Rabshakeh

Also part of the mix here was non-pirate "jazz" radio. What I think was tagged "urban contemporary" in the US, but which I remember being classed as "jazz" (without adjective) here. There Was a whole genre of glossy R&B that was 100% jazz or fusion adjacent and featured (smooth) jazz solos, and which shaded into neo-soul at some edges. Other than a few acts like Sade, it isn't well remembered music, but it is part of the story and a cousin of the more high-tone and artistic neo-soul acts.

In London there is a venue in Camden called the Jazz Cafe which was in my youth notorious for booking everything except for jazz bands. Instead it was always jazz-adjacent music: music that fairly clearly wasn't jazz but the musicians thought jazz was classy and wanted some of that image. Neo soul or jazz rap were the classic Jazz Cafe genres, and I still to this day hear neo-soul (as distinct from mainstream R&B) as 'Jazz Cafe music'.

You're naming a bunch of artists that I like but don't really see mentioned as neo-soul. But then, why not? Neo soul is really just a sub style of R&B so it is probably not helpful to be too definitive.

Do you see Frank Ocean as neo soul though? A quirky variation of mainstream R&B, surely. I like his first records a lot but never saw them as neo-soul. Perhaps my view of the genre is unnecessarily constricted.

My problem with neo-soul is that, despite it being a distillation of numerous influences, it never really moved beyond the sound of the original greats like Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Since then it has just basically been the same thing.

Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton - Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton Play The Blues: Live From Jazz At Lincoln Center An idle stream, since this appears to have been posted to YT. I assumed it would be sad BB King tweakings, but it certainly is not that. For some reason I missed it at the time but picked it up since (and have since disposed of the hard copy CD sadly). I don't know why it wasn't as high profile as the rest of that excellent series. It is streamable and heartily recommended.

That's what I assumed. It sounds like the original. It badly needs a reissue or at very least an electronic download release. It is one of the les great classiques.

David S. Ware String Ensemble – Threads I'm very much a Ware agnostic which means I sometimes forget how much I love this one.

That's what we are talking about. When did you buy it though? I thought it wasn't in print.

Oh no!

Strange that Willisau is still not available.

Adonis Rose Quintet – Song For Donise I generally find that I enjoy the drummer led Young Lions records more than leader dates by the horns. Something about how foregrounding the rhythm smooths out some of the issues that plague the period. I enjoy this record. One person who always confuses me is Tim Warfield. On this album and others he seems to come up with odd measures that don't fit into the bars properly. I never understood why someone like Payton had him around but then I am not a musician and perhaps there is something admirable there.

I like the chat! That's the best bit.

Xhosa Cole – Ibeji

Ellery Eskelin – Solo Live At Snugs

I read this as Patty Waters for a minute...

That's a great record.

That's a real favourite of mine because of that piano trio. With culls you just have to be brutal. Brush the tears from your eyes. No time for pity or sentiment.

Thanks!

Another for the not the same names but similar to confuse category is trumpeter Joe Gordon and trombonist John Gordon.

Mongo Santamaria Y Su Orquesta – ¡Sabroso! Charanga Y Pachanga

I generally dislike JBL. Luckily he sits out for a lot of it. I find that when he does play (so far, i am only half way through) it is at least nicely tempered to the music. Not Lewis's normal Coltraneisms and narrative difficulty, although that does show up a little (as I type he is fouling up "Only Sometimes" a bit). Maybe it will get worse in the second half. What are the other Guidi records you recommend? I don't know him at all. I picked this one to listen to because you made a passing comment a few days ago about ECM albums with colourful covers.

Giovanni Guidi – A New Day

Marilyn Crispell and David Rothenberg - One Dark Night I Left My Silent House

I seem to be seeing more and more Vince Guaraldi cover albums these days, from the likes to jazz musician like Cyrus Chestnut to funk groups like "Vulfpeck". It's quite surprising because I wouldn't have thought that Peanuts was getting more salient, but maybe it is the book in Christmas albums in the era of streaming combined with the inbuilt access to visually arresting cover art. Any favourites out there? Any stinkers? Any surprises?