The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[JOv2]

Maybe you'll find more in the summertime.

But only during the hot afternoon.

And while crossing a bridge over troubled water.

 

[JOv2]

New stuff:

• Luiz Henrique (+ Walter Wanderley) -- both from '67
• Pierre Barouh -- from '67 and '70
• Two s/t albums
  • Mancini / The Molly Maguires ('69)
  • Alex North / The Shoes of the Fisherman ('68)

 

[Rudy]

One of a handful of spins this afternoon is Lee Morgan's ¡Caramba! A Qobuz stream at the moment, but a Blue Note Classic Vinyl release is arriving Feb. 18.



Features a young Bennie Maupin on tenor. I'm not sure if I'll get the vinyl version but it's a good listen.

 

[Rudy]

This (Dr.) Lonnie Smith album was recorded in 1970 but not unearthed until 1995 on CD. It's one of those albums I played once or twice and filed away. Yet today I'm more into it. Soul jazz with some good playing, featuring George Benson on guitar and Ronnie Cuber on bari sax.

 

[Rudy]

Late to the party, as usual.

Poking around some of Herbie Hancock's earliest albums, I decided to give this one a try:



Glad I did, Inventions & Dimensions is probably going to be one of my favorite of his early albums, as it is outside the norm at Blue Note and highlights one of Herbie's earliest departures from whatever anyone else was doing at the time. A surprise here was hearing "Jack Rabbit," as I first heard this one on the French guitarist Bireli Lagrene's album Foreign Affairs from 1988.

The other early Hancock favorite is of course Maiden Voyage, partly due to hearing the title track often on our local jazz radio station, among the fusion and other current releases they would play.

Empyrian Isles doesn't do much for me--it's too far into the "noodly" jazz I don't really care for.

 

[Rudy]

And George Benson, burnin' it up with Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Clarence Palmer (organ) on Beyond the Blue Horizon.



This is one lineup I wish would join up for a reunion album. And soon. All are approaching 80 years old, except for Ron Carter who is well into his 80s. And hearing Benson in this context is refreshing. Even though I'm still a longtime fan of his album Give Me The Night which was produced by Quincy Jones in the early 80s (which I played yesterday--it was on the cusp of him going full-blown pop star).

Interesting that CTi copied the Sam Antupit cover design here, with some very minor modifications. Also interesting that this was reissued in 1979 with an alternate jacket:

 

[JOv2]

Empyrian Isles doesn't do much for me--it's too far into the "noodly" jazz I don't really care for.

Give it a chance...it may grow on you. For me, it was Hancock's '60s progressive post-bop highpoint. (I also like the short story that accompanied the release.)

 

[JOv2]

(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week XLI -- Kalinnikov; Faure`)

 

[JOv2]

Keith Jarrett. Like Stanley Cowell and Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett was part of the fascinating new stable of late '60s "post" post-bop jazz artists. Having tenured in the extraordinary Charles Lloyd Quintet (1966-68), by late '67 Jarrett was ready to make his own path in the musical art world...and what a path he blazed! During the 1970s he would become internationally known for his fascinatingly idiosyncratic ECM outings; however, before such development, he fronted a classic trio on his first LP (shown above, recorded in 1967). Paul Motian and Charlie Haden were in his group -- clearly indicating the level of artistic merit he attained by age 21. In many ways his 1970s music became larger than life (I can recall one of our jazz hosts nearly zoning-out while programming one of his ECM LPs!) and one listen to Life Between the Exit Signs suggests all his faculties were primed for what would be a truly memorable and significant Americana journey.

 

[Bobberman]

I've been enjoying my digital albums I bought recently such as Walter Wanderley's Moondreams and one CD I bought more recently is Brian Wilson's all solo piano album called "At My Piano" solo piano versions of some of his Beach Boys hits such as In My Room. the Warmth of the sun. Till I Die and others I throughly enjoy it being I love Instrumental covers and who better to cover Beach Boys Instrumentally that the man who wrote them.

 

[Harry]

I've been enjoying my digital albums I bought recently such as Walter Wanderley's Moondreams

A good one. Did you know that the Eumir Deodato song called "Jackie, All" was written for Jackie Cain of Jackie & Roy? Mr. Deodato was enthralled with the sound of Ms. Cain's voice and wrote the song about and for her.

 

[Bobberman]

A good one. Did you know that the Eumir Deodato song called "Jackie, All" was written for Jackie Cain of Jackie & Roy? Mr. Deodato was enthralled with the sound of Ms. Cain's voice and wrote the song about and for her.

I didn't know that until now thank you for the info my favorite track on the Moondreams album is L'Amour Dice Ciao and believe or not I figured out how to play it on the trumpet and Flugelhorn ( it works better on Flugelhorn because the higher notes are easier to play)

 

[AM Matt]

Marc Jordan & wife Canadian singer Amy Sky does the remake of The Beach Boys 1966 song "God Only Knows". (audio only)

 

[JOv2]

(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week XLII -- Faure`)

 

[JOv2]

Ronnie Mathews. The above LP, from 1964, is Mathews' sole '60s issue as a leader. With titles like Doin' The Thang, Ichi Ban, and Let's Get Down one would quickly assume this is an R&B date. Nothing could be further from the truth, however; the date is solid hard bop moving toward post-bop -- in other words, the overall performance is consistent with '64 state of jazz as it was evolving at the time. Mathews participated on Lee Morgan's well known LP, The Rumproller ('65), as well as Freddie Hubbard's progressive "Breaking Point!" ('64). I know little about Matthews -- save to say that his LP above as well as the two Blue Notes listed are all recommended.

 

[Rudy]

Dilemma...

