The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread
- Thread starter Rudy
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I do like the songs on Midnight Creeper a little better, but both have the same groove. Idris is the icing on the cake.
Benson and Lonnie Smith worked together quite a bit in those days. They were on Benson's early albums on Columbia, and nearly the same lineup on Benson's album were on Lonnie Smith's Finger Lickin' Good which is short but a lot of fun. It's a shame that in later decades, they didn't seem to work with each other anymore.
This album just finished up:
Ponty, with electric violin but before he locked into the fusion groove (and, obviously, before le beard). It's odd hearing his violin lines against a brass section. George Duke is on keys, and I didn't realize until I read the credits that Gerald Wilson arranged the horn parts. (I listened to Wilson's The Golden Sword and Moment of Truth records last night.)
Cosmic Messenger is spinning now. (If you can call a solid state drive "spinning"...)
My last purchase from Discogs included a thank-you postcard that had six cat-themed album covers on the flip side. Really cool! This was one of the titles and very surprisingly, I found it on Qobuz:
The one thing that struck me was how familiar the cover looked. Turns out a couple of the other RCA records I have feature the graphic art of Jim Flora, including some by Shorty Rogers, including this one.
...and much to my surprise (or actually, not)...this one, which I featured in a SugarCube video I posted:
Musically, the Mambo for Cats LP is a typical RCA compilation, this one featuring all mambo tracks. Perez Prado of course has four spots among the twelve tracks (two from Mambo Mania!, the other two I haven't heard before--"Jazz Me Blues" and "Jersey Bounce"), and other tracks by Noro Morales, Tony Martinez, Al Romero, Don Elliot, and Damirón. The two Prado tracks I don't recognize may be unique to the record, as this isn't the only time RCA has put tracks on compilation albums that haven't appeared elsewhere (like the 3 Great Bands LP with four non-album tracks by Prado, Mancini, and Al Hirt).
Tracks:
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Jazz Me Blues
Noro Morales And His Orchestra – The Sheik Of Araby
The Tony Martinez Quintet – Mambo Jumps
The Al Romero Quintet – Muskrat Ramble Mambo
The Don Elliott Quintet – Love For Sale
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Ballin' The Jack
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Jersey Bounce
Noro Morales And His Orchestra – Sweet Sue, Just You
The Tony Martinez Quintet – Fascinating Rhythm
Damiron And His Rhythm – Lullaby Of Birdland
The Don Elliott Quintet – Makin' Whoopee
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – St. Louis Blues Mambo
The one thing that struck me was how familiar the cover looked. Turns out a couple of the other RCA records I have feature the graphic art of Jim Flora, including some by Shorty Rogers, including this one.
...and much to my surprise (or actually, not)...this one, which I featured in a SugarCube video I posted:
Musically, the Mambo for Cats LP is a typical RCA compilation, this one featuring all mambo tracks. Perez Prado of course has four spots among the twelve tracks (two from Mambo Mania!, the other two I haven't heard before--"Jazz Me Blues" and "Jersey Bounce"), and other tracks by Noro Morales, Tony Martinez, Al Romero, Don Elliot, and Damirón. The two Prado tracks I don't recognize may be unique to the record, as this isn't the only time RCA has put tracks on compilation albums that haven't appeared elsewhere (like the 3 Great Bands LP with four non-album tracks by Prado, Mancini, and Al Hirt).
Tracks:
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Jazz Me Blues
Noro Morales And His Orchestra – The Sheik Of Araby
The Tony Martinez Quintet – Mambo Jumps
The Al Romero Quintet – Muskrat Ramble Mambo
The Don Elliott Quintet – Love For Sale
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Ballin' The Jack
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – Jersey Bounce
Noro Morales And His Orchestra – Sweet Sue, Just You
The Tony Martinez Quintet – Fascinating Rhythm
Damiron And His Rhythm – Lullaby Of Birdland
The Don Elliott Quintet – Makin' Whoopee
Perez Prado And His Orchestra – St. Louis Blues Mambo
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It's been a while since I played any of my vinyl as my work on our Man Cave room (specifically the bar in room) I've not had a lot of access to my system. Well, since Mrs. Bill invited a co-worker and her husband for dinner Saturday, I HAD to get the room presentable. And once I did I threw some long-neglected vinyl on the turntable and listened to it while I continued cleaning and organizing...
Herb's Just You & Me
Skafish's second I.R.S. album, Conversation (which just got reissued by Mr. Skafish to include the original second album that I.R.S. rejected... Gotta order that one soon!)
Barnes & Barnes (of Dr. Demento "Fish Heads" fame) sixth album Sicks
RandyAndy's RandyAndy
Ethel Merman's A&M Disco Album... Yeah, I couldn't finish that one.
