Jim R

Jesus... I walk away from the computer for a few hours (to work on my @#$%^&**&^%$#@! Blindfold test #3 line-up, of course ), and the inmates take ov... um, no, I won't go there. In fact, I like this turn of events. And if Jim ain't up for the HIGHfalutin'est office in the land, maybe he would consider running for Guv of Cali!

Jim and Bev, Let me see... how can I put this... do you both have to be so fucking eloquent? I'm trying to remember what I want to say AND construct correct sentences over here! Mark, I once posted a large amount of discographical data here (from a Mosaic set or something), and then noticed that I had created about 50 of the B) smilies. Every time there was a "B" (for "bass") in parentheses, I created our good friend Mr. B) Oh well, he IS one of my favorite smilies. B)

Bev, I agree with you 100%. This subject had been on my mind lately, after reading that Art Pepper thread that's currently on the board. I didn't have the energy to respond to that thread when I read it, and I didn't want to crash the party, but... with all due respect to Art Pepper (who I do enjoy, but isn't high on my personal list of favorites) and the person who started that thread, I think a more broad-minded view of "emotion" in jazz is called for. I think it's more logical, and dare I say, more mature (the idea that there have only been a handful of artists in jazz history to have communicated with emotion, and the notion that there is a "best" player, etc, just makes me chuckle).

An extremely minor and far less insightful sidenote here regarding Alexander (and for me it applies to many other artists as well). I'm not always in search of "great" players, great voices, boundary stretchers or ground breakers. Some contemporary players (Alexander being one of them) actually reached me first via their choice of material. I know I'm a little different than a lot of jazz fans in terms of my tastes and reasons for choosing who and what to listen to, and part of that is my love of melody. It's somewhat anti-jazz in nature, at times, but I can't apologize to the jazz community for that. It's simply a part of who I am, and part of the enjoyment I get from listening to the music as a whole. So, I can be attracted to a player and often moved to purchasing one of their recordings simply by hearing them play a head- especially if it's a tune that I really dig which hasn't been recorded much (if at all) by others. In Eric's case, it was his version of "Night Song", which I heard on the radio one day (thank you, KCSM). His solo on that was also attractive to my ears (if not demonstrating anything spine-tingling or new, in terms of style or voice), and I thought- here's a player who I'd like to get to know a little better. If someone's sound and style doesn't strike me as unique right off the bat, I'm usually inclined to think that it's me that needs to listen more closely, as opposed to thinking that the artist has nothing new to say. At any rate, I like his sound and enjoy his style on a very casual level, without analyzing what his shortcomings may be in terms of his place in jazz history (and if that sounds like a snide remark directed at Jim, it's not- I understand and basically agree with and accept what Jim said). Whether or not Alexander ever develops a voice that I can recognize instantly, I think I'll always be open to checking him out- especially if he picks some good tunes.

Hmm, I don't recall how many people here had negative things to say about Eric Alexander. Doesn't really matter I suppose, because everybody has (and is entitled to) their opinions, but we should of course decide for ourselves. I'm going to go the positive route. As I said, I didn't care at all for track 13, but I do enjoy and respect Alexander. I have a few of his CD's as a leader, and a few of his sideman appearances, and he has always impressed me. I think perhaps too many people try to compare him to some of the greats of the past, since his style comes so strongly out of that. The point is, I don't think you should use this one track as anywhere near a general representation of his playing. You may end up going along with those who don't care for him, but I would check him out.

Yeah Dmitry, that's the one (or shall I say "two"). Now we're even in the nitpicking department. I think that one's a gem. There's also a CD on the Capri label called "Live at Salishan" from about 12 years later (1992).

CHEERIOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reid Miles cover for Preparation H: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm simultaneously proud and humbled. I didn't "nail" too many artists, but my instincts were correct on Wess (and the Savoy sound on #5), Heath, and Person. I only knew about half the tunes on the first listen (2, 3*, 4, 7, 8, and 11), but frankly some of those others were a little dubious (i.e. 3, 12, 13) in terms of taking some serious liberties with the actual melodies. (* Dan, all I can say on 3 is that if you saw Lou's line written out and compared it to the "real" Stand By Me, I think you'd see why some of us reacted the way we did). Tony, the Houston Person thing with Grant was (to me) not necessarily Grant having a "bad day", but an example of how much his style and sound had changed between his BN golden age (especially that 1961 era) and the time of this recording. As I said on the other thread, I discounted the possibility that it was Grant mainly because I haven't paid much attention to his later, funkier work. 5, 6, and 9 still stand out as my faves from this test... 5: I thought that Ernie Wilkins session had been out on CD in Japan, but I could be wrong. BTW, there seems to be some significant ambiguity as to whether the session was led by Wilkins or Wess (AMG lists it twice- once for each artist as leader, one web discography I saw lists it as Wilkins', and my Goldmine guide lists it under Wess). 6: Without any doubt, I am light on Slide Hampton recordings. That damn Palo Alto label was right here under my nose, and I snoozed on this Continuum disc! I've heard some Hampton recs that didn't do a whole lot for me, but I still need to explore further. Jimmy Heath I have done a little better with. 9: Glad I have that Teddy Edwards DVD. I still say this tune should have been covered by some folks! Well Dan, you put together a doozy. Really well thought out. I've been thinking about what I'm going to burn for about a week, and if I was using a pencil and paper I'd have a HUGE pile of wadded up paper by my desk. Tony and Dan both made this look simple, but it AIN'T simple. Hell, I've pretty much given up trying to do any kind of theme already (too confining for me, I think). I also think that my taste (which is slightly to the right of center) may be a disappointment to some. Don't worry- I'm NOT going to include any Andy Williams. Oh well, at least we'll be able to say there's a contrast between my test and Dan's...

Selected discography (just titles that I have): 1959 Lem Winchester And The Ramsey Lewis Trio (Perform A Tribute To Clifford Brown) joy spring,where it is,sandu,once in a while,jordu,it could happen to you,easy to love,a message from boysie Argo 642) Lem Winchester,Ramsey Lewis Trio Lem Winchester & Benny Golson 1959-09-25 Winchester Special down fuzz,if i were a bell,will you still be mine,mysticism,how are things in glocca morra,the dude New Jazz 8223 ojc 1719 Benny Golson,Lem Winchester,Tommy Flanagan,Wendell Marshall,Art Taylor Oliver Nelson 1960-03-22 Taking Care Of Business trane whistle,doxy,in time,lou's good dues,all the way,groove New Jazz 8233 ojc 1784 Oliver Nelson,Lem Winchester,Johnny Hammond Smith,George Tucker,Roy Haynes 1960-04-19 Lem's Beat eddy's dilemma,lem & aide,friendly persuasion,your last chance,lady day,just friends New Jazz 8239 ojc 1785 Lem Winchester,Oliver Nelson,Curtis Peagler,Billy Brown,Roy Johnson,Wendell Marshall, Art Taylor 1960-06-04,10-14 Another Opus another opus,blues prayer,the meetin',like someone in love,both barrels,lid flippin' New Jazz 8244 ojc 1816 Lem Winchester,Frank Wess,Hank Jones,Eddie Jones,Gus Johnson / Johnny Hammond Smith,Eddie McFadden,Wendell Marshall,Bill Erskine Shirley Scott 1960-06-23 Soul Sister on green dolphin street,blues for tyrone,sonnymoon for two,like young, the more i see you,get me to the church on time // + now's the time Prestige 7392 Shirley Scott, Lem Winchester,George Duvivier, Arthur Edgehill Oliver Nelson 1960-08-23 Nocturne nocturne,bob's blues,man with a horn,early morning,in a sentimental mood,azure te ,time after time Moodsville 13 ojc 1795 Oliver Nelson,Lem Winchester,Richard Wyands,George Duvivier,Roy Haynes 1960-10-07 With Feeling why don't they understand,butterfly,with a song in my heart,but beautiful,skylark,to love and be loved,the kids,my romance Moodsville MV 11 ojc 1900 Lem Winchester,Richard Wyands,George Duvivier,Roy Haynes My favorite of all of these is WITH FEELING, a gorgeous collection of ballads. I agree, his death was a huge loss to jazz.

