Clunky

Glad someone else has it in for Foxy, funny cover, great tune names but massive overindulgence. Worst CD i've bought in ages. No idea how it was released. I've read good reviews but it's just one exceptionally long hot solo with Irabagon doing Rollins but without Sonny's finesse or purpose. Awful. Avoid.

Mechanical Malfunction - picked up this on the strength of a recommendation here ( new releases thread ?) It took me quite a time to warm up to it. For some reason I kept on listening and really love it Evans works beautifully with Halvorson and Walter. This gets plenty of spins many months on, a keeper. MOPDTK is mainstream by comparison , hilarious covers and tough post bop with fine playing but not especially original.

Lars Gullin------The EMI years 1964-1976-------(EMI Sweden) LP4 = Jazz Amour Affair side one Lars plus orchestra , ambitious for sure , may need me some time to appreciate this fully. Despite the strings swooping in occasionally it's in no way lush, only once it's got going properly does Lars get to solo and then it all seems worth it. Interesting.

I see Jacob Wick wants $40 for his new CD !!

Iverson is a fine pianist. Perhaps overly influenced by European classical tradition. There are times I just want a bit less fuss with Bach figures and rather a more bluesier approach. I've have thought he'd be a natural with Konitz ( have they recorded before?). My main concern would be whether Konitz still has the chops to play medium tempo numbers still. My guess is Konitz will have masses of breathing space and will frequently drop out but I'll be getting this whatever.

Listening to lots of 78s in the past few days. I've decided to order a larger stylus for my pre-war sides to see if background noise can be reduced further . I've been on British pre-war jazz quest in the past month or so. It's like looking for diamonds in the rough with so few real jazz bands seemed to exist. Plenty of society bands, cafe bands, dance bands but precious few playing the real thing. Spike Hughes - I've mentioned his London Decca sides from 1931 to 1933 prior to going to NYC and hooking up with Hawk, Carter etc. Hughes was the business as far as I've heard. I have managed to collect 16 of these sides. They reveal strong Ellingtonian influence , some pretty arresting originals but mainly pop tunes . I'm not sure if any of these sides have ever been on LP or CD. Fred Elizalde My latest "discovery". Philipino born lead a great dance band with solo space and improvisation with Adrian Roliiini sitting in for quite a number of sessions. Less known are a handful of solo piano sides from 1932/3 on Decca. These were his last recordings before leaving jazz forever. He plays with a delicate touch some blues, simple stride and possibly trace of modern classic music in there too. Definitely jazz . Nothing earth shattering but pretty good when you remember what else was around. Again I'm pretty sure these haven't been reissued. Please correct me if I'm wrong,! Finally Ken Snakehips Johnson First? British black band leader to record. Sides for Decca and HMV. Silenced by the Luftwaffe when they dropped a bomb on the gig . I've only got 2 HMV sides which poorly reflect what the band really was about. Borderline jazz but historic non the less. Interesting for historic rather than musical reasons. Britain had a different form of racism to that in the US such that black band leaders just didn't get recorded. Period.

Neither I'm afraid. Sorry about that, the image was there when I pressed 'post' honest. Something very odd is happening today because as I type this it's in a different font and small without the usual 'font' and 'size' adjust options available. Anyway the image was of the cover for Brotzmann/Hamid Drake - Solid and Spirit [Nero's Neptune] edit to add: having posted I'm relieved to see the odd font issue hasn't translated to the post - too weird Glad to see you got a copy. A few outlets in the UK seem to list it. Its a fine album. I'm not sure of there really is afrenzy over getting hold of this one or whether Oto just sold what they had quickly. Recommended whatever

I think it means that he is a very strong icon for many of what Blue Note Records was during a very productive time. I don't think anyone here thinks that Hank Mobley alone, or as part of a small list of musicians, DEFINES the Blue Note legacy, just that he is as definitive a Blue Note recording artist as there ever was. Penultimate, according to my dictionary means 'next to last', obviously he wasn't next to last chronologically so what did it mean? I agree that he could be regarded as a definitive Blue Note artist, and there are a lot of Blue Note fans about, me included. I have tons of Hank's albums both as a leader and as a sideman in my collection and he never lets us down. I was just puzzled by use of the word 'penultimate'. I may well be wrong but could Horace Silver be the last of the original roster to leave the label and Hank the penultimate. Hmm but then there's Blue Mitchell., Gene Harris, Ok I'm not sure but just a guess at what the OP meant.

Billy Preston - The most exciting organ ever - Vee-Jay Ŵell is it .?

Some more British jazz Jack Parnell------- Quickie/Jukebox Jumba------( Decca) UK 1950 five-some recording with Tommy Whittle ( tenor sax) , Bobby Pratt (trumpet) and Frank Horrox (piano). Quickie shows fine solos by all concerned and is easily as good as any bebop from the US. Ok it's about 3 years later but shows plenty of fire and invention I like Pratt and Horrox especially. JJ is decent attempt in making a danceable bebop number. Whittle gets more space here. Pratt sounds a little hesitant at times. So grades of A+/ B- respectively. Next back in time to the mid 20s............ Jack Hylton Kit Cat Band----- My Sugar /Milerburg Joys --------(HMV) UK rec 10th August 1925. Probably with the following players ( I've yet to get a decent discography) Al Starita (sax), Ted Heath (tb), Tom Smith (t), Billy Ternent (alto sax), Eric Siday (vn), Len Fillis (g). Considering the date and that this was London two nice polite jazz sides. Milerburg has more bite. Some problems here and there, the sax player(s) don't have great control which shows every now and then. Over all really no worse than the output of many white US bands of this era. Early electrical recording decent, even if my copy is a little worn.