--Mr Bill
Herb's Just You & Me
Skafish's second I.R.S. album, Conversation (which just got reissued by Mr. Skafish to include the original second album that I.R.S. rejected... Gotta order that one soon!)
Barnes & Barnes (of Dr. Demento "Fish Heads" fame) sixth album Sicks
RandyAndy's RandyAndy
Ethel Merman's A&M Disco Album... Yeah, I couldn't finish that one.
--Mr Bill
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
I'm in an interesting place right now. I do enjoy some of the Blue Note recordings from the 60s, as long as it's an artist I follow. But what's interesting is hearing how some of them evolved as the 70s came along. I guess I'm on a Mizell brothers kick right now, as the Johnny Hammond album Gambler's Life was a major "like" last year, something I discovered while doing all the CTI AOTWs. (Creed Taylor didn't produce it, but Salvation was one of CTI's spinoffs.) I finally got a lead on a copy of Gears (from the Craft Recordings Jazz Dispensary series) that wasn't a price gouge, and it should be on the way to me soon if all goes well. (Given most other stores are out of stock, fingers crossed this store's two locations had a couple of copies between them.) Gears was the follow-up which was also a Mizell brothers project but by then, Hammond had moved over to Milestone from Salvation. (And prior to those, he did a handful on the Kudu label.)
I've been fond of the Donald Byrd Places and Spaces album since getting it a couple of weeks ago. What I'd forgotten was that the Columbia album called The Jazz Messengers (which had Art Blakey, Horace Silver) featured Byrd on trumpet, back in the 50s. So he'd come a long way since then. I plan on giving a few more of his 70s albums a play soon.
And I just discovered that a flutist, Bobbi Humphrey, had some albums on Blue Note in the 70s and the album Fancy Dancer (on the way to me now, another Classic Vinyl series LP) features the Mizell brothers on most of the tracks. From what I sampled, a lot of this album is like the other Mizell projects--it's more like instrumental funk/R&B with some jazz flavoring added.
Even those Lou Donaldson albums represent how jazz was evolving from the 60s to the 70s, as his backing band on that string of albums (Midnight Crawler, Alligator Bogaloo, etc.) was quite funky for its time.
I was curious to see what the connection was between The Blackbyrds and Donald Byrd. Byrd was the department head at Howard University, and the band was made up of six full-time students at the university. The original band went on to release a few albums through the 70s. The self-titled debut (on Fantasy) is a Mizell production, not surprising given the albums Byrd was recording at the time.
Pretty good vinyl luck lately.
And a reminder to always check MusicStack if I can't find what I want on Discogs. (eBay is a distant third.) I found the following three on MusicStack.
This first one, Gambler's Life. I finally nailed a copy on vinyl that was listed at a really good price. And to my surprise, when I got it here, I saw it was a promo copy. (Small print on the label says, "Not for sale.") This version sounds good, but the high-res download has the edge in detail.
Next one up is magic! Er, Mister Magic, from our pal Grover Washington Jr. Pretty sure our local jazz radio station played the title track back in the day. And Bob James isn't in full-on snooze mode here.
Reading the fine print of both labels, of course, the two things in common are them both being spinoffs of CTI, and at this point, both were during the period when CTI was distributed by Motown.
In my continuing adventures with the Lonnie Smith/George Benson, I've found It's Uptown.
The final catch is an Amazon deal. Fancy Dancer by flutist Bobbi Humphrey. Blue Note Classic Vinyl release. In common with the first record in this post--the Mizell brothers. Took a chance on this one, but I'm sure local radio probably played one of the tracks on this record as it seems it was a pretty good seller for Blue Note.
And a reminder to always check MusicStack if I can't find what I want on Discogs. (eBay is a distant third.) I found the following three on MusicStack.
This first one, Gambler's Life. I finally nailed a copy on vinyl that was listed at a really good price. And to my surprise, when I got it here, I saw it was a promo copy. (Small print on the label says, "Not for sale.") This version sounds good, but the high-res download has the edge in detail.
Next one up is magic! Er, Mister Magic, from our pal Grover Washington Jr. Pretty sure our local jazz radio station played the title track back in the day. And Bob James isn't in full-on snooze mode here.
Reading the fine print of both labels, of course, the two things in common are them both being spinoffs of CTI, and at this point, both were during the period when CTI was distributed by Motown.
In my continuing adventures with the Lonnie Smith/George Benson, I've found It's Uptown.
The final catch is an Amazon deal. Fancy Dancer by flutist Bobbi Humphrey. Blue Note Classic Vinyl release. In common with the first record in this post--the Mizell brothers. Took a chance on this one, but I'm sure local radio probably played one of the tracks on this record as it seems it was a pretty good seller for Blue Note.
