Tom Storer

I have yet to do my guesses for BFT 20, but I still plan to! I've decided to only sign up for them if I'm sure I'll be able to get my guesses in on time. I know I'd have trouble finding time for BFT 22, so I didn't sign up. SIGH.

1. "Hark, the Hammond angels sing." Nice! No idea who it is, but a real toe-tapper. 2. Booker Ervin dreaming of a White Christmas? 3. Wait a minute! Stan Getz didn't play drums! 4. Nice guitar playing, but it's not Christmasy enough! I'd like it to be schmaltzier. 5. I'd have to guess latter-day Shearing. 6. Sounds like Ben Webster, with that German pianist, Johnny S. Bach. 7. More harking. Less wild about this one. Sort of plods. 8. I'm not joyful about this one either. Same general mood and approach as number 7. I'd put coal in their stocking. 9. Yet more harking. The arrangement is forgettable, but I like the soloists. The tenor sounds very familiar but I don't know who it is. 10. Clearly an old-timer. Fabulous! What touch. Very familiar... I'll be kicking myself, I'm sure, when the answer is revealed. 11. I'm hard-pressed to find the jazz in this one. Well, maybe real old ragtime guitar, except this is of recent vintage. But... what's the tune?? I wouldn't even have known it was Christmas music. Incidentally, I like it! 12. More Shearing? Maybe not, but that signature sound... 13. Very pleasant. Could have been shorter. 14. "Do You See What I See"? Blah. Not to my taste. 15. Oh, I like this one! Exceptionally tasteful singer, whom I recognize but can't put a name on. If this is from a Christmas album by the singer, I want it. 16. (polite silence) 17. Pretty good. Sounds like Kenny Burrell, except he lets his hair down a bit more at the end than Burrell usually does... 18. So hopelessly awful it must be a joke, right? Here's hoping you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'll be stealing 2, 3, 6, 10 and 15 for my personal Christmas compilation CD.

Now that's odd--he always sounds sharp to me! But then, I'm about as close to tone deaf as you can get and still enjoy music. ;-)

First, my thanks to brownie for getting this BFT to me! Without further ado, here are my comments: Nice disk, Al! 1. A big band pastiche: witty, I guess. Moves very seamlessly into track 2--good programming! 2. Hmm. Terry Gibbs springs to mind as the only vibraphonist I can think of who led a big band (except for Hamp, of course). I also wonder if it mightn't be Milt Jackson with the Clayton/Hamilton band. Very nice! 3. Gorgeous! No idea who it is, although the players sound familiar. Sumptuous tones and voicing. Here we have all the virtues of classicism: harmony, equilibrium and moderation. Beautiful! 4. Older-fashioned big band. Sounds like a hip swing-era band. 5. Rockin' in Rhythm. The Duke! 6. Fast-paced big band number. That sure sounds like Lester! 7. The big band goes bebop. That's Dizzy on trumpet, but the pianist? Interesting. 8. South of the border, pleasant but no clue. 9. Nice, but the rhythm section is a bit stiff. The vibes sound Burton-influenced and the piano is Silverish. 10. Very pretty arrangement. The tenor is in a Dexter/Rollins lineage and I'm guessing it's Clifford Jordan - that sweet but virile tone. 11. No idea. The drums sound like Max. 12. No idea. Not sure what to make of this. I'm pretty dumb with the South American stuff. 13. I know James Brown played/plays a little organ in his stage act--could it actually be him playing? I don't think the organist is all that great, frankly, so maybe that's why! I like the guitar player, though. 14. Greazy. Good, but not really my thing. 15. On the border between greazy and cheesy. Sounds like sound-track material to me. 16. By now I could use something to cut this grease! 17. Aaaaah, you saved the best for last. Don't know what it is, but it sounds like Jackie McLean on alto. Lee Morgan on trumpet? Beautiful soloing, classy drummer. My favorite of the whole disk!

I got mine! Quite some time ago, too. I'm afraid I've been too busy with one thing and another to get my thoughts down in pixels... haven't even looked in here in a couple of weeks. But I'll do it real soon. In any case, I love it--some truly fabulous music!

I'm glad someone mentioned "loose" for "lose". That's a mistake often made by non-native English speakers because the "oo" pronunciation in "lose" is not intuitive. It's one of those English exceptions. After all, why should "lose" rhyme with "choose" instead of with "prose"? "It's" for "its" is so common I barely even register it. By my pet peeve is "alot," one word, when of course it should be "a lot."

