six string

Joe recorded a four songs with a local pianist, Joe Gilman on his album Treasure Chest on Timeless. The rhythm section consists of Bob Hurst and Jeff "Tain" Watts. It's very good too though I may be biased as I've known Joe Gilman for almost thirty years and I've heard him play many, many times. He has been playing with Bobby Hutcherson for the last few years in between teaching and heading a music program at a local college.

When I say recent I'm talking in the last year or two it would be the artistry of Sonny Criss. I had Portrait of Sonny Criss on a Japanese cd for about ten years and liked it but I found Sonny's Imperial recordings on a jazz blog a few years ago and was knocked out by the music. After that I was on the hunt for Sonny's music and I was luck enough to get all of Imperial recordings on vinyl through the Classic Records reissues. Then I found I'll Catch The Sun on lp in Berkeley and recently Crisscraft on Muse. I'm now willing to buy every Sonny Criss album I can find. A lot of times musicians who play fast will bore me after a while because they aren't saying anything other than speed. Sonny Criss is really saying something melodically on top of being able to play at an amazing clip. On the non-jazz side of the world it's been the band Talk Talk, specifically the last three albums and Mark Hollis' single solo album. They are amazing collections of music that I've played over and over in the last four or five months. I had bought their first album and liked it well enough back in the 80s but never kept up with them afterwards. Big mistake. I saw Eric Harland earlier this year and agree, he's an amazing drummer and he's even more amazing in person compared to the recordings.

I found a BN Liberty pressing of this a couple of weeks ago in very nice shape along with In Memory Of, part of the LT "rainbow" series from Blue Note. I can understand some of the criticism directed towards ST but here's the thing. Stanley Turrentine played with a lot of soul and some people like that in their jazz and some people don't. He doesn't sound like Sonny Rollins or Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young, ad nauseum. That's a good thing. If a person doesn't like that soulfull grit that Stanley brought to his music or lament that he never recorded his own Body And Soul or Giant Steps, well we can't all be geniuses but that doesn't take away what he did do and that is to make a lot of great sounding records. Did he strike out a couple of times? Sure he did but how many people have never struck out at the plate?

This is a favorite of mine too. I don't have a lot of Rava's music but everything I've bought I've liked. So far the list looks like this. New York Days Easy Living The Words and The Days The Pilgrimage (lp) My favorite might be a toss up between NY Days and Easy Living. I'll watch this thread for other recomendations.

I saw a vinyl copy of that Tom Cat album yesterday but I already have the 45rpm reissue from Music Matters so there was no reason to pick it up. I did buy a sealed copy of Morgan's Taru from the LT series. It had been sitting on the shelf of this store for many years. I believe they bought it when it was new. I was always suspicious of these titles when I didn't know any better but once I started buying and listening to some of the titles I realised my mistake. Taru may not be as good as Tomn Cat but it's still worth owning.

Kenny Barron is one of many favorite piano players. That duo album he did with Charlie Haden that was posted above is superb. A couple of others not mentioned (yet) are Wanton Spirit w/Haden and Roy Haynes, New York Attitude and Sambao, the latter a Brazilian flavored outing.

I think Jessica Williams has gotten better with age. Once she proved that she could play as fast as reasonably expected she slowed down and put more care into each note and created some very beautiful albums in recent years. Not that I didn't like her early music because I did and I still do. As I've aged I've found myself gravitating to artists playing fewer notes per bar unless it's really called for and having been a fan of Jessica's for a very long time I'm very happy that her playing has changed to suit my personal preferences. On the other hand, I'm still waiting on James Carter..........

Lee Morgan's Taru from the LT series on BN. I bought a sealed copy yesterday that had been at this particular store for years. First time I heard it too and it's a pretty solid outing.

Look for the Barry Diament mastered cds which came out in the 90s. They sound pretty great to my ears.

I've never seen that one before. I just found a copy of Life Rays on SteepleChase but that looks like another one I need. I love his playing and I just discovered him four or five years ago so I have a lot of catching up to do.

There's a copy of the album at a local record store and it's been there for years. Something inside of me said "don't buy it, boy" and I've listened to that voice all this time. Now that I've read this thread I won't have to worry about a little voice trying to convince me that it might be worth a shot.

