Tom Storer

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.

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? ;-)