Tom Storer

I think I'd go along with Jim (not that I know what the hell I'm talking about). For me a "bass guitar" is the four-stringed instrument played by Monk Montgomery, Paul McCartney, Bootsy Collins, Jaco Pastorius, Steve Swallow, etc. Actually I think Swallow added a string, but that's irrelevant. I think it's best to call that instrument a bass guitar because it's really a guitar rather than a member of the same family of instruments as the bass violin, commonly known in jazz as just a bass. An "electric bass" for me should be synonymous with what people call an "electrified bass," i.e. a stand-up instrument resembling a bass violin but with electric sound production, like Eberhard Weber or Tyrone Brown are known to play. Always happy to meddle with other people's long-standing habits, Tom

I think it's kind of ironic that Western mental health professionals in the 21st century still equate mental illness with possession by demons.

I confess I'm not sure of #76. I guessed C-melody since it's the only saxophone I can think of that's rarely used (outside of the sopranino, bass and contrabass saxophones, which don't seem to fit the rest of the question, since Anthony Braxton isn't a British musician who made the album How Many Clouds Can You See).

I agree it's bad form to repeatedly receive BFTs and never comment. But as someone said, it's up to the blindfold tester whether or not to take the risk. We all know by now there's never a 100% return. I'll take advantage of this thread to thank Rockefeller Center again for sending me a new copy of BFT 10 when the first one never arrived--it was much appreciated, as I would hate to have missed it. I haven't commented yet, RC, but I will, I will!

Here are my guesses for Disc 1. Haven't even peeked at this thread yet! This is a really interesting blindfold. I'll be getting to the bonus disk promptly! BFT 11 guesses 1. St. Louis Blues, as whoever it is helpfully announces before starting. Piano, bass, drums--tympani? Tradition-steeped but eccentric. I'll guess Sun Ra. 2. Simple Carribean rhythm, broad humor, lyrical enough but a bit tongue-in-cheek. I'll guess Lester Bowie. 3. Gil Scott-Heron. 4. Very nice. I thought of Kenny Barron and Regina Carter, but to my knowledge they only recorded a duo together, and the piano doesn't sound like Barron to me. I thought of Steve Kuhn, but I don't think he has recorded a quartet with violin. So I don't have a clue, really. Beautiful playing all around. 5. "More Money Jungle," I guess. No idea who it is. Not my cup of tea. Sounds like television theme music. 6. Very elegant piano trio. Could be anytime from the mid-40's through the mid-60's. I love the pianist's pearly touch and graceful lines. Bass and drums are stately and dignified. I'll be glad to know who it is. 7. I love this one, too. The piano does some discreet Jarrettesque squeaking at one point, and the bass has that Hadenesque fatness, but I don't think it's them. No idea. A lovely piece. Could be stand-alone or could be part of a suite or something. 8. "Baltimore Oriole" - great song! Sheila Jordan sings it often. Don't know the singer. Could that be Oscar Brown, Jr? He's another favorite of Sheila's and I have yet to hear him sing--maybe she learned it from him. Total speculation. 9. "Witchi Tai To" by Jim Pepper. Beautiful song. 10. No idea. The drum solo is athletic but doesn't do it for me. Not my favorite guitar sound, either. Chico Hamilton? Another total guess. 11. "Plenty of Nothin'." Pleasant and festive, well done. Doesn't inspire me too much, though. I could have done without the vocals, which sounds to me like a French-speaker who worked hard at singing in English. 12. Pat Metheny on acoustic guitar (or maybe his custom mutant guitar). Don't know the song. This test seems to have two main currents, one lyrical and stately, the other cheerful and vigorous (with Witchi Tai To somewhere in the middle). So far I like this first current best. 13. Shirley Horn. I love Shirley but this song is kind of lightweight, IMHO. 14. A comfortable groove, nothing too deep but very agreeable. Goes on a bit long, though. I like the bass guitar. No clue. 15. Soulful and brief. No idea. 16. Gary Bartz and the NTU Troop, early 70's. Of course, his identifying three-quarters of the band serves as a small clue. ;-) Great stuff, really sums up those times, or at least one important aspect of it. Bartz rules!

