Big Al

This team reminds me of the '89 Rangers. That was a fun season but that team also had issues with RISP and bullpen. I expect they'll get overtaken by the Astros as always. I hope I'm wrong.

Always enjoyed his music. My sister and I got to see him live in 1991 at the Paramount in Austin. They chilled the theater and then turned off the AC so we could better hear his piano. His albums Summer and the tribute to Vince Guaraldi are my favorites. I never thought of him as new age; he seemed to me to be the John Fahey of the piano.

I've really come to enjoy the Gilberto/Turrentine despite the less-than-ideal circumstances under which it was recorded. That and the fact that they aren't always on the same song or, in one case, not on the song at all.

Dude! You owe me no such apology, mein freund! I'm glad you dug it! I truly understand about life getting in the way. Thanks for checking in, though, I do appreciate it! I thought the last two tracks were greeeazy enough. But it's all good, can't win 'em all.

Ah man, this is sad. She had such a timeless quality to her voice and beauty to match.

Ah dangit. One of the greats. Blue Mode is a beast of an album.

I remember that BFT! In fact, shortly after I got this album, I searched YouTube for Howell's other album and was pleasantly surprised to recognize the opening track from your BFT way back when! I'm also glad to know others liked that Niewood cut! Thank you, I really appreciate that!

Track 11: “Soft Focus” by Gerry Niewood from Gerry Niewood and Timepiece (2022) Without question my favorite discovery of 2022! I didn’t even know this record existed until I was flipping thru the “N Misc” section of Josey Records’ jazz section and I recognized Gerry Niewood as Chuck Mangione’s right-hand man, whose playing I’d enjoyed on those great Mangione quartet records. So I figured this was a no-brainer for the $6 I paid for it. To say I was blown away would be an understatement. Niewood plays flutes and soprano sax and is accompanied by vibes/bass/drums rhythm. EVERY song is a gem and I can’t recommend this album enough! I loved it so much I found a second copy and sent it to a friend of mine and now he loves it too! I’m tempted to put another track from this album on my next BFT! Track 12: “Summer Band Camp” by Gary Burton from Easy As Pie (2017) On the same day I purchased Metheny’s Falcon/Snowman soundtrack, I also picked up his Bright Size Life CD, thus kicking off my endless fascination with ECM (not to mention a shit-ton of crow-eating after all the horrible things I’d said about ECM previously). I started scooping up ECM records anytime I came across them because they were pretty easy to come by and relatively inexpensive. As a result, I now own all of Metheny’s ECM catalog. Listening to Metheny eventually led me to Gary Burton, most of whose ECM catalog I also own. Funny thing is, his ECM records with a piano player don’t really grab me but I love his quartet and quintet albums without piano. This album is a prime and fine example of this setting. Track 13: “Lonesome is the Night” by Brother Jack McDuff from The Heatin’ System (2016) How is this album not more well-known? A blazing 2-LP set of Brother Jack laying down scorcher after scorcher! To my knowledge, it’s never received any kind of reissue or repackage. Maybe it’s my bias towards double-albums that makes me enjoy this over all other McDuff records, but I don’t know of any other album of his where he leads a group like this that is a perfect melding of 100% greeeaze and hard-bop. Track 14: “Never Ending Melody” by Charles Earland from Leaving This Planet (2014) Okay, technically I’d known about this album before I finally snagged a vinyl copy in early 2014. But the available CD version lopped off a good couple of minutes off one of the tracks and I am nothing if not a completist. Even though I’d heard the CD, for some reason, hearing this on vinyl just sounded so much better! I really had trouble settling on one song from this album but when I realized this was going to be the last track of the BFT, it only made sense to use the last track from the album. I enjoyed everyone’s guesses and am still hoping for Thom Keith’s unfiltered comments and also hoping Dan gets on here and tells me how much he hated this BFT! 😁

