The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[Rudy]

I have been too. Also including Walter/Wendy Carols, Goblin, Tangerine Dream, and Kitaro too. I’ve seen the last 2 in concert at the now extinct Universal Amphitheater. My favorite venue. All pioneers of electronic music, which gave wave to Euro-disco, Giorgio Moroder, and Nu wave 2 finger bands. Lol. Anyway it made the 70’s and 80’s more fun.

I have to blame my grandmother for electronic music. She was the one who introduced me to Tomita's Snowflakes are Dancing and the Walter Carlos Switched-On Bach. And that was a couple of years before popular music started featuring them.

I remember when the Yazoo singles came out ("Situation" and "Don't Go"). I didn't realize until just several years ago that Vince Clarke was also one of the early members of Depeche Mode, and it's easy to hear his style on their earliest LP. (He left early on to eventually form Yaz.) His work in Erasure is evolved from that earlier style of his.

It might also explain why I've always been a fan of the Minneapolis sound. Even "Funkytown" was largely synthesizer-based. M ("Pop Muzik") as well. Jazz also featured synthesizers and probably embraced them a bit earlier than pop music at the time.

 

[Walkinat9]

I've been enjoying the Mosaic Gerald Wilson box set. Interesting lineup of musicians here in this photo of a gig at Shelly's Manne-Hole. Should be a couple of familiar faces in here (click/tap to enlarge).

The photo at Shelly's Manne-Hole may very well have been taken during this event, announced in the Los Angeles Times from Sunday, May 24, 1964:

 

[Rudy]

The photo at Shelly's Manne-Hole may very well have been taken during this event, announced in the Los Angeles Times from Sunday, May 24, 1964:

It does appear to be, given the May date appearing behind the band in that photo. It was a tight fit inside the club!

I found an interesting (if rambling) account of Shelly's Manne-Hole from back in the day.

Shelly's Manne Hole [From The Archives]

A blog about Jazz featuring CD,and book reviews and postings about the music and its makers.

jazzprofiles.blogspot.com

 

[Walkinat9]

It does appear to be, given the May date appearing behind the band in that photo. It was a tight fit inside the club!

I found an interesting (if rambling) account of Shelly's Manne-Hole from back in the day.

Shelly's Manne Hole [From The Archives]

A blog about Jazz featuring CD,and book reviews and postings about the music and its makers.

jazzprofiles.blogspot.com

Wow, I hadn't even noticed that May date on the wall....good eyes!

Interesting read about the Manne Hole, I'm almost halfway through the first half now

 

[Rudy]

One of my new arrivals from yesterday:




The rest I have to clean up. One will be published on the Lost and Found Sounds channel on Thursday at noon EDT. The others need cleaning, and will also be uploaded. Five records total (this single, a 7-inch EP, two 12-inch singles, and an old mono LP), and I don't think I paid more than $25 including shipping.

If I didn't know better, "Brasilia" sounds like a rough or demo version, as the instrumentation is about the same as the slower version which appeared on Rides Again. It also sounds like the tequila was passed around the band a few times.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Interesting says that "Brasilia" is "featured in SP4109" when that's a different version.

Did this fast version come out before the TJB's version? You can really hear the inspiration for Herb's more slicked-up version in this fast arrangement.

 

[JOv2]

(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week LVII -- Glazunov)

 

[JOv2]

Cecil Taylor. Cecil is probably the best known of the so-called "avant-garde" 1960s jazz pianists -- and therefore, by default, the one jazz pianist who has surely received the most undeserved criticism...for 60 + years (and counting). His early LPs (from the late '50s and early '60s) are surprising accessible. Like Trane, Eric Dolphy and other progressive artists, Cecil underwent a fascinating early-to-mid '60s musical journey...resulting in these two Blue Note gems from 1966. The music, definitely not for the faint of heart, takes a great deal of time to understand; yet, like a Bruckner symphony, the time spent is worth every minute -- and as is the case with Bruckner the listener's experience can transcend mere musical appreciation. Kudos to Al Lion at Blue Note for signing both Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor to recording contracts in '66 when both were without a record label.

 

[Rudy]

Did this fast version come out before the TJB's version?

This single came out after (1968) but to me it sounds like it was recorded at the same time as Baja's Rides Again version. There's a similar studio sound to it, nearly the same instrumentation, and since it sort of feels half-finished or rough, I wondered if it was a demo version, or just an alternate arrangement that wasn't as preferable to the album version. Also, Baja wasn't as into the hoops and hollers on later recordings as they were on the earlier ones. And the bass marimba was nearly forgotten in the later recordings as well.

 

[Rudy]

I remember getting the Grover Washington, Jr. album Soul Box Vol. 2 decades ago as a gift, and I never really warmed to it. But this evening, it is sounding pretty good in its entirety (originally released as a double album, with only seven tracks between the two records). It was release on Creed Taylor's CTI soul-jazz label offshoot Kudu, and features arrangements by Bob James. Playing now is the Norman Whitfield song "Masterpiece." Have to admire Bob James' unusual arrangement behind the music.

 

[Harry]

One of my new arrivals from yesterday:




The rest I have to clean up. One will be published on the Lost and Found Sounds channel on Thursday at noon EDT. The others need cleaning, and will also be uploaded. Five records total (this single, a 7-inch EP, two 12-inch singles, and an old mono LP), and I don't think I paid more than $25 including shipping.

If I didn't know better, "Brasilia" sounds like a rough or demo version, as the instrumentation is about the same as the slower version which appeared on Rides Again. It also sounds like the tequila was passed around the band a few times.

My copy of this single is a little different in the fonts used on the label. Everything else about it is just like the one pictured in the YouTube video, but the name "Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band" is in a smaller and narrower font. That one's not pictured on Discogs anywhere; I might have to enter it when I get time.