No problem, RC, I'm a patient sort of guy.

I have the live duet album with Pierre Boussaguet - it was recorded in 1997. Another I enjoy very much is called "Charme," on Emarcy, by Pierre Boussaguet with Lafitte, Hervé Sellin on piano, and Alvin Queen on drums. It was recorded in 1998, and on the title track Lafitte recites a very nice poem he wrote to/about Johnny Griffin. He had a beautiful, raspy, expressive speaking voice. Boussaguet is an excellent bassist, a sure-footed walker with a big, fat tone. I saw him play a duo concert with Tommy Flanagan at the now defunct Petit Opportun, the archetypal tiny basement club in Paris, and also in a James William trio with Tony Reedus on drums. He'd be on a lot of records if he lived in New York.

Still waiting for mine, but I see some didn't get theirs until a few days ago, so I'll sit tight. I'm being very good and not opening the discussion thread, just watching the number of posts climb!

Where are the snows of yesteryear?

I'm not sure what you're asking for (not that I could tell you anyway). Do you want a list of personal characteristics for all known jazz guitarists? Or do you just want the "right" vocabulary to talk about guitar sound?

I'm sure Maurice Brown is very talented, but this article sounds exactly like the excited fawning that went on over James Carter just as he was about to burst on the scene. Carter is talented, too, but way overrated as far as I'm concerned. The "best in 40 years from a trumpeter under 25" proclamation sounds remarkably like a certain other journalist talking about a certain other trumpeter 14 or 15 years ago... I wonder if Howard Reich wants to be Maurice Brown's Stanley Crouch? ;-)

EKE, why does your subtitle to the thread say "with Dexter Gordon and EKE"? Are you the unknown guitarist? ;-) Or does EKE mean something I don't know?

I'm another fan of both Desmond and Konitz, and apart from an early similarity in tone I find their styles radically different. As one of the articles quoted in the thread pointed out, Konitz's improvisations are quite abstract. I think he delves into the chords and the melodies result, whereas Desmond is pure, shapely melody. Their phrasing and rhythmic feels are miles apart, and certainly by the 60's Konitz's tone had evolved into something much less smooth and sweet than Desmond's, which had only become smoother and cooler over the years. And Desmond's pitch was always spot on target whereas Konitz is a lot looser, getting more of a bluesy, dragging, almost-sharp sound rather frequently.

OK, coming in late on this one. Here are my guesses: 1. "Body and Soul." I have this one, so I won't say who it is, and it's no doubt already been identified. What a wonderful pianist, one of my very favorites. And although he sings, too, he's undersung. 2. Several decades earlier... I love it! Great phrasing, great swing. I recall that Jelly Roll Morton recorded some trios with clarinet and drums, and I'm guessing this is one of them. 3. I'm less enthralled with this one. To be lyrical enough to pull it off, the composition would need to be more memorable and the rhythm less plodding. It reminds me of the Alan Pasqua-Dave Carpenter-Peter Erskine trio, but on their "Live at Rocco's" they have more success with a similar approach on some tunes. No idea. 4. Beautiful! I know this tune, but what is it? There's something very modern-sounding and old-fashioned about it at the same time, making an appealing contrast. Very nice pianist, too. I'll be interested to see who this is. 5. "Satin Doll." No idea. Kind of loose around the edges but nice. 6. "Just One Of Those Things." Very polished; very strong technique in a roaring-ahead, fleet-fingered kind of way. Energetic, athletic; the drummer's great and in the same vein. I'd say it's the swing side in the swing-to-bop era. Tatum is the name that comes immediately to mind. Can't think of anyone else quite so assertive and ironclad in their technique. 7. "Lush Life." No idea. 8. "The Man I Love." Hmm, two pianos. No idea. 9. I wonder if this isn't Lionel Hampton on piano. There's a kind of xylophone-like, hamming-it-up style that fits both his persona and his main instrument. 10. "Blackbird." I'd guess Mehldau. I've always thought this a particularly cloying melody, and jazzing it up doesn't help. 11. The name of the tune is on the tip of my tongue but won't come. Keith Jarrett Trio. 12. This is also a very familiar voice on piano. Definitely Monkian in the general approach. I thought of Mal Waldron, but this has more personality to it than Waldron generally musters. Don't know that I actually like it very much. 13. No idea. 14. No idea. I like this one. 15. Nice! Another "Body and Soul" to close. The vamp thing reminds me of someone but I can't think who. Great collection! High-quality music throughout, and that's what really counts. I had a great time listening, and will continue to listen to it!

