AfricaBrass

I went with Horace too. It's funny, he seems to always slip under my radar. I'll be looking for something to listen to and usually pass over the Horace Parlan titles, but when I do stop and listen to his music, my reaction ALWAYS is "Why don't I listen to this more often - THIS IS GREAT!" :rsmile:

Yeah Sal, I dig the Mud Love Buddy Jam too! impossible, I must have been typing my last post when you were typing yours. You have some great suggestions. Weir's Ace really is a lost Dead album. The track list from this album sounds like your average 1973 show. Reckoning is also a great recommendation. Those acoustic sets from 1980 were one of the biggest highlights of that decade. I used to watch the video from those shows all the time as a Dead newbie. A couple Dead related albums that I love are David Crosby's If I Could Only Remember My Name and Paul Kantner/Grace Slick's Blows Against the Empire. These were recorded in 1970 around the same time and have many of the same revolving musicians form the Dead, Airplane, CSN. There is some great playing by Garcia and the boys on these albums. At gdlive.com, they have outtakes from the sessions available for download (they're called the P.E.R.R.O. sessions, short for Planet Earth Rock n' Roll Orchestra). The track Mud Love Buddy Jam that Sal mentions is actually the changes from another Paul Kanter song that Garcia appeared on called Mind Left Body. Hence the similar sounding titles. It's nice to see so many Deadheads around here. I was afraid of bringing them up for fear of hearing crickets or or worse. :rsmile:

Sal is right. There was some good stuff happening in the late eighties/early nineties. It seemed like they were having fun again for a little while. I thought 1989 was a really good year for them. Pretty much 1988-1992 has a lot of worthwhile stuff for me. If you like Without a Net, check out Dozin' At the Knick. This is a triple cd set from 1990. I really enjoyed the shows when Hornsby and Welnick were both playing. Hornsby really seemed to help Garcia get the fire in his belly again. Also, they seemed to light up when Branford Marsalis appeared as a guest. I never meant to completely ignore the later period, but whenever I'm talking to someone who doesn't like the Dead, it seems as if they're talking about the group in the eighties and nineties. They can't believe the group was ever as innovative as they were from 66-77. To me the early shows were often uniformally good while in the later years, they were more hit-and-miss. :rsmile:

Welcome to the board Sal! I've only got the Blue Mitchell, but the Hodges and Turrentine are must-buys for me. I have albums that are on the sets and I know how much I like them. I think you'll be very happy with your sets. When you've had some time with them, please tell us how you like them. As for shipping time. I'm in California, and I usually have my sets within a week of ordering them. :rsmile:

Thanks again, Rooster! I haven't really explored Ives' piano music. I'll pick up some of those Vox sets. I've got some of their other releases and they are fine. Cheap cds are a good thing! I'm a fan of his symphonies too. I really like his first one. I know it's not as advanced as his later ones, but I just love hearing it. Yeah, the marching band thing did it for me too. I loved dissonance, but Ives took it to a whole new level for me. My teacher told us a story about when Ives was a boy. In his town they would have band contests, but when the different bands were riding into town on their wagons. They would be playing. From the town, Ives could here the different bands playing different tunes, and my professor said that is how he came up with that approach. :rsmile:

Thanks Rooster Ties! I have a few of the composers on your list. I agree with your statement about Ives. I've been a huge fan of his since I first heard his Three Places in New England (I think that's the title) back when I was in college. It's neat that you mention Howard Hanson. I've got a bunch of those Mercury Living Presence reissues. I've got all the Hanson's in the series. They are some of my favorites. One favorite of mine from that series is the first volume of Music for Quiet Listening. I'll put your suggestions down for future purchases. Thanks! :rsmile:

Thanks Mr. Jazz! I'll check them out. Matthew, I think you'll be very happy about the Dick's Pick! Sorry about your wallet. :rsmile:

Mnytime, I agree with your picks. The only reason I chose Dick's Picks 1 & 3 was because 1) Dick's Picks 1 is available in stores. I wasn't sure if Matthew wanted to order them online and it's a good representation of December 1973. Also, the version of Here Comes Sunshine is a huge favorite of mine. I agree that these releases are hurt because they are only 2 cd sets also. In regards to Dick's Picks 3, I put that down because there is nothing else available (for purchase) from that amazing month of shows. I agree Dick's Picks 4 is ESSENTIAL. That and volume 8 are very important documents from 1970. I just figured Matthew would get the two studio albums from that era first. I was trying to pick some good cds for getting into the different periods. I couldn't imagine not having these releases either. If I was suggesting Dick's Picks I would have also added vols 10 (12/29-30/77), 11 (9/27/72), 14 (11/30/73 & 12/2/73), 16 (11/8/69), 19 (10/19/73), 20, 22, 23. Basically, they're all worth getting. I have the ones from 78 on, and they're good, but they don't do as much for me as the earlier ones. Mnytime, thanks for calling me on these. I was trying to cram as much as I could into my first post that I neglected mentioning these great shows. Matthew, for Dead reading, I'd also recommend the three volumes of the Deadhead's Taping Compendium. They break down the different shows for you here. It's not a perfect set of books, but they're informative and enjoyable. :rsmile:

