Rabshakeh

I am a hater. In my opinion she cannot write. All gush and superlatives (which makes the topic of this article ironic). I don't think she listens to the music at all. Sorry to be negative.

My late father in law was a big trad fan. My wife has happy childhood memories of various former regional trad scenesters occasionally passing through her home in the 1980s, and having a knees up (no one substantial though). I inherited his record collection when he died, including lots by these older regional amateur bandleaders. That said, I am pretty ignorant about the stuff, and it is hard to find out information about the revivalist styles. Ken Colyer I obviously know, and also Rimington but I think only after he had moved to the US. Cuff Billet and Barry Martyn are new names to me, so any records that you'd recommend would be welcome.

Lester Bowie – The Great Pretender

Porter Wagoner – The Cold Hard Facts Of Life Carlos Paredes – Guitarra Portuguesa Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal Exuma – Exuma

Looks interesting. Acker Bilk isn't someone I necessarily associate with "authentic" New Orleans jazz. Having said that there is a vinyl collection of his earlier sides called My Early Days that I really rate. Not not not George Lewis stuff but it is spirited and energetic early trad. Are you based in the UK? I'm always looking for shops with decent trad selections.

Giuliano Sorgini – Zoo Folle

So I have just been informed.

Well, I shall keep eyes peeled for it in the second hand racks. Those Tone Poets turn up, and any reissue of that record is welcome.

Oh cool. That's a Tone Poet I might buy. It is been a while since that was reissued in any vinyl form. How is it?

It does explain why she'd be playing with that group of musicians.

Thanks. I see that she is the bassoonist on those Jimmy Lyons and CT records. So I'll definitely follow these up.

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

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.