Teasing the Korean

Tell me about his proto-exotica tunes.

Just listened to a rare one: Edward M. Zajda - Independent Electronic Music Composer (Ars Nova Ars Antiqua) Which noun is the adjective "electronic" modifying? Gotta love any album that samples both the Apollo moon landing and "Let's Hang On" by the Four Seasons!

Porcy, you of all orgsters should be able to answer my question...

Just played: Morton Subotnick - Touch (Columbia) A really nice one. Lots of percussive segments that almost sound like boo bams or kalimba, alternating with more static ambient sections. Lots of surprises, including a sustained high-pitched squeal near the end of side 2!

I was under the impression that there is also another date in the 50s during which mono LPs changed somehow, resulting in three phases of mono microgroove records. Is this true?

Last night: Sonny Rollins - Twofer compilation on Prestige. Music is from early 50s sessions. Cover image is from his Taxi Driver photo shoot.

Ah...I'd love to own that one. Shouldn't be too tough to find. The remastered CD, BTW, contains all sorts of music that didn't make it to the original LP.

While I'm not an audiophile, I can detect good vs. crappy digital sound, and I've heard some recent mp3s that sound surprisingly good. I imagine the technology keeps improving.

This may be obvious, but the Blue Note Rare Groove and Blue Break Beats compilations often show up for short dough. These may help to provide a direction.

John Barry - Diamonds are Forever - UA

Wayne Shorter - Wayning Moments - VJ (stereo) Love VJ's stereo mixes on jazz records from this period. Rhythm instruments in the middle, horns off to one side or another.

With regards to cartoons, the bluesy middle section of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" was used in a number of Carl Stalling scores to WB cartoons. There are two collections of "The Carl Stalling Project" available on CD, and I'm sure you'd find a certain amount of bluesy stuff in there. These are fascinating to listen to without the visual images, but I can listen only in small doses at a time. They're a pretty wild ride.

Allen, while I'm no expert, I do know a fair amount about jazz and its influence related to film scores. "Streetcar" is often cited as the earliest example of a Hollywood orchestral underscore with a jazz element, and by "jazz" in the case I mean with a decidedly bluesy feel. There are others with distinctively bluesy feel, but they fall outside your timeframe. The track "Floozie" from North's "The Rose Tattoo" (1955) and most of Kenyon Hopkins's excellent score for the adaptation of Tennessee Williams's "Baby Doll" (1956) are two examples. That latter was on Columbia and is out on a Legacy CD; the former was re-recorded (with the same arrangement) on North's album "North of Hollywood." The track is also available on one of the Rhino "Crime Jazz" CD collections.

I wasn't being critical.

Seriously, you don't know what I mean? The word "modern" is frequently misused.

I was simply making the distinction between uses of the word "modern."

I'm assuming you mean "current/contemporary" and not "modern" in the strict sense.

That's Leith Stevens. Yeah, both great scores.

No, Rollins scored the film, though the LP was likely a re-record, and probably an opportunity to expand on the music.

David Garland's classical show on WNYC -if he still does it - focussed on non-traditional types of stuff. Unfortunately, marketing firms have been retained by many FM so-called "classical" stations. They tell them that classical music should be "relaxing."

Interesting person. Ever read about him? "Love, the Mystery Of" on one of Blakey's drum albums is by Guy Warren.

Some (not all) of the early jazz approaches to Bacharach come off as though they were done to satisfy some A&R decision, and the artist in question begrudgingly goes along. It sounds like they treat this material as though it were lightweight pop. What's odd about this though, and I say this as both a musician myself and a listener, is that many Bacharach tunes can be challenging in various regards. Unusual chord progressions, phrases with odd numbers of bars and jarring rhythmic shifts, wide melodic jumps, etc. Many of the tried-and-true patterns that work for improvising on pop standards -Rodgers, Kern, etc. - don't work too well with Bacharach. What I can't figure out is why more jazz musicians didn't seem to realize this about his music. It would seem that if a jazz musician wanted something challenging to work with AND wanted to reach a broader audience, Bacharach was the ticket. Thoughts?

Some tunes on there work better than others. It was a missed opportunity.

Agreed, song selection and arrangements are a big part of the draw with vocal jazz albums. Or vocal "jazz" albums.