The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

Paul Bley. Last week's Mose survey kicked in piano trios...so, this week we followed-up with Paul Bley's trio offerings, 1962-66. In terms of musical growth and progression, Bley picks up from where the Bill Evans-Scot La Faro era ended...and then it goes to increasingly challenging places. The Floater Syndrome is a 2-fer of...Floater and Syndrome.

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I've been reliving the early 80s just a little. I downloaded a couple of best-of CDs for Crystal Gayle and Juice Newton. The latter had her songs played on the local "soft rock" station, so they were a bit popular in our area. I remember buying a Crystal Gayle LP (When I Dream) since it was dbx-encoded, and I had a new dbx processor to try out. 😁
 
since it was dbx-encoded, and I had a new dbx processor to try out
Though I haven't used it in 25+ years, I still have my dbx 228 unit. I never actually saw one of those dbx LPs...so I never got to engage the dbx DISC function. Back in the '80s when UDXL IIs were the order of the day, I used dbx exclusively; the unit also has an expansion function which I particularly liked.
 
I'm very much looking forward to this. Lyle Mays, "Eberhard."

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I'll let Lyle's site explain this release.

Featuring: Lyle Mays (piano, keyboards, synthesizers), Bob Sheppard (sax and woodwinds), Steve Rodby (acoustic bass), Jimmy Johnson (electric bass), Alex Acuña (drums and percussion), Jimmy Branly (drums and percussion), Wade Culbreath (vibraphone and marimba), Bill Frisell (guitar), Mitchel Forman (Hammond B3 organ, Wurlitzer electric piano), Aubrey Johnson (vocals), Rosana Eckert (vocals), Gary Eckert (vocals), Timothy Loo (cello), Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick (cello), Eric Byers (cello) and Armen Ksajikian (cello).​
The Lyle Mays Estate is elated to announce the release of a thirteen-minute “mini symphony” entitled Eberharda composition completed by Mays in 2009 for the Zeltsman Marimba Festival, and recorded in the months before his passing on February 10, 2020, with a slate of notable names in jazz including Bill Frisell, Alex Acuña, and Bob Sheppard.​
Due out on August 27, 2021, Eberhard is a long-form, multi-section work that is Lyle’s self-professed dedication to the great German bass player Eberhard Weber, a composer whose influence loomed large on Mays and his long-time collaborator Pat Metheny in the forming of the 11-time Grammy-Award winning Pat Metheny Group during the mid 70’s and throughout their careers. According to Steve Rodby (bass player of the Pat Metheny Group and Lyle’s best friend) who did double duty on this recording as co-associate producer and acoustic bassist, “…though he called it his ‘humble tribute’ to Eberhard, it is still 100 percent Lyle in every way.”​
A steady, lilting marimba (Wade Culbreath) ostinato offers an ample bed for Eberhard’s ethereal opening piano melody, performed, of course, by Mays. Lyle’s unmistakable orchestrational style is immediately on display as various shakers, rainsticks, and atmospheric synthesizer pads quietly make their way into the texture, rising and falling organically as an electric bass theme (played by longtime James Taylor cohort, Jimmy Johnson) emerges. Wordless vocals, a hallmark of the music of the Pat Metheny Group, supplied here by jazz singers Aubrey Johnson (Lyle’s niece and co-executive producer), Rosana Eckert, and Gary Eckert, are introduced—first as accompaniment to the bass melody and later as melodic “instruments.”​
Vocal features give way to Bob Sheppard’s woodwind section, which gives way to cello section underscores (led by principal Timothy Loo), and soon the whole ensemble, including star drummer/percussionists Jimmy Branly and Alex Acuña, Steve Rodby (acoustic bass), Mitchel Forman (Hammond B3 Organ/Wurlitzer piano), and Bill Frisell (guitar) have made appearances. All sixteen instrumentalists/vocalists rarely play at the same time, instead playfully weaving in and out for various features (notably by Mays, Jimmy Johnson, Aubrey Johnson, and Culbreath) and accompanying textures. In a piece already abundant with aural decadence, Bob Sheppard’s extended tenor saxophone solo, which brings Eberhard to its climax, is perhaps the most thrilling. The piece ends as it began, with a sparse recapitulation of the introduction, rewarding the listener with the feeling of having experienced an incredible musical odyssey.
In typical Lyle fashion, this music reflects and honors his far-reaching influences, most obviously the bass playing and compositional style of Eberhard Weber (with whom Lyle recorded on two occasions), but continuing on through Philip Glass’ minimalism, Indonesian Gamelan ensemble, Brazilian music (notably the percussive and speech-like vocal techniques of Lyle’s friend and collaborator Naná Vasconcelos), to the blues, and to classical forms and structures. As in all of his compositions, Mays’ propensity for exploiting compositional material (or, its “DNA”) to the fullest extent is ever constant throughout Eberhard. Like a scientist, he would take a simple melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or other kind of idea and experiment with it until he had discovered all of the different forms it could take—melody, counterline, background pad, bassline, rhythmic motif, and more—often using the same ideas in a wide variety of ways. Eberhard is utterly intentional, containing layer upon layer of depth, complexity, love, and care for the listener to discover.​
While technically a posthumous release, Mays was engaged in the making of Eberhard from beginning to end—serving as composer, arranger, performer (piano, keyboards, and synthesizers), producer, and executive producer, and was actively involved in all of the recording and mixing sessions, which took place in Los Angeles during the latter half of 2019.​
Fans will know that Lyle had been on hiatus from his enormously successful touring and recording career with the Pat Metheny Group and as a solo artist (Eberhard will be his seventh release as a leader) since 2011, choosing instead to pursue his myriad non-musical passions. Then, “Lyle’s health took a bad turn in 2019, and at about the same time, he decided to try to get Eberhard recorded. The relationship between those two events is complex. What’s clear is that he would continue writing and extending this music, as was always his process: to try to find every bit of what the material suggested, every note and harmony, and sound it evoked for him. He added parts, expanded orchestration, imagining it all on an even grander scale,” Steve Rodby explains. “The result is this recording, and what he was able to hear in his final days. This wasn’t meant to be Lyle’s last piece of music, and if he had lived longer, he had plans for more.”​
Eberhard is an independent release and will be available on Friday, August 27, 2021 worldwide on CD, vinyl, digital, and streaming formats.
The sad part is that Lyle had plans to record more music, but became too ill. He hadn't released a studio album since 2000, and the Ludwigsberg Concert live recording was released in 2015, from a 1993 gig. That gig featured then-unknown musicians Bob Sheppard (who went on to play with Steely Dan, Elvis Costello and others, and many jazz gigs) and Mark Walker, who would join Oregon three years later and become that group's longest tenured drummer/percussionist.