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I love Christmas jazz, too, but the "short attention span" tape sounds... unique. So that's what I voted for!

I just wanted to explain my absence from the discussion thread. brownie was kind enough to send me a copy, Paris to Paris, but I still haven't got it. I'm pretty sure this is because the concierge of our building, who distributes the mail, is a scatterbrained alcoholic (bless her heart) who has delegated mail distribution to an illiterate. She went on holidays and has been replaced for a week or two by a woman who claims to be able to read but whom I strongly suspect is actually illiterate. I asked her if I had received any packages (the blindfold isn't the only one suspiciously late to arrive); she had a friend on hand who looked through the mail and found nothing. "Maybe it's over there on the windowsill," said the friend. Sure enough, stacks of mail on the windowsill, but not my packages. "Why is there mail on the windowsill?" I asked. "Oh, that's nothing," replied the replacement. "Wait a minute," said the friend, "Before she left she said something about some packages. But where could they be?" A minute or two of flustered, inefficient searching. "She'll be back on Monday. Maybe she knows where they are." So hopefully I'll have the BFT in hand on Monday...

Here goes for disc 2, on which I don't believe I distinguished myself Now I'll read everyone else's buckets of insight and knowledge and kick myself. 1. This is the real deal. In the pocket, very tasty arrangement. The tenor player sounds very familiar but I can't put a name on him. 2. A more laidback treatment of a similar theme. Real cool. I ought to know that pianist--I'm sure I know that player well, but the name won't come. 3. The baritone player is not someone I recognize, and it seems to be 40's/early 50's, so I'll guess... Leo Parker? Serge Chaloff? I haven't listened to either of them enough to recognize them. The band is more like Basie than Duke but that's as far as I'll go. 4. Damn, I recognize that clarinetist! That vibrato. The trumpeter and his big fat sound and attack--I know him, too. And is that Ben Webster? Could this be a Ducal gathering? Bigard, Nance, Webster? 5. Johnny Hodges on alto. And the muted trumpet sounds Ducal, too. Maybe Nance again, giving these two selections a theme. Don't know the singer, but she's the kind Duke liked to hire (i.e. not too memorable). 6. Definitely the Ellington band. Not Hodges soloing on alto, though. No idea what the tune is. EDIT: Ouch! Is my face red! I was so intent on my fantasized Ducal connection on 4-6 that I barely listened to the alto solo. And this still sounds Dukish to me. How will I show my face here again? 7. "How High the Moon," by a cookin' Latin big band. Dizzy's, with Latin percussion? Or a Latin band, with jazz soloists? Machito? 8. Mulliganesque baritone. Parker copycat on alto. Maybe Lars Gullin on baritone. (Hey, if you're going to guess, guess.) 9. That violin really throws me off. A brooding performance, not really up my alley. No clue. 10. Bass and cello? Hmmm. I seem to recall Sam Jones and Ron Carter doing something. Also Oscar Pettiford on cello with a bassist. But I don't know. 11. The drummer sounds a lot like Max, but the solo is a little bit too four-on-the-floor, maybe. 12. Not bad, but this could be more graceful rhythmically, in the soloists' phrasing. It's a little hemmed in by the beat. 13. No idea. Pretty arrangement and playing but nothing really grabs me. 14. Kind of bombastic treatment of "I'll Remember April." Other than the infectious beat, this doesn't do it for me. 15. Nice and bluesy. I think I'm familiar with that bassist - Milt Hinton? 16. That kind of contained screaming sound, on the verge of multiphonics, and the r&b sound make me think Earl Bostic, but I'm not sure he had that Bechet-like vibrato like this guy does at times. No idea. 17. Somehow I don't think this is the MJQ, despite many of their hallmarks. No idea. 18. Two violins? Stuff Smith and somebody else. But heeeey, wait a minute. That's a cello, not a second violin! NO idea. Cute little number, though. 19. They talk the talk, they walk the walk. Illinois Jacquet? 20. Sounds like John Mayall in the 1960's. Clapton on guitar, or else another of those English blues guitar heroes of the period. I dig this stuff. 21. How many vibraphonists does this make it so far? I didn't know there were that many! The arrangement is a little mechanical, with even a minimalist vibe to it, but they make it groove. No idea who it is. 22. Gorgeous! My favorite piece on the whole two CDs. Ben Webster, maybe, or someone in his school, and a beautiful, full, trombone. 23. King Pleasure. Love this too. Georgie Fame did a version of this with Jon Hendricks in the 80's in which he sang "I'm gone, Uncle Jon, don't you know I'm gone".

