BFT 254 is up!

[mjzee]

Many thanks to Thom for running the gauntlet and getting this posted.  Hola, Organissimateers, and welcome to BFT 254!  Twelve tracks, 56 minutes total.  Nothing too difficult here, mostly skewed towards enjoyment, so enjoy!

https://thomkeith.net/blindfold-tests/2025-blindfold-tests/

 

[Dan Gould]

You were not kidding about being skewed towards enjoyment.  This is one of the least bothersome (for me) BFTs I can recall in a very long time.

As usual I have no good guesses but I noticed a plethora of guitarists and doorbells, not to mention so many tunes I know but can never summon from memory.

About the least favorite was number 11, a cover of a pop tune I also couldn't bring up from memory.  Not a favorite by any means and the performance didn't do much for me.

But really, a nice BFT and I will watch the discussion to see if any are ID'd I should have known.

 

Thanks!

[Dub Modal]

1. Love this. I may have it but I'm stumped at the moment. My brain is linking it to Coleman Hawkins, possibly something from the Mosaic set but I'm not 100% on that. Whoever it is on sax, they are dancing away and it's fantastic. 

2. Another good tune. Scofield with Larry Goldings? Probably not bc this doesn't sound like a song they'd do. But figured I'd hazard a guess. Actually that organ may be LeDonne? 

3. Piano-less quartet. Love the drum and bass intro. And then continue to love what they're doing throughout. Sax player is familiar but can't place them. Bass solo is great. 

4. Monk tune. Evolves into that barrel house style - interesting. Fast too, but no guesses. 

5. Piano and guitar - wait, is that a bass? Duo playing nicely. Song itself is ok. Actually this gets better as they progress. Not bad. No guesses. 

6. Familiar song that someone here will guess quickly. Another organ track on this bft. I like it. Guitar comping behind that B3 is excellent. McDuff? I'm listening to this on some really crappy headphones while at the office so I can't tell if that's an actual bass or if it's coming from the b3. If it's B3, then I'll change my guess to Lonnie Smith. 

7. Guitar and b3 again! Sweet. Sounds more recent. Live as well. The tune is coming across as a bit stilted or even contrived to a degree. I think it's the organist doing that. Some of the lines aren't working for me at the moment. Guitarist flows so smoothly. Not as good as comping as the one earlier but the soloing more than makes up for it. 

8. Familiar song. Red Norvo-ish on the vibes. Similar feel as the prior track. Not a huge fan of whatever style you'd call that. Bassist putting in work and is commendable.

9.  Now for some serious arrangement. Dramatic for sure. No clue who this could be. 

10. This is familiar. Gary Burton? 

11. Lol a Shania Twain cover. You're still the one. Gotta be a BFT first right? Who would cover this song? It's borderline jazz meets yacht rock style. 

12. New Orleans style on that trumpet. Great tone. Is this a trumpet summit? I didn't catch what was said after that first solo. Sounded like a credit thrown out. Ok, that's Satchmo. When you're smiling - I just saw the Seinfeld episode where Mel Torme sings this at the benefit. Hilarious moment in that show. Nice ending song! 

[mjzee]

21 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

1. Love this. I may have it but I'm stumped at the moment. My brain is linking it to Coleman Hawkins, possibly something from the Mosaic set but I'm not 100% on that. Whoever it is on sax, they are dancing away and it's fantastic. 

2. Another good tune. Scofield with Larry Goldings? Probably not bc this doesn't sound like a song they'd do. But figured I'd hazard a guess. Actually that organ may be LeDonne? 

3. Piano-less quartet. Love the drum and bass intro. And then continue to love what they're doing throughout. Sax player is familiar but can't place them. Bass solo is great. 

4. Monk tune. Evolves into that barrel house style - interesting. Fast too, but no guesses. 

5. Piano and guitar - wait, is that a bass? Duo playing nicely. Song itself is ok. Actually this gets better as they progress. Not bad. No guesses. 

6. Familiar song that someone here will guess quickly. Another organ track on this bft. I like it. Guitar comping behind that B3 is excellent. McDuff? I'm listening to this on some really crappy headphones while at the office so I can't tell if that's an actual bass or if it's coming from the b3. If it's B3, then I'll change my guess to Lonnie Smith. 

