BFT 33 1/3 Answers

[randyhersom]

1. Mary Lou Williams - Pale Blue from Free Spirits (Steeplechase 1975) Mary Lou piano, Buster Williams bass, Micker Roker

I remember when this album came out it sounded so contemporary for someone who had been recording for 35 years. It still does, and yes, Buster Williams is all over this one.

2. Oregon - Yet To Be from In Concert (Vanguard 1975) Ralph Towner piano, Glen Moore bass, Paul McCandless oboe, Colin Walcott percussion. This group along with Keith Jarrett was responsible for me branching out beyond rock to jazz when I read reviews in Rolling Stone and checked out the albums. Although Ralph Towner's 12 string guitar playing is what it love most about Oregon, this piano feature somehow got to be my favorite Oregon piece. There's a great deal of virtuosity managed with a gentleness that doesn't draw attention to the playing, just the music. Soaring was a great word to describe the theme.

3. Sumi Tonooka - Seriously Speaking from Taking Time (Candid 1990) Sumi piano, Craig Handy tenor sax, Rufus Reid bass, Akira Tana drums. I like this more than many of you did. Sumi is a fine Philly pianist who I got to meet during my time at the college radio station, then a couple years later she played a magical set in a Philly bar on Race Street in duet with a singer who may have been Rachelle Ferrell. I remember reacting to Gary Thomas playing sax with Herbie Hancock much as Jsngry did to Craig Handy here, listening to him hold back more than play. I don't reall feel that way about this track. Subsequent listening convinced me that there are lots of tracks that would showcase Sumi's playing better, but I like the Maiden Voyage influenced composition and the way Handy lets go in his solo. Google reveals that she's coming out with two albums soon, one with her own group and one co-led with Erica Lindsay.

4. The Visitors - The Juggler from In My Youth (Muse 1972) Earl Grubbs tenor sax, Carl Grubbs alto sax, Sid Simmons piano, Stanley Clarke bass, John Goldsmith drums. Maybe the most bright and optomistic piece of music ever to exhibit such a direct Coltrane influence. The Grubbs brothers were Naima Coltrane's cousins and fine players in their own right.

5. George Adams and Dannie Richmond - Jooboubie from Hand to Hand (Soul Note 1980) George Adams tenor sax, flute, Jimmy Knepper trombone, Hugh Lawson piano, Mike Richmond bass, Dannie Richmond drums. I first came to know this composition as Jaboobie's March from Handscapes by the Piano Choir. I'd love to have that on CD as my LP is no longer playable. When I heard this one I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with the tune.

6. Nathan Davis Evolution from Two Originals originally Happy Girl (Polygram 1965) Nathan tenor sax, flute, Woody Shaw trumpet, Larry Young piano, Jimmy Woode bass Billy Brooks drums, Beginning a kind of subtheme here with a track from BFT's favorite obscure albums, which makes it a lot less obscure in context. It was chosen for the dramatic quality of it's theme in order to lead into the next track.

7. Don Grolnick - Taglioni from The Complete Blue Note Recordings, originally Weaver of Dreams (Blue Note 1989) Don piano, Randy Brecker trumpet, Barry Rogers trombone, Michael Brecker tenor sax, Bob Mintzer bass clarinet, Dave Holland bass, Peter Erskine drums. More drama from a moonlighting session musician, and a highlight in the discography of many of the sidemen. You wouldn't be prepared for this if you just looked at the names in the band.

8. John Coltrane - Living Space from The Complete Impulse Recordings of the Classic Quartet (Impulse 1965) John Coltrane soprano saxes, McCoy Tyner piano, Jimmy Garrison bass, Elvin Jones drums. I first heard this great and beautiful piece of music as it was first released, with harp and strings sweetening added on by Alice Coltrane afterward. That was a great piece of music I'd like to hear again, but I'm quite happy to hear it as Trane left it. Coltrane's need and will to create music was greater than most anyone the world had ever seen, only Charlie Parker comes to mind as a comparison.

9. Michael Bisio - Golden Blue from Undulations (OmniTone 1996) Michael bass, Ed Pias drums, Rob Blakeslee trumpet, Jim Nolet viola.

When I first heard this I thought "a lot of people followed Trane, but damn few followed him here". Here was Living Space which I immediately thought of as I was hearing this. I originally meant to have this precede Living Space, but I started to hear Taglioni there so I left Bisio in the unenviable position of following Trane on the bill. He performed admirably.

