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The John Klemmer Quartets


mgraham333

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I noticed this disc because of it's packaging--another one of those Verve digipaks with the death grip on the disc. I picked it up and read the liner notes and decided to take a chance as I was unfamiliar with any of the musicians.

Varying quartets of tenor sax, drums, bass, and guitar or piano. The tracks with the guitar reminded me of Sonny Rollins' The Bridge (another recent purchase).

After a few spins I caught myself whistling the melodies from a couple of tracks.

Sometimes gambles pay off. I'd recommend this one.

Standout tracks: 1, 3, 6

Edited by mgraham333
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I've been enjoying this one too. Klemmer truly had a style of his own even at this beginning point of his career, with traces of other Chicago great tenors like Eddie Harris and (perhaps?) Von Freeman.

Compositions are interesting and creative and it's fascinating to hear Klemmer's writing in light of the path he has taken over the past 35 years.

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WOW!!!

Go get this! In-friggin-CREDIBLE!!! Just finished listening to this, and there is just so much GOOD on this album! It sure doesn't hurt having Jodie Christian in the piano chair; his soulful backing is just as sweet here as it is on all those Eddie Harris records.

What to make of Sam Thomas? Was he ever heard from again? His guitar-playing is so wonderfully Monk-ish, playing behind the beat & all.

But the MAJOR props gotta go to Klemmer. He just tore it UP on "Will 'n Jug." YOW! Sounded like he was having his own tenor battle against himself there for a while!

Highly HEAVILY recommended!!!

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:excited: Whattya doin' just sittin' here reading this?!?!? Didn't you just hear what I said?!??! Or read what I just wrote?!?!? Or somethin'?!?!!? GO GET IT!!! NOW!!! :g:excited::g

"Will 'n Jug" just set my house on fire, and I can't even blame it on the greeeeeeaze!!!! :wub::wub:

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  • 8 months later...

Just picked this one up, and it's fine indeed. Chuck commented elsewhere about how great Wilbur Campbell is on this record, and I have to agree - for me, he's the highlight of the record.

What struck me was how Booker Ervin-esque Klemmer sounds at times. Who knew? I'll never hear BAREFOOT BALLET the same way again!

One question - why the hell did they reverse Sides One & Two from what the original album liners show? Was the LP like that too, or was somebody just not paying attention?

But yeah, a good record, and some GREAT Wilbur Campbell! :tup

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I saw this a few weeks ago and picked it up because of the intriguing look. I didn't end up buying it because I had never heard of ANYONE on the disc, which doesn't really happen very often anymore.

I did a search on AMG when I got home and Klemmer came up as a new age musician or something, which made it even more intriguing when recalling how he was described on the album cover...

Next time I see this, I just might pick it up.

You guys have done a great job selling Valdo Williams around here too.

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eh! Valdo is COOL! B)

seriously, the Klemmer LPR is very nice. Nothing like the latter carreer New Age blahblah (of which I didn't even know myself until much later).

half of the tracks feature a tenor/guitar quartet and really stand out (as mgraham pointed out). Nothing to kill your neighbours over fer sure, but a hell of a nice disk to spin every now and then.

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... Nothing to kill your neighbours over fer sure, but a hell of a nice disk to spin every now and then...

Doesn't that depend on:

this

this

this

and this

:D

:g

sure, but those are all neighbOrs, I was talking about neighbOUrs! ;)

I don't have either of those (I have Nachbarn), but I wouldn't kill them either ;)

my advice: just get the disk, it's cheap, play it, then dig it or dump it.

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Wow. Great links dude. I don't think I ever read any of those! B3-er, I'm glad you are living in your own house now... After watching The Salton Sea, I have had a serious fear of meth addicts.

I picked up a kid about 1.5 hours outside of Wilmington, NC a few summers ago at a rest stop. I normally don't pick up hitch-hikers, but felt extremely atruistic that day. Turns out his girlfriend had died on meth two days before and he left her in a dumpster because he didn't know what else to do. He had quit doing meth a couple of weeks before, but she couldn't stop. An interesting kid, 18 years old, all the way from Portland OR, who had seen more than I ever hope to.

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