king ubu

Vocalion/Dutton would be my preference, for sure! But as you say, BGO, LP, whatever... the music's fantastic and I'd love to have a "real" copy of it!

It's rather different from the usual jazz sets released by Mosaic. I did not go for it because I already have several of the albums that were included in the box. Have turned lately to relisten to them and enjoying the music much more than when I purchased them. Nowadays I understand why Miles Davis was a big fan of Hackett! Ok, I guess that's enough of an endorsement to get it whenever it'll be running low... I've been unsure if or if not to put it on the list, but I've got none of the music that's included!

Very cool! Really looking forward to this... I assume you caught my lengthy report about the Rhoda Scott concert I saw in November? She mentioned Gene Ludwig, too... and in the nicest of ways!

Thank you! Will write my answers in red, as I can't have such a long number of quotes in here... 1- A Black and Tan alto solo. I knew that Marion Brown had recorded it that way but I had never heard it. A rather iconoclastic but quite respectful interpretation. Very moving. Yes, very moving! That's my feeling about this performance... how he thins out the theme towards the end... love it! 2- A drummerless trumpet-piano-guitar and bass quartet most probably from the mid-40s. The trumpetist has listened to the developments brought in by Dizzy. Will be interested to find out his identity (the other players as well!) You will! I wonder if anyone will recognize this one, but odds aren't that good with you and BillF already through... though you might try again? 3- On familiar ground with this Fruscella-DiNovi recorded at Gene DiNovi's house. Fruscella's sound is unique and each of his recorded statement deserves to be listened. I had trouble purchasing this rare CD from Japan. Not very long after I finally managed to obtain it, got it, another copy surfaced in a Paris store. It was shipped to Switzerland in no time. That's the one that Ubu used; Yes indeed! Thanks so much for this one! Seems nowadays it's rather easy to find, as Gene DiNovi is selling it on his website! It's the perfect companion to Definitive/Jazz Factory's essential 4CD set by Fru! 4- One of my favorite singer! The ever sensual Lee Wiley! Evocative interpretation of 'Street of Dreams' with the impeccable Bobby Hackett. A musician I rank at the top after neglecting him for way too long Is the Hackett Mosaic worth going for? 5- Another favorite: Jack Teagarden. I had listened to the vinyl of this Verve LP a couple of weeks before receiving the BFT so had no trouble the identification of this track. Great idea to have Lee Wiley succeeded by Teagardan. Those two go together! Thanks! I like how the programming at the beginning of my compilation builds slowly... only to really catch fire later one... isn't Tea the best?! I fell in love with "Think Well of Me" instantly - his singing and his trombone playing are just perfect together! 6- I am stuck on the waterfront with this intense tenor from the Dexter school! Sounds like this comes from an European boot. It's not a boot, but certainly not recorded under ideal conditions This guy is way too obscure and died way too early, too... 7- was more impressed by the effervscent sound of the alto than by the brass solo. Missed the point of his intervention The alto is burning! This release came as a big and very delightful surprise to me! Oh, and I do love the bass player (though he's played better elsewhere, but not with this alto player I wanted to have in!) 8- good quintet side by musicians (CrissCross sessions habitués?) No Criss Cross... this is somewhat earlier. 9- not familiar with this either. Intrigued by the alto player (very much to my liking). He does not seem to enter into the list of musicians I am familiar with... The pyrotechnics of the trumpet player bothered me at first listen but I may accept that after more spinning of that side (like it took me a long time before accepting Charlie Shavers' improvisations). Liked that one! More burnin' alto, indeed! With my first selections (about two discs full of music) I was afraid I might end up with tenor after tenor after tenor... instead I ended up with some fine alto players! And a few tenors, too... 10- AEC derivatives? Rather contemporaries from another corner... 11- another alto, bass; drums trio. Liked this (as well as track 10)! Very coherent music to my ears! Yeah! I guess you have this... 12- The very distinctive sound of Higginbotham and Charlie Holmes were the giveaway for me on that one. Henry Allen's ever inspired playing clinched this. Luis Russell's 1929 band playing 'Doctor Blues'. One of the best bands from its time. No wonder Louis Armstrong took over the full orchestra to make it his own. Yowzah! I expected you'd recognize this one! The joy and surging power, the infectuous swing of this music has struck me like lightning when I first heard it, a couple of years ago! Allen's taking chances - the liners mention at least two "wrong" notes in his solo here - one I'm quite sure I hear, early on in his solo at the end of the number... by-products of his exuberance... and he made it all work! Amazing! 13- No Jamal on this Poinciana. It did not do much for me! No Jamal indeed... put this in for the unknown guitar player. Not that the pianist is much better known. 14- liked that piano player. Pretty individual stylist. Another one I will be curious to know his (or her) name. Are these variations on 'Tennessee Waltz'? Yes indeed, it's "Tennessee Waltz" we're hearing! I *love* Sam Moore's version, but that one would have been out of place in here... this ain't no bad a substitue, methinks! It's anachronistic on so many levels, I just love it! Comes from a wonderful, wonderful disc! (Which I'd be surprised to hear you don't own yet!) 15- Very nice way to end a Blindfold Test. Who dat? Well, you'll find out soon, I guess... Many thanks Ubu for inviting me to the party My pleasure! Thanks a lot for taking the time to share your thoughts about the music! This whole part of reading about people's reactions makes these BFTs a very satisfying thing!