Thanks again to everyone who participated! Many of these songs were presented because of where I was or what was happening in the last ten years since my previous BFT and I wanted to see what kind of effect it had on others. To that end, with each answer is the year I bought/first-heard/first-discovered each track and a reason (defense) for its inclusion here. Track 1: “Hidden Time” by Petr Zelenka from the album Memory Flash (summer 2013) I found this at a small bookstore in Prague in the summer of 2013. This track was playing overhead and I thought I’d stumbled on some great lost Paul Desmond-Jim Hall track. This was the display copy and I pretty much begged to buy this from the guy. As far as I can tell, this is the only album Zelenka’s released but what a gem. Track 2: “Daulton Lee” by Pat Metheny Group from The Falcon and the Snowman soundtrack (summer 2013) I *finally* got interested in Pat Metheny by way of David Bowie and “This is Not America” on which they collaborated. I saw the soundtrack in a Half Price Books and scooped it up, this being my first real exposure to Metheny. It may not be anyone else’s favorite but this will always be my favorite Metheny album because, on the same visit in Prague where I found the previous track, I had a chance for an evening walk around downtown Prague listening to this soundtrack and it was quite an eerie feeling: at the same place I purchase the Zelenka CD I also purchased a book about the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968 and reading those stories was harrowing. The memory of reading those stories haunted me as I walked and Metheny’s music was the perfect soundtrack. Track 3: “Five Weeks” by Michael Howell from Looking Glass (October 2022) This time last year I didn’t even know this record existed. Then someone posted it on Instagram and the lineup compelled me to seek it out eventually since it isn’t currently streaming anywhere. Then a local record store had it and within a week I owned my own copy. This is a fun record and I really dig Hampton Hawes on the electric piano. Track 4: “A Trumpeter’s Lullaby” by Artie Butler from Have You Met Miss Jones (2016 or 2017) Okay, I deliberately included this track to annoy people. As you can tell if you follow the link, the cover matches the music. Pure unadulterated kitsch for which I make no apology. But it does have Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter on it! Track 5: “You’re Just in Love” by Neal Hefti Quintet from Light and Right (March 2014) Found this record in an antique shop for a couple bucks. I love that most of this record the rhythm accompanists is a guitar instead of a piano. For whatever reason, none of the other musicians are listed anywhere and I’ve looked all over the internet for it. The rest of the album sounds like this, in case you come across it in a dollar bin and are curious. Or not. Track 6: “Won’t You Get Up Off It Please” by Fats Waller and His Buddies from the comp of the same name (September 2021) Fats has been featured on a previous BFT of mine but his catalog is so rich I could include a different Fats tune on future BFT’s! In 2021, I scoured Discogs for all the Bluebird-issued CD’s of Fats and this was by far the most unique of the lot. Definitely not for everyone’s tastes but my how it swings! Track 7: “Joy Mentin’” by James P Johnson’s Blue Note Jazzmen from The Blue Note Jazzmen comp (2019) Stumbled across this at a Half Price Books and, if memory serves, I put it back and immediately regretted doing so when I got home. I went back a few nights later and, for once, it was still there waiting for me. I may have mentioned a few thousand times over the years that Ben Webster is my favorite tenor player, and now you know the entire reason for not only this track’s inclusion here but also this CD in my collection! Track 8: “Places, Please” by Ralph Burns from Free Forms but my source was actually this (2022) Simply put, I love Jo Jones and I think he does a fantastic job here. This album is part of a Verve 2-fer that collections Lee Konitz & Jimmy Giuffre’s third-stream recordings for Verve. Track 9: “Charlie Brown and His All-Stars” by Vince Guaraldi with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra from the soundtrack to A Boy Named Charlie Brown (2019) This is another track I put on here just because I wanted to and not for any real jazz-related reasons. For years, like since 1980, I’ve wondered why there was never a soundtrack release of the music from this movie. Simply put, much of what I learned to love about jazz I learned from the soundtrack of this movie. Finally, in 2017, a small label made a limited edition run of CD’s that, when I finally learned of its existence in 2019, was long out-of-print and, of course, ebay prices were ridiculous. I emailed the label and asked if they had any extras laying around, even if it’s only just the CD, and could I please please PLEASE have a copy! They did, and they sold one to me, and I pretty much cried listening to it. I didn’t stop listening to it for almost two months! Track 10: “Mambotango” by Ray Baretto from La Cuna (2019) Late-era CTI with Joe Farrell playing some mean tenor! (to be continued some more)

Aw man, this hurts. RIP to one of the greats. There was a long while where if I saw the words "arranged by Don Sebesky" I'd turn up my nose. Then I heard GIANT BOX. Now when I see those words I tune in immediately.

