BFT 255 Discussion

[T.D.]

Finishing up:

#8: Nice track, sounds like a duet on my bad computer sound system. Suspected a name tenor but no guess. I peeked, and then had to sleuth (withheld) due to curiosity about the pianist, who clearly is not "the usual suspect" Cedar Walton. Pianist is a prominent/prolific guy I like a lot but who sometimes gets some stick on the forum. He's in great form here.

#9: Far from my usual listening and absolutely no idea about the musicians, but I like it. Especially the bass line. Looking forward to the reveal, particularly for the bassist.

#10: Even more of a departure from usual listening and less able to guess. But a good selection. Percussion is most impressive, arrangement also sticks out.

#11: Sounds on my computer like a piano-bass-guitar trio with really nice and subtle interplay, pianist most likely the leader but perhaps it's billed as a trio. The kind of contemplative moody selection I usually like and do here. I peeked at the ECM hints but don't have any guesses and am not sure it's 21st century...could (though less likely) be as early as 1970s. Even though I'm not a big ECM enthusiast, this is a recording I'd consider picking up.

 

Thanks for a most enjoyable BFT. After seeing Jim's reveal, I feel silly about dissing #5, but I've never related to that particular ensemble as much as some others with the estimable leader. Tracks #2, 4, 9 and 11 the most thought-provoking. The #7 leader is always a welcome guest!

[Milestones]

On #11, I am thinking it's John Abercrombie and Richie Beirach, coming from one of the Abercrombie Quartet records released in late 70s (but no drums on this track).  It sounds rather familiar--maybe another Abercrombie record, maybe Gateway, maybe a Beirach record.  It certainly has the ECM moody atmosphere, for better and worse.

 

[webbcity]

Hi all, I'm so sorry to vanish, have had a hell of a week here between day job, rehearsals, gigs, and other general nuttiness. But I promise I'm gonna get back to it here and catch up. Thanks for your patience!

[webbcity]

On 6/3/2025 at 12:13 PM, felser said:

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 ! 🙂

As @T.D. mentioned earlier in the thread, Dusty Groove has this for cheap and in fact that's where I got mine, a few months ago! At the moment they're out of stock... I wonder if they'll get any back at the $6.99 price. 

On 6/3/2025 at 10:43 PM, JSngry said:

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

 

Man, you ain't kidding! Playing it now. Thanks for adding another one to my want list. Wait... Isn't that supposed to happen the other way around on BFTs?? 🤯

On 6/3/2025 at 10:09 PM, randyhersom said:

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

Some good guesses! You now know the answers on some of these. Phil Ranelin was a good guess on #2 though. You were correct re: Braxton on #4! And if you had saved your Tommy Flanagan guess for the following track, you would have been correct on that count. 😉 And on track 9? Your "backup guess" is correct-- it *is* Brandon Ross on guitar! 

[webbcity]

On 6/4/2025 at 11:29 AM, Dub Modal said:

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! 

Again, some of your questions have now been answered, but wanted to add a few additional comments. Yep, the saxophonist is a big part of the draw for me on #1! On #3, no Corea, but I share your enthusiasm for the drummer. If you know the saxophonist on #6 I'll be impressed! I'm really glad you liked the track. And if course you're correct on #7 re: pianist as leader. 

On 6/4/2025 at 10:13 PM, T.D. said:

Finishing up:

#8: Nice track, sounds like a duet on my bad computer sound system. Suspected a name tenor but no guess. I peeked, and then had to sleuth (withheld) due to curiosity about the pianist, who clearly is not "the usual suspect" Cedar Walton. Pianist is a prominent/prolific guy I like a lot but who sometimes gets some stick on the forum. He's in great form here.

#9: Far from my usual listening and absolutely no idea about the musicians, but I like it. Especially the bass line. Looking forward to the reveal, particularly for the bassist.

#10: Even more of a departure from usual listening and less able to guess. But a good selection. Percussion is most impressive, arrangement also sticks out.

