Michael Formanek Very Practical Trio Even Better (Intakt) Recently arrived. Great album. Now I'm curious about that new Thumbscrew album @chervokas mentioned.
Judging from the audio trailer highlights I heard yesterday as part of the review on NPR's Fresh Air, Ambrose Akinmusire has one hell of a new record out. Jazz track soundbites don't usually grab me. But from the little snippets I heard, these compositions sound like they're built to last.
Interesting take on the classic tunes, still fun but any "edges" smoothed way over... Larry Elgart And His Manhattan Swing Orchestra – Hooked On Swing Label: RCA – AFL1-4343 Series: Hooked On – , Hooked On Swing – 1 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: US Released: 1982 Genre: Jazz Style: Big Band, Swing Tracklist Hooked On Swing A1 Hooked On Swing A1.01 In The Mood A1.02 Cherokee A1.03 American Patrol A1.04 Sing, Sing, Sing A1.05 I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm A1.06 Johnson Rag A1.07 Don't Be That Way A1.08 Little Brown Jug A1.09 Opus #1 A1.10 Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart A1.11 Take The "A" Train A1.12 String Of Pearls A1.13 In The Mood (Reprise)
I think it was in 1972, Impulse Records, after their latest corporate takeover, dumped their entire remaining warehouse stock of back catalogue as cutouts. They did not all go out of print, but for some reason, the lawyers and business majors did not want all those laminated covers around. There weren't enough to satisfy all record stores that had cutout bins to attract collectors, but my store, the one I worked in at night, had them all. Every title. For the public, they were $1.99. For store workers, they were 99 cents. I went overboard and bought every title that I did not have. We had 6 bins of them and restocked them from the backroom regularly. Eventually, the manager made them 99 cents for everyone, and they still sat there as most people refused to listen to jazz without electronic sound.
I'm a sucker for jazz lists. Today I saw Henry Rollins' list. Jazz classics basically, but he mentions one that I haven't played before With Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson... And with "fire" as part of the name... Has to be good. Will play it tonight. Better not have big expectations as we all know Henry is a liar.
...Henry is right! Hard to believe you haven’t heard it as much as I and others have posted it in here. So, you watch Pulp Fiction lately?
It's pride... Part of me thinks I'm to good to follow every suggestion. But I'm the one loosing with that attitude. So, "F#ck pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps. I have to fight through that ****. 'Cause a year from now, when I'm kickin' it in the Caribbean I'm gonna say: @Beatnik_Daddyo'73 was right, that's a great jazz album."
Bob Dylan, in the first song that he wrote and recorded after "9-11", wrote about pride. People seem to think the song was only about the American Civil War. But, as for any great song, it has many meanings. It was also very much about the world around Bob Dylan in those days after September 11, 2001. And, of course, it is about the world that surrounds us today. from "Cross the Green Mountain" "It’s the last day’s last hour of the last happy year I feel that the unknown world is so near Pride will vanish and glory will rot But virtue lives and cannot be forgot"
To me, only a genius can compose and play a tune like this one; Charlie Rouse really terrific, because he goes into the core!
As someone trying to track these down 50 years later, this kind of makes me sick to my stomach. What a find!
To be clear I don't have any particular issues with 70s BN or Impulse records. Those solid blue label BN lps can sound pretty nice.
NP Morlenbaum2/Sakamoto:Casa (Sony) cd A favorite of Lon's and mine as well thanks to his recommendation. After three really hot (100F +) days we got a nice cool down thanks to the delta breeze coming up the river from San Francisco, our life saver. It got down to 62 this morning so the house is nice and cool. I haven't had any oolong in a while and it is tasting particularly good too.
I'm still trying to digest this album. In a lot of ways I think Ambrose is wearing the Emperor's new clothes. I read about his "mastery" and think. . . okay. . . so much is subjective. His supporting musicians I really like. My best friend is a jazz and avant garde trumpeter and he says he can't listen to more than five minutes of one of his albums!
