The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

[Rudy]

Now, this one:



An AM+ copy I picked up somewhere in my travels.

 

[Rudy]

"The eagle flies on Friday; Saturday I go out to play."



One of my sealed finds from early this year.

 

[Bobberman]

Now, this one:

View attachment 6262

An AM+ copy I picked up somewhere in my travels.

I have this on CD but its an very enjoyable Listen I notice a few baroque classical like flourishes on some songs such as "Yesterday" and "Where have all the flowers gone" and "Greensleeves" it is sad that this was Wes Montgomery's Last Album i imagine he would have Experimented with more sounds and styles had he lived. But then again we Will never know

 

[Rudy]

Well, here's one I haven't played since I was a kid....so, 45 or more years ago. This one is definitely in the "Dad music" (lounge music) zone (or as my pal "DC" would say...."cheeeeezy"), probably because my dad was into this sort of thing, whereas mom was more serious. The title track is very familiar, but the rest so far hasn't sparked a memory for me.

The title track actually won a Grammy and was a Top 20 hit. Tony Mottola and Al Caiola also assissted with this record. Harnell would go on to score for television series like The Bionic Woman and The Incredible Hulk, eventually winning an Emmy for his score to "V". Prior to this record, he accompanied Peggy Lee for a couple of years.



This was graded NM by the seller and dang it, the grading is spot-on here. Really nice copy, only in need of a cleaning.

 

[Rudy]

And yes, I'm crazy, but this is now my fifth copy of this record. This one, however, was sealed. Three others I picked up through the 90s, and I still have my parents' original copy (which sat out on a turntable for months and got noisy). The sealed copy plays wonderfully and is a RE2 DynagrooVe repressing with the white "RCA Victor" text vs. the silver on original copies. (This was around the time RCA was switching to the newer label, and was released in close proximity to the Pink Panther soundtrack.)

Still one of the swingin'est albums I've ever played.



The list of musicians is a who-who of west coast jazz. And these are only about half of them. Mancini uniquely (heh) included a French Horn section and, as he often did, the woodwind players doubled on bass flute on a few tracks, like the slinky arrangement of "Night Train." (I'd give my left earlobe to own a bass flute....only, I'm too attached to it! The earlobe. Errr....nevermind.)

 

[Rudy]

This seems to be the only decent sounding video of Joe Harnell's "Fly Me To The Moon" from the album I posted above. Still sounds muffled and like it's underwater.

 

[Rudy]

So I've been playing this the past couple of days. 24/192 on Qobuz, but I can't find a copy of the Blue Note Classic Vinyl release of this one--it was released in December and has sold out everywhere. Going to bet they do another pressing run. Some price gougers have it for $40 and up, but the list price is $24.99.

And I just started this one a few minutes ago:

 

[JOv2]

As I understand, Lee had been "off the scene" for a few years prior to this LP (attempting to kick the heroin habit, which by all accounts he never did -- no small thanks to Al Lion...but that's another highly subjective and controversial story!). Coming from one who owns every Lee Blue Note 1963-69 date, I never quite understood why this one garners the attention. While it's always rewarding to hear Lee, for my two-cents all sessions that have seen release, 1964-69, are more interesting in composition.

 

[JOv2]

And yes, I'm crazy, but this is now my fifth copy of this record. This one, however, was sealed. Three others I picked up through the 90s, and I still have my parents' original copy (which sat out on a turntable for months and got noisy). The sealed copy plays wonderfully and is a RE2 DynagrooVe repressing with the white "RCA Victor" text vs. the silver on original copies. (This was around the time RCA was switching to the newer label, and was released in close proximity to the Pink Panther soundtrack.)

Still one of the swingin'est albums I've ever played.

View attachment 6293

The list of musicians is a who-who of west coast jazz. And these are only about half of them. Mancini uniquely (heh) included a French Horn section and, as he often did, the woodwind players doubled on bass flute on a few tracks, like the slinky arrangement of "Night Train." (I'd give my left earlobe to own a bass flute....only, I'm too attached to it! The earlobe. Errr....nevermind.)

Rudy, you probably know about it -- but in case it slipped beneath your radar, give Mancini '67 a spin!

 

[JOv2]

The other I got is just...Too Much!

View attachment 6171

(Borrowed album cover image.) Oddly, this album was released in 1967, and never reissued. Yet it had the hit single "Dead End Street," which I've probably had in my collection since the mid 70s. (I know every word and inflection of that monologue. ) This is one of those soul-jazz LPs that Capitol was releasing of Lou Rawls, continuing a trend he started with Soulin'. The song selections aren't all that spectacular, but not bad either. Another record I found sealed and it plays flawlessly 53 years later, on its original Capitol rainbow label.

Hey Rudy, I've been on a late '60s Lou Rawls kick myself -- picked up all these SS (except one), reasonably priced (i.e. < $20; with most $8-$15), during 2020.

 

[Rudy]

Good hauls on Lou Rawls! The three Lou Rawls titles I got sealed were all under $10. Live! is nice to hear in its original form--the first CD version I found segues from "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" (which ended side one) straight into "Goin' To Chicago" (starting side two).

Tonight it's Smokin' At The Half Note.

 

[JOv2]

Been in soundtrack mode since the year started...

