BFT 64 Disc 1 Discussion Thread

[Dan Gould]

Here goes. Hats off to Dan for a very enjoyable disc.

Glad you enjoyed it, Harold, looking forward to your comments on Disc 2. Remember, the choice for cuts 1-5 is "Gene" or "Not Gene".

5. BB King Sings Duke from the Crown vinyl. MAN !! I wish I had that entire lp. Over the years I've heard bits and pieces here and there. No reissue on this?

You really aren't missing that much IMO. This track is the only one with B.B.'s vocals, the rest are basically fine recreations of original Duke arrangements, without the "name" soloists. Its nice, but it doesn't come close to the original recordings. What's strange though is that Ace put out "B.B. King Wails" and they added B.B.'s vocal tracks from the Count Basie and the Jimmy Dorsey LPs from this series - but no Duke Ellington. And I'm almost certain it would have fit on the disc.

[papsrus]

bft 64 (disc 1)

Let me just say right off the bat, very little of this sounds familiar to me. Great music. I think I have the tunes in the right order here. Numbering was a little funky when I imported into iTunes, but I went by the order in the download folder, so I think I'm OK there.

1. No idea. "groovy" and "square" in the lyric suggests ... what? 50s, early 60s maybe? Perky, almost commercial flavor to the tune also. Fun.

2. Voice sounds familiar. Can't place it. Love the steady groove.

3. Way off my radar. Dig it though.

4. Got kind of a gospel thing going on.

5. What a great version of this tune. Love the super slinky solos. Man. Great song. Who? Who?

6. I'm going to guess Lonnie Smith on the B3, not because I'm all that familiar, but just because it's time for me to throw out a guess.

7. The tenor seems a little flat to me, while the B3 sparkles, so it's gotta be an organ player out front. Lonnie again?

8. An early rock 'n' roll/Motown thing going on here. I picture a full dance floor churning away to this one.

9. Again, kind of some early rock 'n' roll flavor to it.

10. Love, love, love the tuba!!! I'm going to guess this is a modern revival band or a contemporary band of some kind. Tuba solo is killer! (just the fact that there is one is killer). My second favorite tune on this disc, just for the tuba alone.

11. Beautiful, bright song. Man, what a great, groovin' tune. Another one I can't wait to find out who it is.

12. Very tight. Very polished. Super nice groove. Who's on alto?? Pretty fluid. Like it.

13. Edison? Definitely a familiar sound here.

14. I'm twisting myself in circles on this one. Again, the alto and piano are very familiar-sounding to me. But just can't place 'em. The tune sparkles though. Pretty damn tight.

15. Contemporary, very nice but a little sedate.

Thanks Dan. Great music. I'll be interested to see who's who on this one.

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for the comments, James. You didn't make many guesses, but you were right at a pretty good clip.

Looking forward to your Disc 2 comments.

[Guest Bill Barton]

BFT 64 disc one:

It's been a crazily busy month for me so far, so apologies for not chipping in with my comments a bit sooner. This

is a very enjoyable collection. It's not an area of the music that I have a great deal of background in, and not

something that I listen to very much in terms of "recreational" listening. I avoided reading the previous comments

in the thread and tried to keep things fresh and relied on immediate visceral impressions for the most part.

Thanks, Dan, good stuff!!!!!

1. I'm not all that impressed with the singer. Her phrasing seems a bit stiff to me. Nice piano though!

2. Greasy! I like this a lot... sounds New Orleans-ish. Could it possibly be Dr. John in his younger days?

Another listen and I'd say it's definitely him.

3. Oh yeah! Nice organ and sax... Good vocalist...

4. The vocalist sounds SO familiar. I can't place him though. There's a Jimmy Rushing sort of feel but I don't

think that it's him.

5. This sounds to me like Johnny Adams. I really, really like the quality of the voice. So far, this is the one

that "reaches" me the most.

6. A mighty greasy tenor player. Ditto the organist. I kept wishing that the drummer would do a little something

"more" (or maybe "less") with the backbeat though - it got kind of "samey" for me. But, then, I guess that's the

whole idea in this kind of groove. I have no idea who this is but I wouldn't mind hearing more from the album.

7. It's okay but doesn't ever seem to "go anywhere" before it fades.

8. There's a wicked groove happening on this track. The drummer is HOT; I like the way that accents drop into the

backbeat. Is the drummer Bernard Purdie? I like the guitarist a lot too. No idea who it is though.

9. This has a great ensemble sound. The tuba player rocks! Howard Johnson? The trumpet and sax soloist (s?) are

very soulful, especially the trumpeter; there's something about his approach that makes Sweets Edison come to mind.

This is a kickin' track. Super stuff...

10. Could the first soloist be Gene Ammons? And the second one Sonny Stitt? I liked the first solo a lot. Tasty

piano too (Gene Harris?) The energy level dropped a bit during the bass solo. Kinda ho-hum. It' a nice

arrangement too.

11. Plas Johnson up first? No idea on the second tenor solo... Grits 'n' greens though for sure.

...

16 (?). Some of the same players as #9? This one sounds like Sweets Edison too. The trumpet solo was the only one

that "jumped out" at me. Pleasant but not terribly memorable all in all.

