Scott Henderson is a great fusion guitarist. I was a big fan of his fusion band Tribal Tech and still now i appreciate his style so bluesly and rock with some jazz touch. I think is a good gig for this night especially with some friends. Honestly now that i'm totally into jazz, i prefer guitar players more jazzy than him like Adam Rogers or Mike Moreno or Lage Lund or Julian Lage. This cd of Adam Rogers is a gem for me:
I don't usually post off-jazz topic listening here, but I've been off on a bender on the music of the late great guitarist and bandleader and master of Congolese rumba Franco and his band TPOK Jazz. Listening through lots of early stuff from the '50s, falling in love with lots of transitional stuff from the late '60s and early '70s when Franco and the band elevated the a little mid-song instrumental guitar break into nearly its own song form, and moving on to prime late '70s and early '80s stuff. Can't get enough. Thank goodness for streaming, which has profoundly aided my exploration and discovery -- and thank goodness I was able to borrow a digital scan of Graeme Ewen's out of print Franco biography, Congo Colossus, from the Archive of Contemporary Music via the Internet Archive (used copies I could find online were beginning at $200). In particular I've been digging these great early collections: This mid-career Sonodisc set, vinyl rip, but at least I can hear the music: Now really digging the material on this one:
NP Clare Fischer - Surging Ahead (Pacific Jazz) black and orange stereo label Trio outing with three different trios spread over the album with Albert Stinson, Ralph Pena and Gary Peacock for bass players and Larry Bunker or Gene Stone on drums.
Not really. The box was issued in 2009 by the French CBC (Radio Canada) in limited quantities. They're rather hard to find at a reasonnable price today.
Another foray into the roots of jazz: King Oliver - Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings Coming on the heels of the first jazz recordings by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, this is classic dixieland jazz right from the origin of the species. In addition to being there close to the beginning, Joe "King" Oliver was historically significant for a couple other reasons. As a cornetist, he introduced the use of the mute in Jazz, and he employed the great but as yet anonymous Louis Armstrong in his band. This album presents all 37 recordings made by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in 1923. It is one of the more recent remasterings of these recordings and strikes a good balance between cleaning up the hiss and pop of the old 78s while keeping as much of the warmth and nostalgia of the original recordings as possible. As compared to the ODJB, the music itself and the presentation (stylistic delivery, not sound quality) is a smidge more primitive. Which is not a bad thing. The ODJB arrangements were a little more layered, maybe a little more musically intricate or complex, but these King Oliver songs are maybe just a tad more lively in the sense that these guys are out there blowing their hearts out and having fun with it. But this is real hair splitting as the ODJB tunes are plenty lively and the Oliver Band are no technical slouches. Either one would provide a great intro to the earliest roots of jazz.
Hope you stop by soon! Listening to a lot of jazz today including "crisis" by Ornette, "March on " by the Heath Brothers, Bird in Sweden, and now "The Bridge" by Sonny with LOTS of Jim Hall. "God bless the child that's got his own......"
Jimmy Heath/ On The Trail (1964) Jimmy Heath, tenor sax Wynton Kelly, piano Kenny Burrell, guitar Paul Chambers, bass Albert "Tootie" Heath, drums I think Miles probably spun this one a few times. "Gingerbread Boy"
A travel for work, i mean.. You thought that i went to the office, and when i going out from it, its another city?
Also Top notch, foundational stuff in a classic transfer, also, foundational repertoire: "Chimes Blues," "Weather Bird Rag," "Dipper Mouth Blues" -- together with Jelly Roll Morton's tunes of the time, really the bedrock of the repertoire. In some ways I like some of the more eq'ed transfers that bring our more balanced to the music that I think is missing in the original recordings which were pretty crude. But what a great collection of music..
Speaking of Jelly Roll, I rolled from King Oliver to the Roll: Jelly Roll Morton - Jelly Roll Morton 1926 - 1930 Most folks have at least heard the name Jelly Roll Morton and a few know he was a pivotal proponent of early jazz. Those who have studied him know him to be a hard drinking womanizer with no shortage of scandal in his background. Personal mores aside, he was a marvelous composer who really helped get jazz rolling, but in his own very personal and distinct way. He was equally adept at small ensemble and solo piano music.It's fascinating to hear him put stride piano/ragtime at the core of his evolving jazz palette. This is a massive, 5 disc set that will quickly produce overload for anyone not enamored with the genre to begin with. For those looking for an introduction rather than completist-level coverage should look into the Library of Congress recording Jameth recommended above, especially since it deftly balances the ensemble and solo recordings along with narration, breaking up any monotony. Billy Goat Stomp:
From age 20 to 25, I worked with a group of Africans, and we listened to Congolais music all day long. They became best friends and I was often introduced to others with the phrase: "This guy has more African records than any African!" I became a friend of the owner of the only African record store in the USA (The African Record Center in NYC), which was great fun. Then I started the first series of African music broadcasts well before NPR started its Afro-pop series. I also pushed hard to get American record companies to issue African music, and succeeded in several cases (Shanachie and Rounder labels). I wanted to pursue field recordings while doing research in Africa, but life had other plans for me. I immerse myself in various aspects of African music every so often, but have a special fondness for Congolais music. It is a style that is still largely overlooked in the world music obsession in America. For me, it is also a form of nostalgia - like listening to The Beatles may be for some. It evokes my young days and the friends who have long since left this earth. Their own stories of oppression, first by colonial masters and then by dictators, still consume me. But we sure did share some good times. You may enjoy Docteur Nico and Rochereau (aka Tabu Ley). They were part of Franco's world.
I don't know if they worked at Bell, but Bell was a full-service facility, with lots of recordings done there for various labels as well as mastering.
