BFT 255 Discussion

[webbcity]

Hey gang! 

Happy to be back in the loop here. Thom offered me this slot and I got it together as quickly as I could, so apologies in advance, standard disclaimers, etc... But hopefully there's at least a little something for everyone here. Tried to do a decent mix of new/old/challenging/obvious. 

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

Let the games begin! 

Cheers-

Tim 

[T.D.]

Thanks.

#7 unmistakably (in my feeble opinion) an Elmo Hope tune  . Computer sound system @ work is terrible, so I don't recognize the recording straight off, and it might even be a cover by somebody else. Will look through the collection when I get home.

Edited Sunday at 04:22 PM by T.D.

[T.D.]

OK, the drummer on #7 is good but kinda busy, so Frank Butler came to mind and the album is clear.

#4 from this

[B. Clugston]

Really enjoyable BFT. Some good stumpers. 

 

4 is a pair of AACM giants doing Maple Leaf Rag.

5 sounds like Henry Threadgill and Air?

[felser]

BFT 255

1 – Perfect groove for a Sunday afternoon.  Especially enjoying the rock-solid walking bass!

2 – So utterly in my wheelhouse!  I better have this on the shelves somewhere, especially loving the tenor player and the Rhodes!.  LOVE this cut.

3 – Well-played and soothing, but ultimately not very exciting.  I have much respect and a little bit of love for it.  Drummer does catch my ear.

4 – No thanks.  Sounds like younger musicians mimicking older style.

5 – See #4, just a slightly less older style.

6 – I guess I should really like this, but it’s taking a while to grow on me, thought I was getting there as the track progressed, but then it greatly overstayed its welcome. . I dig the bass player (Charlie Haden ?) and the drummer (Ed Blackwell ?) more than the sax player (Dewey Redman ?) overall, though I could live without the bowed bass effect. 60’s ESP-Disk style brought forward by a couple of decades by sounder players, I guess.

7 -  Especially enjoying listening to the bass players on this BFT, which I guess is no coincidence 😊.   Bass is about the only thing that jumps out at me on this cut, and I actively dislike the drumming on it.  Pianist is fleet and pleasant, though I’m not sure he’s telling me anything.  I’d probably enjoy this cut a lot more with a different drummer.

8 – OK, we’d like to slow the pace down for the next number.  I think it’s probably a more modern player trying to do his best Ben Webster and having some success at it.  Maybe someone like a Joe Lovano.  I ultimately respect it more than I like it.

9 – I can do this, I guess.  Sounds like the Trio of Doom album with McLaughlin, Pastorius, and Tony Williams, though I would guess it’s later-era Sonny Sharrock.  As McBeth said, “Sound and fury signifying nothing”.

10 – Outside my domain, though not without its small pleasures

11 – This cut speaks to me.  Makes me think of Paul Bley and of ECM.  More likely post-1990 ECM but not Bley.

Favorite cuts in order:  #2, #1, #11. 

Favorite instrument throughout:  bass. 

Must-own cut: #2

Thanks for the BFT and some new discoveries!

[T.D.]

Having fun so far. Partial, since my long attempts often disappear before I can post:

#1: Thumbs up. No guess, though some players sound familiar. The arrangement suggests the Jazztet, in which case maybe I own it, but no particular album comes to mind.

#2: Big thumbs up, even though I'm not a big fusion listener. Enjoy the electric piano. And the 'bone (a lot), which confuses me because I can't think of any big fusion trombonists. Phil Ranelin would be a knee-jerk guess but I don't think it sounds overly like him.

#3: Good and pleasant to listen to but not a knockout. No guess, but will probably kick myself upon ID.

#4: Thumbs up. Peeked but wouldn't have been able to guess. From an album I've considered buying at various times but never picked up. Big fan of the pianist. Sometimes question the reed player's straight-ahead efforts but dig him here.

#5: OK but not a standout. No guesses. Don't love the saxist.

#6: Mild thumbs up. Saxist boring in some places but also occasionally interesting. Sax vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding from time to time, which suggests some phase(s) of Shepp, but doesn't really sound like him. No guesses, but expect a forehead slap on ID.

#7: Big thumbs up. Being a fanboy of the leader I of course own the album. I like the drumming more than felser: have many recordings with him, very recognizable and often excellent, but tends to overplay on occasion.

Back later with the rest. Thanks. Welcome diversion on a day with crummy weather.

