I’m mostly focused on Listen To The River of late but after some recent posts from @Oliver @sami and @frightwigwam I had to get some Herbie Hancock into the mix. So it’s Mwandishi and Crossings this morning.
I haven’t heard Crossings in a long time. As I recall I loved it. But what about Sextant, any good? I haven’t heard that since the 70’s. I seem to remember it was challenging.
Third album of the morning that follows classic Cannonball Adderley and Ella Fitzgerald & Oscar Peterson albums and acquits itself very nicely... Charlie Apicella & Iron City – Groove Machine Label: OA2 Records – 22166 Format: CD, Album Country: US Released: 2019 Genre: Jazz
Everything in Herbie's early '70's run from Mwandishi through Man-Child is well worth hearing, as it is as good as anything in jazz released during that period. Herbie learned from Miles, and then moved beyond straight fusion into a more funk related approach. Sextant and Head Hunters were the records that marked that change of direction.
Sextant is my favorite Herbie. The Mwandishi band had flirted with funk before, but they sink into it more deeply here, yet the music is still spacey. Dr. Patrick Gleeson’s finest hour, too. And I think the move to Columbia also gave Herbie better production. The Sony Legacy CD sounds good and sells cheap. There is a Dutton Vocalion SACD hybrid that includes the SQ Quad mix.
You guys have helped me before, now I ask your favor once more. So I had about a 20 minute car ride today. On the way I unexpectedly heard a portion of a pretty good sounding Seattle/Grunge/Subpop Records documentary. Lots of various talking heads and sound clips etc The portion I heard talked about Mudhoney being pretty big, the Green River releases, collecting colored vinyl and limited eiditon releases, poor sales figures, the takeover of grunge by the SubPop label.... My trip ended just as they were talking about Melody Maker magazine and John Peel getting in on the action around 1991 or so, right before grunge "exploded". It was quite good and I want to listen to the whole thing but can't find a single thing about this online!! I'm almost certain it's not that "Hype" documentary from 1996 (could be wrong though). This radio station (Greenville, SC, "The Planet Rocks 93.3 Active Rock") has nothing about this airing anywhere on social media or online that I can find. I've googled every iteration of the following terms: grunge/seattle/subpop/radio/documentary that I can find. I can't find this sucker anywhere. Would love to check out this sucker in full if anyone knows anything about this!
A little 80's throwback on the start of Sunday evening... R.E.M. – Fables Of The Reconstruction Label: I.R.S. Records – IRSD-5592 Format: CD, Album Country: US Released: 1985 Genre: Rock Style: Alternative Rock U2 – The Unforgettable Fire Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab – UDCD 624 Series: Original Master Recording, Ultradisc II Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, 24K Country: US Released: Mar 15, 1995 Genre: Rock Style: Pop Rock
So I was able to find a copy of Sextant by Herbie Hancock. I'm sure I haven't heard this since the mid to late seventies. It seems pretty normal, and I loved it. lol I guess maybe it was the first tune that threw lots of people back in the day. But the whole thing just drips Miles Davis. I had forgotten that Eddie Henderson is on it. And that second tune Hidden Shadows when that was playing I spent the whole time trying to figure out what old Miles outtake that was based on. I really thought I was hearing some Miles tune. I guess I'm just remembering Hidden Shadows after not hearing it since 35-40 years ago. Seemed really familiar. So the album was recorded in 1973 but it sounds like it could have been two or three decades later. That stuff's ahead of it's time. On a different note, I just watched the Velvet Underground doc that's on Apple TV. I bought a new iPad awhile back and I guess it got me some free time on Apple TV. I really haven't paid any attention but looked for this doc and pushed play and it played. lol It's great, very well done. Flies by and is kind of sad at the end. Nearly everyone's dead. I've never had any issue with being a huge Grateful Dead fan and a huge Velvet's/Lou/John etc fan also. We have lived with great artists in our lifetimes. I think I need to spin Live in Seattle again. Speaking of which, McCoy Tyner. OMG He went crazy during those last months with the band. He plays this mad-ass solo on My Favorite Things from the Penthouse unreleased tunes. It must be one of the last things he played with the band and it's out there........ I kind of got all over the place here......
Tony Williams Lifetime-Emergency! Love this. Some pretty hard hitting, aggressive stuff at times. John McLaughlin rocks pretty much throughout.
The Capeman, Paul Simon this is a really great record. Our Paul already, with "Graceland" had made us understand which side he is on, and with this immense musical work he reaffirms it: he is on the side of the weak, the disadvantaged. He is not a man of many words. Usually, what he wants to say, he says it... SINGING, and, writing almost always all the lyrics of his songs, he does it in a way that few others can. The story, I think, is well known ... a child, almost a boy, a black South American, kills 2 white Irish boys in the 1950s. Obviously, the killer is arrested a few days later, is tried, and sentenced to sit on Sparky, the famous, never understanded in Europe, electric chair. Fortunately ... his sentence will then be commuted to a long stay in prison, where, (but look a bit ... sometimes you can really "re-educate" people in prison) he learns to read, writ , behave well. So far, for better or worse, the story, already in itself particularly exciting. But, Paul Simon would not be Paul Simon if he did not write, for these beautiful song lyrics, particularly captivating music, extraordinary melodies, very good harmonies with fabulous instruments and instrumentalists. The musical, unfortunately, was not a success, I don't even know if it was represented in Europe (I think not). But this record is, without a doubt, one of the best works in Mr. Simon's solo repertoire. Count, then, that all this was superbly recorded, and you will understand why my last word, about this record, in my long (hopefully not tedious) post, is: MASTERPIECE!
David Grubbs & Riley Walker “A Tap On The Shoulder” Mrs Jowcol & I definitely on opposite sides of the fence on this one. She’s retreated to another room leaving me to enjoy the sonic explorations
