Teasing the Korean

The Nervous Beat!

He is looking upward toward outer space, and to a beautiful, mechanized future in which technology will solve all of our problems! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Did you guys know that beloved film and TV composer Oliver Nelson slummed it as a jazz musician before he got a real job? And the opening track from his obscure 1961 jazz album shows that he was already auditioning for the gig. It would fit nicely on Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn album.

Jack Quigley - Class in Session

The whole album (Neal Hefti - Li'l Darlin') sounds like that. It dates from that all-important cutoff year, 1964. I imagine Hefti writing the charts in late 1963, thinking that space-age modernism would continue forever, having no idea that the Beatles would come along in a few months and ruin everything.

For the cover!!!

Never heard them. They seem like precisely the kind of thing I would avoid.

Never heard it. I still need to find SF's space-age masterpiece, Adventure in Time. There are always several on eBay, but I never get around to buying one. Can't find it on the InterTubez either.

Paul Horn - Cleopatra

Duke Ellington - Jazz Party Duke Ellington - Afro Bossa If only this album had appropriate cover art...

He is, and that was indeed him on that track! Neal Hefti - Li'l Darlin' LP With strings, harp, harpsichord, and flutes.

Neal Hefti - Pardon My Doo-Wah Russ Garcia - Sounds in the Night

Don't forget using a piece of rope for a belt, like the Wolfman!

I don't disagree with you. But because Legrand was fairly well-known in the US, he was better positioned to demonstrate this to Americans. Obviously, people in Europe already knew better.

I see the album as a monument to postwar optimism, and a recognition of jazz as the aural equivalent of modern design and architecture. Also, being that it is by a Frenchman, it further acknowledges jazz's currency on the world stage. Imagine a record like that being made today. But there are no contemporary equivalents of Michel Legrand, and most listeners today can't name 31 contemporary jazz artists.

That was the goal. All tunes written by US jazz players, all performed by US jazz players. At that time, Legrand was known in the US primarily as a mood music guy. The album may have surprised a lot of listeners at the time, and maybe even some of the players on the session.

With its modernist music and stunning cover art, Capitol's original release of Stan Kenton's City of Glass by Bob Graettinger may be considered one of the earliest Space-Age Bachelor Pad albums. It is a shame that this cover art was not retained for the 12" album or CD.

One other important post-1964 genre I failed to mention is psychedelic. In many ways, psychedelic was to stoned teens in the late 1960s what SABP was to their parents in the 1950s, in that both provided escapism packaged as an adventure or an experience. _________________________________________________________________ John Dankworth - Jazz from Abroad, including "A String of Camels."

Yep! And The Soul Jazz of Cleopatra! This weekend, I will have to re-listen to Lonelyille for Phil Woods content. Several of the tracks are on YouTube, but you may alternately have to look under Creed Taylor and Kenyon Hopkins. I love all of his music, at least the four albums I have!

Fred Katz - Folk Songs for Far Out Folk Kenyon Hopkins - Lonelyville

Well, there is exotica and there is Exotica. Lower-case e "exotica" is often used generically as a descriptor for all kinds of non-mainstream music. I would consider Capitol E "Exotica" to be of the postwar Baxter/Denny/Lyman variety, and in my musical taxonomy, Exotica to be one of several subcategories of Space-Age Bachelor Pad. And many of Buddy Collette's records would meet my definition of SABP, such as this one that you might find in the jazz section. I am a huge Michel Legrand freak, so I am the wrong person to ask. But for French SABP found in the jazz section, there is always Andre Hodeir!

Yes, most certainly!

Not arbitrary at all, as my first post explains! Continue through the thread and listen to examples, and ye shall be rewarded! "Space-age bachelor pad" describes not only a particular kind of sound, or family of sounds, but also encompasses packaging and, perhaps most importantly, the promise of a hi-fi experience for the armchair traveler! With regard to Legrand Jazz specifically, I would argue that novelty of the ensemble configurations reflects the space-age ethos. This is music arranged specifically for the recording studio, and there would be few if any practical applications for presenting this music live. It was made to be experienced in moderne domestic splendor. Expanding the usual jazz orchestra instrumentation with flute, French horn, vibes, harp, and tuba provides atypical textures and allows for greater exploitation of hi-fi capabilities. And perhaps most importantly, Legrand's writing from this period simply exudes postwar optimism. Collectively, these elements push this one over the edge into clear space-age territory. I found my copy in the jazz section, but I file it in the space-age section, between Stan Kenton and Henry Mancini.

OK, one more Pete Rugolo, "Diamond on the Move" from Richard Diamond.

Larry, you turned me on to that album! And the record cover and title push it into space-age territory! It is also on my list of albums to be discussed. Two more key Pete Rugolo tracks before I move on. First, the opening track from Adventures in Rhythm, "Here's Pete." And the title track from the mono LP Music for Hi-Fi Bugs, which was later retitled "Stereo Spaceman" when it was issued in stereo on the LP Out of Space.

No, it is absolutely on my list of albums to discuss, along with New York, New York! But all in due time. I need to post a few more Pete Rugolo tracks.