Hank Jones- Compassion- ( Black and Blue), everything you'd expect from this Hank. Elegant, at time bouncy. Alan Dawson ensures that it's all kept lively and not too sedating.

I guess this thread says it all. The Mobe has been discussed to death in this place. That however hasn't stopped all this posting and many more views. The people like Hank and can't get enough .

I never tire of hearing his playing, which allows me come back to his music many many times. Not heard at his most confident with Miles but he still plays well. All his BN output is worthy whether as leader or sideman. Fave= No room for squares. ( this week)

Although I love LPs and indeed 78s I will not pay high sums for anything, no matter how rare. It just doesn't make sense to me when there's much cheaper stuff to be had. Now i'm not suggesting only buying Membran issues and the like but for me it's got to be the music first and the format second.

Lucky you! I was too slow on the OTo email that arrived at work and they'd sold out. I'm hoping Honest jon's have come to the rescue is it any good? You'll not be disappointed , it's sounding excellent so far ( sides 1 & 2)

Brotzmann & Drake-------" Solid and Spirit"-------( Nero's Neptune )- just in from those Oto people.

Earlier Bud Shank and three trombones (Vogue UK) mint 10 incher , sounds great in this edition. Now... Clarke/ Bolland Big Band-------"Faces"--------(MPS) UK, latest addition to my CBBB collection and just as fine as the rest I've been really appreciating Quill lately on a variety of releases , I don't have this one but get a bit muddled with some of these Prestige issues , I think I'm correct in thing hat this crosses over with Bird Feathers to some degree. The Quill Freshsound disc is superb as has been previously noted.

Fred Elizalde and his music ---" Sugar"/ " Again" -------(British Brunswick ) Fred Elizalde and his Hot music -----"Sugar Step"/ "Arkansas " ( ". ") British dance band with Adrian Rollini and I think other American jazzers. Sugar , Sugar Step and Arkansas are great Again is ok. Don't know if these saw release in USA, I'd suspect not. Fine hot jazz even if it's British.

Clara Smith -----"Don't never tell nobody "/"Waitin' for the evenin' mail" (Columbia ) Couldn't lay my hands on " Playhouse" but found this fine side on the shelves by the deck. Another excellent pairing. Worn like you'd expect but still sounding very good. Sound improved by killing the 125Hz on the equaliser to remove rumble.

Then some very cool blues from the 1920s. All of these are worn, but sound surprisingly good, even the Paramount. Priscilla Stewart - You Ain't Foolin' Me/True Blues (Paramount, 1924). With Jimmy Blythe on piano. Clara Smith - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down/You Don't Know My Mind (Columbia, 1924). During "You Don't Know My Mind," I was struck with how amazing it is that music recorded 90 years ago can move me so much. This group contains most of the best of my midwestern finds, but there are more to come. Cool, nice varied bunch. I've the Clara Smith side on Columbia flag label ( which I'd guess must be what you've bought) and it's a good one.

Helen Merrill John Lewis- (Mercury)- cool. calm and a lot to like here. Still think I prefer Chris Connor but it's a well judged program of material. next .. Johnny Hodges- Rippin' & Runnin' (Verve ) UK stereo original with Freddie Waits and Jimmy Ponder- just so groovy. Great fun and real blast to listen to all the way through. Love it. ..... and following that some non jazz , but this is really slick stuff After Bathing at Baxters --(Victor) again UK original which sounds epic played loud on the headphones.

The Philip Wilson session is excellent, must look it out.

Nothing like a date with Lucky Thompson to remind me how great life is. Recently I picked several Parlophone 78s of " Mills Blue Rhythm Band" from 1947 which feature some nice solos from Lucky. One of the sides even has a Stan Getz alto solo! Despite the provenance the band sound pretty good across the 6 sides I found. All are titled beginning "Blue" so we have " Blue swing"' "Blue blues" etc. There's no massive stylistic shift between the tunes but the arrangements have a good swing to bop feel. Good sound too on the Parlophones which were whilst grubby in very decent condition. I love it Mosiac pulled together all these 40s sides featuring LT rather than the box they were planning of material that's widely available. Mills Blue Rhythm Band May 20, 1947: LA, Royale Mills Blue Rhythm Band (ldr), Frank Beach, Chuck Peterson, Charlie Shavers (t), Sidney Harris, Charles Maxon, Si Zentner (tb), Stan Getz (as, ts), Clint Neagley, Edward Rosa (as, cl), Lucky Thompson (ts), Butch Stone (bar), Tony Rizzi (g), Jimmy Rowles (p), Arnold Fishkind (b), Don Lamond (d), Van Alexander (Al Feldman) (dir)

Buddy Terry ---"Awareness"----(Mainstream ) 70s very fine date, the band sound rehearsed and storm through a modal sounding set with fusion touches and some congas for good measure.Nicest Mainstream date I've heard. Terry did another date for Shad but I've not heard it.

This record, Smash issue, promo mono. Much more enjoyable than I remembered. Very nice IIRC