Tom Storer

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!

I see I've led you down the garden path--unintentionally, I hasten to add! No, none of the pieces on Disc 2 are from videos either. As for the personnel guess, you're close but no closer. My God, I'm enjoying myself. This is bringing out a sadistic streak in me I didn't know I had!

Quite right... they're live, but they're not from albums! So Jim, do you want to have another go at number 5?

You're right, this trio doesn't have a live album out--and neither does the trio Sangry guessed.

Well... not quite! Depends on how you define "bootlegs," though... I'm getting a great kick out of reading everyone's comments!

Here's the thread to talk about Disc 2 of BFT #17. Unlike Disc 1, Disc 2 has a theme of sorts, which you'll probably figure out pretty quickly. At least one participant, and maybe some others, might know some of the selections. Hint: you won't find any of these recordings on AMG.

Let the fun begin! Use this thread to give your opinion of the contents of Blindfold Test 17, Disc 1. My main concern was just to provide some things I really think are very good jazz, representing a range of eras and approaches (although there isn't any real "outside" music; not that I don't listen to it, it just didn't wind up on the test--maybe next time). I didn't try to make the selections particularly hard to guess. Some of them are sure to be recognized by at least a few participants, and most of them on Disc 1 are a click or two away on the net for the detectives among you. As usual, please don't identify the pieces directly if you're certain of what they are--instead, provide a link to AMG or some other site with the information. If you're guessing or thinking out loud, it's OK to post. I think it's more fun to give one's thoughts before doing any research, but it's a free discussion board so do what you like!

Since the packages were sent out en masse and several have been received both in North America and in Europe, I'm assuming most have been delivered and that many are too busy listening to post here that they received their discs. I'll start the discussion threads tomorrow!

That makes 8 so far who have reported receiving their package. Sign in when you get it! When we have twenty or so I'll start the discussion threads.

This morning I sent off the packages to the European Union, Switzerland, and the Russian Federation. With those plus the American ones I mailed on Wednesday, that's all of them! By my estimation you should receive them around the middle of next week. Please chime in here to say when you receive yours. When a clear majority have the CDs in hand I'll start the discussion thread.

Great! I sent off about 20 packages this morning to the Americas: US, Canada and Brazil. They ought to arrive in 6 or 7 days. On Friday I plan to send off the European ones, which ought to hit their target by next Tuesday or Wednesday, around the same time as the American ones.

OK, I'm ready to send off the American ones tomorrow morning, Europe & world Friday. EDIT: Wait a minute, where's Sangry? I'll feel cheated if Jim doesn't sign up for my blindfold! Jim, I sent you a PM!

Sorry, Brother Logic--I got your mail and have you on my list but didn't put you on the list in this thread. Error now corrected!

Sorry, folks, I realize I should have sent this last week! I'll try to send the ones going across various oceans tomorrow or Wednesday, and the European ones a couple of days after that, so you'll get them roughly the same time.

2.1. Summertime The spirit is fun, but the performance is a little hackneyed and it goes on a bit too long for me to stay interested. At least the pianist, whoever he is, takes it lightly, as evidenced by the "I got a cramp in my finger! That's a chicken!" routine. I like the guitar interlude. 2.2. Very nice. I was happy to discover a saxophonist would be soloing. The whole thing is quite convincing. Is that a bass guitar? 2.3. The tune is "Jeannine," but as usual I'm unable to identify the musicians. Very nice tenor solo. The pianist's phrasing in his solo sounds very Tynerish to me, giving a different twist to this nice and bluesy tune. 2.4. Hot, buttered tenor saxophone. Nice and greasy. Sounds familiar, but I don't know if it's really a saxophonist I know or just the style that's predictable. This would have been fun live, but I find it kind of generic. 2.5. This is also territory that's been visited a million times, but I like this one better than the last two tunes. They keep it in the pocket, tastefully swinging with just enough funk, and never push it. Very tasteful. 2.6. I know the tune but can't think of the name. Nice, classic arrangement--I thought of the Clayton/Hamilton band, but honestly have no idea. Swinging! 2.7. I love the honest soulfulness of this, the old-fashioned blues feeling. Great tenor solo! Organ and piano... not too common, but I have no clue. 2.8. This could have been done at any time from the 50's to the present day. The recording sounds more modern, though, so I'm thinking it's 80's or 90's, but I'm just guessing. Good, muscular tenor; the trumpet's a little thin by comparison, and sounds much more like a good student. A mix of generations? Might be a Criss Cross date. 2.9. Very nice rhythm section. Oh, it's "Lover Man," I think. One of those tenor players is Houston Person, I'm thinking, and the second sounds familiar. Major Holley on bass is unmistakable. 2.10. This whole vein of tenor sax is so densely populated that it could be any number of tenor players, and I'd need to be a lot more familiar with it to guess just which one this is. Reminiscent of Ben Webster, but then, his influence was wide. Nice.

