GA Russell

Perhaps those of you who have been checking out the sound samples already know this. I have learned that Sonny is leaving Milestone after 35 years. His new Sonny, Please CD is on his own label, Doxy Records. Sonny's last recorded album was This Is What I Do, which I believe was recorded before Concord purchased Fantasy. I wonder why Sonny has decided to start his own label now. Maybe the passing of his wife, who I believe was also his manager, had something to do with it. I don't have a release date for Sonny, Please yet. I suspect it will be in October.

I'm sorry to hear it. I have been sitting on one of his Big Bop Nouveau albums for quite some time, so I think I will open it up today and give it a listen in memoriam. I've never heard his Mosaic Roulette material, and I've always been curious about it. I hope an album or two from it is released.

I believe that all Fantasy products are gone from BMG and Your Music.

I got her first album when it first came out, and really liked it. Played the heck out of it. Don't play it much anymore, however. I subsequently read that she needs a lot of help from the computer to stay on key.

The Source has been a group since 1993, but this self-titled CD is only its second album. The lineup is tenor or soprano sax, trombone, bass and drums. All four intruments are equal partners; the bass and drums are in the fore along with the horns. Trygve Seim says that without a piano the group's sound is "more open". I agree, but I'm not sure that a piano wouldn't pay for itself. The album has 13 songs totalling 74:25. None of the songs have hummable melodies. There are different tempos and moods to the selections. Unlike Sangam, this doesn't sound like a dark-mood ECM album of old. It also doesn't sound like the classical music of Sangam. This is pure jazz. Even with the uptempo numbers the playing is relaxed. The entire album is pleasant to listen to, despite the sometimes free aspect of the playing. Often when one horn takes a solo the other horn will lay out, resulting in a power trio horn, bass and drums thing going on. Some of the music reminds me of Dave Holland's Prime Directive album, perhaps because of the trombone. Unlike Sangam, which doesn't remind me of anything else, I have the nagging feeling that I have heard much of The Source before. It's good, but I wouldn't say it's original. Like Sangam, The Source isn't something that I'll play every day, but I'll probably play both once a week for many months to come. Sangam, as I said above, I'll be playing on Sundays. The Source I'll be playing during the week. I recommend both albums for when you are in the mood for songs you can't hum. By the way, The Source was recorded in Oslo, and it sounds great!

I don't watch television anymore at home. I stopped the cable TV about fifteen years ago. I never made the decision to quit cold turkey. I just found that everything was a waste of time. I would rather listen to music, get onto the internet or read a book. A few years ago I used to watch Law & Order every week, but as I say it's been a few years. When I travel, I check out the cable stations on the motel TV to see what's on, but usually don't stick around to see a whole show. For me, it's not just TV. I don't think I have gone to three movies in the past ten years. The media that used to interest me just don't appeal to me anymore.

A good friend of mine went to Marley's last concert. It was in Pittsburgh. Marley was ill with brain cancer, and cancelled the rest of the tour following the Pittsburgh gig. I don't think it was too long after that that he passed away.

Recently I was given a copy of a new album by a young drummer named Shawn Glyde called Alternate Rhythm. It might appeal to some fans of the Don Ellis Orchestra. Glyde went into the recording studio and recorded the drum track for each of the songs first. Having done that, the other band members composed melodies that fit the rhythms already recorded. Each of the rhythm patterns is unusual. For example, a pattern may extend over four measures. The first three measures will be in 4/4 time, and the fourth will be something odd such as 11/16 time. That is repeated throughout the song. Other songs are similar, except that the unusual measure may be 13/16 or 15/16. It's all very difficult to tap your foot to. This has the sound of a typical fusion album - heavy on the synth, with melody by the sax. Other than Joe Zawinul, I can't think of a synth album that I like. So I can tell you that because of the synth sound this album is not for me. But if your primary interest is in the rhythm, you may find this album interesting. I am not aware of anywhere you can pick this album up except directly from the label at www.imuso.com

Over the past week, I have listened a lot to Teddy Charles' New Directions CD, mostly in the car. I like it a lot. It is 16 songs taken from three unrelated sessions from 1951, '52 and '53. Sidemen include Jimmy Raney, Hall Overton and Ed Shaughnessy. Seven of the first eight songs are standards. Most of the remaining eight are what for the time would have been considered artsy.