Took me a while to get around to preparing my responses, but here goes. Haven't looked at this thread yet, so I'm preparing myself to be thoroughly embarassed when I do. CD1 1. I like this a lot. All the players are impeccably elegant, swinging with comfortable authority. The recording quality makes me think this is relatively recent, and I thought of Bobby Hutcherson or Steve Nelson, but the way the vibraphonist plays doesn't sound as modern as either of them. I don't know who it is, but very nice indeed! 2. Impressive chops on that bass guitarist, and the scat singer sounds experienced. Well-done party music. Maybe Jamaaladeen Tacuma, who's worked on various things with Wolfgang Puschnig on alto sax. 3. Very catchy, but I would have preferred a less drum-heavy performance (or mix). The organ and sax both have a lovely tone, full and sweet with a bluesy edge, but the subtlety of their sound is drowned out by those strong-arm drums. 4. The theme is kind of dull. Pepper Adams? I say that because that's the first baritone player who comes to mind in the hard bop arena. Nice stuff but no idea who it is. 5. More hard bop. The gospelly section in the theme reminds me of Horace Silver's tunes. Don't know who these guys are. 6. "Lush Life," prettily performed. Beautiful tune, nice playing, but nothing more. 7. Excellent singer, for whom English is a second language. Somehow she sounds typical of many contemporary jazz singers, with lots of musicality and chops but not much of the vision thing. Very pleasant, though. 8. Sounds a lot like Pat Martino but I hesitate. Lots of his phrasing and sound seem to come from Martino, but something about the way he shapes his solo doesn't sound like the real thing to me. The only recent organ trios I know with Martino involve Joey DeFrancesco and Billy Hart, and they don't fit. The organist is less of a whiz kid and the drummer doesn't sound like Hart. Whoever this is, he's a fine guitarist. 9. Ouch. A multi-horn, boppish arrangement that could have been done anytime since the late 50's is merged with ham-fisted, unsubtle rhythm and a touch of modern effects. The rhythm section kills it for me, but the horns sound great considered on their own. No clue. 10. "The Sidewinder." Jon Hendricks and... ? Kurt Elling? I know that Hendricks, Elling, Mark Murphy and Kevin Mahogany toured together this summer, although I don't know of any recordings. But listening closely, this singer seems to have a non-native accent in English. I thought of Theo Bleckmann, a young German (Dutch?) singer who sang with Sheila Jordan and Meredith Monk. But at the end Hendricks addresses him as "J.J.," so I have no idea. This kind of vocal treatment already sounds dated, although lots of fun; in any case it's Hendricks whose inimitable timbre and highly swinging phrasing make it more than just a curiosity. 11. I guess this is the sop for "avant-garde" fans. It sounds like harp, but the presence of some piano sounds makes me think this is actually someone plucking the piano strings or doing something "prepared"... Could this be from Alice Coltrane's new album, "Translinear Light"? But that doesn't sound like Charlie Haden... I give up. 12. Cool, relaxed. Good for the soul. Is this "Red Top"? Maybe this is Kurt Elling. If so, it definitely does him good to get away from lyrics. But all that weird rhythmic stuff towards the end - half washboard, half rhythm box - that's got to go.

More! And Harold Smith, well, he's the guy who played drums that night. I googled him and there are many references. He seems to be active and respected on both the blues and jazz scenes In the Valley of Sacred Sound, his own record with Badal Roy and Steve Turre with Lancaster on a Wildflowers loft session a Jimmy Witherspoon album with Hal Singer a 1971 Joe McPhee album, rereleased on Atavistic playing drums and singing on a New Orleans Christmas record