[JSngry]

June 1!!! Are there enough worms to go around?

TRACK ONE - I like the head, at least the way the band interprets it. Nice, very big-band-ish. Well now, that's Bennie Green. And that's Johnny Griffin. I don't have this record, but I don't need to, but if I did, it wouldn't matter. It's of such a quality that it feels fresh the first time through or the thousandth. People like this have such strong individual voices that you know what you're going to get, and I mean that in the best way possible.

TRACK TWO - Familiar with the vibe, very. The players, not so much. I will use the term "second-tier" here as a compliment and a recognition that "top-tier" is avery high level indeed, one that has been set really high in this music. But that's ok, this one is still very enjoyable. Everybody involved should be proud, and hopefully still are. Rhythm section in a notch higher than the soloists, btw.

TRACK THREE - Nice tune and performance, but it sounds like a 70s jam that got set aside. I mean, it's good but....very energetically stale, if that makes any sense. It's good in a mixtape like this, but a whole album of it? Perhaps not? Pianist sounds the most individual, relatively speaking.

TRACK FOUR - Oh my, OLD FOLK"S MUSIC!!!!! Not Maple Leaf Rag, but the record LOL. AB & Muhal from their duet album. That's a major, MAJOR album, imo. Two of the great minds of this music, being great on all sides. There ya' go.

TRACK FIVE - See #4, only this time it's Air, doing "King Porter Stomp". from Air Lore. This record got a LOT of play by me when it first hit. Not the most important elelment, but it's the record that for me cemented the link between Henry Threadgill & Sonny Rollins, not explicit, but intractably linked deep down in there. One of my favor cuts from one of my favorite records by one of my favorite groups led by one of my favorite contributors to all of music. Period.

TRACK SIX - I get it, I like it, but I also wonder what this altoist would do on "Maple Leaf Rag" or "King Porter Stomp"? But then I wonder if their life has given them any real need to do that? And I don't know. I honestly don't know. I do know that I like things better when I can get a sense that it's in there, somewhere. But I guess it doesn't matter? I'm old and (almost) out of the way, so let people play their own story.  Either way, can't go wrong with that bassist and drummer! About the alto playing though - one word- dynamics. Use them inside your phrases.

TRACK SEVEN - 4-REAL BEBOP!!!! Superior in every regard. I'll guess Elmo Hope because of the true depth of understanding of how changes don't need to be stale, stagnant, and stupefying. That shit moves around and tells a story. How many stars you got Leonard? That ain't enough!!!!

TRACK EIGHT - Clifford Jordan? Don't know this record. Yet! Such a beautiful singing tone he had, and that vibrato is so personal. Wonderful piano accompaniment too, those chords voiced just right, not too little, not too much, just right. Early birds get worms, Clifford Jordan gets stars. As many as you got!

TRACK NINE - Surely this is in the Miles Orb somehow? I like this a lot. The tone(s), the beat (that bass rhythm!, the mix, it's a RECORD, not just a :song". Ok, the longer it goes and the more layers of guitar there are, the less directly Miles-Orb it seems, but definitely in the "influenced by Miles" Orb it becomes. This is goo! We've heard these sounds before, but not like this, exactly.

TRACK TEN - Ruben Blades with Willie Colon? I need to brush up on my Spanish. Like, a LOT. Colon I am sure of Blades, not so much. I like this one just fine. Have you heard the Colon/Celia Cruz album? If not, get theen ass to a streamer ASAP!!!!!

TRACK ELEVEN - Putting me in mind of Paul Bley, but I've not heard him in a setting exactly like this. but that don't mean shit, becuase Paul Bley played in ALL kinds of settings. But the longer it goes on....Bley's harmonies wouldn't stay that fixed for this long. Yeah...this one is like a lovely cloud that at first looks like it's in the sky, but the longer you look at it, the more it looks like a really good painting on the roof. Oh Well! Make mine a Bley!

Pretty damn fine collection here. I could put it in the car and leave it there for a good while. Thanks?!

 

[JSngry]

8 hours ago, T.D. said:

OK, the drummer on #7 is good but kinda busy, so Frank Butler came to mind and the album is clear.

#4 from this

My first guess would have been Philly Joe, but just a little LESS busy! 😄

[T.D.]

