AfricaBrass

I'm not. I have only heard John Abercrombie on a Charles Lloyd album from a couple years ago. I would be interested in hearing more. Do you have any recommendations on where to start? :rsmile:

I'm with Noj. I'll take Inquisition: The Musical instead. I think if I hear that "and all that jazz" loop that they kept playing at the Oscars, one more time.... aaaarrrgh! I never was a big fan of musicals anyway, though, I'd bet money that I'll end up watching it with my wife sometime. I'll console myself by cracking gerbil jokes during the movie. Heck, I'll probably end up liking the movie anyway.

Yeah, that was really good. :rsmile: I love the Simpsons.

I became aware of Jaspar throught the J.J. Johnson Mosaic set. I really enjoy his playing on that set. :rsmile:

I haven't heard it on headphones yet. Thanks for the tip!

I've spent the day listening to this cd again, and I find that I enjoy it more with each listen. I really wasn't into it at first, but it has really grown on me. I still haven't read the liner notes. :rsmile: :rsmile:

Is there anyone else out there listening to the Donald Byrd this week? :rsmile:

Cool! I love this kind of stuff. I have a huge collection of easy listening records and a big favorite of mine is the late '60s stuff. Thanks for the info and link!

Damn, that is COLD! Yeah, it was cold. But we got a sort of karmic payback a month later. We were playing a show in front of a couple thousand people (our biggest show yet) and our drum machine went nuts. Our singer who had been a drummer had programmed the damn thing. It was stereo drum city. I really hated it. So we're playing away and the drum machine goes bananas, it's playing everything possible, and it's panning between the speakers. I just stopped. Put my bass guitar down and walked away while the singer was trying unsuccessfully to get it to stop. It was really embarrassing. Needless to say, the next week we replaced the drum machine with the lead singer's sister on drums. I have to give her credit, she did a good job. :rsmile:

When I was in high school, our band had a drummer who LOVED the band Rush. All he could do was talk about their drummer. Our band sounded nothing like this band, so it wasn't really a good mix. Our drummer would overplay all the time. It really sucked. The capper was his China Boy cymbol. Our drummer spoke in hushed tones about this amazing cymbol for weeks before he finally bought one. Unfortunately he debuted his new cymbol during a show. That was the most godawful thing I ever heard. I think it stopped space and time when he hit it. It was horrible. Everybody in the band turned around when he hit that thing. He sure loved that cymbol. We replaced him the following week with a drum machine. :rsmile:

Just a reminder :rsmile: The pick for the week of March 30 - April 5 as chosen by Jazzmoose will be: Wayne Shorter - The All Seeing Eye So, if you don't have it and want to participate, here's your warning. In the previous album of the week thread, Jazzmoose nominated Peter Johnson to pick the album of the week for the week of April 6 - 12. So if you're out there, Peter, start thinking of what album you want to review and who you want to nominate for the subsequent week. :rsmile: :rsmile:

Thanks for the review, Adam! I wish I could have been there. I used to see Nels Cline often about 9 years ago. I enjoyed his playing then. It must have been great to see Grimes. I hope he really gets back into playing. :rsmile: :rsmile:

I have a 19 month old son. I introduced him to jazz when he was a couple months old with Lee Konitz's Motion. It was the first thing that stopped his crying. He loves jazz. That being said, his favorite music in the whole world is The Natural Soul. He points to the cd player all the time when he wants to hear it. If I play another cd, he says no (the best he can say it). He isn't happy until I put the Lou Donaldson on. I better start saving for a B-3 for him. :rsmile: :rsmile:

I can picture Mingus coming back from the dead, zombie style and turning Kenny G into a Pez dispenser. :rsmile:

John Zorn's "Songs From the Hermetic Theatre" I mentioned this album already in the "Anti-recommendations" thread, but I'm still kicking myself because I was going to check out the sound samples on amazon.com before I bought it. My gut was telling me to do so, but I didn't listen. When I was at the store, I was trying to decide between this and one of the live Masada cds by Zorn that I knew I would like. Aaaargh! This is the worst cd I've bought in years. $16.98 plus tax....ouch! I wish I had an emoticon of money going down the toilet (I bet Catesta has one) I have a lot of instances of d'oh. How about selling off cds that turn out to be ultra-rare and being worth 50 times more than I sold it for. I've done that a few times. I check out the stevehoffman.tv forums often and I've realized that I've made quite a few d'oh's by getting rid of older versions for the new shiny remaster. You know, the kind that are so compressed that your ears bleed. To my embarassment, I have to admit that on a couple of occasions, I've purchased cds that I already had. Not remastered versions, but the exact same version. Of course I tore the wrapping off before I got home and when I went to put them away. I discovered that they had a twin. Ooof!

