Rabshakeh

Count Basie And His Orchestra – Basie's Beatle Bag (Verve, 1966)

There's something about that 1980s guitar playing that really turns me off. At times, it is halfway to hair metal.

Thanks for this interesting article. I actually enjoy a lot of this music. Those Grover Washington, David Sanford, Hank Crawford and George Benson records are great (presumably not a contraversial perspective around here). But even a lot of the records from the "bad" era of smooth jazz generally have a good single or two (albeit they are maybe better seen as Quiet Storm / R&B records designed for smooching or root canals, rather than jazz). A lot of modern gospel music also draws very heavily on this sort of smooth jazz. I think that in ten years, when the taint of Mr Gorelick has finally worn off, some enterprising young Gilles Peterson type DJ is going to make his or her name by "discovering" this stuff for a hip young audience. "Smoothtone" will be the new "rare groove" or "yacht rock". All the kids will be namedropping Najee and Kirk Whalum. Light In The Attic will put out four volume ultra glossy compilations with gorgeous cover art. You heard it here first. Two comments on areas that I think the articles don't pay attention to, which could also be included: (1) The quiet storm / smooth jazz intersection - the article touches on Sade and Kirk Whalum, but I think that this 'section' of the smooth jazz genre: instrumental urban contemporary pop, is the most interesting. As noted above, I do reckon that this part of the genre is due a repackaged and heavily marketed comeback. (2) What about the New Age music of the late 1970s? Surely artists like Shadowfax and George Winston (or just all of the Windham Hill label) are also part of the development and maturation of fusion into the smooth jazz genre?

Kenny Clarke's Sextet – Plays André Hodeir (Philips, 1956)

Yes.

Was this the one with the clip with Mtume that was passed around a lot on social media recently after his death?

Thanks! Fuse One – Fuse One (CTI, 1980)

Lil Hardin Armstrong And Her Orchestra – Chicago - The Living Legends (Riverside, 1962)

I don't know much about this series - either the New Orleans or Chicago iterations. Are any of the series worth picking up?

The Ted Brown Sextet Featuring Warne Marsh And Art Pepper – Free Wheeling (Vanguard, 1957)

Yep

Or Ran Blake.

Freddie Hubbard – Blue Spirits (Blue Note, 1967)

Max Roach, Connie Crothers – Swish (New Artists, 1982)

Binder Quintet Featuring John Tchicai (Krem, 1983)

Kenny Clarke – Klook's Clique (Savoy, 1956)

Imamu Amiri Baraka – It's Nation Time - African Visionary Music (MoTown, 1972) I had no idea that this had been rereleased in 2018. For whatever reason, Sounds of the Universe in Soho has a bunch of them. Sounds great. just realised that this should be in the vinyl section.

Other than word of mouth, social media and this board, I find that one of the best ways to discover new music is through lists that other music lovers post online. Back in the day, Amazon's ListMania was an incredible resource for finding out about records. These days, I tend to rely quite heavily on lists appearing on (i) Discogs (which also feed into Discog's pretty good algorithmic recommendations) or (ii) the Rate Your Music website. (The latter's main functionality is as a rating for a group's records - basically useless - but the user generated lists are very strong.) There's a wide range of lists out there. Everything from some user's favourite hard bop on Blue Note, to incredibly detailed lists of mostly Yugoslavian jazz rock from the 1980s. It's a really good way to discover the "deep cuts". Does anyone else use lists in this way? Are there any other good sites that allow for user generated lists like these that I am missing?

I was listening to Bedside Manners Are Extra yesterday. The second track has duelling mellotron solos. More 1970s than Noddy Holder eating a steak garni and black forest gateau.

Michael Mantler – The Hapless Child (Watt, 1976)

Paul Burwell / Hugh Davies / Max Eastley / Paul Lovens / Paul Lytton/ Annabel Nicolson / Evan Parker / David Toop – Circadian Rhythm (Incus, 1980)

Mario Schiano, Roberto Bellatalla, Lino Liguori – Concerto Della Statale

Malik's Emerging Force Art Trio - Time & Condition Just rereleased, digitally and on vinyl. I had no idea.

The Barry Altschul Quartet – Irina (Soul Note, 1998)

Who did these covers? They're substantially better than make of the fake Reid Miles jobs that get stuck on official vault issues.