The Now Spinning/Recent Purchases Thread

Ramsey Lewis playing here tonight. Dancing in the Street was a live album recorded in 1967 at Basin Street West, notable for the new lineup of Ramsey's trio. Cleveland Eaton was on bass, and a young, up-and-coming musician named Maurice White played drums. (Tracks from this album were skimmed for the Cadet anthology In Person 1960-1967).





The liner notes on the inside of the gatefold are interesting...

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"Because he has time on his side and an abundance of ambition and youthful vigor, Maurice White's future promises to be a very hopeful one."

Little did Herb Wong know what Maurice would develop just three years later...




And EW&F would return the favor by appearing on two tracks on Ramsey's Sun Goddess album, the title track being one of Ramsey's biggest hits.
 
It's been an oddball morning here while working.

Moondog - Moondog & His Friends
Cal Tjader - The Prophet
Count Basie - Li'l Ol' Groovemaker...Basie!
Genesis - Wind and Wuthering
Howard Roberts - H.R. is a Dirty Guitar Player
Genesis - Abacab (currently spinning)

I'm not sure why I've been attracted to Abacab lately--it was one of the early CDs I bought, and in recent years I lucked across a used vinyl copy that was not worn (which, naturally, sounds better than that early "target" CD that I thought sounded like doo-doo, but others rave about 🙄). It was the first album where they swapped fully over to a more rhythmic approach and largely left the prog rock stylings behind; it was also the first where the entire album was written in the studio, all three contributing to the songs as they jammed and worked out the details from demos they brought in as rough sketches. (They had their own studio to do this in, vs. paying for studio time elsewhere.)

And sorry/not sorry--I like "Whodunnit?". 😁 Yeah it was nonsensical (basically a studio jam with some nonsensical lyrics), but if one can't have a sense of humor in making or listening to music, why bother?

Abacab got its name from using the common designation for a song's structure (ABACAB) but that only applied to an early version of the song, which in the studio ended up morphing into what it is today (which I guess would be ABABC).

It also was one of those albums with four different color versions of the LP jacket. Original pressings have an embossed cover. Worldwide, all four of the color variations have been used over the decades for repressing and reissues.

My LP version:

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Other versions...


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The Definitive Edition Remaster used this version:

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The original US CD used this variation:

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This takes me back. I had a Genesis obsession in my teens.
 
(Formal Western Art Music Survey, 1750-1950: Week LIII -- Satie)

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George Russell. Russell, a noted musical theorist, is nearly a sub-genre onto himself. His 1958-1961 ensembles, which included the likes of Paul Bley, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Steve Swallow, Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, and Pete La Roca, were uniformly fascinating. Like Mingus, Russell is more of a composer than a "songwriter" given an ensemble arrangement is a permanent fixture in his creations. He had a fine 4-LP run at Riverside (1960-61) which do well to display his unique talent; and from an arranger's perspective, his ensemble recordings are always rewarding.
 
This takes me back. I had a Genesis obsession in my teens.
I caught the bug thanks to getting into CDs early on. That and I had bought Phil's second solo album based a good review of it, and that started the whole thing--Genesis, Peter Gabriel, etc.. I ended up getting the first few CDs from Europe, and I lucked out that Sam's Jams (in Ferndale) used to bring those in. All of my earliest Genesis and Peter Gabriel purchases were on Charisma or Virgin; I think the last import I bought was the self-titled Genesis, as the UK was doing simultaneous LP and CD releases (the US had yet to catch up). I only got into the Peter-era Genesis in the past decade or so.

I miss having a store like Sam's around. I used to spend Friday evenings there after dinner, as whoever was in the jazz room was playing tracks from the week's new releases. It was also impressive that a few of the employees remembered what I liked, and would hold something aside that came in if I was interested in it.

This album has become one of my favorites of Burt's.

Painted from Memory took a couple of decades to grow on me. I actually heard "In The Darkest Place" at the AXPONA audio show, from a test pressing in the Mobile Fidelity room, and that kind of sparked my interested in it. Not everyone can warm to Elvis Costello's voice, but I think after many years without Hal as his lyrical sparring partner, he finally found a worthy match in Costello.
 
Plas Johnson played on many early rock and roll hits in the 50s and 60s, and is probably best known for the theme to a mid 60s movie named for a cat. 😉

But here's a track from his first record, one of those 8-song 10-inch LPs from the late 50s.



He has "the sound" of course, and the entire thing is a good listen. I suppose he could have been considered jazz, especially by the time he arrived at Concord Records in the 70s, but his recordings prior to that were more in an R&B/rock and roll theme like this one, which is what he was familiar with. Good times!

 
Mo' Plas!

