Blindfold Test # 17 - ANSWERS

[Tom Storer]

OK, it isn't Tuesday morning yet in the USA, but it's getting close to bedtime in Europe, so here goes... Those who haven't chimed in yet to the discussion threads--please do! I'll read it even if no one else does!

This was a lot of fun for me and I'm going to sign up now for another one. I greatly enjoyed your comments, which were often very thoughtful and incisive, as well as the very wide range of tastes!

1. My Favorite Things

Marc Copland, piano. From "Haunted Heart & Other Ballads" (Hatology, 2001)

Copland is a piano player I like more and more. He seems to be not too concerned with swinging (although he's rhythmically aware and creative), but rather with oblique harmonies and melodies spun out in a dreamlike and abstract style that exudes rich mystery. This is from a trio recording with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert on which Copland plays three different solo performances of "My Favorite Things" (beginning, middle and end of the CD). The trio also plays "Crescent" and "Greensleeves" but it's pretty far from Coltrane in terms of feeling. Obviously the title reflects the contents of the blindfold test!

2. High Society

Edmond Hall's Blue Note Jazzmen (Blue Note)

Edmond Hall, clarinet; Sidney de Paris, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; James P. Johnson, piano; Jimmy Shirley, guitar; Israel Crosby, bass; Sid Catlett, drums. Recorded November 29, 1943.

Since so many here are Blue Note experts, not to say fundamentalists, I thought this one would be identified quicker than it was, but I guess the fact that it was pre-bop made it less likely to be recognized. Some thought this was post-WWII Dixieland Revival stuff, but it was earlier than that. What can you say about this joyful music? Halfway between New Orleans and small-group swing, to me it captures something essential about jazz: the jostling front-line counterpoint embodies that mixture of mutual respect and proud individuality that also comes through in the robust rhythm section accompaniment to those jaunty solos. Quite a bunch of personalities here, including Israel Crosby, who would go on to be the bassist in Ahmad Jamal's immortal 50's trio. And Big Sid Catlett!

I discovered this on a 2-CD set called "The Blue Note Jazzmen" encompassing four sessions, with these musicians and some others including Ben Webster, by Hall, Sidney de Paris, and James P. Johnson. I think they were more thoroughly documented on a Mosaic set. Definitely desert island material for me. And I think the marvelous and undersung Sidney de Paris is the trumpeter whom Wynton Marsalis wishes he could channel. Sidney is the brother of trombonist Wilbur de Paris, and featured in Wilbur's superb Dixieland band of the 50's, one of the most creative of the "revival" bands (check out their album with Jimmy Witherspoon, a real treat if you like this stuff).

3. Can't Buy Me Love

Lee Morgan, trumpet; Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax; McCoy Tyner, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Elvin Jones, drums; Ray Barretto, congas. Recorded Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 4, 1964. From the Mosaic set of Turrentine's Blue Note quintets and sextets.

Simple swinging fun. How can you not dig it? I included this one just because I love the idea of Tyner and Jones recording a Beatles tune with a soul jazz star right in the heyday of the Coltrane quartet.

4. Taking A Chance On Love

Bill Carrothers, piano; Bill Stewart, drums. From their album "Duets" (Birdology, 1999, then Dreyfus, 2002).

This is from my favorite piano/drums duet album. Not that there are many to choose from! Carrothers is romantic and idiosyncratic, with a dreamy bent; Stewart is cerebral and precise, elements that can generate a straight-faced but very hot swing. Together they have a special chemistry. I saw them in concert together shortly after this album came out and talked to Carrothers. I asked him how they prepared the music for the recording and he said they didn't. They would agree on tunes they both knew, maybe say a few words about how to approach it, and then wing it. Some of the tunes on the album (don't know if it's still in print) are just free improvisation. This is one of the more straight-ahead things.

5. It Might As Well Be Spring

Bill Harris, trombone; Jimmy Rowles, piano; Red Mitchell, bass; Stan Levey, drums. From "Bill Harris and Friends," 1957.

This is so romantic it's almost too much, but I like the heart-on-the-sleeve, I'm-so-choked-up-I-can-barely-play-the-trombone -through-the-tears approach. That's another essential thing about jazz for me: it's not afraid of its feelings. Good thick dollops of sentimentality are not lacking in jazz, and that's part of what I like about it.

6. Something to Live For

Fred Hersch, piano; Andy Bey, vocal. From "Passion Flower" (Concord Jazz, 1996).

This seemed to fit because it's also terribly romantic but with a little more reserve than the preceding tune. I found the blindfold test was going in a love-and-flowers direction and decided to go with it. This is from an album of Strayhorn covers; Bey sings only on this song.