#11: Sounds on my computer like a piano-bass-guitar trio with really nice and subtle interplay, pianist most likely the leader but perhaps it's billed as a trio. The kind of contemplative moody selection I usually like and do here. I peeked at the ECM hints but don't have any guesses and am not sure it's 21st century...could (though less likely) be as early as 1970s. Even though I'm not a big ECM enthusiast, this is a recording I'd consider picking up.

 

Thanks for a most enjoyable BFT. After seeing Jim's reveal, I feel silly about dissing #5, but I've never related to that particular ensemble as much as some others with the estimable leader. Tracks #2, 4, 9 and 11 the most thought-provoking. The #7 leader is always a welcome guest!

I'm surprised to hear that the pianist on #8 gets some flak here! 😮 The bass player on #9 is a big favorite of mine. I'm pleasantly surprised that nobody has gotten #11 yet, but yes, definitely ECM. The entire album is not like this, but it sure is an amazing record and has long been a personal favorite. 

On 6/8/2025 at 8:05 PM, Milestones said:

On #11, I am thinking it's John Abercrombie and Richie Beirach, coming from one of the Abercrombie Quartet records released in late 70s (but no drums on this track).  It sounds rather familiar--maybe another Abercrombie record, maybe Gateway, maybe a Beirach record.  It certainly has the ECM moody atmosphere, for better and worse.

 

@randyhersom also mentioned Beirach, and that's a good guess but no. However!... You are correct on Gateway, so I must amend my above comment about nobody getting this one yet! 💯

[Milestones]

So the track is "Blue" with DeJohnette on piano, Abercrombie on guitar, Holland on bass.

 

[webbcity]

23 hours ago, Milestones said:

So the track is "Blue" with DeJohnette on piano, Abercrombie on guitar, Holland on bass.

 

Yes indeed! I've heard a couple other versions of this with Jack on drums, but to me his piano playing here is what makes this magical. 

[Milestones]

It doesn't even sound like the same tune on some versions.  

[webbcity]

1 hour ago, Milestones said:

It doesn't even sound like the same tune on some versions.  

Yep, very true. I think the first time I heard the Dave Holland Trio version I didn't recognize it as the same tune for quite a while. The melody is there, but the way the piano part holds together the Gateway version, it's like a whole different universe.

[T.D.]

Really interesting on #11. I once heard Jack play a live recital on piano, but would never have guessed him here. Didn't recognize the guitarist: briefly considered sleuthing under Abercrombie, he being the most likely suspect, but his ECM discography is too big so I didn't follow up.

[T.D.]

BTW, I seem to have acquired DG's last copy (for now?) of the album with #2. Happy I got it, plenty of other enjoyable tracks.

[felser]

4 hours ago, T.D. said:

BTW, I seem to have acquired DG's last copy (for now?) of the album with #2. Happy I got it, plenty of other enjoyable tracks.

I have it and two others from the same group on backorder from DeepDiscount.  They are available on Bandcamp, but no combined postage, and $12 domestic shipping for three titles doesn't work for me.

[webbcity]

16 hours ago, felser said:

I have it and two others from the same group on backorder from DeepDiscount.  They are available on Bandcamp, but no combined postage, and $12 domestic shipping for three titles doesn't work for me.

Nice hunting! I hope they come through. I only have this one album and might need to pickup the others soon myself. 

