Joe

Nope, not Tommy Tedesco. Less Hollywood, more South Central.

Thank you Thom! Gotta trust your ears on track 3. I think I am in the same boat with you w/r/t the tenor player. The pianist on 4 is, if not household name, a highly regarded player. Still alive, too, and still putting out records. Not George Duke on 7, but, now that you mention it, I hear that "thing" too. Griffin is an interesting reference point for 9. There is a universe in which there are less than 6 degrees of separation between JG and this player. The common factor is another bandleader. Bingo on the alto on 10. 13: "Barry Harris school" for sure. And I agree: its about the composition and its subtle departures from bop orthodoxy.

This is a record that might (pleasantly) surprise folks who know Cooper only from his 50s work.

Nice documentation of Bob Cooper's under-appreciated evolution.

Roswell Rudd's notes to the Mosaic Herbie Nichols set are some of the best I've ever read. I also find it hard to think about my experience of Tina Brooks' and Freddie Redd's music without recalling what is was like to read the booklets included with their Mosaic sets for the first time. TBH, I was hoping for more from the notes to the recent Tristano set.

Lovely, IMO, but maybe too chill for some

Yosuke Yamashita New York Trio (w/ Cecil McBee and Pheeroan akLaff), 30 Light-Years Floating

There's "the rub" in some sense. But "worth the price of admission," as "they" "say."

Seconded!

I will definitely have more to say about 3!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Of course, you nailed a handful of these. (And you are correct about the instrument in the mix on 11.) I think you might kick yourself (figuratively) upon the reveal for 9. 2 might surprise you as well... we'll see. In retrospect, I hear how much of this BFT is about the drummers. 2, 3 , 5, 6, 7, even 10 and 13 all hinge majorly on what the drummer's doing, or holding back from doing, or not doing. But I didn't really plan it that way. On only one of these tracks is the dummer is the bandleader.

Different coast.

It's funny. Some June Christy (then, Chris Connor) came up on the mix I was playing in the car last week, and I thought to myself, "Well, here's a vocal style — an American vernacular, even — that's basically become a fossil." I guess I was wrong [?]. Eager to explore what this artist is all about.

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for these observations!

Push to shove, I'll take 1961 at the Village Vanguard. But my favorite Trane record might be COLTRANE'S SOUND, for largely sentimental reasons.

Thanks! Not Dennis Coffey, but I too hear a distinct Szabo thing happening, alongside the expected Wes-ims. I think I'll have fun revealing this one! 6 has 70's connections and connotations, but it dates from late in the leader's career. Who is the leader? You have a one in four chance of nailing that! I kind of agree about 10... its the saxophonist's show for sure. A name in their day, but not a player I hear much about anymore (still active as far as I know, though). "This is like if Bobo Stenson wanted to swing" 😀 ECM vibes, I feel them some, but this is an all-American band. The band on 12 is a bit of a surprising amalgamation. Agree about the bari player... and they're probably the most obscure member of the group.

I first heard him — without realizing I was hearing him — on ASTRAL WEEKS, which changed my world. When I heard OUT TO LUNCH years later and made that connection, it changed my world all over again. RIP, and thank you for the music.

Something I learned today.

Yes, but no. In all honesty, this guitarist was not on my radar until I discovered this record recently.

Think: closer to Motown than uptown.

Thanks all! The lead on #11 is not a Western instrument, FWIW. Carlos Ward does figure in this BFT... just not on #10. The guitarist #1 is not a household name (as far as I know, anyway). But they've appeared on many classic LPs (session work). The cats are out of the bag on #8. If I am reading the credit correctly, there are two bassists on #9. #5 features a player who has posted in these forums before. Keep on enjoying!

#7 is a prominent figure; no obscurities in that combo, in fact.