Jump to content

BFT 38 - Disc 2 (Discussion)


Recommended Posts

Track 1: Ah, a nice Blue Note groove! Sounds like a Jackie Mac quartet date with Walter Davis Jr. at the piano. Sounds like Louis Hayes at the drums, which means this could very well be a Cannonball date. If so, maybe that’s Bobby Timmons at the piano? Can’t wait to find out, though!

Track 2: Arrrgggh!!!! This is some Horace Silver group, and I’m gonna kick myself for not identifying this! I thought I had this CD, but I checked every one of my CDs with Horace on it, and I can’t find this song. NO wait, that’s Hank! Very definitely Hank! But when did the two of them record after the 50’s? Cuz this is definitely from the 60’s. GRRRRRR!!!!! I HATE when this happens!!!! SOMEBODY please post the answer to this one. HURRY!!! :g

Track 3: Drat, I hate not being able to identify Monk tunes by name. Sounds like recent vintage, which means it isn’t Monk himself. Hey, is this from that Walter Davis album that also has “Green Chimneys” on it? Eh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s Charlie Rouse doing a tribute to his old boss. I s’pose this could be anyone.

Track 4: Ack! Another tune I should know! I love the interplay between the clarinet & the piano. “Street of Dreams?” Gad, this is embarrassing!

Track 5: Is that an electric piano I hear? Wish I could get some quiet around here so I could hear this stuff better! By gum, it sure is! If CTI were still in business, I’d say it was of that caliber. No clue as to any of the players, but the drummer sure sounds like DeJohnette.

Track 6: Well, this sounds like it could be the exact same group as that on track 5. Heck, it almost sounds like the exact same song!

Track 7: WTF????? NEXT!!!!

Track 8: VERRRY cool groove! Almost reminds me of Eddie Harris’s original recording of “Freedom Jazz Dance!” Even sounds like Billy Higgins on the drums, too! Can’t wait to find out this one! I like how the piano lays out briefly during the sax solo. Sounds like Joe Henderson, or someone who idolizes the man!

Track 9: I like the sound of the piano. Dig that buildup in the intro! Sounds like a private recording from a gig Matt went to. Dig those descending chords over the rubato note. Very cool. Takes a while to get going, but I like the ominous feel to it. Would’ve like to have been there to see this one performed!

Track 10: Same band? Same gig? Either way, they’re kickin’ ass and takin’ names!!!

Really enjoyed this collection! Now to post this, hopefully someone’s posted the answer to #2, and I can commence the self-kicking! :g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 is not familiar, nor the players as far as I can tell. Some peculiar sounds in there in places. Is it a bass clarinet at the start? Musical saw later?!!! No, some sort of keyboard? :( An interesting piece though. NC

Tambourine intro to 8. The tune eludes me but maybe I've heard it before. NC again. All right.

Don't like 9 at all - NMCOT I'm afraid. No ideas whatsoever.

Last one - 10 - now this tune I know I've heard before but this version is unknown to me. Plenty of energy.

So I'm out with a whimper.

Thanks for this disc too, JC - I managed to get some here maybe but I'm sure I'll be kicking myself as usual when the proper answers are revealed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2. I can nail for sure - very familiar. Track 6 from this album

{{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} Can't believe I was so far off on the piano player!!!

I know an embrocation that's efficacious in every case. Don't overdo it! :g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2. I can nail for sure - very familiar. Track 6 from this album

{{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} Can't believe I was so far off on the piano player!!!

I know an embrocation that's efficacious in every case. Don't overdo it! :g

:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Track 1 - Definitely BN era Jackie Mac. Perhaps from The Connection? Doesn't sound like his usual BN piano cohort.

Track 2 - another BN gimme, its Hank.

Track 4 - I'm going to go out on a limb and recall (perhaps completely incorrectly) that Matt has at one time or another mentioned some level of respect for Woody Allen. Could this be him?

Remainder of the disc was much like Disc 1 - varied from "OK" to "not terribly interesting" and none of it really demanded multiple plays. :mellow:

but thanks for those two gimmes, it makes me feel like I'm almost good at this game. :g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thoughts upon first listening:

# 1: Jackie McLean and a Van Gelder recording, were my first thoughts. Yes, it is - I have that album. That pianist is interesting, but I find his hands somewhat disjointed - the right swings in a very concise hard bop manner, but his left feeds augmented chords that border on atonality. I listen to him once in a while, but can't warm up to this style. Jackie Mac sounds less flat than usual hear - the track title, "Time To Smile", is very appropriate.