[tkeith]

Well, as usual, delayed, but here we go.  

track 01 - I mean, what's not to like about this?   It's been said here that "J-Griff fools no one."  That is, once again, proven to be true.  Probably a rote guess, but sure sounds like Paul Chambers on bass.  Funky post-bop piano.  Several options, but none staking a claim.  Feel like I should have a better shot at the 'bone, but I've got nothin'.  Nothing to not love about this.

track 02 - Change in gears, but I'm still in the happy zone.  The blend of those horns!  Yes, please.  Loping three feel, Rhodes.  I can even get beyond that drum sound.  So, mid-70s.  There's a rawness to the alto that has me looking in Byard Lancaster's neighborhood, but not him.  Don't think it's Marion Brown, either, but sure in the right side of town.  Okay, that's got to be Ranelin, right?  So was that Wendell Harrison on alto?  I'm always repelled by arrangement for arrangement's sake -- this is most certainly NOT that.  What a great arrangement!

track 03 - First impressions are envisioning a glossy CD case.  Feels quite clean, but I'm going to reserve judgment.  Woody Shaw feel, but I think much more recent.  Very clean recording, and very clean execution... maybe too clean.  Yeah, that tenor is not growing on me.  I'm hearing the practice room and feeling nothing.  Nice piano work.  Not Kenny Barron, but maybe a disciple?  Trumpet invokes shades of Woody and Kenny Wheeler, but unfortunately, it's neither.  This is pretty, polite, interesting music -- it just isn't giving me the feels.  Nice bass work.  

track 04 - What are you doing to me, man?  I know it's Joplin, but not sure which.  I'm not enamored of the execution.  Leaves me asking why?  I mean, if you're going to do this, execute.  Can't help but wonder if you're sneaking Braxton in to see if you can send me to the Piscataqua bridge.  I'll pass on this one.

track 05 - AH!  THERE WE GO!  THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!  And, Henry T fools NO one!  From what may well be my favorite Air album.  I often wonder if our friends who specialize in this era have heard this, and what they would think.

track 06 - I'm liking it, but asking myself why.  It's not the horn, for sure.  Though, whatever the hell is happening, it's with intent.  But that drummer!  He's sounding like Franklin Kiermayer WISHES he sounded.  Got an edge with a bit of Elvin.  Gotta be a Chicago guy.  Can't tell the era from the recording.  I think it's a retro-style modern recording.  Bassist is on point, too.  Got a nice Garrison groove.  Maybe Isaiah Spencer on drums?  Whomever it is, an absolute MF!  Still waiting for the sax to GO someplace.  I mean, I get it, just  not sure we needed 4-1/2 minutes of that motif.  Doesn't sound like Ivo Perelman, but DOES sound like the sort of thing he would do.  See, now it sounds older (loft Jazz), but I'm more and more certain that's Isaiah.  

track 07 - You're certainly not a one-trick pony.  Certainly feels like Herbie Nichols.  But knowing you, and knowing Herbie, it's probably Elmo Hope.  I wish I had a better grasp on whether or not I'm right about that.  If I DON'T have this, I certainly need it.  There's nothing I don't love about this.

track 08 - Clifford Jordan (fools no one).  At first I was thinking that weird later record split with Ran Blake, but then I recognized it.  One of my favorite album covers of all time.  Can't recall the name of the tune, but this is a sneaky good record, particularly He's A Hero.   

track 09 - At first I was thinking Sonny Sharrock, then Ava Mendoza.  It's neither.  Has a Very, Very Circus vibe to it, but leans more... not fusion... I'm getting almost a Jamaladeen Tacuma vibe, but shuffled with VVC.  What the hell is this?  Gotta be Chicago, no?

track 10 - No idea, but I love it.  Been really getting into some of the older stuff of this genre and completely loving it.  What happened there?  I thought I was on to track 11 with two Latin tunes in a row, then it just went buh-bye.  

track 11 -  But this makes me okay with that.  Pensive and almost new-agey, except that it holds my interest.  Getting a Ben Monder vibe from the guitarist.  Composition reminds me of Donny McCaslin's writing, except that I'm really enjoying this and Donny tends to put me to sleep. No clue.

Quite a varied array!  I think I like your work on short notice!    

 

[tkeith]

Huh!  I guess my ears didn't betray me on track 9!

 

[T.D.]

"The Bastards" show the album with #2 back in stock, though perhaps just a single copy.