Remember Bev's Question from last year?

[Jazzmoose]

Bev asked around this time last year where we thought our musical investigations would take us in the coming year, and I remember posting that it would be interesting to bring the thread back up at the end of the year and tell how what we planned on checking out compared to what really happened. Unfortunately, there's no way to bump that thread up on a nonexistant bulletin board, so I thought I'd bring up the subject here. If I remember right, one or two of you used to post on the old BNBB...

So, if you remember what you expected to be checking out last year, did your path stray from your map? How? And, just to hopefully give this convoluted subject more chances at responses, what do you think you'll be checking out in the new year? Any plans?

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I remember announcing that I planned to seriously acquaint myself with the music of Phil Woods in 2003, an artist I was just beginning to dabble in thanks to my admiration for the work of trumpeter Tom Harrell. If I remember correctly, my other plan was to check out more modern big band stuff. How did I do? Well, I did pick up a dozen or so Woods discs, from the looks of my shelf, and there are a couple of big band discs that were added, but the real exploration this year was in artists I was completely unfamiliar with at this time last year. People like Roscoe Mitchell and Grachan Moncur. More Wayne Shorter, stuff like that. In other words, what I planned had nothing to do with what happened.

This leads me to believe that this is not the great topic idea I thought it was a year ago. After all, if you know exactly where you're going with your listening, you're probably already there anyway, right? I mean, if you're going to be so predictable with your exploration that there aren't any surprises, what's the point?

So I guess this means that I ought to just delete this topic and pretend it never happened. But it's early in the morning, insomnia has me again, and I'm just stubborn and groggy enough not to realize how goofy this will look in the morning. I figure that either it will be an interesting discussion, or it'll drift to the bottom of the page as people shake their heads and say "I dunno; that Jazzmoose...sometimes he makes sense, but sometimes it's like he's trying to piss up a flagpole. What the hell was that one supposed to mean?" Think of it as an experiment in sociology...

[.:.impossible]

ok... the topic had legs until you took them out at the knees with the flagpole.

I don't remember if I posted on this last year, but I'll take a go this year.

What I am currently curious about right now (if that isn't redundant, it definitely repeats itself):

.:. vibraphone performances - solo, duet, etc. I received a book in the mail earlier this year with pages and pages of recordings. I don't know where to start! This year I'm just going to dive in.

.:. Minimalism - 7/4's DVD thread and some recent purchases in this vein have me very interested in minimalism.

.:. Chicago - Delmark, Okka, Nessa, Thrill Jockey, what else?

[Alexander]

I don't think I made a prediction last year (was it only a year ago that the BNBB went down?) because I don't think that I COULD predict the direction my listening might take. For example, I really got into Ellington this year, and I couldn't have predicted that at the end of last year. \

The only prediction I could make for NEXT year is that I'll continue following my interests in whatever direction they lead.

[Morganized]

Moose,

Can't recall if I responded last year or not, but your post raised an artist who I would like to "taste" a little this year. That is Tom Harrell. I have no real idea where to start but he sounds interesting. I guess I am beginning to want to explore some of the guys who are still alive now that I have a pretty good understanding of the classics.

Good topic. It is interesting where we end up going and what we end up listening to.

[montg]

I've been trying to investigate some of the current artists on the scene. It's hit and miss, I suppose...Irvin Mayfield and Nick Payton were misses for me. Others like Jeremy Pelt and Michael Blake were hits. Labels like Fresh Sounds New Talent, Criss Cross, and Palmetto have a lot to offer and it's been fun taking chances on folks I've heard relatively little about.

Edited January 3, 2004 by montg

[Chuck Nessa]

So, here comes negative, smartass nessa. Mr Tom Harrell don't reach the top of Phil Woods loafers. Mr Woods is a minor figure spending the last 40+ years diminishing his strengths.

[JSngry]

I don't "get" Harrell either. Respect him, just don't get him.

[Jazzmoose]

I dunno. I have to bow to y'all's superior knowledge, and maybe in a few years I'll look back and agree, but I like Harrell's work at the moment. As for Woods...well, I must admit, the initial interest isn't panning out as I'd thought...

[JSngry]

Lots of people I know and love dig Harrell. I've tried, and haven't given up yet, so the "maybe in a few years I'll look back and agree" thing goes both ways, y'know? But all I get out of him so far is superior musicianship, imagination that is perhaps too "dry" for me to pick up on, and an emotional projection I don't connect with at all.

But that's just been for the last 25 or so years. The next 25 may see a reversal of all that.

[Free For All]

I'll have to line up as a Harrell fan on this one. I would not go so far as to compare his "oeuvre" to the awesome career of Phil Woods (talk about someone who was in the right place at the right time constantly!), but I've enjoyed Harrell's playing going back to the Horace "Silver and....." series. His physical/mental "issues" have affected his performances from time to time, and I think maybe his playing has become a little more inconsistent in recent times.

He has written some excellent tunes, IMHO. I've always thought "Sail Away" was a gorgeous tune, among others.

A momentary diversion regarding an experience w/that tune:

In '96 Woody's band did a concert at Carnegie Hall (which represented what would have been Woody's 60th anniversary) featuring many alumni (including Terry Gibbs, the Candolis, Urbie Green, Frank Foster and Tom Harrell, who was a member of the band in the late 60's). When I heard TH was scheduled to play w/the band and there was no specific plan as to what he would play on, I quickly volunteered to arrange one of his tunes for the band to feature him. I chose Sail Away, and used a transcription of his solo from the recording as a basis for a sax soli w/flugel lead, which has long been a trademark sound of Woody's band. We recorded it at a session separate from the concert, and Harrell came in to play his part and was visibly nervous, probably due to walking into a studio full of strangers (although many on the band knew him and all respected him) but played beautifully on the recording. Anyway, that whole experience was a career high point for me, and I've continued to be a fan.

BTW, Urbie Green was featured on "Bijou" and played a portion of Bill Harris' classic solo. Another hero of mine. I've been very fortunate (and thankful for the opportunity) to brush elbows with some of my favorite players.