James Weldon Johhnson Booker T. Washington W.E.B. Dubois

Thanks a lot for the additional details! I'd really love a Mosaic set of Harriott's! Would be too bad if "Hum-Dono" would be missing again... but somehow I still rather see a Select.

Happy Birthday, Colin! (btw, there's some good party music on my BFT )

The Dixiestate.

Yes, just thought I'd sent the money using Paypal but then nothing happens and I keep being stuck in step 1/3 of the order process, and the Paypal thing didn't seem to have worked, either! No payment shows up in my account there, even though I was told I'd sent the money and was automatically re-directed to the Big-O site. Wanted to order the CD plus the 45 single. The message I get is: I hate the US and their ZIP code obsession... it's a near science as a foreigner to fill out that stuff correctly!

finally ordered one!

Yeah, the quintets on a Select - that would be swell! Btw, I was in touch with Mosaic's Fred tonight (about my most recent order) and sent him a link to this discussion here. He said he'd pass it on to Michael C. Let's cross our fingers! I'd really enjoy any Mosaic release with Harriott's music!

Not too much of a Ware fan here, I'm afraid... but yes, those who like him should enjoy that release (expected a bit later). Not sure, but I think it has a few titles not on the single CD release. (No, seems I was wrong there...)

Hm, no "Free Form" in there? The heartpiece would be missing, no? At least that's the first Harriott I heard and still one of my most beloved albums!

