Rabshakeh

On the second volume now, with McCoy Tyner. So much stronger.

Agreed, I just think that it's weird how much it hit these musicians specifically. Plenty of other musicians went acoustic again after playing electric or fusion and were really fine. Or maybe even went somewhere newish with it. Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams in particular just never seem to really readjust back. That record's fusion, and a lot of his 70s stuff really isn't the same as he'd been playing in the 60s: much more about groove. But Hutcherson is good at any stage of his career. A focus on groove or a fusion jaunt or two doesn't seem to hurt him when he wanted to return to bop. What era are you talking? I actually think his post CTI stuff is pretty good. I struggle with him too on his return to acoustic.

Various – One Night With Blue Note Preserved (Blue Note, 1985) Currently streaming Volume 1 of this, which has most of the ex-Second Quintet crowd. As with VSOP, I am a bit struck by how much weaker, to my ears, many of these artists sound when playing acoustic bop than they did in their 60s prime. That's in contrast to the majority of jazz musicians, who I don't think tend to diminish with age. I would put it down to the effect of adopting a crowd pleasing stadium stance during the Fusion years, but I think Joe Henderson is also quite weak on these general records, whereas Bobby Hutcherson, who experimented with fusion as much as anyone, is still really good.

That's a good one.

Don Byas – Anthropology (Black Lion, 1972)

John Fedchock New York Big Band – John Fedchock New York Big Band (Reservoir, 1995)

Well, then you'll love this one: Cosmosquad by Cosmosquad (Marmaduke, 1997) First impression: the guitarist only stops soloing when it's time for a show-off flamenco interlude (sensitive). Otherwise it is all guitar solos, all the time. Everyone involved looks like they are in a death metal band from Florida circa 1991. It could do with being faster: they have a lot to learn from Mr. Hammer.

Jan Hammer was really the king of this stuff.

This is great.

Thanks! Astigmatic and For K are the two I know most well. Clear classics. I'll sniff these others out. I remember that one coming up.

Zbigniew Namysłowski – Winobranie (Polskie Nagrania Muza, 1973) Currently listening to this one. Looking at the Discogs page (https://www.discogs.com/release/587981-Zbigniew-Namys%C5%82owski-Winobranie) the Recommended section is full of great looking stuff that I don't recognise, mainly in Polskie Nagrania Muza's Polish Jazz series. Does anyone know any of them? I don't know whether we have a dedicated page for the historic Polish jazz scene.

It drives engagement. He does an episode on Prestige piano trip records and they get 400 views. But if you mention Miles Davis it is instantly 1,500. If you sass Miles Davis he might even get to 2,000. He learned that trick from Micalef. At least with him he does the one to fund the other.

Tell you what, I'll give it a go.

Thanks. I'm so so on that sort of thing although I like hip hop just fine, so may pass.

He has cats. They get everywhere. It’s one of the better features of the channel.

Sorry to pick this random post, but I have seen these around and I wondered what they are.

It would be a struggle to pick 5 favourites from the vault releases alone (although Etcetera is obviously going to be in there).

Enjoying this one. Lots of cool synth concepts, even if the drumming isn't anything like in his 1970s classics. A third of the tunes are really great. The other two thirds are just plodding.

I watched a few of his videos during lockdown. I like his older videos on Bethlehem etc, which I didn't know that well before. Otherwise he's just a weird opinionated man who needs to wash his hair. You have to be impressed by the grinding commitment to putting out three videos a week to such a minute audience.

What a time it was.

F Zero was a computer game with an absurd fusion / speed metal soundtrack. This is a record that was recorded by Nintendo's house band (which was apparently a thing). Copies of the CD go for north of £400. Holdsworth's Secrets and Di Meola's Electric Rendez Vous are precisely the kind of stuff I'm thinking of as a sort of basic starting point.

This one is positively tasteful.

What are the craziest, most bad taste, 1980s or early 1990s fusion records that you can think of? Doing some "research" for a "friend". I'm talking music so shredding that it could be on the soundtrack to F Zero (or for the 'mature' ballads, intro music for the Weather Channel). The kind of music that reeks of pony tails, lucozade, garish waistcoats and cheap wrap-around sunglasses.

It's a good article and a pretty good list, although I would not personally have chosen any of those records. There is quite a lot of guidance out there already in relation to Blue Notes, including where to start, deep cuts, soul jazz, avant garde records, etc etc. I think that anyone who is interested in getting into jazz, whether out of musical interest or just for some good record sleeves, has quite easy access to this information.

Max Roach – To The Max! (Enja, 1992)