Oh no, it's Big Al's BFT 229!!!

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, Big Al said:

I say: defund Big AI and give that money to Big Al! 

😹

[Big Al]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:11 AM, Dub Modal said:

1. Bickert & Desmond? Love that guitar sound.
   FINALLY someone guesses Desmond! That's who I thought this was when I first heard it but I thought the guitarist was Jim Hall, although Ed Bickert was just a sympathetic to Desmond.
2. I enjoy the synth bed and the playing but overall this is a bit of a background tune. The synths wash this into new age territory at times. What instrument is the lead here? Is it Saluzzi with the bandoneon? Pretty sure I heard a rain stick in there too. 
3. Sounds like a 70s bass recording. Different type of guitar playing that in track 1. Almost more acoustic- sounding. Breezy tune overall, esp the solos from the trumpet and sax. Is this a Duke Pearson on electric piano track? Although doesn't sound like a BN/RVG recording. Maybe Longo on Mainstream or Flying Dutchman?
4. Another breezy, Brazilian influenced tune. Short & sweet but no guesses.
5. Swinging trumpet opener and a nice sax solo. Probably should be obvious who's playing here but I don't have any guesses. Well, are these "west coast" players? Drummer recalls Manne or maybe Bellson...
6. Nice song but I'm not overly fond of what the drummer is laying down. Sounds Condon-ish in terms of guitar, and if that's the case, then that drummer is someone other than Wettling. Freeman on sax? I'm not hearing that so much but if it's Condon...
7. Interesting style of composition. Sounds older, but maybe a throwback recording? I've definitely never heard this song before. Guitar is really bluesy and that's some clean picking. Nice trumpet & sax as well. Love the ensemble playing toward the end. It's predictable though and kind of a hallmark of that style and maybe time period. 
8. Ok, the strings kind of help here. Not sure who this is. Far outside of what I go for typically. 
9. I like the intro. More strings with that Brazilian/South American drum pattern. Kind of sappy those  strings are. I like the vibes & horns though, esp how the horns are recorded - brings a lush texture. 
10. Ha, yeah this is some Lonnie Liston Smith sounding stuff. Groove oriented, maybe late 70s/early 80s recording? These types of songs get recommended by the algorithm when I'm streaming. Good vibes for driving.  Sax player is the likley leader...maybe Grover Washington? Whoever it is, they're guiding the whole thing, building tension and steering where this goes. 
    Another guess for Grover! Maybe I should check out his Kudu stuff!
11. Is the theme of this BFT Spring Breeze? Marimba here, but also vibes too later in the song. Is this Bobby Hutcherson maybe? The bass intro slayed. Then the flute picks up the whole thing. Bass player sounds familiar.  
    LOL no, but it could be the theme!
12. Mo' Vibes please...This recalls an 80s Hutch track, maybe 70s, not sure. Probably not him. Not a fan of this composition right now. Buzzy sax so maybe 90s actually. Reminds me of Garbarek kind of. Song gets better, wanders into some ECM-ish territory as well which isn't a bad thing for me. So Gary Burton on vibes then? Lots of various pieces coming together nicely. Steve Swallow here too? 
    Yup, it's Gary Burton on ECM with Steve Swallow! 👍
13. Got to be 70s right? Song is kind of familiar. Idris on drums? Someone struggled getting the bass recorded but the horns are good. Also reminds me of Liston Smith on organ but if it's him, it's early. If it's someone like McDuff, it's late. But maybe it's Jimmy McGriff? 
14. This fits into the prior tracks really nicely. Some great groove tracks you've got here and this one is no slouch either. No guesses but enjoyable song. 
     

Nice BFT Big Al! Thanks for putting this together. I may revisit as my listening set up this go round wasn't ideal based on some time constraints and other stuff going on. Not one that has a lot of songs I can guess but still, nice vibes all around.

Great guesses and I'm glad you dug it! A few comments in blue.

On 4/5/2023 at 4:04 PM, randyhersom said:

I think I'm going to do way worse on your BFT than you did on mine!

