Rabshakeh

Beautiful cover art.

Isn't it just Ahmet? I thought that Gail's will was very uneven.

This is basically it, isn't it. I have quite enjoyed every record of theirs that I have heard, but never felt anything stronger than that. Given the quality of the players, I think that counts as a failure.

Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter – 1+1

Herbie Hancock – Magic Windows (Columbia, 1981) First listen. An extremely cool electro funk record. Now on: Herbie Hancock Trio With Ron Carter + Tony Williams (Columbia, 1981) Also first listen. Seems less good. It's like everything that made Hancock interesting in the 60s has been washed out of his acoustic playing by this time.

I love this one

Thanks for the detailed write ups both. Lots to look into. Sad that RogueArt is still not doing downloads as its catalogue just looks better by the day. Which duet recording(s) are you thinking of here? I have a lot of their work together in groups but not sure about duets.

Thanks! I'm surprised at how prolific this group was. I had never heard of it. More listening to do.

The Jef Gilson Nonet feat. Jean Louis Chautemps – New Call From France (SABA, 1966) First listen to this, which was referenced in the recent MPS / SABA thread. The musicians in the nonet are: Bass – Gilbert Rovère Bass Clarinet – Claude Lenissois Drums – Gaëtan Dupenher Piano – Jef Gilson Tenor Saxophone – Pierre Caron Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Jean Louis Chautemps Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – François Jeanneau Trumpet – Jean Baptiste Mira Vibraphone, Percussion – Bernard Lubat I'm surprised not to know any of the players on the record other than Gilson.

Jim Staley – Mumbo Jumbo (Rift, 1987)

I've never even heard of Seabreeze. Is it a vanity imprint for school and university bands?

Interesting. Electric Bath by the Don Ellis Orchestra triggers neurolinguistic programming. They never did find who killed Jimmy Hoffa.

This reminded me to dig it out. I have not listened to this record in around 2 years, but every time I do I remember just how incredibly superior it is in every way. What an album.

Thank you for sharing this!

I know that one, and am definitely on the lookout for it. Kamuca records (other than the Shelly Manne set) are hard to find.

Er. Thanks. Thank you. This is good stuff.

Looks like an interesting one. I'll check it out!

Cy Touff – His Octet & Quintet I cleared out a lot of records today; over thirty. Short sharp and brutal. My four year old son had tears in his eyes thinking that I might sell Jump Up Calypso by Harry Belafonte, but I took pity. Then I took myself to Alan's on the Finchley Road, and bought myself this as a consolation prize. I've been going through a Kamuca phase for a while and this is the first time I've seen a record of his in the wild other than the Shelly Manne live set.

Was this an actual marketing effort then? Like the Young Lions would be? Or was The Big Bands Are Back just an impression that people got, fed by the music press?

I'm not typically a splurger, but this weekend I've been having an absolute great time with Fritz Pauer and the Clarke Boland Big Band. Now on this: Francy Boland & The Orchestra – 3. White Heat Having just finished this: Fritz Pauer, Jimmy Woode, Erich Bachträgl – Power By Pauer, Live At The Domicile

I mean, I do like Susto. It's like what I would have imagined 80s Miles would sound like if I had never heard 80s Miles. I'm not sure whether I need another Susto in my life though.

But why did it suddenly flower at that point. Post 1965, when jazz is collapsing sales-wise would seem to be the worst time to launch a precarious and expensive big band. Let alone for studios to suddenly have multiple big bands on their books. Equally, why did it suddenly stop?

I wanted to open up a discussion of the working big bands of the period 1965 (when the Jones/Lewis band began) to the end of the 1970s. Specifically those in the "bop" space, as opposed to the continuing Ellington / Basie axes. I am not including studio big bands put together by record labels like CTI or Verve for one offs. As a person who grew up in the late 90s, I had never really thought about bop big bands being a thing later than Kenton / Herman (save for some hold out examples of success like Gillespie's). However, it is clear from being on this site and hearing reminisces that in fact they very much did continue to be a thing. In fact there does appear to have been a strong revival of big bands that occured in the late 1960s, at precisely the point in time when I would have least expected it and wider market trends would have seemed economically least supportive. I am thinking about Mel Lewis / Thad Jones, Toshiyuki Miyama, Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland, Maynard Ferguson, Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin, Buddy Rich and various others. From this site, it seems like those groups were very well loved at the time; the records were reasonable or big sellers, and were regarded as important (and continue to be favourites here); and that the groups created their own ecosystems of talent, with many of the younger players of the 70s first being recognised playing with this or that big band, as had been the case in earlier generations. Some of the groups, like Ferguson's and Miyama's also have some successful experiments with electric instruments, which to my ears sound great. Obviously, these groups are not all of a type. Clarke/Boland is a rag tag group of emigres and Europeans, Buddy Rich is collecting a cheque in Las Vegas. But there does appear to have been an impressive flowering at this time. All of this seems to have left a big mark on this forum, but less on the history books. By the 80s they seem to be gone. So: What are the theories as to the reasons (musical, social and economic) for the sudden re-emergence of artistically successful working big bands at this time? Why did they disappear at around the point that the bop revival gains steam in the press? For the more experienced members, what are your recollections of these groups (seeing and hearing them) and how they stood out against the wider musical backdrop of the period? What are your favourite records that were released by these groups?

I know Susto . Are the other two good?

Thanks!