# 2: Another van Gelder Recording? All pianists sound the same in his studio, attack-wise. Should be Freddie Hubbard on trumpet - okay we know you had the best chops in the 1960's amomng all trumpeters. Hank Mobley in good spirits blowing the tenor. Too lazy to look up the rest of the band etc. - I think I have that somewhere. Was this some download? Sounds shaky at times ..... Because of these effects on the recorded sound, I prefer a decent CD. Musically? I always found Freddie too flashy, and always loved Hank.

# 3: A Monk tune - Bright Mississippi - sounds almost like Monk - Sphere? Then it's Gary Bartz .... yeah, there are some signature Trane-inspired phrases. The rhythm sections swings like hell - like Monk's in the late 1960's. Kenny Barron's piano sound is rounder than Monk's, of course. The bassist is a little too much in front of the beat for my taste during his solo - oh, that glissando at the end suggests Ron Carter rather than Buster Williams. But the drummer could be Ben Riley. So, not Sphere. And not Bartz. Hmmm ....

# 4: "More Than You Know". I'm not that much of a clarinet fan - a very competent player, but I don't like his sound in the upper register. Dunno who this is. He's more advanced than the pianist, who should be some post-swing guy from the lyrical school. Well done, but NMCOT.

# 5: Back into the 1970's and the times of Rhodes sound and soulful grooves .... I never heard that before. Interesting theme, not average stuff, and ditto saxophonist. I like the pianist best here. He and the saxist have some good rapport. Would have liked a Rhodes solo than bass - too little ideas for the length of it, IMHO. Who is this?

# 6: Was hard pressed to push the skip button here - that's the type of stuff that doesn't inspire me anymore. Don't like the intonation of the saxist. Pianist' solo is full of Corea-isms. Yawn ..... been here before.

# 7: At last some interesting sounds here, some electronically altered accordion sound. Or keyboard generated? Again that type of sxist that rotates too much around his own instrument's tradition and technique. What does he want to say? As JSngry put it in one of the posts during the discussion of my previous BFT: Jazz for jazz's sake ...... That second soloist has a more interesting concept enhanced by that sound - reminds me of some of the devices Eddie Harris used .... well maybe I've just heard to many tenor saxophones. Rhodes is nice, too. No that's not a Rhodes - that other brand .... not sure: A Hohner Electra. Interesting .... Is that the saxist using that electronic sound? Like him better with this than à la naturale .....

# 8: Again, interesting, but I've really heard to many tenor saxists in that style ..... Theme has a nice Eddie Harris inspired twist. Well, they try some nice things, like that unexpected funk groove at the end. I would have dug this much more twenty years ago.

# 9: Sounds like a home made recording, judging from the room ambiance. Again, they are convinced by what they are doing, but don't inspire me any more ..... That abrupt ending is a drag ....

# 10: Same a remarks to previous track. It must have been fun to be there, and I'm sure I would have appreciated the music on this as well as on several other tracks much more, had I been there when it was recorded.

I'm curious about the names in the answers, that's for sure. Thanks much for the compilation.

p.s.: The theme should have to be about saxophones, methinks - that's why there were a few too many for me, here .... :g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2. I can nail for sure - very familiar. Track 6 from this album

{{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} {{{kick}}} Can't believe I was so far off on the piano player!!!

Simmer down, Al - Silver and Harris share the same roots, and Hank's tune sounds very Silverish, for sure - but you should have considered that Hubbard never recorded with a Silver Quintet ..... ;)

Edited by mikeweil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disc Two was very enjoyable. To my ears the focus seemed to be young saxophonists on the scene now. Although I listened to the entire disc at least two times, I had hoped to listen to several of the tracks again before posting my comments. Since I forgot to bring the disc to work with me today, however, I am just going to post my thoughts I wrote down previously. If I get a chance to listen again I will post follow up comments.

1. I hear traces of Jackie McLean, but I am not confident it is him. The first time I listened to it I thought I heard Phil Woods. Whoever it is, it is a solid straight ahead track featuring good playing by the entire quartet.

2. Classic hard bop, which I do not seem to listen to as often as I once did. The tenor saxophonist sounds like Hank Mobley and the snap in the drums makes me think of Billy Higgins. I can’t identify any of the musicians with certainty, but this is like staple food to me – always satisfying.

3. A Monk tune played by contemporary musicians. After they play the head it kind of loses some of the feel of a Monk tune. The tenor saxophonist was very impressive although I have no clue who he/she is. Another solid track.

4. Very nice relaxed quartet track featuring a clarinetist with an appealing tone. I can’t identify any of the personnel, but I enjoyed the track.

5. Familiar sounding young tenor. I am sure I have heard him/her. Joshua Redman came to mind once. There seems to be a revitalization of electric piano among younger musicians but I don’t always hear as much distinctiveness in the instrument as I do piano. I would not mind hearing more.

6. I am sure I have heard this track, but I am not sure where. I thought about Jimmy Greene who is one of my favorites of the younger saxophonists. I enjoyed the composition and the performance.

