Jim R

Gibson did do some custom-order guitars with CC pickups, but you're right- the instrument in my avatar (it was up on eBay some time ago, which is where I got the image) began life in 1957 as an acoustic L-5CN. The original owner had the CC pickup custom-installed in 1959. The late 50's was a time when the CC pickup had a resurgence in popularity, and a lot of the old stock of those pickups were made available by Gibson for such customizations. They also put out a very small run of L-4's (an acoustic archtop that looks like an ES-175 without pickups) with CC pickups, and those are extremely rare. If you don't have it already, pick up Kenny Burrell's "Moten Swing" CD (reissue of the old "Bluesin' Around" album on Columbia). He used an L-5 with a CC on several tracks on that. A heavenly sounding guitar... especially in HIS hands.

OH... Sorry, George- you fooled me AGAIN!!

... oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were my magic act assistant. She sawed me in half, and I'm a little upset about it. Well, never mind. Have a nice day... HEY, what happened to the other half of your right arm!!??

I think it's reasonable, Tony- especially if you make it abundantly clear in your thread title that the answers are contained therein. Dan, I think sooner would be fine too. I don't know that we'll need two weeks to discuss things after Tony reveals...

No apology necessary on the name thing, my friend. Re Leo Wright, I do have him in some south o' the border settings. They all date from 1962 (a couple of sessions with Lalo Schifrin- great stuff, BTW, with Clark Terry, Jimmy Cleveland, Jerome Richardson, Jimmy Raney and others; and one with Oscar's quartet and the great Milton Banana at the bateria). Leo's using flute on many of the tracks, and for the most part it's more samba than jazz in terms of rhythms. Bottom line: nothing as post-Trane modern sounding as our #7...

I'm a fan of Charlap, and I've been aware of these from looking at the Venus website (another great pianist, Eddie Higgins records for them, and that's what led me there initially). I haven't heard them, and I haven't wanted to pay the big bucks and go through the special order hassle. If they were available at my local brick&mortar stores, I would own them by now. At least I've been able to track down some of Charlap's work on other labels.

I gave it some thought, Jim, but nothing really leaps out at me yet. Victor Assis Brasil (alto) could have recorded something like this, but that seems a bit of a longshot to me. I'm not sure what Brazilian pianist would be a match here, and I'm even less sure about naming a drummer. I'm pretty confident I've never heard this recording, and the style of it is a touch more modern that most of the Brazjazz material I have. That doesn't mean I don't think it's possible that there are Brazilians involved here, but I can't yet suggest any names... BTW, no "s" at the end of my last name.

I voted for choice #2. I like the way we're doing it now. I think Tony's test was just about perfect (so, I don't think the total number of tracks HAS to be 6-10, but that's a decent ballpark suggestion by Dan).

I love this kind of stuff, and I've seen a lot of sites similar to this, but never saw this one. This is ULTRA cool, from what I've seen so far (not that much yet, because the pages full of images take forever to load on my system). A LOT of those 10" LP covers are ones I've never seen on the internet (and several of them I've never seen ANYWHERE!). Thanks alot, Mike.

FWIW, an update/recap on the current test: Solved: #'s 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 (links to the answers provided earlier in this thread). Unsolved: #'s 1, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14. The "theme" of the test has also been divulged above, so if you'd rather not know (and haven't already read the whole thread), don't read it all until you've had a chance to guess. B)

What Trumpet Guy said. I happen to not enjoy players using effects myself, but it's a big world. To me, and for my ears, there is a GREAT deal of subtle difference in the sounds created by many (most) of the great players who have eschewed the use of effects. I've said it before, but I even appreciate and differentiate between the various tones achieved by a individual artists (Kenny Burrell is a good example) who changed their equipment over the years. KB's early recordings (the BN and Prestige material recorded with a Gibson ES-175 with P-90 pickups) sound completely different from his 60's work with a D'Angelico New Yorker. So, there's a lot of subtlety to be explored even if we're only talking about guys who just plugged straight into an amp. Tony, I was with you on the Grant Green comment (Grant's classic sound involved the use of a tube amp, the appeal of which for many players is it's ability to distort naturally, just enough to provide a "warmth" that solid state amps generally do not achieve); and I'm sort of with you on the Joe Pass comment (he did get a distinctly "clean" sound by the period you refer to, but I'm not sure I would say he was the "only" player to do so... but we'd be getting into subjective territory I suppose, and who's gonna care anyway ); Regarding Wes, he really got a lot of natural distortion, to my ears. It's especially evident when Wes played chords. For a long time, in fact, his sound was too "dirty" for my prefernces (until I realized that I had no choice but to get used to it and LIKE IT ). As usual on a guitar topic, I digress. Let the effects lovers do their thing, I say.

