Spontooneous

Sign up now for Blindfold Test 84, available this March and this March only! It's guaranteed safe and fun. We didn't want to test it on animals, so we tested it on a group of Universal interns, and the casualty rate was acceptably low. So we're now able to bring all the crunchy goodness to you, for the low, low price of zero. Our guarantee: BFT 84 contains the fastest piece of music on any BFT ever. (That's "fastest," not "shortest.") It's one disc, or a moderate-sized download. No overarching theme – just music that makes me want to say, "Hey, you, listen to this!" There's at least one true rarity you might not hear anywhere else. And then there's some other stuff. Act now. Supplies are limited. So line up, sign up, and enlist today!

I'm all for it. TBP's concert in Kansas City last year was far and away the best of the year, but only about 350 people showed up in an 1,100-seat hall. It amazes me how much this band gets ripped by people who haven't bothered to listen.

Somewhere across the sea, Ubu is snickering at me for failing to recognize 9 while recognizing 15 from the same disc!

They never did release that promised "Duane Tatro for Lovers," did they?

I'm considering my punchline options... a) Only if it's virgin vinyl. b) Big deal -- wasn't that how Crown Records were made? c) Will there be bonus tracks?

I probably should have said that #15 is here.

I should be shoveling snow, but instead, let's see if I can bang out a whole BFT in one morning... 1. Black and Tan Fantasy, by an alto player in a tile bathroom. The spirit of Hodges shakes hands with the spirit of Ornette, and I like that. The dropped bars don't matter. The chorus starting about 3:30 is especially beautiful. 2. Hey, kids, let's see how many hep bebop licks we can cram into one chorus! There's probably some King Cole Trio gestures in there too. It's over-arranged but cute. No idea who it is. 3. Don't care for the head, but wow! Maybe a home recording of Kenny Dorham? 4. I've always liked "Street of Dreams" but can't recall hearing the verse before. Now I know why. It's so awkward, musically and lyrically! The singer does what she can with it, and it gets conspicuously better once we hit the chorus. Still, the whole performance doesn't live up to the promise of the opening trumpet solo, and the celesta ending is overkill. I'm curious about the singer and the trumpet. 5. Teagarden with strings. This is how it's done, folks. The arranger ups the ante by writing impossible parts, and the badass studio string players make it work. Big Tea doesn't let them down. Check out some of the harp figures behind him. The trumpet ain't bad either. 6. Grab a folding chair down at the VFW hall and listen to "I Cover the Waterfront." The tenor reminds me of Stanley Turrentine when he isn't reminding me of Jimmy Heath. The bass and drums seem a little overenthusiastic at times. But even the mistuned ensemble at the end can't sink the tenor. Yeah! 7. There's something naggingly familiar about this head. Tenor starts out just OK but picks up momentum very well. Is it Shepp? The bass-and-drums episode has some nice spontaneous architecture; love the bassist's dialogue with himself. 8. Good writing, good playing from all. I didn't see that coda coming. Whatever it is, I want to buy a copy, now. 9. Edgy, crackling alto in a brassy setting. Then a Lester Bowie-like trumpet obsessed with getting the most out of one figure. Avant guys showing where they came from? No dishonor for the old or the new here. This is maybe my favorite track on the BFT. 10. The trumpeter's vibrato is cute, but I'm happy when he drops it. The bassist gets better and better as it goes on. Alto is OK. I appreciate the concision of the drum solo. No idea who it is. 11. Alto has energy and effects, but some stronger ideas would be nice. OK, but this isn't working for me today. 12. Set the Wayback Machine for 1931! A pretty good side, maybe not a distinguished one. Don Redman, maybe? The ensemble might be more noteworthy than the solos. Hate to say it, but today this seems much less corny than track 11. 13. A "Poinciana" that seems unnecessarily convoluted next to the Jamal version. Cutesy coda. 14. "Tennessee Waltz" is the tune. Is that Jay McShann? 15. "Union Special," Brotherhood of Breath. Presumably a sendup of the crappy music played on union gigs? It was disconcerting the first time I heard it years ago at the end of that album, but the second time it was funny, and now it's even funnier every time. This is a good time, Ubu, and it's going to send me searching for more discs!

Good to hear more Randy Sandke in his not-so-inside bag. Thanks for that. Now go over to Do the Math and check Ethan's deconstruction of Randy's book. Man, I love the Astral Project rhythm team and especially Vidacovich, but Masakowski and Dagradi have rarely done much for me. Sad irony. I have the Ellis Marsalis CD and have enjoyed it very much. I even had to interview the guy last week. I've enjoyed the LP with Track 11, too, but it sure slipped my mind on this BFT. And your final coup, Jeff, getting me to assert that Jim Hall couldn't be Jim Hall! Now I gotta head for the basement and see if I have that Jones and Collins side.

Sharped three that are in my collection right by me! Stadler, Rivers and Horace Henderson. As for Al Sears: What Ubu said.

Only been in Cambridge once in my life, 22 years ago. But I still remember Stereo Jack's.

