Kevin Bresnahan

I just got in this:

I've never heard of this one. That's a killer band. I have Romano's "Canzoni" & "Non Dimenticar" with that same band, How is it? I see that there are synths listed in the credits on discogs. How would you describe the music? Synths can mean anything from fusion to funk to new age.

Paul Gonsalves - boom-jackie-boom-chick (Vocalion). I have this on a Japanese CD from 2007. Great music on this disc. Too bad it has had such poor distribution. It seems to be available on a new-ish reissue label called Monkey Dog Entertainment that doesn't appear to have survived long - 6 titles in 2017/18. This CD was from my last order from Hiroshi Tanno. I miss that guy.

Brad's Deals is not a retailer. It's one of those sites that collates sales pages from retail websites that they consider "deals".

The Gonsalves/Ashby session, issued in England & Denmark in 1961 as "Tenor Stuff", has never been issued in the US in any form. Is there a reason for this? It sounds like a session I'd like to hear.

I've never heard of this wine. By the name, i would guess that it was from an Australian wine company. I see that it's from Oregon. I don't think I've ever seen it on any shelves around here so maybe they are not distributed out this way?

I haven't played that one in a while. Great stuff. I've never seen that cover. I'm used to this one...

Pharoah Sanders - Crescent With Love (Evidence). Playing disc 1 now. The opening track could turn off some, as Sanders' take on 'Lonnie's Lament' is a very direct imitation of Trane's version, with William Henderson doing a superb imitation of McCoy as well. While I appreciate this, others will probably "Been there, done that" this type of approach. In context, as a ballad collection highlighting Coltrane tunes, I think it fits. And FWIW, I could also see someone thinking 2 CDs of ballads could get boring. But there is a time & place for discs like these and as I sit down to dinner with my wife, this time & this place is one of those. I'd also add that I appreciate that Evidence toned these Venus dates down for their CDs. Venus CDs are mastered really loud.

I have been playing the Cables CD a few times this past week and it is as advertised: Jazz for the cocktail hour. Nothing breaks the rules... just lightly swinging piano to sip a drink to. I also got the Barron disc (after two tries to get the package with the CD and not just the cookbook. This I like quite a bit.

I differ a bit with you on those Sanders recordings. I really like "Crescent With Love", a 2 CD release from Evidence that combines two Venus sessions ("Ballads With Love" & "Crescent With Love") into one package. I play these CDs quite often. I got to see this band live at the Regattabar shortly after these were released and thoroughly enjoyed the music. I do remember Pharoah giving the bassist a bit more solo space than I would have preferred. 10 minute bass solos might be fine for the leader but seemed a bit much for a Pharoah Sanders gig. You've just reminded me that I haven't pulled it off the shelf in a while.

I can't see it being any less sanitary than an ice cube tray. Does everyone sanitize their ice trays when they refill them? I'm guessing not.

Mel Powell - Borderline (Vanguard/Mosaic). Disc 3 of the latest Mosaic release. Nice stuff. Sound quality sounds a bit below the previous discs. It's weird to see a pianist listed with a trio and see that it's piano/sax/drums.

I think what turns me off is his intonation. He doesn't seem like he has a firm hold on the sustained notes and it gives it a kind of frailty that makes me cringe a bit. Sucks getting old I guess.

I bought several of Shepp's Venus recordings during a sale and like you, I struggle to get into his playing on them. Thursday night, I saw Dave Schumacher play at Arthur's House of Jazz in Methuen, MA and after the set, he offered his latest CD (2024) for sale so I bought a copy. The place was pretty packed and he only managed to sell 2 CDs. Bummer. I'm playing that CD now and it's really good stuff and I'm very glad I bought it. Dave Schumacher & Cubeye - Smoke In The Sky (Cellar). Great latin jazz here. You can hear/buy it on bandcamp: https://daveschumachercubeye.bandcamp.com/album/smoke-in-the-sky Dave Schumacher - Baritone Saxophone Josh Evans – Trumpet (1, 5-8) Jesus Ricardo – Trumpet (2-3) Peter Brainin – Tenor, Soprano Saxophones (1, 5-8) Manuel Valera – Piano Alex “Apolo” Ayala – Bass Mauricio Herrera – Congas, Iyá, Itótele, Okónkolo, Chekeré Joel Mateo – Drums, Bells

I was watching the ABC TV show 9-1-1 today (S8 E12) and there's a scene with one of the characters (Eddie) driving an Uber. The soundtrack they chose for the vignettes of his drives is Lou Donaldson's "Alligator Boogaloo". I would guess it played for several minutes as a soundtrack to his drives. It actually fit, so kudos to the director who chose it.

Have you watched "The Pitt" on MAX? If their depiction of a Pittsburgh hospital waiting room is based on fact, I wouldn't want to live there.

I still wear mine every now & then but it's definitely showing serious signs of age. The gold plating is far too thin. I'm also on my second replacement watchband. I don't drink whiskey. Can't stand the smell of the stuff. But from what I understand, whiskey stones are a much better way to chill your whiskey.

I enjoy the music here. I have it some of it on the LP version issued on Record Store Day. I managed to snag one of the signed copies. I was a bit bummed that this LP didn't come with a download card. I was even more bummed when the CDs came out and two of the tracks on the LP release that were supposed to be "exclusive" came out on a CD version shortly afterward. And truly, even if these are alternate takes of these two tunes, then why release a double CD set titled, "Foursight: The Complete Stockholm Tapes"?

Mine came in today... I'm spinning disc 1 now. Damn, the audio on the first session (Jo Jones Trio) sounds wonderful. This first session has some really great music.

I managed to catch Dave's quintet for several years in a row at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA and they never failed to amaze me. Year in and year out, the music was incredible. I was so bummed out when Dave broke that group up.

Speed goes too far out for my tastes. I haven't caught one of his gigs in a long while because of it. I was a bit bummed out that Javon Jackson canceled his 3/22 Boston appearance due to lack of ticket sales. I still think part of the reason was that it was advertised as a project with the late Nikki Giovanni, implying that it would be a melding of Jazz and poetry. While I don't have a problem with that, a lot of purists do, so I am not surprised that sales lagged. He should have advertised it as his quartet interpreting her lyrics but he didn't want to do that. Instead, it was canceled.

The Zoot Sims record with Buddy Rich is also a stone cold classic, going under the name of "Nirvana", "Featuring Buddy Rich", "Somebody Loves Me", "Send In The Clowns" (so appropriate), "A Summer Thing" & "Europa Jazz". I have it with this cover:

I never did get around to getting any of those. I do have the Lucky Thompson dates on LP though.

For some reason, these two labels have somehow managed to attain permanent "low budget" status on the used market. There is some great music in their catalog too, which makes it even weirder. Don't sleep on those Lucky Thompson dates.

Even weirder is that there was a US CD version released in 2000 on the OJC label and it only duplicates the Japanese LP track listing and omits the alternate/extra tracks from the US LP when they could have easily fit on the CD.