7 minutes ago, JSngry said:

My first guess would have been Philly Joe, but just a little LESS busy! 😄

PJJ is my preferred drummer with Elmo Hope, but I own that album with Butler (and a bunch of WCJ / Xanadu titles with him), so the BFT cut rang a bell. "Busy" isn't always a pejorative term for me...I use it positively for Jack DeJohnette, for instance, and often like Butler.

[JSngry]

Gotcha 

I very much like the type of business that is in the service of the business at hand!

[T.D.]

6 hours ago, JSngry said:

Gotcha 

I very much like the type of business that is in the service of the business at hand!

I think what imprinted on me is a ('70s) Xanadu album California Hard by Dolo Coker. It's kind of a lemon: Coker (unfortunate surname for a jazzman 😁) can play but was supplied with a Richard Alderson (producer) trademark way-out of tune piano, and Frank Butler plays an interminable boring solo on one tune. The drum solo on #7 is slightly reminiscent of that one. Butler is very good on the old Curtis Counce Group recordings, for instance.

[webbcity]

On 6/1/2025 at 2:38 PM, T.D. said:

OK, the drummer on #7 is good but kinda busy, so Frank Butler came to mind and the album is clear.

#4 from this

Correct! This particular album was my introduction to Hope, and still probably my favorite from him. And I love Frank Butler! 🙂

On 6/1/2025 at 3:46 PM, B. Clugston said:

Really enjoyable BFT. Some good stumpers. 

 

4 is a pair of AACM giants doing Maple Leaf Rag.

5 sounds like Henry Threadgill and Air?

Correct on both counts! Thought it would be nice to have a couple tracks of AACM legends paying homage to past masters.

Further comments below, inline...

On 6/1/2025 at 3:51 PM, felser said:

BFT 255

1 – Perfect groove for a Sunday afternoon.  Especially enjoying the rock-solid walking bass!

The bass player here would definitely be considered rock solid by most! I see that Jim ID'd the two horns on this.

2 – So utterly in my wheelhouse!  I better have this on the shelves somewhere, especially loving the tenor player and the Rhodes!.  LOVE this cut.

Thought you might enjoy this one! Not tremendously well-known, I don't think, though it's very possible you have it.

3 – Well-played and soothing, but ultimately not very exciting.  I have much respect and a little bit of love for it.  Drummer does catch my ear.

So far this one has gotten a pretty lukewarm reaction. It's a recent discovery for me and obviously I like it, but it is one of the "tamer" cuts on the album so that is probably not helping matters.

4 – No thanks.  Sounds like younger musicians mimicking older style.

Ouch! You may have already seen Jim's ID on this one.

5 – See #4, just a slightly less older style.

And this as well...

6 – I guess I should really like this, but it’s taking a while to grow on me, thought I was getting there as the track progressed, but then it greatly overstayed its welcome. . I dig the bass player (Charlie Haden ?) and the drummer (Ed Blackwell ?) more than the sax player (Dewey Redman ?) overall, though I could live without the bowed bass effect. 60’s ESP-Disk style brought forward by a couple of decades by sounder players, I guess.

Yes, it's more recent than what you're thinking, and it does ask a lot of the listener, but to me it's a very rewarding journey. This was another recent find for me.

7 -  Especially enjoying listening to the bass players on this BFT, which I guess is no coincidence 😊.   Bass is about the only thing that jumps out at me on this cut, and I actively dislike the drumming on it.  Pianist is fleet and pleasant, though I’m not sure he’s telling me anything.  I’d probably enjoy this cut a lot more with a different drummer.

Fascinating! The bass player here is actually the least interesting to me! 😄 T.D. identified this one above. One of my favorite pianists, and records.

8 – OK, we’d like to slow the pace down for the next number.  I think it’s probably a more modern player trying to do his best Ben Webster and having some success at it.  Maybe someone like a Joe Lovano.  I ultimately respect it more than I like it.

Again you might be surprised by the reveal (see Jim S. for partial details).

9 – I can do this, I guess.  Sounds like the Trio of Doom album with McLaughlin, Pastorius, and Tony Williams, though I would guess it’s later-era Sonny Sharrock.  As McBeth said, “Sound and fury signifying nothing”.

There IS sort of a Sonny Sharrock connection here, but not Sonny.

10 – Outside my domain, though not without its small pleasures

This is new territory for me too, and I'm enjoying it. Mostly inspired by a trip to Puerto Rico a couple years ago. Whenever work or life get stressful, I can put this on and boy does it do the trick!