7. Guitar and b3 again! Sweet. Sounds more recent. Live as well. The tune is coming across as a bit stilted or even contrived to a degree. I think it's the organist doing that. Some of the lines aren't working for me at the moment. Guitarist flows so smoothly. Not as good as comping as the one earlier but the soloing more than makes up for it. 

8. Familiar song. Red Norvo-ish on the vibes. Similar feel as the prior track. Not a huge fan of whatever style you'd call that. Bassist putting in work and is commendable.

9.  Now for some serious arrangement. Dramatic for sure. No clue who this could be. 

10. This is familiar. Gary Burton? 

11. Lol a Shania Twain cover. You're still the one. Gotta be a BFT first right? Who would cover this song? It's borderline jazz meets yacht rock style. 

12. New Orleans style on that trumpet. Great tone. Is this a trumpet summit? I didn't catch what was said after that first solo. Sounded like a credit thrown out. Ok, that's Satchmo. When you're smiling - I just saw the Seinfeld episode where Mel Torme sings this at the benefit. Hilarious moment in that show. Nice ending song! 

1. Not Hawk.

2. Nope, nope, nope.

5.  That is a bass.

6. Not McDuff, not Lonnie.

7.  Actually recorded in the early '60's.

8. Not Norvo.

10.  Correct!

11.  Correct on the song.  Gotta push the boundaries, y'know?

12.  Not Satchmo.  Agreed: that was a great Seinfeld.  Michael Richards was brilliant.

Glad you enjoyed it.

[Dub Modal]

1 minute ago, mjzee said:

Agreed: that was a great Seinfeld.  Michael Richards was brilliant.

Jimmy's out of work because of him! 

And I can't believe that's not Satchmo on that last track. Someone does a bang up impression. 

[felser]

1 – “Cherokee”.  Vinyl sourced, likely from an old 78.   Sax player is really good, but the guitar rhythm is so rigid  - between that and the sound quality, a hard listen for me.

2 – An easy listen for me, I really like this.  Hope I have it somewhere.  Guitar player is fabulous.  Organist is excellent and I like his sound.  Both are adventurous for the genre.  Hope (and assume) I have this on the shelves somewhere – if not, I’ll look to remedy that ASAP.  So, so good.  My favorite cut on the BFT.

3 – This is a huge winner.  I should know this.  Reminds me of the album Sonny Rollins did with Don Cherry, and feels like it is from that era based on the rhythm (rock solid bass pre-Stanley Clarke) and the recording sound, but that’s not Don Cherry.  But it could be Charlie Haden.   Surely, I own this?  If not, I will.  And I’ll revisit this cut and may eventually ID it if someone doesn’t beat me to it.

4 – A frantic “Well, You Needn’t”.  Inventive pianist, though the stride turn is too cute for my tastes.  But the guy can really play.

5 – I know the composition, just need to remember it.  Arrangement too cerebral for me, but it’s fairly interesting.

6 – “Bags’ Groove”.  Good cut.  About impossible to do a bad version of this song.  Soloists are all solid, though they don’t blow me away the way the soloists in track #2 did.  I assume 60’s vintage by well-known practitioners of the organ-jazz genre.  Good chance I own this one already, and I may be able to eventually ID it.

7 – Older style than #6 and suffers for it my ears.  I don’t like the sound of the organ player (choice of stops,etc.) though organ players I do like, such as Jimmy Smith, use this at times.  Guitar has a good sound but a conventional style.  More Kenny Burrell, where cut #2 was more Pat Martino.  But it’s a good cut.

8 – Well-known standard that I’m not placing, but others will ID the song.  Very safe, very pleasant, very competent reading of it by talented musicians who I suspect are in later stages of their careers.  Vibes player takes solo honors for me. Good background music.

9 – Cocktail music.  Nothing happening for me.

10 – Solo vibes, vinyl sourced.  Now that’s interesting.  The only solo vibes album I own or even know is this, so I think it’s the last cut from this album.  (edit: forgot about the Gary Burton album that Dub Modal mentions, but I'll stick with my guess).

11 – Vaguely reggae-ish, which is never a good thing in my book.  And I don’t like the guitar player.  I think it’s a cover of a pop song, but I can’t ID the song.  Not a winner for me.  My least favorite cut on the BFT, and the only one I actively dislike.

12 – Starts with  good high-note trumpet player – I would guess Maynard Ferguson, but since it turns out to be a JATP-type of cut, maybe not.  Guessing Sweets Edison is the second trumpet.  1950’s vintage?  Louis Armstrong up last, of course.  That’s an identifying clue, but not for me.  You can’t possibly dislike a cut like this, it’s so happy, though I would never pull it off the shelf to play.

