What vinyl are you spinning right now??

[HutchFan]

Just pulled two jazz LPs from my shelf that feature large ensembles.

Now playing:

Mike Gibbs - Directs The only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra (Bronze UK, 1975)

 

Next it will be:

Quincy Jones - Gula Matari (A&M, 1970)

 

[JSngry]

7 hours ago, HutchFan said:

 

Quincy Jones - Gula Matari (A&M, 1970)

 

Walking In Space was such a big hit, and I totally get why, but from a "jazz" perspective...this one is better? 

[HutchFan]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

Walking In Space was such a big hit, and I totally get why, but from a "jazz" perspective...this one is better? 

I don't think Gula Matari is an especially "jazzy" -- as in jazz solos -- sort of record, even though the band is stocked with ridiculously good soloists and there's some terrific soloing.  The music is fundamentally about Quincy's skills as an arranger.

It's been a long time since I listened to Walking in Space -- but I think both records work similarly. Both are reminiscent of his soundtrack work as much as they're about "Jazz." 

For example, the way Quincy re-imagines "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as something coming out of a southern church reminds me (at times) of his music for In the Heat of the Night.

In any case, it's terrific music -- even if it's more about vibe than about soloists. And, while I'm listening, Quincy can (and often does!) make me think things like: "Damn, the way Q blends those four trombones togther sounds soooo good!  Is there a bass trombone in there?!?!  Because I've never heard nothin' like that!"

I suppose I didn't answer your question!  I'm not sure which record I prefer more or which is jazzier. I'd need to revisit Walking in Space.

 

EDIT: I just finished re-listening to Walking in Space.  My impressions: Gula Matari is a more ambitious (and more interesting) record; it aims much higher than WiS.  Quincy wrote "Gula Matari," a 13-minute long piece inspired by Africa for the album. There's nothing comparable on WiS.

So Gula Matari . . . less pop vibes. More ambitious in scope. Not necessarily more jazz (well, maybe some more), but a better, more satisfying record -- in this listener's opinion.

My 2 cents.

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by HutchFan

[Gheorghe]

19 hours ago, Pim said:

I'm a bit too late in the hole vinyl race. I don't have any original Blue Note record and I am curious to hear one in good condition. I am not in the financial position to pay a thousand euros for a single LP nor am I interested in doing so. The 3000 pounds True Blue copy: that's what I spend on vinyl in 3 years..... The two single LP's I spent most money on were Nathan Davis' Jazz Concert at a Benedictine Monastery and Mal Waldron's Spanish Bitch.

I do have some older Blue Note records: a Liberty pressing of Jackie McLean's 'Bout Soul and an early 70's copy of Lee Morgan's last album. I have to say they sound amazing. Also a near mint copy of Lee Morgan's The Gigolo early 70's US press that sounds flawless. I do love the idea that something that old could still sound so beautiful. My oldest LP is a Gerry Mulligan mono pressing from the Netherlands from 1956. I always think: my mom and dad were 5 and 6 years old when this was pressed. And who has owned it since then?

But with Blue Note vinyl I mostly own Japanese versions and those pressings sound so incredibly good to me. Especially those King pressings are really up into that Tone Poet league. I bought most of those Japanese pressings for something around 30 euros a piece which is of course more expensive than a cd but I am more a vinyl than a cd guy (though I still own more cd's than lp's).

I am also not a pressing fetishist or real audiphile. One pressing is good enough for me (as it sounds good of course). Not interested in buying multiple pressings from the same record as there's so much music yet to explore. One exception are my Blue Note 75th series of which I really dislike the sound. I gladly sold my copies of Bobby Hutcherson's Happenings and Hendersons Mode for Joe for 50 euros combined and be happy to replace them. I only have one of them left: Free for All by Art Blakey which sounds louzy as well.

I´m not a collector just a listener when I´m not playing , so I´m not really conscious about the provenience of the stuff I own. I have BN-LP´s that I bought while I was a youngster, so I have both Ornette Coleman "Golden Circle Vol 1 and 2", I have Coltrane´s "Blue Train" and  I have the Bud Powell´s Vol. 1,2, 4 and 5 all as old BN LP´s but never thought about it as something special. They just there. 
But BN was slowly disappearing then. I had heard that at some point Horace Silver remained the only active recording musician for BN and each year dozens of classic albums went OOP. There were sometimes those hidous big instrumentation crap that BN made after 1972 or so, but it didn´t sell well and who wanted to hear electric jazz had better artists and labels for that style. 

I love a lot of classic BN albums but one thing I might say is that there were too many records of certain styles that are quite similar , I mean hundreds of typical hard bop albums in the 50´s and early 60´s , and of the typical 60´s trademark with Boogaloo and Organ, too many Grant Green albums, but in any case really important albums of the modernists of the 60´s , young Freddie, Wayne, Herbie, Tony, McCoy and so, and all the "Free Jazz" albums of Ornette, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor..... and Sam Rivers of course....., that´s what I want to hear from BN. 