Found a copy of the Clifford Brown Blue Note 10" LP NEW STAR ON THE HORIZON ($7), at an antique show back in the 80's. It was a pretty big antique show, but very few records around, and almost no jazz. Joe Beck/Red Mitchell, EMPATHY (Gryphon), at a tiny record store in Wahiawa- a small town in the middle of Oahu. The only jazz record in the store, and the only copy of this LP I ever came across.

Now I know why that tune on #9 sounded so familiar. I don't have it on CD, but I recently bought the DVD of "The Legend of Teddy Edwards". I see he recorded it for Prestige in the 60's- it sure has a "classic" air about it, but I don't know of any other versions by other artists. #5 is revealing to me that I need to listen more closely (completely overlooked the alto ). Like I said earlier, though, at times the distinction between a tenor and an alto can be tricky (for me, at least). I have this weird feeling about a few of my guesses for a few of the mystery tenors. I feel like some of the guesses I made for the tenors on #'s 5, 6 and 8 could turn out to be correct, but I'm sort of confused now as to how I came up with the names. It's almost as if a small group of cells in my brain had the answers, but the rest of me had no real clue (or at least any confidence)! Strange feeling... Reading through this thread again has helped me to focus more on what I need to pay more attention to. Jim's comments about the alto player on #7 make a lot of sense to me, but I hadn't really thought about it in those terms. I'm a little relieved that even saxophone guru Sangrey didn't recognize the tenors on 10 and 13 (although he sure tore up most of the test). I gotta take my hat off to Dan for coming up with such a tough list. It really makes it fun, and with all the knowledgeable ears around here, I don't think it's that easy to pull off. I had been thinking of doing an "easier" test for next time, but upon reflection I think I'll go ahead and go with a mixture of well-known and obscure stuff that I dig and want to share.

Kari (or anyone who knows), can you tell me more about the bonus tracks on PURE DESMOND? This is an old favorite of mine, and I'll have to get those extra tracks! Thanks in advance. Edit: Hmm, I just remembered- the old CD has two extra tracks (Song from M*a*s*h, and Wave). So, they're probably the same...

Harden appears on "Images Of Curtis Fuller" (Savoy 12164), recorded in a couple of sessions in1960. Personnel: Curtis Fuller,Yusef Lateef,Wilbur Harden,McCoy Tyner,Jimmy Garrison,Clifford Jarvis, Lee Morgan,Milt Hinton,Bobby Donaldson. Tracks: accident,darryl's minor,be back ta-reckla,judyful,new date (Japanese CD included alternates of accident,darryl's minor, and new date). This title as well as "The King & I" were part of the Denon CD series. They may be somewhat difficult to track down now... not sure. I think "Images" was released more recently in mini-LP form. "The King & I" is one of my favorite jazz CD's- period.

This material was (originally?) issued on a 3-LP set as "Jazz On A Sunday Afternoon" (Accord SN 7113) recorded live on April 29, 1973 at Casa Caribe, in Plainfield NJ. It has to be one of the most widely leased/reissued CD's of all time. I have it on a label called "Magnum", with the title "Par Excellence" (bought it around 1994), but I've seen it MANY times on other no-name labels under different titles. In fact, it seems like I see a different one every other time I go to the local brick and mortars. It is pretty good, as Jim says. The sound quality leaves a little to be desired, though...

