BFT 261 (December 2025) Discussion Thread

[felser]

Here is BFT 261.  Something for everyone (including @Dan Gould for one cut), and my usual boundary stretching and 60's/70's-centric focus.  Looking forward to reading and responding to your impressions and guesses.  Only one cut that is likely to stump everyone (even @rostasi ).  The person with by far the best chance of getting it is @randyhersom (and that's a clue).

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

 

[felser]

Paging @webbcity to give a listen to cut #4.

[Dan Gould]

Your words of the day:

Offensive/Inoffensive.

That's the best way I can describe a Felser compilation.  Listening to his BFTs over many years now, for me it reinforces the "music of my youth" cliche and today I was wondering, if I were his age, and he mine, would we have the same radical differences of opinion, only from a different angle of opposition?  It has to be recognized that the jazz I like was not in any way the music of my youth, but I did come to the music when neobop was in its ascendancy, and my earliest listening was a mixture of classic swing and bop/hard bop. 

Something I pondered while swinging between degrees of offense.  On to the specifics:

TRACK ONE:

I think you had to be there.  Is there a jazz connection here aside from the sort of scat the vocalist briefly attempts? Inoffensive:  **.

TRACK TWO:

Sunrise, Sunset?  After two minutes I want to say NEXT but I did persevere (work emails helped distract).  Is that Elvin?  Piano is better ... I think because it is much harder to make ugly sounds on the piano (if you stick to, you know, the keys).  Offensive: Zero stars.

TRACK THREE:

Not my style of piano.  Inoffensive:  ** 1/2 

TRACK FOUR:

Really had to be there.  What the hell is he singing about?  Offensive: *

TRACK FIVE:

No notes taken, so  ... Inoffensive:  **

TRACK SIX:

See #4, but final evaluation is Inoffensive:  **

TRACK SEVEN:

Oh hell no. Offensive: Zero stars.

TRACK EIGHT:

Following up one of the worst with the track for me?  Is this a Cedar tune? Hutch? I don't think its his regular partner Mr. Land on tenor. 

Neither offensive nor inoffensive - *** 1/2 (1/2 star removed for the congas which rarely thrill me that much)

TRACK NINE:

When the band came in .... I went out.  Offensive:  Zero stars.

TRACK TEN:

Wait a sec this is obviously the Dan selection.  Doesn't thrill me the way Gene would.  ***

TRACK ELEVEN:

More vocals I have a hard time understanding ... Inoffensive:  **

 

Thanks Mr. Felser and remember, if you were offended by offensive/inoffensive, you always get the last word since my BFT follows yours.  

[felser]

Thanks Dan, I'm a (Philadelphia) Eagles fan, and Jalen and Saquon say we don't do offense anymore, so none taken!  I'm 11 years older than you, which music-industry-wise is a lifetime (Woodstock vs. MTV), with music probably holding a very different meaning to my youth than it did to yours.  My earliest jazz listening (1972, first semester of college) was John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Blue Note.

tracks #1 and #4 - I was there.

track #2 - the pianist is a favorite of mine.

track #8 - Not Hutch or Land, not  written by Cedar, or Hutch.  But a well known tune (though not in this version).

Thanks as always for your good-natured feedback - I even read it to my wife!  And I'm sure many will breathe a sigh of relief (and some will re-engage in the BFT process) when you're up in January.

[randyhersom]

Pretty sure I missed the one you thought only I would get.
1. Jom Lucien?
2. Billy Harper.
3. 2 pianos? Chick and Herbie? 
4. Murmured vocals.
5. Got to be Santana, Probably the Lotus triple live album.  Similar to Singing Winds, Crying Beasts, the intro to Black Magic Woman
6. Organ, Electric Piano and short vocal - (could be 1, 2 or 3 people) and tasteful drums and bass.  Without much of a clue, I'll say Barbara Dennerlein
7. I like the sound, vibes are in the mix.
8. Not too many organ - vibes combos.  Neither of the last two sounds like Jason Adasiewicz, who I have posted about a couple times.
9. Hannibal Marvin Peterson?
10. Goodbye Porkpie Hat by a piano trio
11. Soulful as hell, and a lovely acoustic piano backing, but possibly not a singer recognized primarily fo jazz.  That's OK, she kills it.

