Dan Gould Posted June 1, 2003 Report Share Posted June 1, 2003 Folks, as Jim Sangrey said, I have a most interesting proposition, however the logistics will take some extra time. Therefore, I am handing off the naming of the Album Of The Week for June 8-14 to our gracious host, B3-er himself. Jim, the floor is yours. My selection for AOTW will be for June 15th-21st, and those details will be up in just a moment or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 2, 2003 Report Share Posted June 2, 2003 I hearby decree that the AOTW for June 8-14th is: Walter Blanding - The Olive Tree (click here to buy) Criss Cross 1186 Featuring ------------ Walter Blanding - Tenor Sax Ryan Kisor - trumpet Farid Barron - piano Rodney Whitaker - bass Rodney Green - drums My first instinct was to pick Shirley Scott's "Queen of the Organ" on Impulse, but it's no longer in print. Then I thought to myself, "We should support some new music... some younger cats on the scene." So... go to your favorite online retailer and buy this puppy and start listening for next week. Will this selection stump the mighty Alexander? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 I take it this isn't a very popular selection? Was I supposed to pick what I consider an earth-shattering recording? In re-reading the old AOTW threads I found that nobody has picked anything under 30 years old. I just thought I would jump start some conversation on some younger cats. I picked this record up on recommendation from a friend who saw Blanding perform at Michigan State University. He has a full and free tone on the tenor and of course Rodney Whittaker has one of the greatest bass tones. I prefer the original compositions over the standards, although the version of "Jitterbug Waltz" is very hip. The opening number is swingin'! And you can definately hear Shorter in the ballad "My Little Sunflower". Ryan Kisor is a fantastic player. I have a couple of his Criss Cross releases and he writes some very intersting tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted June 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 B-3er, I hate to admit it but I had this CD and let it go earlier this year in a CD purge. So I would have participated in this one otherwise. The ironic thing is, I can't say that I hated it, it was one of those times where I was listening more with a "do I want to get rid of this?" attitude than a "is it good or not?" attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Good idea chosing something new even if I have no chance of getting this in weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Walter has a beautiful tone indeed. My brief contact with him at MSU gave me the impression of a very gracious and gentle man. I'll pull out my copy of this cd this week and post my thoughts later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Hopefully, one of my local brink and morter stores will have this in stock. However, I think it's a great choice. Criss Cross is ALWAYS good imho and I'm a big fan of Ryan Kisor's work on the label. It's jazz like this that needs our attention as well. Think about this also, getting a board such as this to zero in on an artist like Walter Blanding has got to be a nice boost for a current artist such as himself. Definately might move a few copies of an otherwise overlooked album. As usual, an inspired choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted June 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Another interesting one would have been Tough Young Tenors which featured Blanding, Herb Harris, Todd Williams, James Carter joining a Marcus Roberts-led rhythm section. I think everyone had a solo feature and was paired off with someone else on a second tune and then there was a round-robin jam at the end. Kind of a mixed bag-probably some here would find it too Wynton-dominated (even though he's nowhere in sight, almost all of the players were "Wyntonites" at the time) but its got some good tunes and nice blowing. Carter does a nice job on Chelsea Bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Lightning Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 I hadn't a chance to pick this CD up in time, though I will eventually. Walter Blanding lived in Israel for a few years. (hence "The Olive Tree", I guess.) He was something of the house Sax player in a Tel Aviv Jazz club called Camelot. I think that his contribution to the Israeli Jazz scene was very important. He was able to pursuade many friends of his to come and play in Israel. And for that I'm grateful. I also believe that the influx talented Jazz Israelis in NYC in the last decade had also something to do with him. I cought him play many times in Camelot, most of the times with an Israeli pick up Rhythm session, and I liked what I heard. I liked his tone and attack, I liked the respect he had for the youngsters who often played with him. Some of them have continued to NYC and gained some recognition of their talents. I especially remember the time when Blanding and Eric Reed played duo in Camelot. Blanding brought a Bari Sax as well as his tenor this evevning (he would do it from time to time) and it was a smoking evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 The question remains, however. Have I managed to stump the mighty Alexander? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 Well I'm stumped with this one, sorry Jim. Only the second AOTW so far (the first, Weather Report). I did have Tough YoungTenors. That didn't do too much for me, I traded it on the "other board". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcoliv Posted June 10, 2003 Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 B-3er, I hate to admit it but I had this CD and let it go earlier this year in a CD purge. When Dan sold me his copy some time ago, i just bought it because it was a Criss Cross release. i was very suprised with Walter´s playing and as a hard-bop fanatic, i really loved that one. i have played it 15 times probably after i got it and it has consolidated 2 different thoughts in my head: 1) Criss Cross is a wonderful jazz label 2) there are lots of young players who are making real good jazz i´m also very impressed with Anthony Wonsey´s Open the Gates. another CC release nice choice for album of the week specially for being a recent one peace Marcus Oliveira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted June 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2003 I thought that was you, Marcus. I guess there's no chance you'd sell it back to me, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcoliv Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Sorry Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBrew Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 I brought this CD mainly because it had Ryan Kisor on it. He is one of my favorite players - amazing technique and the musical ideas to go with it. I really enjoyed it. My favorite cuts were the title track and My Little Sunflower. If I was still playing tenor sax I would listen to Blanding for sound ideas. Great tone. I agree with another poster regarding Criss Cross Jazz. They have some great artists on that label... especially trumpet players like Alex Sipiagin and Jeremy Pelt. Pelt has a new release called "Insight" that is fantastic. He's a solid player/composer and definitely worth checking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Ebrew... nice homepage by the way. I haven't heard Pelt yet. What album do you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBrew Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 Ebrew... nice homepage by the way. I haven't heard Pelt yet. What album do you recommend? Thanks for website compliment. It's what I work on when I'm not driving my wife (and dog) crazy practicing trumpet. I keep thinking she is gonna hide it from me one day... There are two albums with Jeremy as the leader - "Profile" is his first release on Fresh Sound New Talent Records and Insight is the second on Crisscross. Both are fantastic albums with music on in the vein of the 60s Miles Davis Quintet. He also plays on Ralph Peterson's "Art of War" which is also really good. He's got a website with some live performance files that are definitely worth a listen - http://www.peltjazz.com. Big files but worth the download (free). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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