Dub Modal

2nd half tracks: 7. Sax & piano opening is smooth as silk. Drums & bass sneak up and fit right in. Perfect quartet playing because it all moves so well together. Absolutely love this tune. 8. Piano sets the path at the beginning. Then the sax, drums and bass come in right over. A little smoother tone on the sax here than in song 7. Still - fantastic quartet playing and a great recording. Man, these two songs are just wonderful. 9. A bass intro like this lets you know - this song is gonna be good. And it is. Recording struggles a bit - sounds like the drums were recorded in another room down the hall. But damn, that trumpet (or flugelhorn?) is perfect. Sounds like a Coltrane Quartet rhythm but with brass instead of woodwind. The piano solo is epic, and I'm wondering if the recording quality diminishes the experience because the rest of the rhythm section behind doesn't gel with it quite like the earlier 2 tracks - almost like the piano is playing their own tune for a while separate from the rest - but I think it could be because the band gets buried a bit. I love the following bass solo with the drums playing along though. When it all comes back together around the 10 minute mark it's a real beautiful moment. I don't usually harp on recording quality because I don't have audiophile equipment but I'll say here that a better mastering would probably reveal this song to be the masterpiece it is. 10. Oh yeah - love the bari sax/trumpet duo over the drums and bass. Great solos and a great tune. 11. Some really great selections in this whole BFT. I love this one too. It just keeps building the intensity and the playing is awesome. Tension released at about 4 mins by the piano and then the trumpet comes back in. Whoever is playing that trumpet is masterful. Sax player really blows the doors off as well. 12. Damn - lovely. The percussion and guitar make this one for me, along with the sax player's tone. Beautiful. What a groover!

1: Nice vocal track. Mature voice with an R&B flavor. Great backing on an old school track 2: Cool production, dubbed out effects on the horn with some nice percussive backing. Dig the marimba and the electronic effects later on. 3: Love this track too. Rhythm section builds tension while the sax goes off, very much in that spiritual jazz vein. 4. Interesting, a little off kilter like the sax is dancing around the rhythm section. Good track 5. Ballad - nice change of pace. 6. Fun big band track. Will do the others later. I'm terrible at guessing artists, obviously. Enjoying the music so far though.

Sending PM as well.

An alternate cut of Blues In My Heart and a bonus track in All the Things You Are.

Spurred by the discussion here, enjoying this right now: Ray Crawford - Smooth Groove

Looks like he's also on a Lou Rawls set called Black and Blue and Tobacco Road which I haven't heard but am intrigued by. Just noticed this. My copy is the 32 Jazz CD which doesn't have the bonus tracks.

Sonny Criss' Crisscraft is recommended.

It was a bit of a left turn within her statements, but I gave my interpretation as to why it may have been included in my comment above.

Recorded December 22, 1977 at Blue Rock Studio, New York City From Mosaic's Bee Hive box. Love this album.

What isn't?

Grains of truth is a stretch for me here though. Founding fathers attacked - they're long dead, so we're talking about "attacks" on their current mythological context which frames them outside of the reality of their times. Religious symbols attacked - absolutely loaded, but similar to the statement above on the Founding Fathers of the US. Museums attacked - bizarre, but I think overall the effort here is to build fear over the toppling or re-framing of the core mythical beliefs and how they're presented as fact to uphold the status quo power structure. If you don't mind the slippery slope fallacy in her statement(s) and are fearful over statues being damaged and/or removed then you are her audience.

She's fearmongering via use of slippery slope within a reactionary context. It's a hand-wringing, pearl-clutching, presumptive stance in favor of the status quo. It's ridiculous to me, but hey, different strokes.

A very reactionary take, complete with slippery slope fallacy.

I don't know much about Szabo's personality but if he was battling heroin addiction then his perception may have been skewed leading to misplaced ire, etc. There aren't any first hand accounts from Szabo about this that I can find either, so this description of "livid" at Benson may also be an embellishment (or not, who knows). Benson's legacy is affirmed though.

