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Joe

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Posts posted by Joe

  7. Robbie Robertson, Leader of The Band, Dies at 80

    in Artists

    Posted

    1 hour ago, ep1str0phy said:

    R.I.P. 

    RE: the above conversation - I'm a tremendous admirer of the first two records, though I have no strong sentimental attachment to the music. When the Band operated as a collaborative entity, it was truly extraordinary. The group understood pocket in a really special way, and the best of the writing somehow sounds both nuanced and effortless.

    The bass motion and cascading power chords in "King Harvest" are weirdly sophisticated - not in a proggy sense, but in the same way that the Pixies or Mitski would later harmonize around the melody. It deviates from the pop formula of the era by adapting the harmony to a lead voice, rather than just superimposing the vocal line over a predictable diatonic chord progression. In a practical sense, it presages the "chunks of power chord"-type writing that is all over modern indie and alt rock.

    Incidentally, there is a certain school of creative music that swears by Robbie Robertson's guitar playing. I admit that It's taken me a long time to get to it. It's fundamentally economical, and its specialness is based on feel and rhythmic nuance rather than energy or sophistication of line. But it's perfect for the Band, and a fine contrast to the escalating virtuosity that prevailed in the guitar heroism of the late 60's onward. 

    I hear you w/r/t Robertson the guitarist. I had a similar experience. It's probably the best part of the latter LPs, where the songwriting starts to calcify a bit.

    I mostly think of The Band these days as a collection of cautionary tales: about the music industry, about fame and ambition, about what it means to be part of a collective, about mythologizing... the beginnings of those stories are relatively happy, the endings almost uniformly sad.

  8. Robbie Robertson, Leader of The Band, Dies at 80

    in Artists

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

    Haven't kept any, and not in any way ashamed about it. They weren't anything I wanted/needed to "hold on to", although they were a cool thing to pass through for a bit. But "timeless"? Not for me. 

    Still, I guess, RIP. He got old and wasn't broke, so good for him; not everybody gets that. 

    The first 2 albums are special, IMO. But mostly because they are true group efforts. TBH, I could listen to Richard Manuel sing just about anything. (What's the expression... "the telephone book?"). But they kind of fall of a cliff after that, mostly because it became the Robbie Robertson Show, whether out of necessity, bad blood, or some mix of all that plus, you know, human nature.

    I find THE LAST WALTZ almost unwatchable now, but maybe I should never have read Levon's memoir.

  18. Sonny Clark complete Blue Note announced.

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    2 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

    I love his playing, but the comparison they make on the Mosaic site to Bud Powell is just....silly. To me Clark is part of a different side of that style, like Bobby Timmons and Barry Harris. And on the excerpted version of Bebop, also on the Mosaic site. he plays fine but there are clear moments of difficulty; I mean, how old was he? 20 something? It's not a big deal. But Bud Powell he wasn't, especially at that tempo. And anyway his touch/articulation was clearly different. Though I have to say that, in the big picture, I prefer Elmo Hope, Barry, Duke Jordan, Herbie Nichols, Dick Katz. I find that Clark is ripe with possibility, but something is missing, maybe the development was off due to personal stuff, I don't know.

    There's a Tristano thing going on in his playing, at least to my ears. Long, long melodic lines, but, more than that, the articulation he gives each note. Maybe I'm hearing echoes of Dodo Marmarosa, another Pittsburgh pianist, instead? Certainly a slight "cool"ness to his touch.

  22. Philly Joe Jones/Elmo Hope Birdland recording (Accardi Collection)

    in Discography

    Posted

    3 hours ago, mhatta said:

    The similar lineup made one studio recording, but remain unissued.  From Noal Cohen's disco https://attictoys.com/elmo-hope-discography/#sess-year_1963

    Date: ca. September 1963
    Location: New York City
    Label: Dauntless
    Philly Joe Jones Sextet

    Philly Joe Jones (ldr), Tommy Turrentine (t), Charlie Greenlee (tb), John Gilmore (ts), Elmo Hope (p), Larry Ridley (b), Philly Joe Jones (d)

    a.Unknown Titles

    Dauntless LP 12"???   

    This session was never issued.

    The Dauntless label is run by Tom Wilson, and seems Fresh Sound had some access to the tape vault.  But I don't know this particular session master survives...

    More Tommy Turrentine is nearly always a good thing! Let's hope this one emerges somehow.

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