A note on sound. Tracks 3 and 9 came from Emusic downloads burned to CD. They sound fine to me but many consider them inferior so be advised that the official CD releases may sound better.

Edited March 11, 2006 by randyhersom

[mikeweil]

1. Mary Lou Williams - Pale Blue from Free Spirits (Steeplechase 1975) Mary Lou piano, Buster Williams bass, Micker Roker

I remember when this album came out it sounded so contemporary for someone who had been recording for 35 years. It still does, and yes, Buster Williams is all over this one.

These were about my thoughts after I had taken the LP home and listened to it. Duke Ellington is the only other musician I can think of that embraced the whole range of styles from traditional to freedom in such a natural way. I feel ashamed I didn't recognize this; I only parted with the LP as the CD had so many alternates - great alternates showing her skills as an improviser - but I'll never part with the CD.

[mikeweil]

7. Don Grolnick - Taglioni from The Complete Blue Note Recordings, originally Weaver of Dreams (Blue Note 1989) Don piano, Randy Brecker trumpet, Barry Rogers trombone, Michael Brecker tenor sax, Bob Mintzer bass clarinet, Dave Holland bass, Peter Erskine drums. More drama from a moonlighting session musician, and a highlight in the discography of many of the sidemen. You wouldn't be prepared for this if you just looked at the names in the band.

So some didn't pick this up back then 'cause they expected something esle - why didn't they have a listen? The down beat review made me take a listen in the shop - all of these were great players I knew, and with Grolnick, whom I knew nothing about except that he was busy as a producer and had been on the first Brecker Brothers record ...... This guy has nothing to loose, I thought - and he did what he wanted, in a personal way, although I hear quite a bit of Mingus and many others in this album. Too bad he passed away so soon, before he could really explore all of his jazz ideas. And his choice of sidemen was exquisite!

Edited March 12, 2006 by mikeweil

[JSngry]

So some didn't pick this up back then 'cause they expected something esle - why didn't they have a listen?

In my case, it was because there was too much else at the that I knew I wanted to hear. Can't hear it all at once, so choices are made along the way.

That's what I like about this board in general and about the BFT in particular - it gives me a chance to correct my past mistakes!

[JSngry]

9. Michael Bisio - Golden Blue from Undulations (OmniTone 1996) Michael bass, Ed Pias drums, Rob Blakeslee trumpet, Jim Nolet viola.

That was a very enjoyable cut for me. Rob spent a few years here in Dallas, and we had a fun and satisfying music relationship while he was here. As is my wont, I lost touch with him after he moved away (for better or worse, I'm very much an "in the moment" guy when it comes to maintaining contacts), but it's good to hear him sounding this strong and fresh. That's very much in keeping with how he played when he was here, and very much in keeping with the few things of his I've heard since he left.

[couw]

4. The Visitors - The Juggler from In My Youth (Muse 1972) Earl Grubbs tenor sax, Carl Grubbs alto sax, Sid Simmons piano, Stanley Clarke bass, John Goldsmith drums. Maybe the most bright and optomistic piece of music ever to exhibit such a direct Coltrane influence. The Grubbs brothers were Naima Coltrane's cousins and fine players in their own right.

I do not have this one anywhere after all, but there is something like it that I do have and that has been stuck in my brain for a couple of days. I still haven't found out what it is. Ah well. Time to listen more and hum less.

[mikeweil]

In my case, it was because there was too much else at the that I knew I wanted to hear. Can't hear it all at once, so choices are made along the way.

That's what I like about this board in general and about the BFT in particular - it gives me a chance to correct my past mistakes!

I sure can relate to that!

[randyhersom]

Yeah, I noticed you and he were both on Dennis Gonzalez's Little Toot.

[king ubu]

Mike, I totally agree with you on Grolnick! I picked up his 2CD BN set long after it had been OOP (it was on my radar, but I became aware of it only after it went OOP, and of course it was the sidemen that made me put it on the search list...)

I immensely enjoy the two albums whenever I play them (not nearly as often as I should, though), and it's indeed a loss that he died so early. The Mingus influence I heard, too, but then he does streamline it a bit (who wonders, with those sidemen...), but that makes for all the greater effect, since there's plenty of soul in this music, only it's not always noticeable on the outside.

Great choice, that one, Randy!