Wow! It must have been amazing watching this all happen. I wasn't able to get on the bus until the 80's (I was born in 1969), but that early period always kills me. I usually listen to something from the Dead everyday. I didn't used to appreciate Pigpen. I've really come to see him as the heart of the band. I love hearing his raps and his songs always pick me up. :rsmile:

Thanks BFrank! I didn't know that. I have a couple Tolliver's already, but I'll check it out. I've avoided Dusty Groove because I know I'll get in trouble if I shop there. I hear that place is addictive.

Thanks, Rooster! I realize I need to expand on my contemporary classical listening. :rsmile:

I'm just glad I can eat my lunch again while checking out the board.

I wish much of the Strata East catalog was available. Also, some of the Muse albums that 32 jazz didn't reissue would be nice. And a couple thousand other things.... :rsmile:

Soul Stream, I understand your concerns about this board not attracting enough members. That was my initial reason for embracing AAJ, but I just dug hanging out here so much that I spent my time here. One thing I have done a lot of is mention this place on other bulletin boards I frequent. I play guitar, so I spend time on guitar boards and when the subject of jazz comes up, I'm usually right there saying, "you should check out the organissimo forums...." I think this place was easy to adjust to because it was made up of BNBB's. AAJ was like coming into someone else's town and trying to fit in. It was sort of a question of personalities. The funny thing is that I see you guys on organissimo, AAJ, and Jazz Corner. It's like a little bit of home everywhere I go. :rsmile:

Your list makes me realize that I need to check these composers out. I'm a huge fan of Charles Ives. It's neat to see that he won the award. Any suggestions from the newer composers here? :rsmile:

You're kidding, right? I have never seen a post at AAJ where anyone was offended by the mention of this board. Conversely, the very short thread here about whether the AAJ board was working or not seemed to draw a rather terse post. I see much more discussion here about "why I don't like AAJ"; I never read anything like that over there. I'm not kidding. I don't remember who it was or what thread it was in, but someone thought it was rude and offensive to be advertising this board. I must admit, I was advertising this board, so I figured I'd be cool and not do it there. Personally, I check the AAJ board daily. It's a fine board. If I find a topic I like I'll bite, but usually I just hang here. I give Mike (the administrator at AAJ) a lot of credit for being so accomodating and helpful. I think AAJ is a fine site and I'm glad it's there. :rsmile:

That's great, Matthew! It's such a cool set. The bonus material is excellent. It really will give you a good overview of the band because you can hear the studio albums and then live versions of the songs from the same era. I LOVE every album on that set! :rsmile:

