What vinyl are you spinning right now??

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Gonz (Jerry Bergonzi, Bruce Gertz & Bob Gullotti) - Front End (Not Fat Records). 1988 recording on Gertz's own label and seemingly only released around the Boston area. Gullotti really makes this date go and he is sorely missed around here. I have yet to see The Fringe without Gullotti in the drum chair.

[HutchFan]

Back on my turntable:

Stan Kenton - The Comprehensive Kenton (Capitol, 2 LPs)

Lately, I've been listening to quite a bit of Kenton, trying to get a better handle on his body of work.  For me, it's (mostly) unexplored territory.  Just curiosity, I guess, even if I don't feel like I have a all that much natural affinity for Kenton's music.  . . .  But maybe that will come with time and repeated hearings.  Who knows?

 

[HutchFan]

Next up:

Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (Argo, 1961)
with Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier; mono pressing

I've waxed rhapsodic about this cover photo in the past, so I won't do it again.   

 

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, HutchFan said:

Back on my turntable:

Stan Kenton - The Comprehensive Kenton (Capitol, 2 LPs)

Lately, I've been listening to quite a bit of Kenton, trying to get a better handle on his body of work.  For me, it's (mostly) unexplored territory.  Just curiosity, I guess, even if I don't feel like I have a all that much natural affinity for Kenton's music.  . . .  But maybe that will come with time and repeated hearings.  Who knows?

 

It was very much an arranger's, and realizing that is how I finally made my peace with it. "Kenton" was ultimately a brand name, imo. So writers uber alles. 

Also...there came a point where the band begun to be made up of "true believers" as opposed to guys doing the gig. And for my tastes, that made a difference in the spirit of the music.

If Dick Shearer or John Worster are on the record, that's a go. Same with Willie Maiden, Ramon Lopez, or Dee Barton on drums. 

It's a mess, it is, but like any good mess, patience and curiosity are rewarded. 

[HutchFan]

33 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It was very much an arranger's, and realizing that is how I finally made my peace with it. "Kenton" was ultimately a brand name, imo. So writers uber alles. 

Yeah, that makes complete sense. 

Kenton's reliance on arrangers sort of reminds me of the way arrangers -- like, say, Neal Hefti, Quincy Jones, or Sammy Nestico -- influenced the sound of Basie's New Testament band.  But with Kenton the arrangers are even MORE central & influential.  With Basie, there's a through-line, a sonic consistency, regardless of the arranger.  Basie has his sound on piano and his approach to rhythm.  That signature is always there.  OTOH, with Kenton's band, it seems like the music is much more subject to change, depending on the arranger and/or composer.

 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Also...there came a point where the band begun to be made up of "true believers" as opposed to guys doing the gig. And for my tastes, that made a difference in the spirit of the music.

If Dick Shearer or John Worster are on the record, that's a go. Same with Willie Maiden, Ramon Lopez, or Dee Barton on drums. 

Interesting that you say that.  The record that prompted this splash-about in the Kenton pool is Live at Brigham Young University from 1971.  It's definitely late-in-the-game "true believer" stuff.  Lots of Willie Maiden (as soloist and arranger). And Ramon Lopez too.

You hipped me to the Redlands University record, and I like that one.  But the BYU album is the one that really grabbed my ear -- especially the Latin-flavored pieces like "Malaga" and "Macumba Suite."

 

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

It's a mess, it is, but like any good mess, patience and curiosity are rewarded. 

 

[JSngry]

Bill Mathieu's one album for Kenton is a motherfucker!

 

[HutchFan]

6 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Bill Mathieu's one album for Kenton is a motherfucker!

O.K.  I'll check it out!   Thanks.

 

[JSngry]

Also, you might enjoy knowing about Mathieu in general. Pretty interesting guy, actually. 

[jazzcorner]

12 hours ago, HutchFan said:

But with Kenton the arrangers are even MORE central & influential. 

I do support that. I came to Kenton via his great 1950s orchestra and the Capitol issues. He himself was also a good arranger:

- Portrais & Sketches of Standards 

- Kenton presents (with Art Pepper)

- New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm

- Contemporary Concepts and the great

- Showcase (with Holman & Russo arranging)

This period ended with "Back To Balboa" IMO  & I lost him when the 'Neophonic Era' began with the Mellophoniums and that bombastic Wagner Interpretation.

Yes he was a restless searcher as DB printed it.

The recent discovered 1952 Stereo tracks from  The Blue Note Club are again a highlight for me. What a Band with all the later West Coast stars. Among my more than 100 Kenton Items the 1950s are the best sounding Items for me.

 

Here is something extra

Edited November 28, 2023 by jazzcorner
pictures added

[Brad]

[John Tapscott]

1 hour ago, jazzcorner said:

I do support that. I came to Kenton via his great 1950s orchestra and the Capitol issues. He himself was also a good arranger:

- Portrais & Sketches of Standards 

- Kenton presents (with Art Pepper)

- New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm

- Contemporary Concepts and the great

- Showcase (with Holman & Russo arranging)

This period ended with "Back To Balboa" IMO  & I lost him when the 'Neophonic Era' began with the Mellophoniums and that bombastic Wagner Interpretation.

Yes he was a restless searcher as DB printed it.

The recent discovered 1952 Stereo tracks from  The Blue Note Club are again a highlight for me. What a Band with all the later West Coast stars. Among my more than 100 Kenton Items the 1950s are the best sounding Items for me.

