Rabshakeh

You've named some great composer/ arrangers but I hardly think that they are Easy Listening. Mod stuff and funk with strings (including so many soundtracks) obviously do create some really good records.

Brilliant piano trio at the heart of this.

Agreed. But it's pretty hard to think of a non-vocal orchestrated version of, say, the Beatles, that isn't substantially worse than the Beatles. I am really not opposed to the orchestration of pop music at all, but in the commercial context of American popular music circa 1968, orchestration is typically a portent of doom. Plenty of people dislike the concept of orchestration for the pre-rock era too. Sweet dance bands, Jackie Gleason, etc. etc. But it seems to me that stuff was often fine, and that the orchestrations and arrangements were as apt to increase the quality of the material as otherwise. I think that disappears once popular music hits the rock/soul/funk era. Orchestration tends to remove the perceived spontenaity and energy that is what makes those genres work, so you'd have to be very careful or inspired to make orchestrated pop come off as something other than watered down in those contexts.

It's all in the execution though. Orchestra playing pop music, for the 50s and 60s, tends to mean that you are the hands of a producer trying to cash in on youth trends by watering them down for an older market that wants the pop without the excitement. So orchestral pop treatments rarely bode well. But there's nothing fixed about that.

I wonder how much of my life has been soundtracked by this man's music without me ever knowing it or bothering to enquire. It is perfectly pleasant piano music with a nice soft touch that adds up to nothing much but is certainly not unpleasant. Have I heard it a thousand times in restaurants and supermarkets without noticing it?

I read somewhere that he actually hated singing Blues.

Britt Woodman, Joe Wilder, John Laporta – Playing For Keeps This one is nice. Esoteric cool. Similar to Giuffre or early LaPorta.

A lot of people out there just get forgotten. That includes a lot of the greats. You have to be in the corner of the genre that is attractive to the younger audience rediscovering it. If you aren't, won't be. That's true of Eckstine, but also of 90% of the 'big band pop' singers of that era.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Clayderman Crazy to see how many units this guy shifted. I have never even heard of him. At least Mr. G and Ms. Dionne have left a mark. Monsieur Pages has left not a ripple. I hadn't seen this great comment until now.

Oh great. Looking forward to this!

Nice one. Where would you start with him?

With which of these would you start?

Thank you for that genuinely disgusting anecdote.

Surprised to find that we have no Eckstine thread. Where would one start with his work in the LP era?

Is this good? I love the opening Just Friends.

Same.

Well done to the admins for putting the lid on this. Looking forward to my trip on Air Blue to Bishkek. Never have seen such amaze deals 👽👽👽👽👽 😁😁😁😁😁

Echoing @mjazzg. An incredible night. Brotzmann in 'ballads and blues' territory for sure (although more Jacquet than Webster, and with plenty of heat when needed), but really a jazz quartet playing at their best. Adasiewicz had a huge sound, but I was struck by the rhythm section in particular: John Edwards (who I've grown accustomed to seeing supporting less rhythmic free improv acts) and especially Steve Noble, who gave the whole thing such a full-blooded rhythmic edge.

Oh wow! That's him. My wife nicknamed him "Monster" after the muppet. He wrecked a couple of tunes, although not as hard as the incompetent calabash playing by the other percussionists. That was the only bit of the concert which I really enjoyed. At least the thing had a groove.

Saw Garrett play tonight, in what struck me as quite a weird gig. He barely played alto, and was playing with piano, bass and three percussionists. The percussionists didn't always seem to be able to keep a beat together, and it got a bit chaotic at times. One percussionist did wordless vocals, in competition with the alto, but effectively dominant over it. Then the group would switch into this smooth jazz gospel groove with breakbeats and everything would be great. Even then Garrett wasn't playing much alto and mostly stuck to keyboards, although it was fine. When he did play saxophone it was a sort of Stanley Turrentine thing (nothing wrong with that). Not sure what to make of it all, really. There was enough gospel groove that it was overall enjoyable. But I was surprised at how weak the more adventurous tunes were, and just how little Garrett was playing himself. Has anyone seen him play recently or heard of anything that might shed light on it?

See you there!

The Composers Collective – Poum! (1969)

I'll be in Paris in April for a week and a half. Likely to be a packed time but I am hoping to get an opportunity to go vinyl hunting. There are some good recommendations above. Are there any that members recommend particularly for second hand jazz vinyl?