The single of "Yes Sir" comes from DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE which is listed as a 1968 album, but "Brasilia" in its slower version hails from RIDES AGAIN, a 1965 album. While it hadn't been uncommon for A&M to issue an old b-side on a current single, It may have been a case where Julius and the boys had been playing the song on the concert circuit for a few years and just decided to do it again for the b-side.

 

[Rudy]

To me the b-side sounds like an alternate version or run-through from the same Rides Again sessions. The trumpets kind of give that away, and the bass marimba really wasn't used much, if at all, beyond their earliest albums. Compare the sound of the two versions (especially the room sound behind the trumpets) and it kind of makes sense.

My copy of this single is a little different in the fonts used on the label.

Different pressing plant, I'm thinking?

I just grab Discogs pics for the videos or, if they're all poor quality (as many of them are), I'll search around the Googles to find something, then clean it up. Not so difficult for singles, but albums are worse...

 

[Harry]

Different pressing plant, I'm thinking?

Probably. Could be a Pitman pressing. I think I see a "P" in the runout.

I just grab Discogs pics for the videos or, if they're all poor quality (as many of them are), I'll search around the Googles to find something, then clean it up. Not so difficult for singles, but albums are worse...

Yep. Same procedure I use.

 

[Harry]

To me the b-side sounds like an alternate version or run-through from the same Rides Again sessions. The trumpets kind of give that away, and the bass marimba really wasn't used much, if at all, beyond their earliest albums. Compare the sound of the two versions (especially the room sound behind the trumpets) and it kind of makes sense.

Could be. They might have done it both ways and opted for the slower version for the album. Then when looking for a b-side, they dug out the alternate fast take. One of those enigmas that we'll likely never know the real story for.

 

[Rudy]

"Sign of the Times" brings back a lot of memories. Local jazz radio was playing this track quite a bit when it came out. You'd think it would show up on the Bob James compilations. I owned it on one of those terribly flawed Columbia Mastersound half-speed mastered reissues and it always sounded weird.

 

[Bobberman]

"Sign of the Times" brings back a lot of memories. Local jazz radio was playing this track quite a bit when it came out. You'd think it would show up on the Bob James compilations. I owned it on one of those terribly flawed Columbia Mastersound half-speed mastered reissues and it always sounded weird.

I have this CD along with most of Bob james discography from Bob james "One" until his 1992 collaboration with Earl klugh titled "Cool" and my favorite track on Sign of the times is the Rod temperton penned " Hypnotique.

 

[Harry]

One of my new arrivals from yesterday:




The rest I have to clean up. One will be published on the Lost and Found Sounds channel on Thursday at noon EDT. The others need cleaning, and will also be uploaded. Five records total (this single, a 7-inch EP, two 12-inch singles, and an old mono LP), and I don't think I paid more than $25 including shipping.

If I didn't know better, "Brasilia" sounds like a rough or demo version, as the instrumentation is about the same as the slower version which appeared on Rides Again. It also sounds like the tequila was passed around the band a few times.

You know, since this came up, I think I've listened to "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" more times than ever before. Not sure why. I'd always dismissed this as one of BMB's old-timey tracks and skipped over it a number of times. But actually listening to it a few times has won me over, and I like it a lot better than ever before.

The stereo and mono versions sound about the same to me.

 

[Rudy]

I know Julius liked to throw in the occasional kitschy old-timey track every so often...kind of like "Winchester Cathedral" and a few others I'm missing. It breaks up the program a bit.

 

[JOv2]

You know, since this came up, I think I've listened to "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" more times than ever before. Not sure why. I'd always dismissed this as one of BMB's old-timey tracks and skipped over it a number of times. But actually listening to it a few times has won me over, and I like it a lot better than ever before

That's the piece co-produced by Herb (and apparently his last BMB production). To me, the allure of this one is the relaxed swing of the bone that kicks off the melody. It's a great side II opener and like all of the San Jose LP, the arrangement and performance are solid and strong. I'm convinced that Allen Stanton's presence gave the group a shot-in-the-arm on this (and the ensuing two LPs).

 

[JOv2]

(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week LVIII -- Roussel)

 

[JOv2]

Mal Waldron. Mal is a difficult post-bop pianist for me. While some of his 1956-61 outings are fairly progressive and very listenable (I have Mal on a Mingus date from that era as well) others are disjointed excursions where the melody is simply unattractive and the soloing is too repetitive. The above 1961 release is the only one I still have -- and that with Booker Ervin and Dolphy to co-deliver his memorable compositions. I understand Mal had a "breakdown" in '63 and his recovery was slow. His "post-recovery" 1960s LPs were not to my liking: not in a "free jazz" sense where traditional melodic notions are eschewed (e.g., mid '65-'67 Trane), but more by way of pushing post-bop melodicism beyond the limit (or my limit, I suppose, eh?) of what constitutes a melody. At his best, Mal's a fine pianist and an excellent composer; but, I suppose for me, with the above exception -- which is strongly recommended -- he too often went to a musical place I just could not appreciate.

 

[Stevenj]

Has anyone here ever listened to this little group from Poland?

 

[DAN BOLTON]

Has anyone here ever listened to this little group from Poland?

No, but I will!

 

[rockdoctor]

I made a good hit at the used book and record store today. Baja Marimba Band-Heads Up and Sandpipers-Gift of Song. They are on the turntable.

 

[AM Matt]

I just found out that the rock group Silver Condor 1981 debut which I downloaded on Apple iTunes is on scratchy vinyl NOT on reel to reel master tape (when I heard it on headphones) which was on Columbia Records. That group hit # 32 (Top 40) with the ballad "You Could Take My Heart Away" in August of 1981 & their only 1 hit wonder. I do not have their 1983 follow up though & they broke up because of poor record sales.