Early reports might've been true, but after giving up three straight walk-off losses to the lowly Reds this week, I'm starting to worry those reports may have been premature. Then again, they aren't any worse than the Yankees right now. Then again again, they aren't really any better either.

Thanks Jim! It's good to be back! As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your comments! Track 2 is indeed Metheny & Mays. I'm amazed your out-on-a-limb guess on track 3 was spot-on. I mean, I shouldn't be amazed, but it's still like watching a master craftsman doing that which he knows & loves, it's always amazing! Track 7 is indeed Ben and you're right: no one sounds like Ben! Track 14 is indeed Charlie Earland and you're right: I could've used any track but I figured why not wrap up the BFT with the last tune on that album! I'd never heard that JT track before. I'm sure there's tons of Brecker out there I've heard that I didn't realize was Brecker when I heard it, the guy was everywhere wasn't he?

I appreciate the author's apparent desire to capture the vibe but there are a ton of factual errors in this review. But like the author says: who cares? Does it matter that Roger McGuinn wasn't a Christian during this time and that the name Roger was a variation of the word "raja" which was part of the Subud religion of which he was a part? Probably not. Does it matter that the entire essay was written by someone who wasn't there but thinks he was because he's read about that time? In the grand scheme of things, no. But revisionist history is just that and it rarely stays contained to just one area. But then, what do I know? I was born in 1970, so it could very well be that I'm just as full of BS.

Cal Tjader Verve mono albums. Not zillions but still surprisingly easy to find. And enjoy.

Wes Montgomery's Verve output. I used to deride this as being commercial pap, and maybe it is, but becoming a dad some years after discovering Wes and reveling in his Riverside recordings made me realize there's nothing wrong with wanting to, y'know, succeed and pay bills and provide for your family.

Great guesses and I'm glad you dug it! A few comments in blue. I love your guesses! 12 is definitely Gary Burton and track 14 features Joe Henderson but he's not the leader. I like how you gravitated to his Milestone recordings on this and track 10, both tracks definitely have that vibe! So far, you're batting 1000! 👍

I say: defund Big AI and give that money to Big Al!

I love this album and find it to be the best of his wonderful Verve output, which is really saying something. I'm with mikeweil about the albums with Coleman Hawkins, I really wanted to like those albums and they just don't click with me. Maybe it's because this album has Jo Jones on it is the reason I like it so much, he knew just how to shade Big Ben like no other drummer could do, IMO.

I'm pretty sure Brecker is nowhere to be found on this BFT. Funny thing is, the only Brecker I know is his work on Horace Silver's In Pursuit Of The 27th Man and Pat Metheny's 80/81. My mind is still blown away by his solos on "Two Folks Songs!"

I love this and I hope you'll share the unfiltered comments! I'll gladly cop to liking a lot of this because it sounds pretty to these ears.

Good grief Charlie Brown! Right on all accounts!!!! Nice to know I'm not the only one who has the Zelenka disc! Yup! And you nailed the guess too! 👍 DING! DING! DING!

Glad you dug it! My comments are in blue above! Cool guesses! Comments in blue! More groovy guesses and more comments in blue!

Man, that was interesting seeing some usernames I hadn't seen in 20 years.

This quote from the National Review memorial resonated with me: "Mark Russell was winding down during the presidency of George W. Bush and retired before the Trump era began. Perhaps it was just age catching up to him, or the fact that our culture moved beyond his gentle and bipartisan style of humor. Whether you think the U.S. has become a humorless place, this is now certainly a country where each political faction is much less willing to laugh at jokes about itself. And the political satire that is out there is usually brimming with contempt for the opposing side." Ouch!