"Eberhard" is a suite clocking in under 16 minutes. So, just less than three weeks until it is released.
 
Gold CD version. It purees every other digital version out there. None of them have the dynamics that this version does. A&M's original CD of this was a steaming turd!! 💩 The only version that beats this is the Mobile Fidelity LP, MFSL-1-005.

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When worlds collide. I preordered Lyle Mays' new tune "Eberhard" from his site, and remembered that he'd written a little tidbit about Herb Alpert.



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Didn't know Lyle Mays played trumpet. The first FM station I worked at had a program director who had us push that early '80s Metheny / ECM stuff... (Actually, truth be told, he had a quasi-mutiny on his hands as he and the older guys who were into the '70s jazz/rock fusion suddenly had two (and later three) young bucks who were digging the '50s/'60s scene and leading the charge with the then-recent Blue Note and Prestige LP re-releases -- all this with CDs on the horizon. Good times for sure.)
 
Lyle and Pat both played trumpet. Pat's brother Mike Metheny is a popular trumpet player, educator and jazz writer in the Kansas City area, and he had a couple of records on the Impulse! label (Day In--Night Out being the better of the two, as Kaleidoscope sounds a bit dated now). Pat and Mike both played trumpet since I believe it was their father and/or grandfather that played trumpet. I don't think Pat has played trumpet in decades though--he took up the guitar in his teens and took off like a rocket from there.