7. the saxophonist on this track is very good, but whatever that synthesized instrument is that soloed after the saxophonist was a little annoying. I am not one of those people that objects to all electric instruments, but I just did not get this one. The keyboard player came to mind. Both Donny McCaslin and Chris Potter came to mind.

8. The beginning of the track had a similar groove to “Freedom Jazz Dance. The saxophonist sounded like Michael Brecker.

9 & 10. The two tracks are from the same live recording. Initially Kurt Rosenwinkel came to mind. I enjoy Rosenwinkel mostly for some of the saxophonists that he has played with such as Mark Turner and Chris Cheek. I am not certain who the saxophonist is on this date. Decent track, but these are two of the tracks I had hoped to listen to a little closer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright, here's some impressions of disc two...

#1 Jackie Mac? Hmmm, what's this? Some early sixties Blue Note recording but I can't pin it down right now, might be from Freddie Redd's "Connection"? Anyway, I definitely have this and I like it!

Beautiful piano solo! Alto sounds a bit too sweet for my liking here, but it's never light (which is what I don't like about a lot of alto players).

Just found out it's indeed #4 of Redd's Connection album.

#2 Ok tune, more hardbop... I know this one as well but can't pin it down. Hmmmm, what's this again? There's an ugly phasing on the drums... is this from one of Mobley's Blue Note albums? Donald Byrd? Horace Silver?

#3 A Monk tune, quite obviously, and it sounds like it's indeed a Monk quartet playing here, or at least it sounds like Rouse. Bass sounds like a later recording - Sphere? Yes, sounds definitely not like a 60s recording, much more like it could be from one of Sphere's Elektra albums... piano is - as always on Monk covers - way too tame... even more obvious when comping than in solo. Nice tune, but all Monk covers are highly debatable, to say the least.

#4 I like a lot how this starts out! Makes me think of Fred Hersch (whom I don't know well enough yet - his Monk solo album I love, btw - but still it's debatable...!). Clarinet, great! "Street of Dreams"? Lovely tune! Very nice sound on clarinet... and I'm quite clueless here. My guess is this is quite a recent recording (despite the muffled piano sound - how come clarinet is captured so nicely and piano so un-nicely?).

#5 Fender rhodes? Nice! Bu I don't like how the tenor bends almost each note. Electric piano solo is nice. I do like this sound! I guess this is another younger band of players?

#6 Hmmm... another fairly recent recording, I assume. I'm a bit afraid to make any too outspoken comments now that I seem to have been to negative in my comments on disc one, already, but still... this fails to grab me. Tenor is nicer than on the last cut, but it's too light for my liking - the latin beat may be part of that. Pianist has listened to some Tyner.

I assume this is my problem, mainly, but nowadays that even stuff like Brötzmann is "classic", I often don't see the point in playing this kind of music. Not that I wouldn't listen to any contemporary mainstream players, but I just get more and more selective.

I hope this was a thoughtful enough comment.

#7 This starts out pretty nicely! And here's a tenor I enjoy quite some more. Also the bass/drum accompaniment is more varied. Good one!

Ah, there's that weird sound again, and the bass clarinet... what's this sound? Some analogue synth stuff?

#8 Things are getting better! ;-)

I like this groove quite a bit! Nice opening with just percussion and stummed bass.

#9 Weird recording mix here? A live recording - ah, yes, an audience recording... I can see how this builds and how there's some serious musicianship and development in there, but I'm not a fan of this guitar sound... sax was rather nice, though!

#10 Ah, another one by the same group - nice! I like this tune much better! Sounds slightly familiar, I think... nice ending for dsic two here!

Thanks for compiling these two discs, Matt!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, I see I nailed #1 and got close on #2... but I failed again miserably to recognize a familiar standard...

Maybe you should learn to play some of 'em ..... :P

I did, I did, but alas not nearly as much time at hand as I'd like... and no practising for over a year by now :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. This sounds like Jackie McLean and Sonny Clark to me - could be way off the mark. Can't be any more specific. I like this kind of music.

Me too! Could it be from this album? Cuz I gotta figure that's Art Taylor on drums, now that I think about it!

No, it's track 4 from this album.

Oh, now this is just plain embarrassing...... I have this CD, but haven't listened to it much because I'm waiting for the Mac bug to hit me again. Well, consider me bitten!!! :w

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jackie Mac will never bite me, but I think this is some of the nicest playing he's done on record.

I really find a lot of Jackie Mac annoying with his sound his signature wailing intonation/inflection, but this recording, which I discovered recently, really hit the best parts of his playing. If he played like this on everything I think I'd like him a lot more. So just my tribute to him. And Freddie Redd ain't too bad either...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...