NOTE: I'm not able to have 15 quotes in a post - why is that? These technical limitations are getting a bit silly, really! Gee, Bill, you're way too good at this! 1. I think this is Marion Brown playing Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasy". I started by recognizing the tune and that it was played by an avant-garde altoist and then found from Ubu's blog that Marion Brown had recorded "B&TF". Hope this won't be seen as cheating of the worst sort! Nice to hear a tune from the 1920s played by someone from the other end of jazz! 100 points! A tiny bit of cheating, but there you go... 2. Piano, guitar, muted trumpet and bass, recorded in the 1940s. All very boppish, with possible influence from the Nat King Cole Trio and Fats Navarro. Can't say any more than that. Yeah, it's from those most interesting middle grounds between swing and modern... Cole came from there, too... I'm particularly fond of the trumpet! 3. I think this is Tony Fruscella playing "Blue Lester". I know the tune and Fruscella's sound and found this track on one of his albums. Smack dab in the middle! It's on the rarest of discs... thanks to brownie I got that one. More later on, of course! 4. This is Lee Wiley singing "Street of Dreams". First of all I thought it might be Mildred Bailey. Google did the rest, taking me to a YouTube clip of this track. This is an easy one, of course! But I needed to have her in! Of my favorite singers (Billie, Anita, Helen Merrill, June Christy, Chris Connor, Jeanne Lee, Sheila Jordan...) she's the most elusive and it seems to me most forgotten... and ain't the trumpet beautiful? 5. This is Jack Teagarden playing and singing "In a Litte Waterfront Café" with a string orchestra from his album Think Well of Me (1962). This is the only artist I recognized straight away. Cook and Morton did the rest. Yup - another easy one. I love that album so much... first I wanted to include "Don't Smoke in Bed" but I wanted to get both the singer AND the trombonist, hence this one got in. 6. "I Cover the Waterfront" recorded live by a big-toned, bop-influenced tenor whose sound reminds me a little of Roland Kirk. Can't say any more. See, on the waterfront we stay... 7. Tenor, bass, drums recorded fairly recently, judging by the quality of the sound. Very high level of instrumental proficiency from bassist. No idea who they are. It's alto, fairly recently... not quite, but yes, depending on how you look at it. 8. Trumpet or flugelhorn, alto, piano, bass, drums. Recent. A lot collective improvisation. No idea who it is. A decade older than #7 9. Avant-garde influenced tenor (reminds me of Shepp or George Adams) and similar trumpet in a big band setting which is surprisingly conventional as regards arrangement and voicings. Again alto - but the guttural and heavy sound may make this a bit tenor-like (not to me though as I've been enamored with this player for a while). Similar trumpet indeed... can't give too many hints yet, though! 10. Guessed this might be Albert Ayler and Amazon samples suggest it is. When Ayler first emerged in the mid-sixties, I decided his music wasn't for me and haven't listened to it until this BFT. I now recognize it as amazingly powerful and I think exposure over the years to the many tenormen who have taken aspects of his sound has made it easier for me to get his message now. (Hope after all that, this isn't someone else!) Huh? Not really... and once again this is alto sax! But powerful it is! If you like this, you might as well enjoy Ayler, too! (I've been on an Ayler binge in the past weeks, would be glad to give some hints!) 11. Trio of alto, bass and drums. Free form? Well, I can't detect any chord sequence! Free form indeed - and this time it's an alto, too! 12. Sounds like the early beginnings of big band jazz. I'd say this was Fletcher Henderson around 1928. Some great "hot" soloists! Trumpet swings like mad! Not Fletcher, but the year is off by just one... ain't that trumpet great!?! Yowzah! 13. Piano/guitar duo playing "Poinciana". Boppish: perhaps recorded 1950s. Elusive stuff... I've not been able to find a recording date for this one, even! 14. Solo soulful piano, recorded fairly recently. Gospel-ish melody. Gently swinging - nice! Of the usual suspects (Ray Bryant, Ramsey Lewis, etc), I'll plump for Junior Mance. You're way off her! But then not so, after all... 15. This is a fairly recent recording of what I call "comic" dixieland, of the sort popularized by the Firehouse Five and heard on the soundtrack of Woody Allen's The Sleeper. As this is Ubu's BFT, could this be a Swiss band? No Swiss involved or harmed in this one... no connection to Woody Allen, either! Thanks your reply, Bill! Enjoyed reading the comments!

No, it's not... but I see why you'd think that, of course!

So, what are the albums? - Free Form (Jazzland, 1960) - Abstract (Columbia, 1961) - Movement (Columbia, 1963) - High Spirits (Columbia, 1964) - Indo Jazz Suite (Columbia, 1965) - Indo Jazz Fusions (Columbia/Atlantic, 1966) - Indo Jazz Fusions (II) (Columbia, 1967) - Personal Portrait (Columbia, 1967) - Swings High (Melodisc/Cadillac 1967) (probably not?) - Hum Dono (Columbia 1969) I guess a Select with the six non indo-albums wouldn't fit... but I'd really see that as a possibility. Not sure a big sucker has enough of a selling perspective - Harriott isn't nearly well-known, alas! (But then a Mosaic set might change that...)