17 (?). The first one where some more sophisticated approaches to a groove surface. I love the rhythmic feel on

this track. And the pianist kicks butt in a relatively brief period of time. Les McCann? The alto player does

some very fine playing. Is it perhaps the altoist's date?

My VLC Media Player scrambled tracks and track title/numbers pretty well so I can't really tell what's what... Fun

stuff though...

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for the comments, Bill - not sure but I think maybe your media player did mess up the order. I do think that #2, #3 and #4 will come as a surprise to a lot of people. I thought for sure everyone would know who the vocalist is on #5 though. And #6 is the Johnny Adams track, not #5.

Hope you had a good time with Disc 2, too.

And let me just add that I am personally happy that the last two commenters dug the tuba track. That one didn't get much love in the earlier comments.

[Guest Bill Barton]

...And let me just add that I am personally happy that the last two commenters dug the tuba track. That one didn't get much love in the earlier comments.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for tuba, especially when it's as well-played as it is on that track. The ensemble stuff was what impressed me the most although the solo is good too. Hmmm... Maybe if I do another BFT someday it can be an all tuba all the time one . I know that James would sign-up.

[papsrus]

...And let me just add that I am personally happy that the last two commenters dug the tuba track. That one didn't get much love in the earlier comments.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for tuba, especially when it's as well-played as it is on that track. The ensemble stuff was what impressed me the most although the solo is good too. Hmmm... Maybe if I do another BFT someday it can be an all tuba all the time one . I know that James would sign-up.

Yes. Count me it. ... I can think of a couple of fine candidates.

[Big Al]

Dan, my apologies that I haven't commented yet. It's been a pretty stressful month thus far. Will try to have some comments before you post the answers.

And I haven't looked at anyone's answers, either!

[Dan Gould]

UP for the stragglers! I'll post answers next weekend.

[Big Al]

Next weekend as in the weekend of May 2? Or this coming weekend of April 25?

Either way, I'll have guesses (comments actually, since I didn't know/recognize any of these) later today.

[Dan Gould]

Next weekend as in the weekend of May 2? Or this coming weekend of April 25?

Either way, I'll have guesses (comments actually, since I didn't know/recognize any of these) later today.

I consider this weekend to have started - so yes, May 2 is the target. Might be Friday though since we don't have to work Friday nights at the Loan Mod company so my weekend now starts about 2 PM on Friday (with a three hour shift on the phone Saturday morning).

[Dan Gould]

Up one last time for anyone still interested in posting their thoughts. Answers will be posted Friday night while I am watching the Rays - Sox game.

[Bright Moments]

enjoyed your BFT dan - much thanks!

[Dan Gould]

I know it seems unlikely, but UP one last time since I'd really like to get a final set of comments from someone before I post the answers.

[Big Al]

Track 1 sounds like Ella to these ears. Nice

Tracks 2 thru 4 sound like some kinda early R&B revue. Maybe there’s a common thread behind these songs? They all sound the same. Maybe it’s all one song? (For you Neil Young fans out there)

Track 5 is a singer I should recognize, and I’m gonna kick myself once I read who this is. Hopefully, I’ll have it figured out before I’m done typing all this. Rabbit on alto of course, or a reasonable facsimile.

Track 6 sounds like Poppa Lou in a band with a vocalist. Lou’s got the cleanest alto sound I’ve ever heard. Hey, isn’t this Johnny Hartman? I bet if I do some Googlin’, I’ll get this figured out. Maybe later.

Track 7 is OH so greeeeeazy! Haven’t typed that word in FAR too long! Have no idea who this is, buut sure can’t wait to find out!

Track 8 sounds like it could’ve fit perfectly with tracks 2 thru 4. In fact, I got lost and had to go back to track 7 to see if I’d missed something in between.

Track 9 is another groovy version of “Watermelon Man.” I guess you can’t have too many versions of this tune! Kinda puts me in mind of Eddie Harris & his Varitone, judiciously used though.

Track 10: gotta love that funky tuba!

Track 11: Oh, I should SO know this, and am SO gonna kick myself when it’s revealed.

Track 12 has a nice slinky groove to it. Wish I could identify at least someone! Piano player reminds me of... oh, who did that version of “Englishman in New York” on a BFT waaaaaay back when? Has that kinda feel to it, which I really dig!

Track 13: see comments to track 11! I can’t believe I’m blanking out on this stuff! Maybe I really have reached that point where I have more music than my brain can hold!

Track 14 sounds familiar as well, or at least the opening does. Has kind of an “Idle Moments” vibe goin. The alto sounds like Jackie McLean, maybe this is from one of those Mal Waldron/Jackie McLean Prestige dates? Art Farmer on the trumpet?

Boy did I strike out on this one! Hopefully disc two will be more merciful!

[Big Al]

Track 14 sounds familiar as well, or at least the opening does. Has kind of an “Idle Moments” vibe goin. The alto sounds like Jackie McLean, maybe this is from one of those Mal Waldron/Jackie McLean Prestige dates? Art Farmer on the trumpet?

Well, it looks like I REALLY messed up!!! This was supposed to be for track 15!

I wonder if, while listening, 13 & 14 segued into each other and I just missed it? Don't know, but FWIW, the above comment actually applies to track 15!