Teasing the Korean

The percussionist? What's the reference?

Yes, I remember you telling that story in another thread! Do the discs in that box set go chronologically, or are they arranged stylistically?

Agreed, Audra Day was very good, but the film had a number of problems.

Great interview with composer/jazz pianist Bill Marx, son of Harpo Marx. He talks about Harpo, jazz, and scoring AIP films such as Count Yorga, Vampire and Scream Blacula Scream. His music is played along the way. https://offthebeatensoundtrack.com/2021/05/10/bill-marx/

And many more!

I hope you make more friends between now and then. Numerous studies have revealed that longevity is based in part on forming meaningful bonds with other primates. I will be your friend if you need one.

Well, that is the beauty of art and entertainment. We each form our own impressions and associations. Ennui or not, I highly encourage you during the colder months to throw a fondue party, encourage guests to wear 70s fashions, and spin MPS music, especially Singers Unlimited, for the soundtrack. I hope to receive an invitation, though I can't promise that I'll be able to attend.

Yes, I pick up on lots of 70s ennui, especially in their a cappella recordings. They have that cold, Black Forest sound. They remind me a sad 1970s-era housewife whose mascara is running, because she is crying over her husband's affair with his younger secretary.

Martin Denny's Enchanted Isle (Liberty, 1980). The cover art, or what passes for cover art, makes it look like a budget compilation. It is actually a previously unreleased (save for one track) session from the early 1960s.

I know primarily the hits. The deep cuts that I am familiar with are more psych than vocal harmony - check out sometime their incredible "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies." It is quite possible that they have some deep cuts that are more harmony-based. I think what the Free Design and Singers Unlimited share in common is a very contemporary sound that for the most part eschewed the typical harmonies associated with straight-ahead jazz. It is hard to believe that the guy who arranged for the Hi-Los also arranged for Singers Unlimited. It was a radically different approach. Similarly, the main writer/arranger in the Free Design was also a classical vocalist who sang with art music ensembles. As you get further and further into the Free Design's output, there is more and more of a contemporary classical/art song quality about what they did.

The Singers Unlimited nicely capture that feeling of early 70s ennui, don't they? The Carpenters occasionally touched on this mood, for example, with their masterpiece "Superstar," but couldn't sustain it. The Free Design are the group that falls in a perfect place between the Carpenters and Singers Unlimited in terms of pop accessibility, harmonic sophistication, and early 70s ennui. Singers Unlimited are a good gateway into the Free Design if you've never heard the latter. And if you prefer to stick with MPS for that irresistible fondue aesthetic, there is the Third Wave!

Good score! It is probably beginning to get warm in chilly Highland Park, is it not? Be sure to make a notation on your calendar to throw a fondue party this winter and to play these discs for the soundtracks. Try to talk the female attendees into wearing some early 70s Heidelberg chic! Nothing beats the combination of wine, fondue, and Singers Unlimited on a snowy winter day...Except perhaps the combination of a Jet Pilot or 151 Swizzle with The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions on a really hot day!

Considering that Oliver Nelson eventually got into film scoring, I've always wondered if "Stolen Moments" was influenced by Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn album. It would fit nicely on there.

To me, what I think of as spiritual jazz - nicely summarized earlier by Cliffords Thornton - spills over into a slightly less-intense subgenre of early-70s black consciousness grooves. This stuff is more quiet, generally minor-key, and introspective. Fender Rhodes or Wurly electric piano. Blaxploitation scores generally include a few tracks like this sandwiched between the wacka-wacka car chase/drug bust cues. You will also find this stuff sprinkled through early-70s albums by Les McCann, Billie Paul, even some CTI records. James Moody's version of War's "The World is a Ghetto" nicely captures this mood. (I could probably listen to this track on repeat for hours.) For me, Lonnie Liston Smith stands between these two subgenres. Key tracks like the great "Rejuvenation" fit more into the Pharoah Sanders/Alice Coltrane realm, while other stuff has that quiet, minor-key, introspective sound that I love.

Do you mean the LP set or the CD set? If the latter, have you had any issues with the discs getting scratched? Some have blamed the plastic inner sleeves, and some have suggested that tiny wooden shavings from the box are getting in the sleeves and scratching the discs. I'm in the process of re-listening and backing up the discs. I have at least one damaged disc so far.

Just Curious.

Now spinning "Blues-ette" on Savoy. The bass is very high in the mix, the way I like it!

I don't think I have a single jazz record from the 1980s, but certainly have flipped past hundreds of them in the dollar bins. That decade's cover art was simply hideous, and not the kind of design that would entice me to want to hear the music inside. Case in point: I I love "Digitally Processed" in the upper right corner. "This original analog recording has been electronically rechanneled to simulate digital."

We have a very faithful knockoff of a Barcelona, loveseat length. The knockoffs are affordable, but make sure you get one that has the correct leg design.

Is that your place? TTK approves of the Barcelona chair!

This may be one of the greatest records ever made.

I typically enjoy Old Fashioneds with crime/Mafia/Yakuza films.

Yes, 1960s Japanese Yakuza films are incredible!

Yes, the guy who goes crazy over the aroma of rice cooking!