Jim R

Nah, I just recognized Agostinho's face, and the Maysa was in my "Os Discos Da Bossa Nova" book. Now, the third one is going to be driving me nuts until I solve it, like that mystery Steve McQueen LP...

The LP on the left is this: The one in the center could be this:

The singer/player on 13 sounds like Jack Sheldon to me. In fact I'd bet on it. He did some pretty funny things back in the day, but this one... ouch. Very weak, and it went on wayyyy too long, imo. But I know this kind of thing is highly subjective, so if makes some folks laugh, then more power to you I guess.

"Great display of technique", said I. How is that not respecting the process? I already mentioned my appreciation for Bostic. Perhaps "I think I hate this one" was me going a bit over the top. The style/mood of the piece, with its focus on technique, and a dazzling exhibition of runs is not the type of thing that I'm as inclined to listen to, and associate with the old variety shows, where people were doing dazzling exhibitions of a different kind. After re-listening, I'm a bit less turned off by the technical display factor, but there's another negative (to me) factor involved on this particular piece. I have a pretty strong distaste for the high range exhibition thing, on any instrument (although it seems more prevalent- and more painful- in the trumpet/cornet realm). No disrespect to the technique and discipline and effort, but... not for me.

A great display of technique, but I think I hate this one. Sounds like background music for acrobats or plate-spinners. By the way, at 3 minutes elapsed, that's Bull Moose Jackson on the Bostic reissue CD cover. I wonder if this guy was the source (chicken or the egg?): https://geezermusicclub.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/earl-bostic-taking-jazz-in-a-new-direction/

I was completely unaware of "Joe Louis", and I live on Youtube. Wow. It's almost like being in a state of (semi-euphoric) panic trying to look through what's been uploaded already, sorting it out, and thinking about trying to listen to it all... especially when one gets distracted by the inevitable Youtube tangent phenomenon.

They also omitted "Our Man In Paris", and it could be argued that those two are his finest work for Blue Note.

Terrence Stamp Stompy Jones Shelby Foote

Well, all I can do is stare at my bat (as if there was something wrong with it ), on my way back to the pine. The good news is... I don't own that album. The bad news is... I once owned that album. I can't really remember what I thought of the album in general... that was a long time ago. I still wouldn't buy it based on this track, which I just listened to again. It still strikes me as kind of loose and sloppy. Great skills, though, and the sort of "throaty" tone makes sense to me now, even though there was quite a bit of string buzz happening on this recording that I didn't care for. Although I wouldn't rank him high on my list of favorite players, Upchurch is near the top of my list in terms of specific tone(s) achieved on specific recordings. "Feeling Blue" (Milestone, 1967) is in my top three all-time in that department (and the actual playing was pretty damned fine too). Over the years, he gradually evolved into different sounds, using different guitars. I never really stuck with him long enough to maintain a familiarity with his playing. Sigh... maybe I should just stick with soccer or basketball.

I came across an image of the cover of this today, and wasn't sure I'd ever seen it before (not even sure I'd ever heard of it). Looks like it finally came out on CD in Japan in 2011, and again in 2014. Anyway, I'm surprised I don't remember ever seeing it. I guess 1969 wasn't exactly the best time to be releasing something like this...

"Steven" (?) Brown Louis Stewart/Trefor Owen/John McCormack "JimR56"

Pig Pen Linus Pauling Charles Brown

The Gorton's Fisherman Fishermen's Grotto fisherman Greg Lake

Not to derail an interesting thread, but... Back cover or front cover, nobody has yet determined, and the mystery remains... from Steve McQueen's album collection... what is the LP at the upper left (not necessarily a match to the Roulette disc that is resting on it):

My mom played the french horn, and her favorite players were Tuckwell and Dennis Brain (she loved Brain's recordings of the Mozart). She (and I) enjoyed this Tuckwell recording with George Shearing on Concord (1986), which I gave her for Christmas many years ago:

Just listened to track 8 again, and liked it a bit better than the first time I'd played it. Still puzzling over who the guitarist might be. An interesting combination of sophisticated chops and a sort of loose, down-home feel. Tone-wise, it doesn't really grab me. Melvin Sparks, perhaps?

I've been listening kind of haphazardly, and just got around to #6. Agree with Thom about the drummer (and about loving Dexter's version). The sound quality on this is distracting enough that it might be a bit unfair to judge certain aspects of this (like tone creation!), but it sure seems to lack much of a pocket, and I think I'm being pretty kind. The guitar player also seems to be trying too hard, especially with regard to creating rhythmic tension with his comping. His solo doesn't do much for me either, although there are a couple of phrases where he seems to be invoking the spirit of Grant Green. He sort of succeeds, which is okay and kind of fun, but... I'd rather listen to Grant Green.

Nah, just let them get the tarp down, and we can all listen to Joe Buck for (hopefully not more than) a couple of hours. In the good old days, this situation could have been remedied by an appearance from Max Patkin, or perhaps Eddie Feigner...

So...... I hadn't downloaded the files, and just now when I went back to Thom's link to listen again, I found this: This domain name expired on Feb 8 2017 01:09:30:000 AM. Click here to renew it. I suppose Thom may already be aware of it, but if not... just a heads up!

An underrated genius, in my opinion. He was always completely in control, while being totally out of control. He made what he did look very easy, but the kind of timing and improvisational skills that were required... definitely not easy. I dug him even when I was just a kid, and I remember not wanting to laugh too much, for fear of missing a great line or a perfectly chosen word. Glad that he had such a long run. Hard to believe this was 33 years ago:

Not a Floyd Smith sound at all. A living (don't know when it was recorded) pioneer of sorts who fits that style of rhythm playing would be Bucky Pizzarelli.

Thanks Dan. Unfortunately, I don't have anything very nice to say with regard to the other guitarists (at least the ones I've managed to notice so far). Rhythm player on track 2 is kind of corny/annoying with the bright 4/4, though he's competent with his chording. I found the guitar solo on track 5 to be borderline unlistenable (tone, technique, ideas...? bleh). On track 13, Billy Butler on his worst day would have been an enormous improvement. A little positive spin there... at least I complimented Billy Butler.

Track 8... the eclecticism and chops put me in the mind of Larry Coryell, and I know he has recorded this tune, but I can't find a match. I don't like it a lot... sounds more sloppy and frantic than Larry.