Yes, and Benny Spellman (Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette) and Ernie K-Doe (Mother-In-Law) and Robert Parker (Barefootin').

Thanks for posting that Jim! I went to a number of dances with the band when I was in high school. Our school dances would usually alternate between the r&b bands of Art and Aaron Neville or Deacon John and the Ivories on the one hand and the white sound of John Fred and the Playboys and The Basement Wall on the other. I preferred the white sound, and I think I went to every dance he did for us. The name of the group was changed to John Fred and his Playboy Band when Gary Lewis and the Playboys hit it big. I remember Up 'n' Down and Agnes English well. As I recall, one of the dances I attended was the week that Up 'n' Down was released, and he made a statement as if this was the first time they were performing the song publicly. (Probably baloney!) I used to tell my friends in college that Judy in Disguise was the worst song he did, and we never understood why that was the one that was popular. My first recollection of his songs was in late '64, when he released the Muddy Waters song I Just Want To Make Love To You. RIP. I have fond memories of John Fred. By the way, he did make it onto American Bandstand after all. I remember seeing him there doing Judy in Disguise.

Moacir Santos has died. Here's his obituary from the L.A. Times: Moacir Santos, 80; Composer, Arranger of Brazilian Pop Tunes By Jon Thurber, Times Staff Writer August 12, 2006 Moacir Santos, an influential arranger and composer of Brazilian popular music, has died. He was 80. Santos died Sunday at an assisted living facility in Pasadena of complications from a stroke he suffered some years ago, according to a publicist for his record label, Adventure Music. ADVERTISEMENT Click here to find out more! Though not widely known to American audiences, Santos was well regarded among musicians in his homeland of Brazil and in the United States. "He was a musician's musician whose work was very under-recorded," said Tom Schnabel, producer and host of the radio program "Café LA" on KCRW-FM (89.9) and program director for world music at the Hollywood Bowl and Walt Disney Concert Hall. "His work was far less known than the compositions of Antonio Carlos Jobim because he didn't write for the voice." Born in rural poverty in northeast Brazil in the 1920s, Santos showed musical acumen at an early age. By 14 he was able to play a number of instruments, most prominently the baritone saxophone. He worked for a time in a traveling circus. By the late 1950s, he was living in Rio de Janeiro and composing music for live programming on Brazil's Radio Nacional. His most musically fertile and productive time came in the mid-1960s, when he released the album "Coisas" on the Forma label and composed music for a number of Brazilian films. According to Schnabel, the coisas — which means "things" in Portuguese — were "densely structured" pieces that went beyond the framework of bossa nova, the musical genre most associated with Brazil. He gave each piece a number, with "Coisas No. 5" becoming his biggest hit. Writing in the Village Voice some years ago, critic Larry Blumenfeld said that "Coisas No. 5" mixed "African and march rhythms, and a splendid melody…. [it] became so popular that it was recorded more than a hundred times during the 1960s." In Blumenfeld's view, "Coisas" was "a brilliant record" that represented "the best of Brazilian jazz." On the strength of his album and movie work, Santos moved to Southern California in the mid-1960s, hoping to break into film. While continuing to write music, Santos taught music in Southern California but never achieved the wide recognition here that he was seeking. His work has continued to draw the interest of aficionados of Brazilian music over the last few years. A two-CD set of his work, "Ouro Negro," was released in 2004 on Adventure Music. He is survived by his wife, Cleonice; son, Moacir Santos Jr.; and three grandchildren, all of Pasadena. A memorial Mass will be said at 11:30 a.m. Monday at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 311 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.

My pick this month was Dizzy Gillespie - Sonny Side Up. Another album that everybody already had but me. I have ten in my queue now, and I'm not hot to trot about any of them, particularly compared to the 33 I got from Concord. Hope that something irresistable comes up in the next three weeks!

Van Basten, I am almost positive that they ship only to the US, because they ship via Media Mail rate which I believe is good only in the US.

15, plus the Blue Note retail version of the Clifford Brown box.

Sal, I listened to it again today, and the more I hear it the more I like it. But I don't take back anything I said in my original post. Seventy-seven minutes is a long time for nine songs that sound the same, even if they are very good.