The above was CD1, obviously. Here's CD2: The theme for CD2 was "recordings that circulate among collectors." I don't count myself in that lofty company, "collectors," since I see myself as a mere accumulator. An alternative theme would have been "BitTorrent," the file-sharing technology preferred by traders of unreleased live recordings. When I discovered that there is a huge number of concerts recorded either from the audience or from radio or TV broadcasts that are available in this way, I jumped in. Ronald Lyles generously helped me get started. Anyway, I got all these things and much more from the site http://www.easytree.org/. If you're interested in getting in on this rather time-consuming hobby and need advice, just send me a private message (also if you're already a trader and want to trade!). These performances, not unsurprisingly, are often loose and expansive rather than tight and disciplined, but full of life and surprise and feeling, which is why I like them so much even when their reach exceeds their grasp. Also I'm used to the execrable sound by now. So, in this CD, there's a fair amount of excess and hit-and-miss, but also the opposite at the end (as well as better sound). 1. For Harry Carney Charles Mingus, bass; George Adams, tenor sax; Jack Walrath, trumpet; Don Pullen, piano; Dannie Richmond, drums. Recorded at the Village Vanguard, NYC, April 15, 1975. I love the hypnotic throb of this, indicative of some of the different things Mingus was getting into with this band. The band is just getting down, playing for themselves and the room rather than posterity. They all sound great to me. Can't you just picture yourself sitting at a front table at the Vanguard, watching Richmond booming and rattling away? 2. Don't Stop the Carnival Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Ruud Jacob, bass; Hans Bennink, drums. Recorded Arnhem, Netherlands, March 5, 1967. Talk about excess! I was surprised that Hennink was pegged so quickly in the thread. As many pointed out, no American drummer would have been so uninhibited when sitting behind Sonny Rollins--or, no doubt, dared keep soloing so long. The recording just peters out and stops. Was that the end or did Bennink keep going? Who knows? What we do know is that they were feeling highly democratic and keeping self-censorship at bay. 3. Straight No Chaser Chick Corea, piano; Gary Burton, vibes; George Benson, guitar; Steve Swallow, bass guitar; June Sieko, drums. Recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, June 20, 1980. I sympathize with Nate Dorward, who said he just couldn't figure this one out. I assume this was some sort of low-rehearsal, all-star package George Wein threw together. Without Benson, it would have been a simple Burton/Corea reunion concert. I'm guessing June Sieko, a name I haven't found anywhere else, was a Berklee student playing with Burton's band. The rest of the set, like this, was a loose and amiable affair with no particular sparks. I included it just to see which of these big-name, high-visibility figures would be spotted. Burton and Swallow were nailed, Corea was guessed at, and Benson was considered as an influence, but no one realized it was him. 4. Bye Bye Blackbird Byard Lancaster, alto sax; Henry crockett, bass; Harold Smith, drums. Recorded at the Tritone, Philadelphia, July 12, 2002. This was the one item I was confident no one would figure out. What does Sangry do but free-associate from Sunny Murray as a possible drummer to Byard Lancaster as a possible saxophonist, on the very first night. I'm impressed, Jim! The concert recording comes in two long, freely morphing sets, including not only this "Blackbird" section but a long free episode, the dirty blues, and more. The saxophone is unfortunately way back in the mix--someone captured it with a lo-fi recorder and a mike in the room, I think--so the drums sound correspondingly heavy, but with a little imagination you can bring Lancaster forward in your mind. I hadn't heard too much of his playing before this and I think we've all been sleeping on a major voice. Obviously it's long-winded and, like many club sets, they don't make too much effort to reign it all in and shape it very precisely, but hey, it's a window on to a relaxed evening before a small, informal audience. If you aurally squint to hear better, what a gleaming, dashing tone, what confidence, what a fine sensibility--I'll be looking for official releases. 5. One Finger Snap Herbie Hancock, piano; Dave Holland, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. Recorded at the Salle Ludger-Duvernay, National Monument, Montréal, Québec, June 26, 2003. After all the bad sound I thought I should give you all a break. This was probably recorded off the radio. When I got it, it was listed as the Herbie Hancock trio, but you've taught me better--it was DeJohnette's concert. I figured someone would fall in the Herbie-Ron-Tony trap, and sure enough, more than one! But all were eventually guessed. 6. Teotihuacan Woody Shaw, trumpet; Carter Jefferson, soprano sax; Onaje Allan Gumbs, piano; Stafford James, bass; Victor Lewis, drums. Recorded at Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany, July 18, 1979. This is indeed the band that Mike Weil saw back in the day. I put this in since everybody loves Woody Shaw! Great sound from a radio broadcast, and a real tight group cohesion. Of course, this caused someone to call it glossy and self-absorbed, but one man's gloss is another man's polish. Crackling stuff here. Interesting that one or two wondered if it wasn't some contemporary young lions - evidence of the great influence this kind of music still has.

