. Spontooneous -- admittance happily granted.

Nice stuff. As with (seemingly) all of the Mode releases from this era, the tracks tend to be rather short; don't expect a tremendous amount of stretching out. IMO, Sulieman sounds particularly good here.

Streamers: listeners wishing to "spin" these tracks within their web browsers can go here... http://www.slowstudies.net/bft87/ iPeople: there is a download link for the entire BFT (.zip file) on this page, or you can follow this direct link... http://www.slowstudies.net/bft87/downloads/bft87.zip Finally, no real theme or hegemonic aesthetic ideology at work here. Just a mix of some old favorites and some newly discovered (for me, anyway) pleasures. Thanks; best, J

You know, I have that Sean Bergin LP too, and I've probably not listened to it in about 5 years myself. Boeren's bands are always crackerjack units. Thanks much; enjoyed this immensely (and still kicking myself for not recognizing the Maupin.)

Update ya'll... I'll be sending out download directions (and discs) next week, once NIS has pulled back the curtain on BFT 86.

Well, whatever the case, looking forward to the reveal on this one. Thanks again for some intriguing and enjoyable listening.

Django Bates?

If I led a band, we'd definitely have "Rotary" in our book.

Vi Redd, BIRD CALL Pharaoh Sanders, PHARAOH'S FIRST MINGUS AT THE BOHEMIA

It may be flawed, but I'd rather read Clellon Holmes THE HORN many times over than spend my time with either the Morrison on Ondaatje books cited here. Same goes for any of the volumes that constitute Nathaniel Mackey's FROM A BROKEN BOTTLE TRACES OF PERFUME STILL EMANATE.

Thanks NIS. TLDR = Internet-ese for "too long, didn't read." On 9, Colin Walcott is the only jazz-like tabla player I can think of. But your hint really has me wondering about the flutist. I'm thinking Codona, and I'm thinking that's the Pied Piper himself, Don Cherry 10 still seems very Towner-like and Mariano-esque to me. Is that Juhani Aaltonen on alto. Really curious to learn the answers now on this one, too. On 11... Gary Lucas? Or maybe even Danny Gatton? 12: listening again, I hear now why I could not quite decide if this was valve trombone, bass trombone, or some bastard instrument. If my ears aren't entirely deceiving me, its French horn. Is this Tom Varner? If so, its a Varner recording I've not heard before.

Longish, unedited comments attached. Hope its not too TLDR. Enjoyed the journeys this BFT sent me on. Interesting meeting of roots and branches throughout, if that metaphor makes any sense. 1 = strong South African flavor, with pianist's figures most reminiscent of Abdullah Ibrahim. The trumpet player has technique to spare, but his / her tone -- "puckish" -- seems oddly matched to his ideas. Maybe a wild guess, but I would not be surprised to learn this is a brass payer not necessarily associated with this style / idiom 2 = Monk-ish piano, but with a much more velvety touch. Very much like the way the horns weave around each other to construct this theme. Timbral qualities suggest a familiar pairing... Herb Robertson and Michael Moore? Piece is full of subtle rhythmic surprises. Sonority explained! Prepared piano, or the pianist is dampening the strings with his / her hand... I know Denman Maroney has worked in this idiom, so I'm going to guess that this is a track from the recent quintet recording UDENTITY (Clean Feed). If so, I don't think I've ever heard Ned Rothenberg play quite like this. 3 = Pleasantly reverberant recording. The vibist does not quite have Walt Dickerson's "brittle" sound, but whoever it is is close, and the conception -- spacious, elliptically lyrical -- is very Walt-like. Check that: at the 2:20 mark, or so, that could be no one else but Walt Dickerson. One of his mid-70's duets with Richard Davis (if so, he sounds less stringy here than I'm accustomed to hearing him sound)? Whoever it is, just beautiful. 4 = Sort of a revival piece; I mean, idiomatically, it feels "old", but the recording sounds contemporary. Very attractive, and adventurous in its own way. I mean, I don't hear bass at all; an unusual trio formation. Not quite brassy enough to be Ruby Braff, but could be. Or, perhaps Jan Allan? No idea on the clarinet player, but whoever it is knows how to obbligato. 5 = I like the pairing of muted trumpet and violin. The vaguely Ellingtonian colors here impress more immediately than the melodic content, which seems to me to be related somehow to track 1. That this becomes something of a trombone showcase is not anything I expected. This almost has a Breuker Kollektief-type vibe, but the humor isn't quite a broad as it could be. Though there is the staggering around that commences about the 4:30 mark. Ray Anderson? Glenn Ferris? Certainly a bone player who knows the jazz tradition of the instrument, but is also comfortable going outside. Very beer-hall-like ending. 6 = Drummer definitely has a Han Bennink-tye thing going on. Could be Chris Corsano, though. If so, maybe the reed player is Paul Flaherty, but I think of him as more blowtorch-like. Have no idea about the bassist / cellist. Does not do much, I have to say, to distinguish itself from many another free performance I've heard. 7 = Nuevo-N'Awlins groove. Glad to know the trumpet player did not overdose on high notes. I like his / her semi-growl better. Nice, guitar-like approach by the bassist. I trust this track is not a joke, per se. 8 = Not a Weather Report track I recognize, but damn does it sound like Weather Report, especially the soprano sax (not an incisive as Wayne, though), bass and Airto-like percussion filigree. But the electric keyboard sounds with which this opens makes me doubt that this is either vintage, or something so easily recognized. Are there 2 drummers here? The more I listen, the more atmospheric this becomes... an ECM session? An MPS session? Maybe Charlie Mariano in his fusion phase? Rainer Bruninghaus? VERY curious to learn the answers on this one. 9 = Or this could be Charlie Mariano. Trying to break the chain of private associations here, but, well... having difficulty. Mariano has definitely worked in this context in the past, most notably with the Karnataka College of Percussion. But this is the guitarist's track, really, isn't it. Some really unusual stuff happening there: alternately reminds me of a sitar and a waterphone. Pleasant. 10 = Again, I can't escape the ECM connotations. Terje Rypdal and Jan Garbarek? Rather more romantic sounding than that, I guess, (more flamenco than I might have anticipated.) More likely its Ralph Towner, and, on second thought, the reed player does not sound all that much like Jan Garbarek... not quite hoarse enough. But I'll stick with Towner. Not too pastel for me; the rhythm section is too interesting for that. 11 = I have to confess that I really don't like for ostensibly "jazz" guitarists to experiment with rock sonorities, and have never really warmed to the playing of Bill Frisell, John Scofield, John Abercrombie et al. Nor am I much of a fan of the kind of antic swing on display here. Nice to hear a bass clarinet slorping and pitter-patting in this context. Could this be one of Carla Bley ensembles? I like the pianist's use of dynamics, which at times recall Jaki Byard, but I've no real clue as to who this is. 12 = This I know. Ry Cooder and Earl Hines playing the "Diddy-Wah-Diddy" from PARADISE AND LUNCH. A seemingly off pairing that nevertheless results in a classic performance. I prefer the light-heartedness of this to the more caustic humor of the previous performance. 13 = This trombonist sounds more like Ray Anderson -- more vocal, but not into Roswell Rudd territory, though the performance itself is an extension of jazz tradition in a very Rudd-like manner -- than the individual on track 5. But could this be a bass trombone? David Taylor? Almost sounds like a valve trombone at times (the flourishes at the 3 minute mark.) Whenever this player goes up to the top of his / her register, he / she sounds most familiar to me. Not that I can place him / her exactly. A strong ending.