11 – This cut speaks to me.  Makes me think of Paul Bley and of ECM.  More likely post-1990 ECM but not Bley.

Your ECM sense is strong! But correct, not Bley.

Favorite cuts in order:  #2, #1, #11. 

Favorite instrument throughout:  bass. 

Must-own cut: #2

Thanks for the BFT and some new discoveries!

 

Edited Tuesday at 12:45 PM by webbcity

[JSngry]

I see that the Jordan is from one of his Muse records of the 70s. Those never really landed with me, but this cut has me wondering if I should reconsider then.

[felser]

3 hours ago, webbcity said:

2 – So utterly in my wheelhouse!  I better have this on the shelves somewhere, especially loving the tenor player and the Rhodes!.  LOVE this cut.

Thought you might enjoy this one! Not tremendously well-known, I don't think, though it's very possible you have it.

 

I went ahead and Shazam'd this.  And no, don't own this and am not familiar with the group at all (though certainly know the tenor player).  So this is going to be a very expensive BFT for me ! 🙂

[JSngry]

From where do you know Doug Harris? That's a new name on me!

[T.D.]

This is really funny.

I dig #2 but had no clue. Based on Jim's and felser's posts, I sleuthed it. No credit claimed, but it's here.

From one of 2 albums (by the same group) I've seen on DG's "CD Deals" pages from to time. At one point I was on the verge of purchasing both, but held off for some reason. I have heard one tune by this group before, on one of the "Spiritual Jazz" compilations.

Since "The Bastards" still have this one for $6.99/2 CDs I just sprang for it. 

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:50 PM by T.D.

[JSngry]

23 minutes ago, T.D. said:

This is really funny.

I dig #2 but had no clue. Based on Jim's and felser's posts, I sleuthed it. No credit claimed, but it's here.

From one of 2 albums (by the same group) I've seen on DG's "CD Deals" pages from to time. At one point I was on the verge of purchasing both, but held off for some reason. I have heard one tune by this group before, on one of the "Spiritual Jazz" compilations.

Since "The Bastards" still have this one for $6.99/2 CDs I just sprang for it. 

 

Turns out I have both! Neither made an indelible impression, but neither bored me or pissed me off!

Besides  homeboys(sorta)!

[felser]

9 hours ago, JSngry said:

From where do you know Doug Harris? That's a new name on me!

I thought I was referring to Ronnie Laws, who is listed on personnel on their first album (I was mistaken), but Doug Harris played on those ca. 1990 McCoy Tyner Big Band albums on Milestone and Verve, and with Mongo Santamaria ca. 1980, plus some other interesting credits (Frank Foster, Ellington ghost band, etc.).

[JSngry]

Mostly as a section player, right?

[webbcity]

Some more responses! Inline below... (catching up slowly here...)

On 6/1/2025 at 4:41 PM, T.D. said:

Having fun so far. Partial, since my long attempts often disappear before I can post:

#1: Thumbs up. No guess, though some players sound familiar. The arrangement suggests the Jazztet, in which case maybe I own it, but no particular album comes to mind.

You're right, it does sound a bit Jazztet-ish. Jim has ID'd the horns. That still leaves the other musicians as well as whose session it might be...

#2: Big thumbs up, even though I'm not a big fusion listener. Enjoy the electric piano. And the 'bone (a lot), which confuses me because I can't think of any big fusion trombonists. Phil Ranelin would be a knee-jerk guess but I don't think it sounds overly like him.

The Phil Ranelin guess was a good one! To me this track sounds very similar to a lot of stuff out of the Tribe camp.

#3: Good and pleasant to listen to but not a knockout. No guess, but will probably kick myself upon ID.

Again, not a ton of praise for this one so far but I do enjoy the track, and there's bit more fire on some of the other tracks on this record, I just happened to pick a mellow one.

#4: Thumbs up. Peeked but wouldn't have been able to guess. From an album I've considered buying at various times but never picked up. Big fan of the pianist. Sometimes question the reed player's straight-ahead efforts but dig him here.

I'm usually with you on the last part-- though there are a couple of his straight-ahead records I do like. And I like him here also. 🙂

#5: OK but not a standout. No guesses. Don't love the saxist.

Ah! That one hurts! One of my favorite musicians. 🙂 Now you know who this is too, Jim also got this one correct.