17 hours ago, Pim said:

This afternoons playlist before going out for a walk with my two boys. 
 

This Cookers album is so freakin good. I hate the fact that I had to miss these guys in Rotterdam. They were about to perform there and then there was COVID. I never got the chance to see them

@david weissif you ever got the chance please visit us in Holland! Belgium or the western part of German would be fine as well. I’d take a long ride to see you guys perform. 

Yeah, those first two are BN albums I can enjoy (no Alligator Boogaloo type stuff 😉 ) , and I´m also angry I could not see the Cookers. 

14 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Next up -

Atlantic black label.

Teddy Charles was really fascinating for me from a very early age on. I thought he is black like the players he played with (the Wardell Gray album, the Miles Davis/Lee Konitz album, and above all a stuff I had on a strange Davis Sampler when I was a kid, which had the Collector´s Items session and the Debut Session "Blue Moods". I loved that Blue Moods allthough it is more a dark, brooding sound record, but with three of my SUPER-HEROES of my early youth: MILES, MINGUS, ELVIN,,,

Is Word from Bird something dedicated to Bird, is it Charles´ compositions or is it Bird tunes. Teddy Charles I think had a very very short active recording career, I think all I know from his was in the first half of the fifties. 

His vibe solos in the double time part of "The Man I Love" and his solo on "Tunisia" on Side B of the "Miles Davis/Lee Konitz" are genial........incredible !

[sidewinder]

Track 1 ‘Word From Bird’ is not a dedication to Parker but is apparently inspired by something of a recurrent obsession with the motif to ‘Parker’s Mood’ which apparently came out of the blue to Charles and lingered on. The full story is in the sleeve notes. The rest of the album is unrelated to this.

Edited August 3, 2023 by sidewinder

[Rabshakeh]

[Rabshakeh]

[sidewinder]

15 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Just pulled two jazz LPs from my shelf that feature large ensembles.

Now playing:

Mike Gibbs - Directs The only Chrome-Waterfall Orchestra (Bronze UK, 1975)

 

Next it will be:

Quincy Jones - Gula Matari (A&M, 1970)

 

I have some of the tracks from that one on a budget UK Quincy Jones A&M compilation. Also ‘Smackwater Jack’. Didn’t Jones farm out his arrangements at that time to Billy Byers and others?

The Mike Gibbs, I recall, got pretty good critical reception here in the UK when it came out and also sold quite well. 

[Pim]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

Are you trying to get met jealous with that P3 or what? 😜

[Rabshakeh]

11 minutes ago, Pim said:

Are you trying to get met jealous with that P3 or what? 😜

😎

[sidewinder]

According to the Enja sleeve says DMM but sounds pretty damn good to my ears.

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

Harry South Big Band - Presenting [Mercury, UK 1966]

So good

[sidewinder]

50 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Harry South Big Band - Presenting [Mercury, UK 1966]

So good

London Jazz Collector has a post on this at the moment.

Personally, I think that the music on the two 4CD sets is stronger, on the whole.

Must admit though that it is a while since I last heard that album so another one to dig out..

Edited August 3, 2023 by sidewinder

[HutchFan]

4 hours ago, sidewinder said:

I have some of the tracks from that one on a budget UK Quincy Jones A&M compilation. Also ‘Smackwater Jack’. Didn’t Jones farm out his arrangements at that time to Billy Byers and others?

I'd be very surprised if Byers did the arranging on Gula Matari.  The music sounds soooo distinctively Quincy Jones-like.  I'd be less surprised if Byers helped out on Walking in Space, although -- even on that record -- Byers must've really studied Q's sound to replicate it.

 

4 hours ago, sidewinder said:

The Mike Gibbs, I recall, got pretty good critical reception here in the UK when it came out and also sold quite well. 

It's a darn good record.  I really like it.  

Like Ardley's Kaleidoscope of Rainbows, you can hear the influence of Minimalism in Chrome-Waterfall (composers like Reich, Glass, and such).  Very different than anything you'd hear from a jazz band on this side of the pond, AFAIK.

 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, HutchFan said:

I'd be very surprised if Byers did the arranging on Gula Matari.  The music sounds soooo distinctively Quincy Jones-like.  I'd be less surprised if Byers helped out on Walking in Space, although -- even on that record -- Byers must've really studied Q's sound to replicate it.

They Quincy/Byers thing was mostly done during the Mercuy years, and credit of some sort ws usually included in the fine print somehere. At least from what I've seen.

As for Walking In Space, the only other arrangement (credited) is Bob James!

[HutchFan]

29 minutes ago, JSngry said:

As for Walking In Space, the only other arrangement (credited) is Bob James!

That tracks.