Love cuts 2 and 3, can’t wait for the ID’s on them.   Like cut  #6 a lot.  Much pleasantness in the rest of it, thanks so much.

 

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

About the least favorite was number 11, a cover of a pop tune I also couldn't bring up from memory.  Not a favorite by any means and the performance didn't do much for me.

 

Dan, amazingly, you and I totally agree on this cut!

Edited 16 hours ago by felser

[mjzee]

38 minutes ago, felser said:

1 – “Cherokee”.  Vinyl sourced, likely from an old 78.   Sax player is really good, but the guitar rhythm is so rigid  - between that and the sound quality, a hard listen for me.

2 – An easy listen for me, I really like this.  Hope I have it somewhere.  Guitar player is fabulous.  Organist is excellent and I like his sound.  Both are adventurous for the genre.  Hope (and assume) I have this on the shelves somewhere – if not, I’ll look to remedy that ASAP.  So, so good.  My favorite cut on the BFT.

3 – This is a huge winner.  I should know this.  Reminds me of the album Sonny Rollins did with Don Cherry, and feels like it is from that era based on the rhythm (rock solid bass pre-Stanley Clarke) and the recording sound, but that’s not Don Cherry.  But it could be Charlie Haden.   Surely, I own this?  If not, I will.  And I’ll revisit this cut and may eventually ID it if someone doesn’t beat me to it.

4 – A frantic “Well, You Needn’t”.  Inventive pianist, though the stride turn is too cute for my tastes.  But the guy can really play.

5 – I know the composition, just need to remember it.  Arrangement too cerebral for me, but it’s fairly interesting.

6 – “Bags’ Groove”.  Good cut.  About impossible to do a bad version of this song.  Soloists are all solid, though they don’t blow me away the way the soloists in track #2 did.  I assume 60’s vintage by well-known practitioners of the organ-jazz genre.  Good chance I own this one already, and I may be able to eventually ID it.

7 – Older style than #6 and suffers for it my ears.  I don’t like the sound of the organ player (choice of stops,etc.) though organ players I do like, such as Jimmy Smith, use this at times.  Guitar has a good sound but a conventional style.  More Kenny Burrell, where cut #2 was more Pat Martino.  But it’s a good cut.

8 – Well-known standard that I’m not placing, but others will ID the song.  Very safe, very pleasant, very competent reading of it by talented musicians who I suspect are in later stages of their careers.  Vibes player takes solo honors for me. Good background music.

9 – Cocktail music.  Nothing happening for me.

10 – Solo vibes, vinyl sourced.  Now that’s interesting.  The only solo vibes album I own or even know is this, so I think it’s the last cut from this album.  (edit: forgot about the Gary Burton album that Dub Modal mentions, but I'll stick with my guess).

11 – Vaguely reggae-ish, which is never a good thing in my book.  And I don’t like the guitar player.  I think it’s a cover of a pop song, but I can’t ID the song.  Not a winner for me.  My least favorite cut on the BFT, and the only one I actively dislike.

12 – Starts with  good high-note trumpet player – I would guess Maynard Ferguson, but since it turns out to be a JATP-type of cut, maybe not.  Guessing Sweets Edison is the second trumpet.  1950’s vintage?  Louis Armstrong up last, of course.  That’s an identifying clue, but not for me.  You can’t possibly dislike a cut like this, it’s so happy, though I would never pull it off the shelf to play.

Love cuts 2 and 3, can’t wait for the ID’s on them.   Like cut  #6 a lot.  Much pleasantness in the rest of it, thanks so much.

3) Actually, that is Don Cherry (though he's not the leader).  Not Haden.

6) Correct about the era.

10) The track is solo vibes, not the entire album.  Your link didn't work.

12) Not Maynard, not Sweets, not Louie.

Glad you enjoyed.

[JSngry]

Stopping this right now, before anybody else gets hurt.

#1 is Bird 

Full responses later, but this needed doing right now,,!!!!!🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[Dub Modal]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

Stopping this right now, before anybody else gets hurt.

#1 is Bird 

Full responses later, but this needed doing right now,,!!!!!🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

No wonder! 

[JSngry]

It's that KC recording with that guitar guy with the unusual name ...Efferge Ware or something like that.