I know Bey gets on some people's nerves because his style is somewhat mannered. This is another thing that happens a lot in jazz: since the whole idea is to get across your own personality, if you do it really, really well and you have a strong personality, some people just won't like it. When a musician excites great loyalty among some hardcore jazzers and really rubs others the wrong way, I figure there's got to be something there, even if I end up rubbed the wrong way. Which I'm not in this case--for my money, Bey is *the* male jazz singer today.

7. Killing Me Softly

Kenny Garrett, alto sax; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Clarence Seay, bass; Brian Blade, drums. From "Warner Jams, Vol. 1" (Warner Bros., 1995).

A studio blowing session meant to promote musicians on Warner Bros. This one I like because of the way Garrett shows simple craft: take a pop tune, any pop tune, and fashion a couple of effective choruses on its changes, without being syrupy and cloying (which the song would lend itself to only too well), and without being a flashy lick machine. It sounds sincere to me and it's tasteful--good, honest, everyday jazz. And Garrett sacrifices none of his easily recognizable sound and personality.

8. Mentor's Praise

Marc Copland, piano; Greg Osby, alto sax. From "Round and Round" (Nagel-Heyer, 2003).

Another alto saxophonist of much the same generation, also playing something kind of romantic, but minus any hint of cloying sentimentality this time. I thought some of you might want to rinse your aural palate after hearing a Roberta Flack tune. This is Copland's second appearance on this blindfold test. I ordered this CD because I was so surprised by the pairing of Osby and Copland. Their emotional worlds seemed very far apart to me. It turned out it's Osby who eschews his usual hard-hitting rhythm section to play in a more intimate mood.

9. White Bear Speaks

Joel Frahm, tenor sax; David Berkman, piano; Scott Colley, bass; Billy Drummond, drums. From "The Navigator" (Palmetto, 2000).

Sangry read this right: it's not as strongly personal as the other selections, and it's the only piece I had some misgivings about. I wanted someone from the modern mainstream, not a household name, and I love Frahm's tone. That's why he's here: that cool but hot tone, that to me evokes Dewey Redman and Stan Getz. I think he stands out from many of his contemporaries playing in this vein by a kind of heavy-lidded, laid-back but pent-up quality to his phrasing--he has power but is careful not to unleash it indiscriminately. But yes, there's something generic about this selection, and this was off-putting to many of you. Nonetheless, Frahm (who has played in particular with Andrew Hill and as part of Matt Wilson's two-saxophone quartet) is someone I think could go far.

10. Them There Eyes

Jimmy Rowles, piano; Al Cohn, tenor sax. From "Heavy Love" (Xanadu, 1977).

What a duo! Masterful, swaggering, hip, and so sure of themselves. And do they swing! I got this as an emusic download; not much to do about the murky sound quality, unfortunately.

11. Riffamarole

Capitol International Jazzmen: Bill Coleman, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Benny Carter, alto sax; Coleman Hawkins, tenor sax; Nat King Cole, piano; Oscar Moore, guitar; John Kirby, bass; Max Roach, drums. Recorded March 30, 1945.

Sorry, Sangry: you missed Hawk! But you suspected you'd missed him almost immediately, so your cool is not blown. I came across this in a wonderful French 10-CD compilation box called "Les Trésors du Jazz, 1944-1951," compiled by a couple of French collectors and enthusiasts. Lots of people spotted Benny Carter pretty quickly, but the rhythm section is maybe not what one would expect... One thing people often don't realize is how much everybody was playing with everybody else back then.

12. All The Things You Are

Dave Brubeck, piano; Lee Konitz, alto sax; Anthony Braxton, alto sax; Jack Six, bass; Roy Haynes, drums. From "All The Things We Are" (Atlantic, 1974).

This was one of my early milestones as a jazz listener. I was in high school and had listened appreciatively to my father's Dave Brubeck records but had gone towards outer space and was into Anthony Braxton ("a genius!" I would repeat). So when this came out I had to get it. Konitz was a major revelation, as was the Jack Six-Roy Haynes tandem. Six was a beautiful player and quite a contrast to my faves of those years, who included Stanley Clarke, Dave Holland, and Scott LaFaro. Nate spat on the sound quality, and rightly so, but that awful 70's recording sound still gets me all nostalgic.

13. Lester Leaps In

Dave Liebman, tenor sax. From Marc Copland/Dave Liebman, "Bookends" (Hatology, 2002).