OK, while I have a moment I'll type in the tour info I have: All dates are October: 4-8...Los Angeles...Jazz Bakery 9...Oakland...Yoshi's 12...Toledo...Murphy's Place Jazz 13...Ann Arbor...Edgefest/Firefly Club 14...Buffalo...Albright-Knox Gallery 15...Columbus...Wexner Center 18...Chicago...Hothouse 19...Boston...Regattabar 20-21...Philadelphia...Chris's Jazz Cafe 23...Washington...Blues Alley 24...Baltimore...An Die Musik 25-28...New York...Birdland

Thanks for that, brownie! There was a thread a year or so ago about albums with more than one cover, and I mentioned this one. Michael Fitzgerald was unfamiliar with it, and challenged me on it. I'm glad to see that I wasn't losing my mind!

King Ubu, funny you should say that. The quartet's other two albums were recorded in Oslo. I was thinking to myself that although the music is very ECMish, the sound is not. However, apparently you and I differ regarding our tastes. I was thinking that the album would be better if it had that ECM crystal clear sound, instead of the warmer sound it has. Someone, here I believe, posted that the ECM sound has wooden drumsticks on cymbals sounding like knitting needles. I think that's a great description, and I think I would prefer that sound for this album. Different strokes!

Just working from memory, but wasn't the Mosaic Basie Live Roulette loaded with previously unreleased material?

Jazzkrow, Lon/Jazzbo likes the Cannonball a lot. I think it's no big deal. You can't please everybody!

Well, maybe I should have just typed the tour dates in! Sal, they are scheduled to play at Hothouse in Chicago October 18.

7/4, they are scheduled to play at Birdland in New York October 25-28.

Listened to Sangam again this evening, and a couple of thoughts came to mind. The first is how much the curved soprano saxophone in his hands sounds like a flute. Also, with all the horns, the primary sound of the music is the chords of the horns. Maybe in a similar vein to the effect of Birth of the Cool. I find the wind instruments with the most effect in those chords are the clarinet and the bass clarinet. The other thing that occured to me is that a greater than usual amount of the spotlight is given to the trumpet, considering that this is Seim's album. I guess he's generous that way.

Two and a half years ago, King Ubu started a thread on Tomasz Stanko, which you can see here: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...9&hl=Stanko In February, he also started a thread about the quartet here: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...3&hl=Stanko I don't recall being familiar with Stanko until about three years ago, when the Europeans over at AAJ sang his praises. At the time, I thought he was a hard bopper, maybe a Polish Tom Harrell. I was wrong, apparently. Stanko has a new album coming out August 29 called Lontano, which I received from ECM. This is the quartet's third album. The quartet is trumpet, piano, bass and drums. The CD was recorded fresh from the group's tour of Japan, South Korea and Australia, so they were in good form. Stanko is getting up there in age. He has recorded since at least 1965. His first ECM record was in 1975. However, the three sidemen are evidently young. The quartet's first album came out in 2001. Lontano sustains a single mood for the entire album. That mood is the sort of thing that little kids would find spooky and scary. I suppose it harkens back to 70s ECM recordings. There are 9 tracks totalling 76:55. That's a long time for one mood. Stanko wrotte or co-wrote all but one of the songs. Everyone on the album displays his mastery of what he is called upon to do, given the limitation of every song sounding alike. In October the group will tour the US, with 20 gigs in 12 cities: Los Angeles, Oakland, Toledo, Ann Arbor, Buffalo, Columbus, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and New York. The group also toured the US in 2002, 2004 and 2005. Since this is my first Stanko album, I'm curious as to how it compares to his others. No need to repeat what is included in King Ubu's thread, but I thought the group here might have comments about Stanko and if he has changed over the years, and which of his albums you now consider the best. I like Lontano, and I 'm going to put this album on whenever I want to wind down - either late at night or after I've been listening to a couple of fiery hard bop albums in a row. But no way I would play it in the car. It's too subdued and sleep-inducing for that. CD Universe says: List Price $17.98, Their Price $14.29, Pre-Order Price $12.59. Or you could wait six months, and maybe it will show up on Your Music. Considering the tour to promote the album, it wouldn't surprise me if BMG carries it.