#6: Mild thumbs up. Saxist boring in some places but also occasionally interesting. Sax vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding from time to time, which suggests some phase(s) of Shepp, but doesn't really sound like him. No guesses, but expect a forehead slap on ID.

Nope, I predict no forehead slap. This is not an easy one at all. And I know this was a tricky one to throw in the mix, but I do love the search here.

#7: Big thumbs up. Being a fanboy of the leader I of course own the album. I like the drumming more than felser: have many recordings with him, very recognizable and often excellent, but tends to overplay on occasion.'

Same here, big thumbs for both the leader and the drummer!

Back later with the rest. Thanks. Welcome diversion on a day with crummy weather.

 

[randyhersom]

1. Bone out front.  Can't rule out early Coltrane on tenor.  Curtis Fuller?
2. Seventies feel.  We do have a bone here to so it wold be reasonable to suspect Phil Ranelin.
3. Mellow, maybe fluegelhorn.  You already know who I'm thinking, but I've been wrong so many times I'm not going to say it out loud.
4. Either The Entertainer or Maple Leaf Rag.  Alto has some modern licks.  I don't think there's any piano on Air Lore. Braxton would be more subversive.  I think I have this but I'm not placing it.
5. Another jaunty busman's holiday for a new thing player.
6. And we we step over the line into new thing, feels like a Hat Hut date.  Joe McPhee? Been trying to remember the name of the Hat player who did the Jug tribute as an alternate guess.
7. And back in to the mainstream, on the ivoies. Tommy Flanagan?
8.  In the grand tenor ballad tradition.  Not Body and Soul, but close.
9.  Terje Rypdal, with Brandon Ross as a backup guess.  Love it.
10. Latin jam.  I have no skills in this area
11. Very quiet.  I did toy with the idea of it being Bill Evans with Jim Hall, but I'm more inclined toward, say Richie Beirach.

... Not particularly easy to google but I did find Ellery Eskelin's name

[felser]

34 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Mostly as a section player, right?

Yes.

[webbcity]

Continuing to catch up...

On 6/1/2025 at 6:24 PM, JSngry said:

June 1!!! Are there enough worms to go around?

TRACK ONE - I like the head, at least the way the band interprets it. Nice, very big-band-ish. Well now, that's Bennie Green. And that's Johnny Griffin. I don't have this record, but I don't need to, but if I did, it wouldn't matter. It's of such a quality that it feels fresh the first time through or the thousandth. People like this have such strong individual voices that you know what you're going to get, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Ding ding ding!!

TRACK TWO - Familiar with the vibe, very. The players, not so much. I will use the term "second-tier" here as a compliment and a recognition that "top-tier" is avery high level indeed, one that has been set really high in this music. But that's ok, this one is still very enjoyable. Everybody involved should be proud, and hopefully still are. Rhythm section in a notch higher than the soloists, btw.

Yeah I particularly like the rhythm section work on this one, the feel is very cool and even a bit unique for this style IMO. Though I might rate the saxophonist a bit higher than you too.

TRACK THREE - Nice tune and performance, but it sounds like a 70s jam that got set aside. I mean, it's good but....very energetically stale, if that makes any sense. It's good in a mixtape like this, but a whole album of it? Perhaps not? Pianist sounds the most individual, relatively speaking.

Not a whole album of this-- as mentioned in other spots here, I picked a pretty chill track from the album. It's a new one to me but I'm really enjoying it overall. And again, I'm a fan of the sax player.

TRACK FOUR - Oh my, OLD FOLK"S MUSIC!!!!! Not Maple Leaf Rag, but the record LOL. AB & Muhal from their duet album. That's a major, MAJOR album, imo. Two of the great minds of this music, being great on all sides. There ya' go.

TRACK FIVE - See #4, only this time it's Air, doing "King Porter Stomp". from Air Lore. This record got a LOT of play by me when it first hit. Not the most important elelment, but it's the record that for me cemented the link between Henry Threadgill & Sonny Rollins, not explicit, but intractably linked deep down in there. One of my favor cuts from one of my favorite records by one of my favorite groups led by one of my favorite contributors to all of music. Period.

Knew you would nail the above two! I figured several people here would get these but I liked the idea of including them both anyway, for those less familiar with the AACM, and in particular to show their deep roots.