[felser]

40 minutes ago, randyhersom said:

Pretty sure I missed the one you thought only I would get.
1. Jon Lucien?  Not Lucien.
2. Billy Harper.  Not Harper.
3. 2 pianos? Chick and Herbie?  One piano!  Not Chick or Herbie.
4. Murmured vocals.  A trademark of this singer. 
5. Got to be Santana, Probably the Lotus triple live album.  Similar to Singing Winds, Crying Beasts, the intro to Black Magic Woman.  Yes, Santana, not from Lotus.  Go back and listen to Singing Winds, Crying Beasts for further clues🙂
6. Organ, Electric Piano and short vocal - (could be 1, 2 or 3 people) and tasteful drums and bass.  Without much of a clue, I'll say Barbara Dennerlein.  Not Dennerlein, but I get where you're coming from.
7. I like the sound, vibes are in the mix.
8. Not too many organ - vibes combos.  Neither of the last two sounds like Jason Adasiewicz, who I have posted about a couple times.  Neither is Adasiewicz.
9. Hannibal Marvin Peterson?  Yes!
10. Goodbye Porkpie Hat by a piano trio Correct.
11. Soulful as hell, and a lovely acoustic piano backing, but possibly not a singer recognized primarily for jazz.  That's OK, she kills it.  You are correct on every point you made on this one!  Absolutely kills it.  And it's a live, solo performance.  This was the one cut that HAD to be on this BFT, and it had to be either the first or last cut.  The opening to the first cut was too perfect for me to bypass, so I put this one last.

Thanks as always for your participation and insights!   I don't expect you or anyone else to get the cut I called you out for, but you are the one with the best shot.  I'll explain that in clues later in the week.

[JSngry]

TRACK ONE - Terry Callier, Generally not a fan. Charles Stepney helped here, but I just don't (generally) like the ooziness of his singing, such as here. Plus those lyrics are just a tad too clever for me.

TRACK TWO - David Murray with the Bob Thiele Collective. For me, this record ends up as less than the sum of its parts, especially this cut. The gimmick of doing another MFT is just too clever by half. The rest of the record isn't bad, but....

TRACK THREE - Hmm...ostinato-ish. Good hands, definitely. The tune sounds familiar.,,something I might have really gotten into a few decades ago and maybe did? Even with that, still sounds ok today, maybe just not as much. But still good enough.

TRACK FOUR - That's just silly.

TRACK FIVE - Santana, obviously. I'll listen to this once a decade or so. It's good, but not exactly "Timeless, at least not on its own. That iteration of the band, left music better than they found it, I'll thank them for that and then move on.

TRACK SIX - Yuck. What was wrong with Wes? For what demographic was this intended? Nothing here for me, I:'m afraid. It doesn't trance (if it did I would like it), it just takes up space and babbles on.

TRACK SEVEN - It's sincere. But not much else, sadly. Cliches abound, and not much else. "Spiritual", I suppose, for whatever that is worth.

TRACK EIGHT - Johnny Lytle doing "Little Sunflower. This tune is a drag to play because of the damn recurring samba B-section. But Johnny Lytle will ring true, always. And hey, that's Houston Person! Good cut!

TRACK NINE - Sounds like Hannibal, whom I have liked a lot. I hear cello, so Diedre Murray, right? Fine band, good energy. Another horn might have been nice. His time goes a little weird when the bass drops out, but oh well. The energy hasn't particularly aged, which is hardly common with this type "all-in" type stuff. When a player has chops to match the energy, they're playing a winning game as far as that goes. I hear  his tempo getting wonky again once the band comes back in, but he gets a handle on it an pulls it back together. On the whole, a winner!

TRACK TEN - Straight and to the point, maybe a bit long. Overall, though, excellent.

TRACK ELEVEN - A Donny Hathaway classic. I much prefer the original, this one sounds a bit "performative", as they like to say these days, a lot of meeting expectations of pre-defined "soulfulness". But it could have been a lot worse, very happy that it's not. Still, give me Donny every day.

Happy Holidays!

Oh, Roger Maris as a Cardinal. Niche, Tom, niche!

[felser]

33 minutes ago, JSngry said:

TRACK ONE - Terry Callier, Generally not a fan. Charles Stepney helped here, but I just don't (generally) like the ooziness of his singing, such as here. Plus those lyrics are just a tad too clever for me.  I'm a big Callier fan (and a big Stepney fan) and love the lyrics on this one!  To each his own.

