BFT 258 September 2025

[greggery peccary]

And here it is. The September 2025 installment of the BFT. This is my first time putting one together.

Have fun. 
 

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

[mjzee]

Well, you certainly started off on a great note.  Track #1 is the third track on this.  Perhaps my favorite album of his.

Track #2 hits that nice Blue Note kind of groove, but the clean sound quality says it's probably of the digital age.  Trumpeter's nice and relaxed, alto is in a Cannonball vein.  Relaxed yet driving.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by mjzee

[mjzee]

#3 turns out to be a sprightly tune - wish they had skipped the intro section.  They're shifting between the different time signatures with a lot of enthusiasm.  Vibes instead of piano is also nice.  Could've been a little less "hot" for me - a little more restraint would lend more charm.

[felser]

1 – Either Michael Brecker or someone greatly influenced by him and Jan Garbarek.  Way too sleepy for my tastes, though expertly played for what it is.

2 – Much more up my alley, now we’re talking!  I love the composition and everything about the cut, especially the trumpet solo.  Sounds like Woody Shaw and Kenny Garrett, but I can’t find an album match for it.  Very excited for the reveal if I don’t figure it out first.  A gem.

3 – Very good cut.   Steve Nelson on vibes?  Strong solos, long cut which does not outstay its welcome.

4 - Cheek to Cheek.  Has to be one of those Oscar Peterson/trumpet duet albums on Pablo, doesn’t it?  But I can’t find a match. Pleasant enough for sure.

5 – Eastern influence, but not as overt as those Joe Harriott albums, I don’t think.  Interesting, though not overly compelling to make me return. Maybe it’s the Oregon with a guest sax player.

6 – World tour?  Nothing here for me, though I’m sure it’s a good example of whatever style this is.

7 – Back on track.  Groovin’ High.   Very enjoyable trumpet player. Fun to hear guitar rather than piano in background. 

8 – One of those latter-day tracks that I respect more than I enjoy, even though I should “like” it.   Players sound very trained, but to me the performance is pro-forma and lacks excitement.  YMMV.  This sort of thing sounds better to me live than on record (well, mp3).  I do like the trumpet solo.

9 – Well, that was unusual.

10 – Better Than Anything by Tuck & Patti.   That’s a great song, I love Irene Kral’s version of it as well as this version.  My wife and I enjoy and still play those early Windham Hill Tuck & Patti albums, and back when we had answering machines, I had their “Love is the Key” as my answering machine message for a time.

11 – Pleasant.  One of the old masters on tenor. 

12 -  Wonderful.  Very substantial, and another favorite cut on the BFT.  Wished it went on longer, grew more and more on me as it went on.

[Dub Modal]

1. Sounds like a familiar song but I'm drawing a blank. Was this recorded in the 80s? It's got a sentimentality to it. 

2. Classic hard bop. Maybe from the 70s? I hear some Tolliver and Hubbard in that trumpet. Clean tone on the sax but I can't make them out. Pianist vocalizes it sounds like. I'm totally missing this one but it's a good tune.

3. I really start digging it more after the intro. Drummer is crisp. Khan Jamal on vibes? If so would it be Byard Lancaster on sax? I'm probably way off there. Regardless, excellent song. 

4. A standard I recognize but can't name. OP on keys? 

5. I dig the style but hate the way they were recorded. Everyone on max volume. At least it sounds that way on this Bluetooth speaker I'm using. Could be South African jazz? 

6. What style is this? I want to say Gypsy but that sounds wrong. Anyway, clarinet is well played. No guesses. 

7. Good tune. Probably a big time trumpet player but no guesses. 

8. Heavy duty. From the 70s maybe? Love this song as well. Yeah this is definitely one I would want to pick up. 

9. Disco inflected jazz. These theatrical style vocals are always difficult for me to get into. No idea who this is. 

10. Better vocal style to my ears. The scatting was top notch. She could carry this solo but the music behind her is good. Biddly Diddly Doo baby. 

11. Ok, blues jazz. I like the variety of styles in this bft. Sounds like it's from the 50s. Or a 50s style recorded in the early 60s. It's going to be awesome when I'm totally wrong on all that. I'm not sure who the trumpet player is but I suspect they're the leader. 

12. Sound like a modern noire style. Got some funk to it. A bit of sentimentality too like the first track. Hate I can't make more guesses here! 

Well, looking forward to the reveal and others' thoughts on these to see if I was anywhere close. Thanks for putting it together. 

1 hour ago, felser said:

 

10 – Better Than Anything by Tuck & Patti.   That’s a great song, I love Irene Kral’s version of it as well as this version.  My wife and I enjoy and still play those early Windham Hill Tuck & Patti albums, and back when we had answering machines, I had their “Love is the Key” as my answering machine message for a time.

 

Glad you knew this one. Checking them out now. Patti Cathcart has an interesting bio.

[felser]

3 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

8. Heavy duty. From the 70s maybe? Love this song as well. Yeah this is definitely one I would want to pick up. 

I'd be really surprised if it was as early as the 70's.  Seems to have a post-Wynton studied feel to it.  But I've been wrong on these BFT's many times!

Edited 1 hour ago by felser

[mjzee]

#4: Boy, is this good.  At first blush, I thought it might be Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins, but the pianist is too forward and insistent.  I suspect the pianist is Oscar P.  The flugelhorn?  Dunno, but I like it.

#5: Another enjoyable cut.  I suspect it's Oregon, who I dig immensely.  If it is them, I'm glad McCandless isn't on oboe - he can sound cloying on that,

#6: A tango?  Besame Mucho, or some permutation thereof.  Played in a very suave manner indeed!  Love Me Or Leave Me?  Well done - they carry the mood.  Perry Robinson?

#7: I think I have this: is it Dexter and Freddie on one of those Prestige releases?  Or with Woody Shaw and George Benson on one of those late-stage Columbia releases?  Anyway, it's Dex; nuff said.

#8: A live track.  Sounds like Lee Morgan.  

#9: Do the funky yak!  it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.  I could make out about half the lyrics, but it seems to be a shaggy yak story.  Good groove.

#10:  I think I have this as well.  Is it Kenny Burrell with some vocalist?

#11: I could listen to stuff like this all night.  Just needs a good single-malt scotch and I'm good.  Is it a Texas tenor?

#12: Beautiful way to end the BFT.  Nice and stately.  Beautiful tone and restraint.

Good stuff!  Thanks for posting.