Dub Modal

Great write up on these tracks, and the leads on tracks 1 & 12 (and potentially 3) are much appreciated!

Agree with you on this one. Sounds like this could be from an album on the Black Saint label.

First ever BFT, so just putting down my initial reactions to the songs: 1. Has that marching band quality to the drumming and horn interaction, and the bass line is funk-ish (flute seems to repeat the bass line a little behind it...). Interesting track. I would definitely want to hear more from this band. 2. Loving this sax, bass, drum & clavinet opening. The drummer just goes off after a while but wheels it back, then the switch to the piano glues it all together. Nice track. 3. Modern-ish dirge with those crying horns. Rhythm section sounds like they were at some point inspired by Miles' SGQ. Bass player is grooving the whole time. Piano hides in the corner and jumps out every now and then. 4. Love when the guitar, bass and piano play in unison at the beginning here. Then they have a great conversation. Very meditative and the drummer keeps it moving. Awesome song. Love how the bass is recorded and its interaction with the electric guitar is fantastic. The piano player is super expressive. This is my favorite track so far. 5. Acoustic guitar - super clean and beautiful. Mournful sax near the start - love the opening here. Bass comes through really well. Guitar & sax as leads are real highlights for me. 6. I dig when the horns play together. Not a fan of the two-beat rhythm, heartbeat-esque type thing. My least favorite so far. Players all sound good but this song isn't working. I'd definitely listen to other tunes by them however. 7. Well. I like the piano playing. Sounds like a purposeful juxtaposition of gospel and another type of religious chanting. Not my thing, but someone had a message with this one. 8. Guitar is synthed up isn't it? Nice little bed it lays. Love the harmonies behind the lead sax. 9. Nice reverb on that trumpet. Good song. Like the rhythm and the piano sounds great. Bass player has a great lead part and love how the piano and drums accompany. Yeah, I dig this one too. 10. Quiet storm type intro - love it! This has that smooth jazz feel that I can dig every once in a while. The horn here keeps it really interesting and away from some of the cliche's of that genre through. Love the synth atmosphere too. Sade could sing over this and it would be excellent. 11. Oooh..an arco bass part in the beginning. I dig that. Synth sounds 80s with some cheese in there. Horn is nice. Percussion makes this listenable though. I think I hear some faint chanting in spots too. This one is OK, but a little dated to me. 12. Excellent. Drums & bass are grooving. Horns are tight. No piano? Great composition. Yeah, breaks down to a sax-led trio with drums and bass. Love it! They're all absolute masters at work right here. Bass & drum get down to it as well. Can't wait to find out who this is.

This is getting good reviews so far. Great Messengers line up!

Made a mistake on the smoker a few weeks ago. Smoked 2 slabs of pork spare ribs on my barrel smoker and the heat got too high in the beginning, up to around 300-315 degrees F. Made them tougher than normal. Have to keep that in mind the next time and try to limit the coal and wood to keep it closer to 200. Apple wood was used and it gave some nice flavor, but the texture was off. Spare ribs are usually a little more forgiving than back, but I didn't do so well this time. Just a warning for you other smokers out there.

Awful and heartbreaking.

Damn. Well, now you're in the belly of the beast that drove those coups in Brasil & Chile. Hoping the brakes get pumped a bit on our own acceleration but that sliver of hope is very thin.

Military response is still totally unnecessary.

Thanks! You got there before I did. The use of the military against US citizens usually isn't a good idea, especially in crowded cities or areas where innocent people are going to get caught up in it. FTR I'm not in support of using any US military personnel as domestic law enforcement. I do not think blowing up an ATM requires that kind of response.

So far the US AG Bill Barr, Sec of Defense Esper, FL representative Gaetz, and AR Senator Cotton have all echoed the president's call to utilize the military against protesting citizens. If the individual state-in-question is open to it via their governor & legislature, then it's a definite possibility. The NY governor has voiced opposition to this action, maybe there's more at this point. America unleashed, indeed.

I ordered on 4/30 and got the same confirmation but nothing since and no delivery. I'll have time to follow up with them next week on the status or any updates.

As I mentioned Ralph MacDonald, here's a drum/percussion track with a little bit of flute thrown in. Steve Gadd on drums:

Idris Muhammad is on record saying he didn't like playing with any percussionists other than Ralph MacDonald because they interfered with what he was trying to do; where Ralph was sensitive to the kit and complimented it. Maybe Blakey was the same way for the most part...and it depended on which percussionist was playing as to whether he could groove with them?

Yeah, on the last track and it's a very spare utilization, mostly for atmospheric effect

I've had some issues with tracks on my Jimmy Lyons and Lester Bowie sets too. Kind of unbelievable that this wasn't one of the first sets produced. Great artist and albums for this label.

In the sample track from the bandcamp page it sounds like Vick played over a pre-recorded horn part - or is there another horn player not credited? Either way, sounds like a great session!

Well, that's interesting - tracked that Blues for Tomorrow comp down and looks like Gigi Gryce, Ray Copeland, Trane, Hawkins, Ware & Blakey on the BFT track and the correct line up for A Sad Thing as you mention. The OJC BFT comp looks scarce in the US, more available in the EU. I've never heard of that comp, but it looks like a good one. The Fresh Sounds CD actually has the correction to include A Sad Thing among those 5 bonus tracks.

Welcome! That OJC CD has a 13-minute bonus track (Blues for Tomorrow) which apparently has greatly boosted its value. Fresh Sounds put out a reissue with five bonus tracks but of course, not Blues For Tomorrow (wonder why?). No LP reissues since '75.

I've only seen the OJC CD but looking at discogs it was a Riverside LP

Recorded in '57 at Capitol LA with Mel Lewis on drums, Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Jimmy Rowles on piano and Buddy Clark on bass

That Great Ideas of Western Mann album is great if you like bass clarinet - that's all he plays on that I believe.

Thanks for posting the jazzdisco link. I don't think I have any of these albums but have listened to several via streaming.

I have the Mosaic Select along with BNs FSS, Contours, A New Conception, and Dimensions & Extensions. Haven't played D&E in a while but it was my least favorite of these BN albums. My favorite of that group is A New Conception, as I think that quartet setting allows him to showcase a bit more than other albums in this era, and it's got Hal Galper on it. The Select is good but I can make it about one disc at a time as the tracks start running together a bit. My favorite album that I have by him is his quartet's Lazuli. That band is very good. It's very much inside for him compared to other dates but it doesn't drag and they play some great compositions. I frequently stream Streams and some of his other trio dates that tend to be further out though. An all around great artist.

Can confirm that this CD edition does indeed have Clifford in that line up with the Brubeck Quartet et al.

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