Teasing the Korean

As sung by Frank Sinatra, a jazz singer if there ever was one, with Nelson Riddle.

I believe that phrasing would encompass "ability to improvise," certainly with subtle melodic variations. But ability to scat is not a criterion for me, and it is in fact quite the opposite. Andy Williams on his best day is never a jazz singer, even if he is with Basie. So that clip I posted above does not meet my criteria for jazz.

So here is a great example of what a jazz singer is not: Place Andy Williams in front of the Count Basie orchestra, give him a decent tune to sing with a nice arrangement. And even in this setting, Andy does not even come close to jazz. His phrasing is very much on the beat. He cannot swing to save his life.

You may be interested in this thread where we get into this discussion:

For me, a combimation of the tunes, the instrumental setting, and the singer's phrasing.

OK, I'm making progress. I'm playing the tune on repeat and I'm pretending the play high hat eighth notes with one hand, while hitting the snare on the 2 and 4. I can feel the rhythm now on the two-bar instrumental phrases between vocal lines of the stanzas. So it is starting to kick in.

Now it all makes sense.

I knew what you meant. That one threw me as a little kid until about midway through the first stanza. Eventually I could feel it correctly from the top. I'm determined to feel "Tell Me Something Good" in the right place. When you say keyboard, to you mean the wah-wah thing? Is that a claw? I've been counting it "one and two and..." and focusing on the snare, which hits the 2 and 4. I'm waiting for it to click in my mind.

Right, but in those situations, sometimes you can eventually feel where the 1 is. I still can't feel where it is in this tune, even though I can count it. A lot of musicians had the same issue with "Girl U Want" by Devo. I could feel where the 1 was instantly. Others felt the 1 on what was really the 2.

Right, I get how to count it, but I'm not feeling it. You know how sometimes you can't feel where the 1 is on certain things?

OK, I should really know the answer to this by 2023. Are Rufus throwing in an extra 8th note at ends of the stanzas and then hacking off an 8th note at the end of the choruses, or is it that I'm not feeling the stanzas correctly? I can count all the way through the tune and it all adds up evenly, but if they are not messing with the 8th notes, I can't feel where the 1 is on the stanzas.

I've always loved the covers of the Art Tatum, Child of the Sun, and Drums of Africa. https://www.irvdocktor.com/Record-Album-Covers/

Thanks. I was referring to tracks having Latin percussion sections vs. those with a drum kit played by a non-Latino.

And there is not much Afro-Cuban content, based on the personnel listings.

My ears tell me that these sound better in mono, which is why I unloaded the stereo. Also, the Englewood Cliffs albums generally place the bass and piano/chordal instrument in the center, and they sound better in mono when these elements are increased by 6dB. This is why RVG narrowed the stereo for the CD releases - to increase the centered bass and piano. That said, you will always be my mentor when it comes to model railroading. NP: A&M/CTI Audio Master Plus Series Samplers, Vols. 1 & 2

To each his own. The balances are usually better in mono, IMO.

They were monitored in mono, with placement and levels set for the mono album. So really, the stereo recordings were a step in the process to achieve the mono version, which was the priority. As someone in the biz, you know that when a stereo signal is collapsed to mono, the center information increases in volume by +6db. So the the stereo levels were set with mono in mind. Either way, the mono sounds better, just like on most of the Blue Note albums.

Digging some Chico Hamilton with Gabor Szabo on impulse! in glorious >>>iMONO!<<<

I can only partially answer your question. The ones that I used to see vinyl hounds bring to record shows were suitable for needle drops to audition records, but nothing I would use for playing any titles repeatedly. Of course, many of these guys were DJs who used Ortofon DJ styluses, which are not the best and designed to track heavier than recommended. I would look into what kinds of styluses and cartridges the available models use, and how heavy the suggested tracking force is. For the uses you are talking about, though, I don't think it would be a major issue. Life is short, and enjoy the records while you are traveling.

Digital vinyl makes no sense. You get the disadvantages of both digital and vinyl, and the advantages of neither.

I saw him live in St. Petersburg circa 1980.

McKibbon was one of the first US jazz bassists who understood Latin bass patterns.

Not if running them over killed them on the way up! 😹

I think I attained that rank a long time ago, even if it was unofficial. 😹

I've increased my rank to "rising star." I won't let it go to my head. You know the old showbiz cliché - you run into the same people on the way down that you do on the way up.