 

[Pim]

So today my Japanese order arrived after only 3 days. Gave them all a wash first on my good old Knösti washing machine. I always find it a very meditative occupation. Sometimes my wife comes in with a look that is somewhere between pity and diss appointment like I am some kind of compulsive maniac… maybe she’s right but anyway:

I gave these two a first spin and man they sound amazing. I love Japanese vinyl. A nice detail on the Pepper: it appeared to be the limited edition instead of the regular edition as it was advertised. Now I am going on holiday to France the day after tomorrow and I am not able to spin some more. I thought I might suggest to stay home but then decided these records were not worth a divorce. I’ll be back for the rest in two weeks

[HutchFan]

4 minutes ago, Pim said:

Sometimes my wife comes in with a look that is somewhere between pity and diss appointment like I am some kind of compulsive maniac… maybe she’s right . . .

I think this is something that many of us here on the board have experienced as well!  

 

[BillF]

1 hour ago, Pim said:

👍

 

 

👍

[Gheorghe]

12 hours ago, Pim said:

So today my Japanese order arrived after only 3 days. Gave them all a wash first on my good old Knösti washing machine. I always find it a very meditative occupation. Sometimes my wife comes in with a look that is somewhere between pity and diss appointment like I am some kind of compulsive maniac… maybe she’s right but anyway:

I gave these two a first spin and man they sound amazing. I love Japanese vinyl. A nice detail on the Pepper: it appeared to be the limited edition instead of the regular edition as it was advertised. Now I am going on holiday to France the day after tomorrow and I am not able to spin some more. I thought I might suggest to stay home but then decided these records were not worth a divorce. I’ll be back for the rest in two weeks

Interesting story about your wife 😄
Well, I am a maniac only when playing with damn good musicians. My "collection" habits are very very loose. I listen only for the music and the sources come from anywhere they come from, old LPs, CD´s bought in the early 2000´s and some new ones, but without "washing" them, I never heard about it, but I´m very very loose about things like that and don´t care very much. 

I usually listen to one certain record at some point, maybe each late afternoon in the cold anotimp after coffee, and the only thing is she askes me to not spin it too loud. But somehow I learned to hear quite well even if it is not as loud as on stage, I only have to close my eyes and don´t let anything disturb my concentration....

My wife sometimes gets dissappointed if I play too much, and then still want to go out to listen to other boys or jam with them....., she often comes with me but if it´s freezing or raining and makes it hard time for the cigarette in front of the club door during intermission..... 

That Art Pepper thing of Vanguard: Well fantastic trio with some of the best musicians in NY during that time. 
But I wasn´t really happy with the sound of Art Pepper. It´s too piercing, I mean I LOVE let´s say Jackie McLean, Eric Dolphy, Arthur Blythe , but this somehow causes pain in my ear and sometimes sounds orientationless. 

I think there was also an original titled "My Friend Stan". But sometimes Art Pepper´s compositions are just too long, too many bars. You get a hard time to improvise on a tune if it has "felt 320 bars" . I get easy along even with longer tunes like the changes of "cheek to cheek" which has 72 bars and don´t have to look at the music , but this is just too long and I don´t think Art Pepper was the very best composer. It sounds more "written on paper just to be written"....sorry....

[david weiss]

On 8/2/2023 at 8:37 AM, Pim said:

This afternoons playlist before going out for a walk with my two boys. 
 

This Cookers album is so freakin good. I hate the fact that I had to miss these guys in Rotterdam. They were about to perform there and then there was COVID. I never got the chance to see them

@david weissif you ever got the chance please visit us in Holland! Belgium or the western part of German would be fine as well. I’d take a long ride to see you guys perform. 

Hi Pim, Glad you are enjoying the record. If I remember correctly, I think covid cancelled us in Rotterdam in 2020. I guess they owe us a gig. We have a few dates in Europe this coming November but nothing yet in your neck of the woods. Hopefully next year.....

 

[mjazzg]

 

Egisto Macchi - Gangsters '70, ost [Cinedelic Records, Italy 2023]

I'd love to know more about this soundtrack. Some great free-ish Jazz throughout. Only person credited other than Macchi is Walter Branchi which was a recommendation in itself.

Paging @Teasing the Korean, any ideas?

Purchased solely on speck off the description on Honest Jon's website. 

[Teasing the Korean]

19 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Egisto Macchi - Gangsters '70, ost [Cinedelic Records, Italy 2023]

I'd love to know more about this soundtrack. Some great free-ish Jazz throughout. Only person credited other than Macchi is Walter Branchi which was a recommendation in itself.

Paging @Teasing the Korean, any ideas?

Purchased solely on speck off the description on Honest Jon's website. 

Don't know this!!!

[mjazzg]

11 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Don't know this!!!

I've found out more about the film but not about the soundtrack, streamable here if you are at all interested

https://cinedelic.bandcamp.com/album/gangsters-70

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

I've found out more about the film but not about the soundtrack, streamable here if you are at all interested

https://cinedelic.bandcamp.com/album/gangsters-70

Thank you!