Hear Hear!

Oh, maaaan, did you HAVE to remind me of that? Now I want to go get a hamburger for 15 cents.

Man, I gotta think about getting a DSL. I can't keep up with you guys! Anyway, Wilen and Rosengren were both born in '37. BUT, it's pretty obvious that Wilen is better known these days, and has more recordings in circulation, so...

Now that I'm a little more awake (I think), it occurs to me that since I'm only guessing/speculating here, I should feel free to be more specific about #3. I haven't heard that record in 20 years, but the cat's name is Bernt Rosengren. The LP I mentioned, "Bombastica", was probably released after 1958, but I'm not sure of the recording date.

I agree with all of the above. No artist is too obscure to turn folks on to, if you think they're worthy.

Regarding track 3, I've been thinking about a european tenor who recorded for Jazzland (shared the leadership of the session). I won't mention the title, but the LP had a yellow cover. I don't think it was ever issued on CD (Japan, maybe?). Still, I'm not sure this was recorded in '58... ... and I'm not really sure I'm awake yet...

Somehow I missed this thread yesterday. I want to say welcome aboard as well, Tom. I always appreciated your posts at JC.

They could have released this as "Only Trust Your Mama (but she could be jivin' too)"... Also, I'm wondering whether Buddy Guy's career would have been different if he had whistled along with his solos... Try to picture that... BTW, I've always dug Toots, and mean NO disrespect whatsoever.

We bought it last week as well. I was out shopping with my daughter, we happened upon it (also $15), and just couldn't resist. I too enjoyed watching it at home... it seems to go by more quickly in a theater, somehow. I love the grandeur of the films, but I also miss the "texture" that Simon refers to... the real depth of the narrative, the humor, and especially the full development of each individual character is all but impossible to include in these films- as magnificent as they are (and I DO think they're magnificent... particularly when compared to the old Rankin/Bass animated version of The Hobbit). I do think that the ratio of violence to charm is a little high (and that was more of an issue in the first film, I think), but that's just my opinion. As I watch these films, I constantly think to myself that I wish they could be longer, so that more time could have been spent in storytelling and character development. Wishful thinking, I know. I guess dreams can die hard... the idea of truly capturing the magic and depth of the books in a series of films is something that I had dreamed about 30 years ago. At any rate, it's a thrill to be able to sit down and watch these movies with my kids (both are excellent readers, and have read the trilogy already, for which I'm thankful).

Besides #11 (now solved), I've been thinking mostly about #3, #7 and #14. With regard to 14, I haven't really attempted any serious searches (and I'm pretty sure I don't own this version), but a few names have come to mind. I'm not close to really knowing their work, but thinking about modern piano chopsmeisters- and now adding in the possible theme factor for this blindfold test- what about Makoto Ozone or Gonzalo Rubalcaba? Anybody very familiar with them? I've seen both of them in videotaped concert settings, and was impressed (at least) by the chops. Of course, there are surely many other hot pianists out there that I ain't hip to as of yet, but I thought I'd just toss those names out there...

RT, you nailed one that's been bugging me (and no doubt everybody else)- #11. It's the first track on that disc you provided the link for. I doubt I would have ever figured it out. I've heard the trumpeter's name many times, but I'm unfamiliar with his work. I had thought about all kinds of sideman appearances by "the tenor player" ( ), but that's a big body of work to consider. To see when that was recorded... well, all I can say is that's a real eye-opener!

"Bluesette with a feeling... that's what I have today..."

Jim, despite the fact that the info came from AMG ... I'll take your word for it. Now GET BACK TO WORK on #3!!

BTW, Lang was from Pennsylvania. I think he's out. I've been wondering if #1 could be Oscar Aleman (Argentina-born). Been hearing about him for years, but have rarely heard anything by him...