Lyle played guitar also, which he learned in tandem with the piano in his youth, and would use it infrequently with the Pat Metheny Group. Like in "The Roots of Coincidence" from the Speaking Of Now tour, which is one of the most compelling tunes they recorded (almost "industrial" hard rock, until the "floaty" end section that is somewhat orchestral in nature). Lyle picks up the guitar just before 1:00 and plays until about 2:30 when he has to switch back to keys:




The PMG also did this tune to start off First Circle. I always considered it a nod to the Jonathan & Darlene Edwards-style tongue in cheek style filtered through an elementary school band bit of fun to start the album off, on out-of-tune band instruments. (I'm guessing from credits that Lyle double-tracked all the horn parts, or maybe Pat also played there but didn't want a credit for it. 😁 Pedro Aznar and Paul Wertico covered the percussion and glockenspiel parts.)

(Apparently the tune is not available unless you're a YouTube premium subscriber.)
 
Dave Brubeck. Interestingly, I could not find any trio LPs from the '50/'60s. Bru's style is immediately recognizable and in lieu of trio offerings, he did issue two back-to-back solo LPs (18, 19APR1956 and 8FEB1957). Bru recorded both in the livingroom of his Oakland home and he was the engineer -- stating that he placed his Ampex in one corner of the livingroom, hit the red button and then walked over to the piano and played. From Coliumbia's perspective, Brubeck Plays Brubeck was probably the least expensive LP they ever issued.

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Dave Brubeck. Interestingly, I could not find any trio LPs from the '50/'60s. Bru's style is immediately recognizable and in lieu of trio offerings, he did issue two back-to-back solo LPs (18, 19APR1956 and 8FEB1957). Bru recorded both in the livingroom of his Oakland home and he was the engineer -- stating that he placed his Ampex in one corner of the livingroom, hit the red button and then walked over to the piano and played. From Coliumbia's perspective, Brubeck Plays Brubeck was probably the least expensive LP they ever issued.

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I love Brubeck Thank to my mom having a couple of his Lps ( she loved jazz and I inherited her tastes as well as developed some of my own) I have a sizeable collection myself I wasn't aware of the "Plays and Plays and Plays" album but it sounds interesting I'm sure it's out of print now the radio station I work at has an old copy on vinyl of "Brubeck Plays Brubeck" that's a great album
 
I always liked those Fantasy album cover illustrations. Tjader had some that were amusing!
I recall Latin Concert exhibits something on the order of a Nixon Go Home sign while elsewhere someone is "flipping the bird"...😲
 
About ten years ago this song caught my ear while doing some grocery shopping. Luckily I had my Shazam (may have been TrackID) to figure out who it was, nice 1970s vibe with a nice voice as well. Several of Josh Rouse's CDs and LPs were added to my collection in the following years as well as an opportunity to see him live.
This particular album ("1972" and yes, that's the album cover in the video) I've always wanted to have on vinyl, but alas, still no luck, so for now I've decided to just settle for the CD/DVD, which I received in the mail the other day and playing it right now :phones:

Greg

 
About ten years ago this song caught my ear while doing some grocery shopping. Luckily I had my Shazam (may have been TrackID) to figure out who it was, nice 1970s vibe with a nice voice as well. Several of Josh Rouse's CDs and LPs were added to my collection in the following years as well as an opportunity to see him live.
This particular album ("1972" and yes, that's the album cover in the video) I've always wanted to have on vinyl, but alas, still no luck, so for now I've decided to just settle for the CD/DVD, which I received in the mail the other day and playing it right now :phones:

Greg


I like that! It kind of has an "Ian Matthews" or "Al Stewart" groove to it.

--Mr Bill
 
IMHO, Tears for Fears' best album was Seeds of Love. Favorite track, playing right now:



After two albums largely comprised of synthesizers and guitars, this one loses most of the synths and replaces them with a rich, organic, acoustic sound, and some of the group's best compositions. Not to knock Songs from the Big Chair which was a trendsetter itself.
 
Jaki Byard. Byard is my all-time favourite jazz pianist and I think it's because he could sincerely play with literally anyone and in any genre. He was a sincere lover of music and embraced all eras. Equally at home playing '20s stomps or '60s "free jazz", Jaki, like all great jazz artists, was first and foremost a supreme melodist. Blues For Smoke is a 1960 solo outing while Here's Jaki and Sunshine Of My Soul are trio dates from 1961 and 1967 respectively. Solo Piano, from 1969, with the well-known cover shot of the back of his head, was included on a Prestige two-fer. Jaki also played alto sax, guitar, drum kit and vibes on his '60s recordings.