OK, it isn't Tuesday morning yet in the USA, but it's getting close to bedtime in Europe, so here goes... Those who haven't chimed in yet to the discussion threads--please do! I'll read it even if no one else does! This was a lot of fun for me and I'm going to sign up now for another one. I greatly enjoyed your comments, which were often very thoughtful and incisive, as well as the very wide range of tastes! 1. My Favorite Things Marc Copland, piano. From "Haunted Heart & Other Ballads" (Hatology, 2001) Copland is a piano player I like more and more. He seems to be not too concerned with swinging (although he's rhythmically aware and creative), but rather with oblique harmonies and melodies spun out in a dreamlike and abstract style that exudes rich mystery. This is from a trio recording with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert on which Copland plays three different solo performances of "My Favorite Things" (beginning, middle and end of the CD). The trio also plays "Crescent" and "Greensleeves" but it's pretty far from Coltrane in terms of feeling. Obviously the title reflects the contents of the blindfold test! 2. High Society Edmond Hall's Blue Note Jazzmen (Blue Note) Edmond Hall, clarinet; Sidney de Paris, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; James P. Johnson, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; Israel Crosby, bass; Sid Catlett, drums. Recorded November 29, 1943. Since so many here are Blue Note experts, not to say fundamentalists, I thought this one would be identified quicker than it was, but I guess the fact that it was pre-bop made it less likely to be recognized. Some thought this was post-WWII Dixieland Revival stuff, but it was earlier than that. What can you say about this joyful music? Halfway between New Orleans and small-group swing, to me it captures something essential about jazz: the jostling front-line counterpoint embodies that mixture of mutual respect and proud individuality that also comes through in the robust rhythm section accompaniment to those jaunty solos. Quite a bunch of personalities here, including Israel Crosby, who would go on to be the bassist in Ahmad Jamal's immortal 50's trio. And Big Sid Catlett! I discovered this on a 2-CD set called "The Blue Note Jazzmen" encompassing four sessions, with these musicians and some others including Ben Webster, by Hall, Sidney de Paris, and James P. Johnson. I think they were more thoroughly documented on a Mosaic set. Definitely desert island material for me. And I think the marvelous and undersung Sidney de Paris is the trumpeter whom Wynton Marsalis wishes he could channel. Sidney is the brother of trombonist Wilbur de Paris, and featured in Wilbur's superb Dixieland band of the 50's, one of the most creative of the "revival" bands (check out their album with Jimmy Witherspoon, a real treat if you like this stuff). 3. Can't Buy Me Love Lee Morgan, trumpet; Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Elvin Jones, drums; Ray Barretto, congas. Recorded Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 4, 1964. From the Mosaic set of Turrentine's Blue Note quintets and sextets. Simple swinging fun. How can you not dig it? I included this one just because I love the idea of Tyner and Jones recording a Beatles tune with a soul jazz star right in the heyday of the Coltrane quartet. 4. Taking A Chance On Love Bill Carrothers, piano; Bill Stewart, drums. From their album "Duets" (Birdology, 1999, then Dreyfus, 2002). This is from my favorite piano/drums duet album. Not that there are many to choose from! Carrothers is romantic and idiosyncratic, with a dreamy bent; Stewart is cerebral and precise, elements that can generate a straight-faced but very hot swing. Together they have a special chemistry. I saw them in concert together shortly after this album came out and talked to Carrothers. I asked him how they prepared the music for the recording and he said they didn't. They would agree on tunes they both knew, maybe say a few words about how to approach it, and then wing it. Some of the tunes on the album (don't know if it's still in print) are just free improvisation. This is one of the more straight-ahead things. 5. It Might As Well Be Spring Bill Harris, trombone; Jimmy Rowles, piano; Red Mitchell, bass; Stan Levey, drums. From "Bill Harris and Friends," 1957. This is so romantic it's almost too much, but I like the heart-on-the-sleeve, I'm-so-choked-up-I-can-barely-play-the-trombone -through-the-tears approach. That's another essential thing about jazz for me: it's not afraid of its feelings. Good thick dollops of sentimentality are not lacking in jazz, and that's part of what I like about it. 6. Something to Live For Fred Hersch, piano; Andy Bey, vocal. From "Passion Flower" (Concord Jazz, 1996). This seemed to fit because it's also terribly romantic but with a little more reserve than the preceding tune. I found the blindfold test was going in a love-and-flowers direction and decided to go with it. This is from an album of Strayhorn covers; Bey sings only on this song. I know Bey gets on some people's nerves because his style is somewhat mannered. This is another thing that happens a lot in jazz: since the whole idea is to get across your own personality, if you do it really, really well and you have a strong personality, some people just won't like it. When a musician excites great loyalty among some hardcore jazzers and really rubs others the wrong way, I figure there's got to be something there, even if I end up rubbed the wrong way. Which I'm not in this case--for my money, Bey is *the* male jazz singer today. 