TRACK SIX - I get it, I like it, but I also wonder what this altoist would do on "Maple Leaf Rag" or "King Porter Stomp"? But then I wonder if their life has given them any real need to do that? And I don't know. I honestly don't know. I do know that I like things better when I can get a sense that it's in there, somewhere. But I guess it doesn't matter? I'm old and (almost) out of the way, so let people play their own story.  Either way, can't go wrong with that bassist and drummer! About the alto playing though - one word- dynamics. Use them inside your phrases.

Though I don't know this for a fact, I would be willing to bet that the saxophonists responsible for the previous two tracks were influences on this alto player. So I have a feeling that the "lineage" is there... if I am picking up on what you are laying down. But I am also just getting to know this alto player. And really enjoying it!

TRACK SEVEN - 4-REAL BEBOP!!!! Superior in every regard. I'll guess Elmo Hope because of the true depth of understanding of how changes don't need to be stale, stagnant, and stupefying. That shit moves around and tells a story. How many stars you got Leonard? That ain't enough!!!!

Bingo!

TRACK EIGHT - Clifford Jordan? Don't know this record. Yet! Such a beautiful singing tone he had, and that vibrato is so personal. Wonderful piano accompaniment too, those chords voiced just right, not too little, not too much, just right. Early birds get worms, Clifford Jordan gets stars. As many as you got!

Bingo again! This is an album I'd forgotten about for a bit, but came across this track again recently and it just knocked me out.

TRACK NINE - Surely this is in the Miles Orb somehow? I like this a lot. The tone(s), the beat (that bass rhythm!, the mix, it's a RECORD, not just a :song". Ok, the longer it goes and the more layers of guitar there are, the less directly Miles-Orb it seems, but definitely in the "influenced by Miles" Orb it becomes. This is goo! We've heard these sounds before, but not like this, exactly.

I would say in the Miles Orb in terms of influence, definitely... but then, so much is! But as you say, no direct connection. And I do think this is a pretty unique record in the execution.

TRACK TEN - Ruben Blades with Willie Colon? I need to brush up on my Spanish. Like, a LOT. Colon I am sure of Blades, not so much. I like this one just fine. Have you heard the Colon/Celia Cruz album? If not, get theen ass to a streamer ASAP!!!!!

Willie Colon, yes! No Ruben though. And I have *not* heard the Colon/Celia Cruz album... <<runs to interwebs>>... this one? https://fania.com/record/only-they-could-have-made-this-album/

TRACK ELEVEN - Putting me in mind of Paul Bley, but I've not heard him in a setting exactly like this. but that don't mean shit, becuase Paul Bley played in ALL kinds of settings. But the longer it goes on....Bley's harmonies wouldn't stay that fixed for this long. Yeah...this one is like a lovely cloud that at first looks like it's in the sky, but the longer you look at it, the more it looks like a really good painting on the roof. Oh Well! Make mine a Bley!

No Bley. This one manages to take me out of whatever space I'm in whenever I play it, which to me is the whole game.

Pretty damn fine collection here. I could put it in the car and leave it there for a good while. Thanks?!

Thank YOU, sir!

 

Edited yesterday at 02:22 AM by webbcity

[JSngry]

Yes that one. This is the .oney cut, but the whole album is worth your while!

 

[Dub Modal]

1 - Nice swinging groove. Sax player has full facility of that horn. Trombone was impressively controlled but the solo was just ok. Sax was better in this tune. Is this the Basie Bunch?

2 -  Sounds familiar. Love the song. Great groove and the ensemble plays well together. Feel like I should be able to guess this but nothing is coming to mind at the moment. Trombone here too, and it's very good. 

3 - Killer brush work in the intro. Is it Manne on drums? Love this quiet style of song. Drummer is impressive for sure. Corea on keys? 

4 - Throwback style with a more modern sounding recording. No guesses. 

5 - Wow, short and sweet up-tempo. Not bad at all but no idea. 

6 - Really familiar and very good. Tension is fantastic. I know this horn player but I can't name them at the moment. 

7 - Swinging tune. Pianist as leader? Deft player for sure. No guesses. 

8 - Heartfelt playing and an enjoyable track. No guesses. 

9 - Rypdal, McLaughlin or Scofield? Leaning Ryp. I dig it regardless. Definitely not Sco...

10 - Legit. Very nice. I would guess Cuban? 

11 - A bit somnambulant. Not sure who this would be. 

All in all an enjoyable mix. Thanks for putting it together!