Yes, this is Marc Copland's third and phantom appearance! Hee hee hee. Liebman took this one as a solo. I'm not all that familiar with Liebman's work--I've heard a load of stuff, but while impressed, I never got into it all that much. I saw these two live a couple of years ago and was blown away by Liebman's passion and energy. He's not a Trane acolyte for nothing. I still prefer him live to on record, but I dug this rendition of a hoary standard by a musician usually very committed to his own stylistic period.

[Tom Storer]

The above was CD1, obviously. Here's CD2:

The theme for CD2 was "recordings that circulate among collectors." I don't count myself in that lofty company, "collectors," since I see myself as a mere accumulator. An alternative theme would have been "BitTorrent," the file-sharing technology preferred by traders of unreleased live recordings. When I discovered that there is a huge number of concerts recorded either from the audience or from radio or TV broadcasts that are available in this way, I jumped in. Ronald Lyles generously helped me get started.

Anyway, I got all these things and much more from the site http://www.easytree.org/. If you're interested in getting in on this rather time-consuming hobby and need advice, just send me a private message (also if you're already a trader and want to trade!).

These performances, not unsurprisingly, are often loose and expansive rather than tight and disciplined, but full of life and surprise and feeling, which is why I like them so much even when their reach exceeds their grasp. Also I'm used to the execrable sound by now. So, in this CD, there's a fair amount of excess and hit-and-miss, but also the opposite at the end (as well as better sound).

1. For Harry Carney

Charles Mingus, bass; George Adams, tenor sax; Jack Walrath, trumpet; Don Pullen, piano; Dannie Richmond, drums. Recorded at the Village Vanguard, NYC, April 15, 1975.

I love the hypnotic throb of this, indicative of some of the different things Mingus was getting into with this band. The band is just getting down, playing for themselves and the room rather than posterity. They all sound great to me. Can't you just picture yourself sitting at a front table at the Vanguard, watching Richmond booming and rattling away?

2. Don't Stop the Carnival

Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Ruud Jacob, bass; Hans Bennink, drums. Recorded Arnhem, Netherlands, March 5, 1967.

Talk about excess! I was surprised that Hennink was pegged so quickly in the thread. As many pointed out, no American drummer would have been so uninhibited when sitting behind Sonny Rollins--or, no doubt, dared keep soloing so long. The recording just peters out and stops. Was that the end or did Bennink keep going? Who knows? What we do know is that they were feeling highly democratic and keeping self-censorship at bay.

3. Straight No Chaser

Chick Corea, piano; Gary Burton, vibes; George Benson, guitar; Steve Swallow, bass guitar; June Sieko, drums. Recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, June 20, 1980.

I sympathize with Nate Dorward, who said he just couldn't figure this one out. I assume this was some sort of low-rehearsal, all-star package George Wein threw together. Without Benson, it would have been a simple Burton/Corea reunion concert. I'm guessing June Sieko, a name I haven't found anywhere else, was a Berklee student playing with Burton's band. The rest of the set, like this, was a loose and amiable affair with no particular sparks. I included it just to see which of these big-name, high-visibility figures would be spotted. Burton and Swallow were nailed, Corea was guessed at, and Benson was considered as an influence, but no one realized it was him.

4. Bye Bye Blackbird

Byard Lancaster, alto sax; Henry crockett, bass; Harold Smith, drums. Recorded at the Tritone, Philadelphia, July 12, 2002.

This was the one item I was confident no one would figure out. What does Sangry do but free-associate from Sunny Murray as a possible drummer to Byard Lancaster as a possible saxophonist, on the very first night. I'm impressed, Jim! The concert recording comes in two long, freely morphing sets, including not only this "Blackbird" section but a long free episode, the dirty blues, and more. The saxophone is unfortunately way back in the mix--someone captured it with a lo-fi recorder and a mike in the room, I think--so the drums sound correspondingly heavy, but with a little imagination you can bring Lancaster forward in your mind. I hadn't heard too much of his playing before this and I think we've all been sleeping on a major voice. Obviously it's long-winded and, like many club sets, they don't make too much effort to reign it all in and shape it very precisely, but hey, it's a window on to a relaxed evening before a small, informal audience. If you aurally squint to hear better, what a gleaming, dashing tone, what confidence, what a fine sensibility--I'll be looking for official releases.

5. One Finger Snap

Herbie Hancock, piano; Dave Holland, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. Recorded at the Salle Ludger-Duvernay, National Monument, Montréal, Québec, June 26, 2003.

After all the bad sound I thought I should give you all a break. This was probably recorded off the radio. When I got it, it was listed as the Herbie Hancock trio, but you've taught me better--it was DeJohnette's concert. I figured someone would fall in the Herbie-Ron-Tony trap, and sure enough, more than one! But all were eventually guessed.

