Clusone 3 Soft Lights and Sweet Music (hatOLOGY 657). Recorded September 2 & 3, 1993. Michael Moore (alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica, celeste) Ernst Reijseger (cello) Han Bennink (drums, celeste) Three of the leading exponents of what critic Kevin Whitehead has dubbed "New Dutch Swing" play the Irving Berlin songbook with delightful results.
Just ordered my copy for €110 at Jazz Messengers. The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessio - Jazz Messengers
LOL, I too played this LP yesterday afternoon around the same time, EST... there were parts I liked (Woods, mostly) and then there were the 'trappings.' I think that was the 2nd time I've played it, as it's a fairly recent addition.
Listening to some Joe Lovano, sans piano. Just finishing up Trio Fascination: Edition One with Dave Holland & Elvin Jones before I move onto disc 1 of Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard with Tom Harrell, Anthony Cox and Billy Hart. Trio Fascination I think I'd only listened to once before but really enjoying it this time around.
Teddy Edwards liked it too; just listened to him do IWTTAY yesterday afternoon on this. https://www.discogs.com/Various-Jazzcraft-Studio-Recordings-1978-79/release/14991586
Well put. I am driven in a similar fashion with many things but as I get older I have grown to accept that for me sometimes an element of mystery can be helpful in the arts. I have read that some pop songs have been created using formulas of certain beats and melodic changes that are known to cause an automatic emotional response in the listener and thus make the song more popular and thus commercially successful. Some more then others consistently create this reaction. In film it is also possible to use formulaic devices to manipulate emotions in watchers and the directors may or may not not be aware that they are using the triggering device. (I have read the main plot hinge in Sofias Choice relys on a simple automated human emotional response for instance readily repeatable in good or bad films or books etc and learning that , kinda diluted the film for me ) I am sure one could argue against this , but for me this is at least some logic to this. I do enjoy reading about how things work ( like the kinds ways humans automatically have certain emotions triggered by measurable ‘artistic’ devices ) but I dont always try to get to the very bottom of understanding -specifically when that type of knowledge can interfere with my emotional relationship to it in a negative way ( for me). Sometimes too much info can break the spell..
I think, every creator thinks about and constructs their are with deliberateness and intent, and practice and craft, and in the case of the performing arts, knowing from standing on stage night after night, what garners a reaction and what doesn't, and whatever other personal expressive intentions they might have. Creative people think about, practice, and work on the plumbing and artisan element of what they do. They're not just pouring out emotion reflexively. It's what they're putting in to what they're doing, and the way they're saying and doing what they want to say and do, that really interests and moves me. It's funny, but personally, from the time I was very, very young, in fact as long as I can remember, when I've encountered a work of art, one of my main impulses is to identify with the artist and the act of creation. As a kid I would read comic books, and yeah I loved the stories and characters and maybe I would pretend to be a super hero, but I identified with and became a fan of the writers -- Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber were two of my faves, I would seek out their stories, not just, say, Avengers comics or Man-Thing comics. For me what the artist is doing, why the artist is doing it, is right at the top of things I engage with and that move and excite me when I see a painting, hear music, look at a photograph, or read a book. I've just been that way literally for as long as I have a memory of this life.
Annual week of Bob Dylan and Miles Davis B-Day play list fest at my house continues. Today it's KOB and BB (imagine some 2nd quartet live stuff later)! Funny thing happened over the last couple of years, BB blows my mind every time now and is becoming my favorite after decades of not getting it.
After all the talk yesterday morning about early Ellington, I drove to work listening to the early Brunswick and Vocalion sides. Maybe Ellington as a composer and arranger hadn't fully come into his own, still really tracking the work of the peers he admired -- though East St. Louis Toodle-Oo was already in the rep by this point, Dec. '26 -- but man, the band smoked! When Otto Hardwick comes in with that alto growl, that's a killer. And with Sonny Greer going to the pounding tom figure behind that section, you get a hint of the "jungle music" Ellington phase to come. And that closing ensemble two chorus jam. Phew. That was a cooking band with Miley and of course Joe "Trickey Sam" Nanton, Hardwick on alto, Greer on drums, among others.
Of course, another thing about that era of Duke was that he was recording the same material for multiple companies pretty much simultaneously, which can make for interesting comparisons when the band personnel varies.
No doubt, it's very interesting to me how the early band takes shape, but I've also always found it daunting to go back and compare say all the recordings from the era of Toodle-oo, or whatever. I've never read Mark Tucker's Ellington: The Early Years, which I guess is OOP, but I just ordered a used copy on Amazon yesterday also after the morning conversation, I can see I'm going to be spending the early part of this summer with Ellington of the '20s.
Having made multi-artist 90 minute tapes of varying versions of the same song before for just that purpose (but not for Duke), including St. Louis Blues, I'd think a home made comp with the differing versions back to back would be a good start on that. Might even get around to doing it one of these days, just for my own edification.
I've tried to do it over the years with some of the major Ellington rep of the period -- Toodle-oo and The Mooche and Black and Tan Fantasy -- but I always kind of wind up losing my place: which one was this version, which one was that. I mean sometime these this were make just months apart, like Toodle-oo gets waxed for Vocalion in Nov. '26, and Brunswick in Feb and March of '27 and then for Okeh I think that same month. Phew. I get dizzy.
I agree the better artists “ thinks about and constructs their art with deliberateness and intent, “ But I dont think ALL do and even if all creators try to do this , some are much better then others. ( sometimes lesser known artists have great substance equal to or better then known ones of course) I also think there is a wide range of quality, intent, energy , purpose going on in each artists life and work and its absolutely possible they like all humans can be subject to manipulation whether they know it or not. My point is that if an artists is intentionally or not influenced by some formulaic or less then magical inherent ability , I dont really want to know about it. If there is a book on deconstructing the 3 chord rock hit , I wont be reading it. Others will likely disagree but as an architect, I have been exposed to the inner workings of this stuff ( not so different from being a musician according to architect pals who are musicians) and its just not possible for any great artist to not be influenced by lesser factors. We hold them up as shining lights but they are after all mortal...
NP: Joe Morris Quartet - Underthru (CD, OmniTone, 1999) Joe Morris (g), Mat Maneri (vn, baritone vn), Chris Lightcap (b), Gerald Cleaver (d) The recent discussion of Morris' Perpetual Frontier (which I have not read but might read one day) in this thread is as good an excuse as any to play some of his music again. This quartet session with Maneri is one of my favorite recordings by both. The set contains some of Morris most lyrical compositions and Maneri keeps his micro-tonal tendencies quite in check. This results in a recording full of extended, intertwined (counter-)melodies and by musicians who are not only very responsive to each other's melodic invention but also carefully creating textures that are both exciting and accessible.
I am becoming obsessed with the title track Suite that leads of this late Mobley LP NP Mobley Thinking Of Home
And some do things like "cut-ups" because they're BORED with "the conventional" and "already knowing what's coming next."
thanks for this, I had never heard Blakey play in this style, it's fascinating. NP: John Abercrombie - Timeless John Abercrombie – guitar Jan Hammer – organ, piano, synthesizer Jack DeJohnette – drums I have always viewed this album as a continuation of the work the early Tony Williams Lifetime was doing.
Timeless was a staple of the '70s for me. I used to have a "bicycle riding cassette" that I'd play from a portable (non-Walkman type) cassette player with speaker that led off with that, then went to the long version of Voodoo Child from ELL. It was easy "pedaling hard" to that soundtrack...
I listened to the whole thing while jogging last night! got me moving fast enough to get home just in time for curfew!