TRACK TWO - David Murray with the Bob Thiele Collective. For me, this record ends up as less than the sum of its parts, especially this cut. The gimmick of doing another MFT is just too clever by half. The rest of the record isn't bad, but....  All those records ended up being less than the sum of their parts.  But I actually like this cut quite a bit, and that pianist could do no wrong in my eyes (and ears).

TRACK THREE - Hmm...ostinato-ish. Good hands, definitely. The tune sounds familiar.,,something I might have really gotten into a few decades ago and maybe did? Even with that, still sounds ok today, maybe just not as much. But still good enough.  

TRACK FOUR - That's just silly.   But amazing bass playing!

TRACK FIVE - Santana, obviously. I'll listen to this once a decade or so. It's good, but not exactly "Timeless, at least not on its own. That iteration of the band, left music better than they found it, I'll thank them for that and then move on.  I stick around and revisit often.  And the live reunion a decade ago was stunning, if short-lived and inconsistent.

TRACK SIX - Yuck. What was wrong with Wes? For what demographic was this intended? Nothing here for me, I:'m afraid. It doesn't trance (if it did I would like it), it just takes up space and babbles on.  I listen to it frequently in the kitchen,  it trances for me.

TRACK SEVEN - It's sincere. But not much else, sadly. Cliches abound, and not much else. "Spiritual", I suppose, for whatever that is worth.  I suspect they'll gladly settle for sincere.

TRACK EIGHT - Johnny Lytle doing "Little Sunflower. This tune is a drag to play because of the damn recurring samba B-section. But Johnny Lytle will ring true, always. And hey, that's Houston Person! Good cut!  Thanks!  Yes, Lytle and Person on a pretty unique version.

TRACK NINE - Sounds like Hannibal, whom I have liked a lot. I hear cello, so Diedre Murray, right? Fine band, good energy. Another horn might have been nice. His time goes a little weird when the bass drops out, but oh well. The energy hasn't particularly aged, which is hardly common with this type "all-in" type stuff. When a player has chops to match the energy, they're playing a winning game as far as that goes. I hear  his tempo getting wonky again once the band comes back in, but he gets a handle on it and pulls it back together. On the whole, a winner!    Yes on Hannibal and Murray.  I thrill to the energy in and of itself.   Being more of a rock guy than you, and not being a musician like you are, I hear things differently than you.  Your insights on the timing are enlightening, and I will need to go back and listen for what you point out.

TRACK TEN - Straight and to the point, maybe a bit long. Overall, though, excellent.  Yes, thanks.  Don't think anyone can not like this one.  Even @Dan Gould had lukewarm praise for it and #8.

TRACK ELEVEN - A Donny Hathaway classic. I much prefer the original, this one sounds a bit "performative", as they like to say these days, a lot of meeting expectations of pre-defined "soulfulness". But it could have been a lot worse, very happy that it's not. Still, give me Donny every day.  I hear you, but this particular performance had a very specific context.

Happy Holidays!  And Happy Holidays to you and yours!  Thanks for your always fascinating and enlightening thoughts!

Oh, Roger Maris as a Cardinal. Niche, Tom, niche!  Could have shown him as a Athletic or an Indian also!  

 

Edited 3 hours ago by felser

[T.D.]

Really enjoying this BFT so far, though I don't connect with a couple of things. I usually post in bits and pieces b/c I tend to mess up long posts and have them vanish into hyperspace. 🥴

I peeked at the thread, so won't drop names of things that have been ID'd.

Love #2, the pianist is also a big favorite of mine. Wasn't familiar with this recording. Saxist plays more notes than I generally prefer, but the package works.

Of course #5 is Santana. I never heard this tune, or maybe I did once but forgot. Always enjoy his music when I hear it, though I have to admit I no longer own any recordings.

#6 has gotta be Brian Auger? At least I think so. I don't have any of his live recordings but the tune is very familiar. I may have a studio version (which I enjoy) on the shelves somewhere. Have to do some detective work.

Looking forward to hearing more of the BFT.