Now that I have a little bit of time, I'll chime in again. There are so many different places you can get on the bus with the Dead. I've met people who like one aspect of the band (ex. the country stuff) while others like the more electric psychedelic stuff. Here's my personal rundown of the different Dead eras. Please understand there will be overlap of styles. 66-68: This is the early stuff. This seems a lot more amphetimine driven. Garcia was really into playing fast at this time. The keyboards were Pigpen's Farfisa. I like this era, but they were still developing. They were a sort of psychedelic rock/r&b band. 68-69: They start to open up more. One of the main songs of this period is the Eleven. They were getting into different time signatures and their music was getting more complicated. This is when they started getting into the great jams. Noj recommend Two From the Vault. I'd agree, this is a good representation of 1968 Dead. For the best example of this period, I would highly recommend the Live Dead album from February 1969. This album contains a classic version of Dark Star. Live at Fillmore East 2-11-69 is also good if you like this period. 69-70: Their music in the early part of 69 was really intense, and towards the end of the year they started incorporating some acoustic sets into their shows. By 1970, they had really started focusing on harmonies and they recorded two of their classic albums Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, which I would highly recommend. The songs on these albums are probably the first Grateful Dead songs that most people heard. Stuff like Truckin and Box of Rain. 71: In the early part of this year, they debuted a bunch of new songs. A great cd is the Ladies and Gentlemen...The Grateful Dead, live at the Fillmore 4cd set they released a couple years ago. There is a great deal of variety on the release. You get a good sampling of the different Dead styles. 71-72: In August of '71, the group added a new keyboard player named Keith Godchaux. The early part of his tenure with the group really lifted the band to new heights. He was a valuable member up until around '78. They ended up kicking him out of the band in Jan. '79. But in the early part of the seventies, he really brought a lot out in Garcia and the others. My favorite jams occured from 72-74, and I think the end of '72 was when the band hit it's peak as a psychedelic band. Almost everything the Dead did after April of '72 through the end of the year is amazing to me. There are a couple releases you might enjoy from this period. The first one I'd suggest is the Europe '72 album. This is a classic dead release. Another interesting one just came out a couple years ago is the Steppin' Out With the Grateful Dead: England '72 release. This is another good cross-section of the group. If you like this period, I'd also try Hundred Year Hall, and then explore the Dick's Picks releases. I'm just trying to give you suggestions for albums that are really easy to find. You can order the Dick's Picks from www.dead.net - I also highly recommend those. I've got 22 of the volumes and I plan on getting them all. One amazing thing about the Dead is that you can legally download or trade live shows. I've got about 400 shows at this point. 73-74: The group backed off of the intensity pedal after the highs of '72. They came out in 1973 with a bunch of great new songs from their album Wake of the Flood. I've always preferred the live versions of these songs to the studio versions. The February shows are good and I'd suggest downloading any you can find. In September of that year they did a tour with a horn section. I believe Joe Farrell was one of the players. Of 1973 recordings I'd recommend picking up Dick's Picks Volume 1. This is an anomaly in the series because it is a standard retail release, so you should be able to find it easily. During this period, the let go of the psychedelia in favor of a jazzier approach. 1974 was the year the band was at it's jazziest. Their playing was excellent. There's not a lot of documentation on cd from this year, except for some Dick's Picks releases. Once again, you can download a lot of shows at www.gdlive.com - but if you can't do that then the Dick's Picks from 1974 are the way to go. At the end of '74, the band retired. 75: During their "retirement" - the group recorded the Blues For Allah album. They were still very jazzy at this point. I'll second the recommendation for the One From the Vault cd. This is a great live show from '75. 76: The band ended it's retirement, but they were a different beast than they were in '74. They key word for '76 Dead is MELLOW. Garcia had just gotten into heroin and I think the music reflects that. They also dropped most of the epic space jam songs like Dark Star, and simplified their music a bit. As far as recordings from '76 go, you're pretty much in the Dick's Picks territory. 77: Amazingly, during the spring of '77, the group reached another high-point. Their songs from the Terrapin Station album were great in their live versions. The studio Terrapin Station album was overproduced and a bit disco in the my opinion, but the live shows until the beginning of June 1977 are all worth seeking out. Many Deadheads say that 5/8/77 is the best Dead show ever. The only way to purchase anything from this period is through the Dick's Picks series. Dick's Picks Volume 3 is from May 22, 1977. The suite of songs on disc 2 are great. The post '77 Dead music has a lot of great moments, but I don't really believe they were as consistantly excellent as they had been before. Basically, the drugs which had helped them develop so much, turned against them (especially Garcia). That's my opinion. I know I've left out a million things, but these cds I've recommended would be a good start into this music. I can't say how much I love this group! The Golden Road boxset is a nice set. I would say it's an essential purchase for any Dead fan. Good luck! :rsmile:

I check the other boards, too. I'd say 98% of my posts are here. AAJ is a neat site, but this board feels like home to me. Once I came over here, it was hard to go back. I just wish we could get the word out about this board. I tried to post about Organissimo over there, but it seemed to offend some. :rsmile:

If you want to talk about Sly, that's cool with me. I dig them! I still need to pick up the new 2 cd Essential set. As for Ole, I've got my copy with me right now. :rsmile:

If you have a high-speed connection, I'd check out gdlive.com - they have a bunch of shows you can download in mp3 or shn (which is a lossless compresion format that uncompresses into wav files). I'm not sure which album you picked up, but my guess that it's from 1972. The Dead were on fire that year (it's my favorite Dead year). The European tour was in the spring of '72 and I'd download something from that period. One of my favorite Dead shows ever is 8/27/72. They have a couple versions of that one at gdlive.com. www.gdlive.com Good luck! :rsmile:

The Album of the Week for May 11 - 17 as picked by AfricaBrass (and by vote) is: John Coltrane - Olé (click here to buy) The Album of the Week works this way, the person who picks the cd for this week will nominate the person who will pick the cd for next week. AfricaBrass picked this week's title and nominated pryan to pick the album for May 18-24. ___________________________________ Past albums of the week: May 4 - 10: Andrew Hill - Grass Roots April 26 - May 3: Weather Report - Black Market April 13 - 26: Lee Morgan - Live at the Lighthouse April 6 - 12: Charles Mingus - Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus March 30 - April 5: Wayne Shorter - The All Seeing Eye March 23 -29: Donald Byrd - Byrd in Hand

The download limit is a drag for me. I used to set up my downloads and let them run while I slept. I was fun to have 30 new albums in the morning.

Red, pryan is the current nominee to choose a new album of the week (May 18-24). Maybe you can lobby him to choose the album or to choose you to pick for the following week. :rsmile: