Teasing the Korean

Of those early '70s Tjader Fantasy LPs, I have Tjader & Funky Quarters. I generally like these albums, but I don't like the sound of the Fender Rhodes piano with the vibes. They share a similar timbre, and they sometimes sound like mud when they are playing together. Granted, piano players had limited instrument choices for live gigs in the early 70s.

That was the first Cal Tjader I had on CD, and at the time, I thought it was a great comp. I would probably still think so.

So it looks like I have all the Verve LPs with the exception of Hip Vibrations. From the first Fantasy period, I probably have about half of them. I think I have two Skye albums, and then a few scattered releases from after his return to Fantasy. I typically gravitate toward the Verve albums, but there is so much great stuff from that first Fantasy period.

Thank you both. I'll check out the YouTube vids.

And, needless to say, nowhere near as good.

"Triste" (not to be confused with the Jobim tune) is the money cut on here, though the whole album is great. Agreed, and I might go a tad further and call it a Schifrin album with Cal as guest soloist. Completely agree. It sucks as both jazz and exotica, although the version of "Black Orchid" is nice (and almost identical to the Fantasy version).

Not being a fan of Star Wars, and not being into John Williams per se, I'm learning only now that in 1980, Ron Carter released an album of themes from The Empire Strikes Back, titled Empire Jazz. Has anyone heard it?

I expected this to be a like a proto-CTI record, given the year and Sebesky's involvement. Instead, it sounds more like a space-age bachelor pad record from the early 1960s, in a good way.

Who were the arrangers during this period? Any Neal Hefti? I know Sammy Nestico is on Basie Straight Ahead, which is on Dot, granted. And Oliver Nelson arranged an album on Flying Dutchman that has a few standout tracks.

Oh, absolutely, in terms of instrumental music, but a lot of what I'm looking for here is songs with lyrics with a pulpish, Raymond Chandler-esque bag. It would have, and it still does! I should know this, but are there lyrics, and if so, is there a vocal version you would recommend? This almost sounds like a spaghetti western tune!!!

This page features digital rips of obscure 45s in this micro-genre. It is a fantastic resource. The Lonely Beat captures a period–specific set of images, motifs and themes associated with the modern, post–War American city. It is a world in sound that was based in reality as well as reconstructed within the media and pop culture. American cities reflected a changing socioeconomic and cultural reality in the post–War decades. The pursuit of home ownership following World War II meant an acceleration of a white demographic's relocation from the city to its mushrooming suburbs, a shift that would exacerbate economic disparities and urban segregation, especially for black populations. Even as their economic fortunes began to founder, however, cities remained a center of media, publishing and advertising as well as fashion, design, architecture and entertainment. Moreover, the American city – in this case most clearly identified with, though not necessarily limited to, New York City – would attract a new cohort of artists, becoming in the process a crucible for new visual and performance art, dance, the literary arts, music, theater and film. Many aspects of mid–century city life and culture were remade and romanticized in pop culture, a hard–boiled, bohemian version of the city in particular developing in novels, short stories and television and film dramas. This was the version of the city that became seated in the popular imagination, the city that was a sort of labyrinthine nexus of underworld forces, exotic lifestyles and minority populations. The potency of this confabulation would only increase as white populations retreated further into the suburbs. Popular music became a major vector for this image of the city. Music sustained an idea of the city as sexy and stylish, dangerous and decaying. It was the foreboding Metropolis, gangland Gotham, the Naked City, the Asphalt Jungle, bohemia, the mean streets. It was a place of after-hours intrigue and rendezvous - it was a place of crime, juvenile delinquency, corruption, lurking evil - and men who sought to stop these forces. As portrayed in music, the city was at its most mysterious and atmospheric; there was a romance in its solitude. It was skyscrapers, streets, wharfs, fogs, smoky nightclubs. Crucially, too, the city was where black communities lived, along with ethnic populations of every stripe. In this sense there was, like exotica, an element of the Other about the city, some world that aroused Middle American anxieties and fantasies. All of these images, motifs and clichés are evident in post–War popular music. https://exoticaproject.com/2/ https://exoticaproject.com/2/about.php

Complete Cuban Jam Sessions Erroll Garner Concert by the Sea complete Jazz Disques Vogue French box Jazz Disques Vogue Jazz from America box

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/lalo-schifrin-dead-mission-impossible-film-composer-1236442000/

@Michael Weiss Captures Drone Footage of Orcas Using Tools! https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/23/science/orca-kelp-tool-grooming

I've never personally interacted with Al, but he is touring with Brian's backing band, and his son Matt beautifully sings Brian's high parts, so it should be fun.