1.  I'll try Scolohofo here
2.  Borders on smooth.  Not sure if that's a soprano or a harmonica.  Toots Thielmanns?
3.  Bright optimistic sax theme with electric piano.  Makes me think of the BlackJazz label.  Maybe Calvin Keys?
4.  Before there was smooth, there was ... well, not enough trumpet to be Herb Alpert.  Maybe Quincy Jones?
5.  Kinda feels like a Black and Blue session.  Howard McGhee?
6.  Fletcher Henderson is my first thought.  Can't rule out very early Duke Ellington or even thirties Louis Armstrong.
7.  Django usually comes with a fiddle, but this could be an exception.
8.  Nicely integrated strings.  Bud Shank?
9.  Stanley Turrentine?
10. Hank Crawford on CTI?  No that's a tenor.  Joe Henderson on Milestone?
11. Possibly Herbie Mann.
12. Pretty sure it's Gary Burton, but don't know the sax.
13. Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith?
14. This makes me think even more of Joe Henderson on Milestone?
 

I love your guesses! 12 is definitely Gary Burton and track 14 features Joe Henderson but he's not the leader. I like how you gravitated to his Milestone recordings on this and track 10, both tracks definitely have that vibe!

On 4/5/2023 at 4:44 PM, rostasi said:

Ah! Yes! - the last four...

I'd be embarrassed if I'd missed this:

#12: Gary Burton - Summer Band Camp (Easy As Pie)

...

#14: Charles Earland - Never Ending Melody (Leaving This Planet)

still working on the others when I get a chance...

So far, you're batting 1000! 👍

[JSngry]

Welcome back Big Al!!!!

Late to the party again. retirement is agreeing with me (at least as long as we don't run out of money...)

TRACK ONE - A little navel-gazey for me. Then again, maybe other people have more attractive navels than I do? eye of the beholder, etc. Oik, now the alto - a LOT too navel-gazey for me.

TRACK TWO - Textures are a little softy, but the pocket is there. And it's an interesting tune in terms of changes. Metheny/Mays? I was ready to not like it, but it never quite gave me a reason, so they win!That's quite often my result with Metheny. The guy has substance. This is kinda like if Zawinul had been white, from Kansas, and a  decade or so younger. Make mine Zawinul, but I am ok recognizing Metheny.

TRACK THREE - Not gonna tune up that bass are we....guitarist has a non-learned attack, I like that. Same with the trumpet, almost plays like Charles Tolliver. Alto is boppy,almost too much so. ALMOST. And then less as it goes along, good. Going out on a limb with/for time/place/sound...Michael Howell?

TRACK FOUR - This tune sounds familiar? Baja Marimba Band with Vince Guaraldi sitting in? This is one of those things I can defend without liking at all. So there's the defense. Done.

TRACK FIVE - Herb Alpert & Herb Geller, from the album Smokin'  Herbs Today? But where there's smoke, there's not always fire. Case in point.

TRACK SIX - I like this. A bit of frisky, it is. And fluency aplenty.

TRACK SEVEN - Oh crap, I think I have this record...one of the Blue Note 78s? I like this too. Wait, that's Ben, right? and Vic Dickenson? Pretty solid individual voices, those two. The others should be too, but cranius en rectius here, sorry. There's some playing going on here. If you imitate it, you will suck. But this is not imitation! Check out that bass tone, hey. I like this one just fine, thank you!

TRACK EIGHT - Oh my...ok, thank god for Lee! I mean, yeah, in general, but in particular here. Orchestration is good, but the idea is...light. And not like a fresh loaf of bread.

TRACK NINE - See Track Four, only with even less enthusiasm! Sounds like one of those Living Jazz/Bossa/Whatever things on the RCA Camden label, with a bunch of paychecks being collected, and no overtime needed!

TRACK TEN - That's groovy as fuck!!! Not really impressive on top, but DAMN, underneath is all the way there.

TRACK ELEVEN - See Track One. Really well-produced, though. Just not for me.

TRACK TWELVE - Too much freaking navel. STOP IT!!!!! I will thank Steve Swallow for doing God's work and taking care of Carla Bley in so many ways for so many years. But Gary Burton is not Carla Bley, even though Gary Burton at one point might have been in the mix, and seems to have made the effort to do the tunes, although maybe that was at Swallow's urging.