Found this article which was interesting because I didn't know Womack played on Szabo's recording. Apparently he was mad at the lifting of his "style and arrangement" by Benson. https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/fromthevaults/4074/gabor-szabo-breezin-1969/

I dig the Belsta River album and his playing with Charles Lloyd & Chico Hamilton on those albums. The story about how he was mad with George Benson for ripping him off is entertaining and enlightening.

This is a great explanation of his style. He also continues to be a big inspiration for current musicians. Glasper named him as one in a recent video.

Great write up on these tracks, and the leads on tracks 1 & 12 (and potentially 3) are much appreciated!

Agree with you on this one. Sounds like this could be from an album on the Black Saint label.

First ever BFT, so just putting down my initial reactions to the songs: 1. Has that marching band quality to the drumming and horn interaction, and the bass line is funk-ish (flute seems to repeat the bass line a little behind it...). Interesting track. I would definitely want to hear more from this band. 2. Loving this sax, bass, drum & clavinet opening. The drummer just goes off after a while but wheels it back, then the switch to the piano glues it all together. Nice track. 3. Modern-ish dirge with those crying horns. Rhythm section sounds like they were at some point inspired by Miles' SGQ. Bass player is grooving the whole time. Piano hides in the corner and jumps out every now and then. 4. Love when the guitar, bass and piano play in unison at the beginning here. Then they have a great conversation. Very meditative and the drummer keeps it moving. Awesome song. Love how the bass is recorded and its interaction with the electric guitar is fantastic. The piano player is super expressive. This is my favorite track so far. 5. Acoustic guitar - super clean and beautiful. Mournful sax near the start - love the opening here. Bass comes through really well. Guitar & sax as leads are real highlights for me. 6. I dig when the horns play together. Not a fan of the two-beat rhythm, heartbeat-esque type thing. My least favorite so far. Players all sound good but this song isn't working. I'd definitely listen to other tunes by them however. 7. Well. I like the piano playing. Sounds like a purposeful juxtaposition of gospel and another type of religious chanting. Not my thing, but someone had a message with this one. 8. Guitar is synthed up isn't it? Nice little bed it lays. Love the harmonies behind the lead sax. 9. Nice reverb on that trumpet. Good song. Like the rhythm and the piano sounds great. Bass player has a great lead part and love how the piano and drums accompany. Yeah, I dig this one too. 10. Quiet storm type intro - love it! This has that smooth jazz feel that I can dig every once in a while. The horn here keeps it really interesting and away from some of the cliche's of that genre through. Love the synth atmosphere too. Sade could sing over this and it would be excellent. 11. Oooh..an arco bass part in the beginning. I dig that. Synth sounds 80s with some cheese in there. Horn is nice. Percussion makes this listenable though. I think I hear some faint chanting in spots too. This one is OK, but a little dated to me. 12. Excellent. Drums & bass are grooving. Horns are tight. No piano? Great composition. Yeah, breaks down to a sax-led trio with drums and bass. Love it! They're all absolute masters at work right here. Bass & drum get down to it as well. Can't wait to find out who this is.

This is getting good reviews so far. Great Messengers line up!

Made a mistake on the smoker a few weeks ago. Smoked 2 slabs of pork spare ribs on my barrel smoker and the heat got too high in the beginning, up to around 300-315 degrees F. Made them tougher than normal. Have to keep that in mind the next time and try to limit the coal and wood to keep it closer to 200. Apple wood was used and it gave some nice flavor, but the texture was off. Spare ribs are usually a little more forgiving than back, but I didn't do so well this time. Just a warning for you other smokers out there.

Awful and heartbreaking.

Damn. Well, now you're in the belly of the beast that drove those coups in Brasil & Chile. Hoping the brakes get pumped a bit on our own acceleration but that sliver of hope is very thin.