Teasing the Korean

I used to work for an orchestra, and they always had these same discussions about symphonic music's relevance to a community. Many cited the rise of composers in academia as the death blow, because composers were paid to teach and could consequently write whatever the hell they wanted, regardless of who liked it. Some musicians went as far as to claim that John Williams is truly this era's great symphonic composer, because he writes symphonic music that people want to hear. (Don't shoot the messenger). Now that we have 100+ years of recorded history in a variety of media, jazz and all other art forms are competing against their own histories. I may be blown away by a few local jazz artists in my community, but given the choice, I'll probably pick up a classic Blue Note session on a used CD for short dough rather than support these artists. I am a part of the problem in this regard, but that's the way it is and I can't be that unusual. I don't think we will ever solve the issue of determining the ideal ratios between the size of an art form's audience and that of the general population. Because people can experience jazz now through various media, often for free, I don't even know if we can truly determine its audience size.

Oh, what the hell, call it a centennial show anyway. Big fan of Claude. My Dad used to talk about him and sort of suggested that he was something of a forgotten figure. This was in the 70s and 80s when I suppose a lot of jazz artists from that era could have been considered forgotten. Anyway, I've picked up various CT collections through the years. Glad to see others appreciate him.

I like his singing up through maybe the 1960s. He had great breath control. Beyond that time I don't really care for it.

What's left?

Ray Charles in Person - Atlantic (red and purple label, mono)

At the time I first heard it, I had a decent assortment of bossa, MPB, samba, tropicalia, and hard bossa piano trios. Not an exhaustive collection by any stretch, but an OK start at experiencing a range of 60s and 70s stuff. I approached Brazilian music at the time - as I do now - without a whole lot of stylistic expectations, because Brazilians generally seem to have a very natural, unforced way of moving between genres. At the time I got Afro Sambas, I knew two of the songs from other interpretations. (Tamba 4's "Iemanja" remains a favorite). Still, the album immediately struck me as not fitting neatly into any of the categories that existed, or that I had constructed. Ten years later and I feel much the same way.

Nothing other than the fact that there is no other record like it for me. To my ears, it's much more than a samba record. I've listened to sound clips of a couple of re-records, including Baden's own, and these versions for me convey neither the spirituality nor the reckless abandon of the original. Take a great set of songs, throw in the personalities of the participants, the production values, and whatever they were drinking, and you get something magical. I've come across other people for whom this album has had the same effect, but I don't expect everyone to feel that way, of course...

Yes, I have lots of samba, and I understand that's what they were going for. Still, the Q gals come off completely different on that record than they do on their pop records.

No, I was approaching it from the technical side. There are technically great singers I love and admire who wouldn't do the right job in certain situations. And vice versa. That doesn't address the issue that the Quarteto em Cy on Afro Sambas is not the Quarteto em Cy on Quarteto em Cy albums.

Curious to hear what you think of QeC's vocals on that album. It's interesting that they range from intricate spot-on four-part harmonies to out-of-tune unison mayhem. Very different feel and mood from albums released under their name. I also like the contrast of the heavy reverb on their vocals in some passages to the complete dry sound in others. The difference in QeC's vocal performances/effects creates a big part of the earthy/spiritual dichotomy on this album, for me at least. Vinicius or Baden don't sing any worse than they do on parts of the album, at least.

I respect where you're coming from. This can lead to a larger discussion of what constitutes "good singing," and whether a "good singer" in the technical sense of phrase is necessarily the best singer to deliver the performance. To me, the ragged vocals of the 1966 Afro Sambas album are a huge part of what makes it compelling. It sounds at times like it's ready to fall apart at any moment, but it never does. It simultaneously has an intense spiritual quality and a rowdy drunken quality to it. I'm not sure that a better "performance" of this album would make it better, for me at least. That said, I've had the original for about a decade, and I'm now open to hearing the other versions. I can't imagine that they'd ever replace the original, though.

Didn't mean to be misleading. In terms of the vibe and the spirit of the 1966 album, though, I think the clip is closer to what the album is about than a stage or TV performance would have been. I probably just got a little over-excited when I found the clip.

I thought I recognized one of them, I could have been wrong. Still, I'm pretty sure that Vinicius and Baden Powell are in the crowd someplace.

Japan 1966 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AoeM3V0LDg

Why haven't more of you commented on that AMAZING CLIP of VINICIUS and BADEN POWELL doing OS AFRO SAMBAS tunes? THIS IS THE GREATEST ALBUM EVER MADE!!! You need to watch it, srsly, k thnx bai.

Are we including albums originally on other labels that now fall under the Blue Note umbrella in this discussion? Or are we talking only sessions that originally came out on BN?

Not to hijack my own thread but: Last night - as often happens to me on Friday nights - I found myself awake way past my bedtime, having drunk too much red wine, and scouring Youtube for interesting music. I came across this ten minute clip from a film I'd never heard of before, featuring segments of VINICIUS, BADEN POWELL and QUARTETO EM CY PERFORMING SONGS FROM OS AFRO SAMBAS: BTW, I have a room that filled with LPs and CDs, God knows how many I have, but if I can take only one album with me to the afterlife, I will not hesitate to choose "Os Afro Sambas," the original 1966 version at least. YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS CLIP IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT ALREADY.

Easily in my top ten favorite jazz pianists ever. For a few decades there, he the pianist on virtually every album recorded in New York that Dick Hyman wasn't on. Between the two of them, it must have been very hard getting work in NY as a session pianist! He did a solo piano album in the late 70s or 80s that I really love called "Tiptoe Tap Dance." Hideous cover art (as was common by that time) but superb music. Happy belated birthday to this master.

A space-age bachelor essential. I've not played this in years, much more enjoyable than I remembered. Excellent album. I am pretty awed by Michel Legrand. I would be amazed enough at his composing and arranging, but he's also one hell of a pianist and a very good, if idiosyncratic, singer.

I have a fair amount of Villa Lobos buy I'm not familiar with the string quartets. How do they compare to his orchestral or other chamber music? Can they be described stylistically?

Agreed, I posted a similar observation one page back.

How good are my cables? Let me ask the high school kid at Radio Shack who sold them to me.

A space-age bachelor essential.

Very Nice! Now, if I can only find out how she moves the records to open the closet door, I'll be set!

Thanks all. I started googling different combinations of names and keywords that took me all over the interwebz. The person that I may be thinking of is an arranger, not an A&R man: Howard Biggs. I found out my parents are on an early Johnny Hartmann session on RCA that Biggs arranged. I'll see what else I can dig up. Thanks again!