TRACK THIRTEEN - Mid-late 70s Muse? I'm thinking this got some AM airplay on the AM Jazz station. The tune is doing a Marvin Gaye thing on the bridge. so that dates it (chronologically). Definitely by and for a particular demographic, in other words, FLAYVA. Not Earland, but Holmes? Phillips? McGriff maybe? I like it, it brings back memories of people and places and things.

TRACK FOURTEEN - Ok, THAT'S Earland. That record....there were 2-3 cuts off it that got VERY heavy airplay on the AM Jazz station. this was not one of them, but hell, once you bought the record (and I did), you got all of them. This may not be the strongest cut, but oh well about that. Also, it seemed for a little bit that this might be the last real "organ jazz" record, the B-3 just went away for a few minutes, so this seemed like a swan song for a great idiom. But it came back soon enough.  But this one...I dig listening from the bottom up these days, and this one has a strong bottom, so there you go. Besides, fire one up, find a smiling girl, have a good time. That's what stuff like this is for, and having Joe Henderson & Freddie Hubbard & Charles Earland along amplifies the nobility of the experience instead of cheapening it. We live in pretty fucking cheap times today. It's not good.

Ok, this was fun to listen to, Al. I can call you Frankie Beverly & Maze, because you're back in stride again!

 

 

 

 

 

On 4/14/2023 at 10:17 PM, Big Al said:

...the only Brecker I know is his work on Horace Silver's In Pursuit Of The 27th Man and Pat Metheny's 80/81.

Are you sure about that?

 

[Big Al]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:09 PM, JSngry said:

Welcome back Big Al!!!!

Late to the party again. retirement is agreeing with me (at least as long as we don't run out of money...)

TRACK ONE - A little navel-gazey for me. Then again, maybe other people have more attractive navels than I do? eye of the beholder, etc. Oik, now the alto - a LOT too navel-gazey for me.

TRACK TWO - Textures are a little softy, but the pocket is there. And it's an interesting tune in terms of changes. Metheny/Mays? I was ready to not like it, but it never quite gave me a reason, so they win!That's quite often my result with Metheny. The guy has substance. This is kinda like if Zawinul had been white, from Kansas, and a  decade or so younger. Make mine Zawinul, but I am ok recognizing Metheny.

TRACK THREE - Not gonna tune up that bass are we....guitarist has a non-learned attack, I like that. Same with the trumpet, almost plays like Charles Tolliver. Alto is boppy,almost too much so. ALMOST. And then less as it goes along, good. Going out on a limb with/for time/place/sound...Michael Howell?

TRACK FOUR - This tune sounds familiar? Baja Marimba Band with Vince Guaraldi sitting in? This is one of those things I can defend without liking at all. So there's the defense. Done.

TRACK FIVE - Herb Alpert & Herb Geller, from the album Smokin'  Herbs Today? But where there's smoke, there's not always fire. Case in point.

TRACK SIX - I like this. A bit of frisky, it is. And fluency aplenty.

TRACK SEVEN - Oh crap, I think I have this record...one of the Blue Note 78s? I like this too. Wait, that's Ben, right? and Vic Dickenson? Pretty solid individual voices, those two. The others should be too, but cranius en rectius here, sorry. There's some playing going on here. If you imitate it, you will suck. But this is not imitation! Check out that bass tone, hey. I like this one just fine, thank you!

TRACK EIGHT - Oh my...ok, thank god for Lee! I mean, yeah, in general, but in particular here. Orchestration is good, but the idea is...light. And not like a fresh loaf of bread.

TRACK NINE - See Track Four, only with even less enthusiasm! Sounds like one of those Living Jazz/Bossa/Whatever things on the RCA Camden label, with a bunch of paychecks being collected, and no overtime needed!

TRACK TEN - That's groovy as fuck!!! Not really impressive on top, but DAMN, underneath is all the way there.

TRACK ELEVEN - See Track One. Really well-produced, though. Just not for me.