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(Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week XXVIII -- Brahms)

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When it comes to classical music, I'm not a connaisseur, but from what I've heard so far in my life, Brahms is one of my favorite composers. I'm not familiar with any of his symphonies yet, so I'll check out one of them today (thanks for the listening tip!)

Another big favorite composer of mine is Norwegian Edvard Grieg. I recently ordered a 5-CD set with all of the Lyric Pieces on it (plus more of Grieg's piano music), played by Håkon Austbø. Excited to hear that one, so far I've finished listening to CD 1... On to the next four :phones:

Btw, they're all on YT as well (the photo is actually the front of the CD booklet as well as the front cover of the whole package)
 
When it comes to classical music, I'm not a connaisseur, but from what I've heard so far in my life, Brahms is one of my favorite composers. I'm not familiar with any of his symphonies yet, so I'll check out one of them today (thanks for the listening tip!)
Interestingly, Brahms is a bit of a throwback in the Austrian-Germanic lineage. If you follow the order -- Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms -- his music aligns well with pre-Wagner (i.e. pre-1850); so, if you like Brahms' symphonies, you'll most likely also like Beethoven's (#3-9), Schubert's (#8-9) and all of Mendelssohn's and Schumann's. However, Wagner and Bruckner progressively move the music toward the 20th century, which means more brass (the trumpet begins to challenge the violin as the dominant orchestral voice), incorporating uncommon cross/poly-melodic ideas, increased dynamics and individual idiosyncrasies -- taking us towards three of Rudy's favourites (Debussy, Bartok and Stravinsky). It's a lifetime musical journey. Enjoy!
 
Interestingly, Brahms is a bit of a throwback in the Austrian-Germanic lineage. If you follow the order -- Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms -- his music aligns well with pre-Wagner (i.e. pre-1850); so, if you like Brahms' symphonies, you'll most likely also like Beethoven's (#3-9), Schubert's (#8-9) and all of Mendelssohn's and Schumann's. However, Wagner and Bruckner progressively move the music toward the 20th century, which means more brass (the trumpet begins to challenge the violin as the dominant orchestral voice), incorporating uncommon cross/poly-melodic ideas, increased dynamics and individual idiosyncrasies -- taking us towards three of Rudy's favourites (Debussy, Bartok and Stravinsky). It's a lifetime musical journey. Enjoy!
I must admit that I'm more of a small ensemble kind of a guy with classical music, so usually I would listen to chamber music or easy piano, guitar or violin music or piano trios/quartets. Stylewise second half 19th century to early 20th century is nice for me, so yes, in that aspect, Rudy's faves Debussy and Bartok are on my favorites list as well (mostly piano pieces). But your mentioning the Brahms symphonies made me curious, although symphonies and concertos can sometimes be a bit too bombastic for me (in certain movements). I like pretty harmonies/melodies and preferrably no voices. Having said that, Gustav Holst's "The Planets" is way up high on my favorites list though. Been listening to it on acoustic 78s (conducted by Holst himself) for several years. To be able to finally hear/see it live in a concert hall a few years back (without the necessary interruptions due to having to flip and switch records and wind the gramophone) was such an incredible experience 😃
 
Having said that, Gustav Holst's "The Planets" is way up high on my favorites list though. Been listening to it on acoustic 78s (conducted by Holst himself) for several years. To be able to finally hear/see it live in a concert hall a few years back (without the necessary interruptions due to having to flip and switch records and wind the gramophone) was such an incredible experience 😃
We had the same experience here. I had The Planets on an RCA LP (I'm thinking Eugene Ormandy conducted it...?), and in the mid 80s, Telarc finally came out with a CD version of it that is my go-to version. About five years ago, we went to see The Planets live--the medical school at a major university has its own orchestra and gives free concerts throughout the season, and it was a great experience. The choir was way up in the balcony, so it was kind of eerie to hear the voices floating around the auditorium.

For the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3, I'd had a chance to see Olga Kern perform it a few years ago, but couldn't make it over to that side of the state. (The tickets weren't expensive.) She performed it in a Van Cliburn competition many years ago and won the top prize for her performance, which is here:

 
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