7. Killing Me Softly Kenny Garrett, alto sax; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Clarence Seay, bass; Brian Blade, drums. From "Warner Jams, Vol. 1" (Warner Bros., 1995). A studio blowing session meant to promote musicians on Warner Bros. This one I like because of the way Garrett shows simple craft: take a pop tune, any pop tune, and fashion a couple of effective choruses on its changes, without being syrupy and cloying (which the song would lend itself to only too well), and without being a flashy lick machine. It sounds sincere to me and it's tasteful--good, honest, everyday jazz. And Garrett sacrifices none of his easily recognizable sound and personality. 8. Mentor's Praise Marc Copland, piano; Greg Osby, alto sax. From "Round and Round" (Nagel-Heyer, 2003). Another alto saxophonist of much the same generation, also playing something kind of romantic, but minus any hint of cloying sentimentality this time. I thought some of you might want to rinse your aural palate after hearing a Roberta Flack tune. This is Copland's second appearance on this blindfold test. I ordered this CD because I was so surprised by the pairing of Osby and Copland. Their emotional worlds seemed very far apart to me. It turned out it's Osby who eschews his usual hard-hitting rhythm section to play in a more intimate mood. 9. White Bear Speaks Joel Frahm, tenor sax; David Berkman, piano; Scott Colley, bass; Billy Drummond, drums. From "The Navigator" (Palmetto, 2000). Sangry read this right: it's not as strongly personal as the other selections, and it's the only piece I had some misgivings about. I wanted someone from the modern mainstream, not a household name, and I love Frahm's tone. That's why he's here: that cool but hot tone, that to me evokes Dewey Redman and Stan Getz. I think he stands out from many of his contemporaries playing in this vein by a kind of heavy-lidded, laid-back but pent-up quality to his phrasing--he has power but is careful not to unleash it indiscriminately. But yes, there's something generic about this selection, and this was off-putting to many of you. Nonetheless, Frahm (who has played in particular with Andrew Hill and as part of Matt Wilson's two-saxophone quartet) is someone I think could go far. 10. Them There Eyes Jimmy Rowles, piano; Al Cohn, tenor sax. From "Heavy Love" (Xanadu, 1977). What a duo! Masterful, swaggering, hip, and so sure of themselves. And do they swing! I got this as an emusic download; not much to do about the murky sound quality, unfortunately. 11. Riffamarole Capitol International Jazzmen: Bill Coleman, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Benny Carter, alto sax; Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax; Nat King Cole, piano; Oscar Moore, guitar; John Kirby, bass; Max Roach, drums. Recorded March 30, 1945. Sorry, Sangry: you missed Hawk! But you suspected you'd missed him almost immediately, so your cool is not blown. I came across this in a wonderful French 10-CD compilation box called "Les Trésors du Jazz, 1944-1951," compiled by a couple of French collectors and enthusiasts. Lots of people spotted Benny Carter pretty quickly, but the rhythm section is maybe not what one would expect... One thing people often don't realize is how much everybody was playing with everybody else back then. 12. All The Things You Are Dave Brubeck, piano; Lee Konitz, alto sax; Anthony Braxton, alto sax; Jack Six, bass; Roy Haynes, drums. From "All The Things We Are" (Atlantic, 1974). This was one of my early milestones as a jazz listener. I was in high school and had listened appreciatively to my father's Dave Brubeck records but had gone towards outer space and was into Anthony Braxton ("a genius!" I would repeat). So when this came out I had to get it. Konitz was a major revelation, as was the Jack Six-Roy Haynes tandem. Six was a beautiful player and quite a contrast to my faves of those years, who included Stanley Clarke, Dave Holland, and Scott LaFaro. Nate spat on the sound quality, and rightly so, but that awful 70's recording sound still gets me all nostalgic. 13. Lester Leaps In Dave Liebman, tenor sax. From Marc Copland/Dave Liebman, "Bookends" (Hatology, 2002). Yes, this is Marc Copland's third and phantom appearance! Hee hee hee. Liebman took this one as a solo. I'm not all that familiar with Liebman's work--I've heard a load of stuff, but while impressed, I never got into it all that much. I saw these two live a couple of years ago and was blown away by Liebman's passion and energy. He's not a Trane acolyte for nothing. I still prefer him live to on record, but I dug this rendition of a hoary standard by a musician usually very committed to his own stylistic period.

