CJ Shearn

I saw the Elektric Band when I was 7 years old at the JVC Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, but I've never liked the Elektric Band's music all the much. For example, the Live At Montreux 2004, the second half is better than the "To the Stars" music of the first half. Though I think the Vigil group will play some of that music and some RTF music too.

I've heard "skronk" used to apply to Branford Marsalis' outside playing , like "The Dark Keys" or "Bloomington". I've said it often on this board but "Saudades" is a disc I've spun regularly since it came out. I find it that good.

The distortion Pat plays with on this album as I said, I really like, pretty sure it's the hexaphonic distortion of the Roland GR300 in the guitar mode. Around this time he usually used the Roland fitted with the Synclavier controller when he used distortion. "The Red One" is a classic as is "Say the Brother's Name", with really great changes. Harmonically my ear hears a kinship with "So May It Secretly Begin", and "Quiet Rising" is a section from Part 2 of Zero Tolerance for Silence.

Pat plays with a lot more distortion on this thsn other albums and he has great tunes on this date. I really lovethe way his ES 175 tone is captured on this album.

Agree! Got that RVG packed in a box. The McDuff sessions are so great too.

I wonder when that group will do a live album, I've only really heard "Light On" but it's fantastic, a lot of real intriguing compositions.

Scientology reference again methinks.

Tom would see how still devoted the BN fans are by sending in that coupon!

Yeah, I mean those guys were truly listening to each other, and really adding so many colors to that rhythm section, hardly clueless. I agree also Lon that I think Keith enjoyed using the electric instruments more than he says he did.

That's a battle he beat, the heroin thing. Anyway I love his trio, though I haven't heard the last two studio albums.

I'm in the camp where I really need to go back sometime and get his early trio records and explore, I've been focusing on where his music is now. I also like how in some his recent albums you get a sense of the inner workings of his process, mistakes, studio chatter, chatter on the bandstand, etc. Also as a fellow Gemini, it's understandable that his creative impulses going in different directions, wherever he feels like at the moment. That's how he applies the lessons from Miles, I think. Also with many of his albums like "Further Explorations" (which I'm listening to now) being particularly dense double albums, it's a lot to digest, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that album actually.

Chick's recorded output the past decade plus has been creative and challenging. Certainly for me, more than Herbie's. A session like the one with Hiromi or Stefano Bollani, could have easily been ones showing the torch being passed, but they are vital documents, same with the recent RTF, and now the Vigil band. Took me a while to completely dig Corea, despite knowing his playing for years, glad I did.

I think he should make the many Japanese only projects available here like "Super Trios", "Five Trios" and "Akoustic Band Live at Blue Note Tokyo". Regardless of what you think of the Akoustic Band, that album is HOT, with Vinnie Colauita (ditto what you think about him or Weckl) absolutely smoking. The 10 disc "Rendezvous in NY" boxset is nice too but all the best shows are available individually.

I think it's just that free stream. I don't know if they are releasing it as a CD. They should just create a CD cover like the previous "Cookin at Montreux", copy the way the BNLA CD's look in Japan and that's that.

I think it's a matter of him having his own production company (which used to be the Stretch label), and doing whatever he wants artistically, which I think is great. That said, go for the 2 disc "Forever", the 3 disc (2 CD+1 DVD) "The Mothership Returns", "Further Explorations", and "The Continents". I listened to the latter half of disc 2 the other day after having the album more than a year and it's wonderful. "Five Peace Band" is very worth while. The music he's been making recently is some of his best I think, he's certainly challenged himself with different projects, admirable.

Claude Bartee came from Oakland. When I received the Japanese BN reissue of GG "Live at the Lighthouse", I did some research and Claude was from the Bay Area. He moved to NY and he went back to the West Coast where he passed away from AIDS in I think the mid 90's, sad.

Yeah, I see that. Listened to part of the first track. To be fair, it is better than the Mizzell studio stuff, are they planning to issue this on CD hence the preview?

Yep, that's where my copy came from. Wouldn't it gain some legitimacy if Wolfgang's Vault released it?

Looks like a boot, IDK, there was a radio broadcast of this gig and video from a TV broadcast circulating.

Isn't it? That's what makes that third disc so great and the two versions of Nefertiti included in the set. The panel, with the hip hoppers, I wonder if they will be able to contribute substantial insight, because Q-Tip's comments in the making of KOB documentary contributed absolutely nothing. Q-Tip loves jazz, so that was surprisuing

Doesn't guarantee they'd even be in good shape or probably are audience recordings, but it would be great if tapes like this do exist. It would also illuminate the Trane/JOS connection. I wish Blue Note would issue JOS' appearances at Newport in '57, '59 (which is smoking) and '63 but that would not happen at this point I don't think.

Yeah, that makes sense with the Metheny/KB connection sgcim, and when Pat plays chordal solos or unaccompanied intros I hear Burrell too. "Night in Tunisia" off "75th Birthday Bash Live!" is a nice throwback to the BN/Prestige blowing dates.

Burrell also has had a deep impact on me, because along with George Benson, he was the first guitarist I ever heard. Kenny's tone and taste are so wonderful and he's one of the greatest guitar players with organists I think. I suppose if you are into the Sco's, Frisell's, Rosenwinkel's and Ben Monder's of the world KB is boring, but he really has an instantly identifiable stamp on anything he's on. All the JOS stuff is my favorite, as is "All Day Long", "Blue Lights" and "At the Five Spot". I've been meaning to check out his last few, but Spotify doesn't have High Note releases, and I use Spotify for a test run.

I agree Farlow must have influenced McLaughlin. Pat Metheny, as he's stated before, Jim Hall is his biggest influences, as is Ornette, Wes (less apparent because he doesn't play entire phrases in octaves) Kenny Burrell. The entire jazz guitar tradition comes out in Pat's playing, just filtered through his own lens, Pat's created his own bop vocabulary too. I think when he plays hollowbody, his lines are most like a saxophonist, when he plays the synth (the GR300, many people hate it but I love it) he's more like a trumpeter, which was his first instrument. I think "Trio 99-00" is still available, the original print run with the slipcase with a circular hole punched so you can see the disc design isn't. "Trio Live" is the album to get with that Grenadier and Stewart trio though. "Day Trip" and "Tokyo Day Trip" with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez are just as good, "Day Trip" features a beautiful ballad "Is This America?" on the Manzer nylon string, and "When We Were Free" in a different key and played in the same arrangement they did live, and a reworked "The Red One" with a stronger raggae feel than the original, really cool. On "Tokyo Day Trip" my favorite tunes by far are "Tromso" a ballad with the electric sitar, a throwback to the ECM days and "Travelling Fast" which I'm pretty sure is a burning rework of "Travels", the changes sound similar. http://youtu.be/vd_TUn9zqjI I would love to hear Pat do an organ trio record with Larry Goldings and Jack DeJohnette sometime.

Valerie, very interesting post! An observation I've made is that no women I've read or heard talk about Miles have overwhelmingly positive thoughts on him personally. Shirley Horn was one of the few that did whereas men have had little bad to say, especially all the musicians he worked with. Dave Liebman came across as more than a bit uncomfortable with Miles' personality in "The Miles Davis Story" documentary. I love his music but can't say I have the same respect for him as a person, men who beat women really creep me out.