So, What Are You Listening To NOW?

[jazzbo]

June Christy “The Misty Miss Christy” Capitol cd

 

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I love the tone and texture of June’s voice, it reminds me of someone I love very much, though the phrasing is different. This is one I haven’t played in a while, pulled down from the shelf with some others of hers to play in the next few days. I have wondered what Thelonious Monk would think of her version of “Round Midnight” here–it’s not very Monkian, but she does it justice, with its full orchestra and wistful sound.

Followed by
“Classic Jazz at the Philharmonic Jam Sessions (1950-1957)” Mosaic Records, disc IV

From cool Christy to some hot jams.

[BillF]

[kh1958]

An Introduction to American Music

[HutchFan]

Peter Apfelbaum - Luminous Charms (Gramavision, 1996)

[jazzbo]

The final Us Five disc in my recent re-visiting of their work. This was the first one, and all the compositions are Joe’s. I don’t always enjoy two drummers but they work in this group.

Joe Lovano/Us Five “Folk Art” Blue Note cd

 

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[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, John Tapscott said:

👍 Generally speaking, I prefer earlier Pepper to later Pepper, but that's  good one. 

Yeah, it's good stuff.  I think these recordings from the Maiden Voyage Club in L.A. are some of Pepper's finest from any time in his career.  He seems very relaxed -- even when the music is intense.  

 

[HutchFan]

8 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

I must have this. I have looked for it for 45 years !!! 
Because I heard THIS Band and THEIR version of Round Midnight, as much as I remember it starts in 3/4 time and then gets into a very fast and powerful proceeding. Since it was 45 years ago I don´t remember on which bar it changed from 3/4 to fast 4/4. But it was the highlight of the evening and that first live experience with Roach remained one of my most impressive moments of listening to live jazz, and of Max Roach anyway (everything that came after that, didn´t give me the same fascination like the Bridgewater-Harper-Workman band....

It is strange that Max's Live in Tokyo isn't recognized as a "classic of the 1970s" on par with say, Mingus' Changes One and Changes Two.  I'm sure that the fact that it was released on Denon didn't help.  Even so, you'd think that, over time, jazz fans would get hip to it. 

I know that it's regarded as an all-time classic on this forum.  But elsewhere no one seems to talk about it much.

Of course, I'm coming at it from the perspective of someone who wasn't listening to jazz at the time it was released.  (Since I was just a kid in the 70s, I only came to it retrospectively.)  Did the record -- and Max's Quartet (in general) -- make a big splash at the time?  Were they recognized as "important" relative to other bands?  I know that Max was acknowledged as a bebop pioneer.  But did folks talk about this band as something special?

 

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

This is a really good record.

Yes!

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by HutchFan

[Peter Friedman]

[JSngry]

34 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

It is strange that Max's Live in Tokyo isn't recognized as a "classic of the 1970s" on par with say, Mingus' Changes One and Changes Two.  I'm sure that the fact that it was released on Denon didn't help.  Even so, you'd think that, over time, jazz fans would get hip to it. 

I know that it's regarded as an all-time classic on this forum.  But elsewhere no one seems to talk about it much.

Of course, I'm coming at it from the perspective of someone who wasn't listening to jazz at the time it was released.  (Since I was just a kid in the 70s, I only came to it retrospectively.)  Did the record -- and Max's Quartet (in general) -- make a big splash at the time?  Were they recognized as "important" relative to other bands?  I know that Max was acknowledged as a bebop pioneer.  But did folks talk about this band as something special?

In a word - no.

I've heard it speculated that Max was blacklisted for a while due to his political statements, and his insistence (no pun intended) on same in his music.

I've also heard it speculated that Max was a "difficult" person to work with in business terms. He insisted on owning his own masters and leasing them out to whoever.

The truth is probably a bit of both, since it's maybe hard to differentiate between those two things for a lot of people. No judgement here, just an objective, I hope, observation.

No matter, that 70s band was totally under the radar of the mainsteream jazz press. Figure that the existence of that thing was build upon selling advertising and helping various hype machines, well, here's a band that made no records for an American label, and only resurfaced at all on Soul Note, and, finally for a quick minute, on Columbia (thanks to Bruce Lundvall). And THAT was the Odean Pope band, which had a different energy altogether.

Look at the labels that great Harper-era band recorded for. ZERO American presence. Ad trust me when I tell you that in order to get American presences, you almost always had to have American presence.

I found out about this band thanks to a college buddy who had come from Belgium and had The Loadstar. BAM! The Denon records were turning up in Peaches, but not too much elsewhere.

Time and perseverance has allowed for a better appreciation of Max's latter bands, but it's still a bit of a cult thing, really.

Also, ask yourself why Billy Harper has not really done anything for an American label. Clearly he has ambition, the guy keeps a band and they do get work. (or did). And clearly he is willing to make records. So why not America?

Why not, America?

 

[medjuck]

23 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

Is this a cd? 

[HutchFan]

12 minutes ago, JSngry said:

In a word - no.

[ ... ]

Why not, America?

 

Can't say that I'm surprised.  But that is a bummer.

 

[Chuck Nessa]

3 hours ago, JSngry said:

This is a really good record.

I have that on vinyl.. A good one indeed.

[EKE BBB]

33 minutes ago, medjuck said:

Is this a cd? 

Only streaming:

 

[Д.Д.]

On 6/7/2022 at 3:15 PM, bresna said:

Andre Jaume / Barry Altschul / Barre Phillips – Giacobazzi "Autour De La Rade" (CELP). This is an unusual CD. It's really mellow, but it's avant garde mellow, if you know what I mean. There's a lot of dirge-like tunes but on a couple of tracks, Jaume burns it up. My favorite of the "burners" is "L'Arsenal", the closing piece of the "Point de Vue" suite. It's a tour de force for Jaume.

Listening to this one today, it's a really good one. I like the other Jaume trio on CELP (this time with Charlie Haden and Olivier Clerc), "Peace / Pace / Paix", even more though. 

 

On 6/7/2022 at 4:03 PM, colinmce said:

The McPhee/Jaume/Boni CELP CD Songs & Dances has eluded me always, it scarcely seems to exist.

I sent a message to Joe McPhee (or whoever is managing his bandcamp page) to consider making it available on bandcamp. The CD is in my Discogs wish-list for years.  

[soulpope]

[jazzbo]

Oh that little voice! Mostly just Blossom and the piano.

Blossom Dearie “Needlepoint Magic–Vol. V” Daffodil Records cd

[Jim Duckworth]

[colinmce]

1 hour ago, Д.Д. said:

I sent a message to Joe McPhee (or whoever is managing his bandcamp page) to consider making it available on bandcamp. The CD is in my Discogs wish-list for years.  

I found a copy of Songs & Dances last year, the first one I've ever seen for sale. A very nice disc indeed, it would be great if more people could hear it. 

[jazzbo]

Wouldn’t surprise me if Ian were playing a Golden Horn here. Even more Milesian than usual.

Nucleus “Live at the BBC” disc 7

[Kevin Bresnahan]

In preparation for seeing Michael this Saturday in Boston: Michael Weiss - Power Station (DIW)

It's supposed to a cold one in Boston Saturday. They may set a new record low... and this is happening less than a week after the temps were near 50.

[John Tapscott]

[HutchFan]

Now:

Bob Moses - When Elephants Dream of Music (Gramavision, 1983)

Superb.

[Peter Friedman]

3 hours ago, medjuck said:

Is this a cd? 

No, I downloaded on Apple Music  the entire set of Beeny Carter at Princeton.

 

Currently playing:

[BillF]

2 hours ago, bresna said:

 

 

👍

[John Tapscott]