6. Teotihuacan

Woody Shaw, trumpet; Carter Jefferson, soprano sax; Onaje Allan Gumbs, piano; Stafford James, bass; Victor Lewis, drums. Recorded at Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg, Germany, July 18, 1979.

This is indeed the band that Mike Weil saw back in the day. I put this in since everybody loves Woody Shaw! Great sound from a radio broadcast, and a real tight group cohesion. Of course, this caused someone to call it glossy and self-absorbed, but one man's gloss is another man's polish. Crackling stuff here. Interesting that one or two wondered if it wasn't some contemporary young lions - evidence of the great influence this kind of music still has.

[JSngry]

This was the one item I was confident no one would figure out. What does Sangry do but free-associate from Sunny Murray as a possible drummer to Byard Lancaster as a possible saxophonist, on the very first night. I'm impressed, Jim!

Would you be more, or less, impressed if I told you that I guess Lancaster becasue I thought I recognized his tone?

And who is Harold Smith?

That was a fun cut!

[mikeweil]

5. One Finger Snap

Herbie Hancock, piano; Dave Holland, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. Recorded at the Salle Ludger-Duvernay, National Monument, Montréal, Québec, June 26, 2003.

After all the bad sound I thought I should give you all a break. This was probably recorded off the radio. When I got it, it was listed as the Herbie Hancock trio, but you've taught me better--it was DeJohnette's concert. I figured someone would fall in the Herbie-Ron-Tony trap, and sure enough, more than one! But all were eventually guessed.

Still can't believe that is Jack deJohnette! Will have to re-listen.

Tom, thanks for these interesting choices! Very, very nice comments! I almost saw that Mingus band in Frankfurt, but I was late and the club was sold out ...

[neveronfriday]

I came across this in a wonderful French 10-CD compilation box called "Les Trésors du Jazz, 1944-1951," compiled by a couple of French collectors and enthusiasts.

They're up to 4 boxes now in that series (have them all but the last one and love them) and there's also other ones (Piano Music, for example).

Excellent stuff at real bargain prices!

Cheers!

P.S.: There's so much in those CD boxes that I wouldn't be able to spot Coleman Hawkins if he himself was sittin' inside one of those darn things.

P.S.S.: We Europeans don't go to bed.

Thanks again for the great CDs!

Cheers!

[brownie]

Just checked these Answers. Judging from disc 1 I will have to check Marc Copland whose path I had never crossed.

As for disc 2, there are a few surprises there. The Sonny Rollins track 2 with Hank Bennink. I had no idea the two had played together until I checked on other posters' findings after I posted my answers. Very interesting track.

The track 3 'Straight No Chaser' is a stunner as far as the guitar player identification. I have forgotten about George Benson all these years but I don't remember him playing so close to Wes Montgomery in his jazz years. Great uppick and a joy to listen to!

Track 4, I never would have thought of Byard Lancaster who I heard several times and most recently last Spring in Paris. He played better on the occasions I heard him. The least interesting track in my opinion!

More thanks Tom. This was most entertaining and illuminating!

[Tom Storer]

Would you be more, or less, impressed if I told you that I guess Lancaster becasue I thought I recognized his tone?

And who is Harold Smith?

More!

And Harold Smith, well, he's the guy who played drums that night. I googled him and there are many references. He seems to be active and respected on both the blues and jazz scenes

In the Valley of Sacred Sound, his own record with Badal Roy and Steve Turre

with Lancaster on a Wildflowers loft session

a Jimmy Witherspoon album with Hal Singer

a 1971 Joe McPhee album, rereleased on Atavistic

playing drums and singing on a New Orleans Christmas record

[Nate Dorward]

Thanks for the answers & the BFT Tom. Most interesting to me here is the ID of Byard Lancaster--I don't know the guy's work really, & the one thing I'd heard before, The Out Cry (a self-released disc with Crockett & a different drummer) was extremely poor.

Interesting to encounter the Hersch/Bey track outside the context of that album & knowledge of who the musicians are--though it's still a pretty moving track even without those details.

I think I got DeJohnette on disc 2 track 5 simply by virtue of not spotting Hancock (& thus jumping to conclusions)!

[B. Goren.]

Thanks Tom. I really enjoyed it. Disk #2 was great!

[catesta]

Nice work Tom.

Like that Marc Copland.

[tooter]

I'm sorry - computer problems distracted me from contributing as much as I might have done, although I wouldn't have identified any more than I mentioned already. Really enjoyed it though, Tom. Thanks a lot for a brilliant addition to the BFT library I am building up.