For my 8th birthday, in 1964, I received a little AM radio/turntable unit with 4 speeds (including 16... or 16 2/3, or whatever). I used to play my Chipmunks LP on that thing, and the16 speed came in mighty handy for controlling the caffeine-induced fits of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Later on in life, I owned a few Prestige 78's and 10" LP's. Sorry Jim, that's the best I could do... B)

I have 11 of these: The Jazztet- Here And Now Jimmy Cleveland- Introducing Jimmy Cleveland And His All Stars Art Blakey / Joe Gordon- BLAKEY / Introducing Joe Gordon Ed Thigpen- Out Of The Storm Johnny Smith- Johnny Smith Wynton Kelly- It's All Right! Tal Farlow- This Is Tal Farlow Billy Bauer- Plectrist Art Farmer- Listen To Art Farmer The Jones Brothers- Keepin' Up With The Joneses Lawrence Brown- Slide Trombone The Jimmy Cleveland may be my favorite, especially (as someone mentioned) with his work as a leader being so limited and difficult to find. For reasons that I can't explain, I've found several of these used in local stores for $5-$7. Count me among those who dislike the CD packaging and (in some cases) amazingly ugly, illegible, garish artwork/design (I'm looking at the Lawrence Brown packaging as I'm typing this... ouch. Sure makes me appreciate the basic b&w Mosaic approach all the more). Having a chance at some of this music on CD for the first time is great, though.

I've seen a couple of promo spots on PBS over the past few weeks, and they didn't exactly impress me. One of them included a video clip from an interview with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler (sp?), saying something like "I love the blues, and I'm glad I've got 'em". The detail in Rooster's post has me feeling a little more encouraged. Thanks for posting this info, guys.

Regarding #8, it's amazing how differently I can hear something upon repeat listening with a different mindset. I probably had the earlier Green sound in mind in terms of discounting the possibility that it was Grant. I don't know when this was recorded, but I know I haven't listened to nearly as much of his work from the later portion of his career. Anyway, I think I "get it" now. This game can sure be humbling...

Zero for me. I only own about a dozen mini-LP's, none of which are available in jewel case versions. I think mini-LP's do look cool, but for me they're impractical to store. Besides the narrow spine issue mentioned above, they also don't fit into the CD racks and drawers that I have been using for the past ten years. Also, I generally prefer the sound of TOCJ's to the JRVG's I've heard.

15-20 years ago, I had in the hundreds- a mix of originals, Japanese reissues, and every variation in between. Now I have about 30, which still span from an original 10" LP to some orig 12", to Japanese reissues. I still have several hundred non-Blue Notes, though.

Hmm! If that's the tenor player, I'll be a little surprised that I guess correctly. When I tossed out his name, it was basically just a reflex- I'm not all that familiar with his sound. I've never heard of Lowe at all, but I think we would all agree that it's not Grant Green. Also, I wouldn't have thought that Benny Golson is the tenor man on #6 (Dameron's writing reminded me a bit of Benny's before somebody pointed out it was Tadd's tune, which is the only reason I mentioned Benny). I am pretty familiar with Benny, although I'd have to admit that I have heard less of his later work, where his sound had changed. Hmmm... still a LOT of mysteries on this test!

Since my post above, I've purchased all of the aforementioned Charlap Venus recordings. I had already become a big fan of his after getting some of his work on other labels (Criss Cross, Blue Note, and a few others). The Venus material just solidifies my impression that Charlap is one of the best interpreters of 20th century classics, while still being thoroughly fresh and distinctive. I've always believed that the possibilites of expressing oneself without really "breaking new ground" are pretty much limitless, as long as a musician has his or her own style, personality, and sound. Charlap goes well beyond my expectations in that regard. His touch on the piano is incredible- he never sounds like he wants to blow through some changes and get to the end of a performance. Every note seems to be well-calculated, and the guy has a great sense of what to play and what to leave out, with a consistent dose of surprises and beutifully conceived passages. I wonder why he's not talked about more on jazz boards... too conservative for some, I suppose...

Geez, Jim- isn't that a little harsh? I mean, if you didn't care for the tenor player, you could just explain why... Sorry... just could not resist.