Just ran across my Stravinsky-as-performer discography. In case anybody cares: That "Firebird" was made Jan. 28, 1946. This "Rite" goes clear back to April 29, 1940.

And I'll do the one after that. (But seriously, folks, I'd be up for a repeat sometime, after a respectable interval.)

Imagine what we could do to the "Frequently Bought Together" display if enough of us bought, say, a can of chicken soup and a copy of "Unit Structures" on the same order.

I tried to put in my reservation immediately, but also didn't get confirmation. I am sure that I was in time, but this looks like an inside-job allocation. To hell with them. I am not buying anything. I'm thinking the same thing. Somebody's gonna have a lot of sets on eBay a week after they ship.

The news today is that the big, big box is sold out. I clicked on the ordering link Friday morning and haven't received a confirmation e-mail, so I guess I'm out of the running. They're announcing that there will also be a music-only edition, without all the deluxe packaging, for the same price. But I'm not so sure about paying the same price and getting less.

The whole thing feels like a rehearsal tape (but what a rehearsal!). Can't imagine that remastering would help the sound of the ratty out-of-tune piano.

Enjoy that long "Rite" side. That New York version is arguably the best of all the composer-conducted versions (I'm remembering four).

These are the recordings with the New York Philharmonic (then the "Philharmonic-Symphony"), right? If so, they're mono recordings from the '40s. The later stereo versions were done with the "Columbia Symphony Orchestra," a convenient name for whatever studio group they were using.

I am going to render Chuck's wise words in needlepoint and hang them on the wall, close to the Schnabel records.

Have a geeky friend check it for short circuits. But this is important: Check your cables and other connections for shorts that might kill your next receiver too.

A download for me, please.

One piece of piano music on this disc. Order it direct from the nonprofit label at newworldrecords.org. (Please. I love this label.)

It's the title cut of this one.

It's the title cut of this one.

1. No idea who it is, but I like the guitarist's time. And the organist's. The organ quote of Walter Brown's "Confessin' the Blues" at 1:46 warms my Kansas City heart. 2. Muscat Ramble. Goin' back to the roots but crossing the wires a little (to mix metaphors). It brings in the Latin tinge, and there's a dandy bit of ensemble writing with clarinets and a violin that would make Bob Wills proud. The tuba solo isn't just acrobatic, it's serious as a heart attack. Wynton wishes his music was as much fun as this. Or maybe he doesn't, and that's his problem. When the leader calls the New Orleans stuff, I tend to head for the men's room or the Waffle House -- but I think I'll play this one two or three times more before going on to 3. 3. This hits me right in a blind spot, because I've never paid much attention to calypso. (Does it count that I listened to my mom's Harry Belafonte record a lot when I was a kid?) There's some serious playing going on here, especially that powerful clarinet, who could almost be Bechet. Are there some jazz cats mixed into this band? I like the spot where it goes into a smooth swing. 4. Something familiar about this one, like it's in my collection somewhere. I just love the out-of-time head with the big ensemble sound. (Shameless plug: Something similarly wacky will be on BFT 84.) Don't love the tenor solo, which seems to go for the low-hanging fruit, but the trombone is above and beyond the call of duty. 5. My favorite thing about this circa-1941 performance is the drumming. Somebody learned the lessons of Jo Jones very well. The backdrops to the horn solos are a little too aggressive, or maybe the horns aren't aggressive enough. Can't ID the piece or the band. 6. Oh, this is tickling some memory cells! It's on one of the first jazz CDs I ever owned. And I saw this exact band live at the Folly Theater in Kansas City within a few weeks of this recording -- my only Blakey show. It was my first exposure to Kenny Garrett and Wallace Roney. The trombonist is a distant KC acquaintance. Thanks for making me listen to this one again, Jeff. It really is one of the best later Blakey records, isn't it? 7. I like the way the guitarist thinks, and the ending is really beautiful. 8. Just in case anybody was wondering where Ayler REALLY came from. Man, this is beautiful. Wish I knew who it was. 9. Are they playing ESP or just alluding to it? The guitar sounds like Scofield, but lots of cats try to. I like the groove, but in the end the whole thing leaves me cold. Sorry. 10. The real puzzler. Maybe some local hero, your friendly neighborhood bebop? It's beautiful, whoever it is. 11. Another puzzler. The vocal exhortations sound like Dizzy, but the trumpet solo doesn't sound like him. I wish big-band music today was as relaxed as this. 12. The rhythm section tries, but the saxophonist seems to have only one response to any situation. Too bad, because the rhythm section is doing some wonderful things. 13. The wide, athletic leaps in the trumpet have me thinking it's Jabbo Smith. But I can't confirm that, despite searching the collection for this side. 14. I keep thinking that this is John McNeil for some reason. That's a compliment. 15. I'm thinking this might be a boot of the real Sonny Rollins. If not, it's a brilliant imitation, probably the best I've ever heard, right down to the motor habits. The guitar might be Rene Thomas, doesn't strike me as Jim Hall. The bassist plods a little. But it's really a stunning performance.