Tried Carlos Lyra (it's labelled as 1960, but Discogs shows it's really a 1974 release). He's wonderful as always, but the arrangements and orchestrations are mid-70s awkward.
Arrangements and orchestrations also killed Carmen McRae's Carmen Sings For Cool Ones (1958), but this morning I'm listening to and loving her Carmen Sings Monk (1988).
Arrangements and orchestrations also killed Carmen McRae's Carmen Sings For Cool Ones (1958), but this morning I'm listening to and loving her Carmen Sings Monk (1988).
Figured out a way to get and import into Apple Music Danilo Perez' gorgeous 2008 album with Claus Ogerman---Across the Crystal Sea.
If you haven't heard it, it's unavailable for streaming and has been for years---but, as always---someone uploaded it to YT. It's missing one track, but if it had to be missing one, that was the one I'll miss least.
If you haven't heard it, it's unavailable for streaming and has been for years---but, as always---someone uploaded it to YT. It's missing one track, but if it had to be missing one, that was the one I'll miss least.
I managed to find a download of the CD--I'll have to give it a play this weekend.
Funny Ogerman came up, though. I found this embarrassment just now, while looking through Donald Byrd's other albums:
Ogerman arranged the horns and of course, Creed Taylor produced, as this was mid-60s Verve, and has that typical mid 60s Verve house sound. The vocals are credited to The Donald Byrd Singers. The sidemen are rather impressive (Jimmy Heath, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock) but it is one of those very dated recordings that does not hold up well in 2024. Byrd doesn't seem to get much playing time here either, not for having his name on the cover. And, all the songs are covers. Funny that three of the songs on what would have been side one of the record were recorded by The Animals: "Boom Boom," "House of the Rising Sun," and "See See Rider." This album would have been so much better without the cornball, droning female singers.
No wonder he only did one record for Verve and bolted straight back to Blue Note...
I'm going to have to listen to Kofi now to detox myself.
AOTWs are coming soon, hopefully by tomorrow. First time I've been at the "work" computer all week.
Aw jeez...I just got to "Canteloupe Island" (the Herbie Hancock song) on the above album...it was almost good until that (expletives deleted) female chorus started humming part of the way through. Cut the singing crap, and do more songs lke this one, and it could have been a decent record.
Yeah, I can only take a few tracks of Gato's and I need to move on. It grates on me.
And in a broader sense, I'm getting so that I dislike a lot of the music out there involving saxophones...and I used to play one. I've hated the soprano sax for decades, but even the tenor now seems like it's such an overused trope in all of jazz.
And in a broader sense, I'm getting so that I dislike a lot of the music out there involving saxophones...and I used to play one. I've hated the soprano sax for decades, but even the tenor now seems like it's such an overused trope in all of jazz.
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
My sympathies to you You will get NO JUDGEMENTS OR CRITICISM FROM ME. I apparently wasn't as oversaturated with Saxes as others have which is why I still enjoy it And I understand Gato's is an acquired taste and soprano sax Music is too. again I tend to enjoy things others Don't care much about but respectfully To Each their own. As my dad used to say "That's OK More for Me".
I love the sax---Paul Desmond and Stanley Turrentine are absolute faves. But I don't care if I never hear Kenny G again---and I gave Bolivia three tracks before saying goodbye.
This morning, something completely different, Robert Plant's Carry Fire from 2017. Two tracks in and so far, I like it. I think it's probably an even better "in the car on a desert road" album, but it's pretty solid.
Post-Robert Plant (a keeper)---loading up on Dori Caymmi a few months ago got me Renato Braz' Casa de Morar (2012). A lovely, low-key bit of Brazilian music that I'm really enjoying.
Ogerman's influence from his work with Jobim is profound---there's a track on this ("Febril") that really tries to get that Ogerman blend of woods and strings down. There was only one Claus.
The album ends with a slow, beautiful acoustic version of "O Trenzinho Do Caipira", which is known around A&M Corner as "The Brass Are Comin'".
Ogerman's influence from his work with Jobim is profound---there's a track on this ("Febril") that really tries to get that Ogerman blend of woods and strings down. There was only one Claus.
The album ends with a slow, beautiful acoustic version of "O Trenzinho Do Caipira", which is known around A&M Corner as "The Brass Are Comin'".
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I guess the only thing I could say about my relationship with the saxophone is..."it's complicated."