His first appearance on a Mancini album, far as I can tell--the song is similar to his R&B style back in the day. (Video has the incorrect album cover, from a dumpy CD reissue.)




A great soloist here. And a great track if you like augmented chords. 😁




Looking over a list of credits for album he appears on, it's a who's who of music.

Discography[edit]​

As leader/co-leader[edit]​

As Johnny Beecher[edit]​

  • Sax 5th Ave. (CRC Charter, 1962)
  • On the Scene (CRC Charter, 1962)

As sideman[edit]​

```With The Marketts

  • ``Balboa Blue`` (Union Records 504, Liberty Records 55443)
With Chet Baker

With Marvin Gaye

With Dr. John

With Johnny Rivers

  • New Lovers and Old Friends (Epic, 1975)
With Maria Muldaur

  • Waitress in a Donut Shop (Reprise Records, 1974)
  • Sweet Harmony (Reprise Records, 1976)
With Ry Cooder

With Rita Coolidge

With Teena Marie

With Boz Scaggs

With Joni Mitchell

With Elton John

With Liza Minnelli

With Les Baxter

  • Jungle Jazz (Capitol, 1958)
With Linda Ronstadt

With Deniece Williams

With Tom Waits

With Benny Carter

With Bette Midler

With B.B. King

With Rod Stewart

With Bobby Darin

With Etta James

With Clifford Coulter

With Minnie Riperton

With Ella Fitzgerald

With Nicolette Larson

With Carole King

With Peggy Lee

With Neil Diamond

With Henry Mancini

With Sam Cooke

With Aaron Neville

  • Warm Your Heart (A&M, 1991)
  • The Grand Tour (A&M, 1993)
  • Aaron's Soulful Christmas (A&M, 1993)
With Les McCann

With John Neel

  • Blue Martini (Ava, 1963)
With Shorty Rogers

With Pete Rugolo

With Lalo Schifrin

With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

With the Gerald Wilson Orchestra

With The Platters

With Rhoda Scott

  • From C to Shining C (Doodlin Records, 2009)
With Steely Dan

 
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I've been playing Oregon this evening. Northwest Passage, followed by Family Tree.
 
I had forgotten about Oregon. Wow. It's got that McCandless goodness. Is Family Tree the Nick Cave recording?
Family Tree is the second to last Oregon recording, and the last one Glen Moore recorded. Lantern, their last (and maybe final?) recording is down to two original members--McCandless and Ralph Towner, along with Mark Walker who replaced the late Collin Walcott in the 90s.

Unbelievable--their first recording as Oregon was 52 years ago (recorded 1970, but released 1980)...and their A&M release Music of Another Present Era was 50 years ago.
 
I listened to the newest Stevie Nicks song, it's a fairly faithful rendition of the Stephen Stills classic "For What It's Worth," which as any Cornerite worth his salt would know was also covered by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 on their Stillness album.

Stevie's version doesn't really add anything to the original in my opinion, and her voice is not aging well. She sings this song as if she's half asleep and/or reading it off of a teleprompter. It's got a monotonous/repetitious melody to start with, so it requires the arrangement and the singer to provide the excitement. Unfortunately, this arrangement and this singer provide neither. The song is basically over at about the three minute mark, where it descends into a mellow vamp for a bit -- I was expecting a furious comeback, like Stevie famously does when she performs "Rhiannon" onstage -- but this song just continues languidly fading out until it coasts to a stop after about two more unnecessary minutes.

Or the short review: Sergio's version is 10x better. (So is Stephen Stills', for that matter.)

 
Playing a few tracks from this album tonight.

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I didn't realize the connection until I read about it recently. Pete Jolly and Howard Roberts were teenage pals back where they grew up in Phoenix AZ, and Jolly followed Roberts out to Los Angeles at the ripe young age of 20 (in 1952) where they both went on to lucrative studio careers.
 
I listened to the newest Stevie Nicks song, it's a fairly faithful rendition of the Stephen Stills classic "For What It's Worth," which as any Cornerite worth his salt would know was also covered by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 on their Stillness album.

Stevie's version doesn't really add anything to the original in my opinion, and her voice is not aging well. She sings this song as if she's half asleep and/or reading it off of a teleprompter. It's got a monotonous/repetitious melody to start with, so it requires the arrangement and the singer to provide the excitement. Unfortunately, this arrangement and this singer provide neither. The song is basically over at about the three minute mark, where it descends into a mellow vamp for a bit -- I was expecting a furious comeback, like Stevie famously does when she performs "Rhiannon" onstage -- but this song just continues languidly fading out until it coasts to a stop after about two more unnecessary minutes.

Or the short review: Sergio's version is 10x better. (So is Stephen Stills', for that matter.)


Very underwhelming...
 
I listened to the newest Stevie Nicks song, it's a fairly faithful rendition of the Stephen Stills classic "For What It's Worth," which as any Cornerite worth his salt would know was also covered by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 on their Stillness album.