I found it very hard to find my way into Ambrose Akinmusire's music. It took me years. But something about Origami Harvest really clicked with mean, the atmosphere, the mix of tone colors, the sense of overarching dramatic flow of the whole album from beginning to end and how the parts fed the whole, in some ways a little bit more like a suite or score or like some of Leo Smith's latter day stuff (like America's National Parks, which I adore). Suddenly it kind of clicked and I started hearing other of his music differently, I went back to A Rift in the Decorum and really liked it where before I hadn't been able to find my way into it at all. I had a similar experience as a young man with Jack Kerouac's writing. I couldn't enter it on the page, then one day I first hear a recording of Kerouac reading, and the sound of the prose opened the whole thing up to me. Then I went back and fell in love with his prose. That said, I've listened to the new Akinmusire a couple of times now and I like it, but not as much as I like the previous couple, but it does have that same one-whole-start-to-finish quality.
I`m still in the "I found it very hard to find my way into Ambrose Akinmusire's music" phase personally.
I've avoided the Prestige rechanneled stereo, though haven't done a shoot-out, which perhaps I should rather than make assumptions. re: 60s pressings, Riverside, unlike Prestige didn't have Van Gelder stampers as an easy way to determine who was involved, if not always a signal of quality. Prestige represses into the 60s/70s, including some of the twofers, were still mastered by Van Gelder and often cleaner than originals. Not necessarily. I've been conducting shootouts of audiophile vs. originals and re-pressings for both labels, and again, its case-by-case, and there's mono vs stereo to complicate matters. Mostly I've preferred Riverside stereo where that's an option. When the Riverside or Prestige audiophile option is $50 for a 45RPM record, that actually buys a lot of 70s reissues to test out. Pre-digital OJC vinyl of Riverside and Prestige rarely disappoints, particularly pre '87 when George Horn did many titles. Preferable to Phil DeLancie for me, who did most thereafter. I disagree on the comment 'all similar'. There's a range in quality of the 2fers, depending on mastering engineer, pressing plant, etc. Though broadly speaking, they are all AAA, and at least some care was taken, and most can be had for $5-10. I've stuck with Impulse pressings with Van Gelder stamp, unless he didn't master it. Longwear Pressing and Bell Sound are other signals of quality, though there are only a few titles where I've conducted shootouts between 60s/70s represses. Mostly I've tested against ORG, Speakers Corner, Analogue Productions, and various CDs etc. And often preferred the mono, and originals. Blue Note 70s reissues are another rabbit hole, with the Van Gelder stamp trailing off at some point during Liberty/UA era. The US 70s reissues remain a bargain audio wise for me. My shoot outs there have been mostly originals vs. Liberty, Capitol era Traugott, King Records, recent Kevin Gray versions, etc. Very much a matter of taste in mastering profile. This topic has been covered pretty thoroughly elsewhere. Agreed on BN 70s. Impulse 70s may offer audio winners, but I so enjoy the laminated sleeves that stopped production at some time (late 60s/early 70s?), I can't bring myself to buy a matte sleeve. Finding the most enjoyable way to hear material from these four jazz labels is engrossing and rewarding as a process. Very interested to hear from others on the topic.
NP: George Cables - Cables Vision (Contemporary 1980, mastered by Bernie Grundman) Started a little 'lite' and vibes is an instrument I tolerate rather than seek out, but I'm coming round to Cables' way of seeing things. Bass – Tony Dumas Drums – Peter Erskine Flugelhorn – Freddie Hubbard Percussion – Vince Charles Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts Vibraphone – Bobby Hutcherson
Ha! I fell in love with Kerouac immediately! And . . . I'm very cool on "fusing" hip hop and such with jazz so I've avoided Origami Harvest so far, I think I've heard all the other of his works so far the last few years. What I've liked best of his is on the new Dave Douglas. . . where he is a little atypical perhaps. I'll keep at it, but with not a lot of enthusiasm.
