GA Russell

My most pleasant discovery of the year just past was a small and relatively new record label called Adventure Music. It appears that nearly everything they put out is Brazilian. In July I was given a 2 CD set called Antonio Carlos Jobim - Symphonic Jobim, recorded by members of the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo. This was a concert recorded in December, 2002. All the songs were written by Jobim, but I was familiar with only a few of them. The album came out in Brazil in 2003, and in the US in 2005. The sticker says that it won a Latin Grammy award. When I saw it I thought right away of the albums Jobim made with strings for Warner Bros. and A&M in the 60s. This is not like that. This album's sound is more like classical music. The first time I heard it I didn't like it, but it quickly grew on me, once I got used to the idea of Jobim as classical music. This was one of my Top Ten most listened to albums of the year. I still listen to it almost every Sunday afternoon. In September I got an album by mandolin player Mike Marshall called Brazil Duets. I like it. It's not jazz. There is no improvisation. But it is very enjoyable to listen to. I did a search on Marshall at AAJ, and found a number of press releases. He has been around since the 70s, playing various types of music. He started the Adventure Music record company along with partners. Brazil Duets is made up of 17 songs, each of which is a duet with piano (Andy Narell), banjo (Bela Fleck), bass, violin, saxophone, or something called a cuatro. I am familiar with only one composer, Hermeto Pascoal, who wrote my favorite piece on the album, Spock on the Stairs. Marshall is quite good. If you're looking for something different and easy to relax to, I recommend it. Finally in October I got something by Modern Traditions Ensemble called New Old Music. This is a quintet, with the clarinet and the acoustic guitar leading the mandolin, piano and percussion. The album was recorded in June, 2003, but not released here till last year. Although the group is Brazilian, the music seems to me to be more likely something you might hear in Buenos Aires. Maybe that's just my ignorance showing. I don't think any of the nine songs qualify as sambas, which is why I don't think of it as a Brazilian sound. All instruments are acoustic; and like Brazil Duets, the album is easy to relax to. I wouldn't peg any of these three albums as jazz. I guess they should be considered world music. But I try to keep an open mind about music, and I sure do like what I have found in the Adventure Music record label. I look foward to hearing more of what they have to offer this year. 5/26/06 edit thread title and sub-title 6/20/06 edit sub-title 7/15/06 edit sub-title 8/11/06 edit sub-title 8/19/06 edit sub-title 12 14 06 edit sub-title

Thanks to the guys of Organissimo! I particularly enjoy reading comments about albums new and newly reissued. When I get a new album I like to share my thoughts with the group here; and nearly always the thread receives informative comments by posters who know more about the artist than I do. Thanks to the recommendations of the group, I have purchased albums, particularly from Your Music, that I would not have otherwise, and have yet to be disappointed by the recommendations of the people here. That is not the case with recommendations from other boards, whose posters I no longer trust. (I'm sure they're sincere, I just don't trust their judgment anymore.) I hope that 2006 will be as beneficial as 2005 was to me! And I hope that my contributions are of value to others as their contributions are to me.

Stern has his fans, and that won't change. However, I wonder if this situation will take some of the fun out of it for them. I think part of his appeal was saying what you couldn't say on radio - that constant testing of the line of what is permissible. Now on satellite radio everything is permissible. It won't be long before the shock value goes away, and Stern is left with the requirement to be funny. I remember first seeing the Lifetime cable TV channel in a motel room, about 1982. I saw a soap opera with above the waste nudity, and dialogue which included lines like "Aww, bullshit!" and "Jesus Christ!". As you can imagine, these contributed nothing to the show, which was pretty stupid anyway; they were just doing it because they could. As far as I know, you don't see such stupid things on cable today, because the audience doesn't value vulgarity for its own sake. I have seen Howard Stern on the David Letterman show, and thought that he was a funny guy when he wasn't being gross. So I can imagine that he will succeed in his new gig. But after the initial 2006 purchases of Sirius by his fans, which I expect to be plenty, I don't see people willing to pay to listen to some guy just because his language is uncensored.

Happy Birthday, and Cheers!

There was quite a large obituary of Lou Rawls in yesterday's Raleigh News & Observer. Its headline referred to him as "R&B Crooner". I had never thought of him as R&B, because I think of R&B as music aimed at high schoolers; i.e., Fats Domino and The Supremes. Even when he had hits on the radio in the 60s, I thought of Lou Rawls as aiming for an adult audience. I haven't heard this album with Les McCann, but I remember it in the stores. I suppose it's a good example of what I mean.

Happy Birthday!

I don't have an mp3 player, and don't expect to ever get one. I must say, the devotees of iPods seem to be the most tolerant consumers on earth. I haven't been keeping a close watch, but just from reading here and in the newspaper, I see problems like batteries dying prematurely, "repairs" that mean loss of what's on your hard disk, scratches on the screen, and inability to withstand dropping, just to name some. Yet the iPod has been the Christmas gift of the year for two years running, and apparently has many repeat customers spending hundreds of dollars to move up when a larger capacity or lighter weight model is released. Steve Jobs has the Midas Touch, that's for sure.

This week is the first anniversary for most of us signing up for Your Music! I don't remember who it was who posted the news about its $4.99 offer, but I thank him! My selection this month is Monk with Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. I held off on getting this one because I felt that the chances were pretty good that I would be given it for Christmas. As it turned out, I wasn't; but Your Music, which you knew would get it sooner or later, got it in right on time! I remember on the thread for the album that Chuck said that he had been told that Blue Note had set a sales target of 100,000 copies. I wonder how close they are. That seemed like an impossible figure at the time, but it has been a best seller at the websites and on the Billboard jazz chart, so now that Your Music, is carrying it, I imagine 100,000 is within reach.