Stevie's version doesn't really add anything to the original in my opinion, and her voice is not aging well. She sings this song as if she's half asleep and/or reading it off of a teleprompter. It's got a monotonous/repetitious melody to start with, so it requires the arrangement and the singer to provide the excitement. Unfortunately, this arrangement and this singer provide neither. The song is basically over at about the three minute mark, where it descends into a mellow vamp for a bit -- I was expecting a furious comeback, like Stevie famously does when she performs "Rhiannon" onstage -- but this song just continues languidly fading out until it coasts to a stop after about two more unnecessary minutes.

Or the short review: Sergio's version is 10x better. (So is Stephen Stills', for that matter.)


I like a lot of the early Stevie Nicks but her type of voice does not age well as you say.
 
I was browing around the Roon Player this evening and caught a link to the Gerald Wilson Big Band. I'd probably seen the credit before, but Wilson was the one who penned "Viva Tirado," which the group El Chicano turned into a surprise hit a few years later. This is the original version, from Wilson's Moment of Truth album on Pacific Jazz.




I'm really liking his arranging style, so I'm glad I stumbled into this recording. (Actually, I saw the track listed on the 5-CD Mosaic set.) With this and the early Quincy Jones big band recordings, I'll have a lot to work through in the coming months. 👍 Qobuz also has this album in hi-res, so I'll be grabbing that ASAP.

Another track, "Latino," from the same album:

 
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Horace Silver. I defer to Rudy who's the Horace expert. I don't recall any trio dates in the 1960s; there were a few trio sessions, but no trio LPs as far as I know. In any event, like virtually all '50s and '60s jazz pianists of note, Horace was both a strong writer and arranger. He has a few standards under his belt as well. Horace has that unique left hand jab into the keys -- a rhythmic comp devoid of any actual voicing and something that would become a mainstay in rock guitar playing in the late '60s. His approach to melody is impeccable be it his originals or his improvisations. Above are two of my faves (from 1965/66, of course). Horace's '60 Blue Note LPs do well to define the overall high quality of the label. He also has a way to connect to the non-jazz connoisseur and had that rare gift of using rhythmic repetition in a jazz setting to actually increase overall musicality. Horace was an American musical treasure and every Blue Note CD I have has at least one "desert island" song. To this day I continue to recommend Horace's Blue Notes for introducing 1960s jazz to interested parties.
 
I defer to Rudy who's the Horace expert. I don't recall any trio dates in the 1960s; there were a few trio sessions, but no trio LPs as far as I know.
I think the only "trio" dates were in the 50s, when he recorded his first two 10-inch records for Blue Note (and those are compiled on one CD now). I use "trio" loosely since on some tracks, percussionist Sabu joins Blakey...but the basic layout is still piano, bass, drums/rhythm, with no horns. I return to that CD a lot. The 10-inchers were actually reissued in Japan in the past decade (?), but like other things Blue Note, prices are insane.

On one of the CDs of Song for my Father, there are a handful of bonus tracks, and one of them is a trio version of "Que Pasa?" that I really like. I've probably posted it here already. But no, beyond that and "Lonely Woman" from the same album, I can't really recall any other trio recordings on his long-players.

One I've been fond of in recent weeks is Silver's Serenade. Really want a good vinyl copy, but the cheapest I can find that might be in good condition is $40, and prices skyrocket from there. You'd think Blue Note would release it on the Classic Vinyl series. (I think the latest was Blowin' The Blues Away.)
 
here are a handful of bonus tracks, and one of them is a trio version of "Que Pasa?" that I really like. I've probably posted it here already. But no, beyond that and "Lonely Woman
Indeed. Those two are killer! This was round about '64-'65 when Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook spun off their own group -- with the piano chair manned by none other than a very young and precocious Chick Corea!
 
I received Nancy and Lee on Light In The Attic Records. It still sounds great after all these years. Can't wait for Nancy and Lee Again to be released on CD.
 
The Nancy & Lee duet "Summer Wine" is the edited version not the complete version.
The short version begins its fade at around 3:30 and is done by 3:43, while the extended version continues Nancy's final chorus to the end as the orchestra continues the backing track, fading out after the 4:00 mark to 4:15.

I have both of these on the NANCY'S GREATEST HITS LP and on the CD called THE HIT YEARS. On the LP, Nancy and Lee's vocals are totally in the right channel of the stereo. On the CD, it was remixed to place the vocals in the center.
 
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