I'm preferring the alto these days, but in my opinion it is looked down upon by many (most?) sax players as it is the "beginner" horn that just about all sax players start on (at least for the past four or five decades). Yet I'm preferring it these days, as far as listening goes. Paul Desmond is my favorite but a few others I've liked also. David Sanborn I enjoy when I'm in the right mood, especially Another Hand which is probably the most unusual and most satisfying of those that I own (although Upfront is a great bluesy album and my overall favorite).
The tenor I think I'm simply exhausted from listening to after so many decades of it, and as I've gotten older, the tone of it is often too "in your face" and has become an unsettling thing to sit through.
The soprano, though...the hate is strong with that one. It's just a nasally, annoying sound, and I've heard very few players get it right from a technical standpoint. They blast away at it like it's a brass clarinet (basically, playing with the horn pointing down, with incorrect embouchure), where the very few times I've been able to enjoy it, it's most often the proper "curved" soprano that is rarely seen these days. Buried on an old RCA album, The Music from 'M' Squad, is a track "The Lonely Beat" with a soprano solo by Benny Carter that is a textbook example of how a soprano should sound. (It's on Qobuz and likely the other streamers as well.)
What's the difference between a dead squirrel and a soprano sax in the middle of the road? Skid marks in front of the squirrel.
It was a novelty to play it a few times but the only good soprano I've played was out of tune--it was a Selmer, and I struggled to stay in tune with our flugel player. My tutor at the time one day looked at it and observed a "432" stamped on the body, then it all made sense--back when it was made (it was a really old horn), Selmer made horns for different tunings, and it was tuned to A-432 and not the accepted A-440. In essence, the horn was made just very slightly longer (where even the tone hole openings were slightly more spaced apart) so even if I adjusted the mouthpiece inward to tune it on a single note, the whole horn was still out of whack.
What's the difference between an onion and a soprano sax? Nobody cries when you chop up a soprano sax.
But...my real love is for the baritone and larger saxes. Yet there are so few bari players. Gerry Mulligan of course was the big name, but there are a handful of others out there that bear investigating. I've enjoyed hearing Ronnie Cuber on those early George Benson albums on Columbia. Mulligan played the bass sax just a couple of times that I know of. And I only have two recordings with the monster contra-bass sax (both in the Shorty Rogers big band). In band class, the instructor pushed me towards tenor when I really wanted to play the bari...but it would have cost a lot to buy one, as the school's bari was disgusting to play.
An interesting novelty is the sopranino (an octave higher than an alto) and also the tiny soprillo (an octave higher than a soprano).
I'm hot/cold on Turrentine. I like a few of his albums (Salt Song, Sugar, and a couple of the side gigs on Blue Note), but then I got ahold of the That's Where It's At album and couldn't wait to get it off the turntable--the endless noodling was the turnoff.
One that really grates on me is Bennie Maupin, especially on the Herbie Hancock albums Head Hunters and especially Thrust where IMHO his horrible soprano droning on the otherwise excellent "Butterfly" makes me want to do my own edit to chop him out of the song.
And yeah...I get that Coltrane is considered a genius, but he's another I can only take in small doses. I can get through an album but after that, I'm set for a few months.
As for Gato...I'm OK but only in really small doses. If it's not the "growling" on some of the songs, it's just the arrangements behind him that turn me off. His A&M albums are not his best output, though (they're not bad--just uneven), and I have yet to further explore his other records.
Two I will always like are John Klemmer and Plas Johnson. Klemmer's sound on his first two records was more traditional (Involvement, And We Were Lovers), but he got more of an "otherworldly" sound when he got into the albums like All the Children Cried and an appropriate soft approach on Touch. Plas Johnson of course is the "Pink Panther" originator and graced many albums as a studio musician. Always fun to listen to. Boots Randolph is another I can listen to on occasion, especially the Yakety Sax album; he's another who played on probably hundreds of sessions around Nashville.
Short version--that's why I now own a flute and not a sax.
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I didn't really warm to the first album with Alison Krauss (Raising Sand), but I never gave it much of a chance either. I'll need to check out Carry Fire. I've always liked his 80s solo albums, and I think I owned Shaken and Stirred before I bought any of the Led Zeppelin albums.
Watching the Grammys last night (a triumph apart from Jay-Z's ad-lib rant and a failed experiemental approach to the In Memoriam segment), Annie Lennox's performance made me realize there was none of her work, solo or Eurythmics, in my Apple Music library.
Oversight fixed. Beginning this morning with 1985's Be Yourself Tonight, which will hook me everytime with "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)---Stevie Wonder (also on the Grammys, and like Annie, part of a misconceived In Memoriam) on harmonica.
Oversight fixed. Beginning this morning with 1985's Be Yourself Tonight, which will hook me everytime with "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)---Stevie Wonder (also on the Grammys, and like Annie, part of a misconceived In Memoriam) on harmonica.
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