 

Here is something extra

👍Yes, I have the Shearer recording. It's wild and wooly, mostly in a good way. Not as polished as the Kenton Orchestra. 

Listened to this one lately. The 1956 Kenton Orchestra was a rather incredible collection of talent, never to be quite matched by any subsequent Kenton Orchestra.  

Edited November 28, 2023 by John Tapscott

[soulpope]

On 11/26/2023 at 5:48 PM, Pim said:

so what’s better than a Mal Waldron Quartet? A super quartet! This one’s among their best: Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy playing with a killer rhythm section with Reggie Workman on bass and Eddie Moore on drums. Cheapest copy is 12 euros in Discogs. Sometimes happiness is cheap!

Good deal .... tw based on the class of the musicians involved this release left me a little underwhelmed ....

[soulpope]

16 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Next up:

Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (Argo, 1961)
with Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier; mono pressing

Outstanding ....

[HutchFan]

Now:

Jarrett's American Quartet at the top of their game.  My LP is a 1980s MCA reissue.

 

Earlier this morning:

I LOVE Quincy's arrangement of Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."  Quincy makes the song's roots in the black church much more clear compared to S&G's version.  Those choir-like trombone voicings!  Yowza!  And amazing singing by Valerie Simpson. . . . I think this LP is right up there with Quincy's very best records.  And, incidentally, the AQ of the vinyl is superb -- just like the music.

 

[HutchFan]

32 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Outstanding ....

Yes.  Absolutely.

 

[JSngry]

She's a gem! Have you checked out her solo albums, or Ashford & Simpson? 

[HutchFan]

10 minutes ago, JSngry said:

She's a gem! Have you checked out her solo albums, or Ashford & Simpson? 

Not really.  I know A&S wrote "California Soul" -- because Gerald Wilson's version of it is a favorite of mine.  And I know the hit "Solid" from the 80s.  That's about it.

What would you recommend as a starting point?

 

[clifford_thornton]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:04 AM, Clunky said:

Interesting I haven't heard Tristano in Masayuki's sound ...only the that of an angle grinder.  Kidding aside his music on "Tread on sure Ground" is very fine. Cinedelic Italy have reissued this on vinyl (Juno, Soundohm etc). Pressing is excellent IMO and way way better than I was expecting. Cool JoJo sounds positively mainstream from the clips I've heard by comparison. 

yeah, it depends on the band/concept. He had very discrete approaches within his musical universe, discarding what was no longer useful. Jeff Parker seems to me to have distilled the Bauer/Tristano approach and the drone music Takayanagi was making on Action Direct into a pretty unique sound, especially as a solo player. I can't think of too many other artists who've picked up on Takayanagi's worlds so clearly and taken them into another direction.

And yeah, Independence: Tread on Sure Ground is a great record. I have the 1980s Union pressing which used to be fairly cheap... not sure whether Cinedelic is legit but at least if it sounds good that's something. I know Jeff has an original 1970 pressing of that record, which is very tough to come by.

[JSngry]

24 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Not really.  I know A&S wrote "California Soul" -- because Gerald Wilson's version of it is a favorite of mine.  And I know the hit "Solid" from the 80s.  That's about it.

What would you recommend as a starting point?

 

They wrote a lot of hits!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Ashford_%26_Simpson

Try starting with Valerie's two solo spots; they are both very good 

Any good Best Of will get you a representative Ashford & Simpson start. From there, explore at your own pace. 

[HutchFan]

5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Try starting with Valerie's two solo spots; they are both very good 

Any good Best Of will get you a representative Ashford & Simpson start. From there, explore at your own pace. 

Thanks.   

 

[soulpope]

33 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Thanks.   

Regarding Ashford & Simpson .... :

[jazzcorner]

3 hours ago, John Tapscott said:

Listened to this one lately. The 1956 Kenton Orchestra was a rather incredible collection of talent, never to be quite matched by any subsequent Kenton Orchestra.  

Yep! One of several concerts in Germany. Have it taped from the radio

Others are

Live at Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg   1956/04       Sound of Yesteryear

Kenton in Stockholm       1956  Swedish Radio Years

More interesting are the recordings from his first European Tour 1953 including 

Concert in Wiesbaden     1953  Astral Jazz

Artistry in Paris    1953  Jasmine (2)

live in Munich 1953-Deutsches Museum        1953  Sounds of Yesteryear

and on tape / cassette:

 

Kenton,Stan RB Rias        1953/08/27 CD-R           Berlin,Sportpal      USA          Holman/Schildkraut/Childers

Kenton,Stan RB Rias        1953/08/28 7"(2)           Berlin USA          Christy,June

Edited November 28, 2023 by jazzcorner
more text

[HutchFan]

Now spinning:

Willie Humphrey - New Orleans Clarinet (Smoky Mary)

Joseph Butler's singing is featured on three of this album's cuts, and it always makes me laugh.  Naturally, Armstrong is a huge influence, but -- believe it or not -- Butler's phrasing mostly reminds me of comedian Tracy Morgan.

 

For example:

Hear what I'm talkin' about? 

 

Sorta related: A few years ago, there was talk of Tracy Morgan starring in a Louis Armstrong biopic.  Here's an article about it from 2021.  Anyone know if anything came of it?

 

Edited November 28, 2023 by HutchFan

[sidewinder]

Thad Jones 'Mad Thad' (Japanese Period)

[HutchFan]