John Klemmer recorded the direct-to-disc LP Straight from the Heart on the Nautilus label. I discovered today that Finesse, which I own on the Elektra Musician label, was originally a second direct-to-disc recording on Nautilus.

The track listings are the same. The musicians are the same. Yet the recording and mastering credits are kind of all over the place, and it makes me wonder what source the Elektra version uses. If I can find a cheap copy of the Nautilus I may pick it up for comparison.

 

[Bobberman]

Dilemma...

John Klemmer recorded the direct-to-disc LP Straight from the Heart on the Nautilus label. I discovered today that Finesse, which I own on the Elektra Musician label, was originally a second direct-to-disc recording on Nautilus.

The track listings are the same. The musicians are the same. Yet the recording and mastering credits are kind of all over the place, and it makes me wonder what source the Elektra version uses. If I can find a cheap copy of the Nautilus I may pick it up for comparison.

I have the finesse CD reissue I would be interested in finding out is its a rerecording of Straight from the heart or a remixing of some sort

 

[Rudy]

I have the finesse CD reissue I would be interested in finding out is its a rerecording of Straight from the heart or a remixing of some sort

Straight from the Heart was a different album, where he recorded new performances (direct to disc) of tracks from Brazilia, Arabesque and Touch.

I re-read the notes from both versions, though, and the credits are making more sense now. I do find it strange that it was recorded at Capitol Studios as I don't recall them ever doing direct to disc recordings, as normally the smaller studios did this type of specialized recording in this era. But indeed it was, and Wally Traugott was the lathe engineer (who cut it at Capitol). The Elektra Musician version was cut by Bernie Grundman, and the runout numbers reflect Elektra's numbering. (Direct to disc records are a limited edition since there is only one set of lacquer masters to make metal parts from; they can't cut a new set of lacquers, in other words.) The Nautilus LP label also says it was licensed from Elektra.

With Finesse released on two different labels, the only way it could be reissued is from a backup tape made during the direct to disc process, as many of the direct to disc labels did this (which is how they were able to reissue titles in the CD era). A note on Discogs claims to have two different versions of the title track on two different Nautilus pressings, which makes me wonder if that person made a mistake in listening to it, or if it was a Nautilus vs. an Elektra pressing instead (which is likely).

One way there could be a different take between two releases is that when a direct to disc recording is made, if a flub is made in any of the tracks, they have to cut the entire side of the record over again. If they were running a tape simultaneously, any good tracks that were recorded from the aborted disc side are still on the tape. That is how Dave Grusin's Discovered Again on CD has bonus tracks with alternate takes.

 

[Rudy]

Flipping through some rekkids this morning, I decided to give this one a spin. I think I bought this when I picked up some other sealed records last year, adding it onto an order. Another one on the Elektra Musician label--Jimmy Smith, Off The Top.



An all-star lineup, and the first major label release of a Jimmy Smith album in eight years. Enjoyable! Everyone here might recognize a certain tune named "Suicide is Painless."

 

[Rudy]

This one arrived yesterday. Seasoned Blue Note buyers might notice a slight error I made in my purchase:



1588 is the catalog number. Not 81588. So yeah...I got the mono version of the record. The Blue Note 75th edition was released in mono, where the Classic Vinyl series was the stereo version (which was what I wanted). But I'll keep it since it still sounds fantastic. Most Blue Note records are not my cup of tea, but the rhythm section of Philly and Chambers swings so well (as they've done on many other records) that this one is irresistible.

 

[JOv2]

(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week XLIII -- Mahler)

 

[JOv2]

Charles Mingus. One of musics most cantankerous (and volatile!) artists, Mingus, historically recognized as one of America's gifted 20th century composers, was an excellent composer, arranger and double bassist. Ming plays composer's piano...and this unique LP -- his only playing solo piano -- is both a delight (if that's any sort of word to use in the context of Ming...) and a treasure that begs repeated listening. The LP was cut toward the end of his peak period (1955-64).

 

[Rudy]

One of the pitfalls of days I work from my office at home? A new record arrives, and I have to clean it and put it on the wrecka playa.

This arrived today. It's another of Blue Note's Classic Vinyl series, and on this one, they really knocked it out of the park. The vinyl for once is nearly perfect, and the sound almost jumps out of the grooves.



As I've said before, I'm not much of a Blue Note fan, but this one is a lot of fun, and has a handful of what would become jazz classics in later years. Even Brasil '66 would cover "Moanin'" on one of their records; this is the original version. And how can you not help but move to "Blues March"? (It's no surprise that Cal Tjader's version from Hip Vibrations with its arrangement by the composer is a very faithful reproduction of this original take.) Blakey's drums on "The Drum Thunder Suite" are clean and clear. Hats off to Kevin Gray's remastering of this title, and one of the best 180 gram Blue Note pressings I've come across.

Have some fun!

 

[JOv2]

As I've said before, I'm not much of a Blue Note fan

Rudy -- it is the engineering (i.e. Van Gelder) that is the issue? I've always thought the Hackensack productions (1952-1959...you know, the ones recorded in his parents' home) were better sounding than the '60s sessions from his famous studio in Englewood Cliffs. Cottony-soft pianos and lumberson, muddy, double bass devoid of upper sonics and the string pluck were always a sore point with me from the Englewood Cliffs era. Moanin' was recorded in '58, so it's from Hackensack.

 

[rockdoctor]

Rudy, the Art Blakey cover appears on an inner sleeve of a 5th Dimension album that I bought back in 1972 or 73.
Currently spinning on my turntable are Rita Coolidge "Nice Feelin" and Sandy Denny "Sandy." I have been spinning a lot of 60's A&M
lately.