I have two or three Air albums on vinyl but I'm not sure just which ones. The usual suspects, in any case. I haven't had a turntable for a while now. I saw them in concert twice, with McCall. Great, great group. I like Aklaff quite a bit, but as Jim says, he has a much different sensibility. McCall swung like a motherfucker. Not that Aklaff "doesn't swing" - to say that on a jazz board would be tantamount to challenging him to a duel. Nonetheless, McCall had that old-time, teasing, sensual, syncopated thing deep in him, even when playing on the cutting edge of modern music, and Aklaff is just, well, younger, I guess. Not a reproach, just a statement of what I heard as the big difference between them. I really dug Threadgill up through the seven-person sextet, and saw them live too. Also saw McCall in a David Murray trio with Fred Hopkins... that was pretty tasty. More recent stuff doesn't thrill me as much, partly because I just can't get into those guitarists. His more recent music that I've heard strikes me as less memorable, more meandering, I don't know... also I wish he'd play less flute. But hey, he's the artist.

I voted no for the same reasons already expressed. What purpose would it serve to start separate forums per style? It's not like there are so many threads each day that one can't keep track. Similarly, if information is getting "buried" in the Funny Rat thread, just start more threads. That would also give the "funny music" crowd less of an impression of being outnumbered and under siege.

Answers coming on Tuesday morning--those who haven't commented yet, you can do it this weekend! ;-) On disc 2, everything has been either nailed or correctly guessed, more or less. Note that the guitarist on track 3 has been tiptoed around but not yet guessed!

Thanks for all your contributions, guys. I'm really enjoying your comments. I'll give a few more days to those, like Nate, to whom I had to send an emergency duplicate package when the first one didn't arrive, then post the answers Tuesday morning. On disc 1, all tracks have now been either nailed or correctly guessed except track 9.

Hey, everybody. I figured Saturday, Oct. 2nd would be a good day to post the answers, since that would give everybody two weeks. However, three people reported not receiving their packages so I reposted them duplicates this past Saturday. They probably won't receive them until the end of this week, so I'll put off posting the answers until the following Monday or Tuesday. Something like half the participants have responded so far. Come on, guys, you've got a week ahead of you here to add your comments!

Damn! I don't get it. I was working from a list and double-checking at every step. Nate and Chris, I'll send doubles tomorrow. Anyone else not receive the CDs??

The drummer was the leader? Maybe. I didn't know if it that's the case, as that's not how it was identified to me! Ronald, I'm at a loss as to why your disk had 5 and 6 switched around. Very strange.

I'm truly sorry about that, golden-armed man! Hope nobody else has any problems...

catesta, I have no clue why yours didn't arrive and others have! Are there more of you out there who have NOT received the package?

Jim, getting back to some of your comments--you don't like the ECM albums from the 70's by Burton's groups? "Dreams So Real," "Ring", "Passengers," "The New Quartet"? I love that stuff. And I'd be interested to hear what Zawinul it is you've been listening to. Surely not the Zawinul Syndicate? A direct link to 60's/70's Miles seems kind of natural, since Zawinul was there! He'd probably say Miles got it from him. That's a fascinating insight about the link between fusion and the kind of music Woody Shaw was making. I'm going to have to try to hear that.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Bassman! Listen hard to those CDs and then report to the discussion threads. Glad you've been shanghaied!