Glad you got them in time! Just so no one gets jealous, Mike told me he'd be leaving on Sunday for two weeks' vacation, and I sent him his CDs early so he wouldn't be left out.

[chortle chortle] Had to laugh, Jim S! I'm of two minds about Shorter's "Footprints Live" quartet, but I saw him a couple of months ago with Hancock, Holland, and Blade, and what a quartet they made. Free and oblique but gorgeous nonetheless--rather quiet and low-key but that masked a great intensity and served well a certain flair for the dramatic. Nevertheless I wasn't entirely sure about what I had just listened to; the emotional intensity hadn't quite made it through the long distance to the top of the theatre, where I nestled close to the ceiling. However, the show was broadcast on French radio and I was able to get a copy of it, burned to two CDs. I've been listening to little else for the past week. I find it really quite extraordinary. If they don't release a live album from this tour, they're crazy.

I'm very embarassed. I've mislaid Disc 1! I tidied up my CDs, which I do occasionally, putting everything back in its place instead of lying around in stacks all over the place, and now I can't find Disc 1 anywhere. I've got Disc 2 and will address that shortly. However, I had listened to Disc 1 two or three times before it escaped, and this is what I recall: 1. Sounds like Ben Webster to me. Love it! 2. Hmmm, much the same school, but gruffer, more emphatic, with broader gestures. Webster, if it is he on track 1, had a finer sensibility. I note that the rhythm section on this one is much more modern than on track 1. 3. Got to be Joe Lovano. I just saw him in concert a couple of months ago playing ballads and he was superb. This is "Chelsea Bridge," I think. This is a fantastic performance. And that's as far as I got with my notes! With luck Disc 1 will turn up sooner rather than later and I'll get back to it. Now I'll start listening to Disc 2 in earnest.

Now that discussion has been under way for a couple of days on BFT 16, I may as well start the signup period for BFT 17. Please send requests to blindfold17@yahoo.com. Include your name, postal address, and Organissimo handle just so I get everything straight. This will be two CDs, with a theme of sorts for CD2. I spent a long time making my choices. Some days I think about them and feel like it's a brilliant compilation, other days I groan and think it'll bore everyone silly. Time will tell! I'll update this post regularly to show who's signed up. Currently signed up: PJ - received relyles - received Tooter - received picsou - received Mike Weil - received Bright Moments - received cannonball-addict - received Jim R - received couw - received John B - received MartyJazz - received noj - received Big Al - received deus62 - received king ubu - received Dan Gould - received fent99 - received take5 marcoliv dutchmanx Nate Dorward rockefeller center EKE BBB Jim Dye Eloe Omoe brownie Stefan Wood catesta Man with the Golden Arm BrotherLogic randyhersom tjobbe Jsngry B. Goren 34 and counted!

Mine have arrived. Thanks, Dan!

Just listened to the start of the first track - I hear an American voice, among the general hubbub, saying "Go on, Klook, start up, man," then someone says "Shhhhhhh!" while Klook starts up. The voice doesn't sound as deep as Rollins' voice, but it could be him or another musician, or else a front-row patron.

This is one of my favorite jazz records. It seems to me some of the audience noise indicates Americans are in the audience, too. I agree that Kenny Clarke is just beautiful here. Given the fast and loud shouting here in favor of this recording, I'm glad I decided in the end not to include any of it on my blindfold test! * * coming soon to a forum near you

I think I'd have to go with Desmond, too, but I hesitate between him and Konitz, who is also in the instant-recognition category for me. For Miles and Coltrane, the waters are muddied because there are so many excellent mimics! Not many bassists have been mentioned. Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Buster Williams, Dave Holland, Eddie Gomez... Steve Swallow on bass guitar. Scofield and Metheny on guitar, and Jim Hall. Kenny Garrett also has a very distinctive tone.