I think the first time I saw Elvin was at the Village Vanguard in the early 80's. I don't remember the band much, except for Ari Brown on tenor and Andy McKee on bass. Another saxophonist showed up and jammed but was never introduced to the audience. I was sitting front and center and what I really remember was Elvin - this was the first time it really hit me how LOUD he plays. He was flashing that big grin and just slamming the hell out of the drums, rolling all over the set like thunder. I had seen Haynes, Higgins, Blakey, and quite a few others, but I'd never seen drumming like that before, and it was just washing over me. It was like being in the heart of the hurricane. I stayed until the wee hours. The last set was over around 2 AM or so, and there were maybe a dozen or so of us left, including a table of Japanese tourists. When the band finished playing, Elvin mopped the sweat from his bow, stepped down off the stand still grinning and bowed low to each remaining table in turn, thanking us for coming in a voice whose soft courtesy contrasted with the raw power of his drumming. He radiated charm, strength, and glowing, positive energy. I saw him many times after that, including once in a supergroup with McCoy Tyner and Sonny Fortune in which after Elvin started counting off the tempo, Tyner stopped him to say, "No, faster"; Elvin gave him a look, chuckled, and said, "You want faster? You want faster?" and proceeded to race out of the starting block at a startling pace. But it's 2 AM at the Village Vanguard, when Elvin bowed to each table, that stays in my mind. Here's hoping he stays healthy for years to come. Cardiac conditions and his kind of drumming don't go well together, it seems to me - he should take it easy!

I saw him a couple of months ago, solo. Beautiful set. He has a glorious voice, a beautiful sensibility forged from gospel and jazz, and the hippest taste of any male jazz singer extant. I've heard his newest, "American Song," and it's on my short list, but so is another newest one, "Chillin' with Andy Bey," on Minor Music. I think it's a German label. I first heard Bey on "Children of Forever," which was Stanley Clarke's first solo album, lo these many years ago--released on Polydor in 1973, if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to pick that one up on CD, if it's available of course. Off the top of my head, I believe it had Chick Corea on Fender Rhodes, Pat Martino and Lenny White, with Andy Bey and Dee Dee Bridgewater singing.

Who votes on who gets into the Jazz Hall of Fame? I confess I was a little surprised to see Guy Lombardo, Lawrence Welk and Perry Como. And Martha Tilton? I'd never heard of her, but a little web research shows that she was a 40's big band singer with a fine reputation but whose career never really took off. I mean, more power to her, I'm sure she was great, but Hall of Fame?

As for "so-lul" and "jucky," I think you guys are confusing a French "ah" sound with an English "uh" sound. They don't say "Jacky" like an American would, but nor do they say "Jucky" like that would sound in English. It's more like "Jah-cky". Closer to "jockey" than "jucky." And Solal is pronounced more like "so-lol" than "so-lul." How about Paul Quinichette? Is it "Kinishett" or "Kwinishett"?

Four days without a post? Surely there are still a few out there who haven't posted their guesses yet! [taps foot impatiently]

Great story, Johnny E. Woo hoo, I'll be seeing Sheila sing tonight!

How do you know? Do you just call up Mosaic and ask them?

Oh, no you don't, Sangry. You mean "in case I get around to it late." There's no time limit for posting your "guesses/critiques whatever" and we're going to hold you to it!

I'd rather keep my pretty face intact, thanks. ;-)

So, you know the personnel, the tunes, the date and general location... that's not enough for you? What more do you want to know, what color ties they were wearing? ;-)

So who's in the trio?