 

[JOv2]

 

[Rudy]

I've been digging this album the past few nights:

His guitar playing is all over the Laurindo Almeida/Bossa Nova All-Stars records, and this is more of the same, that West Coast cool jazz style that was popular on Capitol Records (12 three-minute tracks). Roberts has some good (albeit short) soloing opportunities, but the music is easygoing jazz. This album is driven by his guitar, organist Burkley Kendrix, drummer Earl Palmer and a familiar name--Chuck Berghofer on bass, who was in some of Pete Jolly's trios. Tunes are a mix of popular tunes and a handful of originals.

There are a handful of other Capitol albums from this period that I'll be checking out--I have the following in the queue to play next:

 

[Rudy]

That last one wasn't as good--it felt like it was trying a little too hard to be "modern." But this one (recorded in 1963, the same year as Dirty) is better:

No crayons included.

 

[Bobberman]

I've been digging this album the past few nights:

His guitar playing is all over the Laurindo Almeida/Bossa Nova All-Stars records, and this is more of the same, that West Coast cool jazz style that was popular on Capitol Records (12 three-minute tracks). Roberts has some good (albeit short) soloing opportunities, but the music is easygoing jazz. This album is driven by his guitar, organist Burkley Kendrix, drummer Earl Palmer and a familiar name--Chuck Berghofer on bass, who was in some of Pete Jolly's trios. Tunes are a mix of popular tunes and a handful of originals.

There are a handful of other Capitol albums from this period that I'll be checking out--I have the following in the queue to play next:

I own the Sundazed edition CD reissue of "Something's Cookin" and "Goodies" I originally had Something's cookin on mono vinyl and I was 14 when I first heard it sadly I wore it out but thankfully I was able to get it on the aforementioned CD along with the followup as a nice bonus this was a couple years before I became familiar with Laurindo Almeida's two bossa nova albums its all still Excellent stuff

 

[JOv2]

Howard's on this one -- along with Tommy Tedesco and Laurindo Almeida. This was cut in '66 and is all west coast (well, it's a Capitol after all).

Long night -- two more S/Ts:

 

[JOv2]

Now these two...

 

[JOv2]

More Bernard Herrmann today/tonight. I like his approach to underscore, which, on its own, surely lives as independent music.

(Candidly, I have probably actually seen about 5% of the films associated with the s/t recordings I fancy. I just can't make the time to watch a 105min film with all these LPs and CDs to play. These recordings were purchased based solely on the musical era (1958-70) and composer.)

 

[Harry]

I've been listening to a bunch of Bernard Herrmann recently too. Just acquired this one:

 

[JOv2]

--The Kentuckian ('56) is the most overly melodic music of Herrmann's I've heard, while Torn Curtain ('66) -- although rejected and not used for the film -- is the last of his classic Hitchcock period works.

 

[Rudy]

This arrived over the weekend, one of the Blue Note Tone Poet series:



(Terrible photo "borrowed" from Discogs.) The other two Blue Notes I ordered are still delayed a bit. The Horace Silver apparently will be here in a few days, and the Lee Morgan is apparently getting a second pressing run and should be early Feb when it arrives (hopefully).

This John Klemmer LP also arrived, sealed. A bit noisy until I can run it through the cleaner, then do a needle drop. It's a shame most of his Cadet albums were never reissued digitally. But the vinyl sounds fine. Just not the easiest to find. (Eruptions seems to be the most difficult to find sealed, but I don't mind waiting.)




And this, also sealed, and a bargain. Maybe not the best DBs album but I don't mind it at all. This album features the title track, "Real Love" and "One By One."

 

[JOv2]

This arrived over the weekend, one of the Blue Note Tone Poet series:

(Terrible photo "borrowed" from Discogs.) The other two Blue Notes I ordered are still delayed a bit. The Horace Silver apparently will be here in a few days, and the Lee Morgan is apparently getting a second pressing run and should be early Feb when it arrives (hopefully).

Stanley T may have been the Blue Note regular without a heroin addiction. Seriously, I dig Stan's big tenor sound, yet, like Hank Mobley, he could sweeten up for a sweet ballad as needed. Stan's Blue Note run 1960-69, is (with, arguably, one curious exception) solid and a joy to the ears. Have fun with this LP.

 

[JOv2]

Two from Francis Lai today... Still looking for an affordable CD version of the 2nd s/t...

 

[Rudy]

Stanley T may have been the Blue Note regular without a heroin addiction. Seriously, I dig Stan's big tenor sound, yet, like Hank Mobley, he could sweeten up for a sweet ballad as needed. Stan's Blue Note run 1960-69, is (with, arguably, one curious exception) solid and a joy to the ears. Have fun with this LP.

He was also a solid addition to some of Jimmy Smith's albums, like Back at the Chicken Shack and Prayer Meetin', which are two others I've been playing as of late. I've liked his CTi albums. I remember a few years ago, he caught my attention when someone at one of our local audio club meets brought one of his Fantasy LPs Have You Ever Seen The Rain. It certainly wasn't his greatest album, but it made me start looking more into his catalog. I had that recording he made with Astrud Gilberto already but didn't really start listening until a year or two ago when I looked him up on Qobuz and played his CTi albums.

I have been playing some Milt Jackson while working today, and Cherry features both Turrentine and Jackson.