You're welcome, blake! I hope you try out furthurnet. I have downloaded some great stuff from there. :rsmile:

Thanks guys! I think I'll check out the Dorothy Ashby some time. Sounds interesting. :rsmile:

Have any of you picked up any of these releases yet? Dorothy Ashby - Afro-Harping Ray Brown - Jazz Cello Buddy Emmons - Steel Guitar Jazz Jim Hall - Live! Gabor Szabo - High Contrast I'm not familiar with any of these albums. I do want to get the Buddy Emmons because I love steel guitar. :rsmile:

You've piqued my curiosity. Who are the Soulful Strings? :rsmile:

I laughed so hard it hurt! Good one! Would you call that a "Satchmosicle"? I'd call it a Pops-sicle

That would be cool. I'd make jazzicons. You can make frozen jazzicons simply by pouring Kool-Aid into the ice tray, cover with plastic wrap, and insert toothpicks. It's a treat your kids will love! You're better than that Timer guy! (remember, Time for Timer on the old Saturday Morning Cartoons). I'm going to make a Satchmo! He's the guy who did the duet with the great Kenny G.

Well, I must admit I'm beginning to agree with you. The song Here Am I, which I adored, really doesn't hold up that well to repeated listenings. I still like the baritone a lot more than you do, but... I'll have to give it a rest for a bit (and start concentrating on "Wahne"!), but I think I'll give it another listen Friday and see what I think. I'll do the same thing. Maybe, I'll like it more. I agree with you that Pepper is the glue of the session. I appreciate his phrasing on this album, and his ensemble work is great. :rsmile:

Here's my review. I've been playing this pretty consistently for the last few days. It's been great having a reason to really listen to an album over and over. I look forward to the future albums of the week. If I was to give this cd a letter grade it would probably be a B or B+. I hate to admit this, but I’ve been listening to this a lot and I’m finding that the baritone is getting on my nerves a little. Adams’ playing is fine, but as a lead instrument, it’s just a little caustic. It’s great in the ensemble passages. Track by track: 1) Witchcraft – This gets the album off to a mellow start. This has never been a favorite song of mine, but I really like this once they get into the solos. Byrd’s playing is nice. This has a nice jam session feel, everybody gets a chance to add to the pot. I do like Walter Davis Jr’s solo. In Rouse’s solo, he tries to pick up the mood. It is nice to hear him away from Monk. This is a pretty low-key track. 2) Here Am I – I think this is my favorite track on the album. It’s a very simple melody, but I like the ensemble playing here. It’s a very “Blue Note” type of track. Byrd plays with a low intensity. Rouse picks things up with his solo. After Rouse’s solo, I enjoyed the ensemble bit before Adams solo. Pepper tries to pick it up in his solo. I enjoy his phrasing quite a bit. Very angular. Next, Davis plays a low key piano solo. Byrd finishes the song with the theme and a little solo. Nice track! 3) Devil Whip – Time to wake up. This song makes me feel like I’m in Times’ Square in one of those Cassavettes films. First solo is Byrd. He’s awake and playing well. Next is Pepper. He’s playing the heck out of that baritone. I like Davis’ piano solo. After the piano solo, Rouse enters with a searching solo. Rouse is my favorite player on this album. Nice ending by the ensemble. 4) Bronze Dance – I like the melody of this song. It starts of exotically in a sort of “Nature Boy” way. This track features quite a bit of ensemble playing. Byrd’s first solo sticks close to the melody. Many of solos on the cd so far have been that way. Both Rouse and Adams seem to be the ones trying to take the music to another level. Davis’ piano solo on this track is the most passionate yet. I hear some Monk in it. 5) Clarion Calls – As this begins, a sense of sameness is starting to creep in for me. The ensemble playing is the best part for me during Byrd’s first solo. Once again, Adams kicks into overdrive during his solo. Byrd comes in after Pepper. He’s more awake this time, nice. Rouse’s solo is interesting. It sounds like he’s having fun. You can really see how playing with Monk has made him a creative player. I like Davis’ piano solo. He seems to be opening up as the albums goes on. After the piano solo, Byrd states the theme for a while. I’m really listening to Rouse and Adams during this section. They’re what do it for me. 6) The Injuns – I’m kind of tired of this track. I don’t love the melody. It’s the most grating track for me. Byrd’s solo has him playing up and down runs before he opens up. It’s one of his more interesting ones. I’d say this is my favorite solo of his on this album. It sounds like he’s finally in gear with Adams and Rouse. Adams solo is similar to Byrds’ in that they both played a lot of notes. Davis’ solo sort of reminds me of Art Tatum. I can just see the fingers flying. After the piano, back to the ensemble. This track has my least favorite ensemble passages because I don’t really love the injuns melody. I do like Art Taylor’s war drums under the ensemble. Pretty creative. After this listening, I think I’ll give the album a B. It’s a good record, but I just find it a little tiresome after repeated listenings. Rouse is my favorite on the album. I respect Adam’s playing here, but the baritone gets a little tiresome for me. Walter Davis Jr. does a nice job. Byrd to me, is very competent, but a little boring here. I’d say this is a medium flame album overall. Just my opinion. :rsmile: :rsmile:

Thanks Jim!

And now they're tampering with the classics.