As I said in the "What are you getting for Christmas?" thread... Nnenna Freelon - Blueprint of a Lady A few years ago when I lived in the Atlanta area, I had the opportunity to chat briefly with a fellow generally regarded as that area's best jazz pianist, Gary Motley. I remember him telling me that he enjoyed Nnenna Freelon's singing. This is my first Freelon album, and because of his recommendation I had a very positive attitude about hearing this tribute to Billie Holiday. The album is made up of standards once sung by Holiday. The songs are beauties like I Didn't Know What Time It Was, Don't Explain, God Bless the Child, Them There Eyes, You've Changed, Lover Man and All of Me, among others. I don't think it's fair to an artist to criticize an album when you disagree with the premise. Freelon has a good voice, but I disagree with what she is doing here. She never sings a song straight. Many of the songs she "interprets" the melody beyond recognition, and the remainder she messes with the rhythm. In the case of Willow Weep for Me, she changes both the melody and the rhythm, leaving only the lyrics to lead you to believe that you have ever heard the song before. Obviously somebody thought this was a good idea, because the album has been nominated for a Grammy. If this is your cup of tea, go for it! I can't recommend this one. Dianne Reeves - Good Night and Good Luck Good Night and Good Luck is a different story. The purpose is to invoke the ambience of small smoky clubs of the fifties, and Dianne Reeves and the band do it well. The band is a piano trio, plus Matt Catingub occasionally adding phrases on tenor sax. Six of the songs are from the movie. The other nine were recorded for the album. Reeves sings every song straight, and nearly all of them romantically. I believe that all songs but one are standards. This would make an excellent Valentine's Day present. I suppose that typically one's opinion of a vocal album depends mostly on whether one likes the singer's voice. I'm not the biggest fan of Reeves' voice, but I like the album more than I like her voice. I can recommend this one. Edit: I should add, for those who have forgotten, that both of these albums received Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Vocal.

RIP. My favorite of his was Just Like a Natural Man. Maybe one year I'll pick up his Christmas album. I have a few selections from it on various compilations, and they're all great!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Here's the Your Music link to Gemini: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Sean...CO_31098_ALBUMS

When I think of bossa nova guitarists, I think of Charlie Byrd, Baden Powell, Luis Bonfa, Laurindo Almeida and Brasil '65's Rosinha de Valenca. I've got a new name for the list - Romero Lubambo. I was given the new CD by a group called Trio Da Paz entitled Somewhere. It was a pleasant surprise to receive it, because the fellow who reviews jazz for my local newspaper the Raleigh News & Observer (and also for Downbeat), Owen Cordle, gave it a rave review when it came out in September, and named it the #2 new album of the year on his year's Top Ten list. I opened it up the day after Christmas, and listened to it on the drive home from my sister's in Pennsylvania. Although I wouldn't necessarily give it the greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread treatment, it's a very good album. The great ones make it look easy, and although Lubambo may seem to be putting a little more effort into it than the greats from the 60s did, he still deserves to be given the thumbs up for this album. Every song is good, and to my taste the title track is the least interesting of the bunch. Lubambo is backed by bass and drums in the trio, both very competent. The players are not young. The liner notes say that the group has been together for fifteen years, and as a group have recorded and performed with Charlie Byrd, Herbie Mann, Lee Knoitz and Kenny Barron. Lubambo has performed with Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Grover Washington, Jr., and Kathleen Battle. Bassist Nilson Matta has performed with Joe Henderson, Don Pullen, Yo-Yo Ma and Oscar Castro Neves. Drummer Duduka Da Fonseca is a Grammy nominee who has performed with Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, John Scofield and Tom Harrell. For those of you who like bossa nova, I can recommend this one. Here's the CD Universe link: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...297753001&BAB=M

Two Gerald Wilsons in two weeks!

AAJ and Doug Ramsey's Rifftides blog.

Happy New Year everyone! Whoopee! Now I'm going to bed.

One of my very favorites in college, Steve Marcus.

Mike Marshall. Mandolin. I've been meaning to start a thread about him. I'll do it in the next few days.

Here's the Your Music link to this album: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Ron-...CO_31097_ALBUMS I note that the price is only $5.99 despite including the bonus disc's material.

Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! Ever spend your birthday with a hangover headache???

I have enjoyed both halves much more since I split this into two discs. Here is the Your Music link to this album: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Gera...=SEARCH_ARTISTS

Annelies, thanks for the heads up about this new album. I always think it's great when young cats like Justin show an interest in jazz. The more the merrier, and good luck to them all! Maybe over tiime Justin will establish himself as a jazz singer and be able to support himself as one for the rest of his life.

Here's the Your Music link to the album: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Terr...CO_31101_ALBUMS

Last night I spent the evening listening to the Miles and the Kessel, and confirmed my feelings about both. I needn't say more about the Miles, except to point out that 8 of the 12 songs are by The First Quintet. I really like a few of the Kessel tracks, such as You Go to My Head and I'm Through with Love, but most of the album I can't get excited about. I suppose it would be okay for $5.99 if nothing in your queue strikes your fancy one month. Here's the Your Music link for the Barney Kessel: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Barn...e=SEARCH_ALBUMS