With his permission? Ha! Ha! That was my mistake. Should have been "he" but you already knew that, eh? I wish I could have turned him up somehow. Having seen him several times at Yoshi's I've been able to really appreciate his playing skills many times and though I could see him play the other night there were many times I had to strain to hear him. Eric Harland made up for it though.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I didn't get much help with google and I was pretty sure I'd get better answers here and I did. I'm still not sure whether I want to buy the album or not. There were other lps I left behind that I'd go back and get a lot quicker than Harley's album. Still there's a part of me that's curious about the sound of bag pipes and jazz. That's some crazy idea.

Of course you have to inspect the vinyl itself. Yesterday I found a copy of Booker Ervins Groovin' High. The cover was in really nice shape (vg++) which caused my heart to race and I took out the record and saw the black/yellow label, an original pressing! A half second later and I was staring at the vinyl surfaces and it was beat to shit. I mean throw it down the street a few times and then put it back in the cover kind of beat up. My heart sank so fast. If they hadn't wanted so much for the record relative to it's condition ($7.00) I would have bought it for the cover in the hopes of finding the lp later with a beat up cover but clean vinyl. I'd be happy to own all of Ervin's Prestige albums on blue label pressings. I only have two of his Prestige albums on vinyl (so far).

Yep, certainly affected the US. The European RVG CD issue went ahead though. It was the political sensitivity issue, as you say. The way history seems to be playing out, with that kind of reasoning about releasing Basra I may never see it released in my life time. I had heard about that back then but was able to get a Japanese cd of Basra but I'd really like to get a nice analog sourced lp and an original is most likely out of my budget range. A Music Matters reissue would be cheaper and I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Yesterday I found a copy of Scotch and Soul by Rufus Harley on Atlantic records at a local shop but I didn't buy it. I don't dislike bagpipes per se but I didn't want to buy the album if it wasn't any good regardless of instrumentation. Has anyone heard this album and is it worth picking up? I'm willing to bet it never made it to the cd format.

The lps are hard enought to come by. I'm guessing the acetates they were sending out to club members are even more rare.

Huh? Will the wife drive you there then, once you've hopped in? Yes she will as long as you "hop in" the right place. (It's another bit from the Firesign Theater album that opens with Antelope Freeway sign markers) On a more serious note I recently bought a copy of Howard Roberts' first album on Capitol Color Him Funky. It's not a "great" jazz album but it's ok and I enjoy it enough to keep it. It was pretty cheap and in good shape so I decided to take a chance as I see his albums pretty frequently in the used bins and most of them have something about them that tell me to leave them on the shelf. This one seemed to have a little more going for it and I was pleasatly surprised by the content. He does a version of Sack O' Woe by Cannonball Adderley. Paul Bryant and Earl Palmer are on the album too.

I found a copy of Debut in Blue a few months ago in really nice shape and it didn't cost me much either. I was thrilled. I like his playing and Carnival is my favorite by him.

I'll believe Basra's release when I see it. The story is Pete La Roca is holding up that release although I don't know why. I've been waiting for that one since MM announced it back when they began and that's been a few years now.

I was playing my Classic Records reissue of Doug Watkins' At Large this morning and the replica insert advertises that one could send the label (Transition) your name and address and you could receive 8 X 10 glossy photographs, newsletters, 5 inch acetate samplings (78 r.p.m.) from new releases and many thoughtful items that will make your jazz listening more enjoyable. Did anyone here every send off for that stuff? Did any other label send out acetates to their customers back then? What are those other thoughtful items to make your listening more enjoyable, "jazz" cigarettes?

The lady speaks the truth. Happy Birthday Roy!

thank you! you made my day! oh how can you be in two places at once, when you're not any-where at alllll, bum bum bum bum. So hop in your wife and head in any direction on the freeway of your choice and we'll see you in a couple of hours at Ralph Spoilsport Motors.

I really like that one a lot. I bought a recent reissue of it along with a two others on New Jazz that are also very good. I can't imagine they sold a lot of units back in the day. Am I right? Now listening to a new acquisition of a direct to disc from EastWind, The Great Jazz Trio Direct From L.A. with Ron Carter and Tony Williams with Hank Jones of course. An excellent performance with stellar sound quality.

I hope this means that we'll be getting more of his music reissued.