Grab the file for #83, too, please (see sign-up thread for details)! Would enjoy to have you aboard!

Yes indeed!

What a great idea! I'd absolutely love it!

Wanted to buy the "Plastic Dreams" MJQ disc that I left at the store last week... it was gone, instead I got me the Herbie Mann & João Gilberto in Rio De Janeiro disc with Jobim... quite nice, that one! Been circling around for that one for years, but since I get into that bossa mood again now and then in the past weeks, I went for it.

I know... I just copied the promo blurb from the guys who actually produce this reissue. I've sent in my order for sure... the stuff was around in blogland several years back but much of it failed to ultimately grab my attention (which too rarely happens anyway if I'm just listening on the silly ipod with earbuds - I want a physical product!) So this reissue is most welcome to me, if just to own the first (and I think best) of this bunch of albums.

So, the link's been out there for a while, has seen more than two dozen downloads so far (more takers are of course welcome - check the sing-up thread for details). Time to start the discussion then... There's no theme to this compilation, it's merely a selection of more or less obscure stuff (and some less so) that I enjoy and that I wanted to spread word about. As always, I'd be most interested to read some impressions, thoughts, reflections etc about your immediate reactions to the music - what do you like, what not, why? But if you're just in for the guessing game (good luck!), that's fine, too... I'll try and follow this thread regularly and post some replies whenever I have to add anything! Thanks in advance for your participation!

I don't think this has been mentioned here... Limited to 500, with exclusive liner notes by Benjamin Looker, author of the book "Point From Which Creation Starts: The Black Artists' Group Of St. Louis" This album was originally released in very small numbers as a private pressing in France in the year of 1973. The new reissue has been made from Oliver Lake's LP, under the assumption that most likely, the master tape is no longer in existence. Joseph Bowie: Trombone, Conga, Miscellaneous Instruments. Baikida E.J. Carroll: Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Bass, Log Drum, Cowbells, Miscellaneous Instruments. Charles W. Shaw, JR "Bobo": Drums, Woodblocks, Gong, Miscellaneous Instruments, Stylophone. Floyd Le Flore: Trumpet, Miscellaneous Instruments, Voice. Oliver Lake : Saxophones, Flûte, Marimbas, Mud Drums, Miscellaneous Instruments. Recorded Live in memory of Kada Kahan. Recorded Live in Paris – Aries 1973. "The Black Artists Group was an unit not unlike that of The Art Ensemble of Chicago. Except they only recorded this one document and it only came out in France on a label named after the group. This is squeaky, spindly stuff and very OPEN and a good indication of what was happening in the early 70′s with members Oliver Lake (later of the infamous World Saxophone Quartet) and Joseph Bowie (Art Ensemble’s Lester Bowie’s bro, later to start Defunkt). If you like Art Ensemble of Chicago (circa the 1970s) and the Human Arts Ensemble, you’ll like this recording. Needless to say, this music is hard as hell to come by." (Thurston Moore) More on the BAG on Oliver Lake's website. The LP is being reissued by Rank Records, based in Berlin. More information can be found on their website: http://www.rank-records.com/ Expected date of release is Feb. 21, 2011.

Look for some of his own sessions! There's the OJCCD pairing a date of his featuring Mulligan with the Fantasy Mulligan quartet tracks, for instance. Also lately some yurpeen boots... on topic: wrapping up my Hill 63-66 listen with two gos through the session for "Compulsion" and two (or three - I'm in the middle of the first now) to the not-so-great session with Sam Rivers. SWEET! Thanks I will take a look around Amazon. Chubby Jackson with Gerry Mulligan??? Sounds great There's also a great Chubby Jackson track on BFT #82... check there for a first sample!