TRACK TWELVE - Too much freaking navel. STOP IT!!!!! I will thank Steve Swallow for doing God's work and taking care of Carla Bley in so many ways for so many years. But Gary Burton is not Carla Bley, even though Gary Burton at one point might have been in the mix, and seems to have made the effort to do the tunes, although maybe that was at Swallow's urging.

TRACK THIRTEEN - Mid-late 70s Muse? I'm thinking this got some AM airplay on the AM Jazz station. The tune is doing a Marvin Gaye thing on the bridge. so that dates it (chronologically). Definitely by and for a particular demographic, in other words, FLAYVA. Not Earland, but Holmes? Phillips? McGriff maybe? I like it, it brings back memories of people and places and things.

TRACK FOURTEEN - Ok, THAT'S Earland. That record....there were 2-3 cuts off it that got VERY heavy airplay on the AM Jazz station. this was not one of them, but hell, once you bought the record (and I did), you got all of them. This may not be the strongest cut, but oh well about that. Also, it seemed for a little bit that this might be the last real "organ jazz" record, the B-3 just went away for a few minutes, so this seemed like a swan song for a great idiom. But it came back soon enough.  But this one...I dig listening from the bottom up these days, and this one has a strong bottom, so there you go. Besides, fire one up, find a smiling girl, have a good time. That's what stuff like this is for, and having Joe Henderson & Freddie Hubbard & Charles Earland along amplifies the nobility of the experience instead of cheapening it. We live in pretty fucking cheap times today. It's not good.

Ok, this was fun to listen to, Al. I can call you Frankie Beverly & Maze, because you're back in stride again!

 

 

 

 

 

Are you sure about that?

 

Thanks Jim! It's good to be back! As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your comments! Track 2 is indeed Metheny & Mays. I'm amazed your out-on-a-limb guess on track 3 was spot-on. I mean, I shouldn't be amazed, but it's still like watching a master craftsman doing that which he knows & loves, it's always amazing! Track 7 is indeed Ben and you're right: no one sounds like Ben! Track 14 is indeed Charlie Earland and you're right: I could've used any track but I figured why not wrap up the BFT with the last tune on that album!

I'd never heard that JT track before. I'm sure there's tons of Brecker out there I've heard that I didn't realize was Brecker when I heard it, the guy was everywhere wasn't he?

[Dan Gould]

Well I did owe Big Al a listen ... just wish I had a different reaction than Thom's. Afraid this didn't hit the spot, no it did not.  What happened to the greeeeaaasse, Big Al?

[mikeweil]

Al, I owe you something. I listened to your BFT rightaway, even started typing some answers (which  I can't find anymore) but then got distracted by all kinds of things that life brings from time to time, and they persist to this day, nothing serious like a trip to Berlin to see my daughter and help an old friend with a music aducation projects, and several doctors' appointemnets, again nothing serious, but time consuming, and preparing our flat for some major renovation of water pipes - all of that keeps me busy and ostly kills my mood for listening to any kind of music.  

Let me just say it was a very nice listen and I could only recognize several tunes, but should have identified Rollins, etc. 

I'm sorry. You deserved more from me.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by mikeweil

[Big Al]

On 6/1/2023 at 3:05 PM, mikeweil said:

Al, I owe you something. I listened to your BFT rightaway, even started typing some answers (which  I can't find anymore) but then got distracted by all kinds of things that life brings from time to time, and they persist to this day, nothing serious like a trip to Berlin to see my daughter and help an old friend with a music aducation projects, and several doctors' appointemnets, again nothing serious, but time consuming, and preparing our flat for some major renovation of water pipes - all of that keeps me busy and ostly kills my mood for listening to any kind of music.  

Let me just say it was a very nice listen and I could only recognize several tunes, but should have identified Rollins, etc. 

I'm sorry. You deserved more from me.

 

Dude! You owe me no such apology, mein freund! I'm glad you dug it! I truly understand about life getting in the way. Thanks for checking in, though, I do appreciate it!

On 5/10/2023 at 1:49 PM, Dan Gould said:

Well I did owe Big Al a listen ... just wish I had a different reaction than Thom's. Afraid this didn't hit the spot, no it did not.  What happened to the greeeeaaasse, Big Al?

I thought the last two tracks were greeeazy enough. But it's all good, can't win 'em all.