[Dub Modal]

5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It's that KC recording with that guitar guy with the unusual name ...Efferge Ware or something like that.

When I started listening to jazz about a decade or so ago now, I didn't listen to any Bird and honestly wasn't all that interested in doing so for likely idiotic reasons. Fast forward to a couple of years ago when a lifelong friend suddenly became a jazz fan. He started asking me about Bird, and the best players on every instrument, top 10 songs from them etc. (we are both music lovers but we approach things and categorize them very differently - so I had no answers for these questions. I would just point to albums, performances and the like). So his first stop is Bird. And he starts sending me links to songs and the like and it becomes a real facepalm moment for me - like what the hell was I thinking avoiding Bird???? He was incredible. Now I would definitely consider myself a fan, thankful af that I got that Dial Mosaic way back when. Unfortunately not enough of a fan yet to recognize him on a BFT though 🤦‍♂️

[JSngry]

This particular recording is not pristine by any means, so that might be an impediment.

But I went sever years of only hearing Bird via air shit, so...born and raised down in the briar patch in that regard. 🤠

[Dan Gould]

Y'all won't believe it but I did think Bird.  Being so bad at guessing I didn't go with it.

[felser]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

This particular recording is not pristine by any means, so that might be an impediment.

The guitar player is also an impediment IMO.  Bird plays great on this.

[JSngry]

2 minutes ago, felser said:

The guitar player is also an impediment IMO.  Bird plays great on this.

Not for me. It's just Bird and partner in 1943. "Bebop" had yet to be "invented", so it's totally real time music!

[JSngry]

The Early Birds!

TRACK ONE - To wit.

TRACK TWO - "The Kicker". Guitarist almost sounds like a Country player, a "picker". And that's a compliment. High competency all around. Whoever it is has studied the genre thoroughly. Nothing new is added, but nothing is particularly lost either. So it's a break-even, which in today's jazz is damn near a win!

TRACK THREE - "Red Cross", the old Bird/Tiny Grimes jam. Oh, that's Don Cherry, and that's Clifford Jordan. So that's probably Wilbur Ware, and that's definitely FIVE STARS in this galaxy! This would be from the Institute record that then ended up in hte Mosaic, right? That's such a DAMN GOOD RECORD!!!!

TRACK FOUR - I think the title says it all. What's up with the Honeydripper bit? Seems a bit of a Byard Bag, but not as...meaningful?

TRACK FIVE - Quirky! The Queen of Quirk and her Loyal Knight.

TRACK SIX - "Bags Groove" in minor?!?!?!?! I like this one a lot, Native tongue stuff, the pacing of the language.. I like that drummer too. It puts me in mind of Baby Face, but I don't know of this tune on any Baby Face record?

TRACK SEVEN - Not crazy about the tune. But the playing is just fine. Still, I suspect/hope that all involved have better things on/in their minds.

TRACK EIGHT - "Jive At Five" one of the stonest of the OG Basie stone classics! This has a bit of MJQ flavor to it, which ain't a bad thing. Oh, that's Bags, no wonder then! Love that pedal on the bridge, then and now. And that's Basie, not Lewis, so...some Pablo Basie JKam record. I've not heard on of those yet that has been, like WHOA, but they've all been plenty good, as is this.

TRACK NINE - What the hell is this? That's Monk, but doing what? Is this from the album with Oliver Nelson? I refuse to listen to that record any more.

TRACK TEN - Gotta be Gary Burton, that tone/touch is his alone. I don't care for him too much past the first few ECM records (and before the OG RCA Quartet records), but no denying the skill and distinctiveness. But that sound of his can be so transparent, as it is here, that there's no "there" there, at least for me.

TRACK ELEVEN - I guess I like it? It's not aimed at me, that's for sure, and I only like it up to a point. But kudos to playing the melody in a meaningful way. Like if there's lyrics, they're definitely being played here. Sounds like it should have been on the Smooth Jazz charts but you can't fool thise people, this is NOT Smooth Jazz!!! LOL!! No idea who/what, but in this context, I can groove on it. And did.

TRACK TWELVE - No thanks. Cat Anderson? And then? I will say this, though, once they get out of the ballad, hey, that's a dance groove for sure. So, jazz for dancing, yes, please. Not just, but also, always.

Not a bad collection. Enjoyed it. Thanks!

 

And I like that it came in under an hour!