Big Al Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 This album is a monumental disappointment to me. On paper, the lineup features a lot of my personal favorites: Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, and Art Blakey. So why do they sound so drastically uninspired? All the songs sound the same! Even Blakey sounds bored, which is highly unusual! What do y'all think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcy62 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Yes, at least for me, you're the only one. There are better sessions, sometimes they are uninspired, right, but boring...NOOWAY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 My favorite track is "Nakatini Suite." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewHill Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I like Leeway quite a bit. Its worth owning for Jackie McLean alone, in my opinion. I can understand that if you're expecting the opening track to be a burner, it is not. But the last two tracks are terriffic, especially Jackie Mac's Midtown Blues. I'd suggest giving it another try or two and see if it clicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesbro Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Yeah, I do think its a little boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 This album is a monumental disappointment to me. On paper, the lineup features a lot of my personal favorites: Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, and Art Blakey. So why do they sound so drastically uninspired? All the songs sound the same! Even Blakey sounds bored, which is highly unusual! What do y'all think? got this two weeks or so ago, my first lee morgan record... i don't find it boring, but maybe i know what you mean... i had had the slight hope that the song "These are soulful days" (which i didn't know but the title...) would completely blow me away from the first listen on... it didn't the theme was somehow not exactly what i had hoped for and then that they (iirc... have it at work) start with a bass solo, and then the next two themes were not compelling enough to make up for that isappointment ... but the song has definitely grown on me, i and now after five or six listens i do remember what had initially bothered me (as i just did ) but can't really hear it any more... there are lots of things i haven't heard yet, but compared to many other hardbop records i do ear a certain urgency in it (the lack of which is maybe my biggest problem with a lot of hard bop records such as, say, the jazz messengers' moanin...) guess McLean has a lot to do with that... but again there is so many things i have not yet heard that i actually shouldn't post this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 This album is a monumental disappointment to me. On paper, the lineup features a lot of my personal favorites: Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, and Art Blakey. So why do they sound so drastically uninspired? All the songs sound the same! Even Blakey sounds bored, which is highly unusual! What do y'all think? You suck, Al! Leeway is my favorite Morgan album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I really like Leeway. I love Cal Massey's compositions...something about them really reaches me, and I love the way they interpret them on this side. I do, however, find many of Lee's other early dates boring, but not this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 That's the one with "These are Souful Days" on it, right? That tune is a bitch, and Lee's solo on that is quintessential Morgan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Thought for a sec you meant that guy who used to post here under that name! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Am I the only one who thinks LEEWAY is boring? Nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Am I the only one who thinks LEEWAY is boring? No - but you should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel A Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Yes, I also think it's boring. I actually traded it back to the record shop after one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I'd suggest giving it another try or two and see if it clicks. I had a CDR of the Conn for the longest time, but it never grew on me. I didn't finally get the RVG until yesterday, thinking that it would sound better (I hadn't heard the album in a few years). Nope, still boring. I can sure echo a lot of what Niko said, but none of the tunes have grown on me, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GARussell Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Al, I very often find that my opinion of a CD significantly improves when I skip the first track or two. Perhaps you will hear Leeway with different ears if you try it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I went back to this one and listened to it several times while working on the Night Lights "Jackie and Lee" show, and I couldn't justify inclusion of any of the tracks. Length was a problem (hard shoehorning material into a fixed 59-minute program with required breaks, newsholes, etc.), but nothing jumped out at me as a "must-include" side...not a bad date, but I much prefer the later collaborations. I think U. Cypher has a somewhat more positive opinion of it, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I love this record - always have. "These Are Soulful Days" is a beautiful Cal Massey tune. I remember the first time I heard it, I thought how odd it was that the album begins with a bass solo, but I just accept that they decided to let the session build from the ground up, bass solo, then piano, and by the the time Jackie enters, things are smoldering. The other Cal Massey tune, "Nakatini Suite" (Trane recorded it as "Nakatini Serenade") is also delightful. "The Lion and the Wolff" is the prerequisite funky tune, and Blakey stokes it up nicely. Blakey pushes and crashes on "Midtown Blues" as well. What's not to like? What a bunch of wet blankets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 It's not the tunes, SJ--they are indeed good. Somehow the album just doesn't spark for me. I've thought about trading in my old Conn for the RVG, to see if the remastering brightened things up... fine lineup, obviously, and one I'll pull out again at some point down the road for another listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I'm with Jack. This is a very fine record. I think some BN centric folks are disoriented by the tune sequence and general "down" feeling. I think it is a great record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I wasn't kidding when I said it was my favorite Lee Morgan album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Funny, for all the enthusiasm shown here for this one, it has never really resonated with me. So yes, I am probably in the "boring" camp. But perhaps what that means is that I am in the "not listening closely enough" camp. Or perhaps I am in the "I had one set of expectations and this record did not meet them" camp. But tonight I will pull it out and give it a close, objective listen. That is the great (and fun) thing about getting older ... you can give things a second or third chance and then "poof", you love it. Or, (turd sound), you still don't like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 It's not the tunes, SJ--they are indeed good. Somehow the album just doesn't spark for me. I've thought about trading in my old Conn for the RVG, to see if the remastering brightened things up... FWIW, the sound on the RVG is light-years better than the Conn, IMO. fine lineup, obviously, and one I'll pull out again at some point down the road for another listen. Same here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Still waters run deep, sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Not boring to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 This album is a monumental disappointment to me. Big Al is a monumental disappointment to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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