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Kari S

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Posts posted by Kari S

  3. Freddie Hubbard's CTI albums

    in Artists

    Posted

    I have mixed feelings about "Red Clay" ... Hancock's electric piano, so strong during that period, has always struck me as a little thin, and really colors the date.

    Maybe they mic'd it or recorded it or tuned/set it up wrong, who knows. In the late 60's/very early 70's there are lots of examples of "poor sounding Rhodes" all over the place, where the piano sometimes sounds like a celeste even. I don't think Hancock himself found his perfect "sound" for it until Headhunters, in 1973. It was a lot more fuller, not so staccato but still retaining that percussive feel.

    As far as the Hubbard CTIs are considered, I agree that RED CLAY and STRAIGHT LIFE are "musts", especially the forementioned. SKY DIVE is also really good - by the way didn't Jarrett say that he wouldn't touch the electric piano after Miles; he surely plays it here. ;) I actually have all of them, and "Keep Your Soul Together" from 1973 (http://tinyurl.com/ncvpb) is also highly recommended. On POLAR AC, if I remember correctly, he's starting to slip a little into to the slick Columbia period, it features Bob James onboard and some strings etc.

  4. Apple bashing

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    I'm about to drop an obscene amount of money on a new Apple computer and software. Upgrade time. :mellow:

    Ditto... Well actually I was considering buying my first laptop, and going for the G4 Powerbook - which technically isn't even "new" anymore, the new ones are called Macbooks. I also need an MP3 player (I'm tired of my current 1GB solution) with good capacity, and the gazillion gigabyte iPods are just unbeatable at that. But they're all soooo expensive.

    Sure, they're (Apple) riding the "hip & trendy" wave, and sometimes - as with iBooks - they're selling old technology with an Apple logo, a white case and a huuge pricetage. But am I wrong in saying that this is all still pretty "recent"? I mean I don't think Apple was "hip" in such a big way before the whole iPod craze. And that seems like it wasn't that long ago.

  16. Morph The Cat

    in New Releases

    Posted · Edited by Kari S

    B000E5N62U.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

    Donald Fagen:

    Morph The Cat

    2006

    Been listening to this on repeat for probably eight times now. It's all right! Lyrically Fagen touches on post 9/11; some reference to the Bush administration ('Mary Shut The Garden Door'); an imaginary discussion between a young himself and Ray Charles ('What I Do'); on death ('Brite Nitegown') etc. The musicians are familiar from the recent incarnations of Steely Dan: Keith Carlock, Jon Herington, Wayne Krantz among others.

    Sound-wise, this is also familiar stuff. All of the tunes have that rhythm n blueish, straight "Fagen beat", like on Steely Dan's Everything Must Go, in different tempos. The songs are instantly recognisable Fagen, some maybe a bit more complex than "regular" Dan stuff, and he also allows the soloists to stretch longer than the usual few bars on a standard Dan song. Even though the cd only has eight songs, some, like 'The Great Pagoda of Funn' definitely require more listening times to open up. Then there are more straightforward r&b groove tunes, like the fantastic 'What I Do' (my favorite hands down) or 'Brite Nitegown'. But all obviously feature that warm r&b groove, great licks, tasteful horn arrangements and great playing all around, that's what you'd expect.

    :tup::tup

  22. James Brown: SOUL ON TOP (w/Oliver Nelson)

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    Just noticed this:

    http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tix/performan...ail.cfm?id=2683

    James Brown: Soul On Top

    Jazz at the Bowl JZ1-HB

    Wednesday, September 6, 2006, 8:00 PM

    Hollywood Bowl

    2301 N. Highland Avenue

    Hollywood, CA

    (323) 850-2000

    Artists:

    James Brown

    Angie Stone

    Program:

    In a one-of-a-kind concert, the Godfather of Funk revisits his 1969 jazz big band album Soul On Top. Backed by a big band, with original arrangements by Oliver Nelson, Brown sings standards and vamps up one or two of his classics with swinging style. R&B queen Angie Stone opens the show.

    ---

    I know it isn't until September, but I'm already intrigued by this... :g:excited:

  24. Nathan Davis

    in Artists

    Posted

    I quite recently bought IF (1974). Boy does it suck... His tone sounds ridiculos, as do all the solos for that matter. The one 'giantsteps-ish' tune is probably the worst of the bunch...

    So AVOID

    davis_natha_if~~~~~~~_101b.jpg

  25. Blue Note lets hip hop mixers into the vaults

    in Artists

    Posted

    I'm not quite sure which release the writer of this topic is referring to, because if it's "Shades of Blue", that was released almost three years ago. Even though Madlib is very good at what he does (maybe 'genius' might be pushing it a bit, but...), I found it to be, well nothing special really. First of all, even though he "got access to the BN vaults", he only sampled the safest choises like Wayne's 'Footprints'. If he had the chance, why didn't he "dig deeper". And second, he only sampled the themes and not any solos. I think there would've been some intersting collages had he done that, and done it well.

    The Yesterday's New Quintet (or Madlib x five) has some very inspired moments, but also a lot (or too much actually) of first-grader keyboard noodling. The Stevie Wonder "tribute" he also released borders on sacrilege...

    "Madvillain" (by MF Doom and Madlib) is however a solid masterpiece.

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