[felser]

1 minute ago, T.D. said:

Really enjoying this BFT so far, though I don't connect with a couple of things. I usually post in bits and pieces b/c I tend to mess up long posts and have them vanish into hyperspace. 🥴I'm glad somebody is enjoying it 😂

I peeked at the thread, so won't drop names of things that have been ID'd.

Love #2, the pianist is also a big favorite of mine. Wasn't familiar with this recording. Saxist plays more notes than I generally prefer, but the package works.  Yep.

Of course #5 is Santana. I never heard this tune, or maybe I did once but forgot. Always enjoy his music when I hear it, though I have to admit I no longer own any recordings.  Yes.

#6 has gotta be Brian Auger? At least I think so. I don't have any of his live recordings but the tune is very familiar. I may have a studio version (which I enjoy) on the shelves somewhere. Have to do some detective work.  Yes, Auger.  There are a couple of studio versions and a couple more live versions of his on record/disc.

Looking forward to hearing more of the BFT.  I'm also looking forward to you hearing more of it!

 

[Dub Modal]

1 - Sick production. Sounds lovely. Great singing and playing. Nothing to dislike here. My dad was a shag DJ (shag being the music they call "northern soul" elsewhere in the world) and this is right in line with what they call "beach music" around these parts. You could probably hear this in Myrtle Beach during SOS weekend. No names here though but I'm familiar some with this singer. Name escapes me at the moment. 

2 - Sax player has a tinge of Pharaoh Sanders but it's not him. Or maybe it is? The accompanying instrumentation just doesn't bring Sanders to my mind. And the sax seems to be played faster than Sanders would. 

3 - 6: No guesses for any of these. Great playing on all songs. 5 & 6 are the most enjoyable of this group, although the vocals on 6 are iffy to my ears. The Rhodes and guitar on 5 are excellent. 

7 - Like this song. Drumming and percussion work and the rest of the band are good. No idea unfortunately. 

8 - Another great tune. Vibes are well played. The groove is excellent. Seems like this would be a Hutcherson track? 

9 - Fantastic. Tolliver? Wasn't going to guess him until the trumpet started. 

10 - Familiar song and one I enjoy. Unfortunately I have no guesses in mind. 

11 - Good vibe, enjoyable. Singing is good. 

Seemed like lots of piano in the foreground on this BFT. Not a bad thing! Enjoyed it. Thanks for putting it together 🍻

 

[felser]

1 hour ago, Dub Modal said:

1 - Sick production. Sounds lovely. Great singing and playing. Nothing to dislike here. My dad was a shag DJ (shag being the music they call "northern soul" elsewhere in the world) and this is right in line with what they call "beach music" around these parts. You could probably hear this in Myrtle Beach during SOS weekend. No names here though but I'm familiar some with this singer. Name escapes me at the moment.   I'd love to talk to your dad!  Yes, this artist and especially this cut by him are apparently considered Northern Soul legends.   Northern Soul is a form I have always been incredibly into, and the CD era was especially kind to it.

2 - Sax player has a tinge of Pharaoh Sanders but it's not him. Or maybe it is? The accompanying instrumentation just doesn't bring Sanders to my mind. And the sax seems to be played faster than Sanders would.   Not Sanders.  But the pianist here played with Sanders.

3 - 6: No guesses for any of these. Great playing on all songs. 5 & 6 are the most enjoyable of this group, although the vocals on 6 are iffy to my ears. The Rhodes and guitar on 5 are excellent.   Glad you think highly of these.  I actually like the vocals on 6, though I realize they are an acquired taste and a case of nepotism.

7 - Like this song. Drumming and percussion work and the rest of the band are good. No idea unfortunately.   

8 - Another great tune. Vibes are well played. The groove is excellent. Seems like this would be a Hutcherson track?  Not Hutcherson, though you aren't first to guess him.

9 - Fantastic. Tolliver? Wasn't going to guess him until the trumpet started.  Not Tolliver.

10 - Familiar song and one I enjoy. Unfortunately I have no guesses in mind.   

11 - Good vibe, enjoyable. Singing is good.  

Seemed like lots of piano in the foreground on this BFT. Not a bad thing! Enjoyed it. Thanks for putting it together 🍻Thanks for listening and responding, glad you found some things to enjoy!

 

 

By the way, I notice that @Dan Gould only ranked four of my 11 cuts as offensive, so I guess I'll take that as a moral victory😒.